Ken Ham's Blog, page 469

Coming Soon—Christmas Town

It begins December 10!

The Creation Museum is making preparations for our annual Christmas celebration, called Christmas Town. It starts Friday evening of next week (December 10), and for several other evenings through the month and early January. We'll be celebrating the events surrounding Christ's birth.

The outside events (except for the camel rides) are free, and many of the inside activities are free.

Here are photos of just a little of our preparations:

Featuring a free live nativity, dazzling lights, live dramas, and Bethlehem, Christmas Town is becoming an annual tradition for families all across the region.

Here is a news release we sent to the media recently about Christmas Town—it offers more details:

"Christmas Town" at the Creation Museum:

Celebrate the Holiday with a Live Nativity, Dramatic Actors, and a First-Century Re-Creation of Bethlehem

PETERSBURG, KY., November 26, 2009 — The Creation Museum is gearing up for another season of presenting the true meaning of Christmas through a live nativity display on the museum's highly-decorated grounds. "Christmas Town" will provide a glimpse of the amazing events surrounding the wonder of Christ's birth through a nativity presentation, dazzling lights, and live dramas. Christmas Town has become an annual tradition for families in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. (17,000 visitors came in 2009)

Dramatic presentations include:

1. The story of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and the joy she felt when she was told she would bear a child of promise;

2. The temply guard, Hyam, whose life was transformed from shame to hope with his search for the "child born King of the Jews;" and

3. The Magi, wise men who will share how and why they followed the star.

The museum's gardens will be transformed into a "Garden of Lights" featuring a breathtaking display of more than 60,000 Christmas lights. A first-century marketplace will make it easy to gather last minute Christmas gifts and souvenirs, from authentic oil lamps and pottery to handmade scarves, hats, toys and baskets.

In addition, the museum's acclaimed planetarium will present its special program, "The Christmas Star," about the mysterious star in the east that heralded the birth of Jesus and guided the wise men to Him. Next door, "Noah's Cafe" will serve beverages and snacks.

"Christmas Town is open 6-8 p.m. ET, Dec. 10, 11, 17, 18, 27, 28, 31 and Jan. 1, and all outdoor events (except for the camel rides) are free and open to the public. More information about these special Christmas events, plus details on purchasing tickets for the planetarium and the Creation Museum, can be found at www.creationmuseum.org or by calling (888) 582-4253. The museum itself will be open free on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., as a Christmas gift and a "thank you" to the community for another great year at the museum.

Answers in Genesis is a biblical apologetics ministry which conducts more than 250 teaching meetings each year, hosts an award-winning website, and produces "Answers" radio program heard on more than 600 stations throughout the world. It is the parent ministry of the high-tech Creation Museum which opened to international acclaim on Memorial Day 2007, and has attracted more than 1.2 million visitors since then. For more information, see www.creationmuseumnews.com.

In addition, see http://creationmuseum.org/christmas/.

Governor Announces Ark Project

Also, take a look at today's main web article, with a report on Kentucky's Governor Steven Beshear making the announcement Wednesday of AiG building a full-scale Noah's Ark in northern Kentucky.

Speaking This Sunday

This Sunday, I will be speaking at a church in the Brisbane (Queensland) area—at the morning service, and then giving two presentations in the evening.

I encourage those in Australia who know people in the Brisbane area to send the information about these meetings to them. You can obtain the details on the event page.

This is the only time I will be speaking in Australia this year.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The Big Announcement

For today's blog post, I am linking to a news release that is now up on the AiG website, which was distributed to media nationwide today. The news release announces a major decision by AiG regarding something very special for the future. The governor of our state, Gov. Steve Beshear, made the public announcement as the news release was sent out.

Please go to AiG's lead article for the big announcement.

Over the next few days, I will continue to link to other special web articles concerning this big announcement.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Evangelicals Compromising with Evolution

The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is made up of evangelical seminary and Christian college professors and others with advanced degrees in theology. The ETS annual meeting attracts over 2,500 people (ETS members along with pastors and other Christian leaders). Dr. Terry Mortenson of our staff has attended many times and is a leader within the ETS Creation Fellowship, a group of ETS members who are young-earth creationists. He filed this report with me (and posted it on his blog) after attending the annual ETS conference recently:

The ETS annual meeting in mid-November in Atlanta was, as usual, a mixture of joy and sadness. On the encouraging side, 35 people attended our private ETS Creation Fellowship meeting—the most that have ever attended. We had very good discussions about the growing compromise with evolution at ETS and our need to speak out more against it through papers. We also found four or five men who will likely come on our by-invitation-only Grand Canyon trip next summer for seminary and Christian college professors and other key Christian leaders. We now have 11 "yes" replies, so there are only 13 more seats to fill.

