Rise Up Conference 2021 - Presentation by Genesis Apologetics

Hello, I'm Dave Bisbee, Vice President, Educational Services for Genesis Apologetics. Today we're going to talk about why Genesis matters. Genesis Apologetics is a 501c3 nonprofit that is run by volunteers.

Genesis Apologetics and Its Mission

Our focus is to equip students and help strengthen their faith. Now, it's important to note that we are not inventing any new doctrines of research. Our content is largely drawn from four leading creation ministries.

Ministries like Answers in Genesis, the Institute for Creation Research, Creation Ministries International, and my good friend Mike Riddle at Creation Training Initiative. There are four areas of our ministry.

First, we regularly give presentations and lectures at Christian schools all over Northern California. We also provide presentations and conferences at churches. We have our annual conference, which usually occurs in March.

Our greatest success, however, has been in social media. God has richly blessed our efforts. We currently have over 110 ,000 YouTube subscribers. So why is the book of Genesis so important? A few years ago, researchers conducted a study.

Now, what they did is they interviewed over 1 ,000 people that were in their 20s that had left the church and said they weren't coming back. Now, based upon this research, they made a very disturbing prediction.

Two-thirds of the kids currently in church are going to leave it and not come back. That is terrible news. We've got to do something about it. Why is this happening? Oh, I think mainly due to two reasons.

The first is sinful desires. Let's face it. When kids get out from underneath their parents, they want to explore, and sometimes they will make very poor choices. But I think the second one is really the key.

When students are in college, they're often taught that God doesn't exist, that the Bible is just a bunch of fairy tales. Therefore, they can go and live any way they want, do anything they want to. Do whatever makes you happy.

After all, isn't happiness the most important thing in life? It's interesting that the Bible said that this would happen. In 2 Peter 3, we read that scoffers will come. Now, what's a scoffer? A scoffer is someone who mocks you for your faith.

And quite honestly, they can really get in your face sometimes. It goes on to say that they will deliberately forget two things, their creation and the global flood. So how do you deliberately forget creation and the flood?

By actively teaching the opposite. For example, by the time a student public school has completed the 10th grade, they have been taught over 260 pages of evolutionary content. And this content is based upon the ten pillars of evolution, which quite frankly amount to a tax upon the Bible.

Let's take a look at some examples. The Bible says that God created everything in just six days. The textbooks say that the universe created itself through something called a Big Bang about 14 billion years ago.

And that Earth formed out of the dust about 4 .5 billion years ago. And humans appeared about 200 ,000 years ago. The Bible says that God created everything according to their kinds. The textbooks teach that all life evolved over millions of years from a common ancestor.

Bible says that God created man and woman in his image. We are special. We're not animals. Now the textbooks teach that we evolved from ape-like ancestors over millions of years. Now here's what bothers me.

They will take fossils like this Australopithecus afarensis and create pictures like this one here and put them into textbooks. And to a young student, that looks very convincing. If I didn't know better, I'd say, wow, maybe ape men do exist.

But when you actually look at the fossil evidence, you come to the conclusion that these were nothing more than extinct apes. They weren't ape men. The Bible says that pain, death, and suffering came into the world through Adam and Eve's sin.

According to the textbooks, that's not true. Death was here long before man appeared on the scene. The Bible says that we can trust it, that it is the word of God. The world says, hey, aren't you getting a little old to believe in a God that you can't even see?

So what happens to students that are learning evolution? Well, when they're taught that they evolved from millions of years of chemical reactions and that we descended from ape-like creatures, it has a really big impact on their views about God.

It also affects how they view themselves, their role and their purpose. And this is really important because our beliefs are what drive our choices and our choices determine the direction of our lives.

Wow, so this is a lot of bad news. Is there anything we can do about it?

Glad you asked.

Here's one thing we can teach them creation science. This is my life verse. But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

But do this with gentleness and respect. As Christian educators, you have my respect and gratitude. Thank you for what you do. Now, over the last 20 years, I've learned a few things that might be helpful.

