Ken Ham's Blog, page 429

Why Is Reading the Bible So Important?

Each month, we have a different feature on the front page of our website to engage people with important, timely topics. This month's feature covers why reading the Bible is so important.

Many people make New Year's resolutions, and a popular resolution is that of committing to  read through the Bible in a year. Along with making such resolutions, we should also understand the reason why we should read our Bibles. Knowing the importance of reading God's Word will help us remain strong with our commitment to the Lord.

Whether you start reading the Bible at the beginning of the year or in the middle, understanding how the Bible applies to our everyday living is critical in this age filled with spiritual attacks. I encourage you to read the article and watch the video clip from the new feature by going to this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

A Special Donation

This past Thursday, we received a very special letter from a 15-year-old girl named Rachel.

She said, "As a result of watching the DVD sessions called Do Hard Things … with my youth group, I began asking God what I could do for Him, and God gave me the vision to raise $15,000 for 15 different ministries by my 15th birthday.  I launched the project, which I called Operation 15, in June of this year, and my birthday was the end of November.  God has done amazing things in this project, and I ended up raising a little over the amount of $15,000!  The enclosed check is a portion of the money raised through Operation 15.  I am thankful that God has allowed me to be a part in giving to your ministry and I hope and pray that it will be a blessing to you, and those whom you serve.  Have a Very Merry Christmas!  And Happy Birthday to JESUS!"

Rachel further explained the background behind this project:

I have a burden for the persecuted Church worldwide, troubled teens, hurting people, the unborn (and mothers who are considering an abortion), and people who are lost without the Savior.  The Ministry recipients for Operation 15 reflect the burden of my heart.  God gave me a theme verse for this project, which is found in Proverbs 31:8-9.  In the NKJV it says, "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."   The two people groups that I thought of, where it says, "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die …", were the persecuted church and the unborn, who are aborted.  In this project, my goal is to raise awareness and funds for "… the speechless …" and others who are hurting.

The ministries the Lord has blessed through Rachel are:

Voice of the Martyrs; Convoy of Hope; Sox Place; Mission of Mercy; Speed the Light; Teen Challenge; City of Refuge Ministries; Project Rescue; Blood: Water Mission; Samaritan's Purse; Fire Bible; Answers in Genesis; Focus on the Family; Arkansas Valley Pregnancy Center; Care Net.

Rachel also says: "I also love praying for people!!… Jeremiah 33:3  "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

What an example Rachel is to others.  She stepped out to do something big for the Lord, and the Lord blessed her efforts, and as a result has blessed a number of ministries.

Thanks, Rachel, for your stand on the Word of God, and for the sacrifice you have made to help others.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.

Ken

Which Jesus Do You Really Believe In?

Since we just celebrated the birth of Jesus during the Christmas holidays, I thought right now would be a great time to remind you of an excellent message that we recently released on DVD. It features my brother Steve Ham, and he's packed a lot of scripture, new research, and statistics together. I suggest that you may want to rewind the DVD in a couple places to make sure you get the full impact of every sentence. This is one of what I would call our "core" presentations, and it really needs to be understood, because it impacts your view of Jesus. And remember, Jesus is the Word!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1–3)

At our national conference this past summer, Steve challenged everyone to seriously consider "which Jesus" our churches, Christian schools, and we ourselves are telling others about. In this DVD, Christian Unity, Steve shows that today many Christian scholars who identify themselves as theological conservatives and evangelicals are preaching a Jesus different from the Jesus of the Bible. In order to accommodate their personal belief that millions-of-years-evolution is true, they are essentially re-writing major doctrines and accounts in the holy Scriptures from beginning to end. Many no longer believe in a literal Adam and Eve, a literal sin in a literal the Garden of Eden, a literal Ark and Flood, or that the Jesus created the world as recorded in the Old Testament and as He says He did in the New Testament (plus they're pushing lots of other doctrinal changes too!).

Steve shows from John 17 that unity within the true Church was a huge priority to Jesus, and unity around the truth of the clear teaching of Scripture is what Jesus demands of us.

We often hear church leaders today claim that what AiG teaches is divisive, and that we should be preaching unity. But here's the problem. These people who compromise God's Word with evolution and millions of years want unity around man's fallible word, and they create division over what God's Word clearly states. At AiG, we want unity on the clear teaching of God's Word, and we believe there must be division with those who cling to the fallible teaching of man's words and reinterpret the clear teaching of Scripture. Yes we need unity, but it needs to be the right sort of unity!

I also think this DVD really helps to show why the Christian leaders who are re-writing Scripture are so adamantly opposed to believing in a young earth and recent creation, and why their unorthodox new teachings are creating such intense dis-unity in seminaries, Christian colleges, and many churches today. Their impact on the beliefs of college students and even the current generation of new pastors is wreaking havoc.

I urge you to purchase this video!

And if you haven't done so, I urge you to purchase and read Already Gone and Already Compromised. These books detail research into how compromise with evolution and millions of years is infiltrating churches and Christian colleges.

End-of-Year Announcement

I'm thrilled to share that a few AiG supporters have offered to match, dollar-for-dollar, every gift that is made online until December 31—up to $75,000 for AiG and $75,000 for the Ark Encounter—$150,000 in total! As Answers in Genesis and its many outreaches continue to take a bold stand regarding the authority of the Bible, equipping young people and adults to uncompromisingly defend the Christian faith and proclaim the gospel, I ask you to please consider a special year-end gift to AiG and the future Ark Encounter.

Your support of AiG will help fund many life-changing ministries—outreaches God has mightily blessed. And your gift to build a full-scale, evangelistic Noah's Ark (research indicates millions will visit it) will help see that the gospel of Christ is proclaimed even further.

Donate online today, and have your gift doubled.

Also, for information about charitable gift annuities, appreciated stocks, and potentially tax-free IRA rollover gifts (age 70 1/2 and up), please call our Advancement Department at (859) 727-2222 ext. 436.

I thank you for standing with us—and thanks for stopping by, and thanks for praying,

Ken

Sin Is to Blame—Not Evolution!

On December 15, the "Science Meets Religion" website (www.sciencemeetsreligion.org) posted an article about violence in the world. The piece was a reminder that the internet is replete with misinformation, misrepresentations, and outright untruths—as well as a place with lots of truthful information. We always need to be diligent and check out what we read!

I will take just one paragraph from this article on violence to illustrate how untrustworthy the internet can be—see the following paragraph:

Religious fundamentalists generally blame modern science, especially evolution, for our increasingly violent culture. For instance, at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio), one display, warning of the consequences of a scientific worldview, features photos of a nuclear explosion, a collection of skulls from the holocaust, and what may be a photo of a woman undergoing an abortion. Another exhibit in the museum, named "Graffiti Alley," displays news clips about birth control, abortion, divorce, mass murder, stem cells and war. Jerry Bergman of Answers in Genesis, which operates the Creation Museum, specifically blames Darwin's theory of evolution for the Jewish holocaust . . .

I will now go through the paragraph and comment on it.

Religious fundamentalists generally blame modern science, especially evolution, for our increasingly violent culture.

Comment: We at AiG have never blamed "modern science" or "evolution" for the violent culture. Sin is to blame for violence. The whole creation now groans because of sin (Romans 8:22). When people no longer believe in the absolute authority of the Bible, then morality is relative; for example, in the book of Judges, we read, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).  The "evolution connection," if you like, is that the teaching of evolution and millions of years is one of the tools used more than anything else today to get people not to believe the Bible (and thus reject the absolutes of Scripture).

For instance, at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio),

Comment: The writer certainly has not done his homework. The Creation Museum is in northern Kentucky, in the Greater Cincinnati area! Besides, how could Petersburg be a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, (over 250 miles away) when the articles states Petersburg, Kentucky. Incredible sloppiness!

. . . one display, warning of the consequences of a scientific worldview, features photos of a nuclear explosion, a collection of skulls from the holocaust, and what may be a photo of a woman undergoing an abortion.

Comment: The display referred to is in the Cave of Sorrows (the second "C" of the Seven C's in our museum—Corruption). There is no mention of the word "evolution" anywhere in this exhibit. The photos there are solely to illustrate the effects of sin (Corruption—the entrance of sin into the world and the consequences of this). And there is no "photo of a woman undergoing an abortion." The photo is of a woman in child birth, and it is obvious to see that from the photo.

Another exhibit in the museum, named "Graffiti Alley," displays news clips about birth control, abortion, divorce, mass murder, stem cells and war.

Comment: There is no sign about evolution in this exhibit. The entrance to Graffiti Alley has a sign that states, "Scripture abandoned in the culture leads to … relative morality, hopelessness and meaninglessness." (Again, no mention of "evolution.") On the walls, we paste articles from various newspapers and magazines about news of happenings in nations around the world. Now it is possible the word evolution could be in one of the several news articles, but what is pasted on these walls changes over time as we post new articles onto Graffiti Alley. This exhibit is built to illustrate what happens when people do not believe in an absolute authority (i.e., they determine to do what is right in their own eyes).

Jerry Bergman of Answers in Genesis, which operates the Creation Museum, specifically blames Darwin's theory of evolution for the Jewish holocaust . . .

