Road Trip to Creation Museum and Ark Encounter

Road trip to Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. Ken Ham, the CEO and co-founder of Answers in Genesis, will join us today on the Christian Real View Radio program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. I'm David Wheaton, the host. We are able to reach believers and non-believers with that mission through the radio station, website, or podcast platform on which you are listening today because of the support of listeners like you.

So thank you. You can connect with us by visiting our website, thechristianrealview.org, calling toll free 1-888-646-2233, writing to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331, or following us on our social media pages on Facebook or X. We just returned to Minnesota after a road trip to northern Kentucky near Cincinnati, Ohio, to visit the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, both of which are Bible-based, Bible-proclaiming theme parks owned and operated by the ministry Answers in Genesis.

Later in today's program, Ken Ham, co-founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, will join us to recount the history of God's guiding hand in how these two amazing attractions came to be and why the early chapters of Genesis are foundational to, well, everything. While on this trip, we watched in horror, like many of you, at the assassination attempt on former President Trump as he spoke at a campaign event in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13th. The God who is sovereign overall, including speeding bullets, chose to direct the bullet away from Trump's head by a mere quarter-inch, wounding his ear instead. Positioned in the line of fire, however, was Corey Comparatore, a husband and father and reportedly a Christ follower, who took a bullet and was brought home to heaven.

Two others were wounded. With U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement officers on site, it begs the question how the 20-year-old shooter was able to climb a ladder to the rooftop of a building just 160 yards away from Trump. Equally perplexing is how security allowed Trump on stage after being suspicious of this man hours earlier and rally-goers actually informing security about this man with a rifle on the roof minutes before shots rang out.

I can see only two explanations for how this took place. Either the Secret Service agency is unbelievably incompetent or someone or several within this governmental agency were intentionally attempting to assassinate former President Trump. We're going to provide some reported details in the opening of today's program and you can come to your own conclusion. Now I'd like to read several paragraphs from Liberty Sentinel Media who reported on this incident and brought many of the details to a recent article. They say, according to recent reports, the Secret Service spotted Thomas Matthew Crooks, that's the shooter, the 20-year-old, three hours before the shooting took place at 6.11 p.m. Sources claim that the shooter was on authorities radar at 3 p.m. trying to pass through rally security with a range finder which is typically used to measure the distance between a hunter and his target. The Secret Service reportedly continued to observe Crooks, again the shooter, until he left the screening area to return to his vehicle which contained explosive devices and a bulletproof vest where he would then collect his rifle. Around 5.30 p.m., 41 minutes before the shooting, a Beaver County, Pennsylvania Emergency Services Unit officer snapped a photograph of Crooks who was suspiciously scouting out the area, proving that authorities were aware of a suspicious person who could be a threat.

Law enforcement searched the grounds but could not find him as he moved positions. At 5.45 p.m., 26 minutes before the failed assassination attempt, the same law enforcement officer snapped yet another image of Crooks, the shooter, sending it to the command center. By this time, Crooks had taken up his position on the roof, according to the New York Post. Now listen to this. Multiple rally attendees, including one man interviewed by the BBC after the rally, reported spotting Crooks three to four minutes before the shooting took place.

Here's what he said. So we walked up and probably five to seven minutes of Trump speaking, I'm estimating here, I have no idea, you know, but we noticed a guy bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us. So we're standing there, you know, we're pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. And he had a gun, right? He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle.

Absolutely. We're pointing at him. The police are down there running around on the ground. We're like, hey, man, this guy on the roof with the rifle and the police are like, huh, what, you know, like, like they didn't know what was going on. You know, we're like, hey, right here on the roof, we can see him from right here. We see him, you know, he's, he's crawling. And next thing you know, I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, why is Trump still speaking?

Why have they not pulled him off the stage? I'm standing there pointing at him for, you know, two or three minutes. Secret service is looking at us from the top of the barn. I'm pointing at that roof, just standing there like this.

And next thing you know, five shots ring out. So you're, you're certain that the shots came from that guy on the 100% 100% and he, he was up there for a couple of minutes. He was up there for a couple of minutes.

Absolutely. At least three to four minutes. And you were telling police in the secret service, we were telling the police, we were pointing at him for the secret service who were looking at us from the top of the barn. They were looking at us the whole time when we were standing by that tree. Could they see binoculars? Probably not because the roof, the way the slope went, he was behind where they could see. But, but why is there not secret service on all of these roofs here?

I mean, this is not a big place. Not just this man, but people around him see the shooter with a rifle just 50 feet away from them. And they're notifying waving their hands to the police on the ground. And he's wondering, good question. Why is Trump still speaking?

