TODAY, ON THE CORAL RIDGE HOUR GENERATIONS HAVE BEEN
RAISED ON A STRICT DIET OF DARWINISM BUT NEW
DISCOVERIES ARE LEADING GROWING NUMBERS OF
SCIENTISTS DOWN A DIFFERENT PATH.
CREATION IS EASILY AS SCIENTIFIC AND IN FACT,
MORE SCIENTIFIC THAN IS EVOLUTION.
AND THEN, TOM DEROSA WAS A STAUNCH EVOLUTIONIST AND
AGNOSTIC, UNTIL A JOB INTERVIEW CHANGED HIS LIFE FOREVER.
HEAR THIS REMARKABLE STORY OF TRANSFORMATION.
TODAY ON THE CORAL RIDGE HOUR.
FROM CORAL RIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, THIS IS THE CORAL RIDGE HOUR
♪
DESPITE ALL THE EFFORTS OF ANCIENT ALCHEMISTS, NONE
WERE EVER ABLE TO TURN A BASE METAL, LIKE LEAD, INTO GOLD.
BUT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD IS THE GREAT ETERNAL
ALCHEMIST WHO TURNS ALL THE DROSS OF OUR LIVES, INTO GOLD.
THE ALCHEMY OF GOD, THE ALCHEMY OF GRACE, ALL
THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD.
IN HIS NEWLY REPUBLISHED BOOK, TURN IT TO GOLD,
DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY TACKLES THE DIFFICULTIES WE ALL FACE.
CONTACT US TODAY TO RECEIVE YOUR COPY OF TURN
IT TO GOLD, ONE OF DR. KENNEDY'S MOST BELOVED
AND INSPIRING BOOKS, SO THAT YOU CAN BE ENCOURAGED
OR SHARE ASSURANCE WITH A FRIEND THAT GOD'S PROMISES
ARE THE RICHEST GOLD NOW AND FOREVER.
TODAY ON THE CORAL RIDGE HOUR.
TOM COMMITTED HIS LIFE FOR TEACHING THE THEORY
OF EVOLUTION THE INSPIRING STORY OF THIS MAN AND THE
MIRACLE THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE FOREVER.
BUT FIRST, DR. KENNEDY'S MESSAGE.
TODAY'S MESSAGE TAKES US TO PITTSBURGH,
PENNSYLVANIA, AND DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY, WHERE
I WAS INVITED TO SPEAK A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO AT THE
PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CREATIONISM.
THIS IS A GATHERING OF EXPERTS FROM AROUND THE
WORLD, SCIENTISTS AND OTHERS TO DISCUSS THE
CRITICAL ISSUE OF CREATION VERSUS EVOLUTION.
IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE TO BE ONE OF THE KEYNOTE
SPEAKERS ON THE TOPIC OF EVOLUTION AND YOU.
(APPLAUSE)
THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU, RUSS, FOR THOSE VERY KIND WORDS.
FOR A MOMENT THERE, I WASN'T SURE WHETHER I WAS
TEN FEET TALL OR SIX FEET UNDER.
(LAUGHTER)
SOMEONE SAID THAT THERE ARE THREE KINDS
OF PEOPLE: THERE ARE THOSE THAT MAKE THINGS HAPPEN,
THERE ARE THOSE THAT WATCH THINGS HAPPEN AND THERE
ARE THOSE WHO SAY, "WHAT HAPPENED?"
'I'M AFRAID THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE FIT
INTO THE THIRD CATEGORY, BUT YOU DO NOT.
"EVOLUTION AND YOU" WAS MY TOPIC FOR THIS TALK.
AND MY FRIENDS, THE SEEDS OF SECULARISM, GROUNDED,
OF COURSE, IN EVOLUTION, HAVE BEEN AND ARE PRODUCING
A MOST PERNICIOUS AND DEADLY HARVEST IN AMERICA.
I READ, JUST RECENTLY, AN INTERESTING ILLUSTRATION
OF THAT BY DR. ERNEST GORDON.
NOW, DR. ERNEST GORDON IS THE DEAN EMERITUS OF THE
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CHAPEL.
HE'S ALSO THE HERO OF THE "BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI."
HE WAS THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED THE NEW
TESTAMENT AND WAS CONVERTED AND WAS USED TO
BRING ABOUT THE CONVERSION OF HUNDREDS OF OTHER
SOLDIERS THAT WERE IN CAPTIVITY THERE.
AND WHEN THE MOVIE WAS MADE, ALL OF THAT WAS OMITTED.
BUT HE IS A GREAT MAN AND A GREAT HERO.
RECENTLY RETIRED AS DEAN OF THE CHAPEL OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.
AND HE SAID SOMETHING, WHICH I THINK ILLUSTRATES
THE RESULTS OF THIS VERY, VERY APTLY.
LISTEN TO HIM, DR. ERNEST GORDON: "DURING THE LATE
FIFTIES, I WAS INVITED TO ADDRESS THE SENIOR CLASS
OF AN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT IN A CITY HIGH SCHOOL.
WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE SCHOOL, THE LATE FIFTIES,
I INTRODUCED MYSELF TO THE ASSISTANT HEADMASTER,
WHOSE OFFICE WAS AT THE ENTRANCE.
HE GUIDED ME TO THE APPROPRIATE LECTURE HALL.