Comment: Well, Jerry Bergman is not employed by Answers in Genesis. He does write books and web articles, and we do sell at least one of his books in the Dragon Hall Bookstore.

One of the most glaring omissions in this article concerns the amount of violence in the world. The article goes on to claim the amount of violence in the world is actually decreasing. Statistics about world wars and other things are given. But one of the greatest (if not the greatest) act of violence that has resulted in millions and millions and millions of deaths is omitted! Yes, millions of children have been brutally murdered in the mother's womb. The National Right to Life states the following concerning just the USA alone (and these stats have not been updated):

"There have been over 48 million abortions since 1973."
"The annual number of abortions went from 744,600 in the first year of legalization, to a high of over 1.6 million in 1990. In 2003, there were 1,287,000."
"There were over 3,500 abortions per day in 2003, 146 per hour, about one every 25 seconds."
"For every 1,000 live births, there were 312 abortions in 2003."
"There were more [than] 148,000 second and third trimester abortions in 2003."
"In 2003, more children died from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars combined."

(These stats were quoted from this link.)

Of course, articles like the one I'm referring to would never want to quote stats on abortion. To do so would be admitting that the more our culture has moved away from God's Word, the more violent it has become!

You can read the entire article at this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

A No-literal-Adam, Evolutionary Christmas "Gospel" Message

I realize that heading is a mouthful! But how my heart ached when I read the Christmas message from a secular newspaper in the UK written by an academic who influences the church to believe in evolution and reject a literal Genesis.  You need to read how this person presents the "gospel." I put the word "gospel" in quotes because the message this man proclaims is not the true gospel the Bible teaches us. It is really an "anti-gospel."

Just before our major creation conference in Malaysia, Dr. Denis Alexander had been in the same area, giving lectures to convince the churches there to believe in evolution and reject Genesis. According to some of our research, Dr. Denis Alexander is the director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund's College, Cambridge, where he is a fellow—he writes, lectures, and broadcasts widely in the field of science and religion. Since 1992, he has been editor of the journal Science & Christian Belief, and he currently serves on the National Committee of Christians in Science and as a member of the International Society for Science and Religion. He also writes for the BioLogos organization (founded by Francis Collins largely to try to convince the church to accept Darwinian evolution).

Dr. Alexander is an ardent believer in evolution and rejects a literal Adam. So here are his own words from this article as he explains the "gospel."

Given the fact of human evolution, here is a good question for Christmas:  if we last shared a common ancestor with the chimps about 5-6 million years ago, and humans have been gradually emerging through a series of hominid intermediates ever since, then why did Jesus die? . . .

The first mention of Adam in the Bible is clearly referring to humankind (Genesis 1:26-27) and the definite article in front of Adam in chapters 2 and 3 – "the man" – suggests a representative man, because in Hebrew the definite article is not used for personal names, with Eve being the representative woman.

The Genesis narrative tells the story of humankind going their way rather than God's way. On the day that Adam and Eve sin, they do not drop dead but proceed to have a big family, albeit now alienated from friendship with God, causing spiritual death. Nowhere does the Bible teach that physical death originates with the sin of Adam, nor that sin is inherited from Adam, as Augustine maintained. But the New Testament does teach that humankind stays true to type – all people sin by their own free will – and Christ dies for the sins of all. Christ is the second Adam who opens up the way back to friendship with God through his sacrifice for sin on the cross. The result is the "at-one-ment" that the first Adam – Everyman – is unable to accomplish by his own efforts.

Evolution's gift is a complex brain that endows humanity with free will, enabling personal moral responsibilities towards our neighbour and towards God. We are not puppets. God's gift at Christmas is forgiveness and new life through Christ for those who realise how far we've fallen from using that free will responsibly.

There are numerous articles on the AiG website that deal with this compromised teaching of people like Denis Alexander. You can certainly do searches on our website to find articles covering the various topics referred to in this article. However, I thought it would be good to just quote some Scriptures, let you be "Bereans," and see if what a fallible human, who accepts the secular religion of evolution and millions of years, writes lines up with God's Word.  There are many other Scriptures I could quote, but the passages below are just a few. Just try to reconcile Denis Alexander's interpretation of Adam (as "Everyman"—"representative man") and his interpretation of Eve (as "representative woman") with the following Scriptures:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)

Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints." (Jude 1:14)

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Timothy 2:13–14)

So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.   And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. . . . And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:20–21, 23)

And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:20–21)

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD." (Genesis 4:1)

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." (Genesis 4:25)

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died. (Genesis 5:3–5)

The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:38)

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (Romans 5:14)

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

You can read the entire article at this link.

