It is good to be writing this blog — especially on THIS computer. Let me explain. Mary Jo and I were speaking on creation at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. After our time there, and a very late dinner followed by a 1.5 hour drive back to the home where we were staying, we arrived about 1:30 in the morning. I had just dropped into bed at 2 AM when Mary Jo asked if I had packed her laptop computer. It was not in her bag. I told her I didn’t, but as I thought about it (as clearly as I could at 2 AM), it suddenly dawned on me that I had indeed packed her computer, but in my bag thinking that it was mine. Oh, no, I had left my computer in the back of the room where we were speaking. Thoughts of panic went through my brain and body as I was no longer sleepy. “Would I ever see that computer again?” “What all was on that computer?” Also, I had just finished putting together my program for one of the next nights of speaking in Minneapolis and had not backed it up yet. What was I going to do? Well, prayer was a great place to start. Mary Jo & I committed that computer and my dumb mistake to the mercy of our Lord. After some time, we did manage to get to sleep. At 7 AM, I called the student center office in the building we were in. I was certainly relieved to hear that the computer had been tuned in to Lost & Found. Thank You, Lord Jesus! So, now you know why it is great to be writing this blog on THIS computer! For the person who was honest enough to turn it in to Lost & Found, THANK YOU! And to Jed, thanks for bringing it down! Dave Nutting If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your partnership....
Read MoreGreat Job, Sam
In one of my last blogs (Presentations at the University) about the university programs in Illinois and Minnesota, I mentioned that I had an interview with a student reporter from the campus newspaper (Minnesota State University at Mankato). I said in that earlier blog, “. . . but you never know about the objectivity of the reporter as well as his editor. Sometimes there is accurate reporting while at other times — well, sometimes, I can’t even recognize what they quoted me as saying. Time will tell for this article.” The article came out the morning before our 3 nights of lectures were to begin and we were pleasantly surprised. It appeared as the lead front page article and also included a large picture of Mary Jo and I. Not only was the placement the best we could ever expect, but we were also very happy that this reporter did a good job with the article. It was objective without a bias showing through like we frequently see. So, I will have to say, “Thank you, Sam and editors, good job!” For those who wish to read the article, check out http://themsureporter.com/creationists-to-present-on-campus/ for the online version. Dave Nutting If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MoreOn the Lighter Side
Kids have told us a lot of humorous things over the years. Two of our favorites: After a family seminar where we had talked about dinosaurs, a young girl about 7 years old came up to my wife and told her that she knew what happened to the dinosaurs (in reference to why they went extinct). “My girl horse doesn’t like our boy horse, so she can’t have a baby. So I think the girl dinosaurs just didn’t like the boy dinosaurs!” On a recent occasion, I had just asked an audience the question, “Where did we get the stuff to make things with?” Normally the response is, “Trees, rocks, etc.” … But this time a 8 year old boy piped up loudly, “China!” It took a while for me (and the audience) to quit laughing, compose my thoughts and get on with the program! Kids also do some strange and funny things in our programs: One small, persistent 5 year old boy could not wait for me to finish answering another boy’s question … so he loudly shouted, “Mr. Man, Mr. Man, Mr. Man …” as he continually jabbed me in the leg right above my knee with his pudgy index finger! Not only did he get my attention, but the force of his jabs left bruises on my leg! During a puppet performance, one curious little girl just had to know what was behind the stage. Without warning, she shot out of the audience and began to scramble up the curtains … reacting very quickly, my wife dropped her microphone and captured the little runaway before she hurt herself of destroyed the stage. That mischievous little tyke kept my wife on her toes that day … she exploded out of the audience several more times attempting to gain back-stage access. Lanny Johnson If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MoreHe Sets Our Schedule
A friend of mine from Houston, TX, whom I had not seen for twelve years, called and informed me that he had found some cheap airline fares from Denver to Houston on the web. He wanted to see if I would be interested in flying to Houston and teach, if he purchased the tickets. I replied, “sure, go for it!” He then let me know he would set up the teaching schedule for the trip. On arrival, he relayed the problems that accompanied the planning of the schedule. In other words, nothing was scheduled. We prayed. That afternoon as we talked with some of his friends, he decided to talk to their pastor about teaching at church. God opened the doors so I could teach that evening. He also knew of a Bible study, that he had attended in the past when time allowed, that usually met in the evening on the following day. We unfortunately arrived thirty minutes late to the church. They had just finished their pray time and were ready to start the Bible study. Out of the blue, the leader asked me to teach. The next day, another church asked me to teach Sunday school. Is God good or what! I am totally convinced He sets my schedule. A friend from Minnesota once told me, “our disappointments are His appointments.” He had given me this insight while we were in Russia and all of our plans were unraveling. I am so glad God is in control! Proverb 16:9 – A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Rich Stepanek If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MorePresentations at the University
