Ken Ham's Blog, page 443

All-Asian Conference

We are thrilled that AiG is sponsoring the All-Asian Creation Apologetics Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this November. You can actually come early as a tourist and make it a "creation vacation." We have two different brochures—one to advertise to people in the USA.

And one to advertise in Asia (and Australia).

The Asian brochure has been sent to over 20 countries.

Australians can register online. (They need to purchase their own flights.) The price for the tour, hotel, and conference is $1,250 per person (November 11–17).

The price for the hotel and conference is $250 per person (November 15–17).  The price for just the conference—no hotel—is $50 per person.

Rain Forest—An Exotic AiG Adventure

The following is what I have been told about this remarkable rain forest—an excursion available to those who attend the All-Asian Creation Conference:

Considered by many to be the most exotic and diverse rain forest in the world is the Taman Negara Rain Forest in Malaysia.  Those who attend the All Asian Creation Conference (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November  9–18, 2011) will be taken by coach directly into the Rain Forest  and will spend two nights at the Rain Forest Resort.

The park has been developed into a famous ecotourism destination in Malaysia. Creationists will marvel at God's creative skills as they witness the diversity of the forest and see various geological and biological attractions in the park.  Gunung Tahan is the highest point of the Malay Peninsula; climbers can use Kuala Tahan or Merapoh as their departure point. Taman Negara is the home of such rare mammals  as the Malayan Tiger, Crab-eating macaque, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Great Argus, Red Junglefowl, Malayan Gaur (seladang), and the Asian Elephant.  Among the birdlife, the rare Malayan Peacock-pheasant is still found in some numbers.  Tahan River has been preserved to protect the Malaysian mahseer (ikankelahin Malay), a type of game fish.

Others attractions found near Kuala Tahan (park headquarters for Pahang) include a canopy walkway, GuaTelinga (cave system), and LataBerkoh (rapid). Visitors can enjoy the tropical rain forest, birdwatching, or jungle trekking (e.g., Tenor Rentis), and the river views along the Tahan River.

Please check out the resort at http://www.rainforest-tamannegara.com/.

Each person can choose activities according to personal interest and ability.  Just being at the resort places each visitor in the rain forest with all its sights and sounds.  Christians will want to sing "How Great Thou Art" when viewing this amazing part of God's Creation.

Sign up today for this amazing and once-in-a-lifetime AiG exotic adventure and creation conference.

See sign up information and details at www.answersworldwide.org/aacc.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Another Baseball Player Visits the Museum

In the past four years we have been open, the Creation Museum has welcomed many professional baseball players (and from time to time we have an NFL football player come by).

The reason I'm mentioning pitcher Ricky Stone to you (he played for several years for a few baseball teams in the past decade) is that he is known in our Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area for having a wonderful Christian testimony. To find out how he is using his cancer battle—and now his wife, Tracey, is struggling with cancer herself—as a way to share the gospel, you can read this Cincinnati Enquirer article that appeared earlier this summer.

Ricky and Tracey toured the museum recently with their two children. They were here as the guests of our adjunct speaker, Mike Riddle and his wife Lesley.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Back to School with Buddy and Ken

This month, Buddy Davis and I are doing special "Back to School" programs at the Creation Museum.  We are giving presentations (including Buddy's music) for children and teens to equip them to defend the Christian faith and be able to recognize the false secular teaching of evolution and millions of years.

Here are some photographs taken in our new "Legacy Hall" during the presentations and then afterwards at the "meet and greet."

Make sure you come to the Creation Museum this month for our special "Back to School" programs.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Faith Strengthened, Confirmed, and Affirmed

We do receive much positive feedback from those who visit the Creation Museum—and from time to time I like to include some of these in my blog for your encouragement. I received the following feedback this past week:

The trip to the Museum has been one of the major highlights in my . . . life.  I can't speak for the others in my family, but from their comments, their reaction to the tour and the presentations was very positive. I am praying that my two grandsons . . . will carry the images of the Creation Museum in their minds for the rest of their lives, remembering that Genesis 1-11 are crucial to our faith. Needless to say, I went into the Museum with the young earth belief and a solid faith  in  the Genesis account of creation.  But I emerge from the Museum with my faith being strengthened, confirmed, and affirmed. The evidence for the young earth seems to be in my estimation after viewing the program growing and accumulating..

