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Turtles are troubling to some scientists. Let’s consider some of the features of these amazing animals.

Sea turtles, though they are air breathers, can stay under water for hours at a time. Leatherback turtles, the largest sea turtles, can dive thousands of feet deep without being killed by the tremendous pressure.

Sea turtles come ashore to bury their eggs in sandy beaches. In addition, Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and olive ridley sea turtles coordinate their nesting behavior so that large numbers of them return to the same beach at the same time. How do they accomplish this?

Sea turtles migrate vast distances, typically alone, through the open ocean where there are no landmarks. Some travel the almost 8,000 miles completely across the Pacific Ocean! It is believed that they accomplish this by having a magnetic sense. But they use this sense to locate themselves traveling east to west, rather than north to south. It is believed that they can do this by not just detecting north, but also sensing the intensity of the field and its inclination at any one point. Then they replay their memory of this information to return to the very beach where they hatched, sometimes years later, in order to reproduce. Could the sophisticated, precise system responsible for this remarkable behavior have possibly arisen by chance?

Turtles have a skeleton unlike any other vertebrate. All other vertebrates have their shoulder blades outside the rib cage. But in turtles, the reverse is true—the shoulder blades are inside the rib cage. If turtles evolved from other vertebrates, how did this major change take place? No one has ever found an intermediate form in the fossil record between turtles and any other reptiles. This cannot be blamed on a lack of fossils since turtle shells are easily fossilized and many have been found around the world. Also, some scientists think that sea turtles evolved from land turtles. However, there are major differences between the two and not one intermediate sea turtle fossil has ever been found.

So, turtles are troubling to evolutionists. If these amazing creatures and their abilities are not the result of lots of extremely unlikely chance occurrences, then they must be the product of a vastly superior intelligence.

We have taken a brief look at turtles. But there are many other kinds of animals with astounding features. Could all these sophisticated living things be the results of physical processes—different kinds of energy interacting with matter? Or is it more reasonable to believe that an intelligence far beyond ours is responsible for all these wonders? We never see physical processes producing such high states of organization. In fact, energy interacting with matter always decreases any organization that might be present. For example, a bicycle left out in the elements, subject to sunshine, lightning bolts, wind, etc., will always be degraded. It will never change into a motorcycle, or even a better bicycle. Therefore, we conclude that this physical universe is not all there is. There must be a God!

But some object to the existence of God because of the evil and suffering we see in this world. However, these terrible realities in no way negate the above conclusion. So, what is the explanation for these negative aspects of creation? Why does God allow evil to exist? Since God is so great, as we realize from the things we see, it is reasonable to believe that He is superior to us in all ways. So, there must be an explanation for the existence of evil and suffering.

If we have a sense of justice, then God is even more just. And if we can love our children, then God must love us even more. So, since we do not always see justice and love prevail in this world, we conclude that this life is not all there is. There will come a day when God will judge us to see who is fit to inhabit a new and better world, where justice and love will prevail.

The question now arises—what must we do in order to enter that better world? In the Bible, God tells us that we must repent because He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:30-31). To repent means to turn to God and to seek to do His will in all things. For those who repent, God has graciously provided a way that we may receive forgiveness for all the wrong doings of our past. This way is Jesus Christ. He died for all our wrong doings and rose again from the dead, conquering death itself. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we can be forgiven and therefore be assured that we will be in that better world to come in which there will be no death nor any evil or suffering.

If it is your desire to repent, just tell God your intention and ask Him to help you live a life in accordance with His will. Then read the Bible to learn how God wants us to live—especially the New Testament. Also, if you are really serious about doing God’s will, you will find that this is not always easy. Others will seek to influence you away from that. And even our own selfish inclinations are contrary to doing God’s will. To receive extra help, get involved with others who are also seeking to do God’s will. There are millions of such people all over the world. You can find them in Christian churches where the Bible is believed. Pray and ask God to direct you into such a church. You might want to use the internet to look up Bible-believing churches in your area.

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