Teaching Creation Science with 1 Peter 3:15

Let's look at a few of them. First of all, whenever we teach, let's make it realistic. Let's look at an example. So Johnny's in Sunday school and they're being taught about Noah's flood. Unfortunately, the way that this is presented as a story, it creates this image in Johnny's mind of this little bathtub ark with all these cute little animals kind of crammed on board.

Let's take a closer look at this. First of all, somebody's got talent. This is a really nicely drawn picture, much better than I can do. But there are so many things wrong with this picture. There's no way that that little bathtub ark is gonna survive the flood.

And second, why are all the animals smiling? I mean, the flood was not a happy day. Let's get rid of this. Here is the key issue. If Satan can convince people that the flood was not a real event, it never happened, it becomes much easier to convince people that other parts of the Bible aren't true as well, like heaven and hell and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, things like that.

So let's fast forward. It's Monday and Johnny's going to school. Now, he's in public school. And now Johnny still remembers the really fun lesson that he learned in Sunday school and can't wait to share it with his friends.

So as Johnny begins to share with his friends, here comes the world with a whole bunch of objections and questions for Johnny. Hey, Johnny, there's no way all those animals could fit on that ark. Johnny, those rock layers that we see in the Grand Canyon, those were laid down over millions of years.

A global flood would be impossible, Johnny. There's just no way that could happen. Johnny, Noah's flood is a myth. I mean, after all, where did all that water come from? Johnny, it's time for you to grow up and realize that the Bible isn't true.

Poor Johnny, his faith has taken a beating. Now, when he goes back to Sunday school the next week, he's got all kinds of doubts and questions and he can't wait to talk to his teacher. However, they're moving on to the next story.

There's no time to go back and talk about the previous week. Now, I must confess to you that I've been guilty of this. I think we need to pause sometimes and just make sure that we address our students' questions, especially things like the ark and creation.

When I was a young man and I asked questions about it,.

I was told to just trust Jesus.

Just please sit down and be quiet. We're moving on now. Unfortunately, over the years, I came to the conclusion that all of these stories in the Bible were just that, stories, and I walked away from my faith, just like millions of kids are going to do.

What if we were to do things differently? What if we were to teach the whole Bible as history starting in Genesis? Let's go back to our example. So, instead of creating this image of a cute little bathtub ark, what if we were to teach Johnny some details about the flood?

For example,.

Hey Johnny, did you know that the ark was over 500 feet long? Why, that's longer than a football field and a half. It was huge. Plenty of room for the animals. Hey Johnny, have you ever seen what tsunamis can do?

They're amazing. The global flood is what created all the layers that we see in places like the Grand Canyon. The flood is also responsible for almost all of the fossils that we see out there, Johnny.

And Johnny, did you know that God created dinosaurs on day six and that most of the dinosaurs were wiped out in the flood? That's what made the dinosaur fossils. When we teach the different things in the Bible in a realistic fashion and give details, what happens is Johnny's faith will be much stronger and he will be ready when people start asking him questions.

Equipping kids with answers that they can use is the key. So let's go back to Monday. This time Johnny is prepared because his teachers have equipped him with answers. So when he starts sharing a story about the ark with his friends, the objections can all be answered.

Teaching the Bible as History, Not Story

Okay, let's move on to the next one. You know, when I first got into ministry, my best friend taught me a really important concept. It's called fun with a purpose. I'm going to show you some slides of activities that we've done over the past five years and then we'll unpack the reason behind them.

Are you ready? Here we go. Fun memory. So what did each of these activities have in common? They were all carefully designed to reinforce the lesson that was taught that day. For example, in the last video clip, when we saw the students throwing beanbags at targets, they were knocking down phony ape men.

Now imagine the power of that, of seeing these lies be knocked down. I have learned that if you can reinforce the lesson by doing something really fun, it helps the message stick. Okay, time for the next one.

Students have a lot of questions and we need to make sure that we address them. For example, how many students actually know what the Bible is? Well, I didn't until I was an adult. And why should we trust the Bible?

Because our Sunday school teacher says so? Well, we can do a lot better than that. These are some of the key issues that we need to make sure that we address either through our classroom or our Sunday school programs.

These issues will form their core beliefs about the Bible and about Christianity. And these beliefs will help shape their moral standards and values going forward. And let's remember the mission. Now I often get asked, what's the big deal about Genesis?

Isn't it all about Jesus? Well, yes it is. Check this out. This cartoon was created by Answers in Genesis and I think it does a really good job of illustrating what's going on in the United States today.

Churches are trying harder than ever to get the Gospel out, but fewer people are accepting.

Jesus Christ as Savior.

Why?

Well, I think this has something to do with it. When I was a young man, people in the United States had a much different worldview and foundation. Almost everybody knew what God was. They knew about sin.

They knew about death and heaven and hell. The real issue was whether or not they would accept Jesus as Savior.

Today,.

The world has changed completely since we have kicked God out of public schools and other places. When we go and talk to people about it, often they don't have a clue.

Which God?

What do you mean sin? Isn't death just part of life?

No big deal, right?

And why would I need a Savior? After all, the Bible is just a collection of stories,.

Of fairy tales.

I think it's time for us to try something different rather than just teaching the New Testament. What if we were to teach the whole Bible, starting at Genesis? You see, when we teach people that God created everything and that it was very good and that Adam and Eve rebelled and brought pain, death, and suffering into the world, that creates the foundation for Jesus to come down and save us by taking our punishment.

So I have a challenge for you. Try to explain the Gospel without using Genesis. I think you'll find out it's almost impossible. One thing's for sure, we've got to stop doing this because it simply doesn't work.

Genesis as the Foundation for the Gospel

Let's go back and look at my life verse again. I want to focus on the areas in yellow here. Always be prepared to give an answer. That's very interesting because it presupposes that someone is asking a question.

Why would they do that? Hopefully, we're trying to be like Jesus. We're doing our best to be loving and to care for people and to be honest and hardworking. When people notice the difference, they'll say, hey, why are you so different?

That is our opportunity to share Jesus with them. The second part is very important as well. We always need to share the truth and love and do it with gentleness and respect. That can be really hard, especially on social media.

I have done hundreds of presentations at this point, maybe even thousands. I've worked a lot of trade shows and been out in the public. I can tell you that sometimes people can really be awful. My advice to you is don't go it alone.

Good news is there are some wonderful resources out there. These ministries offer a variety of materials for all different age groups. May I humbly suggest that you let us help you too. As a non-profit, it's not about the money.

In fact, we offer almost everything at no charge. Let me share some examples with you.

First of all,.

We have our website. This is the key to accessing most of the other resources that we have. For 5th and 10th graders, we have our Debunking Evolution series. It's 6 different video lessons and an accompanying student guide.

It really helps students understand and have answers for some of the things that they may be taught in public school. For the 11th grade through college, we have developed the 7 Myths series. These address some of the myths that have started to float around in college about whether or not we can trust the Bible, the Flood, and other hot topics.

Of course, we also have lots of different books. We also offer this movie which looks at the importance of what we believe and the possible impacts that it can have upon our lives. When students visit a natural history museum, they are often overwhelmed by what seems to be evidence for evolution, and they come away thinking, well, maybe the Bible is wrong.

So we have put together a movie that shows another view, shows them how to look at the fossil evidence through a biblical worldview. I really hope that you check this one out. In December of 2020, God put it on my heart to put together a video program, which I was kind of like, wait a minute, God, don't you know I hate cameras?

Well, God said, yeah, do it anyway. So here's what we did. We built a small studio and we're in the process of creating 72 different video lessons for the age groups that you see here. So these will include videos and handouts, games and activities and answer sheets.

This is all absolutely free. You can also contact us if you would like us to come out to your church or school and give a presentation. This is perhaps the greatest resource that we offer, our free mobile app.

Check this out.

Looking for answers about what the Bible teaches about creation, the fossil record, dinosaurs? Download the Genesis Apologetics app from the iTunes or Google Play stores for answers to these questions and more.

I'd like to conclude by thanking the Rise Up Conference and all these ministries that provide such great resources. But mainly, I'd like to thank you for doing what you do, for teaching kids about the Bible and about God.

Every day.

God bless you.