Corynorhinus Townsendii
Sulphur Creek Nature Center
“LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions.”
Psalm 104:24
Hi Men:
I pray your week has been rich “in” Christ. As you should know by now, your earthly treasures will all be gone someday very soon. What are some of those things we treasure? Maybe the accumulating of wealth and possessions? Excessive free-time and travel? How about seeking approval, fame or physical appearance? Does work or professional success over-shadow family or spiritual commitment? You get the idea….. take a moment to inventory where you are focusing your time and energy. Why?…. Because every second we have has been given to us by God.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
~ Jesus
Let’s seek the counsel of the Lord to be good stewards of the time we have been given.
Your memory verse: Matthew 6:19-20
PHOTO ABOVE
I can’t believe I have neglected our friend the bat. I was going to report on the most distant galaxy found by the JWST (they now think JADES-GS-z14-0 is 33.5 billion light-years away). God really has those astrophysicists confused now 🤠
For now, let’s focus on bats. But not this guy 🙂
The photo at the top was taken by photographer Joel Sartore at the Sulphur Creek Nature Center. This center is just north of Freemont, CA in Hayward. It is a Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat…..
Some really cool “stats on bats” – I’m a poet 😊
- Related to Birds or Mammals? Bats are mammals and comprise 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide. There are over 1400 different species
- How Fast? Some bats can reach a top speed of 60 miles per hour and the only mammal capable of sustained flight
- Echolocation: Nature’s Sonar System. Bats emit high-frequency sounds (up to 140 decibels) that bounce off objects, allowing them to navigate and hunt in complete darkness. They can detect something as small as a human hair.
- They can locate a mosquito or moth that is flying, then track it down, catch it, and eat it. This ability prevents them from crashing into a wall, tree branch or one another. Their eardrums are be extremely sensitive to detect mosquito echoes
- They make a clicking sound, 10 per second when cruising and up to 200/sec when chasing prey.
- Their eardrums must be extremely sensitive to detect mosquito echoes
- Each bat has it own unique sound so their noises don’t interfere and cause confusion and massive collisions with other bats all making loud noises at the same time. This is astounding in light of how large some colonies are. The largest one is in Texas is reported to have up to 20 million bats in it
Watch the bats emerging from Bracken Cave Preserve, San Antonio, TX. YouTube (50 sec)
- The Bat Brain: It has to make calculations which take into account the Doppler Effect and has to be really fast. Think how fast that mosquito is moving and in all different directions
- Bats also have to be able to recognize the opposite sex in the dark. Otherwise they can’t find a mate and reproduce. Infants have to be able to locate their own mothers in order to get milk….. figure that one out!!
Ok, that’s enough for now. Whew! There is so much information on bats. One final thought: Just taking the mind-boggling feature of echolocation — it has 0% chance to develop over many generations (evolution). There is absolutely a Creator and the bat is just one of His innumerable creations. Astounding!
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD @ THE MANURE PILE
Meet Melvin. What a great guy….. He was shoveling some of our horse manure in a few buckets, so I went out to say hi and introduce myself. By the way, several of our neighbors take advantage of the “endless supply” of select manure for their gardens🤠 My grandkids were still with us, but I ended up talking to Melvin for about an hour. He’s a believer and attends Pastor Randall Cunningham’s church 2 blocks down the street. Some of you might remember Randell as the QB for the Eagles.
During the conversation I just listened and Melvin shared with me a good piece of his life, growing up in Jamaica and then having a law enforcement career starting in NYC. 2 months back he lost his wife of 55 years, Monica, to cancer and misses her immensely. He showed me photos of her and cried several times. She was a beautiful woman that loved the Lord. We are staying in touch and have been texting each other. I pray that I can be a comfort to him in some small way (2 Cor 1:3-4)
The time I spent with Melvin was a blessing……….
Much Love in Christ,
Dan
(Gal 2:20)
Have a great St. Patrick’s Day☘
What St. Patrick and the Celtic Revival Mean for Us Today
ARE YOU A BEREAN?
These two messages are so important and so misunderstood. I think we all forget that the “Fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of knowledge and wisdom” [Prov 1:7 & 9:10]
When Jesus declared the words in Matthew 10:28 was it a command? Are they punitive or protective? In talking to men, most receive a steady diet of “Love of the Lord,” so that fear takes a back seat (you don’t grow a congregation preaching on fear).
If men can jump this hurdle, they will begin to realize that fear precedes love and the end result is that their love of God will dramatically increase. Do you believe this?
Fear – Part 1 & 2 – Red Book Day 72/73
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
A profound one to wrestle with your men. Here’s The PDF
Fanatics and Fair-Weather Christians
~ by R.C Sproul
Men: This is only 5 minutes. If we take our faith seriously and speak on behalf of Christ and His Kingdom, we will at some point be accused of fanaticism.
“Have you ever been called a religious fanatic because of your faith in Christ? R.C. Sproul suggests that we should be more concerned if our faith offends no one than if we are mocked for Jesus’s sake.”
Watch it on YouTube (5 minutes)
or ….. Renewing Your Mind website with transcript
UPCOMING RETREAT
Great Lakes Men’s Retreat at Beulah Beach (Ohio)
May 1-3, 2025
Contact: Jim Gustafson (JimGustafson7@gmail.com)
IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEEK CHRIST IN VAIN
John 8:21-29
Men: I was recently talking with a dear brother and we were reflecting on a past devotional by J.C. Ryle [1816-1900]. It’s one of those devotionals that gives you great pause that most Christians would rather skip. Let me share this paragraph by Ryle and see what you think…….
The lesson before us is a very painful one. That such a Saviour as the Lord Jesus, so full of love, so willing to save, should ever be sought ‘in vain’ is a sorrowful thought. Yet so it is! A man may have many religious feelings about Christ, without any saving religion. Sickness, sudden affliction, the fear of death, the failure of usual sources of comfort — all these causes may draw out of a man a good deal of ‘religiousness’. Under the immediate pressure of these he may say his prayers fervently, exhibit strong spiritual feelings and profess for a season to ‘seek Christ’ and be a different man. And yet all this time his heart may never be touched at all! Take away the peculiar circumstances that affected him and he may possibly return at once to his old ways. He sought Christ ‘in vain’, because he sought him from false motives and not with his whole heart.
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me,
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.”
(Proverbs 1:28-29)
Salvation is not eternally available. There is an accepted time and it is now! (2 Cor 6:2)
What’s Going on in the Catholic Church?
These links were sent to me. All I can do is scratch my head and say….. WHAT???
Joe Rogan & Mel Gibson (YouTube 59 Sec)
Aztec Dance (@Smash Balls, Twitter X 47 Sec)
Pointy Black Hats (@Protestia, Twitter X 47 Sec)
Relics… Yikes! (@Smash Balls, Twitter X)
And we know who burned William Tyndale at the stake for translating the New Testament
If you haven’t seen: God’s Outlaw: The Story Of William Tyndale
Check it out:
Watch On Amazon Prime
Watch On YouTube (1:34 hrs)
Have all of you watched the “Fishless Fishermen’s Fellowship?” If not, it’s a keeper and pass it on! Watch On YouTube (3:13min)
What do you think? Were you a Fishless Fisherman in 2024?
