With all of the travel we do for speaking, we are extremely grateful for safety on the road. Sometimes we are even more grateful. The other day we woke up to snow on the ground with blowing snow and ice freezing our car doors shut and road conditions which closed the schools. As much as we would have liked to huddle inside our host’s nicely warmed home and sip on hot tea, there loomed ahead a pressing need to brave the storm and travel to the next speaking location. The...
Read MoreHow Firm a Foundation
The words of the old hymn, How Firm a Foundation, have been running through my mind today. What a message to meditate on! How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He hath said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? This firm foundation begins way back in the beginning in Genesis 1. “In the beginning, God …” What a comfort it is to know that God was there in the beginning … and He will be...
Read MoreNeeding a Liver
Recently, a pastor friend of ours was very ill for over a year because of a very diseased liver, and desperately in need of a liver transplant. On the waiting list with him was a 2 year old baby, also critically in need of a liver. Who would get the next available liver depended on whoever was compatible. A liver finally became available through the death of a 16 year old boy. A lady, keeping us up to date on the pastor, shared, “We have such an awesome God! ...
Read MoreThis Church Believes God’s Word!
Mary Jo and I just finished doing a seminar at Grace Bible Church in Sherman, TX. The pastor of this church teaches solidly on the Biblical record of Creation, and the people are eager to increase their understanding of scientific evidence that supports the Biblical view. We enjoyed the informed and enthusiastic response, especially from the young people who are being trained to defend their faith with boldness and confidence. It is so good to be in a church like this. I...
Read More2010 Speaking Impacts Kids and Adults
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 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 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 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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