Yes, I believe his message is an "anti-gospel" message!

We have enough of a problem with the secular world editing out the message of Christ, let alone someone who is seen to supposedly represent the church write a message like this for the world!  The battle before us as a ministry is a battle with those academics/leaders in the church who are blatantly compromising God's Word with the secular religion of the day.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

A Crowded Day

Over 2,500 people took advantage of the free day at the Creation Museum on Christmas Eve.

As a reminder of the free gift of salvation in Christ, AiG opens the Creation Museum free to the public each Christmas Eve.

Uncovering the Real Nativity

Again this year, as people visit Christmas Town (tonight and then two more nights—see http://creationmuseum.org/christmas/ for details), each visitor is offered a free CD and a free booklet. The booklet is entitled Uncovering the Real Nativity. This booklet dispels some of the inaccurate information about the nativity many Christians have held just because of tradition—rather than what the Bible clearly teaches. This excellent resource also explains the gospel message in detail. You can download a PDF of the booklet at this link.

The following photo is of the manger scene—just one of the events you will find at Christmas Town:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

President of Creationist College Visits Museum with Family

I hope you had a blessed Christmas. With several grandkids in the area, I certainly did!

As a part of a special Christmas reunion, the president of Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin joined several family members here at the Creation Museum last week. Dr. Marty Marriott was in our area especially to spend Christmas with his mother, who lives near Cincinnati (Dr. Marriott's hometown), and several other family members—including a son about to leave for the country of Wales as a missionary.

The following photo is Dr. Marriott with me just outside Noah's Café at the Creation Museum:

The college, which started in 1968 and is now a Bible/liberal arts school, has the following sentence in its statement of faith: "We believe in . . . Six creation days of twenty-four hours each."  This school is on our list of creationist colleges, where schools declare that they agree with the Answers in Genesis statement of faith and thus take a strong stand on biblical authority.

Go to this web page to see Dr. Marriott's speaking schedule, and if you live in any one of these areas, I encourage you to hear Dr. Marriott speak and learn more about MBBC.

The college's general website, which includes a link to MBBC's sister institution (a seminary), is http://www.mbbc.edu/.

Christmas Town—Don't Miss Out

Our special Christmas Town events at the museum continue today and for three additional evenings this week—almost all the activities are free. See http://creationmuseum.org/christmas/.

Don't miss this spectacular, world-class event.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

For Unto Us a Child Is Born

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

One of our favorite devotional readings is Spurgeon's Evening and Morning.

I would like to suggest to you on this Christmas Day, 2011, that you read these two devotionals for this day by Spurgeon. You can also hear the morning devotion and evening devotion in modern English on the AiG website.

December 25 (Morning)

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." —Isaiah 7:14

Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see Him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in Him, and can sing, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance His miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, "The seed of the woman," not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to His human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that He may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note His humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.

December 25 (Evening)

"And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." —Job 1:5

What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is, that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment, but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for our poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting.

Come, believer, in what have you sinned to-day? Have you been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been even as others in idle words and loose speeches? Then confess the sin, and fly to the sacrifice. The sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood of the Lamb slain removes the guilt, and purges away the defilement of our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This is the best ending of a Christmas-day—to wash anew in the cleansing fountain. Believer, come to this sacrifice continually; if it be so good to-night, it is good every night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal priesthood; to them sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair, since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their conscience is purged from dead works.

Gladly I close this festive day,

Grasping the altar's hallow'd horn;

My slips and faults are washed away,

The Lamb has all my trespass borne.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Two Free Offers from AiG

Our friends at Bible Islands have not only created a version of their web-based game for kids that integrates teaching and fun from the Creation Museum, but now they are making a version of this "edutainment" game available free, without a time-limited evaluation period.

Sign up now so your children, grandchildren, and their friends can spend their computer time playing some really redeeming games, instead of getting so caught up in the sort of things that the world pushes at them! It's a secure online environment and Bible Islands reinforces key skills like math, reading, and creative thinking while reinforcing the Bible-based teaching of creation.

You can upgrade to a paid subscription version where even more fun games are available, but this free version is great on its own. Simply click on one of the links above, or go to the Creation Museum website and click the Bible Islands banner at the bottom of the page.  Spread the word!

Creation Museum Free Today

As a reminder of the free gift of salvation, the Creation Museum is open FREE, each Christmas Eve (as it is today) from 10 am to 3 pm.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

To the World He Was Seen as Illegitimate

"He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him" (John 1:10).

This is a guest blog post by AiG board of directors vice-chairman, Tony Biller. Please go to this link to read this great, challenging teaching post about the Babe in a manger.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken