All posts in Nuttings from the Front

“I Didn’t Like It – I LOVED It!”

 

A young girl, about 9 years old, told Mary Jo that she really enjoyed the Creation evening we did with her church group for kids, saying that it was really fun. Mary Jo asked if she enjoyed the teaching session.
The first part of her answer would cause any speaker’s heart to sink. She said, “No, I didn’t like it!”   After a short pause, she added, “I LOVED it!”     Whew!

The same evening, another 4th or 5th grade girl came to Mary Jo with a question after the teaching session. She wanted to know a commonly asked question – “If God made everything, then who made God?” Mary Jo explained that God was eternal—He was always there –He had no beginning and no end –He is from everlasting to everlasting. She said, “Oh, I’ve been wondering about that for a long time.” She then talked about evolution and that even if there was a Big Bang, then “where did that come from?” She was asking the rhetorical question seeing the problem with the naturalistic (no God) perspective.

These kids are smart! But it shows that the evolutionary squeeze is already tightening around the brains and hearts of even elementary school children. I’m glad for the opportunities Mary Jo and I, as well as the rest of our speaking teams at Alpha Omega Institute, have to impact these young geniuses before they are trapped by anti-God philosophy!

 

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.

Flying Woes

 

A funny thing happened to me on my way to Wichita. Actually, no joke.

Mary Jo, Scott and I drove from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City for a homeschool conference. We had planned for me to speak on Friday night, Mary Jo would speak Saturday morning while I flew to Wichita to be picked up for a 3 day seminar in Kansas.

I arrived at the airport in Salt Lake City surprised to see a huge line for United Airlines. After waiting in line for quite a while, I spotted an unused kiosk to print my boarding passes. When they popped out, a notice on the screen alerted me that my Salt Lake to Denver leg was on time, but the next flight from Denver to Wichita was cancelled. That threw me into scramble mode, as the Kansas group had planned this seminar more than 2 years earlier and I was the only speaker. I don’t like missing seminars!

Snow storms in the Denver area had already caused 218 flights out of Denver to be cancelled. I asked the ticket agent how they expected my flight to Denver to be able to land if they can’t take off. “Good question!” he replied. I queried further as to where it would land if it couldn’t land in Denver. “Back to Salt Lake or to Grand Junction.” Hmmmm… back to where I started. A lot of good that would do me!  (By the end of that day over 600 flights out of Denver were cancelled!)

Even though the airline doesn’t have to accommodate reroutes when flights are cancelled due to weather, United was at least able to get me onto a Delta Airline flight from Salt Lake City direct to Kansas City, MO.  No flights were available to Wichita.

After several phone calls, my ride was on track to get me in Kansas City, MO.

Thanks Abe for being flexible and for driving 4 hours each way to do so!

 

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.

Dawkins Becomes a Creationist??

 

I recently read a blog article entitled, “Dawkins becomes a Creationist.”

The title certainly jerked my head into reading position as I had great hopes that the prolific, atheism-promoting writer, Richard Dawkins, saw the true light. However, the blog article was written by Dr. Karen Dawkins who, as an evolutionist, evolved into a creationist during her college years as a result of seeing evidence for creation and the problems with evolution. She later received her Doctorate from veterinary school, practiced small animal medicine, had a small animal emergency practice, and worked as a pathologist in a toxicology research laboratory.

One creature she mentioned as having had an impact on her thinking is the amazing woodpecker. It also opened up many other unanswered issues of evolution.

She is not the only one who had to give up on evolution after contemplating the tremendous design of the woodpecker. Lanny Johnson, who heads up the children’s department with his wife, Marilyn, also had to come to grips with the implications of the design of the woodpecker, after hearing Mary Jo talk about it at one of our seminars many years ago. It was the door opening for him to re-evaluate his 20 years of Atheism.

I would hope that the remarkable design of the woodpecker, that is so obvious, would continue to peck many more holes in evolutionary philosophy and turn many minds and hearts to our Creator God .

 

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.

Dr. Duane Gish

 

I am sad to report that one of the key leaders in the Creation ministry passed away last week on March 6.