I am extremely grateful  that God has used [AiG] to put together this marvelous Museum.  People are literally immersed in God Word from the onset and throughout the entire course. Scripture is everywhere and the best part is that people are reading these verses. I am sure that many of these people are extremely deficient in their knowledge of the Bible, but after going through the Museum, they have definitely been exposed to the wonderful and marvelous gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that there will be many in Heaven because of their jouney through the Creation Museum. God receives all the glory and the honor for what  this Museum accomplishes, not Ken or anyone else. That is another message that comes through  loud and clear.

Make sure you plan your visit (or return visit) to the Creation Museum. Go to the Creation Museum website for information.

Where to Spend Your Honeymoon?

Why, at the Creation Museum of course! Here is a photo of a couple I met today who came to the Creation Museum for their honeymoon!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Bible Islands Children

Children love computers and colorful computer-based games, but I've found that the standard games—even those rated as "family friendly" by secular groups—leave a lot to be desired! They're filled with all kinds of teaching that Christian parents don't want their children seeing over and over again.

When our speakers and other staff are in the field, and here in our museum book shop, we constantly have people telling us they wish their kids or grandkids had a truly safe place to "play" online. Christians want a place that is fun for children—from preschool through gradeschool—and that mixes fun games with Bible-based education.

With all that in mind, I was really pleased when a group approached us earlier this year, asking AiG to provide content for a new online game environment they had developed.

I am happy to tell you now that good friends of Answers in Genesis—an Israel-based computer game company—have just released a special version of their "interactive Bible Islands edutainment world." The special co-branded version of Bible Islands (which has a special Creation Museum component) includes not only lots of great games for youngsters, but now also a very special child-friendly section with videos about the days of creation directly from our Creation Museum!

The plan is that the Creation Museum section will be added to as time goes on, but as of now the big first phase is up and ready. You can get a free seven-day play pass for unlimited access to Bible Islands. There's nothing else like this anywhere that combines great games with solid creation and Bible teaching! And what a great time to let your kids start "playing" on the site—while they have extra time during the last weeks of summer.

How to get your seven-day free play pass:

Just go to the Bible Islands website and click on "Play Now." On your first visit, a parent or grandparent will be required to set up an account that will cover all the kids in your family. It's easy and takes only a few minutes, and with a special password you choose, you'll be able to monitor the activities of your children, set up protected email accounts for use with others in the Bible Islands environment only, and more. (Note: No "offer code" is required. Just leave that blank.)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

What Does "Indirect Quote" Mean?

Well apparently, since I have never heard them before, the words "indirect quote" must mean something like, "When someone misrepresents another person and claims it is a direct quote from the person maligned, and then when the falsity of what has been written is exposed, the accuser then claims it is an 'indirect quote.'" Let me explain.

"Indirect quote"—well, there is no such thing as an "indirect quote" as far as I can tell. It is just the way a blogger has tried to defend his false claim and not admit wrong! Here's what happened:

Recently a Catholic blogger on an independent website for Roman Catholics took a swipe at the Creation Museum and me personally.  (I have the link to his blog post at the end of this item.)  He stated the following:

We're even slipping backwards. A 2008 CBS poll showed most Americans don't accept science's theory of evolution. Fifty-one percent say God created humans in their present form in a day.

A "Creation Museum" opened that same year in Kentucky, costing $27 million to build, sitting on 49 acres. The nonprofit ministry that built the museum, Answers in Genesis, claims the entire universe, with its hundreds of billions of galaxies, was created in six days 6,000 years ago, and that "fact" serves as the guiding principle for the museum. Founder Ken Ham said, "The conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted, as they are biased by the fickle reasoning of humans and a modern antagonism toward faith."

So I am accused of making a statement—one that is put in quote marks as a direct quote from me. But I would never say, "The conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted . . . ."  Modern science has provided us with great technology. Where on earth could this blogger find such a supposed "quote" from me?

Well, we did a bit of digging. We found that the mention of the Creation Museum and me is virtually the same wording as his first posting in October 2008. Apparently Mr. Rich Heffern (the blogger) had lifted the so-called quote of me from a May 2007 Salon article by Gordy Slack. Now, Mr. Slack did not quote me directly, but just misrepresented my views as discounting the findings of science. That in itself is a cheap tactic on Slack's part. Then Heffern turned it into an actual quote from me and has now used it twice in that way. Is this dishonesty or sloppiness? I guess it's easier to reuse the same stuff from three years earlier and use a careless swipe from another writer that totally misrepresents me and then claim it is a direct quote! So sad to see the lack of integrity in the writings of such people.

Now Mark Looy of our staff submitted a comment to this blogger challenging him in regard to his supposed quote of me. Mark's comment was posted as follows:

Submitted by Mark Looy (not verified) on Aug. 08, 2011.

Curious about the quote you attributed to Ken Ham: "The conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted, as they are biased by the fickle reasoning of humans and a modern antagonism toward faith." These can't be his words — Ken would never make such a blanket comment about modern science. Is this perhaps someone else's summary of what they think Ken believes? If so, please correct the blog. Thank you. Mark

The blogger did not change his blog post (not at the date of posting this blog anyway), but posted a comment to respond to Mark's question—defending himself by stating the following:

Submitted by Rich Heffern on Aug. 09, 2011.

It's an indirect quote from an article on Salon.com that appeared in 2007. Here's the entire paragraph:

"The Book of Genesis, that famous first chapter of the Bible, which Ham's group has interpreted to claim that the universe was created in six 24-hour days a mere 6,000 years ago, serves as the blueprint for the museum. Astronomy, geology and evolution, as they are commonly understood in mainstream science, have no place here. As Ham later tells me, the conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted, as they are biased by the fickle reasoning of man and a modern antagonism toward faith. On the other hand, he says, the Book of Genesis is true 'from the first word to the last.'"

The article is by Gordy Slack.

This blogger needs to admit his wrongdoing and correct his blog post (as of the date of the posting of this blog post, this has not been done). What a ridiculous claim that it is an "indirect quote."

However, we are used to being maligned, misquoted, misrepresented, and lied about on many blogs—what a mess of misinformation there is out there!

I wanted to write this blog post just as another warning to everyone to be careful about accepting what is written in the blogosphere.

For more information, you can read the 2007 Salon article, the Heffern's latest blog post, and the Heffern's old 2008 book review.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

282 and Counting!

You have probably heard us say that almost two thirds of Americans can drive to our Creation Museum in one day—about 190 million people live within 650 miles of our northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area. So we are not surprised to see so many different states represented at the museum on a given day; in fact, on opening day in May of 2007, our staff counted 38 different state license plates in the parking lot!

What has been somewhat surprising is the number of groups that travel some distance to the museum and also stay overnight in the area. (Just over 50 percent of museum guests are staying in a local hotel!) Our good ministry friend, Marc Jacobs of Pittsburgh (which is a five to six hour drive away), has brought many groups here over the years, and last Friday arrived with 28 more people. He's now hosted 282 people from the Pittsburgh area in four years!

Marc sent us the following encouraging email on Monday:

We had another incredible visit. I had people approaching me all day Sunday at church thanking me for arranging the trip and expressing an excitement over their enhanced perception of the world around us. They all mentioned the need to return very soon due to information overload. 

Here are two photos of Marc sharing some of the museum highlights with some in his party.

If you are a five-to-six-hour drive (or less) from the Creation Museum, please don't think there aren't people in your church who are willing to travel here—and will help pay for the costs of renting a bus or van and stay overnight at one of the fine hotels in the area. Some groups that might be coming from less than a five-hour drive away are leaving early in the morning, spending several hours here, and then getting home that evening.

Why not talk to your pastor about organizing a trip to the Creation Museum so that you can help him build up the faith of your congregation (especially young people who are leaving the church in droves when they are in their 20s, as we discuss in the book Already Gone)? A trip to the museum will not only give your group more confidence in the authority of God's Word, but will increase their boldness as they share their faith with family and friends in your community.