Before the first plenary session, a few other young-earth creationists and I placed on the chairs about 2,000 copies of a leaflet that drew people's attention to a young-earth creation geologist's refutation of an article by old-earth geologists. We also encouraged the theologians to purchase and read our book Coming to Grips with Genesis, which is a defense of young-earth creationism at a level that can be used in seminary but is also understandable to serious-minded lay people. If you haven't read Dr. Reed's excellent critique, I would strongly encourage you to do so. We did sell about 30 copies of this book, including to two men manning the booths of two other organizations. One of those men was a young seminary student who attends a prominent seminary that is compromised with millions of years.

At the presidential banquet, a young pastor at our table recognized me and told me how much AiG has been such a blessing to him and his church. We had a great conversation, and it is possible that I may be able to speak at his church next spring when I am in his city for another meeting. The out-going president of ETS this year is a young-earth Old Testament professor; his presidential address was excellent and gently defended the truth of Genesis 1–11. I thanked him afterward and offered to send him a copy of my book, The Great Turning Point, as it would complement some of the historical points he made in his paper. He said he would be delighted to read it.

On the discouraging side was the evidence of a growing rejection of the truth of Genesis. In our Creation Consultation sessions (which are required to represent all views), Dr. Bruce Waltke presented what I would say was a very poorly reasoned paper defending theistic evolution. He very clearly stated that he is "trying to go along with mainstream science as much as possible." And that is the very heart of the problem. The evolutionist majority view in the scientific world is hostile to Christ and His Word, and the evolutionary stories about the past are being believed and used to distort and deny the clear teaching of God's Word.

Dr. Waltke also indicated that in a survey of evangelical seminary professors he conducted last year, about 45% said they would have no biblical objections to the acceptance of theistic evolution. Evidently a good number of the 250 people attending the session where his paper was presented were in agreement, though some others were also strongly opposed. Of course, mainstream science says that virgins don't have babies and dead men don't rise from the dead. So Dr. Waltke and other theistic evolutionists are being grossly inconsistent when they believe in the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus but deny the literal historical truth of Genesis 1–11.

This year, a new group had a booth at ETS. It was manned by three PhD geologists advocating millions of years. One of them has come to several of my seminars in the past. At the last one in Norman, Oklahoma, he talked to the pastor and tried to set up an appointment later to talk to him and counter what I had taught at the seminar. He came to our AiG booth and said he wanted to talk to me, which frankly I really didn't want to do. In the past, I have had face-to-face conversations with him and several email exchanges.

While he says on his business card that he believes in the inspiration and authority of Scripture, it is obvious that he really doesn't. Rather, "science" (especially radiometric dating methods) is his final authority. I challenged him in my last email to him some months ago and again at the ETS meeting to show me from Scripture that the Flood of Noah was localized in the Mesopotamian Valley and that millions of years of death, violence, disease, and extinction in the animal world occurred before Adam (as he believes). He never answered my email, and at ETS he tried to evade the challenge and said that he was not a Hebrew scholar. But I told him that is no excuse and repeated my challenge. He never even attempted to give an answer. So I told him he really doesn't believe God's Word.

So the battle for truth rages. While AiG and the Creation Museum are reaching many kids, adults, and pastors with the truth of Genesis and apologetic resources to equip them to defend the truth, the "tribe of the intellectuals" (evangelical theologians) is much harder to reach.

Terry

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

College Conversion!

It's typical for secular universities to close their doors to our PhD scientists for lectures, and 99% of the time, evolutionists refuse to debate them. But every once in a while, a Christian group on campus will secure a room so that we can bring in a speaker. Our astrophysicist, Dr. Jason Lisle, spoke on the campus of Clemson University in South Carolina recently, and one of the talk's sponsors sent us this follow-up report:

The Clemson University event with Jason Lisle went well and we are especially thankful for the turnout. By our best estimation we had 750 out that night and as you well know the gospel was clearly presented. The auditorium we secured seated 850 and it was almost full. This is quite a testimony to the Lord working through many people for us to have the turnout we had. Thank you for your part in suggesting Jason and helping to work all of this out. Only when we get to heaven will we understand the significance of this event.

