Mantis Shrimp Revisited
Creation & Engineering Beyond Man’s Design
“Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.”
— Psalm 111:2 (NASB)
Hi Men:
I pray you didn’t deviate this week with your walk “in” Christ. With all the disturbing issues, not only in our country, but around the world (especially Iran), it would be easy to lose heart and say, “Where are you Lord?”
We need to remind ourselves often that God is 100% in control, He knows all about it and is orchestrating everything perfectly. Remember what He said:
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” ~ Isaiah 55:11
Think about that for a moment. God’s ways and thoughts are exponentially beyond our comprehension.
We are witnessing the effects of SIN: Lawless, anarchy, radicalized movements at home, and the crushing weight of oppressive, totalitarian regimes abroad, both fueled by deception and a rejection of God’s truth.
As you all know, it’s so DANGEROUS to believe everything you hear in the media — unless you’re willing to dig for the truth yourself…. and so few are willing to do that! And that’s why one of Hitler’s right-hand men, Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, knew:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
If there’s any consolation, we need to remember that everyone will stand before a just God on “That Day” and give an account for “all” their actions……. that terrifies me!
Franklin Graham asked for a time of prayer this past Wednesday. He also said, “….. we need to pray, remembering our sins and asking for forgiveness, repenting and seeking His face.”
PHOTO ABOVE
We are revisiting the mantis shrimp I shared in my 8/1/25 Friday Letter. It is wildly more astonishing than most of us ever imagined. As you may remember, its club can strike with the force of a bullet, generate cavitation bubbles hotter than the surface of the sun, and repeatedly smash hard shells—all without damaging itself. It also has multiple color receptors humans can’t even conceive.
But here’s the jaw-dropper I wanted to share with you…
One of the brothers and dear friend, who receives this weekly Friday Letter is a PhD professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Not long after I first shared about the mantis shrimp, he decided to use it as a graduate-level course assignment. His students were tasked with analyzing the formation, structure, composition, and mechanical properties of the shrimp’s dactyl “club.”
The mantis shrimp’s dactyl club.
Nature’s engineering marvel.
What did they discover?
My PhD buddy later shared the students’ extensive research with me. Their papers were 20–30 pages long, so it’s impossible to do them justice here—but let me attempt to summarize their conclusions in just a couple of sentences:
Even our most advanced materials—titanium carbide, engineered ceramics, and high-performance composites—do not match the mantis shrimp’s natural design. Its micro-architecture, protein-based energy storage, and damage-tolerant structure outperform human engineering in ways that still baffle researchers.
When a microscopic creature that supposedly evolved over time outperforms our best materials science…
…maybe it’s time we acknowledge the One who designed it.
“O LORD, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.”
— Psalm 104:24
Longing for His return,
Dan
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Titus 2:11-14
Men: Does it upset you that God does whatever He pleases?
“But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.” Ps 115:3
“Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.” Isaiah 46:10
God Is In Control – Day 15 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
Our Primary Task
A lighthouse keeper gained a reputation as being a very kind man. He would give free fuel to ships that miscalculated the amount of fuel needed to reach their destination port. One night during a storm, lightning struck his lighthouse and put out his light. He immediately turned on his generator, but it soon ran out of fuel—he had given all his reserves to passing ships. During the dark night, a ship struck the rocks and many lives were lost.
At his trial, the judge knew of the lighthouse keeper’s reputation as a kind man and wept as he gave sentence. He accused the lighthouse keeper of neglecting his primary responsibility: to keep the light shining.
The Church can so often get caught up in legitimate acts of kindness—standing for political righteousness, feeding the hungry, etc.—but our primary task is to warn sinners of danger. We are to keep the light of the gospel shining so sinners can avoid the jagged-edged rocks of wrath and escape being eternally damned.
WHOA!
My friend, I stand in judgment now,
and feel that you’re to blame somehow.
On earth I walked with you by day,
and never did you show the way.
You knew the Savior in truth and glory,
but never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim,
you could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together, here on earth,
you never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand before eternal hell,
because of heaven’s glory you did not tell!
(Anonymous)
Men: Here is a quote from an Ex-CIA officer that I thought was interesting.
An Observation Worth Considering
Christians are often described as the only people who cannot truly be controlled.
Why? Because genuine followers of Christ ultimately answer to God above any government, agency, or system of power. Their loyalty is not for sale—no amount of pressure, threats, incentives, or coercion can fully break someone whose conscience is anchored in biblical faith.
History bears this out. Totalitarian regimes, such as the Soviet Union, could intimidate, bribe, or brainwash much of the population—but not devoted Christians. When intimidation failed, believers were imprisoned and sent to labor camps, not because they were violent or rebellious, but because their faith made them fearless in the face of tyranny.
Those who have worked within powerful institutions understand this well: strong Christian conviction is often viewed as a threat to total compliance.
In a world that increasingly demands allegiance to every new agenda, genuine faith in Christ remains a quiet but immovable form of resistance.
Jesus vs Muhammad
WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON, IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO REVIEW THIS
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Jews vs Muslims
Men: Have you guys ever seen these figures?
Nobel Laureates in Science
(Physics, Chemistry, Medicine)
Jews
~150
Muslims
~2
Population % of World
Jews
~15 million
~0.2%
Muslims
~1.9 billion
~25%
One group represents about 0.2% of the world’s population yet accounts for well over 100 Nobel Prizes in science, while another represents nearly a quarter of the world’s population with only a handful in those same fields. Why is that?
How many of you have ever heard of David Brainerd?
David Brainerd (1718–1747)
David Brainerd was an 18th-century missionary to Native Americans in colonial America whose life, though painfully short, left an outsized spiritual legacy. Plagued by chronic illness (tuberculosis), loneliness, and frequent discouragement, Brainerd nevertheless labored tirelessly among the Delaware and other tribes, often preaching, praying, and fasting in harsh conditions. His ministry was marked not by outward success, but by deep dependence on God, relentless prayer, and a burning passion for Christ’s glory.
Brainerd died at the age of 29, yet his private journals—later published by Jonathan Edwards—profoundly influenced generations of missionaries and pastors, including William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Henry Martyn, and Jim Elliot. His life stands as a powerful testimony that faithfulness, not longevity or comfort, is what God uses most mightily.