A couple of months ago, my oldest daughter Mary called me and asked what I would think if she went to Iraq this summer. I briefly thought about confiscating her passport and locking her in a closet, but then I realized this wouldn’t stop her from going if she’d already set her mind on it. So I just said, “Sounds like fun.”

Mary is going to be working with two other ESL instructors to train English teachers in Kurdistan (northern Iraq). Right now, she is emailing and video chatting with her co-teachers to work out their lesson plans. She’s excited about working with the team.

I’m helping Mary put together a website so she can post pictures and regale us all with stories about 125-degree weather. Now if I can just find where she hid her passport . . .

Well, this week marks the beginning of the end of one of my favorite hobbies. I am in the process of selling my camera equipment and my darkroom. I have enjoyed being involved with large-format black-and-white photography for almost 30 years. However, due to my increasingly hectic travel schedule and other family responsibilities, I find that in recent years I’ve had very little time to engage in this activity. So, rather than have the equipment sit idly by, I’ve decided to try to find my cameras a good home where they will be used.

Over the years I’ve had many enjoyable vacations traveling with my view camera. My wife Liz and I have spent untold hours trekking through the woods, into streams, around lakes, and into the snow searching for that perfect image. I have enjoyed nothing more than spending a day in the darkroom, even when at the end of the day I would have little to nothing to show for it. It was never about the result, it was always about the journey.

I will continue to maintain the website that contains my photographs even though there will be no more images added to the collection. You can see my photographs at www.tommysphotos.com.

Here are photographs of my view cameras and several of my favorite images.

My View Cameras

Covered Bridge, Vermont

Main Falls, Sand River, Ontario

Brick Wall and Door

Thanks for stopping by!

Several months ago, I met a wonderful couple at a conference in Mississippi. They told me that their wedding anniversary was coming up soon and they were considering a visit to our Creation Museum as part of their anniversary celebration.

I told them that if they decided to come, I would be happy to be their host and provide them with passes to the museum. As it happens, they did come to visit the Creation Museum. I wanted to share with you all a very nice email I got from them a few days later.

Dear Dr. Mitchell,

You asked me to write you after we got home from visiting the Creation Museum. You wanted to know what we thought about the visit. Well, I have been wondering how I’m going to sum up our anniversary trip to the Creation Museum. If I were to write you back of everything that [my husband] and I thought, then you could probably stick a cover on it and have another book for the bookstore. I asked myself what one word would I use to describe the Museum and that word which came to mind was “AWESOME”.

We spent two full days in there absorbing all that we could and making sure that we saw it all. There were moments when I felt like crying because my God was becoming bigger and more exciting to my husband and me. I’ve been raised in a strong conservative Christian home. I was homeschooled as well. However, my husband was raised in a public school and a slow-growing Christian. I recently learned that he had even bought into the evolutionary ideas...UNTIL NOW! He 100% now believes all the Bible is telling him and it has changed his life. He’s different now and at times overwhelming, but in a WONDERFUL way. God is good! Ever since we got back, he can’t get enough of the Word or all the DVDs and books we brought back.

Do you know what joy the Lord has given me to see this hunger and change in my husband? Do you know what excitement my heart has experienced with all this information that I am obtaining from the Bible? My parents are the ones who got us started with Answers in Genesis. We are now planning to get my parents up there to see the Creation Museum, too. Meanwhile they are enjoying, with us, all the bags of DVDs and books we bought in the bookstore. [My husband] loves going to my parents’ house because they are ready for the next DVD and discussion. [At] Christmas we read and discussed the booklets about what the Birth was probably like [including the booklet] “From Creation to Bethlehem”. The entire family really enjoyed that.

Thank you for this gift and letting us enjoy the treasure in the Creation Museum. It was the perfect Anniversary gift and perfect Anniversary memory. Now to just see where God is going to take us with all this new knowledge. [My husband] and I are praying about what He wants us to do as far as teach a class at church and share it with friends. The Museum is PERFECT and God is all in that building! His presence was felt and obvious! We are praying for this ministry and for each of you that work there and help make all this happen. May God continue to protect and bless.

P.S.

We saw Ken Ham and had our picture taken with him!!! Oh, and if y’all ever want to open up a Museum here in Mississippi, I want a job!!!

A visit to the Creation Museum can be a life-changing event. I hope you all have a chance to make a trip here very soon. I think you will like it, too!

I had the privilege of speaking at the Sunday morning chapel service for the Tennessee Titans this past weekend. Reggie, their team chaplain, has a long relationship with our ministry (Ken Ham spoke to the team several years ago), so he wanted an AiG speaker this year.

Over the last few weeks, we had been considering the topic to be presented, and we finally settled on the issue of death and suffering. With the recent tragedies in Kansas City and in Dallas, this seemed appropriate.

I arrived early at the team hotel in Indianapolis (as it was an away game for the Titans), and I got together with Reggie. While on the elevator, Reggie mentioned that AiG’s talk on racism would be well received. So on the spur of the moment, I changed my whole talk.

There were about 40 players and coaches at the chapel service. This was one of the most attentive and appreciative audiences I have had in a long time. They seemed very connected to the talk, and they asked a lot of good questions.

After the talk, the majority of the players and coaches came by to thank me and shake my hand. Several of the young men gave me a hug and said that they had never heard anything like this before! A few of them said that they wanted to visit the Museum after their season ends.

We gave everyone a copy of Ken Ham’s book, The Lie, and copies of my new DVD on death and suffering.

After the meeting was over, the Titans were kind enough to provide us with tickets for the game.

All in all, it was a really great day.

As I finish my last few days of Christmas vacation, I look back on 2011 and realize what an amazing year it was.

I traveled over 50,000 miles and participated in 36 conferences and events. There were pastor’s lunches and speaker sessions at the Creation Museum. I met countless people who gave testimony about how their Christian walk was strengthened by the ministry of Answers in Genesis. These things all make me realize how blessed I am to be a part of this ministry.

I was able to achieve a personal goal in 2011. I was able to visit my five favorite places in the same calendar year! Of course, my favorite place is the Creation Museum so that one was easy. The other four took a little planning.

In January, I took an extra day at the end of an event in Pennsylvania and spent a morning touring the Martin Guitar factory. It had been 10 years since my first visit to the factory, and it was a blast. A great start to 2011.

In April, I made my fifth trip to Augusta National Golf club, where I (and three of my best buddies) attended a practice round before the start of the Masters Tournament. I am not much of a golfer, but I love walking around Augusta National. It is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.

In May, Liz and I traveled to Nashville, where we went to see Paul Simon at the Ryman Auditorium. This was absolutely the best concert I have ever attended! One of my musical heroes playing at the finest concert hall in the world—it doesn’t get much better than that.

Then in November, I completed my quest by visiting Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. For the true Mac lover this is almost a mandatory trip. Imagine, the place where Mac OSX, iPods, iPhones, and iPad were born! Needless to say, I spent way too much money at the company store, but I did come home with some great souvenirs.

All five places in 2011—I won’t call this a bucket list but it was way cool!

All my travels kept me away more than I would like, and I often found myself quite homesick. I really don’t travel that well. But I did get to have some very special times with Liz. We went to Disney World for two days in September (using 22-year-old left-over tickets), and after my Northern Ireland tour, we had four days together in London. I even took Liz to see Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theater while were there (it wasn’t Paul Simon, but Liz thoroughly enjoyed it!).

It looks like 2012 is going to be even busier than 2011. I already have over 30 events booked on my schedule., including our AiG Family Conference in Branson, homeschool conferences, and several pastor’s conferences.

I have begun work on volume two of the Answers Book for Teens, and there are two other book projects I am working on, including a series of books on the human body. We will also be preparing a new video series early next year. So I guess you could say I have more than enough to do.

But I can’t wait to get started!

Thank you all for your prayers over the course of 2011. I appreciate your cards and letters, your emails, and your kind words of encouragement. Let’s all pray for lives to be changed in 2012!

I am now in London, taking a few days with Liz to see the sights. Feeling very tired, but very encouraged by all that happened on our Northern Ireland tour. As I think back . . .

I was privileged to speak in every county in Northern Ireland and slept in all but one. We drove hundreds of miles, although an exact count was not kept. I met loads of wonderful, dedicated Christians. I experienced the hospitality of pastors and missionaries who opened their homes to Neil and me. I never went hungry. I consumed more tea than I ever imagined (there is not a break in any activity in Northern Ireland that is not accompanied by the consumption of tea or coffee, all in all, not a bad tradition).

