The Gulf War may be over for the time being, but a far greater battle—one that has lasted some six thousand years—continues on, and those in the creation ministry are part of the army that is on the front lines.
We have had many battles lately. As we have had to deal with many stressful problems, we have been reminded of the verse in Scripture that states, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).
What greater lie could there be than "There is no God"? And what greater cause could there be than to defend the fact that God is Creator"?
Naturalistic, mechanistic evolution is taught as fact through much of our education system. In California recently, a biology teacher was demoted for teaching evolution as a theory, and not as a fact. Millions are being taught the lie that "there is no God." But where did this lie come from?
The Bible teaches us that Satan is "a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). This means that Satan is ultimately responsible for the greatest lie of all time being spread throughout world—the lie, which leads people to reject the truth that God created all things. This is the lie of evolution!
This great lie, one of Satan's major weapons, has even deceived many Christians. Many in our churches and Christian colleges have accommodated this lie. Satan has successfully infiltrated the Church as well as the rest of the community, using this false teaching of evolution, and he has captured much territory. ICR is involved in this battle against the forces of evil, as we aggressively go to battle against evolution.
You should by now be familiar with the great battle surrounding ICR's Graduate School. Had the State of California been successful in outlawing ICR's graduate program, this would have been a great blow to Christian freedoms. However, because we at ICR understand the battle, we prayed and planned to fight the enemy. We know that even though we are a minority in this world, with the Creator God on our side, we become a majority. The Lord gave us a great victory, and this victory will help
Christian schools and colleges in California and throughout the nation.
We are also advancing on other fronts. The "Back to Genesis" programs have again, through another year, proved extremely successful. It is a great victory against the enemy to see 5,000 children and 1,600 adults in one of our seminars at Fort Lauderdale, Florida; 8,450 children and 3,300 adults in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; 2,300 children and 850 adults in Seattle, Washington; and 2,150 children and 2,400 adults in Grand Junction, Colorado.
This is just the start for this year. Last year, nearly 90,000 children and adults attended "Back to Genesis" programs. Even though the Lord has granted us these successes, they have not been easy. Behind the scenes, our ICR staff and others associated with the programs have had some very stressful moments dealing with unforeseen problems. We have been in a real war. It would have been so easy to give up at times, but we need to be reminded of what Paul told Timothy in I Timothy 1:18: "that thou . . . mightest war a good warfare."
When these thousands of people attend a "Back to Genesis seminar, they see a well-organized, smooth-running operation, but we mention here just a few of the "behind the scenes" events to encourage you to pray even more fervently for us as we engage in this warfare.
Imagine having everything ready, with a large crowd expected to start arriving at 6:00 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. program and then experience a massive power outage. The power company cannot guarantee the power will be back on that entire night. An urgent prayer meeting is held, asking the Lord to intervene. Then, understanding our responsibility to do our best, we quickly go out and rent a generator, obtain portable lights, and a portable public address system. People continue coming, the facility is rapidly filling, and the staff can't see to register them. To solve this problem, automobiles are positioned to shine their headlights through the front doors, and candles are placed on the book tables. Does God answer prayer and defeat Satan's tactics in such serious situations? Yes, He does! At one minute to "blast-off" for this session, the power comes back on!
How do we counterattack such maneuvers of the enemy? First of all, by prayer. We then do our best, with the Lord's guidance, to work at solving the problems. Below are a few other examples of the many emergency problems we face almost daily, as we prepare for our "Back to Genesis" programs.
What do you do when the major speaker has to be hospitalized? You have to get someone else, of course. Someone back at ICR headquarters is contacted, and he drops everything to fly up to take the speaker's place.
What do you do when you're expected to speak in San Diego at 9:00 the next morning and you're stranded in the Chicago airport? You catch a late-night flight to Los Angeles, arriving at 3:00 in the morning and call someone in San Diego to rescue you. He drives you back to San Diego where you can get an hour's bed rest (sleeping while flying is "for the birds," if you'll pardon the expression) and then speak all day at the seminar as if nothing has happened.
What do you do when you arrive to speak at a seminar but your luggage with your overhead transparencies (to say nothing of your clothes) does not arrive on time? You speak in your traveling clothes, of course, and use an emergency supply of overheads you have carried in your briefcase, "just in case."
What do you do when, upon arriving at your hotel late at night there are so many problems and it is so noisy you can't sleep at all? You arise early the next morning to scout the town for another hotel, speak all day at the seminar, and hope people don't realize you are asleep on your feet.
What do you do when you realize three tons of books have been held up by a problem with the freight company and won't arrive in time? You call headquarters, where they load another three tons of books and drive over 2,500 miles so the materials will arrive before the seminar is history.
These are really serious problems, not humorous ones, because we are in a battle of enormous proportions. Satan is out to at least cripple our efforts for God, if he can't destroy us altogether. Sometimes it's difficult to find any solution, and this is a real test of faith. But through these adversities and hindrances we are strengthened in our faith and it has taught us to work together as a team. What encourages us greatly, of course, are Scriptures such as 11 Corinthians 10:4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." There is also I Timothy 2:4: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."
We covet your prayers as we are on the front lines of this battle. Please sustain us also with your financial help, so we can hire more soldiers to defend against the attacks of the enemy and aggressively take more and more of his territory for the Lord. We need prayer to keep us from battle fatigue, both physically and spiritually, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places;" and that we will be able to "take unto (us) the whole armour of God, that (we) may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand" (Ephesians 6:12-13).