TWENTY YEARS LATER, I WAS INVITED TO THE SAME SCHOOL
FOR THE SAME PURPOSE.
I, AGAIN, PRESENTED MYSELF TO THE SAME OFFICE.
BUT IT WAS NO LONGER THE HABITAT OF AN EDUCATOR, OF
THE ASSISTANT HEADMASTER, IT WAS A COMMAND POST OF
POLICE, OF THE POLICE INSPECTOR.
CORRIDORS AND CLASSROOMS WERE MONITORED BY POLICE
OFFICERS WHO REPORTED REGULARLY TO THE INSPECTOR.
THE REASONS GIVEN FOR THE CHANGE WERE OBVIOUS.
VIOLENCE, ASSAULT, RAPE, DRUG-INDUCED MADNESS.
I INTERPRET THIS SCENE," HE SAYS, "AS EVIDENCE OF
THE END TIMES OF A CIVILIZATION THAT HAD ONCE
BENEFITED FROM THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW; ONE
THAT HAD EXALTED CREATION AND PEOPLE AND PROVIDED
THE IDEALS ESSENTIAL FOR AN AUTHENTIC EDUCATION.
I RECOGNIZE THAT CIVILIZATION DOES NOT CREATE CHRISTIANS.
HOWEVER, THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH CREATED AND STILL
CREATES THE CIVILITY THAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF CIVILIZATION.
THAT DEMORALIZED SCHOOL IS THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCE OF
A SOCIETY'S REJECTION OF THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW
THAT PROVIDED THE INTELLECTUAL DYNAMIC OF WESTERN EDUCATION.
WHAT IS EDUCATION, BUT AN EXPRESSION OF THE
PREVAILING CULTURE?"
THAT IS, I THINK, A VERY DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF
THE BITTER FRUIT OF THE MATERIALISTIC,
EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF OUR TIME!
NOW, THE WESTERN CHRISTIAN VIEW OF MAN HAS ALWAYS
HELD THAT MAN IS HERE FOR A PURPOSE.
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW HAS BEEN SUMMED UP IN THE
CATECHISM QUESTION: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN?
TO GLORIFY GOD AND TO ENJOY HIM FOREVER.
BUT THE EVOLUTIONIST WOULD NOT QUESTION WHETHER THAT IS THE
CHIEF END OF MAN OR SOME OTHER END, BUT WOULD SAY THERE IS
NO END OR PURPOSE OR TELEOLOGY IN ANY MAN'S LIFE AT ALL.
NOW, MY FRIENDS, WHEN YOU GET RID OF PURPOSE, YOU
ALSO GET RID OF MEANING AND YOU GET RID OF SIGNIFICANCE.
IF SOMETHING HAS NO PURPOSE, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?
YOU THROW IT OUT.
WE HAVE SEEN IN THE COURTS FOUR VERY SIGNIFICANT
DECISIONS THAT HAVE USHERED US INTO THIS
SECULAR APOCALYPSE THAT WE ARE NOW...
WHICH WE NOW FIND OURSELVES PLUNGED INTO.
THERE WAS, FIRST OF ALL, THE DECISION OF THE
SUPREME COURT THAT RULED PRAYER OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS
AND THEN THEY RULED THE BIBLE OUT OF THE SCHOOLS,
AND THEN THEY RULED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OUT OF THE SCHOOLS.
AND NOW, THEY'VE VOTED NEGATIVELY AGAINST THE
BALANCED TREATMENT OF CREATION ALONG WITH EVOLUTION.
SO, WE HAVE SEEN THAT BANISHED FROM THE THOUGHT
OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE IS THE IDEA THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
CREATED BY ANYONE, THAT THERE ARE ANY LAWS OR
MORAL ABSOLUTES WHICH THEY SHOULD OBEY.
AND BY THE WAY, IN THAT DECISION WHERE THEY RULED
AGAINST HAVING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS POSTED ON THE
WALLS OF THE SCHOOLS IN KENTUCKY, IN THAT
DECISION, THEY SAID, "LEST LOOKING UPON THEM FROM DAY
TO DAY, THE STUDENTS SHOULD BE MOVED TO OBEY THEM."
AH, ALAS AND ALACK, WE COULDN'T HAVE THAT.
AND OF COURSE, IF THERE IS NO CREATOR, AND WE JUST
AROSE BY SOME SPONTANEOUS CHANCE CONCATENATION OF
AMINO ACIDS IN SOME PRIMORDIAL SLIME; IF THERE
IS NO CREATOR, THEN THERE IS NO JUDGE.
AND IF THERE IS NO JUDGE, THEN THERE IS NO ONE TO
WHOM WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE OR RESPONSIBLE.
IF GOD IS, THEREFORE, DEAD OR ABSENT, FROM BOTH ENDS
OF THE PROCESS OF LIFE, THEN IT IS TRUE, MY
FRIENDS, THAT, AS NIETZSCHE SAID, "ANYTHING
GOES." AND THAT'S ONE OF THE BASIC MOTIVATIONS THAT
LIES BEHIND THE RUSH TO EVOLUTIONISM.
WELL, WHAT HAS 130 OR SO YEARS FINALLY GIVEN TO US?
