All posts tagged Events related

Repairing in Mexico

by Alpha Omega Institute on December 7, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

Moving the Farmers family from Guadalajara, Mexico to Tepic, Mexico went well.  The three hour drive through the mountains was beautiful.  We arrived in Tepic Thursday afternoon (Nov. 29) to a house which was much larger than the one they had in Guadalajara.  This is a blessing for a family with three active boys!  But the house was in need of some work, the repairs included electrical, plumbing, woodwork, etc.

Finding parts to fix a water heater, water valves, and the electrical was a real challenge.   We were in a new city, so finding hardware stores with the parts we needed was difficult.  It was not uncommon to drive for half a day and not find any of the parts we needed.   Many times we had to modify parts to fit the equipment we were trying to repair.  With prayer and ingenuity, we were able to complete all the tasks.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to teach at Vida Eterna, a church in Tepic.  Many of the people attending were encouraged by the creation message.  The interest to know more about creation was overwhelming, so the plan is to return to Tepic in the future to do more teaching.  The house was not the only thing in need of repair and strengthening, but also the support for creation.  Sue, Joel, and I had a wonderful time with family and getting to know our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mexico.

 

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.

Creation in Mexico

by Alpha Omega Institute on December 6, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

Mary Jo & I are “on vacation,” but, as you can see, we are in the midst of speaking on Creation vs. Evolution at several locations in Mexico. (What better thing to do on vacation? And yes, we will get some good R&R time!) On the right is Mary Jo giving evidence for creation and the problems with evolution through our Spanish translator to a group of 75 people who have congregated to hear about this issue on a Saturday afternoon. I wonder how many in the States would give up a prime shopping day on a Saturday just prior to Christmas to hear the truth. These people are hungry to hear the other side of the issue.

Actually, evolution is being taught in most places around the world. AOI speaking staff has now had opportunity to speak in about 30 countries around the world and has found that evolution is just as much an issue in these countries as in the States. We also find that there is good interest in Creation in virtually all the places we have gone.

We are thankful to be able to bring the message of Creation and the difficulties with evolution to people anywhere we are asked to go.  This is a big world, and our limited staff can only go to a small part of it. We need many more people to take this message far and wide! On this trip, we have given seminars/presentations to 3 different groups and still have more to do including a 3 day seminar at a large church. Already this week, 4 individuals told us they desire to be trained to help spread the message. We have been formulating how best to expand AOI’s training program and to do this in light of limited finances –  both AOI’s and those who wish to have the training. Pray with us for wisdom to find the best way to move forward.

 

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.

With a little help …

by Alpha Omega Institute on November 30, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

Sue, Joel, and I left Colorado on Sunday Nov. 25 to fly to Mexico.  We spent the first few days helping our daughter, Kim, and her husband Jasson pack up their family and house in Guadalajara, Mexico.  We have been primarily helping take care of their three young boys, as well as giving their house a fresh coat of paint.

Thursday we traveled to Tepic, about 3 hours away, unloaded the cargo, and helped them get settled in their new home.  Two other UIM pilots were also there to help.  It is a big job since there are multiple stairways and tight spots to navigate to get the furniture from the house to the trailer.  But it has all gone well so far.  It has been a blessing for us to be able to be here to take part in this project.  In the evenings I have been teaching on various creation topics.  The trip has been mixed with work, babysitting, teaching, and a whole lot of family.  It has been a blessing in so many ways.

 

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.

 

“Portraits” from a University Campus

by Alpha Omega Institute on November 29, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

Presenting creation programs on a university campus brings out a variety of students with different backgrounds, different perspectives, and different motivations for coming. It’s quite a challenge to meet these varying needs in one presentation. That’s why we are glad for the Q&A time and one-on-one time before and after the presentations. Here are some “portraits” from just 2 nights of recent university presentations:

 

  • Twenty-year old history major – grew up in a “fundamental evangelical” church – now claiming to be an evolutionist – looking for something “new”—almost seems he is crying, “Convince me.”
  • Middle age man – going back to school to become a middle-school science teacher – church member – taking a class on Evolution vs. Creation – coming to learn more about creation model
  • Biology major – also in the Evolution vs. Creation class – identifies himself as an evolutionist — polite and attentive  — has questions about science and the Bible
  • Graduate student – says as he comes in, “I don’t know why I’m here. Maybe morbid curiosity.” – Lots of objections to creation – leaves halfway through presentation
  • Biology student – also in the Evolution vs. Creation class — says he believes in God – asks some penetrating questions – later says he likes playing the “devil’s advocate”
  • Young man – identified by his smile – lights came on for him when he came to our presentations last year – now a happy and devoted follower of Jesus

 

We plant, others water, but the Lord brings the harvest. Please join us in praying for these students, that God would bring forth abundant fruit from the seeds that have been planted. Pray too, for those who diligently work and witness and build relationships on campus throughout the school year.

 

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.

Evolutionary change in my teaching

by Alpha Omega Institute on November 9, 2012 in Stepaneks from the Front with No comments

 

There is an evolutionary change in my teaching style over the last two years.  I still present my normal creation science topics for seminars at churches, home school groups, Christian schools, public schools, colleges, etc., but there has been a shift in my teaching for home Bible studies.   The disadvantage of teaching at home Bible studies is it limits the number of people who can attend.  The advantage is the more intimate teaching style.   With fewer people and of course a more homier atmosphere, people seem to feel more comfortable about asking questions.

I normally teach my Genesis series in these settings, because of the questions it provokes.  I have discovered as Christians understand the creation science message they have a deeper hunger to understand Genesis.  There seems to be some confusion about the first few chapters of Genesis, and this is what stirs up the questions.

Just last weekend, I presented a Genesis series at a home Bible study in Denver, CO.  Over thirty people attended, with many being children.  On Saturday night we started at 4 p.m. and ended about 11 p.m.   That evening we covered parts of Genesis chapter one and three.  Then on Sunday afternoon, the teachings started around 4 pm, and ended around 10 pm.  We had a number of breaks during the session.  The breaks consisted mostly of questions and some eating.  In the four or five hours of teaching, we were only able to cover Genesis chapter one.  What surprised me was the involvement and participation of the children.

This study is very in-depth, but the children understood the concepts very well.  I believe it is because they haven’t had the years of exposure that adults have had to humanistic teachings.  Many times I did not have to answer the questions, because the children answered them instead.  Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  I have discovered this statement to be so true.  Children have no problem understanding the literal reading of Genesis and its Biblical concepts.  Out of the mouth of babes!

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.

University Student: Change in Gene Frequency = Evolution

by Alpha Omega Institute on October 31, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

Mary Jo & I recently had 2 weeks of speaking at 3 universities in Minnesota. We had about 1.5 hours of presentations each night, then at least as long, or longer, times of questions and answers.

We had a lot of good interest and quite a few students expressed their gratitude that we came to speak. Several said the programs were a big help and a breath of fresh air. Of course, as usual, we had our “fan club” of die-hard atheists who came to protect their turf! That always made for lively discourse.

One skeptic said that evolution is basically changes in gene frequency. Therefore, since this is happening daily, it demonstrates that evolution is true. First of all, that is a very narrow definition of evolution and cannot be extrapolated to prove cells can turn into people. The different dog breeds from Chihuahuas to Great Danes do demonstrate changes in gene frequency, but not evolution in the broader sense. The reason for this is that the genetic information for the different breed characteristics is already present in the genetic pool of the basic dog kind. When dog breeders are at work, they are selecting traits that are already exhibited in the genetic pool. So, we can say there is no evolution because there is no new genetic “stuff.” It was already there. Evolutionists have to explain where all that genetic variability came from in the first place.

In fact, evolutionists have to explain how no genetic information in the very raw material that “accidentally” formed the first cell managed to expand to the millions of volumes of encyclopedic genetic information that is in the DNA of each human cell. This has always been a nagging difficulty for evolutionists.

It is pure speculation that the type of minor variations, such as those observed in the various characteristics of dog breeds, could potentially mount up over vast eons of time to allow goo to turn into you by way of the zoo. So rather than a demonstration of evolution, the extrapolation of the data is merely a demonstration of the faith of the evolutionist.

 

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.

Lions, Gazelles and Evolution

by Alpha Omega Institute on October 23, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

At one of the universities that we spoke at recently, a paper was circulated in support of evolution. One of the explanations of evolution was natural selection, or more commonly called, the survival of the fittest. The idea presented was that a lion which managed to catch and eat a gazelle just slightly increased the general speed of the population of gazelles by weeding out a slower one.

On the other side, slower lions can’t catch the faster gazelles and consequently do not eat as well. Therefore, they can’t fight off the stronger, well-fed lions in their struggle for a mate.  Therefore the lion’s speed is linked to the gazelle’s speed.

While this type of natural selection seems obvious, it still does not demonstrate evolution, since gazelles remain gazelles and lions remain lions. Also, one might wonder with all those millions of years to perfect their speed, why both lions and gazelles aren’t yet running at the speed of sound! Perhaps the lions or the gazelles should have turned their attention to developing rifles.

By the way, natural selection or survival of the fittest was actually proposed first by a creationist, Edward Blythe, 24 years before Darwin’s publication of his book, On the Origin of Species. (See  the January/February 2000 edition of Think & Believe.)  The idea back then was that natural selection actually is a conservation mechanism to weed out the misfits and to keep the population strong. Minor changes in speed, color changes, etc. are great to talk about. They can play a role in natural selection, but they merely demonstrate variation with the created kinds and not how evolution from cells to people takes place. For more information and articles on natural selection and why this does not prove evolution, go to our website and search for “natural selection.”

 

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.

Designated Infested Water

by Alpha Omega Institute on October 16, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with No comments

 

While I was taking a walk at a lake on this speaking trip in Minnesota, I ran across a sign that caught my attention. It said, “THIS IS A DESIGNATED INFESTED WATER.” Now what did that mean? Does this mean it is OK to infest this lake with anything one would choose? Is it safe to live near the lake? What crawls out in the middle of the night? I certainly wondered what would bite or attack me if I dared to swim in this lake.

Milfoil

As I looked into it, this lake received this designation since it harbors what is now considered a noxious weed that grows in the water. It is called milfoil. It was described to me as having a long leafed stem that grows from the lake bottom then tops out on the surface of the water like an umbrella.

I am sure there are valid reasons why it has been labeled noxious, but when I found out what the plant was, the thought came to me that it might provide a wonderful place for big fish to hang out. Wherever they grow, I can imagine an avid fisherman would also be found there. I also found myself daydreaming about the time years ago, when I had hooked a huge fish in a similar fishing environment. If I had been using a heavier line that would not have been so easily broken, I might have seen more than just the tail fin of that fish (a good 8 inches wide). Yep, I wouldn’t mind going back to that noxious weed bed on that lake!

Hey, I know this is a major threat in the lakes that shouldn’t be taken lightly. And yes, I also know this a creationist blog site. However, life isn’t only about arguing with those atheists and evolutionists! It can be about truly enjoying God’s marvelous creation at the end of a fishing rod! Unfortunately, I had to settle for good memories as I didn’t bring my fishing rod on this trip. Bummer! Guess, I had better go prepare for a lecture or write another article!

 

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.

Not Always So Big

by Alpha Omega Institute on October 10, 2012 in Johnsons from the Front with No comments

 

I have found that there are a lot of misconceptions about dinosaurs. I normally always start off each dinosaur talk showing 2 dinosaurs models (see pictures) – a Stegosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. After identifying the dinosaurs, and holding up the Stegosaurus, I will ask, “How many of you believe that at one time there was a Stegosaurus this exact size walking upon the earth? If you believe that, raise your hand.” Usually only a very few hands will be raised. Then I ask, “Then how many of you believe that there wasn’t a Stegosaurus this exact size walking upon the earth?”  Normally, a majority of those present will raise their hands.

I will then hold up the T-Rex and repeat the questions.  Again, the majority will vote that there never was a T-Rex that exact size walking upon the earth. I then hold up a replica (exact copy of the real thing) of an Oviraptor egg, explaining that most scientists today believe that dinosaurs were hatched from eggs.

Then I share that a fossilized egg of a Stegosaurus has been found. The scientist knew it was a Stegosaurus because using  x-ray they were able to see the baby Stegosaurus still inside of the egg … and that egg was just a little smaller than my model Stegosaurus. So, yes at one time there was a very small Stegosaurus running around on the earth – when it hatched out of the egg!

Brachiosaurus eggs

Even the very large Brachiosaurus, who grew to be about 80 feet long, came from relatively small eggs (two eggs stuck together in lower right corner of the enclosed picture).

To date, they have never found an egg of T-Rex that they know for sure was a T-Rex. However, by comparing the size of eggs of other dinosaurs that have been found and identified, and then comparing it to the adult dinosaur’s size, and then comparing it to the size of an adult T-Rex, many scientists now believe that when T-Rex hatched out of an egg it was probably about the size of my T-Rex model.

Wow! So if you were able to catch a T-Rex when it hatched out, you could put a collar on it and walk it like a dog … or carry it around on your shoulder like a parrot. But you couldn’t do that for too long, because T-Rex did grow to be a very large dinosaur!

 

Lanny Johnson

 

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.

Desolation Canyon – Remote, But Full of History

by Alpha Omega Institute on September 13, 2012 in Nuttings from the Front with 1 Comment

 

On the exploratory raft trip down the Green River, we saw a lot of geology and wildlife and all of us likely got a bigger feel for the effects of the Genesis Flood. Another very interesting dimension of the raft trip was the historical aspect.

The canyons we went through are named Desolation and Gray Canyons. Desolation Canyon is true wilderness. There are no modern roads that meander through the canyon and no train tracks for most of it. Even though it is remote, there is still a lot of human history there.  First of all, the American Indian people groups frequented this area as evidenced by ancient drawings on the rocks. More recently in 1776, the Spanish exploration teams led by Dominguez and Escalante came through. Some of their expedition is actually recorded in some of the native petroglyphs. Fur trappers and explorers like Kit Carson, who was also a guide and Indian agent, wintered in the area in 1833-1834. Captain John Gunnison scouted the area for a railroad crossing of the Green River in 1853. (He was supposedly killed by the Indians just a short time afterwards, but many historians along with Gunnison’s wife claim that the killing was ordered by Brigham Young.) Cattle ranchers also saw the low lands as an ideal place to winter their livestock and established a few ranch sites where stone buildings still stand.

Notorious outlaws saw the canyons as a good place to hide from the law. Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, infamous from the Midwest to the deep west with their train and bank robberies, holed up in the late 1890’s and 1900 in the remote sections. Part of the group was even overtaken and shot by lawmen along the River (George Flat-nose Curry, and Joe Walker).

For the history buffs, the trip was like stepping into the past and experiencing the life of these early inhabitants. We likely pitched our tents on the very same campsites where some of these people out of the past spread their bedrolls.

Desolation and Gray’s Canyons—remote, but full of history!

 

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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