InSite, January 2010

Did You Miss Something?

The Answers in Genesis web team stayed busy throughout 2009 with a number of upgrades, projects, and new sites. In case you missed something, here’s a quick glance back before we ramp up for another year of exciting changes and technological advances. Let’s get started:

In January 2009, we announced a new devotional series by Charles Spurgeon (as updated by Larry and Marion Pierce) to get your new year started right. As of now, there are 350 devotionals for you to study God’s Word. February brought a big update to our AnswersVBS.com site that gave churches access to a suite of powerful online applications—from registration of students to help forums. And this past March, we featured our growing social media presence and how you can get involved.

Spring showers in April got us excited about planning summer vacations—specifically, Creation Vacations. Our new site (now with over 40 destinations) has tips on making your time away something to remember. In May, we featured a new Answers in Genesis commercial that’s worth another look. June roared in with the dramatic “evolution” of our Creation Museum website.

Our summer kicked off with a flurry of updates in July, including a facelift to the “link super highway” at the top of the AiG family of websites, updates to the front page of the site, and the new digital version of Answers magazine. In August, we helped you get equipped for school or college with a number of resources to prepare you for the road ahead.

In the fall and winter, our attention turned to a complete revamp of the Answers Outreach website (formerly Events). October brought a new DaretoAsk.org website geared toward teens and young adults, complete with video answers and a cutting-edge design. After that initial offering, we announced a major transformation in November, as the Outreach site launched. This was followed by a few December “gifts” of additional features.

But we’re certainly not resting now. Although we can’t reveal any details yet, expect 2010 to be another year of web improvement. Keep watching InSite for the latest.

And, as always, let us know what you think or what you’d like to see.

In Store: Testing Evolution

Evolutionists tell us that Darwin’s idea has withstood all scrutiny. Now you can test the theory for yourself in Evolution: The Grand Experiment DVD. Join Dr. Carl Werner on his quest to uncover the truth and see the evidence as never before.

Evolutionists often retreat behind the claim that evolution is a theory that has withstood vigorous testing over the years. If that’s so, then anyone should be able to test evolution’s validity and reach the same conclusions.

That’s exactly what Dr. Carl Werner did.

Now, for the first time on DVD, you can follow Dr. Werner as he tests evolution by examining the evidence and speaking with the experts. Experience this 12-year journey spanning three continents—and filmed on location at dig sites, museums, and universities—for yourself.

Instead of the resounding proof that’s so often claimed, Dr. Werner uncoverd amazing admissions from some of the foremost evolutionists in the world. You’ll see why the “proof” is much less compelling than advertised.

Darwin admitted that intermediate links were “perhaps the most obvious and serious objection to the theory” of evolution. He recognized that the fossil record did not validate his idea, but he predicted that it would be confirmed as more and more fossils were found. As this DVD shows, that has not happened.

Based on Dr. Werner’s ground-breaking book of the same name, this documentary takes up the evolutionists’ challenge, lets them present their arguments, and then shows how real scientific exploration undermines Darwin’s claims.

So, prepare yourself, and let the grand experiment begin.

Question of the Month

How do you choose which news stories you cover in News to Note?

Over the years, News to Note has grown to be our most popular article series—with good reason. Each Saturday, you’ll find up-to-date, biblical coverage of what’s happening in everything from astronomy to politics.

So, how do we pick which stories to cover given all that’s going on in the world? In general, there are a few main sources we pull from: reader submitted tips, news sites, journals, and science news sources. After we gather all those together each week, we rely on five main factors to determine which topics make the cut.

• Impact: Generally, we try to cover the stories and events that garner the most attention from the world and from our readers. So, sending in tips definitely helps us gauge reader response.
• Freshness: Because News to Note is about quick responses, the coverage must be timely. There are some excellent older articles that we may have missed (and we may make an exception for some), but we usually limit our coverage to topics that are no more than two weeks old.
• Uniqueness: Some news stories are simply updates of previous research or events. If we already wrote about the topic and if the findings or presuppositions remain the same, we likely won’t cover further developments that repeat the same claims. If there’s a new spin or wrinkle, however, we’re more likely to consider whether an update is warranted.
• Scope: Answers in Genesis does not address certain issues outside our main focus: biblical authority. For example, we likely would not address a debate over biblical interpretations of eschatology in the news. Evolution, the age of the earth, compromise, and other attacks on the Bible are our main concerns. For more, see Where Do We Draw the Line?
• Personal choice: We have no problem admitting our biases. And if all other factors are equal, personal choice does play a role in the stories we pick. There are some topics that our writers and editors simply prefer to cover (for example, animal intelligence).

Because there are always relevant stories but little space to cover them all, we implemented a new section of News to Note last year called “And Don’t Miss . . .” that allows us to briefly address a number of issues we would have been forced to skip before. We hope you find the new section useful.

As always, we welcome your feedback about News to Note or any of the articles you read on the Answers in Genesis website. Use the link below and tell us what you’d like to see.

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

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Creation Museum website experienced amazing growth year over year? Thanks to the new design and growing interest, web traffic increased an encouraging 15% worldwide from 2008 to 2009. Visits from many countries, including Canada, Australia, and the UK, increased around 20%, and our largest influx of new interest came from Italy, clocking in at a whopping 150% increase from 2008. Benvenuto! Instead of fading away like some critics once claimed, God has given the increase, and the gospel continues to be shared.