IT IS INTERESTING THAT AT THE SAME TIME, DURING THE
LAST DECADE, WHEN AMERICA HAS BEEN RUSHING THROUGH
COURT EDICTS MORE AND MORE INTO EVOLUTION, AT THE
SAME TIME, THE BASIC PILLARS OF THE
EVOLUTIONARY FAITH HAVE BEEN COLLAPSING ALL AROUND THEM
AND THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE THAT SUPPOSE THAT PERHAPS
THE EVOLUTIONISTS REALLY HAVE PROVED THEIR CASE,
AND TODAY, WE HAVE EVOLUTIONISTS SAYING THAT,
"WE DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PRESENT EVIDENCE ANYMORE."
"EVOLUTION IS A FACT.
IT IS NOT ONLY A FACT, IT IS A MOST THOROUGHLY
PROVEN FACT IN ALL OF SCIENCE." NONSENSE.
DR. CRICK, WHO, AS YOU KNOW WAS THE CO-DISCOVERER
OF DNA, WHICH IS THE MASTER CONTROL OF ALL OF
OUR GENETIC DEVELOPMENT, AND WHICH IS ALSO THAT
DOUBLE-HELIX, THAT SPIRAL THAT CONTAINS ALL OF OUR
GENES, IS THE MOST COMPLEX MOLECULE KNOWN TO MAN.
AND IT IS SO FANTASTICALLY COMPLEX, THAT DR. CRICK
DECIDED TO APPLY PROBABILITY SCIENCE ANALYSIS TO THE
PROBABILITY OF DNA ARISING BY CHANCE, RANDOMNESS.
AND OF COURSE, THE GOD OF EVOLUTION IS A TRINITY OF
MATTER, CHANCE, AND TIME.
AND THOSE ARE THE THREEFOLD GODS OF THE EVOLUTIONISTS RELIGION.
WHAT WAS THE CHANCE OF DNA ARISING BY RANDOM CHANCE
IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD; THE
SUPPOSITIOUS HISTORY, ACCORDING TO EVOLUTIONISTS,
WHICH IS SUPPOSEDLY 4.6 BILLION YEARS.
WELL, HE APPLIED THE SCIENCE OF PROBABILITY TO
THAT QUESTION AND IT TURNED OUT THAT IT WAS ZILCH
THAT'S NOT A SCIENTIFIC EXPRESSION, BUT IT
DESCRIBES IT VERY ACCURATELY.
HE GOT THE MESSAGE VERY CLEARLY.
AND THIS WAS SO DEVASTATING TO HIM THAT
WHAT THAT SAID, IN VERY SIMPLE LANGUAGE, IS THAT
NOT ONLY COULD A HUMAN BEING NEVER HAVE EVOLVED
NATURALLY AND SPONTANEOUSLY IN THIS
WORLD, IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, BUT
A SINGLE LIVING CELL COULD NEVER HAVE EVOLVED.
BUT BEYOND THAT, ONE SINGLE MOLECULE WITHIN THE
NUCLEUS OF THAT CELL, THE DNA MOLECULE, COULD NEVER EVEN
HAVE EVOLVED NATURALLY IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
ALL OF WHICH SAYS: THAT EVERYTHING THAT YOU AND
YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS AND CHILDREN
HAVE AND ARE BEING TAUGHT ABOUT HOW LIFE AROSE
SPONTANEOUSLY IN SOME ANCIENT SEA, IS BALONEY.
AND DR. CRICK, BEING HONEST ENOUGH TO ACCEPT
THAT, HOWEVER, BEING AN ATHEIST, HE WASN'T WILLING
TO ACCEPT CREATION, SO HE INVENTED A WHOLE NEW THEORY
AND AS ONE SCIENTIST SAID: THERE ARE TWO REQUIREMENTS
FOR INVENTING EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES.
YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, TWO REQUIREMENTS.
NOW YOU MIGHT WONDER JUST WHERE ONE GOES TO GET THIS
GREAT INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY TO DO THAT.
BUT HERE THEY ARE: ONE, IT DEPENDS ON YOUR ABILITY TO
WEAVE A TALE.
AND TWO, IT DEPENDS UPON THE CREDULITY OF YOUR AUDIENCE.
[LAUGHTER]
WELL, WITH BOTH OF THOSE IN MIND, HE CAME UP WITH A DOOZY.
HE CALLS IT "DIRECTED PANSPERMIA." AND THE IDEA
IS VERY SIMPLE.
THAT SINCE LIFE COULD NEVER HAVE RISEN HERE,
NATURALLY, AND SINCE THERE IS NO GOD, WHICH HE
ASSUMES A PRIORI, THEREFORE, SOME ADVANCED
RACE, LIVING ON SOME OTHER PLANET REVOLVING
AROUND SOME OTHER SUN SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, MAYBE
IT WAS THERE, SENT SPACESHIPS OUT INTO SPACE
CONTAINING THEIR SPERM CELLS AND VOILA, HERE YOU ARE.
(LAUGHTER)
NOW, THAT IS SIMPLY A LENGTHENING OF
THE SHADOW, A LENGTHENING OF THE SHADOW WHILE YOU
REMAIN IN THE DARK OF ITS PENUMBRA.
IN LOGIC, IT IS CALLED AN "INFINITE REGRESS," AND OF
COURSE, IT IS COMPLETELY WITHOUT HELP IN SOLVING
ANY PROBLEMS, AS YOU CAN SEE BECAUSE, TO ANY
THINKING PERSON, THE QUESTION IS GOING TO AUTOMATICALLY
ARISE, "WHERE DID THAT ADVANCED RACE OF PEOPLE COME FROM?"
"WELL, YOU SEE, THERE WAS THIS OTHER MORE ADVANCED
RACE OF PEOPLE THAT LIVED ON ANOTHER PLANET..."
"EXCUSE ME, SIR, WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?"
"WELL, YOU SEE, THERE WAS A MUCH MORE ADVANCED..."
AND ON AND ON IT GOES, UNTIL YOU FINALLY EXHAUST
THE CREDULITY OF YOUR AUDIENCE.
HOWEVER, SHORTLY AFTER THAT, ANOTHER SCIENTIST OF
EQUAL OR GREATER FAME, SIR FRED HOYLE OF CAMBRIDGE,
DECIDED TO EXAMINE THE POSSIBILITY OF A LIVING
CELL ARISING SPONTANEOUSLY, NOT IN THE
4.6 BILLION YEAR HISTORY OF THE EARTH, BUT IN THE
ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE, WHICH KEEPS
CHANGING FROM YEAR TO YEAR, BY THE WAY, AND
ROUGHLY, TWENTY BILLION YEARS ON THE OUTSIDE.
SO ANYWHERE, HERE OR ON THAT PLANET, OR ON THIS
ONE, OR ANY PLACE ELSE, ANYWHERE, EVEN TO THE ENTIRE
BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE, ONE SINGLE LIVING CELL SOMEWHERE.
AND HE APPLIED THE SCIENCE OF PROBABILITY ANALYSIS TO
THAT AND CONCLUDED THAT THE CHANCES OF THAT
HAPPENING WERE ONE TO THE 40,000TH POWER.
NOW, MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT USED TO THINKING IN TERMS
OF POWER, AND I REALIZE, I HAVE A VAST ARRAY OF
SCIENTISTS HERE, BUT I'M ENCOURAGED BY THE FACT
THAT THERE'S ALSO A LARGER ARRAY OF NON-SCIENTISTS
AND LAYMEN THAT ARE PRESENT AND FOR THEIR
SAKE, MAY I SIMPLY SAY THAT ANOTHER EVOLUTIONARY
SCIENTIST, LECONTE DE NOUAY, SWISS SCIENTIST,
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER, WHO IS AN EXPERT IN PROBABILITY
SCIENCE, SAID THAT ANYTHING WHOSE PROBABILITIES
ARE LESS THAN TEN TO THE 50TH POWER WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
AND OF COURSE, TEN TO THE 51ST POWER IS TEN TIMES THAT MANY
AND TEN TO THE 52ND POWER IS TEN TIMES THAT MANY.
AND TEN TO THE 53RD AND 4TH AND 167TH AND 2,900 AND
KEEP GOING TO 40,000TH POWER.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?
EVOLUTIONISTS LIKE TO HAVE A LONG TIME FOR THE AGE OF
THE EARTH. FINE.
(LAUGHTER)
HOW MUCH WOULD THEY LIKE?
TEN THOUSAND NOT ENOUGH?
HOW ABOUT TEN BILLION?
TEN TRILLION?
TEN QUADRILLION?
TEN SEPTILLION, TEN OCTILLION?
HUNDRED-MILLION-BILLION- TRILLION TIMES TEN...
WHATEVER.
(LAUGHTER)
AND DO YOU REALIZE THAT A FIGURE I JUST GAVE IS
NOT A TINY FRACTION OF TEN TO THE 40,000TH POWER?
ALL OF WHICH VERY SIMPLY IS TO SAY THAT IT NEVER,
EVER HAPPENED.
AND SIR FRED HOYLE OF CAMBRIDGE, ONE OF THE
WORLD'S LEADING ASTRONOMERS AND
MATHEMATICIANS, THE FATHER OF ONE OF THE ONLY TWO
WIDELY-ACCEPTED COSMOGONIES OF THIS 20TH
CENTURY; THE STEADY-STATE THEORY, WHICH LOST OUT IN
THE POPULARITY CONTEST WITH THE BIG BANG, BUT
NEVERTHELESS, TO BE THE INVENTOR OF SUCH A THING
IS QUITE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
AND HE AND ANOTHER MATHEMATICIAN, CHANDRA
WICKRAMSINGHE DID THESE COMPUTATIONS AND THEY
SAID, "THAT TO SUPPOSE THAT SOMEWHERE ON THIS
EARTH, BY PURELY NATURAL SPONTANEOUS RANDOM CAUSES,
THAT THE ENTIRE COMPLEXITY OF THE LIVING CELL, WITH
ALL OF ITS AMAZING AND UNBELIEVABLE COMPLEXITY,
THAT THIS CAME INTO EXISTENCE BY CHANCE IS
NONSENSE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER." SIR FRED HOYLE.
WHAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE BEING TAUGHT AS SCIENTIFIC
FACT AND TRUTH, HE SAYS, IS "NONSENSE OF THE
HIGHEST ORDER." MY FRIENDS, EVOLUTION IS DEAD
COMING OUT OF THE STARTING GATE.