To arrange a group tour of the Creation Museum (by the way, our summer crowds will be gone soon, and you'll have more room to roam around), go to the groups page on the Creation Museum website.

Hundreds More Young People Reached

It was thrilling yesterday to be able to speak to many hundreds of children and teens at two special school assemblies at First Baptist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana.  I praise the Lord for the large numbers of young people who flock to our conferences across the nation.  We are raising up generations of young people who want to boldly stand on the authority of the Word of God.

Here are some photographs of the Bossier City event.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Bossier City

Here are some photographs taken yesterday as Dr. Gary Parker and I spoke at First Baptist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. Total attendance yesterday was around 2,800.

First Baptist Church

A photograph taken during the incredible 10-minute church production illustrating Genesis 1—and just before I spoke

Taken during one of the morning services

Senior Pastor, Dr. Fred Lowery, and I

Resource tables in the lobby

One of our young fans

Dr. Gary Parker presenting "Genes and Genesis"

We continue speaking today in Louisiana. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Where Was the Garden of Eden?

I was interested to read a Wall Street Journal review (Saturday's edition, page C-6) of a book that deals with the topic of the Garden of Eden. One of the reasons I was interested in this review was because it began by mentioning the Creation Museum:

In the United States, the gulf between biological empiricism and biblical literalism has barely narrowed since the 1925 Scopes Trial, and there seems to be little hope of ever closing it. One of the largest of our many creationist museums, in which Adam and Eve can be found frolicking near dinosaurs on a planet 6,000 years young, opened only four years ago in Petersburg, Ky. Against such a backdrop, it is hard to imagine a person searching for the actual location of the Garden of Eden as anything other than a player in a tired, politicized game.

The review discusses various ideas regarding the location of the Garden of Eden, and then ends with this:

As Ms. Wilensky-Lanford's story moves into the present, she notices today's young-earth creationists reluctant to identify a geographic Eden, despite their stridency about the rest of the physical world. Ms. Wilensky-Lanford finds the nonspecific Edens in the creation museums disappointing compared with her subjects' idiosyncratic ones, which, though far-fetched, "represented possibility," she writes, and a hope for a better world. It's easy to share her sense that a vague, generic Eden is no Eden at all.

Now it is true that nowhere in the Creation Museum do we suggest a location for the Garden of Eden. And why? Well, as we have written for years (and as this author should have researched), we would have absolutely no idea where the Garden of Eden was located because the whole earth was totally destroyed by the devastating worldwide flood of Noah's day.

We have a number of articles on our website for both children and adults dealing with this topic and explaining a number of reasons as to why we could not locate the geographical position of the Garden of Eden in today's post-Flood world.

For instance, you can read articles such as Was the Garden of Eden located in Iraq? and Where is the Garden of Eden?—or listen to this short audio clip.

Children who have read the Kids Answers section of our Answers magazine know that we cannot locate the Garden of Eden today. It's a shame this author didn't do her homework and explain why one cannot locate this Garden today.  I suspect, though, that this author wouldn't accept such an obvious explanation based on taking Genesis as literal history—to do so would be to admit that the Bible's account of history in Genesis is true!

You can read the entire review.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken

Just a Tiny Hint of the Ark Encounter Experience

It was just a tiny taste of what is to come at our future Ark Encounter, but animal trainer Dan Breeding gave a fascinating preview of one of his live animal programs in our new Legacy Hall auditorium at the Creation Museum this week.  Imagine numerous programs like this with many different animals as a part of the Ark Encounter experience when the attraction opens, Lord-willing, in 2014—featuring a full-size Noah's Ark!  Of course people just LOVED the program by Dan—and it is all from a biblical worldview perspective, of course.

Here are some photographs taken as Dan Breeding enthralled the audience with his captivating program:

To find out more about the Ark Encounter project, go to:  ArkEncounter.com

Speaking with Dr. Gary Parker in Louisiana on Sunday & Monday

Beginning tomorrow and through Monday evening, Dr. Gary Parker and I will be speaking in Bossier City, Louisiana—for details, go to:

www.AnswersInGenesis.org/outreach/event/6980/

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken