All posts in Stepaneks from the Front

Dinosaurs, Monuments, and The Gospel

by Alpha Omega Institute on August 29, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

On Monday, August 27th, I had the great opportunity to host both a Colorado National Monument tour and a Dinosaur Journey Museum tour for Mountain Valley Christian Academy.  The day started at 9:00 am at the monument with a presentation explaining the landscape by the evolutionary model and then by the creation/flood model.  We talked about the effects of the flood on geology.  The creation/flood model fits so much better with the observed data.

After finishing at the monument we drove into Fruita, CO, for a one and a half hour dinosaur program.  The program consisted of information about ancient civilizations living with the dinosaurs, as well as the many discoveries of soft tissue found in dinosaur bones.  We also explained how dinosaurs could grow to such gigantic sizes when they hatched from such small eggs.  We ended the presentation with what happened to all the dinosaurs.   To explain all this and much more, we then turned to both science and the Bible. Teaching about dinosaurs is an excellent way to proclaim the gospel!

After lunch, we finished the day with a museum tour.  The museum is a wonderful place to reveal God’s incredible design in dinosaurs, the consequences of Adam’s sin on the world, and much, much more.  We all had a great day of discovering God’s incredible creation, and learning more about God and His unfathomable love for us!

 

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 partnership.

Training The Future Generation

by Alpha Omega Institute on August 17, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

I spent two weeks helping with the children’s program at Camp Redcloud.  We had from 12-18 children each day.  They were an active, fun, and enthusiastic group.  One of the favorite activities is always making sock puppets.  The children enjoy performing with them for their parents on Thursday during the variety show.

Some of the older children (age 11-13) , who had been in the program in previous years, enjoyed being able to be helpers as well.  Some are very interested and quite knowledgeable about creation issues.  A few children gave short presentations to the class about certain animals they had studied.  Alan and Diane Galbraith, directors of the children’s program at Camp Redcloud, recognize the importance of training the future generation to be leaders in creation teaching.  It was a blessing to assist them in this endeavor.

 

Diane teaching the future

Sue Stepanek

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Another Great Experience at Redcloud Mountain Adventures

by Alpha Omega Institute on August 16, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

What a great time we had at Redcloud Mountain Adventure!  Family camp is always a rewarding time to minister to the entire family.  Our desire is to grow families in their relationships to each other and with the Lord. Primarily we want to train fathers to be the spiritual leaders in their families. The first week had many teens with unique issues to be addressed.  We trust that God will do great things in their lives in the coming days and years.  The second week we had families with many little children.  One mother commented that it was the most relaxing vacation they could have had.  We are so thankful that it was a refreshing week for them.

There was also a great interest in the teaching.  It was a blessing to see the eagerness that many had… even after a long day.  In addition to the scheduled teaching, the speakers spent extra hours in the afternoon and evening answering questions and providing more for those who were seeking to know more.   One teen commented that this was a life-changing week for him. What a difference the Word of God can make in a person’s life!

 

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 partnership.

How Are Fossils Formed, And What About A Fossil Hat?

by Alpha Omega Institute on August 1, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

How are fossils formed? We recently came across a comment about one of our blogs, Gaining Weight In The Grave, that was brought up on a blog of a prominent creationist, Jason Lisle, and we wanted to elaborate on the possibility of a felt hat fossilizing. The commenter referred to the fossilized hat being a hoax.  According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2003 Ultimate Reference Suite).  A fossil is formed by:

“The hard parts of organisms that become buried in sediment may be subject to a variety of other changes during their conversion to solid rock, however. Solutions may fill the interstices, or pores, of the shell or bone with calcium carbonate or other mineral salts and thus fossilize the remains, in a process known as permineralization. In other cases there may be a total replacement of the original skeletal material by other mineral matter, a process known as mineralization, or replacement. In still other cases, circulating acid solutions may dissolve the original shell but leave a cavity corresponding to it, and circulating calcareous or siliceous solutions may then deposit a new matrix in the cavity, thus creating a new impression of the original shell.

By contrast, the soft parts of animals or plants are very rarely preserved. The embedding of insects in amber and the preservation of the carcasses of Pleistocene-era mammoths in ice are rare but striking examples of the fossil preservation of soft tissues. Traces of organisms may also occur as tracks or trails or even borings.“ (emphasis added)

In other words, an organism is buried in mud or submerged in a mineral solution to protect it from scavengers and rapid decay before it has a chance to fossilize.   With the right conditions, certain minerals and water content, the pores are filled with minerals or the organic material is replaced by minerals causing the organic material to become a fossil.

But there is more to being a fossil, below are some other types of fossilization.

Recrystallization is where calcium carbonate of shells will recrystalize into calcite.

Carbonization, which happens mostly in plants, is when the oils of an organism are leached out and the remains of the organism are reduced to a carbon film.

But what about petrifaction?  The Encarta Encyclopedia explains it this way.

“Another common mode of preservation of plants is petrifaction, which is the crystallization of minerals inside cells. One of the best-known forms of petrifaction is silicification, a process in which silica-rich fluids enter the plant’s cells and crystallize, making the cells appear to have turned to stone (petrified).” (Encarta 2004 Encyclopedia Deluxe.  © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

When I researched the process of petrifaction, it is explained as either minerals crystallizing inside of cells and pores (permineralization) or minerals replacing the organic material (mineralization).  So I prefer to use the terms permineralization and mineralization instead of petrifaction to avoid some misunderstandings.

Another informational source defined a fossil in these words.

“The definition of fossil by the American Geological Institute begins, ‘The remains or traces of animals or plants which have been preserved by natural causes in the Earth’s crust.’ There is nothing in this definition that requires transformation into rock. All that is important is that the fossil has been preserved. And preservation is a qualitative term that does not describe how the fossil was preserved.” (From the article ”A fossil is a fossil is a fossil. Right?” by Cecil Allen of Creation Ministries International.)

With this information about fossils.  I believe there is a misconception of what is a fossil in the minds of people.  Many people think fossils are just bones (bones are made of some cells, calcium phosphate, which in humans the mineral component is called hydroxyapatite, which is calcium phosphate reinforced by protein fibres, called collagen) turned to stone, but that is not the case.   Carbonization which is just a carbon film is a fossil.  Mammoths frozen in ice are fossils.  Insects and other small creatures incased in tree resin are fossils.  So a fossil does not have to be bones turned to stone.

There is also a misconception about dinosaur fossils.  I believe most people think they are dinosaur bones changed to stone, but that is not the case for many dinosaur fossils.  Many, or most, bones are permineralization.  Some bones show little evidence of permineralization, for example the fossil specimen MOR 555.  It is an exceptionally well preserved specimen of a T-rex which is mostly pure bone!  This creature was supposed to have died and been buried 65 million years ago, but the bones today are about the same as when it was buried.

In Alaska, scientists have discovered dinosaur bones which they originally thought were just old dried out bison or cow bones.  But after twenty years, they realized they were dinosaur bones with little or no permineralization.

This brings us to another fossil which is also a permineralized example .  It is a miner’s hat found in a mine in Australia.  The hat was made from felt which is made from wool.  Wool is not made of cells, but proteins.  The felt has many pores which were impregnated by calcium carbonate rich water.  This processes is also called calcification.  Since it is an organic substance, the hat can decay leaving the calcium carbonate.  This process happened in about fifty years.

Also with looking at the evidence, we notice that the amount of permineralized or mineralized material does not indicate age, but the conditions in which the organic material was buried or submerged in.  So fossils do not have to be billions or millions or tens of thousands of years old, but could easily be thousands or even decades old.

 

Informational sources:  AIG; Creation Ministries International; Wikipedia; Encyclopedia Britannica 2003; Encarta 2004 Encyclopedia Deluxe © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

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 partnership.

My Missionary Lizards

by Alpha Omega Institute on July 20, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

Pastor Ramon invited me and a variety of Bible teachers from Mexico to teach at a youth convention which was being held at the Nogales Baptist Seminary in Nogales, MX.  Over one hundred youth attended the event.  Many more signed up to attend, but were unfortunately turned down, due to lack of room.  I observed in the youth of Mexico a desire to know the truth.   Both young and old around the world have an interest in creation, especially the subject of dinosaurs.

After finishing up my dinosaur presentation, one of the kids was concerned about where he would spend eternity.  He approached Pastor Ramon wanting to talk to him about salvation.  Pastor Ramon led the youngster to the Lord!  I know of at least two  who trusted Jesus as their Saviour during the conference.  By knowing the truth about dinosaurs, they will truly glorify the LORD.  I frequently refer to dinosaurs as my missionary lizards.  During the conference, Pastor Ramon noticed an excitement in the attendees to learn more about the Bible.  He has seen on many occasions that the youth were not very interested in the Biblical account, but at this conference there was an enthusiasm about knowing more!

 

Richard 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 partnership.

Down, But Not Out!

by Alpha Omega Institute on July 19, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

One Sunday morning, a few weeks ago, I was traveling to Gateway, CO to teach at the Wayside Chapel.  After passing many of the fire fighting vehicles on their way to fight a forest fire west of Gateway, I heard a bang coming out from my vehicle.  At first I thought I had blown one of my tires, but the truck I was driving did not give that impression.  Then I noticed what I thought was burning rubber coming from the front of the vehicle.

Quickly coming to a stop, I checked all the tires.  They checked out just fine.  Next, I thought the problem must be under the hood.  I knew the situation was bad when I saw the serpentine belt lying on top of the engine.  Antifreeze was everywhere and the fan was in the radiator.  This was not a good sign!  Analyzing the situation, I discovered that the water pump bearing went out and had subsequently caused the fan to fall into the radiator.  This caused major damage to both the radiator and fan, leaving parts of the fan blades along the road.

Usually there is a warning when the water pump is going bad, such as an antifreeze leak or noisy bearing… but not this time.  I had a cell phone; I’ll just call for re-enforcements, right?  Wrong!  I am in the mountains and in the middle of nowhere.  No cell phone service here.  So I would have to find help the old fashioned way…  by walking to nearby residents!  With a quick prayer, asking for God’s intervention in this situation, I headed for my first target.

As I walked up the steps to the house, I was thinking that people would be eager to help a man wearing a suit and cowboy boots.  After knocking on the door, I began to hear noises inside.  I am in luck!  The lady quickly asked, “What’s your name?”  “Richard Stepanek,” I replied.  She then abruptly stated, “I don’t know you, I can’t help you!”  “But mam, my vehicle is broke down on the road,” I insisted.  “I don’t know you, I can’t help you!” she replied again.  I retreated from my first attempt for help.  I probably scared the poor lady half to death.  So much for my suit and tie.

The next house did not help either, as there was no one home, and the third place had a ‘beware of dog’ sign.  Being an ex-rural mail deliverer, I have learned that strange dogs and I just do not mix well together.  So I decided to skip that house.  As I was walking to the next place, a man and his wife driving by stopped and asked if I needed help.  I informed them of my situation and they were eager to help since they attended the Wayside Chapel.

I was glad I left extra early that morning for the drive to Gateway, even with all the delays I was only fifteen minutes late.  The people attending Wayside Chapel were extremely helpful, and they even helped me tow my vehicle to a safe location off the road.   I praise the Lord that I could perform the repairs myself.  After $850.00 of parts, and about two days of work, my truck was up and running again.  These are just some of the obstacles we get as a traveling ministry, but God is always faithful to see us through.

 

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 partnership.

“Genesis and science go hand in hand”

by Alpha Omega Institute on July 12, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

Last month I had the opportunity to teach at Camp Salvation, which is located near Weston, CO.   It was the camp’s senior high week with about 60-70 campers attending.  I had a good week teaching my Genesis Series, and interacting with the campers and staff.  While playing games, I painfully discovered that I am not as fast as I once was.

Many campers were amazed to discover how scientific the book of Genesis really is.  One young lady, who is very interested in science, was delighted to hear that Genesis and science go hand in hand.  Another camper informed me about some of his classmates that were falling from the faith because of evolution.  He even expressed that he was beginning to doubt the Bible.  The arguments his teacher was using to discredit the Bible were easily refuted by science.

The sad thing about all of this is how many young people are rejecting Scripture and Jesus Christ because of false teachings which are promoted as truth.  The good news in all this was over 12 campers trusted Jesus Christ, who is the Creator, as their Saviour.

 

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 partnership.

The Homes Have It…

by Alpha Omega Institute on June 27, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

We had a great two weeks of traveling in Nebraska and Minnesota.  We were blessed to be able to teach at our home church in SW Minnesota.  It was a wonderful opportunity to connect again with many friends and supporters of our ministry.  It is hard to believe that it was 15 years ago when God called us away from the farm, to replant in Colorado and join Alpha Omega Institute.

It is truly amazing for us to see the countless ways that He has worked in our lives through the years.  We have been so blessed to develop so many new relationships across the country.  We trust also, that the Lord has used our teaching to make an impact in the lives of other people.

We were also able to participate in the recent CHEC Homeschool Conference in Denver, June 14-16. Ken Ham was the keynote speaker at the conference.  He helped to renew the attendee’s interest in the creation/evolution issue.  Many saw the importance of equipping their children, with the much needed information, to stand strong on the unfailing Word of God.

I also had the opportunity to present two sessions covering Genesis chapter one.  It was a great time to encourage parents, to equip their children, and to meet the challenges and opposition they may face in the future.

 

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 partnership.

He Created….Much Like A Carpenter

by Alpha Omega Institute on June 21, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

Let us turn back to Genesis.

Genesis 1:1-2

The word ‘beginning’ is a reference to time.  The word ‘heaven’ is a reference to space.  Now in this space, there are no stars, planets, moons, sun, etc.  It is just empty three dimensional space.  The word ‘earth’ means matter and this matter is only water molecules as we will read later.  This earth is not the earth we inhabit today.  This earth, or matter, is without form as we will read in verse two.

We also read in verse one that God created, which means He created time, space, and matter out of nothing.  This is the beginning of God’s universe, and to have a universe we need time, space, and matter.  If you eliminate any one or more of these three things, you will no longer have a universe.  According to empirical science, there is only one universe which is made up of all three things.  So the universe is a type of a trinity.  God is a trinity: God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit.  God’s creation reflects His nature.

Genesis 1:1-2

The earth in verse two is the same earth as in verse one.  This earth is without form.   In the Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the word ‘form’ is defined as a determinate shape.  So the word without form means the earth does not have any determinate shape.  God is speaking in construction terms.  It is like a carpenter preparing to build a house.  Before he starts the construction, he first has to deliver the building materials to the construction site.  He will have lumber, plywood, nails, etc.  These building materials are neither waste nor in chaos.  They are usually very expensive and piled up in an orderly way.  But the building is without form.  As the contractor builds the house, it begins to take shape.  When he is finished, the building now has determinate shape.  This is what God is trying to tell us in verse two.  His universe does not have determinate shape yet, but at the end of six days it will have that shape.  It sounds like God is a carpenter.

 

Richard 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 partnership.

Genesis 1:1 In the Beginning God…

by Alpha Omega Institute on June 15, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

Genesis 1:1  “In the beginning God…”

This is a very scientific statement.  This statement deals with the ‘Law of Cause and Effect, or the Law of Causality’. For example, if I drop a ball, the ball will fall and hit the ground.  The effect is the ball falling and hitting the ground.  What was the cause?  What caused the ball to fall?  It was gravity, so gravity is the cause.  Now, what caused or made gravity?  How did gravity get here?  Eventually we need to start with what we call a ‘first cause’, something or someone that had to make and/or create everything.

What is this first cause according to some scientists?

Discover magazine April 2002 tells us that the ‘first cause’ was evolution.

‘The universe burst into something from absolutely nothing-zero, nada.  And as it got bigger, it became filled with even more stuff that came from absolutely nowhere.  How is that possible?  Ask Alan Guth.  His theory of inflation helps explain everything.’

In other words: Nothing did something to nothing to make everything.  For evolution, nothing is the first cause.  But nothing has no intelligence, no power, and no presence.  This idea of something coming from nothing violates the ‘First Law of Thermodynamics’, which states that matter and energy can neither create nor destroy itself.  Evolution violates science!

Back to Genesis:

Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God…

In Scripture, God becomes the first cause.  God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.  A being with these attributes would have no problem creating things out of nothing.

Another question arises: is there an opposite of God?  Some people think Satan is the opposite of God.  I do not think so.  I believe nothing is the opposite of God.  God has all knowledge, power, and presence, and nothing has nothing!  As we discussed earlier, science, creation, and God go together. So I believe the opposite of God, science, and creation is nothing, pseudo-science, and evolution.

I was taught in high school and college the motto for evolution is “The present is the key to the past.”  But in Scripture, “the past is the key to the present.”  This means Genesis and creation are relevant for today.  To understand the world around us, we need to understand Genesis and creation.

This brings us back again to Genesis Chapter One.

Day one or the first day of creation starts on Genesis 1:1.

Genesis 1:1a, In the beginning God…

The word “beginning” is a reference to time.  God created time, so this means that God is outside of time.  He does not function in time like we do.  Some people do not understand this concept so they tend to misinterpret II Peter 3:8.

People who believe that the days in Genesis chapter one are not literal days, will use this verse to try and prove their point.  A closer examination of this verse, and a better understanding of Genesis, will reveal this verse actually supports the literal days in Genesis… as we will see.

This verse states “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years.”  “There you have it,” they will say,  “one day is equal to a thousand years.”  But do not stop reading there.  As we continue to read, “a thousand years as one day.”  God is a God of order, so His Word is also a book of order.  So using their reasoning, every time we read one day it really means a thousand years, and every time we read a thousand years it really means one day.  Well, Adam lived to be 930 years old, that means he was just 70 years short of being a thousand years old.  So Adam did not quite live a thousand years , but a thousand years is really only a day.  Using their logic, this means Adam did not quite live to be one day old.  So he was created, named the animals, named the woman, married the woman, and had sons and daughters all in less than one day!  This does not make any sense!  What they missed is this: “to the Lord”  II Peter 3:8.

As we read in Genesis 1:1a, God is outside of time, so to Him a day is the same as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  For us, since we are created in time, a day is a day and a thousand years is a thousand years.  Returning to II Peter 3:8, the day in this verse literally means one day and the thousand years literally means a thousand years.  The words mean what they say or the whole concept of the verse has no meaning.  In good Biblical interpretation, we must always look first at the context.  The context of II Peter is about God’s future judgment on a wicked world.  It has nothing to do with creation or the days in Genesis chapter one.  Peter is telling us since God is outside of time, He will judge mankind when He wants to and not when we think He should.  Because people take verses out of context, they make big theological mistakes.

Please join me again next time, as we continue in Genesis chapter 1.

 

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 partnership.

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