THEY RANG THE BELL, LIFTED THE POST, AND THE HORSE
DROPPED DEAD.
[APPLAUSE]
ONE OF THE MOST DAMAGING RESULTS OF DARWINISM,
ACCORDING TO DR. W.R. THOMPSON OF CANADA, WHO IS THE HEAD OF
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, ONE OF
THEIR MOST OUTSTANDING SCIENTISTS, SO MUCH SO THAT
HE WAS SELECTED TO WRITE THE INTRODUCTION TO THE CENTENNIAL
EDITION, 1959, OF DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES."
HE WAS A SCIENTIST OF THAT KIND OF STATURE, AND DR. W.R.
THOMPSON SAID THAT ONE...
BY THE WAY, HE ALSO SAID THAT ONE OF THE RESULTS
THAT ACCOMPANIED DARWINISM WAS A DECLINE IN
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY, AND HOW TRUE THAT IS.
WE FIND SUDDENLY THE RISE OF ALL SORTS OF FRAUDULENT
ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE IN SCIENCE.
BUT, HE SAID THE MOST DAMAGING THING THAT IT
DID, WAS THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY
OF SCIENCE, SCIENCE HAD BEEN SEPARATED AS A RESULT
OF THE FOLLOWERS OF DARWIN, WHAT FINALLY
RESULTED FROM IT, UNTIL WE COME TODAY, THAT SCIENCE
IS NOW CONCEIVED AS TOTALLY SEPARATED FROM GOD.
WHICH WAS NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE IN SCIENCE.
TODAY, IT'S ALMOST ACCEPTED AS A COMMONPLACE
THAT A CREATOR CANNOT BE CONCEIVED AND TOLERATED IN
THE WHOLE SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION.
IN FACT, IT IS TRUE THAT DURING THE ARKANSAS
DEBATE, ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT TESTIFIED IN THAT
ARKANSAS TRIAL SAID THAT HE WAS READING ONE OF THE
CREATION SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS AND THREW IT INTO THE TRASH BECAUSE
IT REFERRED TO A CREATOR.
AND NOW, SUDDENLY, IF THERE IS ANY REFERENCE TO GOD OR TO
A CREATOR, THEN SOMEHOW THIS HAS NOW BECOME UNSCIENTIFIC.
AND SCIENCE HAS BEEN REDEFINED AS SOMETHING WHICH EXCLUDES GOD.
WELL, THAT RAISED A VERY INTERESTING QUESTION IN MY MIND.
IF IT MENTIONS A CREATOR, YOU THROW IT IN THE TRASH.
DO YOU HAVE THE GROUND RULES?
DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS PLAYED?
YOU GET A BOOK, AND IT MENTIONS A CREATOR HAD
ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, YOU
THROW THE BOOK IN THE TRASH.
WE ALL UNDERSTAND NOW HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED.
LET ME READ YOU, THEN, THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF DARWIN'S
ORIGIN OF SPECIES, "THERE IS GRANDEUR IN THIS VIEW
OF LIFE WITH ITS SEVERAL POWERS, HAVING BEEN ORIGINALLY
BREATHED BY THE CREATOR INTO A FEW FORMS OR INTO ONE.
AND THAT WHILST THIS PLANET HAS GONE CYCLING ON
ACCORDING TO THE FIXED LAW OF GRAVITY FROM SO SIMPLE
A BEGINNING, ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL AND MOST
WONDERFUL HAVE BEEN AND ARE BEING EVOLVED."
A SUPPOSED SCIENTIFIC TEXTBOOK BRINGING IN, OF
ALL THINGS, A CREATOR, INTO THE TRASH, IT GOES.
[APPLAUSE]
BUT YOU KNOW, IT IS ENCOURAGING THAT THE
TRUTH IS GETTING OUT, AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BECOMING
INTERESTED IN AND BECOMING CONVINCED OF THE SCIENTIFIC
EVIDENCE FOR CREATION IS GROWING AT A PHENOMENAL RATE.
JUST SINCE FOUR YEARS AGO THERE HAS BEEN A
TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF MORE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BECOME
AWARE OF THE TRUTH, THAT THEY HAVE BEEN FED
FAIRYTALES AND THAT THEY HAVE BEEN DECEIVED.
EVEN AS DR. COLIN PATTERSON, THE CHIEF
PALEONTOLOGIST OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM SAID THAT
HE WOKE UP ONE DAY, AND SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT HE
HAD BEEN DECEIVED AND DELUDED INTO THINKING THAT
EVOLUTION WAS A PROVEN FACT.
AND HE ASKED HIMSELF ONE MORNING, WHAT DO I INDEED,
KNOW ABOUT EVOLUTION FOR SURE?"
THIS IS THE CHIEF PALEONTOLOGIST OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM,
WHICH HAS THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF FOSSILS IN THE WORLD.
HE SAID, "NOTHING." AND HE ASKED A WHOLE GROUP OF
EVOLUTIONISTS MEETING SHORTLY THEREAFTER AT THE
FIELD MUSEUM IN CHICAGO, "CAN ANY OF YOU TELL ME
ANYTHING THAT YOU KNOW FOR SURE ABOUT EVOLUTION?"
SILENCE.
FINALLY, ONE MAN RAISED HIS HAND, NOW THIS IS A
WORLD GATHERING OF EVOLUTIONISTS, AND THEY
DON'T KNOW ANYTHING FOR SURE ABOUT EVOLUTION.
[LAUGHTER]
WHICH, OF COURSE, IS THE BEST PROVEN FACT OF HISTORY, OF THE
HISTORY OF SCIENCE.
"ONE THING I'M SURE OF, DR. PATTERSON, WE OUGHT NOT TO
TEACH IT IN HIGH SCHOOLS." WE'RE TEACHING IT IN KINDERGARTEN.
BUT THE TRUTH WILL OUT.
AND I AM SURE THAT THE DAY WILL COME WHEN EVOLUTION
WILL BE RECOGNIZED TO BE THE PERNICIOUS AND HARMFUL THEORY
AND FALSEHOOD AND DECEIT AND FAIRYTALE THAT IT REALLY IS.
AND PEOPLE WILL REALIZE, AT LENGTH, THAT IT IS A
GREAT AND GLORIOUS CREATOR, THE ALMIGHTY
OMNISCIENT GOD, WHO HAS CREATED THE WORLD AND YOU AND ME.
MAY IT SO BE, AND MAY IT COME SOON.
THANK YOU!
[APPLAUSE]
THE LANDSCAPE OF THE DEBATE BETWEEN EVOLUTION
AND CREATION IS CHANGING DRAMATICALLY!
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE, CHALLENGING
PROFESSORS OF THE OLD GUARD WITH THE FACTS RIGHT
NOW, I WANT YOU TO MEET A MAN WHO IS HELPING US
EMPOWER PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD.
WHETHER YOU LOOK AT THE UNIVERSE AND LOOK AT THE
STARS AND SEE HOW MAGNIFICENT THEY ARE, THEY
ALL OBEY THE SAME LAWS, THESE LAWS ARE UNIVERSAL.
SO, WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD CREATE THESE LAWS BUT AN
INFINITE GOD?
IN TIMES PAST, TOM DEROSA WOULD NEVER HAVE
RECOGNIZED GOD AS CREATOR.
TOM WAS AN ABSOLUTE, DEVOUT EVOLUTIONIST.
HE WOULD TALK ABOUT US COMING FROM APES.
I DEPARTED THE WAYS OF WHAT I WAS TAUGHT AS FAR
AS THE SCRIPTURE WAS CONCERNED, AS FAR AS GOD WAS CONCERNED.
AND I STARTED TO LOOK IN TERMS OF THE WORLDVIEW AS
DARWIN AND EVOLUTIONISTS WOULD LOOK AT IT.
ALTHOUGH TOM DEROSA HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP IN THE
ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH AND CONSIDERED BECOMING A
PRIEST WHILE ATTENDING JUNIOR SEMINARY AS A TEEN,
HIS PERSPECTIVE SHIFTED AFTER HE WENT OFF TO
COLLEGE AND WAS CHALLENGED BY A FRIEND TO READ
CHARLES DARWIN'S CONTROVERSIAL BOOK, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.
AND AT THAT POINT I STARTED TO QUESTION, REALLY,
IF THE BIBLE IS TRUE, THEN HOW CAN I ACCEPT BIOLOGY CLASS?
AFTER COLLEGE, AS A YOUNG TEACHER TOM QUICKLY ROSE
AS A LEADER IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE HE
WAS WORKING, AND DEVOTED HIMSELF WHOLEHEARTEDLY TO
TEACHING WHAT HE BELIEVED WAS THE ULTIMATE IN
SCHOLARLY SCIENCE, EVOLUTION.
I JUST FOCUSED ON THE FACT THAT KIDS HAD TO HEAR
EVOLUTION BECAUSE THAT WAS TRUE AND THEY NEEDED TO BE
TAKEN AWAY FROM THE CRUTCH OF GOD AND BELIEVING IN GOD.
TOM HAD BECOME AN ATHEIST AND HIS PASSION FOR
TEACHING EVOLUTION BECAME HIS IDOL BUT THAT PASSION
BEGAN TO FADE WHEN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE HE
TAUGHT MADE SOME DRASTIC CHANGES IN THE SCIENCE PROGRAM.
THEY TOOK MY SCIENCE AWAY, THE SCHOOL BOARD VOTED
THAT INSTEAD OF HAVING A FULL YEAR, WE'RE GOING TO
HAVE A HALF YEAR OF SCIENCE.
IT WAS THE SUMMER OF 1978 WHEN TOM BEGAN TO
RECONSIDER HIS TEACHING CAREER.
DURING THAT PERIOD, A PRIVATE SCHOOL IN FORT
LAUDERDALE WAS IN DIRE NEED OF A PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY TEACHER.
I KNEW NOTHING AT ALL ABOUT TOM DEROSA.
DR. KEN WACKES WAS THE HEADMASTER OF DR. D. JAMES
KENNEDY'S WESTMINSTER ACADEMY, A SCHOOL DEDICATED TO TEACHING
BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES AND CREATION SCIENCE.
WHEN THEY CALLED ME UP, THEY SAID, "TOM, DO YOU
KNOW OF A CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS TEACHER?
CAN YOU RECOMMEND ONE?"
AND I CAREFULLY THOUGHT AND AFTER A WHILE I
COULDN'T THINK OF ONE RIGHT OFF HAND, AND I JUST SAID, "ME."
AND I THOUGHT, OH, MY GOODNESS, WHAT IS HE DOING NOW.
SO, HE GOT OFF THE PHONE AND HE SAID TO ME, "I'M
GOING TO WESTMINSTER ACADEMY TO INTERVIEW," IN
I THINK IT WAS IN A WEEK OR SOMETHING FOR THIS JOB.
AND I SAID, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT, TOM, YOU'RE AN EVOLUTIONIST."
I SAID, "WHY." SHE SAYS, "DO YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS A
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL?
"THIS IS DR. KENNEDY'S SCHOOL.
THIS IS WESTMINSTER ACADEMY.
THIS SCHOOL IS WELL-KNOWN.
YOU HAVE TO BE A CHRISTIAN TO TEACH AT THIS SCHOOL."
I SAID, "WELL, DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER?"
SHE SAID, "NO."
SO, I CALLED EVERYONE I KNEW AND WE SET UP PRAYER CHAINS
TO PRAY FOR TOM THAT DAY OF THE INTERVIEW.
JUST THAT, YOU KNOW, THINGS WOULD GO WELL.
SO WHEN I WAS IN THE OFFICE WITH DR. KEN
WACKES, HE TOLD ME WHAT A CHRISTIAN WAS, AND I WAS
EXPECTING TO HEAR THE SAME THING.
BUT FOR SOME ODD REASON, HE TOLD ME THAT A
CHRISTIAN WAS ONE THAT BELIEVED IN THE FREE GIFT
OF ETERNAL LIFE.
I THINK WHAT GOT TO HIM WAS THE UNDERSTANDING FOR
THE FIRST TIME, PERHAPS, IN HIS LIFE THAT YOU DON'T
WORK YOUR WAY INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
IT'S NOT BY BEING GOOD, IT'S NOT BY BEING RELIGIOUS.
I WAS TAUGHT THAT I HAD TO WORK, WORK, WORK FOR YOUR
SALVATION.
BUT THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST PAID THE PENALTY
FOR ME AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO DO IT WAS AN AMAZING CONCEPT.
WE JUST PRAYED TOGETHER AND HE, OUT LOUD, ASKED
CHRIST TO COME INTO HIS LIFE.
HE SOUNDED DIFFERENT.
HE JUST WAS A NEW PERSON.
HE WAS NOT THE MAN I LEFT IN THE MORNING; HE WAS
SOMEONE BRAND NEW AND ON FIRE.
THAT VERY AFTERNOON, TOM HAD KEN WACKES PRESENT THE
GOSPEL MESSAGE TO HIS WIFE LINDA ALSO.
AND I THOUGHT, BOY, I THOUGHT I HAD BEEN A
CHRISTIAN ALL MY LIFE.
I WAS PRETTY WISHY-WASHY.
AND SO, WE PRAYED TOGETHER AND THERE WAS A COUPLE
REUNITED NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CHRIST.
IT WAS A BRAND NEW FAMILY.
JESUS CHRIST WAS NOW TOM AND LINDA'S SAVIOR, BUT
THE QUESTION STILL REMAINED IN TOM'S MIND OF
WHETHER GOD WAS HIS CREATOR AS WELL.
I THOUGHT I COULD BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION AND I COULD
BELIEVE IN GOD.
BUT AS I READ THE SCRIPTURE AND HEARD
DR. KENNEDY FROM THE PULPIT, CAME TO THE
CONCLUSION THAT THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DO.
I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW HE WAS JUST SO HUNGRY FOR THE
WORD; IT WAS JUST AMAZING.
HE GOT UP IN THE MORNING, HE HAD THE BIBLE, HE CAME
AT NIGHT AND HE HAD THE BIBLE IN HIS HAND.
HE WAS ALWAYS READING IT AND HE WOULD READ IT TO
THE KIDS AND HE WOULD TELL THE KIDS THINGS.
THERE WERE THINGS IN THE BIBLE THAT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT.
THAT FALL, TOM BEGAN TO TEACH CHEMISTRY AND
PHYSICS AT WESTMINSTER ACADEMY WITH GREAT ZEAL.
WHEN I WAS HIRED AT WESTMINSTER ACADEMY, I
THOUGHT IT WAS VERY UNIQUE THAT KEN WACKES WOULD HIRE ME.
I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE HIRED MYSELF.
DR. KEN WACKES BECAME A CLOSE FRIEND AND A MENTOR IN CHRIST
HE WANTED TO READ EVERYTHING WE COULD
POSSIBLY GIVE THEM; HE ATTENDED ALL THE CLASSES
HE COULD ATTEND.
IT'S LIKE HUMONGOUS SPONGE, JUST SOAKING UP
THE OCEAN DRY, HE WAS THAT EAGER TO LEARN.
IT WAS IN THAT CONTEXT THAT TOM BEGAN TO DEVELOP
HIS IDEAS AND SAW THE MISTAKES THAT HE HAD HELD
TO ORIGINALLY AND BECAME A CONFIRMED CREATIONIST.
I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE WAS AN
OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT
CREATION, WHETHER IT BE THE FOSSIL RECORD BEING SO
INCOMPLETE, WHETHER WE LOOK IN TERMS OF THE
COMPLEXITY OF LIFE AND LOOK AT LIVING ORGANISMS
AND SEE THAT THEY ARE TOTALLY MASTERPIECES OF WORK.
IT WAS THROUGH TEACHING AND LEARNING ABOUT
CREATION SCIENCE THAT TOM DEVELOPED A NEW PASSION TO
SHARE THE CREATION MESSAGE BEYOND THE SCHOOL WALLS.
THAT'S WHEN HE FORMED AN ORGANIZATION CALLED THE
CREATION STUDIES INSTITUTE IN 1988.
HE KNEW HOW MANY STUDENTS WERE BEING TAUGHT IN
IGNORANCE, AND HOW MANY TEACHERS OUT IN THE
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND HIGH SCHOOLS OF
AMERICA NEEDED TO HEAR FROM ONE OF THEIR PEERS.
ANOTHER SIDE OF THE STORY IS THAT HE JUST FELT A
PASSION GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE.
AS CREATION STUDIES INSTITUTE CONTINUES
EXPANDING EACH YEAR TOM HAS MET WITH MANY CHALLENGES.
BUT IN 2002, TOM WOULD CONFRONT HIS GREATEST CHALLENGE EVER.
GOD JUST BROUGHT TOM, PHYSICALLY, TO THE POINT
WHERE HE COULDN'T EVEN STAND UP IN A CLASSROOM ANYMORE.
I WAS CALLED TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM AFTER SOME
TESTING, SYMPTOMS OF SHORTNESS OF BREATH, I WENT TO THE DOCTOR.
THEY TOLD TOM THAT HE WAS IN TOTAL KIDNEY FAILURE;
HE HAD NO KIDNEY FUNCTION LEFT, THAT HE WOULD NEED A TRANSPLANT.
WE WERE ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED.
TOM'S FAMILY STEPPED FORWARD TO DONATE THEIR
KIDNEYS BUT NOT ONE OF THEM WAS A MATCH.
TOM WOULD HAVE TO BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST.
I WAS RATHER A WORRY WART IN THOSE DAYS, IN THE VERY
BEGINNING.
AND TOM SAID TO ME ONE DAY, "WHY ARE YOU WORRIED?
GOD IS IN CONTROL.
GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF US AND I'M GOING TO GET A
KIDNEY." AND HE JUST SAID IT SO MATTER OF FACT THAT
I SAID, "YOU'RE RIGHT," AND I STOPPED WORRYING.
I LOOK AT THIS ILLNESS, OR THE FACT THAT I HAD THIS
ILLNESS, AS JUST A STEPPING STONE FOR GOD TO
DO MORE WONDROUS THINGS.
A MERE ACQUAINTANCE OF TOM'S, JOE PETIT, A DEACON
AT CORAL RIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FELT
LED BY GOD TO DONATE A KIDNEY TO SAVE TOM'S LIFE.
SURPRISING AS THAT IS, JOE WAS TESTED AND FOUND TO BE
A PERFECT MATCH TO TOM'S KIDNEY.
IT ENCOURAGES ME THAT IT SEEMS AS THOUGH TOM'S BODY
IS ACCEPTING THE KIDNEY WELL.
IT ENCOURAGES ME THAT TOM IS ABLE TO ACTUALLY
CONTINUE IN THE MINISTRY THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN.
IN A MATTER OF A YEAR, LESS THAN A YEAR, I WAS
BACK IN SERVICE AGAIN, AND THIS TIME, RATHER THAN
BEING A FULL TIME TEACHER AT WESTMINSTER ACADEMY, I
WAS SERVING GOD, NOW, AS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
CREATION STUDIES INSTITUTE UNDER DR. KENNEDY.
IF GOD NEVER USED ME IN ANY OTHER WAY, IF IT WAS
JUST TOM DEROSA, THE STORY'S BEEN SO PHENOMENAL THAT IT
WOULD'VE BEEN WORTH IT ALL.
I HAVE A NEW VIGOR IN MY LIFE NOW THE FACT THAT GOD
HAS MARKED THIS TIME TO SAY "AND LET EVERYBODY
HEAR THAT I AM THE CREATOR OF THIS WONDERFUL UNIVERSE."
DESPITE ALL THE EFFORTS OF ANCIENT ALCHEMISTS, NONE
WERE EVER ABLE TO TURN A BASE METAL, LIKE LEAD, INTO GOLD.
BUT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD IS THE GREAT ETERNAL
ALCHEMIST WHO TURNS ALL THE DROSS OF OUR LIVES, INTO GOLD.
THE ALCHEMY OF GOD, THE ALCHEMY OF GRACE, ALL
THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD.
IN HIS NEWLY REPUBLISHED BOOK, TURN IT TO GOLD,
DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY TACKLES THE DIFFICULTIES WE ALL FACE.
CONTACT US TODAY TO RECEIVE YOUR COPY OF TURN
IT TO GOLD, ONE OF DR. KENNEDY'S MOST BELOVED
AND INSPIRING BOOKS, SO THAT YOU CAN BE ENCOURAGED
OR SHARE ASSURANCE WITH A FRIEND THAT GOD'S PROMISES
ARE THE RICHEST GOLD NOW AND FOREVER.
THIS HAS BEEN A PRODUCTION OF
D. JAMES KENNEDY MINISTRIES
