All posts tagged Events related

Brrrrrrrr…

by Alpha Omega Institute on April 12, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

Brrrrrrrrr, it is certainly cold. Here I am heading back up the trail to the rim of the Grand Canyon. It certainly would be more pleasing to curl up with a good book in front of a nice warm fireplace, but that’s not happening today.

I am with a group of college students on a geology field trip. This is the only day we have for his hike, so forget the fireplace and the creature comforts, and pass me my warm coat and rain gear. We headed out… hoping for the best . As you can see from the picture, the best didn’t come and the hike and field trip events for the day were cut short.

When you do a trip like this, you just have to take the weather like it is. Anyhow, I’d better send this blog in today now that my fingers have thawed out enough to text on this iPhone.

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.

Geology Field Trip 2013

by Alpha Omega Institute on April 9, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

Once again, I’m with another group of energetic and fun-loving Bible college students from Jackson, Wyoming, on a geology field trip for the better part of 2 weeks (24 students and 15 staff).  Some of these high energy students (usually the guys) like to climb on anything they find, and showoff how close they can get to the edge.

As you can see from the picture below, that could be a deadly mistake. Sandstone tends to be undercut. If one would walk out to the edge without knowing this, the already cracked slab and the unfortunate person on it would likely fall over 1000 feet straight down to their death below. So, one of the very first things I warn those students before they have the opportunity to try their wings is, “WATCH OUT and don’t get close to the edge!”

Today, a woman who happened to overhear my talks on the rim told me she wouldn’t have enough nerve to take college students to places like this. Since she was a college professor, she knows the nature of the breed.

We not only warn and point out hazards, but also do a lot of praying and careful watching. This group is doing great and is taking the warning seriously. For that, we as the staff are very thankful. So please pray with us for safety on this trip, and also for the educational and spiritual results as these students see first-hand evidence for the Flood of Noah’s day.

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.

“I Didn’t Like It – I LOVED It!”

by Alpha Omega Institute on March 26, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

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.

Hungry for Answers

by Alpha Omega Institute on March 22, 2013 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

Well, that Tuesday (see my last blog “Genesis Series on the Road…“) Sue and I, with the help of our son Joel, taught six hours at Faith Baptist Church in Pawnee City, NE.  The seminars went very well.  I taught one hour on dinosaurs, science, and the Bible, and the next five hours we spent on the Genesis Series. We covered Genesis chapters one and two.  Sue, with her changes to the children’s ministry, was a big hit.  The people at Pawnee were truly “hungry” for the information and requested a continuation of the Genesis Series at a future date.

Two boys, who were in either 5th or 6th grade, came up to me after the last evening’s program wondering if there was another two hour program tomorrow.  I was sorry to say that there wasn’t.   It is very encouraging to see young people getting so enthralled about the Word of God!

From March 8th through the 10th,Sue, Joel, and I were at the Fairview Baptist Church near Towanda, KS.  The pastor scheduled eleven hours of teaching, which is quite unique for us since we normally teach for only four to six hours at a church.  The goal of the seminar was to cover Genesis chapters one through three by teaching two hours on Friday night and another five hours on Saturday.  The plan for Sunday was to teach approximately four hours of my creation science series.

I was not able to finish Genesis chapter three Saturday afternoon, and the interest was so great, that many attendees requested two more hours on Sunday afternoon to allow us to finish the chapter!   We were amazed!  Thirteen hours of teaching in one night and two days.  Sue ended up teaching eleven hours for the children.  People of this country are hungry for the foundational teachings of Scripture and science!

 

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.

Flying Woes

by Alpha Omega Institute on March 20, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

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.

Genesis Series on the Road…

by Alpha Omega Institute on March 14, 2013 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

We had a wonderful time at Sheridan Lake, CO, teaching and having fellowship with the saints.  We taught eleven hours at Sheridan Lake Bible Church, and nine of those eleven hours were spent teaching Genesis chapters one through three.  Even with the nine hours of teaching, we did not quite finish Genesis chapter three.  It was a casual time of teaching, and during the teaching I enjoyed answering various questions they had about Genesis and creation in general.  After all was done, the pastor shared his thoughts about the importance of taking Genesis literally and not falling for the wisdom of the world.

The following Tuesday evening we started teaching at Faith Baptist Church located in Pawnee City, NE.  Since I was just here last year, and taught my creation science series, I thought I would teach my Genesis series.  While I taught the young people and adults, my wife Sue, taught the children.  She is improving her programs by incorporating creation science power point presentations into her time with the children.  She is excited about the changes and so are the children.

I truly enjoy teaching the Genesis series, because Genesis proclaims many of the scientific concepts and laws modern scientists have just discovered in the last few hundred years.  In other words, Genesis is relevant to scientific discovery and things we observe today.  I was always taught that “the present is the key to the past,” but that worldview can cause many scientific mistakes.  The truth is “the past is the key to the present,” and this is why Genesis is so important for scientific research today.  Stay tuned for more from the Genesis Road Show.

 

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.

Surprises in Arizona

by Alpha Omega Institute on March 5, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

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”

by Alpha Omega Institute on February 20, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

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.

Creation in Mexican Drug and Rehab Centers

by Alpha Omega Institute on January 3, 2013 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

Two of the locations where Mary Jo & I had opportunity to speak while in Mexico last month were at drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. Both of these facilities were “lock up” facilities, meaning that the people in there were not allowed to leave. These centers were last chance facilities in lieu of actually being put in prison.

In other words, we had a captive audience for the creation and Gospel message. Of course, while we were there, we were also locked in close quarters with them. As some of them looked like pretty rough dudes, we were very happy that the crowd was quite attentive and responded quite well to what we were saying. There was also quite a mixed group from two 10-12 year old boys, several young ladies, and men up to at least 50 years old.

The message we gave was definitely a creation verses evolution message (What’s the Evidence?). It was coupled with the fact that they are not the products of accidents. Instead they are uniquely created in the image of God. Some of these men and women have been told that, or at least have thought, they are worthless. However, they responded well to knowing that they are important to God since they were created by Him. Questions after the presentation continued for quite some time afterwards. One of the men, who was actually originally from California, told me that the presentation was so very important. He said that what I had presented “blew my mind.” The last time I heard that exact phrase used by a participant was many years ago. It was from a “former” atheist who had heard Mary Jo & I speak 7 years prior. The former atheist, who had become a deacon in his church, asked if we knew what we were doing. He then said, “You guys are running around the country blowing people’s minds. (PTL! And Lord, allow us to keep doing that!)

We certainly hope and pray that these men and women who were at these rehabilitation centers, find this material, and a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ to be a real spiritual “mind-blowing experience” and that they can be set free from their addictions which physically “blow their minds.”

 

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.

Intense Interest even with lighting Challenges in Mexico

by Alpha Omega Institute on December 11, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

One thing I really appreciate when spending time in foreign cultures is the intense interest they have in our subject matter.  Even the children are intent …not to mention the parents. They are hungry for the information. This picture was taken in a Leon, Mexico, church at about the time of their normal break or siesta. I would venture to guess that if I took a similar picture in most churches in the States that we would catch plenty of people dozing!

Actually, I have heard it stated that if you were to line up — end-to-end — everyone who fell asleep in the pew in a church service on any given Sunday morning. . . they would be a whole lot more comfortable. :-)

Sometimes the lighting we have when giving our presentations is very good, as it was in this conference room in Leon, Mexico (picture to the right).  Other times, such as in another church in Leon, there were major difficulties in lighting (notice the sky lights in the ceiling we had to contend with. There was also bright sunlight coming in from the other end of the building). With only black and white pictures and images which they use for the song service, the visuals come out to a minimal, but barely workable, level. However, since we use so many pictures with high color (vivid) images, the slides actually show up horribly in very brightly lit rooms.

To overcome, we brought everyone in the church a little closer together and used our own projector (brighter), while using a screen on a slightly darker sidewall area. By projecting at closer range without the zoom feature, it worked reasonably well to get our points across. I knew what the images should look like, but I doubt most people really knew. They may have thought that our images could stand to be improved. (If only they could have seen my laptop screen!) Regardless of the difficulties, the people of this church actually stayed intently tuned for 2.5 hours of presentation and Q&A time after already attending their 1.5 hour worship service, so it couldn’t have been too bad.

It wasn’t until nearly the end of the program that I figured out why it was so HOT in that room. With the projector closer to me than normal, I was getting a hot blast of air from the projector fan!  I have been in the hot seat before, but this was a little different.

But even with the lighting issues, it has been a most rewarding time of teaching in Mexico.

 

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.

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