We heard [a] testimony that one student was saved the next day as a direct result of the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do. Kindest regards,

– B.C., South Carolina

The Evolution of Tea

Evolution is everywhere—in the popular culture and even in the business world. Here's another example: a box of teabags in the meeting hall of a hotel where I spoke recently.

I know that it has the letter "R" in front of the word (the R represents the registered trademark symbol), but the tea company, Revolution Tea, is certainly playing off the word evolution. I suppose they are using the word to show that their tea is an improvement over other tea brands.

Morning in Australia

I thought I would include photographs of what we woke up to in Australia yesterday—especially for those scraping ice of their windshields in the USA!

The Sun rising over the Pacific Ocean on the Eastern coast of Australia

One hour later

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Down Under

Mally and I are currently in Australia visiting with our elderly parents and other family members. We also have our daughter and her husband with us on this trip, so we are doing a few of the "touristy" things as well. For instance, here is a photograph of Mally, Danielle, and Joe at an animal park:

The Most Important Church in Australia?

Now how could I possibly determine which is the most important church in Australia? Well, it has to be the church where my mother attends!!  And, because of this,  I will be speaking a week from today (Sunday,  December 5) in this church. Here is the church's newsletter with details on the upcoming event:

You can also find out details on the AiG event page. The church is arranging for a video overflow area and renting extra chairs for the day. I will be speaking at the morning service and then giving two presentations in the evening.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Rebuttal to Editorial

It's not unusual that after AiG conducts a conference in a major city, letters to the editor (and even editorials) are written in local papers that are against our message of the Bible being true from its very first verse.

That was the case in West Virginia earlier this month when an editorial in the state's leading newspaper, The Gazette, took a shot at the message we had presented at a creation seminar in the capital city's (Charleston) municipal auditorium. Here is a link to the actual editorial: http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/201011051105

Here is the reply that The Gazette printed last Sunday by Dr. Georgia Purdom of AiG, who was a "pinch-hitter" at the Charleston conference due to the illness of Dr. David Menton.

Nov. 21, 2010

Evolution editorial full of false claims

Editor:

The Sunday Gazette-Mail's Nov. 7 editorial, "Science: Honest evidence," in both its headline and closing statement, strongly implied that creation scientists like those at our organization, Answers in Genesis, are dishonest.

Readers might also falsely conclude that AiG is not supportive of science, including the breakthroughs that come from modern research and technology. As a scientist and creationist, I must write to protest some gross misrepresentations found in the poorly researched editorial.

First, a distinction needs to be made between observational science and historical science, which the editorial writer attempts to equate. Observational science gives us airplanes, MRIs, computers, cars, etc. It is observable, testable, repeatable and falsifiable and has absolutely nothing to do with molecules-to-man evolution. Evolution falls under the category of historical science, and is not observable, testable, repeatable or falsifiable.

Of course, no one has a time machine to see how things came to be. Therefore, one's "starting points" play a big role when conducting historical science. In other words, do we start with people's ideas about the past or God's Word about the past? In Genesis, God gives us an eyewitness account (His own!) of creation, so we can understand how everything we observe in the present came to be.

Since evidence doesn't speak for itself, our starting points are very important in studying and understanding the past.

We also wish to point out that most of the founding fathers of science were creationists; in fact, many of them were contemporaries of Charles Darwin. For our part, AiG has several full-time staff members with earned doctorates. I hold a PhD in molecular genetics, and my AiG colleagues have doctorate degrees in astrophysics, geology, biology, medicine and the history of geology. While scientists who reject evolution make up a minority of the scientific community, it is a significant number nonetheless (several thousand). Furthermore, since when is truth determined by the majority anyway?

Also, contrary to the editorial's scare tactic, AiG absolutely does not support the banning of the teaching of evolution in schools. But we believe it should be presented warts and all. For example, students should be aware that the so-called horse evolution series (touted by your editorial as proof of evolution) has been thrown out by evolutionists themselves. Also, contrary to your bizarre contention, archaeology has nothing to do with providing evidence that life on Earth began as microbes — as a molecular geneticist, I should know.

If the editorial writer has never visited our Creation Museum (just a four-hour drive away in northern Kentucky), we encourage a tour and the opportunity to meet our faculty. A complimentary ticket awaits.

