ANTARCTIC MELTDOWN?


The World, the Word & You! Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan

"ARE WE READY FOR 'WATERWORLD?' SOME SCIENTIST CLAIM BOLD NEW PROOF THAT THE POLAR ICECAPS MAYBE READYING FOR A MASSIVE WORLDWIDE MELTDOWN"

I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk the changing world climate and some startling new findings…

Greetings to all our listening friends, worldwide. You're listening to the World, the Word & You! Broadcast, featuring thirty minutes of biblical commentary and beautiful music for your listening enjoyment. I'm Dennis Finnan, host and speaker thanking you for joining us today and hoping you'll be able to stay tuned for these next thirty minutes. Our program comes to you today at this spot on your radio dial, by the kind care and support of our friends and listeners of these broadcasts. This year marks our 20th anniversary of broadcasting, and for that we give thanks to God for His mercy and grace to allow us to be His voice to a needy and spiritually hungry world.

Our program, each week, attempts to bring you without apology, the wondrous truths of God's Word gently mixed and applied through the events and happenings of our time. So, in this fashion today we shall explore the latest news that has a flurry of interest worldwide.

You see, scientists in the beginning of this new year are stirring and reporting to the world that there is possible danger of seeing the melting of our polar ice caps due to Global Warming and new findings deep down in Antarctica. But before I share these thing with you, from of course a biblical perspective, we'll pause and listen to this delightful musical moment…

…Just the other day on a national news broadcast in the U.S., a reporter soberly stated, changes in the Pacific Ocean are making it more likely that warmer weather will begin to cook the globe. Researchers said the pattern, prevalent this past summer and winter may last for another 20-30 years. Coupled with this some see the beginning of the possible melting the polar ice caps, which would raise sea water levels significantly over time, to change the coastlines of the world!

Prior to such a catastrophic possible event, these experts say, the now rising Pacific sea temperatures will create at the least, a different set of winter and summer weather conditions that will be extreme.

Meanwhile down below, scientist in the Antarctica have found some startling new finds that some say may be the preparation for a new era of life as we know it. What did they find, and what implications can it mean for us around the world? Well after another musical pause, I'll answer that for you…

…Some years ago, America's film capital known as "Hollywood," produced a motion picture called "Waterworld." In this film it showed that world was completely covered with water as all the polar ice caps melted. Quite frankly film critics claimed it was a "lowlife" film that was unworthy of viewing. However regardless, the idea of the melting of the polar icecaps has intrigued modern man for decades as we all hear of the possible Global Warming that may be happening to our world at this time.

Yet recently I read an article that reported that down under in Antarctica, scientist have found some startling evidence that may predict the coming of a new age where, Antarctica may be preparing for "another" meltdown! Now what would this mean? Well for starters, a GREAT FLOOD would occur if the Antarctic ice cap were to melt completely. If it did so, the level of the oceans would rise by as much as 200 feet! This would dramatically alter the shape and coastlines of the world. For the U.S. this means the entire eastern coastline would be submerged. Florida and vast parts of the southeastern states would simply disappear. In fact Memphis Tennessee would become a deep sea port, and the Empire State building in NYC, would be an island by itself.

So, are we headed for a real "waterworld?" Should we begin building our homes on concrete stilts? Well scientists are divided on this issue, but nonetheless, new findings have many worried.

You see, down at McMurdo Bay in Antarctica, just 300 miles from the South Pole, is a vast polar desert larger than the size of all Europe. There, an ice sheet covers nearly all Antarctica almost three miles thick averaging heights of 7000 to 8000 feet (2,100 to 2,400 kilometers) high! In that wasteland of ice lies Camp Shackleton in McMurdo Bay, where many scientists and sophisticated equipment are there to study and measure the atmosphere and geology of the region. During these studies over the years, the men and women working there have divided into two camps. One is called the "Dynamists" and the other is called the "Stablists." Each has been working their for over 20 years. What they've found according to them is remarkable. Not long ago at the end of the 20th century, the "Dynamists" working in the nearby Dominion Mountain range unearthed an unusual finding. They found deep in the ice, moss-like plants and sea shells, which now they claim is sure evidence of a once temperate environment not long ago, "evolutionarily speaking." David Harwood of the University of Nebraska, was one the men who made the startling find. However, actually this all goes back to 1983 when Peter Webb, a geologist and Harwood, together, performed a laboratory analysis of glacial sediment from the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. What they found was astonishing: The sediment, known as the Sirius Group, contained "diatoms," or marine microfossils, that they arbitrarily dated as three million years old.

Together with the latest findings and these early discoveries these men who form the "Dynamist" camp of explorers say we are headed for a new age of the meltdown of Antarctica!

The reason they claim is, that these plants, and sea life show that during the "Pliocene" may have been warm enough to melt the ice cap and allow life to migrate to the region. If this happened only three million years ago, according to their evolutionary timetable, that's just last week! Now remember, Antarctica is almost twice the size of Australia, and contains 90% of the world's ice and 70% of its fresh water. So even if a partial meltdown was to occur, it could cause severe catastrophic global flooding, and weather extremes.

Now all that coupled with the El Nino and La Nina conditions in the Pacific which now show the temperatures of the ocean water is rising, and will stay that way for a long time ¾ could it mean a worldwide flood is coming? Well, let me put this in perspective as we examine what God has to say about that.

Of course, the findings of tropical like life-forms deep in the barren polar ice desert of Antarctica is astounding to say the least, but it simply affirms the biblical record.

You see, in the Bible in the Book of Genesis, we are told that the earth once sustained a catastrophic global flooding that covered the entire surface of the earth of that day. We read in,

Gen 6:13 (NLT) "So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth!"

Gen 7:4 (NLT) "One week from today I will begin forty days and forty nights of rain. And I will wipe from the earth all the living things I have created.""

Gen 7:17-23 (NLT) "For forty days the floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat [ark] high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the [ark] floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 standing more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all kinds of small animals, and all the people. 22 Everything died that breathed and lived on dry land. 23 Every living thing on the earth was wiped out—people, animals both large and small, and birds. They were all destroyed, and only Noah was left alive, along with those who were with him in the [ark]."

This tragic and factual account of history recorded in them Bible and memory of the world's populations, reveals that long ago, some 6000 - 8000 years ago, our world suffered a global catastrophe that annihilated the entire world of land creatures, except those who entered the huge boat or ark Noah built according to God's instructions.

Now I know many unbelievers laugh at this supposed "preposterous" story, but think my friend. The Bible further reveals that the Pre-Noahic world was much warmer than ours and had greater land masses coupled with a tropical like climate all over the earth. There were no polar ice caps, and in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, there obviously was abundant life living there.

Now, scientist are finding that below the massive ice sheets, tropical like life-forms and soil conditions existed long ago. This just confirms what the Bible tells us.

However, the Antarctic scientists who are in the Dynamist camp, who believe in a coming meltdown, also believe these soil samples and moss-like plants and seashells existed some three million years ago. If so they claim, climate changes as we are beginning to see, if they continue, could trigger another meltdown as must have happened before, to allow such life forms to exist in the now polar desert.

At the least, the Dynamists are saying that Antarctica's eastern ice sheet may not meltdown, but the western ice sheet could as a result of warming, just slip off into the ocean! Of course, their three million year old dating is just evolutionary dreaming, but the fact remains, could it be possible a worldwide flooding could occur with the meltdown of Antarctica? Again, God answers, after Noah and his family step off the ark on dry ground when the global flood waters fully receded,

Gen 8:20-22 (NLT) "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. 21 And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.""

Gen 9:11 (NLT) "I solemnly promise never to send another flood to kill all living creatures and destroy the earth.""

Well friends, there you have it ¾ The Creator God who oversees the world and its existence has promised that our world would never again see a global flood of water. That means friends, the polar ice caps, regardless of what some might predict, will NEVER meltdown and completely destroy the earth's land surfaces. Of course this doesn't mean our globe is damage proof. Man can harm and injure the environment with careless abuse of the ecosystems and natural resources, but massive, critical destruction will not happen nor destroy all life.

However note that, in the Bible we are told that there is coming a day when the world will be destroyed as we know it. We read about this in,

2 Pet 3:10-13 (NLT) "But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God."

You see, the Bible tells us God is the manager of His universe. We are told that Jesus Christ who is the Creator God, it is He who "holds all things together" in balance,

Col 1:16-18 (NLT) "Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything."

Imagine that! God says a day is coming when He will be the one who destroys the world as we know it, and it won't come by flooding again, rather by fire from heaven itself. Why will God do this? The answer is found in,

Jude 1:14-15 (NLT) "Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Look, the Lord is coming with thousands of his holy ones. 15 He will bring the people of the world to judgment. He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things they have done in rebellion and of all the insults that godless sinners have spoken against him.""

Yes, God who is the landlord of the universe and planet earth, has allowed human beings to live here by His grace and mercy. God gave the terms in a contract called the Bible. He says we can have this planet and live here free of charge, as long as we follow His rules for life, living and relationship to Him as Creator. But the fact is since the very first tenant, Adam and Eve, our humanity has rejected God, and His terms of contract for living in his universe.

As such, God's decree of the "Curse" (Gen. 3:17-19), has fallen on our world and the universe itself. This "Curse" is God's penalty for sin. Thus, every human being, our world, even the universe is dying and wearing out. The very unalterable laws of science affirm this in what is called the LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS.

Yet this "bad news," also has another side to the coin, a positive side! For GOOD NEWS comes with it. We read in,

John 3:16-17 (NLT) ""For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it."

The world God sent Christ to save was not the planet earth, but the people who inhabit it! Sadly, upon Christ's coming to earth, we are told the vast majority of humanity rejected him. Even to this day they do too. In place of believing in the God of Creation revealed in the Bible, mankind has fashioned its own gods, and worships them. From the false religions of the world to the evolutionary philosophies of the universities, man has thumbed his nose at God, the landlord and Creator.

But one day friend know this ¾ God will step in and change all that. Only those who have turned their lives and hearts over to Jesus Christ, and trusted Him alone to save them from their sins by His substitutionary death on the cross ¾ will be saved and given the joy of repopulating the universe for all eternity.

What does it cost for you and me to be the recipient of this? The answer is NOTHING, but your willingness to surrender your heart, mind, will and hope to Jesus Christ.

Doing that, the Bible promises, God saves you, seals you and sets you apart for the glorious day when He comes again to RECLAIM His world for His people, and to evict the ungodly for the day of their judgment.

Friend, right now everyone has a choice. It matters not where you live in the world, how rich or poor you are ¾ Christ died for everyone, including you! If you'll just pause where you are and look up and with spiritual eyes see the face of God in Jesus, you can be saved from your sins and marked out for a life in God's eternity.

That friend is the "GOOD NEWS" GOSPEL of Christianity. Yes, there is no cost to you, for everything was bought and paid for by God through Christ. It matters not if you are in the Dynamist or Stablist camps of explorers in Antarctica, God's in control and there will be no global flood to again destroy the earth. But mark this friend, a day is coming when God will root out and destroy all those who have refused His tender call and rejected His free gift of salvation through His Son's death on a cross. That is what is important. So I ask, where do you stand? Are you an atheist, agnostic, evolutionist, or just plain religious? Then today, right now, bow your knee and look up to Heaven and cry out to God calling upon Jesus Christ to save you, for the Bible says,

Rom 10:9-10 (NLT) "For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved."

It's that simple! May God grant repentance and eternal life to all who are listening, and for those who know Christ, may God give you a soberness of heart to ever more reach out and touch others for Christ. Herein is the lesson of Antarctica!

…It's interesting to see how the labors of evolutionists and other god-denying folks discover new things in the earth that always verify the Bible record. That should be proof to believe God's Word, but alas, men do not deny the Bible for inability to trust it ¾ they only deny it for refusal to accept it and turn away from their own sinful and selfish way of life.

Will there be an ANTARCTIC MELTDOWN coming as some predict? The answer is no! However, our world is not free from the effects and consequences of sin. We can suffer ravaging storms, blistering heat waves, dry seasons, wet seasons and a host of other abnormal weather consequences, but all in all, man will survive until God chooses to break into our world and eject unsaved sinners from His Creation. I hope and pray you will not be one who is so removed.

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 18 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.

For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(wwy@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/