Raising the Mammoth

Answers in Genesis is thrilled that God is raising up creation ministries all over the world, on the cutting edge of apologetics-where the battle is “really at.” AiG wants to do as much as we can to support these effective ministries and encourage others to work with them.

One such ministry, which has been around for fifteen years, is the Creation Studies Institute (CSI), located in South Florida, USA. In addition to a busy speaking schedule, CSI gets out the creation message in a variety of other ways-radio, seminars, workshops, “Fossil Floats,” book distribution, homeschool conventions, a newsletter, a Creation Museum. and the exciting Mammoth Project.

Mammoth Project 2003

One of CSI’s most interesting endeavors is its Big Dig excavations. Back in 1996, CSI discovered a mammoth skeleton on a Peace River expedition. Since then, they’ve been taking fossil-hunters, student groups and families back to the same area to discover other treasures from Florida’s past, including saber-cat, tapir and shark teeth, alligator scales, and much more.

The goal is to learn more about post-Flood conditions in Florida during the Ice Age. So far, their finds confirm that, under the right chemical conditions, fossils can be formed in a relatively short period of time.

This year’s excavations will be aided by Joe Taylor, a talented creationist paleontologist with over 20 years of field experience throughout the United States. He is the founder and curator of the Mount Blanco Fossil Museum in Crosbyton, Texas.

Creation Studies Center-grand opening on 15 February!

Just two weeks ago, on 15 February, CSI opened a fascinating museum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Creation Studies Museum displays a wide variety of amazing Florida fossils, from sharks to the giant ground sloth. The center attraction is the collection of bones from three different mammoths (one of them stood approximately 15 to 17 feet tall).

The museum’s attractive display of tropical plants ushers you into a realistic experience of Florida’s past, a few thousand years ago during the great Ice Age. The goal of the displays is to teach the Bible’s true perspective about the past.

Tom DeRosa, president of CSI, explains his burden to build the museum. As a science teacher who loved to learn more about God’s creation, he would “drag” his family to museums all over the country. But “they saw my great disappointment and at times, my great frustration, rise when evolution and new-age philosophy were boldly displayed as indisputable scientific fact. It is my opinion that these public museums are nothing else but places of worship for those who deny the Creator and worship the creation. The Holy Spirit placed in my heart that the truth has to be displayed somewhere!”

The burden of CSI: breaking down barriers to the Gospel

CSI was founded by Tom DeRosa in 1988, at Dr D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. The reason for his ministry? “Remove the Genesis account and the Cross will follow,” Tom says. “Without Creation, then God’s Word is not true. Without God’s Word, there is no foundation for the Gospel.”

CSI is offering a free one-year subscription to AiG’s quarterly Creation magazine to anyone who signs up to become a member of their organization. For details, call the CSI office at 954-315-4310.

This tragedy was true in his own life: “I was in seminary when I first started to believe the lie [of evolution]. At first I thought I could combine my faith and “science” [evolution]. However, I soon found that faith and evolution are like oil and water; they just don’t mix. I had to drop one. I did. With it went seminary and church. I soon became a devout atheist and dedicated evolutionist. I had a new religion, something else to put my faith in: evolution.

“But in 1978,” Tom says, “I had a life changing experience by receiving Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life. Since then, I have eagerly shared my testimony and given creation seminars in many churches. This is why creation is so important; it changes people’s lives by breaking down the barriers that keep them from Christ.”

Creationists in profile: Tom DeRosa

• Founder and president of Creation Studies Institute, Florida
• Certified science teacher in public and religious schools for 30 years
• Former chairman of the Creation Studies Department at Westminster Academy (Ft Lauderdale)
• Adjunct instructor in chemistry at Broward Community College (Ft Lauderdale)
• Presently directing and teaching creation studies at Calvary Chapel [CK] Bible Institute (Ft Lauderdale)
• Adult (& college) Sunday school teacher at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
• Host of “Genesis Connection,” an hour-long weekly radio program

“It’s a thrill to work with quality creation ministries, like Answers in Genesis, as we join together to get out the truth about creation, so that people will be open to hear the Gospel,” Tom says. “Ken Ham was very influential in the start of this ministry. Reading his book The Lie: Evolution (1987) turned me on to this very important message. Before he published that book, the creation/evolution debate was out there, but that book showed how the debate related to God’s Word. God’s Word was under attack, and until The Lie was published, people weren’t making that connection. Basically, CSI began because of that book.”

“Ever since I started CSI in 1988, Ken Ham has been working very closely with us. AiG has been very supportive of our ministry.” The pleasure has been all ours, Tom!

Contact information:

Creation Studies Institute
2401 West Cypress Creek Rd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-315-4310
www.csinfo.org

Note: Tom DeRosa had a kidney transplant recently. Please pray for his recovery, which is so far going well!