They all have radios. You would think they would immediately radio down to the secret service in front of Trump and say, get Trump off the stage. That doesn't take place. They're pointing at the shooter to the secret service who are on buildings with sniper rifles. This went on for, according to him, two to three minutes before shots rang out. And even if certain secret service snipers couldn't see him, there should have been secret service on every roof within range of shooting Donald Trump. It's not just this one man wearing red who sees what was taking place on the roof. There's people around him, but there's another video of other rally goers pointing out that there's a man with a rifle on the roof and you can hear Trump speaking in the background. Yeah, someone's on top of the roof. Look, here he is right there.

Right there. You see him? He's laying down. There he is right there laying down.

There he is. He's on the roof right there, flat on the roof. And you mean to tell me that the secret service and the law enforcement officers in the area aren't doing anything about this immediately pulling Trump off stage immediately?

This goes on for a couple of minutes. According to mainstream sources like CNN and NBC, Crooks, the shooter, purchased a ladder at his local Bethel Park Home Depot a few hours before arriving on the scene. This raises the question, how did Crooks know that there was a building nearby that would be unguarded so that he could unload and use a ladder? Another very good question. There's been some reporting on who the owners of this building were and some connections potentially to the Democrat Party.

I don't know the full extent of that yet, but it's something to pay attention to. Continuing with the article, once he was on the roof, the shooter, local law enforcement, not secret service now, and who knows why local law enforcement is securing a building this close to the president instead of the secret service, they attempted to confront Crooks, where he allegedly pointed his rifle at officers, making them retreat, according to the testimony recorded by Reuters of Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop. So at that point, with someone on the roof pointing his rifle at officers, again, radio directly to the stage, Trump needs to get off the stage, it doesn't happen.

Last paragraph I'll read where they sort of summarize the details. Crooks was flagged by authorities when he brought in a rangefinder scope hours before the shooting. His backpack and bike were photographed. He was seen getting on the roof. He was confronted by authorities minutes before opening fire, and it appears that snipers even had their sights on Crooks moments before President Trump almost lost his life. Last sentence, it was the worst security failure in U.S. Secret Service history.

But again, maybe it wasn't a security failure, perhaps it was intentional. Because when you take all the reporting of this incident, there are really only two options that I see. Again, either unbelievable incompetence, like it's not even believable, they can be that incompetent, by the government Secret Service agency, or this was an intentional assassination attempt of a political enemy, Donald Trump. Now, there was an interview done on CNN with host Kate Baldwin and Corey Mills, who was a U.S. Army sniper, and he's a member of the U.S. Congress right now, and he's on the Armed Services Committee. And as you hear this soundbite, what you're going to hear is Corey Mills, the former Army sniper and U.S. Congressman, who is unwilling to believe that the Secret Service would allow this man, Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter with a rifle, to be able to climb on a roof this close to being shooting range of President Trump. Kate Baldwin, she's unwilling to believe something as well. She's unwilling to believe that the truth of the situation is found outside what the government and media are telling us.

Let's get to the soundbite. I look at all of these things, and I look at different videos where an assailant will pull a firearm on a law enforcement officer, and the first thing they do is they immediately pull and draw and mitigate the threat and the risk. You know, I ask why the local law enforcement officer did not do so. There's a good and obvious question right off the bat.

The shooter pointed a gun at a law enforcement officer and the law enforcement officer retreated. There was no return fire right away. The perimeter is actually established by your threats that are in the area. So if I don't have any threats outside of 100 yards, OK, fine.

I can court on off a certain area. But if I have a building 160 yards perfectly adjacent to the stage, that's an obvious threat, especially with an elevated position that has overwatch. It's a sniper's paradise. How the Secret Service could allow a man with a rifle to go up a ladder onto this roof 160 yards away with a clear shot to where Trump was speaking is not believable that this is just negligence. I've done thousands of advances.

I've done thousands of counter sniper operations with our teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. The amount of negligence, the amount of mistakes that was made here. I have a very difficult time not leaning myself towards this was intentional as opposed to fecklessness.

Wait, talk to me about that. I actually heard you say this right the day after, which I wanted to ask you about. What do you mean intentional? Notice how she jumps right down the word intentional. In other words, is there a conspiracy here?

Is there a nefarious plot beyond just this lone gunman somehow getting up on a roof 160 yards away from Trump, somehow eludes Secret Service and law enforcement and starts shooting and almost kills him? I mean, an intentional failure on the part of... No, I wouldn't say an intentional failure on the part of, but I got to just, you know, I sit here and I scratch my head. You don't want to be the conspiracist. You don't want to be the person. I'm telling you, because that's what it's leading to.

