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 "Pastors' 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 than 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 had 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 indicating 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 me 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. Attendances have 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."
