InSite, February 2009

The new AnswersVBS.com!

VBS Live!

Last month we told you about one of our newest products, the Operation Space VBS. This month, we’re pleased to announce the forthcoming redesign of AnswersVBS.com, our website for both the Operation Space and Amazon Expedition VBS kits.

The new site (see a preview, left) will be more than just a basic information page on our VBS products. In addition, it will offer useful resources to everyone from educators running a VBS program to parents and children looking for one. Forums will allow VBS directors to exchange ideas and insights, while an embedded Google Map will display the locations of upcoming VBS programs.

This is all part of AiG’s effort to provide resources that train the next generation in biblical thinking. You can be the critical link by helping direct an Answers in Genesis VBS or making sure your children can attend one. And the new AnswersVBS.com will help you do that. Check back soon!

What’s in Store for this Month?

The God’s Design series isn’t exactly a new product. The highly regarded science curriculum (for grades 1 through 8) was acquired and updated by AiG back in 2006—but it has just received a complete update and overhaul.

Now, the curriculum—which covers life science, earth science, physical science, and chemistry—is completely full-color and has been totally revised and expanded. Yet it retains the qualities that made it award winning in the first place: easy-to-teach lessons that include fun, hands-on experiments; the ability to use the curriculum with students of different ages; and, of course, a biblical perspective, emphasizing God’s handiwork in the world around us and showing how real science supports biblical authority and the Genesis account of creation. If you’re a homeschooling parent be sure to read on!

Question of the Month

J.Z. writes to ask:

I was wondering if there was a scientist out there who would be willing to do a little apologetics on a site called [site name]. The [site name] forum is huge (one of the top 100 sites I believe), with one of the few places where atheists debate with believers about God and science. However, most of us are having a difficult time with the science issues as none of us are scientists and one atheist on the Religion and Philosophy forum is majoring in Biology. It would be such a wonderful thing to have one of your scientists give a more rigorous defense of creationism and/or attack on evolution, and that defense would be read by thousands of people across the internet.

While our scientists would love to be able to have the time to respond to all requests like this one, the reality is that with our limited manpower, we could never cover even one percent of the number of web forums and listservs out there. We are also obligated to be good stewards of the resources God has blessed us with (through you, our supporters), and arguing all day long with atheists who presuppose naturalism isn’t the best use of our scientists’ time.

Furthermore, our explicit goal (see Answers in Genesis Mission Statement) is to “support the church in fulfilling its commission.” Although we often answer questions posed by skeptics, and although we do pray that skeptics who find our website (or hear our radio program, etc.) come to faith, the ultimate purpose for our resources (website, magazine, events, etc.) is to give Christians the answers they can give to a questioning world. While we may not be able to give everyone the biological expertise of Georgia Purdom or the astrophysical knowledge of Dr. Jason Lisle, their articles can train you to give answers on scientific topics.

What’s more, the power of the web is that it’s easy to share information. Whether you’re discussing origins/biblical authority in a forum or by e-mail, it’s easy to paste in a link to our home page (www.answersingenesis.org) or to a specific article on our site. Using the powerful tools in our Get Answers section as well as our search engine, you can find responses to nearly all, if not all, of the most-asked questions about creation/evolution and the Bible. If the person you’re talking to wants to hear a technical explanation or an article from a PhD, we’ve got those, too (especially in our journals Answers In Depth and the Answers Research Journal).

We also offer Answers Education Online courses, taught by our scientists. From the entry-level Foundations in Creation Apologetics to advanced courses in scientific fields, these low-cost courses will give you further training in how to defend the Christian faith and the Bible—including a recent creation.

Have a question for InSite? Let us know! (Be sure to mention that your question is intended for InSite.)

Did You Know?

Although tax year 2008 is over, most Americans will be spending more time and energy thinking about it in the coming two-and-a-half months than in all of last year. While you’re seeing firsthand the effects of charitable giving on last year’s tax bill, why not keep in mind ways you can donate to Answers in Genesis in 2009? In addition to traditional giving, keep in mind that you can donate used equipment to fulfill ministry needs and receive a tax deduction.