I drove by historic golf courses, saw beautiful coastlines, and got terribly homesick. One of the most amazing events of the week was that I got a ride in a $250,000 supercar. A member of one of the churches where I spoke was a member of a supercar club, and he took me for a ride. So this is what I did that morning instead of preaching (don’t tell Ken Ham):

A wee drive in the country . . .

So here we are—the tour is complete. I am very encouraged by the testimonies I received from those who came to the events. I am certain that many things will come to mind over the next few weeks as I have time to contemplate all the happened during our tour. It was an amazing adventure and a time of great blessing for both Neil and me.

Thanks for all your prayers! I really need a nap.

Lisburn

Driving in Omagh

Raining...and cold

On December 2 we actually had a morning off, and I got to play tourist. We drove along the north coast of Northern Ireland and ended at the Giant’s Causeway. It was very windy and cold that day, but we all had a great time. I had lots of time there to be educated about how many million years it took for these formations to form. Fascinating.

At Giant's Causeway

That night I spoke at the Old Courthouse in Markethill. This talk was open to the public, and even though the weather was terrible, the folks who attended were enthusiastic about the message.

Markethill Courthouse

The only problem with the Markethill event was that I managed to fall down a stairwell. I was trying to adjust the volume on the PA system, and I stepped past a ledge and fell. The next day I was very sore, but luckily I suffered no permanent damage (except perhaps to my pride).

Saturday found me in a living room with nine young people having a question and answer apologetics session. They had lots of questions, and I tried to provide them with lots of answers. After we finished I bought each of these young people a copy of Dr. Jason Lisle’s book Ultimate Proof of Creation (which they all promised to read).

Saturday night was to be a planned night off, but as usual, that changed. We got word from a church in Magherafelt that their young people’s group wanted us to come and speak. This youth group had gotten a copy of the UK Answers Update newsletter and noticed that my Saturday night appeared open. They begged the pastor to call and ask if I could come to their meeting. I was told that they were planning on showing a Ken Han video that night, but hoped they could get me instead. Well, when I heard these poor young people might be stuck with Ken Ham, there was only one thing for me to do. We drove for an hour and half and met with them. The usual attendance for the meeting is 20, but there were over 60 at the meeting! It was a genuine blessing to meet them. They obviously love AiG!

Link Youth Group

Our final day of ministry was Sunday, December 4. I spoke at a home church in the morning and traveled to Ballygowan for the evening. The two sessions that night completed our UK tour.

I don’t remember ever being this tired, but at the same time there was tremendous ministry done over the course of our time in Northern Ireland. We drove for hours every day, and I felt like we were constantly loading and unload the resources from the van. We got up early and went to bed late, but I would not change a minute of it.

The Lord really blessed in Northern Ireland.

Day Six of the tour of Northern Ireland began with a welcome change, a morning off! A couple extra hours of sleep and a leisurely breakfast was a change from the very hectic pace we had been keeping the previous few days.

Our destination for the evening was the Straid Congregational Church in, of all places, Straid. The pastor was expecting an average attendance, but before the first talk began, we were putting out several extra rows of chairs. I really enjoyed the time with all the folks who came out. I even met a man who had visited the Creation Museum last summer!

Day seven began with a school talk for about 30 young men. I spoke on evolution and medicine. These students were really engaged with the talk, and there were many great questions.

In this particular class there was one young man who seemed especially unhappy with what I was presenting. He challenged me on many points (very respectfully) and did not seem to accept anything I said. I later found out that he openly described himself as an atheist, which did not surprise me. He approached me after the session and told me he did not agree with anything I said, but he appreciated my trying to answers his questions. We need to keep this young man in prayer.

That night we were at Hebron Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney for two sessions. There we had another packed house. I especially enjoyed these two talks because I got to use my iPad as a remote control for my Keynote presentations. This is something that I have to do on occasion when there is no VGA connection at the pulpit.

I do want to mention several very special people. I would like to thank William and Rosalind Brown who were so gracious to open their home to Neil and I on days four and five of our trip. Also, I want to extend a special thanks to Pastor Paul Bradley and his wife Jacki for putting us up on our trip to Straid. We were made most welcome in both of these homes, and I will keep fond memories of my time there.

We continue to be very encouraged on this tour. In fact, several of the churches have indicated that they would welcome us back anytime we are in the area.

We plan to do a little sight seeing in the AM, and then we will be off again!