As you can see from the picture of the poster, Mary Jo and I were recently at Minnesota State University at Mankato. The presentations started last Tuesday evening, I also spent a lot of time at a booth with some college ministries (Maranatha Christian Fellowship and International Student Outreach). While there, I had a campus newspaper reporter do an interview with me. I gave a lot of good information to him, but you never know about the objectivity of the reporter as well as his editor. Sometimes there is accurate reporting while at other times — well, sometimes, I can’t even recognize what they quoted me as saying. Time will tell for this article. We love engaging students in conversation if they tarry long enough by the booth. The conversations usually range from those that fully agree with us to the atheists who are really looking for a good argument and want to let us know that we have no clue about what evolution teaches (even though we have been giving lectures on it for 30 years). One student I talked with seemed genuinely interested in coming to the programs (hope she made it). Of course, the candy given out at the booth always creates some interest and does help lure people in to talk. It’s kind of like going fishing for open minds, and we pray God will continue to send them our way. We want to thank all our partners, both prayer and financial, for making these university tours possible. We hope you understand what a difference you are making in students’ lives. Dave Nutting If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MoreA Confused Visitor in Paonia…
Recently I taught in Paonia, CO, for a church which was trying to reach out to their community. The seminars were held at the public library from Monday through Wednesday. Before the seminar, I was talking with the pastor about what key topics I should teach on and other important event information. As we talked, I discovered they had double booked their Wednesday night program. Wednesday was also the opening night for their local AWANA ministry. The pastor had realized this after the secretary sent out the mailings for the creation seminar. We both agreed God must have something special planned for the Wednesday night creation teaching, and He did! A man came to the library to attend a geology program, but was confused about the actual date. He came a day to early. As he talked with one of the church members, he discovered his mistake, but not until after he had heard some of my talk on the scientific evidence for creation. To my disappointment, the confused guest did not want to stay for the seminar and decided to leave. Then, to my amazement, he returned! I tried to listen in on his dialog with a church member. The guest had asked the question; “Why is this information so important?” It is vitally important, because teaching creation reveals scientific evidence that points to the existence of God and the Bible proclaims information about the Creator and how we can have a relationship with Him. He stayed for the two and a half hours, listening to the program, asking questions, talking to the pastor, and became interested in learning even more. As I listened to his questions, I discovered that there is truly a lack of both true scientific and Biblical information in the world. Because of this lack of knowledge, people are missing the blessings and salvation from the God of creation. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Rich Stepanek If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MoreNoah’s Flood – True! – Downpour Demonstration
Mary Jo and I were giving a presentation at the Maranatha Christian church (U of Minnesota campus ministry) on a Wednesday night, about a week and a half ago. Thunder, lightning and a huge downpour (pictured right) lasted for the duration of the evening. Up until then, for our university presentations here in Minnesota, we had weather that made you want to go outside and enjoy the fall weather — but certainly not that night. Once again, it seems that God was punctuating our lectures as well as conversations. The topic was Noah’s Flood – True! God’s Grace in the Midst of Judgment. How fitting! One person came in absolutely drenched from the huge downpour. What a great demonstration of the Flood topic. Further punctuation was that he had just been given a t-shirt which he was wearing under his drenched sweatshirt which he shared as a testimony that night. The t-shirt had a large picture of Noah’s Ark and the words “The End is Near!” I love it when God does that! Dave Nutting If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MoreNorthern Lights in Minnesota
Between midnight and 1 AM Wednesday morning, Mary Jo & I were returning to Minneapolis from our university presentations at Duluth. God demonstrated his glory in a great display of northern lights. It was not just a single burst of light, but for many miles along the highway, the display illuminated 1/3 of the sky. The timing was great as this light show punctuated the conversation that we were having with the campus ministry leaders as we were driving. We all actually got out of the car for a while to view the display. One of the remarkable discoveries about the northern light electromagnetic phenomenon is that if we could have a camera set up in the southern hemisphere we would get a mirror image picture of the same scene pictured here at precisely the same instant. This was demonstrated by researchers several years ago. We felt privileged to behold this long-lasting northern light display during those many miles on the highway. It certainly fits what I wrote in an earlier blog titled Glorious. Several news channels reported on this display we saw. If you wish to see a great video of this spectacular event taken at another city just west of where we were, check out Northern lights put on show over Minnesota. Dave Nutting If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
Read MorePopulation Estimates – A Major Problem for Evolution
When Mary Jo and I were at Northern Illinois University giving Creation programs, a student asked how it was even possible that the 8 people who got off the ark could have reproduced enough offspring to account for the population during the short duration from the Flood to the Exodus, led by Moses, out of Egypt. Actually there is no issue for Biblical timeframes, but instead, population studies pose a huge issue for evolutionary assumptions. Using the average worldwide figure for population increase (Birth rate – Death rate) during the decades following when I was born (1.8868%), the population at the time of the Exodus (857 years after the Flood) could have been in excess of 54 million. To get a feel of how rapidly population increases, think about the spread of civilization in just the first 400 years of our country to where it is now. These numbers certainly show the plausibility of the Genesis account. However, if applied to evolutionary assumptions that modern man has been around for 40,000 years, the numbers obtained reveal serious problems for evolution. We would have too many people today! Suppose you have a population increase of a mere ½ of 1 percent (almost 1/4th of what I used above). The population today after the assumed 40,000 evolutionary years (starting with only 2 people) would be a whopping number: 8.9 x1086 . That number is more than can be jammed into the entire known universe! Even if we assume 15,000 years, we would still have 6 x 1032 people. Further calculations using an unrealistically low growth rate of one tenth of 1 percent and the assumed timeframe of 40,000 years, still gives today’s population to be 4.6 x 1017. This means that we would have about 1000 people occupying each square foot of land surface on planet earth. One might argue that plagues, wars, and catastrophes have limited the population. However, assuming only 1.5 percent rate of growth and a catastrophe which wipes out ½ of the total world’s population every 75 years, the population after only 15,000 years (starting with 2 people) would still be in excess of 1035. That means that each of those 1000 people standing on each square foot of Earth would have a stack of people standing on their shoulders that would reach far past Alpha Centauria, our next closest star (which is 25.6 trillion miles away). Here is the point: Calculations of population numbers do not work to accommodate evolutionary time frames even when we consider unrealistically low population estimates and very high catastrophe rates. However, time frames consistent with the Biblical record work out nicely to what we have now. *For you mathematicians, the equation that I used is: PY = Po(1 +i/100)Y(1-d)Y/dy Where PY = population in year Y; Po = initial population, i = population increase; d = fraction of decimation; and...
Read MoreAn Unexpected Surprise
I had an unexpected surprise not too long ago. A man on a motorcycle appeared in our yard one afternoon, and I was puzzled about who he was and what he wanted. As I was pondering, I came to the conclusion he was a friend from Nebraska… but what was he doing here? He lived over 500 miles away! As we exchanged greetings, he let me know that he took the risk of driving to Grand Junction so he could learn more about creation and Genesis. We had a wonderful two days of fellowship and discipleship. I used some of my PowerPoint creation topics to teach, as well as a leisurely drive through the Colorado National Monument to explain the evidence of the world-wide flood of Noah’s day. He commented the following about the scientific evidence we had discussed, “Taking me up on Glade Park (Colorado National Monument) and teaching me new things, has made God more awesome to me than ever. His power makes me shudder.” Information on Genesis, creation, and the Flood does change people’s lives. As I reflected on the time I spent with my friend, I realized it is just as important to teach one person as it is to teach a huge group. Normally I like to teach to a large audience, because I feel like I can reach more people that way, but that may not always be the case. Take for example Philip, in Acts chapter eight, who travels to the city of Samaria because of the persecution in Jerusalem. In Samaria, he preached Christ to them and many were saved. Next, the angel of the Lord sends Philip to a road which leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is over fifty miles from the city of Samaria. This is a long way when traveling by foot. God sends him there for the instruction of just one man about the LORD. This man is the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch believes the words of God and is then baptized. Is preaching and discipling just one man important! Yes, it is! He had an influence on his own country. Now we come to the Labor Day weekend. The Johnsons, Sue, and I had the opportunity to minister at a Bible conference center located just north of Colorado Springs, CO. We ministered to, none other than, an Ethiopian church. Almost all of the adults had emigrated to the U.S. from Ethiopia, and some of them could not even speak English. As I was teaching, I wondered if Philip had an effect on these people through the instructing of just one man, the Ethiopian eunuch. I did not travel to Nebraska to instruct my friend about creation and Genesis, but I believe he was led by the Lord to travel over 500 miles to come and see me. I wonder what effect he will have on the people in his area, including friends and family, with...
Read MoreCreation Clubs In a Town Near You?
We love how God, in His amazing sovereignty, directs our steps before we have any idea of what’s going to happen. We experienced that recently when we planned a last-minute trip to California to witness my two youngest brothers being baptized. We sent out some emails and contacted several people to see if there was any interest, or opportunity, to do some speaking and sharing about our work with AOI. It has been amazing to see how God has opened doors for us! One great opportunity has been to get connected to a couple of creation clubs in the Sacramento area of California. One is called “Foundations Creation Club” in Cameron Park, CA, and was started by a 16 year old man who is passionate about sharing the creation message. They had a meeting planned for the night after we arrived in CA, and when we let him know that we would be there, he offered Brian the opportunity to speak on Ancient Man during a segment of the program. The night consisted of Brian’s talk, a showing of “Evolution vs. God,” and a talk by the founder of the club on “Noah’s Ark: Fact or Fiction?” The evening was attended by 70 people, and it was exciting to see such a well-organized, flourishing group. We look forward to seeing how God uses that ministry in their community! We were delighted to discover that there are multiple Creation clubs in the area, and had made plans to attend another one. Of course, God is always working and going before us, and He had prepared to bless us and the group itself in His perfect timing. Sadly, the Pastor who had been scheduled to speak that evening was sick, so the leaders asked Brian to fill in for him. So, though we were sorry not to get to hear him speak, it was a blessing for Brian to have another opportunity to share a presentation on the authority of Scripture and Ancient Man. Wow, praise be to our God who never sleeps and is always working! The chance to get connected to these clubs directly ties into our passion and desire to build up “Amateur Creation Speakers” across the country… and even the world. Many people may be excited about doing creation speaking, or want to receive mentoring and teaching themselves, or just determined get involved in Creation ministry somehow, but don’t know of any local venues. How many people have opportunities like this in their area and don’t even know it? We are working at developing ways to build up local groups like this, and to provide training opportunities where anyone with a God-given passion for creation can grow and develop their abilities to share this truth with others. So whether you are 12 or 72, remember there aren’t age-limits to serving God in the areas He is calling you!...
Read MoreBoot Camps 2014 !!
Many youth groups across this country are already in the midst of planning what they will do for the coming year, as well as next summer’s programs or trips. Let me make a suggestion: Plan on doing something that will help them stand firmly against the indoctrination that many of them are being exposed to in schools, museums, the media, etc. What I would specifically suggest is that you look into AOI’s 2014 Boot Camps, which are meant to fireproof a teen or college student’s mind from the onslaught of evolutionary indoctrination and other anti-Biblical philosophies. Unlike military boot camps, these are a real BLAST and are mentally stimulating! Please copy or forward this blog to your youth leader as well as other youth or families you know. You can send people to the Boot Camps page on our website for additional information. The specific 2014 Boot Camp Dates & Locations have not been finalized as yet, but if you let us know of your interest, we will inform you with the specifics ASAP. We are already considering some great Colorado, and even Glacier National Park (Montana), locations. Redcloud Ranch, near Lake City, has always been very well received and we are talking with them for 2014. Perhaps you want us to tailor one to your specific location, needs, and desires. Contact us! 800-377-1923 or email AOI@DiscoverCreation.org. Seeing the results of AOI’s camps in the past, tells me that you don’t want to miss out. Dave Nutting “AOI’s teaching is what got me through college with my faith intact.” If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your...
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Ep. 9 - Are There Evolutionary Transitional Forms? (If you have missed our previous episodes, look back at our... fb.me/3Wb77jjFt