No, I know. And that's the issue is that you walk this fine balance of you're not trying to be a conspiracist, but you look at it and you go, how could this have gone so poorly? But it's one thing if someone on the street says it. It's not that, I mean, you, corn mills, member of Congress, former sniper, you saying it, I mean, it makes my eyebrows go up.

What, wouldn't you say you're walking the line on this intentional what? You know, it almost seems to me, I think that the investigation is necessary at this point within Congress, not just the FBI, not just others. You know, I look back at it and I'm thinking, all right, you know, for an individual, if you looked at the escalations and how they are trying to approach them, let's just say that it was like, okay, first we want to censor and silence you. Then we want to indict and imprison you. Now we're attempting to kill you and take you off the stage. Corey Mills says there's an escalation that's taken place here. First, they tried to censor and silence Trump and then they tried to indict and imprison Trump.

And now they're trying to kill Trump and she just can't handle this. You, let's, let's slow down. I'm hearing two things from you. I don't want to jump ahead of things, but I'm also hearing you jumping ahead of things.

Well, actually I'm just looking at all the different possible capabilities. You know, one of the things as a military member, one of the things we'll wait, but one of the things as a person who's running the special operations communities before one of the people who's actually done this is that you look at all potential analysis, right? That Donald Trump and his team have said, do not like dial it back. Do not blame this on Joe Biden.

Well, actually I didn't say Joe Biden to be completely clear. Let's be very specific. That's what the investigations do.

Was it local law enforcement that had made the mistakes or was there something to it? Was there other types of things that we need to be an Allison are looking at and providing analysis. My, my point is that when something's so significant, you're talking about something that hasn't happened in decades, right?

I totally, I, my point is, is this from a perspective of someone who's actually conducted these, these are not difficult advances. This is not like I'm putting together a stage placement and a tight shot. This is about looking at your surroundings.

What is my green, yellow and red route, which is your routes out in case, what is my actual elements of that I need to be looking at as far as mitigating threats or risks or increased levels. Where's my range fan for the sniper that says, okay, here's my 100, my 200, my sketch. Here's an area where someone could shoot.

Here's some, because here's my thing. So you're saying you are saying this is so basic that how big the screw up was, that's what's leading your brain down. That's exactly right. And in a way, Kate bold one is unwilling to believe that there's truth to be found outside the standard government media narrative on this attempt is assassination of Donald Trump.

But there are lots of possibilities. Someone within the secret service or government just takes one or two people in authority tells law enforcement or secret service there on site to stand down and not engage the man with the rifle until it's too late. The shooter has shot at the former president and killed him. They know the shooter will be killed in the process right afterwards.

So he can't talk and then the cover up begins. Is it, is it not dangerous? Is it not reckless to use to even be throwing around the word intentionally? So to, to, to question things as we do an investigation is recklessness because at that point then should we never questioned anything? My point is this, I'm not trying, I'm not trying to be, I'm not trying to be PC. My point is in the political environment that we were in, what would it have taken?

Right? Let's just say that resources was limited. Let's go with that as a reasoning. So how many times have you seen where they just put a police car inside of a parking lot with not an officer in it and just leave the lights on as a deterrent? Why couldn't that have been a simple thing that was placed in? Why couldn't we have said to the owner of the actual HDR company, Hey, look, we don't want to disrupt your business, but we also want to make sure your parking lot is clear of people trying to park in there for the rally. Why don't we place an officer there? My point is that this was too easy of a solution.

And when I think about 160 yards, I'm uncomfortable with having to say it. Trust me. My whole point is, is that I would like to look at this and say, where was the mistake made? How can we correct it in the future? Why was this actually done? But I think that this does warrant a J 13 type commission where we can actually look at it and say, let's investigate and find out why this happened.

So it doesn't happen to anyone. This is not about a political thing. This is about, we had an attempt to assassinate a president. We really need to understand what a serious matter this is. And this was a milliseconds or millimeter difference between this being an attempt and this being an assassination.

Corey Mills is exactly right. This was millimeters away from the former president being assassinated, attempted assassination. The president's only happened a handful of times in our history. And yet since this took place, I have not seen one. You would think there would be daily updates from the FBI or from whoever about what took place and what they're learning. There's been nothing but silence.

That is just bizarre. We'll take our first break of the day. We'll come back.

