"HOW THE DINOSAURS BECAME EXTINCT"

  Once upon a time, long long ago, dinosaurs ruled the
world.  There was no other force on earth, and certainly no
other creature on earth,  with anything near the dominant
position of the dinosaur.

  Now, of course, all the dinosaurs are gone, and many
theories have been advanced about the cause of their
demise.

  I know why they disappeared, but before telling you that, I
think it would be well for us to remind ourselves that
dinosaurs were very territorial beasts.

  There were the Methodasaureses and they had their place,
as did the Baptisaureses and the Brethrenasaureses.  There
were also Luthersaureses and Wesleysaureses and
Graceasuareses and Presbyterasaureses and many others,
too numerous to mention.

  While they had different names, they were all dinosaurs
and although they did many things differently and would
often fight between themselves, as a group they were the
most influential creatures in existence at the time.

  Some scientists have suggested that a very large meteor
hit planet Earth with the result being a dust cloud that
changed the weather and froze the dinosaurs out.  Scientists
making that suggestion seem little bothered by the fact that
no evidence has been located to substantiate that such an
event happened.

  And actually the answer is much simpler.

Lost Appetite

  You see, there was a time when all the dinosaurs
understood their  reason for existing and their life had
purpose.  They had to struggle to survive but they were
happy in their labors.

  After years, however, when the dinosaurs began to
dominate, quite a few of them became comfortable, even
sedentary.  There were no battles to fight, no worlds to
conquer: the dinosaurs were in charge.

  Apathy ran ramoant in the ranks, with the result that many
became lethargic and listless and even lost their appetite.

  Now, it is a little known fact that dinosaurs only ate three
or four times a week.  Most of them would have a meal
Sunday morning, another tidbit Sunday night, and then they
would go without food until their midweek meal on
Wednesday night.


Nutrient-Free Snacks

  One day-nobody really knows why-the dinosaurs began
skipping their midweek meal.  Others changed their diet
from meat an strong meat to light foods lacking nutrition. 
Some did not eat from one week to the next, although those
samee dinosaurs generally kept food with them at all times,
usually in a zipper carying case.

  Most of the dinosaurs were social beast, in that they did
get along and prosper with their own particular species, but
when they gotaway from their proper diet, mysteriously
they seemed to enjoy each other's company less and less.

  With their total numbers slipping, the different species
tried to cross territorial lines and join together.  They
fromed councils and associations and alliances in an
attempt to regain the strenght that comes from numbers.

  Pentasaureses and Romesaureses and Baptisaureses and
Orthodoxasaureses even signed agreements to share meals,
but lo and behold some were vegetarians, some had a water
diet, some ate only fish and some desired sincere milk. 
Some were not even true dinosaurs but were actually
lizards and dragons pretending to fit in.

  It turned out that in order to unite, none of them would be
allowed the diet that best suited them. Intead they were
required to eat a mixture of all the different diets, and
watered down at that, so they all got sick and died.

  And now they are all gone: they starved themselves to
death because they forgot their reason for living and
forsook their necessary food.

  Now, the really brave snd bold dinosaurs of every species
are best remembered in old books, in dinosaur history, and
some have been totally forgotten.

Capable of Cloning 

  Upon visiting a dinosaur muesum one Sunday, a young
child said "Wouldn't it be great if some DNA from one of
those old fellows could be used to  recreate the species? 
Wouldn't it be exciting to see those great dinosaurs of te
past rules the earth again today?"

  The museum curator was old enough that he could
remember some of the last of the dinosaurs, and the very
thought of a return to those glorious days brought a tear to
his eyes.

  "Oh, but they can, my child," the old man said with a
quiver in his raspy voice.

  "But how?"  asked the child.

  "The answer is in this book, "the curator said.

  "Not that old dumb thing, "the youth scoffed, "nobody
reads that anymore."

  And the entire conversation was lost in the short attention
span of modern relationships.

   The child ran off, no doubt late for the church youth
group meeting.  "And faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God." (Rom 10:17)