Whose word do you tremble at?

Transcription

1 A monthly newsletter equipping Christians to uphold the authority of the Bible from the very first verse Current headquarters CREATION MUSEUM GIFTS Figure includes cash in hand, faith-promise gifts, and expenditures paid (e.g. architect s fees) Relief effort to New York City! (p. 4) DECEMBER 2001 continued next page VOLUME 8 ISSUE 12 Whose word do you tremble at? but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2) I must admit it: I continue to stand amazed at the number of conservative Christians and ministries that agree with AiG that we have to believe in a literal Adam and Eve, a literal bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ and a literal Virgin Birth but they vehemently part ways with us when it comes to our stand on the six literal days of Creation. 1 Many Christians also insinuate that AiG is unloving, divisive, intolerant and not respectful of fellow Christians because we insist on taking God s Word as written concerning the six days of Creation. Is it really necessary for AiG to be so adamant about the six days? Does it matter? Can t we allow some latitude here? First, the word day appears over 2000 times in the Old Testament and can have several meanings (mostly, though, an ordinary day). Yet the only place in the Bible where Christians argue over what it means is in Genesis 1, where it could not be more obvious from the context. Ultimately, years of research and personal conversations have convinced me that the reason so many Christians won t accept the six literal days of Creation is that they somehow want to allow for billions or millions of years to fit somewhere into history. Thus, they are telling the world by Ken Ham, AiG president 1

2 Page 2 continued from page 1 that man s fallible dating methods (there s no hint of millions of years in the Bible) can be trusted and the Bible has to be reinterpreted to fit. When some Christians tell people that they really prefer to trust man s word rather than God s, these people see this inconsistency and lose respect for Christianity and the Bible. The real issue is Biblical authority that s what has been largely lost from our once very Christianized cultures. That s why AiG makes such an issue of it. But isn t six literal days just a little thing, so long as we believe the rest of God s Word? Well, how do you think the infinite Holy God of the universe, who is very jealous of His Word, sees it when we tell Him, in effect, God, I really don t care what your Word says in Genesis 1 but I believe the rest of it that s good enough, isn t it? No, it s not. God judged the Israelites for not believing His Word. Even when they brought Him sacrifices and prayed, He didn t hear their prayers because they didn t take Him at His Word. Oh yes, they believed some of it, but God wants us to give Him the glory He deserves and believe all of it. Not only that, but compromise with a six-day Creation ends up seriously undermining the Gospel, because putting the millions of years (and thus the fossil record) into the six days puts death and disease before sin! 2 Our increasingly secularized, immoral society has lost a belief in Biblical authority because God s people have signaled to the world that we don t believe His Word, and that we tremble at man s word instead (i.e. his dating methods and his fallible science). Until God s people clearly teach and demonstrate to the world that we all need to tremble at the Word of God, Biblical authority will not be restored. 1 Sometimes they even agree about a literal Fall and literal global Flood, even though, as we have often shown, this is inconsistent with a long-age belief. 2 Accepting a literal Fall and literal Flood of course puts these bad things firmly after Adam s sin. December 2001 Volume 8 Issue 12 The Answers Update is published monthly at no charge by Answers in Genesis, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) evangelistic organization. President: Ken Ham Editors: Mark Looy; Mike Matthews Production: Dan Zordel; Diane King Internet: WHO ARE WE? AiG equips the church to uphold the authority and accuracy of the Bible from the very first verse, thereby enabling it to more effectively present the Gospel in our increasingly secular, evolutionary society. PO Box 6330 Florence, KY Industrial Rd Florence, KY Phone... (859) Fax... (859) Donations & Book orders only... (800) Museum info. line...(859) x360 2

3 Page 3 AiG s relief effort to New York City! In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York City and the Capitol, people are thinking more about the meaning of life and God. In a special outreach to offer answers to a questioning and hurting city, AiG had the opportunity to send multiple thousands of copies of its witnessing booklet Is there really a God? to New York City, distributed by local churches, including First Baptist Church (north of the World Trade Center). Dr Robert Gage, senior pastor, wrote AiG-US to thank us for the gift of 10,000 booklets. He wrote that the AiG booklets would be used for the families of the firemen and police in our area, and to comfort and reach people in our community. It is our goal to reach out to families in a tangible way. Thanks. This new witnessing booklet is also being shipped to churches in New York City! Not long after sending these booklets, AiG received a request from pastors and chaplains in New York City who pleaded with us to ship 50,000 of the same booklets. They told us that this question Is there really a God? is being asked throughout the city. We sent these booklets free of charge. Thousands of our new witnessing booklet Why is there Death and Suffering? (see p. 7) are also being shipped to New York. Please pray that the Christian community will recognize the phenomenal opportunity to reach America and the world with answers in the midst of a horrible tragedy. God has given us a reason about why there is death and suffering in this world and how people can be saved. 3

4 Artist rendering by Dan Tullius Page 4 King Kong designer hired at AiG! The Lord has blessed AiG s Creation Museum project with the addition of Patrick Marsh, the art director who designed the Jaws and King Kong attractions at Universal Studios in Florida! A graduate of UCLA (B.A. in Industrial Design, M.F.A. in Environmental Design), Patrick has been involved in design for over thirty years. For the past 11 years, he was the director of design for Dream Makers in Tokyo, creating designs for theme parks and resort projects throughout Japan. Help us finish the puzzle for Phase 2! (Each puzzle piece represents almost $200,000.) Phase 2 of Museum/Headquarters project $3.865 million Phase 1 Land purchase, building design/development, site preparation Phase 2 Building shell in the dry, indoor/outdoor exhibit design in progress ($3.865 million) Phase 3 Interior construction and exhibit construction Phase 4 Exhibit construction continues, landscaping, parking lot, install wastewater treatment plant, furniture Patrick is excited to return to America and have the opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind Creation Museum near Cincinnati, designed to help visitors to know the Savior and to serve Him better. Building progress! There are many other positive developments regarding the museum as we await word from the State of Kentucky about environmental objections raised by The Sierra Club. Land preparation (i.e. grading and excavating) was almost complete at press time, and seeding of the property has begun. Remodeling of the home that AiG owns next to the museum property continues (this will serve as an office for the future construction team, and later as a guest house). More construction-related businesses have offered their services and products (e.g. storm-water pipes just recently) at a highly reduced cost. Please pray that in these uncertain economic times, God will continue to bless this mortgage-free Bibleupholding museum project. 4

5 Page 5 Giving stock Over the years, AiG has been blessed to receive a kind of Christmas gift at the end of the year from many of its supporters: donations of stock. Please be aware that because the offices of AiG will be closed for Christmas and New Year s Eve, if you would like to make a donation of stock December or December 31, please call our volunteer CFP, Mr Paul Laude, at (516) for information. By the way, if you have recently sent a donation of stock to AiG and have not received a receipt, please let us know. Many times we receive such a donation through a third party (e.g. broker), and we are not told who the donor is. If you are intending to donate stock to AiG, you would normally call Brenda at , ext 441 (except for the dates above). Thank you. In the next Creation Geniuses for Genesis meet a remarkable family! Still running for God an interview with a former Olympic champion Old Earth or young Earth? and much more Bibleproclaiming teaching. To order, call toll-free ($22 year, 4 isssues). Dear AiG, I compare your Creation magazine to the secular National Geographic. [I] pray that your circulation may even surpass it. Keep up the great work of ministry and service! D.N., Palm Springs, CA 5

6 Page 6 Stewardship and Trust Services Estate taxes For every dollar more than $675,000 ($1.35 million if married) you leave behind at your death, Uncle Sam will look to collect 37 cents. The tax bite climbs to 49 percent for a $2 million estate and 55 percent at $3 million. Though you may think your estate falls safely short of the exempt amount, once you add up the value of your retirement accounts, home, personal property, and life insurance proceeds, you may be surprised to find yourself within that taxable range. How can you avoid estate taxes? A common way is to make a taxdeductible gift from the estate to a non-profit organization that supports and promotes your beliefs and causes. Call Paul Laude, AiG s volunteer CFP at ext. 302, to discuss this and other tax avoidance strategies. Please pray that Devon Linton, a Jamaican who now speaks on behalf of AiG on his island nation, will be effective in following up Ken Ham s lecture tour last month. that God will continue to bless the fundraising aspects for the Prayer points AiG offices closed for the holidays museum project (including a Giftin-Kind effort, where AiG is looking for construction/supply-related businesses such as concrete suppliers and underground utility providers to donate a portion of their services, supplies, and/or labor). The AiG offices will be closed December 24-26, December 31 (the afternoon), and January 1. Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year! 6