– Dr. Georgia Purdom, Answers in Genesis

Her reply can be seen at this link: http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/Letters/201011200015

By the way, here is an AiG web article that might assist you (especially the pointers given at the end of the article) in writing your own letter to the editor when you read something in the paper (e.g., news article, editorial, etc.) that goes against biblical authority.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The History Behind the New Advent Calendar on CD-ROM

The birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem was a critical event in the fulfillment of God's timeless plan for man's redemption, which was necessitated by Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately, the birth of the Christ-child is also one of the most-distorted events in history. A physician in Scotland (he and his wife, who is also a doctor, are close friends of AiG and of me personally) wanted a way to reach out to non-Christians in his city of Glasgow and help them understand that Christ came into the world on the very first Christmas. He set out to design this unique resource.

Last year, Dr. Nagy Iskander had the unique opportunity to produce and distribute the Advent Calendar CD-ROM as a free insert in the Herald newspaper in Scotland. Well, the Herald approached him again this year asking if he would like to distribute the Advent Calendar inside the paper again this year. He agreed, and as a result, 130,000 CDs will be distributed through this newspaper in Scotland. Amazing! Certainly there is great need for people in the United Kingdom to hear the message of the gospel and the true meaning of Christmas.

But there is more!

Dr. Iskander obtained agreement from three educational authorities in Scotland to distribute a free copy of the CD-Rom to each student in the public schools—a total of 140,000 CDs going to these public school students! Praise the Lord.

All of this because one man and his wife, who have such a passion to reach people with the gospel, stepped out in faith to provide a Christmas resource for people, and the Lord has miraculously opened doors! Here is a copy of the flyer used in the advertising campaign in the newspaper before the CD was to be distributed:

We sell this CD-ROM through our AiG online bookstore (over 20,000 have been purchased already).  There is an author royalty from the sale of every Advent Calendar disk with all these funds being dedicated for translation and distribution of AiG's creation-gospel resources into Arabic, for Muslims and other Arabic speakers worldwide. Also, Dr. Iskander has given AiG permission to give one free to every family who attends the Creation Museum's Christmas Town event next month (the live nativity, lights, dramas, and so on).

You can obtain the CD-ROM very inexpensively from AiG's online bookstore. Here is more detailed information about the Advent Calendar CD-Rom:

This cheerful computer "game" is filled with fun Christmas facts, merry music, and colorful images—all designed to teach the truth about this wonderful holiday, and the traditions surrounding it.  It's so easy to get over-busy with all the shopping, cooking, and parties each December, that we fail to adequately emphasize to our own families the true meaning of Christmas. This CD-Rom is designed to be used on any PC or Mac computer. It excites and informs both children and adults with fun facts, songs and true accounts of the origin of various traditions surrounding the holiday. Whether you take it all in at once, or once per day during December, the Advent Calendar is sure to enrich your appreciation of Jesus, the Creator and Savior!

A different tradition or historical fact is covered for each of the 24 days of Advent. You will learn true and astonishing information behind each of the following (plus much more along the way!).

Advent Calendars
The 12 Days of Christmas
Christmas Carols
Presents (and St. Nicholas)
Holly Tree
Mistletoe
Christmas Stockings
Poinsettia plants
The Yule Log
Candy Canes
Boxing Day
Christmas Bells
Christmas Crackers
Christmas Trees
Reindeer
Treetop Star
Christmas Food
Christmas Cards
Christmas Lights
Holidays
Christmas Day
Nativity
Candles
Christmas Eve

(Packaged in full-color sleeves, perfect as Christmas card inserts, stocking stuffers, gifts to neighbors, etc.)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Ministered To—By a Children's Book!

First, for our US readers: Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the years, I have been so thankful to have had many adults tell me that while reading some of our children's books to their children, they themselves learned answers about the Bible they never knew before! Here is such a testimony we received recently from Oklahoma:

I am so thankful for this ministry. As a fairly new Christian and after attending church for only about 1 year, I had questions about the account of creation in Genesis and the theological reasoning about death happening before the fall. I had been taught evolution in high school and knew that both stories about dinosaurs (millions of years and God created all animals) didn't work. I had asked my Sunday school teacher who was a seasoned man of God and he even had no answers for me. I attended a Christian college and took many courses where the Bible was center stage. Still, my analytical mind revisited the whole creation thing regularly.

Approximately 6 years ago, a couple visited our church and were selling books from your ministry.  I had a young son and purchased several children books, and for me, I bought the "Answers" book. After reading "D is for Dinosaur," I received my long-awaited answer; yes the children's book had explained to me my answer. It all fell into place. It was what I wanted to believe because that is what the Bible says, but I maybe was a little embarrassed to be so naïve.

