February Newsletter

For some of the best teaching on the book of Genesis, you can’t do better than Creation magazine!

This family publication always contains exceptional photography and well-written articles, including the following planned for the March issue now at the presses:

‘The Puzzle of Ancient Man’—we don’t need aliens from outer space to explain the amazing achievements of ancient civilizations; in fact, the Bible makes sense of the evidence! ‘The Earth’s Magnetic Field’—why the needle on your compass ‘points’ to a young Earth, and how a creationist physicist’s stunning predictions were confirmed! ‘Fraud Rediscovered’—sensational new revelations of how one of Darwin’s best-known disciples committed much more blatant fraud than even creationists ever expected!

Join the tens of thousands of families in more than 100 countries who look forward each quarter to Creation magazine! Get your subscription click here or call AIG’s toll-free number, 1-800-778-3390. A year’s subscription (four issues) is $22.

Stewardship & Trust Services

What the Bible tells us about money (part 3)

This month, let’s consider the very practical and timely verses of Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, and then the noteworthy parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

I would guess that many people reading this article have some money in the stock market. What did the wisest man ever (Solomon) have to say in Ecclesiastes 11 about how to invest? Not surprisingly, his advice is to diversify. Read the passage yourself. You’ll see that diversification is God’s way for us to prepare for unforeseen financial challenges.

Now consider the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). Do you know its lesson? It’s about investing, and the yield on our investment choices. This parable clearly teaches there will be an accounting, a reward, and regret. Be a Berean and read it for yourself, and ask, ‘What choices am I making?’

But thank God, our Lord is gracious. Whatever crowns we will receive will be cast at His feet in thanksgiving and awe. Let us humbly seek his face for He is our just and great reward! (Suggested other Scripture readings: Deut. 8:18, Prov. 11:25, and Col. 2:2-3).

Paul Laude, CFP, ext. 302

Thank you!

As we were going to press with this newsletter, the donations processed in late December saw AIG end the year in the black!

Your gifts—whether large or small—are making a difference in the lives of thousands of people. We receive wonderful testimonies from people every day who tell us that their whole attitude toward the Bible has changed because of the Lord using our outreaches, and that now, depending on the Holy Spirit, will build their whole way of thinking on Scripture. Others have let us know that answers from the book of Genesis removed their doubts about the reliability of the Bible, and they were receptive to the Gospel message and became Christians!

Pray with us that 1998 will see as many blessings!

Animals and Auschwitz!

Guest article by Dr Carl Wieland, CEO, Answers in Genesis, Australia

Editor’s note: As Ken Ham concludes his vacation/sabbatical in Australia, we have asked Ken’s counterpart at AiG Australia, Dr Carl Wieland, CEO, to write this month’s commentary.

I remember reading in the newspaper a few years ago about a terrible thing someone had done: keeping a child chained in a dark room for years.

I have asked many Christians this question: when you read such things, and have an understandable response of anger, what word pops into your mind concerning the person capable of doing such a thing? The majority say, ‘What an animal!’

But I know of no animal that regularly does to its own kind the sorts of things that people seem so often to do to each other (as almost any daily newspaper tells us).

So why do we use words like ‘animal’ and ‘beast’ to describe a person who does atrocious things? I suggest it is because our society (and thus our language) has been ‘evolutionized,’ as Ken Ham puts it.

If we have Adam in our ancestry, then we all have the tendency to do all kinds of bad things (‘there but for the grace of God go I’) because of our inherited sin nature. The whole reason Christ came to die for rebellious sinners is ultimately because of the disobedience of the first Adam.

But, as Ken often says, ‘If we have ape in our ancestry, then the first Adam is a myth.’ Evolution has permitted people to blame our tendency to do evil on ‘leftover aggressive animal instincts’; in other words, people have not yet evolved far enough.

Even words such as ‘bestial’ and ‘savage’ are loaded with these same evolutionary overtones. Our society sees the answer to evil as further evolution being needed (biological, social, cultural). But no animal ever organized an Auschwitz for its own species -- this monstrous evil was carried out not by some ‘primitive’ culture, but by the government of what had been called one of the most ‘civilized’ nations on Earth. In fact, evolution was the excuse for Auschwitz -- eliminating the ‘unfit races.’