Dr. Duane Gish will certainly be remembered by Mary Jo & I. His book, Evolution, The Fossils Say No, changed our lives. Mary Jo & I believed in evolution years ago, when we picked up his book on the fossil record. That caused us to really begin thinking for ourselves, reevaluate our perspective, do our own research, and then led us not only to reject our beliefs in evolution, but eventually to embark on telling others through our ministry with Alpha Omega Institute. Dr. Gish always liked to have us share that when we were together at a ministry event. He’d say, “Tell them about my book.”

Dr. Gish was also noted as being Creation’s “Bulldog” as he championed the cause through hundreds of debates with evolutionists. He caught many challengers off guard with his encyclopedic scientific knowledge of evolution and what was wrong with the latest evolutionary arguments. Many evolutionists began to warn others that they should not debate Dr. Duane Gish as they would certainly not win.

Mary Jo & I were not only blessed by his extreme intellectual abilities, but also with his friendship over the years, his love of the Lord Jesus, as well as his contagious humor.

I am sure that we are not alone. Many people have also been impacted by his original book as well as the later editions, through his debates, his seminars, and through his life. The abundant fruit of his ministry will be quite noticeable in Heaven.

We certainly will miss this great man of God who changed our 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 partnership.

Surprises in Arizona

 

While Mary Jo & I were speaking in Arizona recently, we were happy to have had some special surprises. First was while we were having lunch just north of Phoenix with some good friends from Grand Junction, who happened to cross our paths (our first surprise).

The second surprise was when members of a peccary family (javelina) sauntered through the outside courtyard where we were eating. They are known to be unpredictably aggressive but we were glad that these were not (that day). However, our friends quickly made sure their dog was contained in their truck.

The third surprise was while we visited another friend who is in a rehab hospital in Sun City. A big coyote ran right through the middle of the rehab yard! I took a quick look around to see if the Road Runner was ahead of this Wiley Coyote.

An additional set of good friends, who are from Jackson Wyoming, surprised us when we were setting up for a program at the Arizona Christian University. They were staying in Phoenix and had heard we were going to be doing a series of lectures in the Phoenix area and wanted to surprise us. They did and it was great seeing them!

Another big surprise was the snow and hail storms that hit Arizona while we were in Prescott, Phoenix, and even Tucson. Hey!!! This is Arizona. We even brought short sleeve shirts to beat the heat but were surprised that we never got to put them on since it was so cold. Instead it was long sleeve shirts, fleece vests and coats! At least the roads were good! However, we were also warmed by the great group in Tucson (many more than they usually get). We were also warmed by the response of the elementary and middle school children in Prescott.

Part of the joy of being on the road as much as we are with creation seminars is not only the response to the message, but also the surprises of God’s wonderful creation, whether they be the marvelous scenery,  His created animals, the good friends we encounter or make (also created by Him), or even unusual weather.

We praise God for all of 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 partnership.

“There goes 9 Years of Education Down the Drain”

 

Mary Jo & I had just finished a seminar, when a boy came up to her and said, “Well, there goes 9 years of education down the drain.”

Since he was only about 9 or 10 years old, we felt there was a bit of overstatement there. Also, I’m sure not all of his public education was wasted. However, it really goes to show you one thing. Evolution is taught at such an early age, that even a young boy can see that it has been a big part of his education.

That is unfortunately the case. Evolution is being taught early in elementary grades and even in some kindergarten classes. This would be obvious if you ever asked a first grader about the mighty dinosaurs. For most kids, you will hear them recite many evolutionary concepts. Even a 6 year old relative couldn’t handle a non-evolutionary view of dinosaurs. He blurted out, “But my book said it [evolution] was true, and my teacher said so too.” How do you argue with that? He had dinosaur books galore (all evolutionary), dinosaur toys, dinosaur models, and even dinosaur PJ’s.  I was amused but saddened that 2 scientists (Mary Jo and I) were having such a hard time getting him to see anything other than evolution.

It is no wonder that many students are so closed to Creation when they get to high school and college and encounter an even more systematic education in evolution. This is also true of many Christian students.

That is exactly why we offer Creation Action Boot Camps for teens and college students. We see the importance in these Boot Camps to “fireproof” students. Also for many of them, like the boy mentioned earlier, we see our role as ministering first aid to shell-shocked Christian students, bandaging up their wounds, and setting them back on a right course. Make sure you check out our website to find out more about the Boot Camps. Hopefully there will many more students who will reevaluate what they have been taught, and perhaps flush some of the evolutionary dogma down the drain.

 

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.

The Cosmic Hope of the Evolutionist

 

The search for extra-terrestrial life has preoccupied astronomers for years. Its discovery is the hope of evolutionists. I emphasize the word “hope” because it’s, well, uh, … purely hope.

There is reason why this hope is so needed. To the ardent evolutionists, finding life elsewhere in the universe will be proof positive that life evolved here on Earth and therefore, there is no God who created us in the first place. I would say there is a “disconnect” in logic there, but that’s their hope.

The first step in finding life out there is to find a suitable planet which also has a suitable star that is not going to fry it. Are there suitable environments? Perhaps, but read the following one-liners which express pure hope in last week’s Associated Press article by Marcia Dunn entitled Closest Earth-like planet “stroll across the park.’ (I’ve emphasized in bold their hope.)

“Earth-like worlds may be closer and more plentiful than anyone imagined.”

“. . . nearest Earth-like planet may be just 13 light-years away.”

“That planet hasn’t been found yet, but should be there . . . “

“. . . their planets could be much older that Earth and their potential life forms much more evolved.”

“Future spacecraft should be able to locate these planets . . . “

Keep in mind, they haven’t even found a suitable planet yet, but their hope is certainly that some future generation of Earthlings will find it and life as well.

I can only hope, that the “wishful hope” of these evolutionists doesn’t keep them from experiencing the Blessed Hope of eternal life that is available to us right now through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Yes, that is faith.  However, the Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)

Note the words “substance” and “evidence” – two things the article didn’t mention.  However, our faith is in the substance and reality of Jesus Christ who actually lived and who gave tangible evidence (through actual physical miracles) that He is the son of God.  Since this is true, we can trust that the promises he gave us which includes that Blessed Hope of eternal life. As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Our hope is in the risen Savior.

Now that life is something worth putting your hope in!

 

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.

My Fake Fireplace

 

This winter, I got an electric fireplace. It operates as a “fake fire-light show” merely for ambience, but also has a great infra-red heater when that portion is turned on.

I was talking with my son as I took the traditional pose of backing up to the fire and warming myself by fake flames. The heating unit was turned off. However, even though there was no heat, my mind was trying to tell me there was. After all, past experience has taught me that fireplaces and campfires produce heat. I laughed at the moment of living in unreality as I realized what I was doing. My son was also about to say that I should stand back from it as I was blocking the heat.

Oh, how our minds play tricks on us.  My 3 year old grandson, Samuel, gave us another example of that this morning. He came out dressed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He said he was tired of winter and liked summer better. So maybe if he wore this it would make it be summer.  I like that and wished it would work, as I also prefer warm over cold.

All this is to say that some evolutionists believe in evolution in order to get around the reality that there is a Creator God. Their reasoning is frequently in contradiction to the obvious evidence for Creation. For instance, the chance of evolving a cell by accident is worse than producing a jet airplane by a tornado sweeping through a junkyard. Also, evolutionists should weigh carefully just how nothing, or no information, could produce all of the encyclopedic and precise information contained in our DNA. It is not reality, but If you don’t really think about it, you can trick you brain into believing it was possible by using “if- maybe” arguments. If you can do that without flinching, then make sure you buy an electric fireplace. Perhaps you can even turn off your furnace and the heating element and save a lot of money on fuel bills. Then as you bask in the fake “flames” and conjure up just so-so evolutionary arguments, make sure you put on shorts and a T-Shirt.

 

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.

Response to a Common Argument

 

University professors, who should really know better, state that “evolution is everywhere,” referring to minor changes in coloration, nose size in family members, or whatever change you might notice. So how should one answer that line of reasoning?

First of all, it is appropriate to point out that you have to start with something to get any changes at all. So, how do we get the genetic pool in the first place that spells out coloration, nose size, etc. It is an amazing faith to believe that “no” genetic information existed, and suddenly, out of that “nothing,” without any higher power, all of the genetic information arose which would fill billions of encyclopedias.

Secondly, those who hold to the argument that minor changes or “micro” evolution surely leads to major changes or (what used to be called) macro-evolution must have a great deal of faith in time, and chance. Even many evolutionists (including a major conference of several hundred) have concluded that micro-evolution does not necessarily translate into macro-evolution.

The type of minor changes usually presented to us as evidence of evolution are almost always a recombination of genetic information that is already present in the originally created genetic pool.

Recombination of what is already present will never explain the origin of genetic information in the first place. You have to start with something!

Let me explain it another way. Think about taking the 5 colors of paint that artists usually start with: black, white, red, yellow and blue. By mixing black or white with any one of the other colors, or by mixing the other colors together with varying amounts of each, you can get an endless variety of colors and shades. You might say you “evolved” a new color, but it is only a combination of what was there originally. If you don’t have all of the basic colors, it certainly limits the potential. For example, if all you had were black, white, and blue, all you would get are shades of blue.

This is the problem with macro-evolution. Micro-evolution uses the colors of ink that are available to choose from; macro must get new basic colors. In fact, macro-evolution starts with nothing and somehow, mysteriously all the basic colors appear (of course, with the magic evolutionary wand of time and accidents). If yellow and red pigments are not present, you only get shades of blue. Try as you like, you can’t get any shades of yellow or red, so evolutionists will be left singing the blues. You might assume that some lucky “mutations” produced yellow and red colors from black, white, or blue, but that is only an assumption.

To sum it up, macro-evolution starts with no colors and ends up with every color. This is supposed to happen by micro-evolution. However, micro-evolution has to have something there to begin with to even get minor variations. Since you can’t get something from nothing, evolution is shot 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.

Evolution and a Matter of Degrees

 

Brrrr… It’s cold here. So far this year, it warmed up once above 30 °F.  One month ago, Mary Jo & I stepped onto an airplane in Mexico saying goodbye to temperatures in the 80’s. About 5 hours later, we landed at home and immediately began a month of saying, “Brrrrrrrr, it’s cold!”

From highs of 85 down to a low of -5 is huge. But it’s a matter of degrees! Dave Harper, the president of our Board, came down recently for our last Board meeting.  The temp was 15 degrees and heading downward. Dave had the gall to say how balmy the temperature was and that it felt like spring time. OK, he lives in Pinedale, Wyoming.  Someone told me the coldest winter they ever experienced was the summer they spent in Pinedale. Yep, it’s a matter of degrees and what you get used to.

One morning in Mexico it was about 70 degrees — to me, quite balmy. However, to the family with the little boy all bundled up in a full snowsuit, 70 felt cold. I thought that family was ready to enter a snowmobile race in the arctic the way they were bundled.

Someone recently posted on Facebook  that it was  a -20 degrees. Wow!  It didn’t seem that cold to me. Maybe, I was starting to get used to cold again. Then I realized  they meant -20 Celcius,  not Fahrenheit. A -20°C is actually -4°F.  Still too cold, but at least I felt warmer. Perhaps, I should consider reporting temperatures in degrees Kelvin, which refers to how many degrees it is above absolute zero. So a  -4°F would be 253°K. It is still the same actual temperature, but I sure could deceive myself into feeling much warmer. In fact, I might even grab my swimsuit to sunbathe in a snow drift! Defining terms is really important.

All of this relates to the evolution debate. We have to define our terms.  Students are taught that evolution is merely change. They even become comfortable with believing that minor degrees of change is actually evolution (such as color variation in moths). In reality, this is nothing more than simple genetic variation in a created kind (such as big dogs and little dogs). We point this out to students who are hot about evolution. It is a matter of the degree of change and type of change, rather than merely change that is important. You might deceive yourself into thinking it is evolution, but minor variation certainly does not explain the broader degree of evolution – how goo changes into you by way of the zoo.

 

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.