We are still having great ministry here in Northern Ireland.

On Sunday morning Lisburn Free Presbyterian Church hosted us. The pastor there is the Rev. Thomas Martin. He and I seemed to hit it off immediately. We are apparently birds of a feather. He has been an AiG supporter for years and gave his congregation a strong word of recommendation for our ministry.

After the morning service, we were taken away fed an incredible lunch that was followed a few hours later by tea, biscuits, and a birthday cake for our host’s wife.

Sunday night found us back at Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church. On our return there we continued to hear testimonies from the congregation about how blessed they were by the session on Friday night. It was humbling to hear such nice things said about the message.

After the service, we were again taken for a great meal. In fact, we were fed so well on that Sunday that I finally uttered words that I never thought I would say. I finally had to admit, “I’m full!” (That is very difficult for me.)

Monday was the first break we had from the rain. The sun was actually out for a couple of hours before the rains came again—it was nice while it lasted. On Monday afternoon I had the privilege of speaking to the Scripture Union at Portora Royal School. Sixty or so student attended the lecture, and there was a spirited time of questions and answers afterwards. In speaking to several faculty members, I found out that this school is over 400 years old. Both Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde were students at this school. Pretty neat, huh?

That night, we moved on to Enniskillen Independent Methodist Church. Rev. William Park is the pastor there, and it was immediately obvious that he, too, loves AiG’s ministry. Not only is he enthusiastic about Answers in Genesis, but he also makes a great cup of tea!

On Tuesday the rains came again in earnest, but we pressed on. There were two school sessions Tuesday, both in Omagh. The second session was especially well attended, as 70 students and 12 faculty came to a lunch meeting of the school Scripture Union. There were questions and answers in both student meetings.

At the evening meeting on Tuesday, one of the faculty members from Portora Royal School was in attendance. He told me that one young man in particular had been struck by what had been presented the day before, and he had lunch with him that day. The young man had many questions answered by my presentation, and he was anxious to share these things with his teacher. We praise God that the message has been touching the hearts of the youth!

I must admit that as I am writing this blog, I am very tired. I hope to be able to get a little more sleep tonight in preparation for another very busy five days here in the UK. Please pray that not only my body, but my voice holds out as we continue a very full ministry schedule.

Me and Rev. Thomas Martin

Sunday night in Hillsborough

School Session

Driving in Omagh

Ministry began in Northern Ireland on the evening of November 25. I was speaking at Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church. This was to be primarily a youth meeting, but the attendees were about half youth and half adults. I spoke on the topic of death and suffering, and there was an incredible response from both young and old alike. Several people spoke to me about their own personal experiences with death of friends and family members. It really did seem to strike a chord in this church.

The next morning, the pastor told me that everyone was still “buzzing” about the talk from the night before. That is always great news. The pastor, in particular, seemed pleased with the message. As it turns out, the pastor, Gary Goodes, is a native Australian. I think I understood him particularly well.

Later on that Saturday morning, I was to participate in an “open air” session in the center of Lisburn. Basically an “open air” is street evangelism. This was to be held at the Lisburn town center. As this is not really my strong suit, I was very apprehensive about the whole thing. Frankly, I can’t remember ever being that nervous. When we arrived, it was windy, cold, and raining. I remember thinking, “Oh, perfect!” I did manage to pull it off, I think without embarrassing myself too much. It is merciful that I was so scared because I really don’t remember much about it.

On the Saturday night, I spoke at the Dunamis Youth Event in Craigavon. There were about 200 in attendance. I did a two-part talk entitled “Do you Really Have Answers?” The group seemed attentive but was not terribly interactive. There was a praise band playing between my two talks, and most likely the youth were there more to hear the band than my talks. By the time we got all the resources packed and put in the van, it was past 11 PM. I did not get back to my room until after midnight.

All in all, it has been a pretty good start to our Northern Ireland ministry. Here are some photos:

Me speaking at Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church

At the "open air" in Lisburn

The Dunamis Youth Event

Well, I am finally in the UK!

I flew from Cincinnati to Detroit to London-Heathrow to Belfast. It was a lot of time in the air, but it passed fairly quickly. The best surprise was that the seat next to me on the London flight was unoccupied, so I had a lot of room to stretch, and I did manage to get a little sleep.

