[This article was originally published in Acts and Facts, May, 1993 issue]
Written by Ken Ham
Mosques are going
up and churches are coming down. This seems to be the picture in the British
Isles. A country that once had great revivals under such people as John
Wesley and D. L. Moody seems to have very little evangelical Christianity
left. In London, I walked past a building with an office called "Advisory
Board for Redundant Churches." At one "Pastor's Breakfast," one of the
attendees was in charge of the section of a particular denomination that
supervised who could use the empty churches.
Despite all
of this, however, I found a great hunger among Christian leaders across
the nation for the creation message during my recent tour of England, Wales,
Scotland, and Northern Ireland, as a lead-up to major "Back to Genesis"
seminars to be conducted across those countries in June.
The response from the 200 pastors I spoke to at one conference was absolutely phenomenal! One pastor came up and said he was never able to answer questions about Cain's wife, the origin of races, dinosaurs, and such topics. Other pastors were in what I could only call "creation shock" - some of them were at a loss for words when trying to express their appreciation. They had never heard this message of the relevance of creation before. Many explained that they had never thought this was an important issue, but now they realize it is foundational and vital. This group of Christian leaders purchased thousands of dollars worth of books and videos within a period of 20 minutes. I don't think I have ever seen such an excited group of pastors. Many shook my hand and could not thank me enough - some coming back a number of times to say, "Thank you." It was an experience I will never forget.
Altogether, I
spoke to about 1000 people at the six "Christian Leaders' Meetings." The
response was the same everywhere - the enthusiasm, the appreciation - and
the clamoring for our books was far beyond our expectations. Many indicated
they thought there would be more people attending the "Back to Genesis"
seminars in June that the auditoriums would be able to accommodate. We
are working on ways at solving this problem so we don't have to turn anyone
away. Even though this is a time of great unbelief in these countries,
there is also an increasing hunger among people as they realize something
is dreadfully wrong with society. There is no doubt about it! "Look on
the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35).
Besides the
"Christian Leaders' Meetings," I spoke at some church services. After one
morning service at a church in England, one lady told me she was an ardent
atheist and had lived in the Silicon Valley area (San Jose, California)
in the United States. She said she was a radical feminist, an ardent pro-abortionist,
and an activist in anything that was anti-Scriptural. She came to England,
and, through a series of circumstances, to this church. Under the preaching
of a pastor who was committed to the authority of the Word, she committed
her life to the Lord. She said she still had had major problems, however,
in trying to reconcile evolution and the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis,
and this had become a major stumbling block to her faith.
As it turns out,
I had spoken at a mens' breakfast at this same church over a year before,
and someone gave her a tape of the message I had given. It solved her problems,
and she became an "on fire" Christian. She said she now knows how to defend
her faith and will be going back to the San Jose area to proclaim the message
of creation and salvation. Her last words to me were, "I'm a new creation
going back to America. Thank you!" How exciting! The creation ministry
has played a great part in helping her get back on the right track.
In Belfast,
one of the Baptist ministers was so thrilled with the message presented
at his church he asked me if I would stay over an extra day in June and
conduct an outreach meeting in a strife-torn Catholic area. They have had
special meetings in this area before, with up to 400 attending. I drove
through the area they were talking about. The police stations are built
like forts. British soldiers patrol the streets with machine guns; violence
and killings occur almost daily. They certainly need the message of the
Scriptures.
This United Kingdom
tour, though, was not without opposition. At one luncheon attended by 75
pastors, after I had spoken and shown the "Genesis Solution" movie, an
Anglican priest vehemently opposed me, making all sorts of allegations
to the group concerning our ministry. He even went on to say that it was
people such as myself who caused people to become homosexuals! The rest
of the Christian leaders were rather shocked by his statements and attitudes,
and, if anything, this caused them to rally behind my ministry even more
fervently.
In Wales, the
pastor in charge of the "Christian Leaders' Meeting" said that one of the
leading evangelicals in the Anglican church there told him he was a disgrace
to the Lord Jesus Christ for having me come and teach creation.
In England,
one of the young ladies who was calling Christian leaders on the telephone
to invite them to the meeting was a little shaken after a minister attacked
her over the phone for bringing what he called "nonsense" to the area.
In June, Dr. Andrew Snelling and myself will be speaking at six major "Back to Genesis" seminars across the British Isles on behalf of the Creation Science Foundation and the Institute for Creation Research. Please pray much for us. The message of this ministry changes lives. It changes families, churches, and can change nations. We already have had feedback indication we could fill up our itinerary in Great Britain alone, for years to come. In America, "Back to Genesis" seminars already are booked through 1996, with hundreds of committees on the waiting list. "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest" (Luke 10:2).
A Warning for America
As one looks at Great Britain and
contemplates how far it has fallen, it becomes obvious that what has happened
there is happening in America and around the world. It is appalling when
we realize that the opposition to our ministry in the British Isles has
come from within - from the Church - from Christian leaders who have adopted
Darwinian evolution; long ages; death before man; a local flood. The churches
in England, as a whole, have adopted this philosophy that destroys the
very foundation of the Gospel message.
Sadly, the church
in America is making the very same mistakes as did the church in the U.K.
Many churches, seminaries, and denominations have by and large adopted
evolution. Once a church rejects a literal Genesis and thus compromises
the Word of God, it no longer can speak with the authority of the Word.
America is rapidly losing its Christian heritage because the foundation
of God's Word in churches and in society has been replaced with an evolutionary
foundation.
Nonetheless,
there is hope! Many people within the church are being awakened to what
has happened and are getting back to the authority of the Word of God.
One way this is happening is through the "Back to Genesis" seminars. Thousands
of people, including many thousands of children, are attending "Back to
Genesis" seminars across the nation, and the responses are overwhelming.
Here are just a few typical responses:
A young lady
became a Christian after our seminar in New Jersey. Evolution has been
the stumbling block. She was one of our hard-working volunteers at our
Long Island seminar and was thrilled that she could now be a part of helping
others to believe the Bible.
One man started an outreach at his work place to take up the challenge of creation evangelism. People who were not previously interested in Christianity began attending the meetings where he showed creation videos, and many became interested in Scriptural matters.
A young girl, ten years of age, said she had a Bible study in her home for other children, and she was ready to give up because they were not interested. The seminar gave her the courage and information needed to continue this outreach. An engineer - a new Christian, with tears in his eyes - could not thank us enough for helping him through a difficult time in his faith.
The "Back to
Genesis" seminars are growing rapidly. Attendance has doubled in the last
year. Many are telling us they heard from friends or family about these
meetings. Word of mouth is propagating the message. Creation books
and videos are in great demand. Many people come from as far as hundreds
of miles away, and often large numbers of hotel rooms are booked for out-of-town
attendees.
Please pray
for "Back to Genesis" - for wisdom, as we seek ways to run video seminars
and train others to accommodate the hunger for this message while there
is yet the freedom to proclaim the message of Revelation 14:7: "Fear God,
and give glory to Him.....and worship Him that made heaven, and earth,
and the sea, and the fountains of waters."