Since this wonderful revelation I have been able to teach my young son the truth about so many things he "learns" from TV, school, the computer and even other adults and kids.  We encounter on a regular basis tension from others about believing in the truth.  My son loves to tell other children that dinosaurs did not live millions of years ago, and you can imagine how that goes over.  I remind him constantly to not argue – just let others know what he believes and why.  It is shocking to see how often we encounter issues that conflict with the truth.  I know it's because the world is packed full of lies.

Tears come to my eyes as I think of what your ministry has allowed my son to be: a believer of truth and not lies.  Thank you so much.

We recently visited the Creation Museum and it was well worth the 900+ miles driven.  I was so impressed!!  My family had a wonderful time and the visit had a supernatural way of making a special bond form within our family, as we all know truth.  I cannot thank you enough – and explain enough – how your ministry has answered so many questions for me personally.  Answers in Genesis will be in my prayers and I will pray that the message you send of creation and how it all falls into the wonderful gift of salvation spreads all over the world.  Thank you!

WOW! Changed lives. That's what this ministry is all about.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Fallacies of the Modern Church Series

Don't miss part three, the final part of the series, which is entitled "Fallacies of the Modern Church: Barriers to Equipping the Saints." In the first two articles of this series, we have examined the context of the money changers in the Temple and whether or not our church buildings should be viewed in the same manner as the Temple. Now it is time to wrap up this series by studying the concept of worship as it relates to the Temple and our church gatherings. I encourage you to read part three in this series.

Just in case you have missed them, here are the links to the previous two articles of this series:

Fallacies of the Modern Church Part 1
Fallacies of the Modern Church Part 2

Foto FX in the Christmas Spirit

Foto FX, our souvenir photo service, is getting in the Christmas spirit. As the Creation Museum gears up for the Christmas Town celebration, Foto FX is preparing its own celebration in support.

Following the theme of the birthplace of Jesus as the God-man, a new background and border has been designed for visitors to enjoy.  The border uses the amazing set designs of the market place and "Kataluma," which is a first century home replica built for the Creation Museum Christmas Town event. The background is a special photographic image of the superb garden light display.  As part of the Christmas season, the new background is being offered to guests for a greatly reduced price. Here is a sample photograph showing the new festive background:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Renewing Wedding Vows

We've had lots of interesting requests at the Creation Museum, but this past week we had a new one. Dave and Kandi Bornn asked if they could renew their wedding vows in the little chapel near the museum's Palm Plaza. To be precise, it was Dave that asked us about the vows. Kandi had no idea.

Dave is in the U.S. Army's "Command and General Staff College" (CGSC). He's been stationed all over the world and the couple never knows if they'll be together on their anniversary, so they make their vows again each year when they can. Dave said they and their children were having lunch when the idea to do the renewing of vows at the Creation Museum hit him.

When he arrived, Dave grabbed the first guest services person he found, Chris Laughlin, and asked if there was a place suitable, and also asked this question: "is there a pastor in the ministry?" It was a slow day in the museum and the word spread like wildfire among the staff. Soon the chapel was arranged. A gentleman in maintenance who happened to be a pastor (Gary) was enlisted (after he found a clean shirt), and a photographer was called. Flowers were found for the bride and even a singer joined in. Only after this did Dave ask Kandi to "marry him again." After some giggling, she said "yes."

It was a joyful event that took about ten minutes.

Dave and Kandi have been married for eleven years. They've renewed their vows in four countries and six states. That now includes Kentucky. They felt blessed to be able to come to the museum. It's been a dream of theirs for some time. They've used the Answers in Genesis curriculum to homeschool their children, and they love it. When asked what he would say about his wife, Dave said, "Kandi is the perfect, Proverbs 31 wife." Asked the same question about Dave, Kandi said, "he takes the Scripture to heart concerning a husband loving his wife." It was a pleasure to have the Bornn family with us. Here are two photographs taken on the day:

Fallacies of the Modern Church—Part 2

Part two of the three-part series on "Fallacies of the Modern Church: Barriers to Equipping the Saints"appears on the AiG website today.  It begins with the following:

The first article of this three-part series focuses on the truth about the money changers in the Temple as recorded in John 2. We will now look more closely at the distinctions between the Temple and the church buildings we use today. The final article (to be posted tomorrow) will examine the functions of these places as it relates to worship. Each of these subjects affects the way we think about providing edifying Christian resources in our church buildings and gatherings there.

I urge you to read part two of the article, and if you haven't read part one, then read that one first.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken