AiG in Dunlap, Tennessee

Guest blog—Dr. Tommy Mitchell, AiG Speaker

Ewtonville Baptist Church in Dunlap, Tennessee, near historic Dayton, would like to see the Answers in Genesis seminar it hosted this past Sunday be the start of something as momentous as the events of 81 years ago in Dayton. However, Dunlap wishes to glorify and serve a different God than the god venerated as a result of the Scopes trial. The folks at Ewtonville Baptist Church came this weekend to learn how to increase the confidence of their children and their coworkers in the Word of God. The church leadership spent weeks preparing the people to understand the two basic worldviews: the God-centered worldview, “in the beginning God,” and the man-centered worldview, “in the beginning chance.”

In “Are You Intimidated?” I was able to show a sizable Sunday morning crowd, which included many visitors from surrounding communities, how the facts of science are actually quite consistent with God’s account of creation and the flood. Then we discussed how a return to the authority of God’s Word, beginning in Genesis, is the key to reclaiming the culture and training up children to remain true to Christ and his church. The church decided to cancel choir practice, even though it’s the Christmas season, to make room in the day for an additional talk. The evening crowd gathered to learn the truth about Noah’s ark and the worldwide flood followed by a presentation called “Why Can’t a Day Mean a Day?” discussing the pivotal issue eroding the foundation of Bible-belief in many Christians today.

Indeed, just 35 miles away in the little town of Dayton in 1925, the Scopes “monkey trial” showed Christians the importance of having answers. Despite the supposedly favorable verdict, Christians in the end learned that they must have answers to back up their faith if they are to be taken seriously by an increasingly skeptical world. The people at this weekend’s meetings will be taking the answers they learned into their communities hoping to win people to our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ. To see an excellent presentation on the Scopes “monkey trial,” take a look at Dr. Menton’s excellent DVD, “Inherently Wind.”

Gary Vaterlaus, AiG’s Director of Curriculum & Correspondence sent this report about AiG’s Online Education.

APO101: Foundations in Creation Apologetics (Winter 2006) We have 95 students enrolled, representing the US, Canada, Australia, UK, India, and Peru. Our instructors are Georgia Purdom, Roger Patterson (author of Evolution Exposed), Ron Dudek, and Aimee Folmer. Ron and Aimee completed the fall course and did very well.

APO201: Creation Apologetics and the Bible (Winter 2006) We have 26 students enrolled, representing the US, Canada, Finland, and Germany. Our instructors are Rod Martin, Terry Mortenson, and Roger Patterson.

Here are some of the comments from our first course, which ended on November 18.

“Please continue to uphold the authority of the Word of God and equip believers in this and other ways to defend their faith in this way. I think the idea of an online creation apologetics course and the reality that I experienced is innovative, well constructed, instructive and constructive, stimulating, and much needed.”

“I am very grateful for the knowledge and skill that this course has given me.”

“A lot of work and preparation has gone into this material. It was well presented and well done.”

“Very good coverage of the most relevant topics using a nice variety of learning modes.”

“I thought that the content of the various assignments, especially discussion and special projects, were very rewarding and challenging. They both strengthened my faith and reinforced my ability to give biblical answers.”

“Offering something like this online was like a gift from heaven—I love to learn, but can’t afford to go to school in the traditional fashion. This way I could study and still work, pastor, and raise my family as usual. It was great!”

“Thank You AiG! This has been a great learning experience for me and I hope and pray that I can use this class in a way that would please the Lord. Thanks to AiG for making this class available online for those that have tight schedules and families to support. I will certainly be taking more of these classes in the near future.”

“I really enjoyed the course; it was fun, challenging, interactive, informative and educational.”

“FANTASTIC class!!! What a great learning experience and neat medium for learning. You folks did a great job constructing a course that had enough meat to keep us old dogs gnawing and enough milk to keep the young pups interested. What a great eye-opener.”

We praise the Lord for such an incredible start to our online education!

God bless,

Tommy