Hi Tracy (please see in-line...)
>Hi Jim,
>
>Both are beliefs and not based entirely on proven facts. Neither belief corresponds to any actual perceivable, observable, or verifiable tangible evidence. Each person basically has to decide for themselves which to believe.

I will give you that almost. Seems to me that there really is no arguing/discussing when it comes to Creationism. It is the word of God and so cannot be questioned. Sad part is that except for a very few simple things I think the theories could easily get along.

>
>I lean toward the theory of evolution myself. However, a problem with it is the lack of fossil records for the hypothetical intermediate species which must have appeared and disappeared so quickly that no fossils were left. Also, I believe that scientists have failed to prove with experiments that mutations have positive results and cause a step in the evolution ladder (a requirement for the evolution theory). Just the opposite has occurred in fact, right? So far testing has only proven that mutations have negative reactions.

I don't think, in general, that it is a sudden major mutation that is being talked about here. Using the woodpecker discussed earlier, suppose that a mutation made ONE of their beak/neck/skull a little thicker. This ONE could now get food where most of its cousins couldn't. This ONE has chicks, half of which have the same mutation. And those chicks have chicks, etc. Now comes a time when there is s drought, and the easy pickin insects aren't around any more. But there are still lots in the more protected environment of the trees and under the bark. Only the offspring of the ONE could get at that food and so survive until the drought ended.
I do believe it's little mutations that eventually show to have some form of payoff that evolution is all about.

>
>Still the possibility of the worlds simply appearing out of nothingness requires a huge leap of faith... :o)

I fully agree. My brand of faith allows that there was a creator. Just that he went about it differently than those other guys believe.

cheers