LePore's Dinosaur Digging Adventure: From Home to the Aiport

God sure has a sense of humor sometimes. On Monday, my mother (Kimberly LePore) was checking her Facebook page when something caught here eye. Fourteen-year old, Noah Justice from the creation video series 'Awesome Science' had posted that there were spots open for two more families on a dinosaur digging adventure in Northwestern Colorado, near Dinosaur National Monument. She showed me the post, and my response was, "Could we go?", of course. I was expecting something along the lines of "Ha! It's only a week away (later, we found out it was only 4 days away!)!", but no, she said that we should call the people in charge of the dig. My mom called, and I was astonished that she actually thought it was a possibility! "Could this be a dream come true?", I thought. I have loved dinosaurs ever since I was 7 years old, and after hearing the truth about dinosaurs, I have loved them even more. It is every boy's dream to be able to dig for dinosaur bones, to be a paleontologist. Could this really happen? Was I just dreaming?

Long story short, I am in Reno airport as I am typing this, and our flight has been delayed for an hour. Apparently there was another flight which was supposed to leave, but their plane was having technical issues, so they took ours instead. How did that happen? I have no clue. Please be in prayer for us, as this is the first time we have been this far from home without the rest of the family, and my mom is quite... nervous. I am sure that we will have a great time, and that we will bring back something BIG for show and tell. 

(P.S. I am thinking that we will have a special fossil presentation for the September meeting, but we need to have a committee meeting to plan it first. :)

-- Caleb LePore

August 18th, 2012 at 11:20 AM

        

Why Do We Have To Defend Genesis?

“Why do we have to defend Genesis?” Creationists talk a lot about the first eleven chapters of Genesis, do we not? I mean, that’s where we get the Creation account from, right? Not only do we get the creation account from Genesis, but did you know that nearly every major doctrine in the Bible has its roots in Genesis! In fact, the word ‘genesis’ actually means beginning. Let’s take a look at a few “beginnings” which are found in the “book of beginnings”. 

First and foremost, Genesis explains the origin of everything! Genesis chapters 1-2 explain not only that God created but also how God created all the matter in the universe and formed it into things that are usable and good. Chapters 1-2 use phrases such as ‘evening and morning‘ and ‘according to their kind‘ to describe in precise detail how God created and how long it took Him to create. God tells us in Genesis the origin of mankind. He tells us how we are different from the rest of creation by saying how that we are created in His image, and are thus accountable to Him. He tells us what kind of food we are supposed to eat. Since God’s original creation was “very good” and thus, free of death; all creatures were originally vegetarian. After the Flood, it is recorded that God allowed man to eat meat as part of His covenant with Noah and His descendants. In Genesis 2:15, God commands Adam to tend the Garden of Eden, which must have been quite a bit of work, right! God also commanded Adam to name all the land animals, right! That must have been a LOT of work! I remember when my family was trying to come up with a name for our miniature poodle, and that was almost impossible! We ended up naming him Westin after the resort we have a timeshare at, the Westin. For the most part, people give pets pre-existing names, but Adam had nothing to name the animals after! Let’s face it, people nowadays are not very creative with pet names, so think of what Adam had to do! God is not opposed to hard work, if fact, God created it! Genesis 1-11 also gives the foundations of the Bible’s most important doctrines; sin, death, and salvation. Genesis 3 gives the account of the first sin and its effects on the world, including death. After God pronounces His Curse on the world, God tells Adam and Eve, that one day, a descendant will crush the Serpent’s head, and defeat death. That is the first recorded promise of the coming Savior, who, from the New Testament we know to be Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of all descendants of Adam. Genesis also explains our spiritual nature. In Genesis 1:27, God tells us that we are created in His image. Since God exists in three Parts, we would expect that we would exist in 3 parts, and we do. Humans exist in body, soul, and spirit. In Genesis 2:7, we are told that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, the breath of life, and he became a living being. Obviously, from this passage, we gather that life does not exist in the body, but in the “breath of life”, the spirit! Genesis explains why we need clothes to cover our nakedness, our shame, and our sin. Genesis 3:21 says that God make coats of skin for Adam and Eve to cover their shame, which is a picture of what Jesus did for us. By the shedding of a lamb’s blood, Adam and Eve were covered, and by the shedding of The Lamb’s blood we are covered and cleansed as well. Genesis also explains the origin of all the nations, languages, and so-called “races” of people. Genesis 10-11 tell us how Noah’s descendants refused to obey God’s command to spread out all over the earth and decided to build a tower to “make a name for themselves”. Well, God didn’t like the disobedience and arrogance of the human race, so He stopped the construction of the tower at once by changing the people’s languages and scattered them across the face of the earth. This shows that regardless of skin color, language, or any other ethnic difference, we are all one race. The human race. Something the human race has over all the animals is the ability to use science! Science is also ordained in the first 11 chapters of Genesis! Genesis 1:28 says that God blessed Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over all of Creation, to use it for God’s glory. Science is studying God's Creation Science is in reality, taking dominion over God’s Creation. 

Now you see how Genesis is really the foundations for the rest of Scripture, including many of our Christian doctrines. Here’s the point. What have we seen happened to the faith of the next generation? It has been destroyed, and Christians have recognized that and have tried to fix it. The problem is that most Christians are trying to fix the problem without fixing the underlying issue. Most Christians see the evil things happening in our world, and want to fix it, but they are missing something. You see, the real problem is that their faith in the foundations of the Bible have been destroyed, and what happens when the foundations of a house are destroyed? The house comes down with it! In this day and age, science has supposedly disproven the historicity of the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which as we just saw, is the foundation for the rest of the Bible. So what else would we expect when the people (and even Christians) accept science’s conclusions over the Bible’s? Psalm 11:3 (FCC’s theme verse) says that “If the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” No wonder why the Church has been almost ineffective in this generation! So what do we do? The first thing we need to do is take the advice of Isaiah 58:12, “Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” We need to repair the foundations of faith in the Word of God. One of the ways we do this at Foundations Creation Club is to debunk the lie that science disproves the Bible, and reaffirm people’s faith in the Word of God by showing all the scientific evidence that actually supports it. On our improved, strong foundation, we are now placed in a position of offense. We need to use the same tactic on them, we need to destroy the foundation of humanism, evolution. Once this is accomplished, humanism will come crashing down, and the people therein will be forced to seek out another shelter, then we can lead them to the Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the reason why we need to defend the Book of Genesis, because the best offense is a good defense. That is the way in which we will win the culture over to Christ, and that is what Foundations Creation Club is all about. 

August Foundations Creation Club Meeting

Dennis Petersen's popular book, "Unlocking the
Mysteries of Creation". Click here for more information.

Have you had trouble with sharing the Good News of the Creator with people? Does it seem like an impossible task to shine the light of Jesus in this world of darkness? Does it seem too difficult to overcome the barrier of the evolutionary theory? Does it matter what you believe about where we came from, or should we just ignore the topic of origins altogether? There are answers to these questions. For this month's Foundations Creation Club Meeting, we have asked the author of the popular book "Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation", Dennis Petersen to come and give his presentation on 'How to Share Creation Truth in Ways to Change Lives Forever'. In this dynamic presentation, we will explore the topic of effective witnessing, starting in the Bible's very first book, the Book of Genesis! Mr. Petersen will also have a question and answer session afterwards, so be prepared with questions to ask Mr. Petersen! We are extremely honored and blessed to have Mr. Petersen come to share his knowledge with us! 

Meeting Location: Gold Country Baptist Church in Shingle Springs (For directions, click here).

Meeting Date and Time: Friday, August 24th at 6:45 - 8:30 PM.

Snacks and drinks will be provided. Please bring friends and family members! 

How to Start Your Own Creation Club

Step 1: Have a Goal 

This principle applies to any kind of event, club or organization. In order for anything to get done, you must first set a goal. What are you trying to accomplish with your club? What kind of people do you plan to minister to? What kind of difference do you plan to make?    

Step 2: Form a “Web” of Supporters

When considering starting a creation club, it is always a good idea to have people to back you up. The creation/evolution issue is a controversial issue in the Church, and sadly, from my own experience, many churches are unwilling to teach Genesis for the fear that it may cause division in the Church. That is why it is a good idea to form a “web” of people who would help support your club. Good places to start are the homeschool community and Bible study groups. Who knows, you may already know a creation scientist or speaker already!  

Step 3: Know your stuff

In order to succeed in your creation ministry, you must have a wealth of knowledge in the subject.

 1 Peter 3:15 commands us to always be ready to give a defense for your faith, so it makes sense to study on this subject! A good place to start is internet resources. Answers in Genesis (www.answersingenesis.org), Creation Ministries International, (www.creation.com), and Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org) are some very good ones. For books, the New Answers Books 1,2 & 3 are great resources for getting the answers to the most popular questions. You can order them here. Be sure to allow yourself time to study before you start a creation club.  

Step 4: Have a plan

It is always good to have a plan, and creation clubs are no exception. Plan for where you meet, what time you will meet, topics and speakers, etc. If there are no speakers in your area, you can plan to speak. That may sound scary, but on www.answersingenesis.org/education, you can find presentation notes and slides which can help you build a creation presentation. Showing a video is always an option as well!

Step 5: Publicity 

Find out ways to publicize your club, such as homeschool newsletters, flyers, church bulletins, brochures, business cards; anything that can catch people’s attention. Creationism is becoming more and more of an interest within the Church because of the longing to know the truth about Creation, fossils, dinosaurs and related topics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to bring in a crowd.    

Step 6: Pray, Pray, Pray! 

Pray that God will lead the right people to come hear your message, and that they should be set free from the lies that this world throws at them. Pray also that the message should be clear to all that hear it, and that it should move them to not only to belief and repentance, but to action.  

Step 7: Just Do It!

Your first meeting should be basic; an introduction to creationism and why it is different from other beliefs about our origins such as evolution, theistic evolution, progressive creation, day-age theory, etc. You will want to encourage your audience to come back again, so having snacks and a raffle may be a good idea. Your first creation club meeting will usually not turn out exactly the way you expected, but don’t let that discourage you. Just remember that God is with you, so be strong and very courageous! (Joshua 1:9)  

Step 8: Keep on Keeping on! 

After your first meeting, you will want to start a consistent streak with your calendar, location, email notifications, and topics. If you can, try to do a different, but not necessarily unrelated topic each meeting. This will help keep the information fresh and interesting for your audience. For example if you are doing Biblical genealogies, it may be good to pick Flood geology as your next meeting’s topic. Something you will want to consider is including the Gospel message in some form in every one of your meetings topics, because you never know who may be hearing about Jesus for the first time!