Diario del proyecto Christian Naturalists Observations

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: …I go to prepare a place for you.
Sitting in my backyard birding sanctuary on a...

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 38215789 - Eastern Bluebird; Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. April 2, 2017. ©williamwisephoto.com

Sitting in my backyard birding sanctuary on a Saturday morning and noting the different species coming to the freshly filled feeders, my eyes were drawn to a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. The male and female repeatedly crisscrossed the yard, alighting here and there upon the nest boxes, seeming to spend a moment in contemplation, and then moving to the next. It was quite obvious that they were choosing a place to nest.

When my wife and I moved back to Georgia in 2009, after we had prepared our home for us and our children, it was time to also prepare a backyard bird sanctuary and garden. In addition to the small pond, feeders, fruiting shrubs and honeysuckle vines, I wanted to prepare a home for the Bluebirds and built several nest boxes throughout the yard. To my surprise, the very first season, the bluebirds began preparing a home for their young and had two clutches per season every year!

But my joy is not only in preparing a home for the bluebirds, and in watching them prepare a nest for their young, but also in knowing a glorious home is currently being prepared for us! And the home He is preparing is no quickly built bluebird nest box! Our Savior has been preparing for 2,000 years now… what a glorious home it will be!

And since He so graciously has been preparing a home, we should be preparing our hearts! Luke 12:43-47 “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing...”

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 38215789 - Eastern Bluebird; Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. April 2, 2017. ©williamwisephoto.com

Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 66917176 - Wisteria; Walton County, Georgia. March 29, 2018. ©williamwisephoto.com

"What a lovely description of the beauty of the Earth God prepared for mankind. He placed the first couple in the middle of a garden. Our loving Creator gave us everything we see around us to enjoy and provided us with exquisite senses of sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling to experience them to the full. Even after they disobeyed, creation did not lose all of its beauty and comfort."

- Excerpt from Exceeding Gratitude for the Creator's Plan by Dr. James P. Gills

Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 66917173 - Carolina Wren; Walton County, Georgia. March 29, 2018. ©williamwisephoto.com

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to each of you. As I write this message on Christmas Eve in Canada, some of us will already be celebrating the birth of our Lord, while others will be celebrating the day tomorrow and some in a few weeks time. What a wonderful time, when we can come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Not only was He born a man to fulfill God's plan, but He was there from the beginning of Creation:
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, New International Version).

And as 2023 draws near to an end, I just want to say thank-you to each one of you that joined this Project. When I created the Project, I wasn't really sure where it would go. Nor how many other iNat users would join. Just over two years later and the Project sits at 142 members who collectively have submitted over 750,000 observations covering almost 38,000 species! On top of that, we have contributed well over 1.3 million Identifications! For me (and I trust this is true for most of us), our iNat activities reflect our amazement at and interest in all that He created. I pray that during this season, we would look to Jesus, the Author of all Creation.

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." James 1:23-24

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 20529373 - Tufted Titmouse; Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. February 5, 2017.

Every Sunday morning for the last few months during the morning church service, a feisty little Tufted Titmouse flies up to the window during the preaching and repeatedly attacks his reflection. He believes the image to be a rival interloper invading his territory. Because the bird doesn’t like what he sees, he decides to fight the reflection.

​While I watched this aggravated avian, my pastor continued to preach from the book of James. In the letter, James describes the Word of God as a mirror that reflects what manner of men we are. We have our own self-image, but it is often very different than how others perceive us. And certainly, our image of ourselves is always quite different than how God sees us. But the Bible has a way of revealing who we really are; a true reflection, as in a mirror.

Often, as the mirror's image comes into clear focus, we don’t like the image that we see, and like the Titmouse, we fight against that reflection. ​When the mirror of the Word reflects our true, impatient self (James 1:4), we fight against the reflection and declare ourselves to have “the patience of Job.” When the mirror reflects our poor decisions and “lack of wisdom” (James 1:5), we fight the reflection and declare the Bible outdated. When the mirror of the Word reflects our true, double-minded nature (James 1:8), we fight the reflection and posit our focused faithfulness to God alone. When the mirror of the Word reflects our own sinful nature as the fault of our falling to temptation (James 1:13), we fight the reflection declaring “this is how God created me.” When the mirror of the Word of God reflects our hot temper (James 1:19), we fight the reflection, take up a rock and smash the mirror!

When we see our true reflection in the mirror of the Word of God, let us not fight against it as the church Titmouse. Let us not walk away and “forget what manner of men we are.” But let us be doers of the Word, and as Today’s English Version translates, let us “submit to God and accept the Word that He plants in our hearts” (James 1:21 TEV). Another lesson learned if we will listen to what creation speaks!

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 20529373 - Tufted Titmouse; Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. February 5, 2017.

(An article I wrote for Lee's Birds of the Bible for Kids)

Did you know that God counts birds too??? Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 66748932 - Song Sparrow; Walton County, Georgia. February 16, 2018.

Hey kids, bored yet? If you are like my two daughters, you are practically begging for something to do at this point. Instead of wasting your brain on electronic gadgets, how about enjoying some birds and Bible! You might learn something too!

The Bible tells us that on Day 5 of creation, God created all the birds (Genesis 1:21). If you look closely, there is a wide variety of different birds. Get a chair and sit in your backyard for thirty minutes in the morning. Even if you don’t know their names, write down the total number of individual birds you see; count how many different kinds there are making visits. How many different colors are there? Make notes if they are staying up in trees, or coming to feed on the ground. Do they have long, skinny beaks, or short fat beaks? Now close your eyes and listen. How many different kinds of bird calls do you hear?

And if there aren’t too many birds outside, make a “virtual bird list”! Explore the pages of Lee's Birds of the Bible for Kids and list how many different birds you see on the website in five minutes. Make a list of the Bible verses you see on the pages too.

But if none of that is interesting, you could always ask your parents to assign you some chores!

“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where… even as the garden of the Lord” Genesis 13:10

All winter, we long for spring and the day we can get back to dressing and keeping our backyard gardens. We feel a strong inward desire to rejuvenate our backyard bird sanctuaries for the return of our beloved hummingbirds and other avian friends. But why is there such an affinity within us for gardens?

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 29566708 - Ruby-throated Hummingbord; Clarke County, Georgia. July 18, 2014.

In the Old Testament book of Genesis, the nomads Abraham and his nephew decide to split up and settle down. In making his choice of a new homeland, Lot looks towards the plains of Jordan and sees a fertile land “like the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10). That same internal “garden longing” in his heart was triggered and leads Lot east.

I believe our love of gardens stems from a longing to return to Eden, that perfect state of beauty and fellowship with our Creator that man enjoyed in the beginning; where man walked with God “in the garden in the cool of the day”. When Adam’s eyes were opened, his first sight was a garden with “every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” Our love of gardens wells up from a desire to return to Eden, to return to a place that place of paradise that was lost through sin.
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Even though we see disease, decay and corruption in this world today, one day we will return to paradise. As the story of this present age comes to its final chapter, a new book will be written. One where we will see a new heaven and a new earth brought forth (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1). Until then, let us enjoy our backyard gardens as a small piece of Eden; as a reminder of the blessed and perfect garden in world yet to come. As you till your soil with your hands, remember in your heart that one day, “thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

Revelation 2:7 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

My backyard bird feeder is always alive with flashes of red. The Northern Cardinals are daily visitors for free helpings of sunflower seeds. As one catches my eye, I ponder, why red?

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 20495176 - Northern Cardinal; Clarke County, Georgia. April 1, 2017.

Most animals blend into their surroundings. But not the Cardinal. He flashes about in a scarlet garment heralding his presence for all to see. Why would a small bird, an easy prey, want to wear such colors? As I meditate what creation would speak, red conjures two images: the stain of sin and the source of salvation.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

THE STAIN OF SIN...
Red catches our attention, and normally for something of which we must take heed. We use it on our warning signs and labels; red hangs at every intersection to prevent disorderly collisions.

In Isaiah 1:18, red is used as a bold simile illustrating the blatant sins of the people. All that they do and say is stained with the crimson of sin. Although sin may blend in as the “norm of society”, it stands out to God’s eyes. Isaiah the preacher points out this scarlet warning sign, and begs the people to heed the warning and repent.

THE SOURCE OF SALVATION...
But another profound Biblical use of the color red is that of blood. From the blood of Abel, through the atoning sacrifices of the Israelites; of the thread in the window which saved Rahab and her entire family, to the saving Blood shed upon Calvary’s cross, the entire Bible is stained red with blood.

Though normally a gruesome sight for most, the red blood of the Bible is hope; it is cleansing. The sins of the people of Isaiah’s day stand out like red stained clothing. But it is the red colored blood of the new covenant which is able to remove that stain.

Revelation 1:5 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood

Though I may be pushing things by stretching the color of a bird into a mini-sermon, I’d rather have the red Northern Cardinal remind of the warning of sin and of the hope of salvation, than to stand for a red-robed religious official for whom it is said the Cardinal is named!

Zechariah 1:11 The Message They reported their findings to the Angel of God in the birch grove: “We have looked over the whole earth and all is well. Everything’s under control.”

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 40333906 - Wood Duck; Walton County, Georgia. March 20, 2020.

While Homo sapiens are isolating in fear of pandemics, prepping food against a coming recession, wringing their hands about World War III, or just generally worrying about anything and everything, the rest of species on this planet are boldly moving ahead with the vernal equinox as scheduled on March 20. As I briefly, and timidly, left the confines of my sterile bunker this morning for a short walk, I was outraged to see so many critters blatantly ignoring the world’s woes and enjoying spring!

In less than an hour I counted 26 different bird species and three turtles breaking curfew… more than 50 individuals! Even the normally reclusive Wood Ducks had the audacity to come into plain view on the open pond. But I’m sure as they flip on the social media and take in the current events, they’ll all retreat into their holes, cavities and nests as we humans have.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 40334091 - Eastern Musk Turtle; Walton County, Georgia. March 20, 2020.

When you look and see so many birds, reptiles and insects roaming, it would almost appear that the God of creation has everything under control, although we humans feel like things are out of control. Is that even possible?

Psalm 11:1 In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

I hope you enjoyed this light-hearted commentary on the current events, and are comforted by the photos of God’s beautiful creation that exists right outside our back doors! Even if you can’t go far, get out and enjoy our Creator’s works right in your little plot of land.

GOD'S CREATION KNOCKS UPON OUR HEARTS
Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him..."

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 19949590 - Hermit Thrush; Clarke County, Georgia. January 27, 2019.

On a cloudy Sunday afternoon between church services, I was able to enjoy some birding next to my backyard fire pit. Along with a cup of coffee, it was a nice afternoon of journaling and photography. After several hours of the usual birds, I was delighted by the soft appearance of a dainty Hermit Thrush scraping in the leaf litter not far from my chair.

As soon as that thrush appeared, there was something in my heart that lifted; a subtle spark of joy or excitement. Where does this spark of joy come from? If we are just the products of random chance and evolution, and the other organisms on this planet are just rivals in this game called “survival of the fittest”, shouldn’t I just have stomped on him as an inferior competitor in the food chain? There must be something more to it.

“Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun... will shine upon the key-hole.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

In JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the knocking thrush was a sign to party of dwarves that marked the key hole to the entrance of their lost homeland. Just like Tolkien’s thrush, this world and its amazing creatures knock upon our hearts and unlock the knowledge of our Creator, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:20 that creation reveals God’s eternal power and godhead. If we choose not to ignore our hearts, the wonder and design of this universe lead our minds to God.

How does all this explain that spark? Well, in Revelation 4:11, John tells us that all things were created by Jesus Christ and for His "pleasure they are and were created". God finds pleasure in His creation! And being made in His image, God has placed within us a similar pleasure that we find in creation. Hence the subtle leap of joy upon seeing even a simple Hermit Thrush!

Lamentations 3:52 "Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause."

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 37276414 - Ring-billed Gull; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. December 23, 2019.

It seems the favorite sport of every dog and child on the beach is to run wildly into a pack of gulls. I have to admit, it does look fun, and I probably did it too as a child. But thankfully, I've never seen any dog or person catch one. While sitting upon the beaches of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, I marveled at the flight of the terns and gulls. Lifting off, taking to the air, circling around, diving and coming back to a landing to avoid the berserker kids and dogs. How do they do it?

© Photographer: William Wise | Agency: Dreamstime.com

From the beginning, as he marveled at the flight of birds, man began chasing the dream to fly. The first concerted efforts came as early as 1485, if not earlier, with Leonardo DaVinci’s Ornithoper blueprints. Although many efforts were made, it wasn’t until 1903 that flight was accomplished by humans. We may have large jumbo jets carrying people across the globe today, but it was a long, arduous process to get there.
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If it was so difficult for man to learn to fly, how did birds catch on so quickly and gracefully learn to take to the air? The answer: they didn’t learn! The birds immediately burst forth in color and flight on Day 5 of creation! They were designed, equipped and enabled to fly from their very beginning. They "got off to a flying start", so to speak! [i]

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 37261613 - Ring-billed Gulls; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. December 27, 2019.

Does that sound like an impossible fairy tale? Well, consider this yarn: “Flight appears to have evolved separately four times in history: in insects, bats, birds and pterosaurs. These four groups of flying animals didn’t evolve from a single, flying ancestor. Instead, they all evolved the ability to fly from separate ancestors that couldn’t fly. This makes flight a case of convergent evolution.”[ii]
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Did you catch that? The complexity of flight evolved separately on four different occasions? Since the probability of even a simple, 200 component, single-celled organism evolving is at least 10 to the 60th (a “one" followed by sixty "zeros") [iii], flight evolving even once is basically an impossibility. But four times?
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It takes less imagination and faith to marvel at the wonder of flight and know that an incredible Artist designed it in one swift stroke! “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air” (Genesis 2:19). Any other hypothesis is just chasing gulls and coming up empty!

​[i] https://creation.com/created-to-fly
[ii] https://www.scienceworld.ca/evolution-flight/
[iii] https://www.icr.org/article/mathematical-impossibility-evolution/