God Is Working in These Unprecedented Times

There’s no doubt millions were impacted by Charlie’s work and ministry. Think about it: Millions watched this memorial service around the world and heard the gospel many times. I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime. It seems to me God is using this to awaken people in this nation and around the world.

This tragedy and the response make me want to be even more bold about the truth of God’s Word and the gospel and do all I can to challenge the church and culture with the truth.

As I was thinking about this, three verses came to mind that speak directly to what we are doing in the AiG mission to the world. I thought this would be a good reminder to all of you of what God has called us to do as our part of being bold for him in this world to impact lives for Christ.

We have no way of knowing how the AiG ministry has impacted people around the world, but our extensive guest surveys at the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum (which are only a part of our overall ministry) consistently show that about 100,000 people a year respond to the gospel message, making professions of faith from their visit. Wow!

And we know many, many children trust Christ for salvation because of churches using our VBS. We won’t know the full reality until heaven of how God used this ministry to bring people to salvation. What a privilege to be a part of this ministry; what an honor; what a blessing.

Our ministry has primarily been to call the church back to the authority of God’s Word, equip Christians to defend the Christian faith, help families raise up godly offspring, and reach as many non-Christians as we can with the gospel. I’ve always promised God we would never knowingly compromise his Word but always be faithful to honor him and his Word in all we do. I pray that will always be so.

So let me share the first of those three verses:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 LSB)

I had read that verse as a young person but did not fully understand it until recently, when I realized what God is teaching us.

Remember that part of the devil’s temptation was that Adam and Eve could become like God. In other words, they could be their own god. Because we sinned after the likeness of Adam (Romans 5:12, 14), now we know the heart of man is deceitful above everything and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Unregenerate man wants to be his own god!

Because God is the Creator of all things, God is the one who defines all he creates. He defines gender, marriage, the family, life, and dominion, to name just a few. Because finite, sinful man is not the Creator and wants to be god, he takes what God has defined and redefines it to have the opposite meaning.

We are experiencing the consequence of a culture where so many are now acting as their own god.

That’s really what Isaiah 5:20 is teaching us. Man will redefine everything in the opposite direction. Man redefines gender, marriage, life, the family, dominion, and much more. Man redefines sin by making evil good and good evil. We see this happening before our very eyes! We are experiencing the consequence of a culture where so many are now acting as their own god.

Yet at the same time, we see God doing something across this nation, and we see it happening more with young people rather than from the church itself! So much of the church is lukewarm because of compromise on God’s Word.

And tear your heart and not your garments. Now return to Yahweh your God. (Joel 2:13 LSB)

In my recent messages, I have been repeatedly emphasizing that the problem with America is a heart problem. Now, don’t get me wrong when I say this (read on further), but government and legislation are not the answer to America’s, or the world’s, problems. However, we do need more people in government who are born-again Christians with a true biblical worldview to be the light and salt in all they do. That impacts a culture.

Recently in Australia, one state banned machetes because people were using them for violent acts. Others have used knives for violent acts, and there are those who use guns for the same purpose. But the point we need to understand is that machetes, knives, and guns aren’t the ultimate problem. The problem is man’s heart—man’s sinful heart. Unless people believe God’s Word, acknowledge their sin and repent, and build their thinking on God’s Word, these problems will not truly be solved.

Many politicians have really redefined dominion. Instead of man having dominion over the creation, they insist the creation has dominion over man! Thus, much of the climate change movement is based on incorrect assumptions. For instance, it’s assumed everything natural is good. With this redefinition of dominion, humans end up being harmed, and it all comes back to politicians and activists worshipping the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1). But everything natural is suffering from the effects of the curse. This means man can help improve the environment by removing the buildup of brush, so fires won’t be devastating, for example.

Because evil has been redefined as good and good as evil, many leaders view man as inherently good. Therefore, they believe when humans do harmful things, we just need to improve their environment and they will get better. No! Man is inherently bad, with a heart problem that needs dealing with.

As Joel states, “Tear your heart and not your garments.” In other words, the outside is not the problem, the inside is the problem. There’s a heart problem. There needs to be a revival in people’s hearts. Also, just like Joel states, “Return to Yahweh your God.” I believe God is saying to the church, “Return to me. Stop compromising the Word. Come out of the world. Reject the anti-god religion of Babylon!” Yes, reject the religion of evolution/millions of years that has so undermined biblical authority and greatly contributed to a catastrophic generational loss to the church and equip God’s people with apologetics to defend the faith.

Which brings me to the third verse:

But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2 LSB)

Oh, how our pastors, Christian leaders, Christian academics, and all Christians need to tremble at God’s Word! So many have sinned by not taking his Word as written—particularly in Genesis 1–11, which is the foundation for everything! To deal with any issue—any issue—one has to start from Genesis 1–11. But much of the church has not taught that, and many don’t know how to deal with the issues of the day or how to defend the Christian faith or raise up godly offspring or effectively witness to the people of the age we live in.

At Answers in Genesis, we have done our best, as fallible as we are, to be faithful to the Word of God. We’ve done our very best to help raise up godly generations. We’ve done all we can with what God has entrusted to us to reach as many non-Christians with the salvation message as we can. And I’ve tried ever so hard to challenge compromise in the church and to call the church back to the authority of God’s Word.

But we want to do more—so much more. I know, we can’t do everything. But the harvest is plentiful, and the laborers are few. So would you please allow me to ask you to prayerfully consider helping us as a result of two things:

1. As you have likely seen, travel and tourism have been down across the nation this year due to previous years’ economic impact. And as the Bible reminds us, “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:2–3 LSB)

   And so yes, the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum have been affected too. Because summer is our peak season, we use that time to put away funds to enable us to get through the slower times of winter (January–April). But this year, we weren’t able to do that to the degree we have in the past. Now, the good news is many experts are predicting things will get back closer to “normal” next year, and we are seeing improvements as we approach the end of the year.

   While we work hard to adjust to the financial impact, the blessing has been this year’s increasing gospel impact on guests.

   But while we work hard to adjust to the financial impact, the blessing has been this year’s increasing gospel impact on guests that we are seeing from our extensive survey responses. This leads me to the second thing—where you can help us continue that gospel impact through your support of the end-of-year matching gift challenge and any additional gift to our core ministry as the Lord leads.

2. As I’ve shared previously, a family foundation has provided us with an end-of-year matching gift challenge for the past few years of $8 million. This foundation gives to support new projects and initiatives to continue to expand the evangelistic reach and impact of the ministry instead of giving to normal core operating funds.

   We have a lot of projects in our master plans for the attractions and ministry for the future. This year, we presented a need for $20 million for new projects and initiatives, and the foundation committed to make a $10 million matching gift challenge—their biggest ever.

   

   It would enable us to do some major renovations at the Creation Museum to make more space for guests and pave the way for an eventual children’s museum with interactive exhibits. At the Ark Encounter, it will provide funds to exhibit some world-class archaeological artifacts that confirm the historicity of the Bible in special display areas and also enable expansion/infrastructure activities for future family-engaging attractions at the Ark.

   To find out more of the details of these opportunities and watch a short video I recorded about them, you can go to AnswersDonate.com.

I must admit, God tested my faith when we set out in previous years to reach an $8 million match, so from a human perspective, I don’t know how we can reach the $10 million figure this year. But God knows! And we know that with God, all things are possible!

And if we exceed the matching challenge goal, all gifts above the goal will go to support the extra needs for the core ministry operations, which would be a great blessing!

Will you prayerfully consider how you can help us?

Thank you for your prayers, and for being a part of the AiG family!

In Christ,
Ken