Word for the month of July

JURASSIC PARK BECOMES REALITY

Shalom, to you my Friend and Co-Minister in the Great Commission...
   In 1990, science fiction writer Michael Crichton wrote a novel about a zoological park that employed genetic engineering to bring back extinct dinosaurs from the dead.
   Now thirty-five years later, in 2025, scientists announced they had, in fact, brought back an extinct species from the dead. They called them Romulus and Remus after the legendary twin brothers who founded the city of Rome. They were wolves of a different kind. They typically grow up to 6 feet long and weighed 150 pounds. But what is most unique about them is that they have reportedly not been seen on earth for thousands of years. They are the sole example on earth of dire wolves.
   They managed the resurrection through a process which echoed that described in Jurassic Park. Using an ancient tooth and a bone lent to them by museums, they extracted the DNA of the dire wolf. Then, by studying the DNA, they made 20 edits in 14 genes from the common gray wolf. Those edits produced a larger size, with more powerful shoulders, larger teeth and jaws, and a white coat. And then, by using domestic dogs to serve as surrogate mothers, they brought the extinct creature back to life.
   According to the company that performed the resurrection, Colossal Biosciences, the bringing back of the dire wolf is only the beginning. They now plan on resurrecting the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger. Already in March of 2025, Colossal announced that they had merged the DNA of the mammoth with that of a mouse to create a woolly mouse.
   What will be the result of the reviving and altering of animal life? The story of Jurassic Park is a cautionary tale. The experiment goes horribly wrong. The de-extincted creatures defy containment. They break out of the parameters set for them. The truth is, scientists have no idea what will happen. And all this happening at a time when more and more questions have arisen as to the possibility that COVID was the accidental creation of the viral lab in Wuhan, China.
   To alter the genetic code is to play God. To use scientific means to bring back what was dead is to play Frankenstein. Either way, it doesn't end well. Such things belong to the end times. But for we who are believers, the end times are not times of fear but of ushering in the coming of the Lord. Let us be even bolder in proclaiming the Gospel of Life to all who will hear it, that the dead around us might be given true life by the power of Messiah. And may God greatly bless you as you do!

Your brother and co-laborer
in His love and service,


Jonathan