2010 was a busy, “ministry-packed” year with 187 separate speaking/teaching events in 17 states (AZ, CO, CT, IL, KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NM, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY) as well as internationally in India and The Netherlands. Of these 187 events, over 20 were multiple-day events of 5 to 12 days (VBS’s, camps, and extended field trip classes). Speakers reported a total of 439 speaking days (not including travel and layover days). That’s a lot of speaking for our 3 main speaking...
Read MoreAntarctic Fish with Antifreeze!
Think of how many times we have said, “It sure is cold this winter. Global warming nothing — it isn’t happening here!” Sometimes it would seem our blood is ready to freeze in our veins. So we crank up the heat in the house and head for the auto store to get extra antifreeze for the car. We throw extra blankets on the bed and snuggle in with a good issue of Think & Believe for comfort! Bears hibernate in their dens and other animals put on thicker fur coats, but what...
Read MoreAnother Miracle of Life
Just weeks ago, my youngest grandson of 5 years old stated that he wanted a baby for Christmas, and that wish has been constantly in his prayers. My wife and I have been praying the same prayer, but truly wondered if it would ever happen. My oldest daughter was experiencing a lot of health concerns that were pointing to a possible hysterectomy. Yesterday, we again learned how long God’s arm can be … my daughter is carrying a 7 week old miracle … she is once again with...
Read MoreWait Upon the Lord
The AOI Board met this past weekend to consider direction and set the budget for 2011. This January meeting is always vital as we seek the Lord together to discern His goals and budget for the year. We are so grateful for a Board that prays! This year, we face a very real challenge, as year-end giving was substantially down. Since we already operate on a very “lean” budget, cutting expenses by much would be detrimental to our ability to reach people with the truth of...
Read More“Passionaries”
Last week, I was able to attend a pastor’s regional conference. At the conference I had the opportunity to share a little about AOI’s ministries, and to hear from pastors about some of the victories and defeats they experienced this last year. I heard lots of good “stuff”, but one talk really got me to thinking. In John 4, we read the account of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. As a result of this woman’s encounter with...
Read MoreFreaked Out!
I just received these thoughts from a man in Texas who we have had the privilege to help train in creation. What he reports really concerns me: The Spanish pastor at my church shared with me that our denomination’s theology conference was taking place at our local church and that there was a Genesis & Science session. Without even thinking about it (and doing my due diligence), I asked for a free pass to this session and eagerly attended. It all seemed fine and...
Read MoreCreated by Nothing
I am writing a news article on the origin of everything, and wanted to blog on a couple of thoughts. There are basically two ideas about how everything came to be. One is that an intelligent “being” created all things. As a Christian who believes the Bible is true, I say this intelligent “being” is none other than the eternal living God of the Bible, Who has the power to do all things. The second idea is that an eternal nothing created all things. However, this idea...
Read MoreOut of the Mouth of Babes
Most linguists agree that children are born as universalists; meaning that they have the potential to speak any language. It is obvious that speech patterns become more ordered and sophisticated as a child grows. However, for spoken language to develop, the links between the phases of development must be exact and complete before the next phase can be achieved. For example, if a child is interrupted in one stage of development by trauma or lack of stimulation, it is...
Read MoreThe Marine Iguana
Marine iguanas are found only on the Galápagos Islands located in the Pacific Ocean near Ecuador, South America. They are the only lizards that are able to live and feed in the sea. Marine iguanas are vegetarians. They feed on seaweed and algae which they find on rocks, in tidal pools, or in the sea. The adult males can grow to over 5 feet long and the females up to almost 4 feet. On land, marine iguanas are rather clumsy lizards, but in the water they are powerful,...
Read MorePolar Bears and Dogs Playing!
I just saw a short video on the Mercoloa.com website showing adult polar bears playing with sled dogs. They were quite friendly with each other. The bears actually gave the dogs “bear hugs.” Both the dogs and the bears are carnivores and could be quite vicious. It made me think of what the original creation was like with all the animals getting along with each other — perhaps playing like these were. Likely, Adam & Eve were also thoroughly enjoying them....
Read MoreThe Nature of Instinct
Suppose a group of scientists were walking along the beach, and they ran across a message written in the sand. Suppose, in addition, these same scientists praised the grains of sand for their ability to organize themselves in this way. Obviously, we would say they were crazy. Yet, the same scientists can say that the unique design of animals, including their instinctive behavior, somehow came about by random processes and, ironically, most of society accepts it. In...
Read MoreTaken For Granted
Some evolutionary proponents teach that fingernails are left over claws from our early ancestors, and that they are disappearing for lack of use. Lack of use? I recently lost the fingernail on my left index finger because of a workshop accident. Since then, I have realized how many uses there are for fingernails. We use them for scratching itches, peeling fruit, dealing with price tags, access hatches, battery covers, product labels, can tabs, duct tape, masking tape, and...
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Friends - Richard's Life was Changed!! - And this is why he is leading AOI's Colorado Family Camp! Join us July 30 - Aug 4 - conta.cc/3X4JroB pic.twitter.com/u8j1AP1Pmu