The events of 1930s Germany highlight the danger when churches, subtly influenced by the spirit of their times, depart from the absolutes of the Bible. In a book about the Christian Church under the Nazis, historian Kurt Schmidt shows how Biblical truths -- previously held by the majority in the Church -- went against the ‘common cultural knowledge,’ reinforced by ‘scientific authority.’

Hitler preached that his (theistic evolutionary) ‘god’ had made a separate, ‘superior’ race, and thus it was a ‘holy duty’ to ensure the purity of its ‘blood,’ to enable a ‘nobler evolution of these forms.’ Racially mixed marriages, said Hitler in Mein Kampf, would conceive ‘monstrosities between man and ape,’ rather than ‘images of the Lord.’ However, the Bible teaches that as descendants of Noah’s family, we are all closely related; there is no such thing as a ‘pure’ or ‘master’ race. This tension between Scripture and popular ideology led to pressure within the German church to ‘reinterpret’ the Bible, particularly in Genesis.

Hitler wanted his National Socialist State to run parallel with Christianity. The unity he sought, however, was threatened by any notion of absolute values. So he began to push his concept of ‘tolerance’ for the ‘higher goal’ of unity. Anyone who stuck to the absolutes of Scripture was accused of intolerance and divisiveness, which allegedly sabotaged the ‘greater good’ of a harmony within the Church, and between Church and state. Since God instituted evolution, it was said, and if the highest result of evolution was the Aryan race, surely it was ‘God’s will’ that this race be allowed to propagate uncontaminated. It was only a short step from there to label Christians who believed in Biblical authority as ‘subversive.’

Today we see similar pressure by many evangelical leaders on believers to be more ‘tolerant’ for the sake of ‘unity.’ Of course, these leaders are not promoting totalitarianism and racism as Nazi Germany did, but they are urging the Church not to insist on the absolutes of the Bible and to adopt ‘true religion’ for the sake of the acceptance of the Church by the rest of society.

In 1930s Germany, many churches capitulated, even banning non-Aryans from carrying out any church duties. The compromise extended to many Christian publications, even theological faculties. A bishop urged the German people to show ‘God’s love to the Fuehrer,’ for it was he, ‘not the Jew,’ who had been merciful to them.

Biblical faith was derided as ‘Jewish Christianity,’ and to overcome this element would mean being ‘just like the first-born of our faith, Jesus Christ, taught and lived.’ Today, those undermining the authority of the Bible in churches similarly claim that their ‘liberal’ view reflects Christ’s life and teachings, while accusing Bible-believers of ‘worshipping a book.’

Under the Nazis, this compromised faith was actually called ‘positive Christianity.’ Today in Australia, major public attacks on our ministry, even though led by avowed atheists, have cunningly appealed to the Church for support in the name of ‘good religion.’ Rising to the occasion, some archbishops have condemned belief in a literal Genesis as ‘bad religion.’

The only ones who resisted the contamination of the Church in 1930s Germany were those who knew what they believed, and regarded these beliefs as absolutes. They were progressively marginalized as fringe and radical elements. Today we see similar pressures on believers. Even within conservative evangelical circles, speaking out on Genesis as absolute truth increasingly involves paying the price of unjustified attacks.

Amazingly, there are even ministries that currently claim to defend the Bible against evolution but accept 99% of what evolutionists teach, then re-interpret the Bible to make it somehow ‘fit.’ When we have pointed out some of the inconsistencies and lovingly sounded a warning (see ‘Warning’ article on p. 4), the attacks labeling us as ‘intolerant,’ ‘divisive,’ and ‘opposed to Christian unity’ have come in thick and fast.

However, we praise God that as our message and materials spread more and more via grass-roots Christians, a major groundswell is building up. Many Christians are realizing that they have been lulled into believing that upholding the vital, foundational doctrines of Genesis is a ‘side issue.’

The increasing attacks should not surprise us. The increasing volume of mail world-wide attesting to the blessings of the Answers in Genesis ministry and its resources, and the many people brought to Christ through a vital, unashamed defense of Scripture, encourages us daily!

As quoted in A. Spaeth, ‘Die Judenfrage’, Factum (a German conservative evangelical magazine) January 1997 pp 34-39

Airing it out!

This month, tune into our broadcast, Answers…with Ken Ham, for information on how to receive a free copy of Ken’s new booklet Where did Cain Find His Wife? Instructions and a telephone number will be given at the conclusion of many of the March broadcasts on how to obtain this handy witnessing tool. For a radio log of stations that carry our program, call Judi at ext. 403.

During the last few weeks, we’ve added the following stations to the 270 worldwide that currently carry this 90-second faith-building program:

MICHIGAN
Mackinaw City WHWL-FMT 101.5 M-F 7:37 a.m.
Midland/Bay City WKNX-AM 1250 M-F ROS

Legend:
ROS = Rotating Schedule
T = Translator
M-F = Monday through Friday
SU = Sunday

Didyaknow?

Did you know that the Creation message is divisive? Let’s look at what the Bible says about division.

First, we are told that there will be division because of Christ, because He came to divide (see Luke 12). We’re also told that men love darkness rather than light, so when you shine that light (i.e., the truth of God’s Word) into darkness, there will be division. It’s inevitable.

Therefore, when we oppose evolution, and insist that Christians believe what the Bible teaches in Genesis, there’s going to be division. Frankly, I’d be worried if there wasn’t division, as long, of course, as it is done for the right reasons. We should expect that the Genesis message will not be embraced, but rejected by the majority of people (including some Christians).

(Taken from the February 18, 1998 broadcast of the Answers…with Ken Ham radio program.)

Warning to families!

We have come across a comic book, Destination: Creation (A Scientist Looks Back at How the Universe Began), aimed at Christian young people, written by Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe. Unfortunately, millions of Christian families are potentially exposed to these dangerous teachings (the booklet is promoted by Dr. Ross’s newsletter and web site, both of which have been endorsed by Focus on the Family and other equally respected ministries).

The comic book denigrates people who believe in the straightforward understanding of Genesis, mocks a distinguished and devout Christian scholar of the past (Ussher), and teaches all manner of beliefs which are directly opposed to Scripture. For example:

There was widespread bloodshed and killing long before sin entered the world (but see Genesis 3:17-18) The Sun and stars were created before the Earth (compare, however, Genesis 1:1 and 1:14) Because some creatures were wiped out by catastrophes (long before the Fall), God kept making new ones to replace them, occasionally more advanced (but see Genesis 2:2, describing the finished Creation) Evidence of early human activity is explained by saying that God made human-like creatures that had no spiritual awareness, but used tools, long before He made humans. Belief in the creation days as ordinary days is called a ‘boo-boo’ The Earth took billions of years to cool down

The danger, of course, is what all this does to the authority of the Word of God. Even most atheists would agree that not one of these beliefs is consistent with what any reasonable person would be led to understand about origins from reading the Bible. Young people are in effect being told that God has seriously misled His people for thousands of years! — Carl Wieland

Don’t be on the seminar sidelines!

Last year, Answers in Genesis conducted meetings in front of hundreds of audiences, reaching over 128,000 people!

This year, we have just as many exciting outreaches planned, all designed to proclaim the authority of the Word of God and to equip Christians to engage in ‘creation evangelism.’

If you live near any of the areas listed below, why not get personally involved and join the local steering committee?

Danville, Illinois, August 1998—Mr. Darrell White, who welcomes your call at (217) 359-6829
Valparaiso, Indiana, May, 1999—Pastor Don Gear, (219) 956-3534
Chicago, Illinois, August, 1998—Carl Kerby, (847) 551-9275
Buffalo, New York, February, 1999—Pastor Wayne Aarum, (716) 631-2636
Augusta, Georgia, September, 1999—Jane Dennis, (706) 737-6325
Stone Mountain, Georgia, March 1999—Tommy Clack, (770) 498-6842
Hendersonville/Nashville, Tennessee, April 1999—Dr. Tommy Mitchell, (615) 451-2904

Please look at the speakers’ calendar on page 6 for some of the other meetings planned for the next few weeks. Many of the seminars are offered at no charge. For those meetings where there might be a registration fee, please know that any pastor—and his entire family—can attend at no charge. Let your pastor know that we stand ready to equip him with answers from Genesis! Call each committee (see p. 6) for details on receiving free tickets for your pastor.

Prayer points:

Equip others!

In our secular world, it’s becoming even more difficult to show people their need to accept the Bible from the very first verse, including the most important truth of all: Christ as their Creator and Savior (Colossians 1). Because they often are met with hostility and mockery, some Christians find it difficult to share their faith.

The ministry of Answers in Genesis exists to equip all Christians to engage in evangelism. Here are some ways for you to get involved:

Show our faith-building videos to your friends, including those videos that present the Gospel message (e.g.,From Evolution to Creation; Creation and the Christian Faith, The Family Answers Video). Once you’ve finished with your Creation magazine or this newsletter, share it with others! Give gift subscriptions to Creation magazine to friends and family members. And when you’ve finished with your magazine, place it in a waiting room at a doctor’s office, at the auto repair store, etc.

Prize winner returns to U.S.!

Dr. Andrew Snelling, senior research scientist with our sister group in Australia (also called Answers in Genesis), was the winner of the ‘Technical Excellence’ award for the best technical paper at the 1994 Third International Conference on Creationism held in Pittsburgh (every four years).

The 1998 Fourth I.C.C. will be held in early August near Pittsburgh, and Dr. Snelling has again submitted three papers. He will also have the opportunity to fellowship with hundreds of other creation scientists. Andrew is the editor of the Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, regarded by many as the world’s leading creationist scientific journal.

Dr. Snelling will be available for speaking engagements in states near Pennsylvania, roughly from July 25-August 1, 1998. Ken Ham calls him one of the world’s best layperson communicators on the book of Genesis. Not only is Andrew a brilliant scientist, but he is very personable and an exceptional speaker.

Please let us know

To enable you to receive our publications without interruption when you move, please contact AIG as soon as you know your new address.

Not only will you continue to benefit from our teaching materials, but you’ll also be saving AIG money. You see, newsletters and magazines sent to incorrect addresses cost us money 1) to send initially, 2) when returned (the post office charges us for returned mail), and 3) when we have to resend the material to you.

Because AIG seldom gets the newsletter or magazine back, we have to send out a second copy. For the magazine, each incorrect address costs our ministry over $6.00.

It’s very simple to report a change of address. Call us—toll-free—at 1-800-350-3232, ext. 420 or 408. Even after business hours, you can leave your message on our easy-to-use voice mail/answering machine—press ext. 420 and speak slowly and clearly, and make sure that you spell out your name. Thank you.

Pleased to recommend…

Master’s Mission is a different kind of missionary agency, one with both a technical and Bible curriculum:

For 11 months, missionaries spend their mornings going through the entire Bible, starting with Genesis (including watching videos by Ken Ham and Dr. Gary Parker of AIG). Missionaries will leave for their mission field having a complete Biblical world-view, equipped to preach the authority of the Bible and the Gospel message from the very first verse.

Trainees spend their afternoons receiving ‘hands-on’ training in heavy construction, mechanics, well-digging, road-building, etc., so that once overseas, they can provide all sorts of practical assistance in Third World settings.

All missionaries must meet the leadership qualifications given in I Timothy and Titus (including having their family lives in order), and are all accountable to their local churches as extensions of their church’s ministry.

For more information on this Bible-based, practical missions agency located near the Smoky Mountains in Robbinsville, N.C., call (704) 479-6873, or write to: The Master’s Mission at PO Box 547, Robbinsville, NC 28771.

Answers in Genesis: believing it. defending it. proclaiming it.

Answers Magazine

February 1998 Newsletter

Puzzling civilizations!