Life Sciences Commons^™

We Need Faithful Farmers, Dale E. Vos

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"A faithful farmer who cares is performing worshipful work."

Posting about the calling of agriculture from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/we-need-faithful-farmers/

A Botanist's Take On The Fruits Of The Spirit, Jeff Ploegstra

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"Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all signs of a vital and thriving relationship with Christ, but at the heart of these fruits lies a seed."

Posting about living out Christ-like virtues from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/a-botanists-take-on-the-fruits-of-the-spirit/

Compass Plant Leaves And Apparent Randomness, Jeff Ploegstra

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"Just because something appears random (and maybe actually is in a very real sense), does not mean that it has no purpose or cannot be shaped into a form."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­God's providence in nature from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/compass-plant-leaves-and-apparent-randomness/

Science For All Christians, Jeff Ploegstra

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"What questions should we endeavor to answer as we work out the relationship between our faith commitments and our scientific insight?"

Posting about a Reformed worldview on the complexities of creation from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/science-for-all-christians/

On Why Design Might Be Detectable, Tony N. Jelsma

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No abstract provided.

A Christian Look At The Biology Of Gender Dysphoria, Tony N. Jelsma

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"We should treat people suffering from gender dysphoria with the dignity, respect, and support that are due anyone created in the image of God, recognizing that their condition may not be resolved in this life."

Posting about the church's response to sexual identity issues from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/a-christian-look-at-the-biology-of-gender-dysphoria/

Perseverance: Psychospiritual And Genetic Perspectives, Tony N. Jelsma, Arielle Johnston, Bruce Vermeer

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Perseverance constitutes a quality that motivates humankind to press onward usually in the face of significant adversity and resistance. Perseverance is also important in the Christian life. The apostle Paul, using athletic training metaphors, frequently urges his readers to persevere in the faith, even describing his own life as a fight and a race (2 Tim.4:7). Yet, certain groups of people seem to possess a greater measure of perseverance than others have. We are therefore led to ask, “Can our ability to persevere be, in God’s providence, at least partly genetically influenced?”

Reclaiming A Biblical View For Agriculture, Wayne A. Kobes

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"A study of modern approaches to the Christian mission reveals a longstanding debate between an evangelical approach that advocates a 'word' ministry and an ecumenical view that argues for a 'deed' emphasis."

Posting about agricultural mission work from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/reclaiming-a-biblical-view-for-agriculture/

Social Principles Of Good Agriculture, Ronald Vos

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"If Christians are to live out their lives before the face of God, where should they look for guiding principles in how to conduct agriculture?"

Posting about ­­­­­­­­transformation in the field of agriculture from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/social-principles-of-good-agriculture/

Systematic Errors In Intro Lab Video Analysis, John Zwart, Kayt E. Frisch, Tim Martin

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In video analysis lab experiments, students frequently find large discrepancies between results based on self-filmed videos and expected values (e.g. for g determined by a fit to projectile motion data). These differences are frequently far larger than the uncertainty calculated from their fit. Using an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera with a 4x optical zoom to record video, we investigated two possible causes of this error: the effect of placing the reference meter stick at a different object-to-camera distance and the effect of the motion of interest being in a plane not perpendicular to the camera lens. When we observed these phenomena …

Playing God, Jeff Ploegstra

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"Technically speaking, animals and plants that we have selectively bred are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)."

Posting about the benefits and dangers of genetic modification from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/playing-god/

God, Human Nature, And Psychology, Mark Christians

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"God created humans to think, act, and feel and to be in relationship with other humans."

Posting about exploring the many realms of human expression­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/god-human-nature-and-psychology/

Positioning Your Farm Business In Challenging Times: Strategies From Those In The Trenches With You, Joe Hibma, Don Oostenink, Lowell Wilson, Dick Joerger

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No abstract provided.

Creation As Art, Jeff Ploegstra

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"If we consider God an artist, we should study His technique, the elements of balance, proportion, repetition, and variation in what He has made."

Posting about experiencing God through interacting with nature from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

Reformed Approach To The Interactions Of Science And Religion (Cont'd), Tony N. Jelsma

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"The relationship between faith and science is not just a scientific or theological topic."

Posting about conflicts between science and religion from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/a-reformed-approach-to-the-interactions-of-science-and-religion-contd/

Reformed Approach To The Interactions Of Science And Religion, Tony N. Jelsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Sometimes, despite our best theological and scientific study, religion and science still seem to be in conflict."

Posting about the interactions between religion and science from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/a-reformed-approach-to-the-interactions-of-science-and-religion

Native, Jeff Ploegstra

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"Native as a noun and an adjective. How and where do you belong?"

Posting about what it means to be "native" from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/native/

Genetic Diversity Of Asclepias Tuberosa In Iowa Prairies, Jeff Ploegstra, Michelle Alkema, Kayla Graves, Brittany De Ruyter, Tony N. Jelsma

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Reduced population size can result in the loss of genetic diversity, which in turn can make organisms more susceptible to environmental challenges. In Iowa less than one percent of the original tallgrass prairie remains, isolated in a few remnant prairies. We are undertaking a long term project to assess the genetic variability in native prairie plants on remnant prairies in Northwest Iowa. We are testing six microsatellite sequences for butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) from the Steele Prairie State Preserve, Broken Kettle Grasslands, a private prairie near Cherokee IA, a prairie restoration project on the Dordt College campus and populations from …

I Was Hungry And You Gave Me Food, Ronald Vos

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The author begins by defining the concepts of worldview and describes the impact of three common worldviews on the issue of agriculture and holistic development. He then explains a view of reality consistent with God's revelation in Scripture but too often ignored by Christians. Lastly, he gives practical examples and identifies some implications of the worldview for agriculture, hunger, and water.