My brother, Mike, was at Tuesday’s ‘Creation Evolution Debate’ between Bill Nye & Ken Ham in northern Kentucky. He was one of the 900 in attendance and was part of the 50 in the pre-debate session. As I viewed the simulcast in Michigan, he was able to get the ‘feel’ of the event from the 3rd row. I asked him to share his thoughts. You’ll find them below.
Michael Burdine at Creation Evolution Debate.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the debate by my Children’s Pastor, who received some last-minute VIP tickets from a member of our congregation who works at the Creation Museum. I use Answers in Genesis curricula in my 4th-grade boys SS class.
I was even more blessed to take part in the pre-debate prayer for Ken Ham. About 50 of us met with him in a room and a few local pastors prayed aloud as we did silently. My prayer was that God would be glorified throughout the event and that those who had never heard the Gospel would hear God speak to them. I don’t, in any way, liken Ken Ham to Moses, but one of my thoughts was, “I wonder if the Israelites held a ‘pre-Pharoah’ prayer for Moses just before he went to ask to be set free.” There was a similar magnitude to this meeting because it would be the first time thousands of people would hear the Truth.
I have listened to a lot of Ken Ham recordings and I could tell he used every opportunity to present the Gospel. He knew who he was speaking to – not just Bill Nye, but the world. The debate wasn’t just about Creation/evolution, it was about the authority of God’s Word. That’s what Satan questioned in Eden – “Did God really say…?” (Gen 3:1).
Satan’s attack on God’s authority has been around a long time. That’s what was humbling about attending the debate – the magnitude of what God was doing through Ken Ham. Ken is no better than what God wants him to be. God used him and this medium to let people know that God still has authority – not man. Neither side can be proven, but God’s Word has never (and will never) been disproven. THAT”S what truth is.
View of the stage from behind the cameras.
I was impressed with how both presenters were respectful and gracious to each other – as was the audience. Because of wanting to keep on time and the fact that there were 70 different media groups there, we were given instructions to not clap and cheer (or boo) when each made a comment. Neither man was going to convince the other to change his beliefs. Neither one was going to change the beliefs of many watchers. But God used it to get to those “on the fence” or “undecided/uninformed” people. I have heard that some proclaimed atheists turn to Christianity when they really search to prove there is no God – because it can’t be done.
God WAS glorified and I hope kids are asking their science teachers questions whenever they return to school.
We were some of the last to leave last night because we were talking about how it went with the woman who gave us the tickets. The one thing I brought up was something that neither of them mentioned. It’s not just Christians who believe in Creation and a “Young Earth”. The Jews have that as part of their history, too.
View from the 3rd Row
In one of his talks, Ken brings up I Cor 1:23; “but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” When the disciples preached the Gospel to the Jews, they knew about Creation, sin and The Messiah. They knew about the history of God, so the disciples could begin with Christ. But Christ crucified was a stumbling block. They tripped over the idea of a dying Messiah.
While it was a stumbling block to the Jews, it was foolishness to the Gentiles because they didn’t have the history and background of Creation and sin. They didn’t know why they would need a savior. So Paul needed to go “back to Genesis” and tell them the history from the beginning. Mankind had a pure relationship with God, but we broke that bond through sin and need a savior for reconciliation.
Most of today’s society are like the Gentiles. They don’t know (or believe) the history of the universe that God has given us. So, the rest of the Bible is “foolishness” to them. That’s why teaching Creation as a real event in history is so important to salvation.