The line at customs at Heathrow took about an hour and a half, but I got through without any difficulty, collected my suitcase and proceeded to Terminal One for my Belfast flight. Things did not go as well there.

When I went thought that security checkpoint, they confiscated my laser pointer. My very own, extra-special, super-duper, extra-sharp, had-my-name-engraved-on-it-and-everything laser pointer. I had traveled with it for several years, both domestic and international, without it even being questioned. Apparently regulations have changed. Through my sadness, I did eventually get to Belfast and had fish and chips for supper, which did make my day brighter.

I’ll be at a very nice little hotel for the next four days, where I will have Internet access. After that I will be staying in private homes, so I am unsure of Internet access in those settings. We will be going to an early men’s prayer meeting in the morning (Friday) and will hold a youth rally tomorrow night.

Now I’m gonna make Ken buy me a new laser pointer . . . .

I’ll keep you posted!

I just returned from a three-day conference in Lakewood, Washington. I can’t remember an event where everyone was so hungry for the ministry message.

In the first session I spent a great deal of time discussing the data from the book Already Gone. Two thirds of our young people are leaving the church because they aren’t being equipped with answers. This message resonated with the congregation at Lake City Community Church. Many folks approached me during the breaks and told me of young people in their family who had walked away from the church in similar fashion. They were eager to find the answers so that they could reach out to those who had walked away.

One young man in particular touched my heart during the conference. He came up to me and thanked me for giving him answers that he never thought existed. He told me that his mother had died five years earlier. Soon after, he left the church because he had so many questions, and no one seemed to be able to answer them. He concluded that there were no answers to his questions. When he heard about this conference, he was intrigued and decided to come hear what I had to say. To make a long story short, he came to every one of my sessions (he particularly wanted to come to the talk on death and suffering). Just before I left the church to leave for the airport, he came to me and said that in so many ways, his faith had been restored.

Praise the Lord!

Answers in Genesis is an international ministry. It has been our desire to proclaim the message of biblical authority not only here in the United States but all over the world. For example, you may know Ken Ham recently participated in a major creation conference in Malaysia (where the response was tremendous, I might add).

As a part of our international outreach, we have been planning for a series of meetings in Northern Ireland. This has taken an enormous amount of time and effort on the part of our UK staff. Securing speaking venues, making travel arrangements, and shipping resources requires a lot of man-hours.

Now the planning has been done, the venues secured, and the time is almost here. Next Wednesday, November 23, I will be off to the UK. I will fly to London and then on to Belfast where our UK staff will meet me to begin our ministry there. Here is the itinerary for the trip.

I will be speaking in churches, in schools, to youth groups, and at pastors meetings. I look forward to a wonderful time of ministry as the Word of God is proclaimed and our Lord Jesus Christ is honored. Our staff tells me that there is great anticipation about the upcoming meetings, and that is very exciting to me.

My plans are to post numerous reports about the ministry in Northern Ireland during my time there. I plan to post both here on my speaker blog and on my Facebook page. Please make a note to follow these posts daily.

I would covet your prayers as the time for this ministry draws closer. Pray not only for travel mercies, but also for my physical strength during a very busy time of speaking. Pray mostly that the authority of God’s Word would be proclaimed boldly, even through such a weak vessel as myself. Pray that many would come to know Christ through the preaching of His Word.

In late 2010 we published the first of what we hope will be a several-volume series entitled Demolishing Contradictions. To date this book has been very well received. The intended purpose of this series is obviously to answer people’s questions about supposed contradictions in the Bible. After all, if the Bible is God’s revelation to man, it should not contain any errors.

Skeptics often point to one or more of these supposed errors to show the Scripture cannot be trusted and to cast doubt or the authority of the Word. Then the world mocks the Christian, saying, “See, I told you the Bible could not be trusted!”

Often these “contradictions” are merely due to reading into the text something that is not there, or not fully reading what is there. Nonetheless, there are answers to these “contradictions,” and we hope to deal with many, many of these as this series progresses over the months upcoming.

This morning I submitted my three chapters for review and editing. We pray it will help strengthen your faith in the Word of God.

The Apologetics Mega Conference, our major summer teaching conference, was held last week. It was such a treat to spent time with all the AiG supporters who came to the event. Over 800 people attended the sessions, which generally lasted from 9 AM until 9 PM. Built into the schedule was also time for two visits to the museum, and most of the attendees took the opportunity to visit.

It was an honor to get reacquainted with many of the people I have met during my travels over the past six years. Even if I could not always put a name with them, I recognized many faces, both young and old. Unfortunately for me, many of those I met as children are now grown, and the adults I met are now older (and some, like me, are grayer). Time does slip away.

One young lady told me that she remembered my conference at her church because my talks not only encouraged her, but they made her laugh. She said that too many of the special speakers at her church “take themselves too seriously.”

The best compliment I got during the conference came from a young man who came up to me and said, “Hey, you’re the Mac guy!” Obviously, he was paying attention when I spoke at his church.

Our audiovisual team was there throughout the conference, and we had the chance to record most of the presentations. My talk, “Why Can’t a Day Mean a Day?” was recorded and hopefully will be available in a few months.

More later . . .

I'm finally home after a 10-day road trip. I had the opportunity of speaking at three different places while I was away.

I began in Princeton, West Virginia, where I spoke at the Chuck Mathena Center. Attendance there was terrific. Several churches came together to hold this conference, and it was apparent how much time they spent promoting the meetings. I even had a bluegrass group open the sessions each evening!

Next, I spoke at Appalachian Bible College in Mount Hope, West Virginia. This college has been a longtime friend of Answers in Genesis, and we have always appreciated their strong stand on Genesis and the authority of Scripture. It is always fun to spend time with college students. It helps me remember how enthusiastic I was at that age!

Finally, I was honored to be asked to speak on Easter Sunday at Maxwell Hill Baptist Church in Beckley, West Virginia. It is not often that a pastor will ask someone else to fill his pulpit on this special day. I spoke on the connection between Genesis and the Cross.

I will get my laundry done over the next couple of days, and then I’m off again. I will be in Durham, North Carolina, this weekend.

I spoke in Georgia last weekend. While I was there I had the pleasure of seeing a young man that I met last year at the Creation Museum. His name is Michael Patrick McGuiness. He is really a fan of Answers in Genesis. This is what he told me:

My family and I really enjoyed hearing you speak in Hazlehurst, GA this weekend and we are very glad we drove in from Savannah to hear you. When I said I wanted to go hear you speak, my Dad suggested we wait three weeks and see Ken Ham in Greenville, SC but I insisted I wanted to hear you. Being a fellow southerner, I appreciate hearing your distinguished accent and I thoroughly enjoy the humor you use in your presentations. Also, I don’t have any trouble understanding you like can sometimes happen when listening to someone from another continent.

Here is a photo of the two of us.

Obviously, this young man is wise beyond his years. With his insight he has a great future ahead of him. Yes, there is something about those accents from other continents . . .

I’m off to Virginia this weekend. Pray for heart and minds to be changed!

One of my keen interests over the years has been computers. I got my first computer back in the days of DOS 1, and I have been using computers both in my personal life and throughout my career as a practicing physician.

Since joining AiG in 2006, I have developed a close relationship with our IT Department. It has been my privilege to help with several projects involving the ministry’s utilization of technology. Also I have assisted several of the other speakers as they started to employ new presentation techniques and equipment. When I’m in the office I find myself with the IT staff as much as with the Outreach team. I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

Also, over the last few years, I have made a complete transition from the Windows-based world to the world of the Mac. It was the best decision that I have made in a long time. Now my presentations just work. My videos don’t hang up. My wireless just works. When I now say, “I’m a Mac,” I really mean it.

During this transition, I must admit I was the focus of much good-natured kidding. I heard all the comments from others that they wold never use a Mac. However, several of those who were poking fun at me now are fervent Mac users. I guess they wanted to be like me (and who could blame them). The most prominent Mac convert is Ken Ham (who obviously wanted to be like me).

If you’ve never used a Mac, try it—you will like it!

I didn’t have to get on a plane last weekend. I spoke four times at Liberty Heights Church in Liberty Township, Ohio, which is only 40 miles from home.

This church is really behind the ministry of Answers in Genesis. Many church members told me that they have visited the Creation Museum multiple times. Quite a few had plans to bring their children and/or grandchildren back to the museum this summer.

One particular conversation stands out about the weekend. A mother and her two teenage sons came to the morning sessions. One of the boys spent his own money to get a copy of the New Answers Book 1 and apparently spent most of the afternoon reading it. When evening came, the boy surprised his mother by asking if they could go back to the church for the evening sessions. The lady told us, “When my oldest son says we need to go back tonight and hear him talk, that means something.”

Let’s all pray that the Lord continues to work in the lives of these young men.

I’m off to California this weekend, so it’s back to the airport very early tomorrow morning.

Also, don’t forget to check out my new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/aigtommymitchell. Hope you will like it!

I have been trying to catch up on my backlog of writing projects this week. It seems that I am forever behind. This week I have finished a couple of web articles and a chapter for an upcoming apologetics book. As of today I have no immediate deadline to meet. What a feeling!

My time off the road has given Ken Ham and me an opportunity to engage in one of our favorite activities, cribbage. Our crib matches are spirited to say the least, and the outcome of each match seems to have repercussions throughout the ministry. After I thoroughly trounced Ken last Sunday, I got a message from Steve Ham (Ken’s brother) congratulating me on my victory. Steve included a note he made for me on his new iPad. I thought I would share it with you all.

Kinda says it all, doesn’t it?

Also, don’t forget my renewed presence on Facebook. You can follow me at www.facebook.com/aigtommymitchell. Stop by as often as you can.

I’m speaking at Liberty Heights Church in Liberty Township, Ohio this Sunday. Pray for lives to be changed!

Last weekend I was in Clayton, Georgia, speaking at Clayton Baptist Church. I had a great time there. It was especially good to be able to go someplace where I don’t have to apologize for my accent. I felt very at home among folks who know what “ain’t” and “reckon” mean.

As usual, there were testimonies from people who had visited the Creation Museum. A lot of the young people for this church had visited, and they told me they want to go back again: “It was a really great place with all the dinosaurs and everything!”

One particular encounter stands out for me, though. I was at lunch with the pastor and several of his staff. While we were eating, the lady who owns the restaurant came by to check on us. The told me that on Sunday morning she had come to church with “an empty tank” and the presentations “just filled my tank up again!”

I guess she liked what she heard.

This weekend I’m off. It will be great to get back to my home church and get my tank filled up again!

Before I left Pennsylvania last week, I took a little side trip just for Tommy. I made my return plans to leave very late in the day in order to have time to visit the Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Anyone who knows me understands that I am a total Martin fanatic. I own five Martins, and I am more than capable of spending hours discussing Martin guitars and their place in the history of music (especially bluegrass music).

I spent several hours at the museum and had the opportunity to take a factory tour. It was a real treat to see all the steps that go into making such wonderful instruments. All in all, it was a really great day!

The exterior of the Martin Museum

One of the museum displays

An old Mac computer in one of the displays. Macs—another of my favorite things!

I’m looking at a very busy speaking season. Please keep on praying for me and all the other AiG speakers!

My first conference for 2011 was at Valley Forge Baptist Church in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. And it was a great start to the New Year. There were five sessions on Sunday and two more on Monday night. The auditorium was packed for each session, and those who came were hungry for the message.

I was greatly encouraged by the comments and testimonies from the folks at the sessions. One in particular stood out. A young lady came to me and said she always wondered why her friends at school wanted to argue about creation. She said, “It just seems like they are arguing just to be arguing!” To her it seemed pointless. She told me that after coming to this conference she now understands that it is really about the authority of God’s Word and being able to defend your faith. As she started to walk away, she turned to me and said, “My life will never be the same. I will be a much better Christian because of what I learned during this conference.”

What a way to begin 2011!

With the onset of the Christmas season, my time on the road decreases significantly. I am blissfully away from airports and hotels for a few weeks. Also, I get to sleep in my own bed for many nights in a row.

With all this free time, I’m getting plenty of rest, right? Well, not exactly. There is still a lot to do. All the speakers here at Answers in Genesis look forward to this season of the year to have time to catch up on all the stuff we can’t get done when we travel.

For example, my active projects include: several feedback articles for the web, planning and writing further installments in our Arguments Christians Should Not Use web series, completing a chapter for one of our upcoming apologetics books, beginning to research and write chapters in our Contradictions series, working with our publisher in regard to a book project (which would be my first), and speaking several times this month at the Creation Museum—not to mention that I will be going home to Tennessee for a few days to visit my family and the folks at my old medical practice.

It you are in the area, please don’t forget to come to the ChristmasTown events here at the museum. You can get the schedule of event on the Creation Museum website.

God bless you all as we celebrate our Savior’s birth.