Answers in Genesis: Upholding the Authority of the Bible from the Very First Verse

Our talented grounds staff at the Creation Museum is using their creativity and high-quality designed lights to once again turn the Creation Museum gardens into a spectacular light display as part of the phenomenal Live Nativity program for this Christmas. Here are three photos to give you a sneak preview of just a little of what you can expect to come:

Make sure you visit the Creation Museum in December to see these lights, and also check out the dates for the Live Nativity program from the Creation Museum website—this will be spectacular.

Trophy Shown to AiG Staff

I wrote a few days ago that the Creation Museum won some special awards last week for its advertising. At our staff meeting on Tuesday morning, Jason Goff from our marketing department showed the staff the trophy the museum had won for Best of Show—out of over 200 entries—for our museum’s billboard campaign. This was awarded at the Kentucky Tourism Council’s dinner last week in Louisville.

The photo shows Jason in front of our staff, with a sampling of the striking dinosaur-themed billboards on the screen behind him.

Also, the museum won some other awards that evening: our TV ads featuring both our planetarium and the Noah’s Ark exhibits (which were awarded first place) and our Souvenir Guide received first place in the Visitor’s Guide category. Each entry is judged on creativity and how well it relates to its audience.

Congratulations are due our marketing consultants, Joseph David Advertising, for their promotional campaign to draw even more visitors to the museum. By the way, we are close to 900,000 total museum visitors—in less than two years.

Bible Bee in D.C.

Roger Patterson of our staff and his family are attending (and participating) at the National Bible Bee in Washington, D.C., this week. In September, over 17,000 contestants all over the country participated in local qualifying contests—the top 100 contestants in each of three age categories were invited to participate in the national contest.

Situated only a block and a half from the White House, the competition—held at a hotel—is seeing God’s Word elevated as the contestants recite passages and answer questions about six books of the Bible. After two oral rounds and a written test, the top 20 in each age group will continue to the semifinals this morning and then the top seven will advance to the final round this afternoon. That event will be webcast live.

You can find out more about this God-honoring event at www.biblebee.org. (Roger tells me that the Bible Bee is held in memory of Shelby Kennedy and in honor of her passion for God’s Word.) In the photos, you can see some of the sponsor booths and other shots taken by Roger, including a photo of the White House at night.

Devotion

Much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers

(Rev 8:3–4) And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

We focus not on the feebleness of our prayers, but on what the Lord Jesus Christ does with our prayers to make them effective.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

I’m continually amazed to hear of so many scientists and engineers who are associated with NASA and the American space program who are creationists. Last Friday, one of the engineers who has worked on the International Space Station toured the Creation Museum. This man (we’ll keep his identity hidden—his position could be jeopardized if his supervisors knew that he rejected the evolutionary worldview) will tell you that evolution is the basis for some of America’s space exploration programs, like SETI.

This engineer confirmed what I’ve known for several years (especially after I spoke at a Bible study held at the Goddard Space Center in Maryland several years ago): many scientists and engineers reject the evolutionary belief system. In fact, many that I met back in the’90s at Goddard had been involved in the refurbishing of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Radio Prize-Winner

Dan Stelzer, the young man who designs much of our award-winning Answers magazine, won a local radio contest recently. He and 19 colleagues here at the office were treated to lunch by radio station Star 93.3 (known also as WAKW) in Cincinnati. In the photo, Dan is in the foreground/right.

The radio station was one of the very first to air our Answers . . . with Ken Ham radio program 15 years ago. Answers is now on over 800 stations across the U.S. (and dozens more overseas). We’re heard twice a day on WAKW—a station that serves our region. The station’s website is: http://www.mystar933.com/

We thank them for airing our program so faithfully for so long.

In this photo, station on-air personality Kurt Wallace is seen with Dan of our staff. Kurt brought the lunch over to AiG when his morning shift was over.

Devotion

God require of thee

(Deuteronomy 10:12) And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of you, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul

We know that when the Lord Jesus Christ summons all our heart and soul to Him that He is calling for us to break every compartment in life where He is excluded.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

In the book of Isaiah we read:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

I was reminded of this verse when I read a secularist’s response to my recent blog on atheists and their claim of “child abuse” against Christians for teaching children about Christianity and creation. I encourage you to read my previous blog post and then read the response that was written to this:

Ken Ham lives in a prison of his own making. A dark narrow place where the light of reason and knowledge may never shine in. He teaches children that they are inherently evil and depraved from birth, and their only hope of avoiding being thrown into the Lake of Fire to scream forever in infinite agony is to debase themselves before an imaginary bronze-age deity and surrender their intelligence and autonomy as human beings. Evolution teaches us the great truth that all live on this planet is related, and connected to all other life. What a wonderful, uplifting thought – as opposed to believing a primitive just-so story about humans being created from dirt, or from the rib of a thing that was created from dirt. Depriving children of the opportunity for knowledge, keeping them ignorant and cowering from a non-existent old man with a beard in the sky, is most definitely child abuse in my book.

There is much that could be said, of course, but I first want to point out that this person not only mischaracterizes and misrepresents Christianity, but excludes the real truth concerning what this person wants children to be taught.

Christians teach children that life is special—the God loves us with an infinite love—so much so that despite the fact we did rebel against our Creator (we sinned in Adam) and thus sentenced ourselves to being separated from a Holy God—Our Creator stepped into history to pay the penalty for our sin to save us from what we did to ourselves! And the gift of salvation is FREE—nothing we can do to earn it—but freely receive it! (“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8.)

And what is the “wonderful, uplifting” message we are “depriving children of” by not teaching them they are just animals, evolved from primordial pond scum?

When Dr. Richard Dawkins (atheist and God hater) was asked for Beliefnet:

What are your thoughts about the despair some people feel when they ponder natural selection and random mutation? The idea of evolution and natural selection makes some people feel that everything is meaningless—people’s individual lives and life in general.

He answered:

If it’s true that it causes people to feel despair, that’s tough. It’s still the truth. The universe doesn’t owe us condolence or consolation; it doesn’t owe us a nice warm feeling inside. If it’s true, it’s true, and you’d better live with it.

What a wonderful message for the world! Life is meaningless and hopeless! So live with it! How is that for a wonderful meaningful uplifting message for children?

And in response to a question about the “after-life” and death—Dawkins responded:

I would say, “Don’t imagine for one second you’re going to paradise . . . . You’re going to rot in the ground.”

What a wonderful uplifting message for readers—you are just going to rot in the ground! Of course, if people took Dawkins’s message seriously for the children of the world—that there is no purpose and meaning in life, and when you die, that’s it; you won’t even know you ever existed—then what is the point of living? Why not end it now and get it over and done with? And he (and others like him) accuse Christians of conducting “child abuse”?!

And let’s ask this question of the secularist who wrote that ridiculous response to my blog—is there any evil in the world? Actually, this person has to admit that if there is no God, then one’s morality is whatever one wants to make it to be. And yet, I am sure this person would condemn murder or child abuse—but if life is just chemistry and we are just animals, why is it “wrong” to commit any act one wants ultimately?

People need to wake up to the fact that the secularists have taken over the public education system and are teaching an atheistic, naturalistic, anti-God religion to generations of children. That is the ultimate child abuse—raising up generations of children to believe there is no God and they are just animals in a materialistic, mechanistic, evolutionary world. Thus, there is no purpose or meaning.

So, as it states in the book of Judges:

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:15).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

The world’s media often contact us to comment on the intersection of “religion and science.” Last week, we had a Japanese film crew here at the Creation Museum to produce a travelogue of places to visit in America. The week before it was a Canadian documentary crew—this month marks the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and this nationwide TV program will air in Canada
later this month.

On Friday, Dr. Terry Mortenson participated in a national U.S. interview program called To the Point. The long segment was entitled “Science, Religion, and Public Policy” and was hosted by well-known journalist Warren Olney—produced by Public Radio International and radio station KCRW in California (they are something of competitors with NPR—National Public Radio).

You can listen at this link—the interviews start at about 7:45 (Terry comes in several minutes later):

Olney did a fair job of offering balance, although we note that his producer picked three panelists (out of four) who were evolutionists—though two said they are Christians.

Notice as you listen that well-known science writer (and evolutionist/atheist) Chris Mooney, author of Unscientific America, stated towards the end of the program that Dr. Mortenson is “throwing out all of geology” and that virtually every credentialed scientist is an evolutionist. Interestingly, Dr. Mortenson has a PhD in the history of geology and is thus aware that there are a growing number of geologists who reject evolution (e.g., Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis). Thus, “virtually every” scientist is an exaggeration. (We had a NASA engineer from Houston visit the museum recently—he said we would be surprised to know how many creationist scientists and engineers work at NASA.)

Mooney also said that, regarding the earth’s geology, creationists believe that “everything” (e.g., the layers of rocks) was laid down by Noah’s Flood. Of course, we don’t believe that. We say that most of the layers were laid down by the Flood, but not “everything.”

One guest suggested at the very end of the radio program that he would not invite creationists to speak at an academic conference on the topic of religion and science because they are “bad” scientists.

Final Day of South Carolina Conference

Here are some photographs of the final day of the South Carolina AiG conference at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville:

1. Children at the morning school assembly

2. The businessmen’s luncheon

3. Another great crowd last evening

4. Stephen Ham (who is taking over the senior director of Outreach position at AiG) speaking at the luncheon

Again, there were lots of great testimonies. A professor from a Bible college outside of Greenville gave testimony as to how the AiG resources have greatly influenced his students and the church he attends where he is now running a creation apologetics class using the AiG resources.

We were also thrilled at the number of non-Christians who attended the businessmen’s luncheon.

I want to thank Pastor Conley publicly for opening his church up to the AiG ministry and for his commitment to the authority of the Word of God. Praise the Lord for pastors like this who take such a biblical stand that is so needed in the church.

Devotion

With the Gospel we rescue

(Isaiah 33:23) the lame take the prey.

We are lame against the enemy who is the trapper of the prey, lost souls of men, but filled with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ; we as the lame rescue the prey

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

At the end of a recent Thursday at the Creation Museum, and right after the conclusion of three days of board meetings, I found it nice to take a breather and meet some of our guests visiting that day. That included Harry and Lola Fike of Davenport, Iowa. They have been to the museum four times now. Their son, a PhD chemist in Michigan, is also an AiG supporter.

Harry has a remarkable story. During World War II, he flew two dozen missions over various parts of Europe. He told us that he was never shot down (most pilots were either shot out of the sky or crash-landed, with many of them dying). In his 783rd Bomb Squadron, 28 planes were lost. The squadron was mostly based in central Italy (near Canosa). Find out more here.

Harry, thank you for your service, and thank you for your support of the Creation Museum.

Overflow Crowd in Greenville

Yesterday I spoke four times at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Here are some photographs taken during the day:

The auditorium

The overflow crowd—watching by closed-circuit video

Volunteers

People checking out resources

The full parking lot

With Pastor Drew Conley

Meeting with people afterward

Devotion

Cannot overdose

(Deuteronomy 6:6–7) And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sit in your house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when thou rise up.

With anything else in life, harmful consequences follow overdosing, but we cannot overdose on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

We have noticed in recent times, secularists increasingly using the term child abuse as an accusation against Christians teaching their children the Bible, creation, and so on.  Famous atheist/evolutionist Richard Dawkins uses that term, and so do others of the “new atheists.”  Obviously, one of their ploys is that ‘if you throw enough mud, after a while some of it will stick.”  These people also accuse AiG of child abuse.  I have numerous quotes of these secularists accusing us of such because children come to the Creation Museum and are exposed to anti-evolution and pro-Bible teachings (that go contrary to what is taught in almost all government-run schools).  Recently, another secularist blogger, in response to my new book on dinosaurs (Dinosaurs for Kids) once again accuses me of child abuse, with the headline:

Intellectual child abuse … Our favorite [expletive] crazy Creationut Ken Ham has a new Dino-book out for the kiddies …

But who is really conducting the ‘child absue?’

These secularists want to teach children they are nothing but rearranged pond scum  (as a Scientific American article once called people)—they are just animals—when you die that is the end of you totally, so there is no real meaning and purpose in life. There is no hope—all is hopelessness and purposelessness.  This is why they want children only taught atheistic evolution: so they will believe they are just an animal.  No wonder we see generations increasingly acting in accord with such a philosophy.  And these secularists are the ones who have demanded legalized abortion, so they can allow millions of children to be killed in the womb!

This is all real child abuse that is going on across this nation and around the world.

At AiG and the Creation Museum, we teach children the truth concerning who they are and where they come from—that they do have purpose and meaning in life—that they were created for a purpose—that our Creator so loves us, even while we are sinners (as we sinned in Adam), He paid the penalty for our sin and offers a FREE gift of salvation so we can live with Him for eternity. Yes, there is purpose and meaning in life. We are not just animals; we are all made in the image of God.

Christians need to become more active in responding to these “child abuse” claims and standing up for what is right and showing this culture who the real “child abusers” are.

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken

This week we said good-bye to one of our dear staff, Donna. She is retiring and moving to Arizona to be near family and friends; before doing so, she will be visiting parts of America and then volunteer for a few weeks at the fine ministry of Voice of the Martyrs in Oklahoma. See www.vom.org

Donna, who worked in our correspondence department (using her science background, which she also used as a naturalist with the U.S. government on Johnston Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean), said good-bye to us this week. Her supervisor, Bodie (left in the photo) said a few words about Donna’s ministry with us over the years, as did I.

Japanese DVDs

In August I traveled to Japan to have six of my main presentations translated into Japanese. Yesterday I was sent a copy of the graphic to be used on the DVD covers, and I thought you might like to see this as a reminder to pray for the Japanese DVD project.

Yesterday as well, we had a special Japanese visitor to the Creation Museum—who attended the filming sessions in Japan for these new DVDs.  More about Pastor Kato later in a blog item, including a special prayer request that he has.

South Carolina AiG Conference

Today I am in Greenville, South Carolina, to speak at an AiG conference (plus a special businessmen’s luncheon) at Hampton Park Baptist Church.  You can obtain all the details from the AiG website.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken

The Creation Museum received four awards—including Best of Show honors—at the Kentucky Tourism Council’s 2009 Traverse Awards for Excellence in Tourism Marketing held in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this week.

The museum took Best of Show honors out of over 200 entries for our billboard campaign designed by Joseph David Advertising. Television ads featuring our planetarium and Noah’s Ark exhibits were awarded first place, and the Souvenir Guide received first place in the Visitor’s Guide category.

The awards presentation was held October 27 during an evening gala at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville as part of the Kentucky Tourism Industry Annual Conference. Traverse Awards are presented annually for the best work in advertising and marketing among Kentucky tourism businesses and marketing organizations. This year, a panel of out-of-state experts in tourism marketing judged 210 entries from across the state. Each entry is judged on creativity and how well it relates to its audience.

The Kentucky Tourism Council is a Frankfort-based state association that represents every segment of Kentucky’s tourism industry. The almost-600-member organization offers continuing education programs, provides legislative advocacy for Kentucky’s travel industry, and works in governmental relations. Here are two photos taken at the awards evening:

AiG’s Vince Garmon and Jason Goff (on the left), with Tom Caradonio, president of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau, on the right

Vince and Jason with Kay Berggren, president/CEO of the Kentucky Tourism Council

The winning billboards are here:

Congratulations to all those involved and especially to our marketing consultants Joseph David Advertising.

Yesterday, the AiG staff gathered in the Special Effects Theatre for our annual staff photograph. Here is one of the photos taken of the staff:

Devotion

O that there were

(Deuteronomy 5:28–29) The LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

We know that it is easy to speak words of promised loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, but the challenge is to have a heart that lines up with our words.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

Testimonies like the following are what the Creation Museum and Answers in Genesis ministry are all about:

I wanted to write and let you know that last Saturday we visited the Creation Museum. It was a wonderful experience. We knew that it would be good, but it was even better than we expected.

We were traveling from New York back to Little Rock and came through Cincinnati just to see the Creation Museum. We had a group of high school juniors and seniors with us, and we were on a tight schedule to try to arrive home before midnight. We had our two youngest sons with us. Kirk is 11 and Kyle is 10. We decided to see as much as we could in the short amount of time that we had.

One of the first things that we did was see the video presentation on The Last Adam. It was excellent and we enjoyed it very much. As we left the room, Kyle turned to me and said, “Dad, am I saved?” I reassured him that he was. He had prayed to receive Christ when he was four years old and it seemed real at the time.

We went out into the area outside of the theater and looked at the minerals on the wall. At this point Kyle said to me, “Dad, I’m not saved.” We sat and talked for a few minutes, and I really came to believe that when he was younger he may not have understood what it was to be a Christian.

My wife was nearby, and I told her what Kyle was saying to me. We all had a seat on a bench in the museum, and in a simple child-like way Kyle asked Jesus to be Lord of his life. As we were traveling back and they were sleeping my wife told me that she felt like Kyle had been struggling with the issue of salvation for some time.

I write to you, thanking you for the Creation Museum. We took others there thinking it would change their lives, and there is no doubt that it did, but our greatest reward is that through Kyle being saved at your museum, his life and ours have been changed forever!

Museum Marketing—with a Difference

One of our supporters from North Carolina is so enthusiastic about Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum that he even built and installed a sign in his yard showing the museum’s website. He also has a plate on the front of his truck showing AnswersinGenesis.org and the Creation Museum:

Equipping and Challenging

AiG speakers are on the road each week equipping and challenging people; for instance, Dr. Tommy Mitchell was the speaker for a two-day Answers in Genesis conference at South County Bible Church in St. Louis last weekend. Many people at the conference told how they’d been encouraged by the ministry of Answers in Genesis, and many more got their questions answered. A missionary family from Brazil told Tommy that they had even developed a creation curriculum in Portuguese based on many of our AiG publications.

The talk “Were There Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?” drew a capacity crowd of 400 homeschoolers and their parents. In addition to homeschoolers, there were two local Christian schools that brought students to the Monday morning meeting and the lively question and answer time. We praise God for the opportunity of reaching so many young people. We pray that they will be better equipped to stand boldly for God’s Word.

Devotion

Everyone

(Psalm 87:7) all my springs are in you.

When our hopes on earth fail, we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and tell Him that all our springs of happiness, security, peace, and fulfillment are in Him.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

It’s a remarkable story: a retired surgeon and his wife move from Pennsylvania to our area to become volunteers at Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum.

Long-time supporters Dr. Steve and Ruth Carter have been “creationist evangelists” for many years in southern Pennsylvania, where Dr. Carter gave many creation talks—especially for young people. They both saw the power of the creation/gospel message to change hearts and minds (one of our ministry’s best friends became an on-fire Christian after hearing Steve speak on creation in the ‘90s).

When Dr. Carter retired, he wanted to use this passion for apologetics to advance AiG’s biblical message. A year ago, they volunteered at the museum and on the grounds for several days, and then in early August, he and Ruth (she grew up on the mission field in Africa and eventually became a registered nurse) started here as volunteers alongside dozens of other AiG volunteers–Steve and Ruth matching up the skills of the volunteers with the many tasks here. They spoke to our staff Tuesday morning about their new ministry with us. See the two photos.

To find out how you can volunteer at Answers in Genesis and the museum (many aspects of the Creation Museum, by the way, were performed using volunteer help), go to this web page. It’s so great to have Ruth and Steve with us! By the way, you will love not only volunteering at AiG and the Creation Museum, but fellowshipping with this special couple.

A Spectacle to Behold

We do read numerous, extremely positive reports about the Creation Museum in both the secular and Christian press. Here is one from this week:

Creation Museum was a spectacle to behold

Nebo News
By Debbie Daugherty, Nebo Correspondent Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 4:09 PM CDT

Greetings once again from the west end of the county. Well, we made it back from Cincinnati. We had a great time, even though it rained on us all the way there and back. The Creation Museum is a must see. It is a state-of-the-art masterpiece. Plan on staying all day, at least, to see all of the exhibits. We also went to the aquarium . . . .

By the way, this is a reminder that there are some other great things to do in our Cincinnati area, so you can plan to visit the Creation Museum and spend your vacation time in this area. For example, my personal recommendations would include the following:

1. Visit the Creation Museum (near the Cincinnati Airport)—allow at least one full day, but many people prefer two days.
2. Visit the Newport Aquarium (a morning or afternoon), which is also here in Northern Kentucky yet very close to Cincinnati.
3. Visit the excellent Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (near Dayton and just one hour from the Museum—and it’s FREE)—it is the largest such in the world. I like it far better than the Smithsonian. You can learn history—the history of flight, World War 1, and World War 2—the space age, walk through Air Force One (the plane that carried the body of President Kennedy from Dallas to Washington, DC in 1963), etc.
4. The Cincinnati Zoo (a bit of evolution/millions of years here and there—but once you’ve been to the Creation Museum, you can cope with that!)—one of the leading zoos in the USA.
5. One of the largest amusement parks in America is King’s Island, which is north of Cincinnati (about a 45-minute drive north from our museum).
6. In downtown Cincinnati, there is the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (about 20 minutes from us).
7. Regionally, we can point you to the world’s largest cave system (so far discovered): Mammoth Caves. It’s about three hours south of our museum. Just make sure you read this article first, though, before you go.

Visit the Creation Museum website for more information on area attractions and day trips.

Devotion

Those that did cleave

(Deuteronomy 4:4) But you that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

As cleavers one day in Heaven, it will be said to us as it was to those Israelites that we as those who have cleaved to the Lord Jesus Christ are all alive this day.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken