Need a New Heart? Grow One!

Ezekiel 36:26(KJV) - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Recently, I laid my eyes on a fascinating bit of information. On Monday, November 14, 2011, Caleb Hellerman of CNN published the article, "Studies: Stem cells reverse heart damage."

Here's a quote;

At Cedars-Sinai, 17 patients, including Milles, were given stem cells approximately six weeks after suffering a moderate to major heart attack. All had lost enough tissue to put them "at big risk" of future heart failure, according to Dr. Eduardo Marban, the director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, who developed the stem cell procedure used there.

The results were striking. Not only did scar tissue retreat -- shrinking 40% in Ken Milles, and between 30% and 47% in other test subjects -- but the patients actually generated new heart tissue. On average, the stem cell recipients grew the equivalent of 600 million new heart cells, according to Marban, who used MRI imaging to measure changes. By way of perspective, a major heart attack might kill off a billion cells.

"This is unprecedented, the first time anyone has grown living heart muscle," says Marban. "No one else has demonstrated that. It's very gratifying, especially when the conventional teaching has been that the damage is irreversible."

Perhaps even more important, no treated patient in either study suffered a significant health setback.

Source - "Studies: Stem cells reverse heart damage" by Caleb Hellerman - CNN.COM

Developing human organs from stem cells is so serious. On July 8th, I told you about the "man-made urethra" that was successfully implanted. Two days earlier I shared even more mind-blowing information in "Immortality: A Scientific Phenomenon?" Today, I'm letting you in on the use of stem cells to grow new heart cells. Why is all of this research so game-changing? 

Here's a quote from each of those two previous articles;

Two days ago, Yahoo News published the article; "Who wants to live forever? Scientist sees aging cured" written by Health and Science Correspondent Kate Kelland. Here's a quote from the very interesting article;

LONDON (Reuters) – If Aubrey de Grey's predictions are right, the first person who will live to see their 150th birthday has already been born. And the first person to live for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger.

A biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of a foundation dedicated to longevity research, de Grey reckons that within his own lifetime doctors could have all the tools they need to "cure" aging -- banishing diseases that come with it and extending life indefinitely.

"I'd say we have a 50/50 chance of bringing aging under what I'd call a decisive level of medical control within the next 25 years or so," de Grey said in an interview before delivering a lecture at Britain's Royal Institution academy of science.

Source: Immortality: A Scientific Phenomenon?

Matthew 24:36-39(NLT) - “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

After reading Wednesday's article "Immortality: A Scientific Phenomenon?" one of my colleagues made a startling suggestion. Jesus said that at His return it will be like the Days of Noah. He highlighted specific characteristics of those days but left out one important detail that now is being broached among scientists. In Noah's day, people lived much longer than they do now. In fact, it was in Noah's day that God made the following statement.

Genesis 6:3(KJV) - And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

When you compare the lifespans of people before Noah's flood and after you will realize a significant drop. They decreased from hundreds of years to less than one hundred and twenty.

In Wednesday's article, I made the following quote; "If Aubrey de Grey's predictions are right, the first person who will live to see their 150th birthday has already been born. And the first person to live for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger."

If developments in stem cell research, bio-engineering and synthetic biology continue in the direction they are going, we may see a return to the Days of Noah. If that's the case, you know what's supposed to take place when that happens. 

Source: Man-Made Human Organ Successfully Transplanted  

Welcome to the new era of medical advancement! Welcome to The Days of Noah!

Connecting Neuroscience And Faith

1 Corinthians 2:11(NLT) - No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

Last weekend I stumbled upon an interesting article on the CNN.Com Belief Blog called "My Take: Keep government out of mind-reading business" written by Dr.Paul Root Wolpe, the Director of Emory University’s Center for Ethics. Since his focus is on ethics, it's not the most scientific article but it did get my attention. So in search of more scientific evidence I decided to do some research of my own. I wanted to know what was really going on in the "Mind Reading Business"? Eventually, I found a goldmine of information collected by The Society for Neuroscience - Advancing The Understanding of the Brain and Nervous System.

Prepare to have your mind blown wide open!

Here are some fascinating excerpts from two articles I found;

Patients previously believed to be in a vegetative state have responded to basic questions through the use of a portable bedside brain scanner, raising hopes that in future, they might be able to communicate with family and friends.

 Among 16 patients at Addenbrooke's hospital, in Cambridge, and at University hospital, in Liege, Belgium, three people who previously were thought to be without consciousness were able to respond to some one asking them to imagine clenching their right hand or toes.

 The portable brain scanner showed identical brain activity to the patterns created when healthy people imagine making those movements.

Source: "Brain scanner brings new hope for patients in vegetative state" by Sarah Boseley, health editor - The Guardian, Wednesday 9 November 2011

The contents of a person’s dream have been revealed by brain scan for the first time, scientists report in the Nov. 8 Current Biology. By monitoring the brain of a man who has unusual control over his dreaming, the accomplishment brings researchers closer to understanding how the brain spins its nightly yarns.

“It’s really exciting that people have done this,” says sleep researcher Edward Pace-Schott at Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “And it also brings back lucid dreaming as a very powerful scientific tool.”

Source: "First brain image of a dream created" by Laura Sanders, Science News - Friday, November 4th, 2011

Check out this week's video from "Face To Face With Faith Science" to see what The Bible has to say about this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjykGtRX28

The Genesis Code - Drawing The Line Between Faith And Science

When times get bad, people cry out for help. They cry for relief from being kicked around, But never give God a thought when things go well, when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts, When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom, using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.

Job 35:9–11 msg

I remember when I first made the decision to write my fourth book, Faith Science. I knew it would take a big effort but I thought it was worth it. For some strange reason I projected myself upon others. I assumed that there was widespread interest in bridging the gap between Faith and Science. I thought that most people had this burning desire to see the connection between Biblical truth and scientific evidence. Maybe I did get a little ahead of myself? Maybe I made some huge assumptions? However, I do know one thing for sure; I am not alone.

There's a movie that's just been released called "The Genesis Code" which tackles the question of Origins head on. I commend their efforts for joining this noble cause. When it becomes available in your city, go check it out and let me know what you think.

Here's the story;

Kerry Wells (Kelsey Sanders), a college journalist and committed Christian with an effervescent personality, has been assigned to do a story on Blake Truman (Logan Bartholomew) the college’s newest and very popular hockey superstar. As a relationship between them begins to develop Kerry finds that Blake, who hides behind a tough and independent façade, is actually struggling through a difficult personal crisis and that he bears the cross of a secret he has kept hidden for years. Blake rebuffs Kerry’s suggestion that prayer might help ease his burden; he is convinced that modern science completely disproves the Bible, especially the opening verses of Genesis. Kerry — who is herself suddenly confronted with a challenge to her faith on another front — sets out to prove that science and Genesis are not in conflict and her quest leads to a startling revelation. Could it be that what science teaches us about creation and the Story as told in Genesis are both true and in perfect accord!

Source: TheGenesisCodeMovie.Com

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use”
(Galileo Galilei: 1564–1642 Italian physicist).

Did God create the heavens and the earth at the beginning of time or was there a Big Bang? My answer is; "Why not both?" See "The Big Bang in The Bible" and you'll understand why.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 kjv

Here's what this verse says when observed closely;

"In the beginning..." - Time
"..God created the heavens..." - Space
"...and the earth" - Matter 

1. Time is a finite entity that has a starting point and an ending.
2. Space is a created entity that only came into existence when time began.
3. Physical matter is not eternal but was created at the beginning of time.

From Faith Science;

The common misperception that there is always conflict between science and faith can be abused by those with anti-Christian or anti-science agendas. In reality science has always been the domain of many committed Christians such as the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who dedicated one of his papers with a prayer, saying, I have here completed the work of my calling, with as much intellectual strength as you have granted me. This same attitude is shared by many Christians who work in science today. CiS exists to support such Christians and their aims.

—Christians in Science (CiS), Why Christians in Science

With so much available public information and abundant resources connecting faith and science, those who choose to reject the connection really are on their own. The conflict between science and Christianity has been contrived in the minds of those who want a conflict to exist. It has never been about logic or reason, like most atheists or secular “Christians” propose. It’s about the selfish human desire to oppose God and create one’s own destiny which, in actuality, defies logic.

The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion on an intelligent and powerful Being.

—Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Principia (1687)

The Science and Spirit of Music

Today's video blog was inspired by a project called "The Music Instinct - Science and Song." While there, I found some of the most fascinating scientific evidence concerning the effect of music on the human body. Here's a quote from the article, "How Music Can Reach The Silenced Brain" by Concetta Tomaino;

Music predates recorded history, but its roots may lie in early human communication and rituals for healing. In traditional African cultures and rain forest cultures in other parts of the world, for example, music is connected with many of life’s vital patterns and occasions. In Western culture, however, as music became increasingly accepted as an art form, its therapeutic properties were mostly forgotten—rediscovered only when music therapy became an organized field in the early 1950s.

Since then, a torrent of peer-reviewed clinical and scientific studies have focused on music’s therapeutic value in areas from reducing pain, to improving memory and cognition, to helping motor function. But even though we know how effective music therapy can be, the investigation of its effects on recovery of function in people with neurologic impairment is new and exceedingly challenging.
Source: "How Music Can Reach The Silenced Brain" by Concetta Tomaino 

What's even greater is that I was able to make connections between the scientific research and a case study from The Bible. Check out the video to see for yourself.