We'll talk a little more about this attempted assassination of Donald Trump before the news cycle just goes on and we start thinking about something else. And then later Ken Ham from answers and Genesis will join us. We'll recap some of the things we learned on our road trip to Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. I'm David Wheaton and you're listening to the Christian Real View Radio Program. The Men's Daily Bible was just released and beyond the most important part, God's Word, it contains many other helpful aids such as 50 insight for life articles from pastors and Christian leaders, including Kevin DeYoung, Stephen Lawson, Albert Mohler, and the late R.C.

Sproul. I contributed one of them on embracing a Christian real view based on Genesis 1-1. There are also 260 insight for the day devotionals and 234 insight for the moment call-outs providing concise and practical wisdom. The Men's Daily Bible in the Christian Standard Bible version is available in hardcover for a donation of any amount. Regular retail is $40 or black leather touch for $45.

Regular retail is $60. To order, go to thechristianrealview.org. Call toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. The Overcomer Foundation Cup is the new name of our annual golf event. And this year's event will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, Monday, September 16th. Hazeltine hosts many of golf's major championships such as the Ryder Cup, U.S. Open, and U.S.

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Again, the date is Monday, September 16th at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota. To find out more and to register, go to thechristianrealview.org or call 1-888-646-2233. Welcome back to the Christian Real View, I'm David Wheaton.

Be sure to visit our website, thechristianrealview.org where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. We are getting to our interview with Ken Ham, the CEO and co-founder of Answers in Genesis on our recent road trip to Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, but something very significant happened this past week with an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in western Pennsylvania. And we've been going over the incongruity of all that happened on that day for a young man to be able to take a rifle on the roof of a nearby building only 160 yards away and nearly fatally shoot the president. Before the break, we were playing the audio of an interview that took place on CNN with Kate Baldwin, who's the host, and Corey Mills, who's a former US Army sniper, current member of Congress and the Armed Services Committee. And Corey Mills is unwilling to believe that the Secret Service could ever allow such an obvious security threat to take place, while host Kate Baldwin is unwilling to believe, even with all the incongruities, that something nefarious took place here.

Corey Mills continues. Your off-the-shelf rifle shoots what they call one minute of angle at every hundred yard line. So at 100, it's one inch, 202 inches, et cetera.

So now you're talking about 1.6 inch grouping capability of a rifle off a manufacturing line. We're blessed and I do believe in divine intervention, so I am a person of faith. I can't explain one.

I hope that it was a corrugated roof and maybe he slipped off on one of the edges of the corrugated roof or he was rushed. But the whole thing, I think, just needs to have a better explanation so that the American people and everyone can feel comfortable. So Corey Mills wants a, quote, proper investigation.

Well, how is that going to happen? Because the government and the Secret Service and the FBI is full of people who lie and cover up. We will likely never know exactly what happened.

Only God knows. But it seems to me, with all the details you just heard, that there's probably about a 95% chance that this shooter was groomed by someone within government, potentially the Secret Service, local police allowed to get up on that roof, put a ladder up to get on the roof to shoot at Trump, and then he'd be shot and the cover up would begin. The shooter is mentally unstable, easily manipulated by those within the Secret Service or CIA who are very skilled in deceiving people. They set him up for this, in other words. But the narrative you're going to be told is, well, the shooter was bullied.

He was a loner. The law enforcement officers saw him but lost track of him. And the conspiracy theorists are crazy. Now, as for the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheadle, here was her explanation about why there wasn't any Secret Service on top of that roof so close to the president. Should that roof have been secured, period? That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside. Her explanation is not believable. The Secret Service snipers and other roofs were on steeper pitched roofs.

The roof that the would-be assassin was on was relatively shallow pitch. That's just a blatant lie. But you know what? No one will get fired here. There's no more accountability in this country. No one got fired in the disgraceful exit from Afghanistan several years ago. The news cycle will move on and they'll force us to think about something else.

Meanwhile, one man died, Corey, a comparatory, two others injured. And now we hear that Joe Biden is likely to be dropping out of the race this coming weekend, according to Axios. The problem here is that once trusted institutions are compromised and have lost complete trust of many Americans, the FBI, the CIA, Secret Service, the US Congress, the Biden administration, we've turned into a banana republic where elections are stolen, political enemies are prosecuted.

Now the attempted murder, assassination of a former president. The Israeli Yuval Noah Harari, the far leftist, gets it right as to why the left and the globalists just can't even allow Trump to be elected. Are you concerned that Trump might be elected again shortly?

I think it's very likely. And if it happens, it is likely to be the kind of like the death blow to what remains of the global order. And he says it openly. Now again, it should be clear that many of these politicians, they present a false dichotomy, a false binary vision of the world, as if you have to choose between patriotism and globalism, between being loyal to your nation and being loyal to some kind of global government or whatever. He says the quiet part out loud, that Donald Trump, well, certainly no saint, is a patriot nationalist for America first, and not like the rest of the world and many within our own country, who have a much greater loyalty and mission to get the world to global governance. And that's why they hate Trump so much and why they can't have him be elected and will kill him if necessary.

One final thing before we get to Ken Ham. What should Trump and everyone learn from this attempted assassination? One man died, three others wounded, including Trump. None of us know when we will die, but we will all die. The husband and father, Corey, who attended the Trump rally that day with his family, he didn't think he was going to die that day, but he did. And fortunately, I've heard that he was a believer. The Bible says it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.

So Christ also, Hebrews 9, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him. I don't know Donald Trump's heart, what he is trusting in. I've never heard him confess Jesus as his savior and Lord, or even that he's a sinner and needing salvation. God, for reasons we don't know, allowed Donald Trump to live and the other man Corey to die. Sounds like Corey was ready to meet his Lord. We need to pray that Donald Trump considers that this life will soon be past and he needs to repent and put his trust for salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ on his behalf.

Because becoming president is nothing if one dies without Christ, only to face a Christless eternity where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So let this assassination attempt be an impetus to pray for former President Trump and others who are in authority, and also examine ourselves as to whether we have obeyed Christ's command to repent and believe in him for salvation. We'll take a short break to tell you about some ministry resources. And after the break, Ken Ham, co-founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, will join us.

I'm David Wheaton. You are listening to the Christian worldview radio program. David Wheaton here, host of the Christian worldview radio program. Listeners are often surprised to learn that we as a ministry pay to broadcast on the radio station, website, or app on which you are listening today. That expense is recouped through listeners like you making a donation or becoming a Christian worldview partner. Our aim is to have each broadcast outlet fully supported by the listeners of that outlet. If you would like to help us in our mission to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, go to thechristianworldview.org and click on Donate. You can also call toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331.

Specify how you listen as that helps us decide whether to continue on a given outlet. And be sure to select one of our resources as a thank you for your support. The Men's Daily Bible was just released and beyond the most important part, God's Word, it contains many other helpful aids such as 50 Insight for Life articles from pastors and Christian leaders including Kevin DeYoung, Stephen Lawson, Albert Mohler, and the late R.C.

Sproul. I contributed one of them on Embracing a Christian Real View based on Genesis 1-1. There are also 260 Insight for the Day devotionals and 234 Insight for the Moment call-outs providing concise and practical wisdom. The Men's Daily Bible in the Christian Standard Bible Version is available in hardcover for a donation of any amount. Regular retail is $40 or Black Leather Touch for $45.

Regular retail is $60. To order, go to thechristianrealview.org, call toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Welcome back to the Christian Real View.

I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit our website thechristianrealview.org where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. As mentioned earlier in the program, we just returned to Minnesota after a road trip to northern Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, both of which are Christian theme parks owned and operated by Answers in Genesis. The Creation Museum, which opened first in 2007, is a testament to the first sentence of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The extent and the messaging of the exhibits present powerful and, in my view, irrefutable evidence that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.

That's Exodus 20, verse 11. And God did this about 6,000 years ago, not millions and billions as the lie of evolution theorizes. Just down the interstate about 40 minutes from the Creation Museum is the Ark Encounter. It opened in 2016 and features a life-size replica of the ship that Noah and family built and spent one year on during the global flood that God caused to destroy all life on earth, which had descended into wicked depths of sin. So confident in the historicity and inerrancy of God's Word, Answers in Genesis often presents the young-earth creationist view side-by-side with the evolutionary view. They emphasize that both sides look at the same evidence but come to different conclusions based on different starting points.

Creationists believe in God and how the global flood He caused catastrophically changed the earth while evolutionists believe there is no God and that life and geology evolved over millions and millions of years. Answers in Genesis co-founder Mark Loy, who we will hear from in a future program, was kind enough to arrange an interview with co-founder and CEO Ken Ham. Well, Ken, thank you for inviting us into your office here at the Creation Museum. Go back to the beginning, where the vision came from to create Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, the Ark Encounter. How did that idea start?

You know, you have to bring a few things together. And I think one of the things you have to have as a part of this is my upbringing and the fact that I had a father and mother that taught us to stand on the Word of God. And my father was dealing with liberal theology and the battles with that in the church, and so he would be teaching us apologetics to be able to defend the Christian faith.

Never used the word apologetics, but that's what he was really doing, and standing courageously and, as Jude said, you know, contending for the faith. And I was brought up with that foundation of God's Word. And then as a high school student, I taught evolution, and my father didn't have the scientific answers, but he certainly had biblical answers that if you don't believe Genesis, I mean, you mustn't throw the Bible away, you can't add ideas into the Bible and undermine the authority of Scripture.

It was very much one who hated compromise. And, you know, Genesis 1 to 11 is a foundation for marriage. It's a foundation for everything, actually, ultimately. And so had to wait for those other answers, which I was able to get really around about, you know, 1974 when I first obtained some books that had some answers scientifically in them. And then the second part of this is in 1975, I became a school teacher and taught high school science in a country school. I remember the first lesson, the students said, sir, we heard you were a Christian. How can you be a Christian? We know the Bible's not true.

Why is that? Because of what we taught in our textbooks about evolution, millions of years. And then the first question someone actually asked me then as this discussion went on was, how could Noah fit the animals on the ark? You know, that to them was a stumbling block.

And even when I asked him how many animals he didn't know and how big that the ark was, he didn't know, but he knew it couldn't have happened. And so bringing that together and then in 1975, because I started to get involved in teaching about that topic at school, I realized how important it was. It was a stumbling block to kids even listening to the gospel.

The church we were attending asked me to take a service and I spoke on that particular topic and dealing with creation and apologetics. That was 1975. How old were you then? In 1975, I would have been 24. Wow. Yeah.

So that goes back away. And then I was asked to speak in some Bible studies in other churches in the area and found out that most people in the church didn't think you could believe Genesis or didn't think it was important or they didn't know what to do with evolution. And then I was transferred to the city of Brisbane in 1977. I and another school teacher friend, we ran the first ever creation apologetics conference in Australia. And I displayed some of the books I had obtained from various places around the world. And people said, how can we, how can we get those books? We need the information.

We can't get them. And so my wife and I decided, well, why doesn't somebody do something about this? We started a bookstore in our home in 1977. That was the embryonic beginnings of this ministry. And of course, when I started the bookstore, there was an emphasis on getting resources into people's hands.

So this ministry has always had a big emphasis on resources. And of course, you know, we have the printed resources and these days we also have digital resources. So, you know, the technology changes, although people still love to read books.

I mean, hardcover books, you know, the actual printed books are still a good way to go. As we put all that together, and the ministry started to grow in Australia and grew as a speaking ministry and a ministry providing resources, I actually went up as a school teacher in 1980 as a result of what I had found. I mean, I left school teaching full time in 1979, but I was taking my students to museums, and they're all from an atheistic perspective. And so I cried out to the Lord, why can't we have a creation museum?

Why not a Christian facility that teaches the truth? And so in 1980, I and a board member that helped us start the ministry in our home, we actually stood in a piece of property in Australia and prayed that God would let us build a creation museum, which the Lord answered that prayer. Okay, that was 1980.

The Lord answered that prayer in 2007 in the state of Kentucky. So isn't that mind boggling? And then in 2016, in the state of Kentucky, we opened the Ark Encounter. So they're the two leading Christian themed attractions in the world. And there's a long story as to how that all come about. I mean, that will take us hours to sit down and talk through all the all the different miraculous events and the Red Sea events, as I call them, you come to the Red Sea, and you can't get across and the enemy's right behind you and God opens up the Red Sea. We've had many Red Sea moments. And there's been valleys and there's mountains. And, you know, this ministry to me is really like the Israelites conquering the promised land, you know, you got to fight the people of Jericho, and then you got to fight AI, and then you have to fight the giants and, and so it goes on, you know, and, but, but through all of that has come a ministry that now impacts.

Well, conservatively speaking, you would say directly at least 30 million people a year and indirectly tens of millions more. And really, it all goes back to parents who taught their children to stand boldly and courageously on the Word of God. And so it's really, this whole ministry is really a legacy of parents who are faithful to the Lord, and did what they came to reach people with the gospel, not knowing what they did and bring up their own children, would exponentially grow their impact.

Thank you for sharing that. And I could imagine the journey of doing this from your school teaching days to the resources to where it is today, that there have been so many challenging moments and amazing moments. So I know there's probably a lot of them, but what would be the top one or two things that you think along the way where God has just done something amazing to keep this going? And then also, what has God really, maybe one or two things that God has really taught you in this whole journey, this whole process from where you were in Australia, coming to America, and now where it is today?

Oh, have you got a couple of hours? So with both attractions, the Creation Museum and the Arch and Coda, now I can go back and talk about many different amazing events. But one of the things I've found is you have to mesh responsibility with sovereignty, right? So when you're going to build facilities like this, we have to go and tell people our needs and we have to trust God through those people to supply our needs. So that's responsibility and sovereignty go hand in hand. You can't just sit there and say, God, please provide a few million dollars so I can build this.

It just doesn't work that way, right? You see the same in scriptures, same with the gospel. Where to go out and preach the gospel. Couldn't God just go and save people? Well, he says you go and preach, right? You preach the Word. And then through the Word, he saves. And he's the one that does save them, but he commands us to preach.

So it goes hand in hand, right? And that's why we have the ministry in regard to apologetics. We are doing our best to defend the Christian faith and convince them of the truth, but always pointing them to the Word, but realizing we don't do the convincing.

It's God that does the convincing. And so when it came to the Creation Museum, we were building that as the finances came in. And so it was a little slow and at times a little, a little frustrating for us. But we got to remember God's timing is best, ours is not.

And actually looking back on it, his is best because even every month I think we mature in our understanding of the message. And even though the same basics are there, we've really changed over the years the way we present things. We have much more understanding of world view and the true nature of the battle between God's Word and man's Word. It's not, creation evolution is sort of part of that, you know. So our terminology, the way we say things has changed.

I think it's much more powerful now. But we came to a stage with the Creation Museum to open, we needed $3 million to finish it off. And we just didn't have $3 million. And we met as a board and said if we don't have $3 million to finish this right now, we can't open this year and we're going to have to wait until the next year, but how do we afford to keep people on board and our designers and sculptors and then the rest of the staff and we won't have the income and what do we do and how do we maintain this facility. It was sort of on the edge of a cliff.

You know, it was a Red Sea moment, that's what I call it. And we called banks around the area, you know, Answers and Genesis, we're not going to lend you money. And Museum, Creation Museum, what do you think that is?

I mean, you know, who's going to go to that anyway? And there's no guarantee you're going to have people come in and income. But what happened was one of our staff members knew some people on the board of a local community bank and they're all Christians. And so the chairman of the bank agreed to come in here and met with that board and we told him our dilemma and he said we know who you are and we know the message and we will lend you that $3 million. And they cut the red tape to enable it to happen quickly, because normally that takes months and months.

And we said we can't take months and they cut the red tape and it was a miraculous event and we've gone on since then. Now when it came to the Ark Encounter, because it's a different sort of building, they had to build the whole building, you know, the wooden structure, so we needed the money up front. So we had a bond offering for our supporters to support a bond offering and, you know, we paid the money back with interest and we had such opposition from the secular. They tried to do everything they could to shut us down.

But there were some nasty articles written about us that were untrue. We weren't allowed to comment because it was a bond offering. We couldn't come out and say anything. And because of that, some of the financial institutions would not allow people to take that money out.

There are certain rules and regulations in regard to certain accounts and so on. And so we had enough money promised for the bond offering, but then suddenly we didn't. And to be able to move ahead with the project, we had to have a certain percentage of the bond offering done by a certain date. We were $13 million short and had seven days to go. And to cut a long story short, we just called people, told them our need and so on. We ended up with one particular foundation that said, call us back when you've done what you can and tell us what the balance is. And we called back and said, we've got seven million to go.

And then they called back, you know, 24 hours later, okay, we'll do that as part of the bond offering. And then, but then the money had to come in, right? If the money wasn't there, then we'd be too late.

And so our president, Joe Boone, was sitting there in the bank waiting for this money to come in 30 minutes before the deadline. The rest of the money came in and we're able to go ahead with the outcome counter. So there's a couple of miraculous events. Those are all really, I'm sure, faith building for all of you as well to know that God is behind this and God is there and he's sovereignly working. Let me ask about what you mentioned earlier just about the first chapters of Genesis. And we've done, we do something called the Overcomer Course for Young Adults for 18 to 28-year-olds and what we think are the eight most important issues for them or really anyone to understand and believe God in the gospel and how to grow in your faith and time, work, and money in the local church and singleness in marriage and a biblical worldview and so forth. We find that we're always going back to what God designed and established in the first chapters of Genesis and how that is so key to have a biblical worldview and to live a life of really flourishing. Why are those chapters so critical not just to Christians, and for sure they are to Christians, but also to broader society as well? One of the things we need to understand is that everyone has a way of thinking.

Everyone has on a pair of glasses through which they look at the world. When we look at this world today of death and suffering, for instance, and people say, well, how could there be a loving God? How do you fit that with a loving God? But here's the point. You see, the only way we could understand this world correctly is if the key events of history were revealed to us to know what has happened, to give us the right foundation, to build the right way of thinking.

In other words, where does our way of thinking come from? You don't pull it out of the atmosphere. It has a foundation. It's like building a house. As I tell people, when I'm talking about the Bible or you're talking about doctrine or the gospel or marriage or whatever it is, it's like building a house.

You've got to start from the foundation. Now, the history in Genesis 1 to 11 is a revelation from God who knows everything, who said, here are the key events of history to enable you to have the right way of thinking. So you don't start with death and suffering in today's world and try to fit it with the Bible. You start with the Bible and say, oh, there was once when there was no death and suffering.

There was once when everything was very good, which means exceedingly good, the best it could ever be. There was no death or suffering in the world. Oh, because the first man, Adam, sinned, that's why there's death. Oh, that's why we see that in the world today. It's our fault, our sin.

God promised a savior. And then we have the event of the flood. Oh, that's why we have fossils over the world, the event of the tarot of Babel. Oh, that's why different people groups, but we're all one race going back to Adam and Eve. That history in Genesis 1 to 11 is the history in geology, biology, astronomy, anthropology. It is the history that is foundational to our way of thinking called a Christian worldview.

And actually, Genesis 1 to 11 is the foundation for everything. If you don't understand any issue, any issue whatsoever, you know, how do you deal with abortion? How do you deal with gender? How do you understand fossils? How do you understand death and suffering? How do you understand the universe? How do you understand living creatures? How do you understand anything at all?

We have to start from one who knows everything, who gives us the key information we need to have the right way of thinking so we can correctly approach it. And you see, Genesis 1 to 11 is the foundation for everything. There's nothing it's not the foundation to, nothing ultimately.

And as I say to people, you want to deal with any issue, you start with Genesis 1 to 11. It's the foundation for marriage, foundation for gender, the foundation for life. Because – Even the gospel. It's the foundation for the gospel.

It's the foundation for everything. And because today, we have increasing numbers of people like politicians, most of them that reject God's word. So when you start, if you don't start from God's word, there's only one other foundation. It's man's word.

When you start from man's word, you have a secular way of thinking. And then, once you start from man's word, you redefine everything God has done. So they redefine marriage. They redefine gender. They redefine life. They redefine dominion.

They redefine everything. And that's what we see happening in our world today. So that's why we have to understand that Genesis 1 to 11, not only is the foundation for everything, it's the foundation for being woke-proof. Because, you see, those churches that give soft and LGBT gay marriage, I'll guarantee that they don't take the stand on Genesis we do. Because as soon as you take a stand on Genesis as literal history, then there's only one marriage, a man and a woman. God created marriage, not the Supreme Court of the United States, not the judges, not the politicians. In Genesis 2 to 24, God created marriage, one marriage, a man and a woman.

God created gender, Genesis 1 to 27, only two genders, male and female. And so it goes on. Thank you. And, you know, if I could say one more word. You did ask a question before that I didn't answer. It was a question about what I have learned personally through this ministry.

And I'll just say something very quickly. There's a lot of things I've learned personally about faith, about trusting God. But the biggest problem that we all have is pride. And that's because of our sin. And we have to make sure that every day we're judging what we believe, say and do against God's word, and not let sin master over our lives. But my parents and my mother, my godly mother always drummed into us as kids, God first, others second, yourself last.

And people's personal agendas can destroy a ministry, destroy an organization, destroy their own ministry and witness. And I always say to people, and I say to young people, be careful of your own pride that you think you know best. There's wisdom in the counsel of others. Learn from others.

And learn from people who have the experience. Most of all learn from God's word. And put God first in everything and others second.

And make sure you're doing what's best for God's ministry. It is not your ministry. It is God's. He owns it.

You do not. He's entrusted you with it. So make sure you don't use your own agendas based on your sinful hearts. And be very careful to do things God's way. What Ken Ham said there at the end reveals his heart and spiritual depth.

He knows that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We couldn't recommend more highly that you take a trip to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. It will strengthen and encourage your trust in God and His Word and inspire you to proclaim the soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ, which is made so clear at both theme parks.

And we'll air more interviews in the coming weeks on our trip there. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian Real View Radio Program and for your support of this nonprofit radio ministry. Let's anchor ourselves in what Scripture says.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. So until next time, think biblically, live accordingly and stand firm. The mission of the Christian Real View is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program, order a transcript or find out What Must I Do to be Saved, go to thechristianrealview.org or call toll-free 1-888-646-2233. The Christian Real View is a listener-supported nonprofit radio ministry furnished by the Overcomer Foundation. To make a donation, become a Christian Real View partner, order resources, subscribe to our free newsletter, or contact us, visit thechristianrealview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Thanks for listening to the Christian Real View.