High-ranked Christian Blog Blasts Ark Encounter

As we begin this New Year, I urge you to pray for the Christian leaders in this country.  So many of them compromise God’s Word in Genesis—or just won’t take a stand as they should on the authority of God’s Word from the beginning.  We need a new reformation in our churches.

Our Ark Encounter project has received international media attention.  Atheist bloggers have had a field day with their hate-filled blogs (of course, it is their hatred of their Creator that really fuels them—sadly).  But the saddest aspect to us is not what the “world” has stated about the project—after all, we expect those of the world to be against anything that stands for the authority of God’s Word.  The secularists’  reaction does not surprise us.

The saddest responses have come from certain parts of the Christian world.  A Christian blog that is ranked in the first dozen such blogs in various categories, called “Internet Monk,” came out with its list of “most discussed posts” for 2010.  Guess which one was the number 1 most discussed post?  The Ark Encounter.  Here is what the blogger (now called Chaplain Mike) had to say about the Ark Encounter project:

The most-discussed post on Internet Monk in 2010 was this article that I characterized as “prophetic ridicule.” The object of criticism was Ken Ham and those who are seeking to expand the “Creation Museum” to include a full-size Noah’s Ark and more in a new theme park in northern KY.

In the cartoon world of contemporary American evangelicalism, it’s  all about bigger, better, and simpler. Help folks think their dreams can come true. Create “moments” for people in the congregation that they  will never forget, that will “bless” families in safe and sanitized  settings. Remove the messiness and reality of day to day life. Instead,  put a sentimental, heart-tugging version of life up on the screen and  make people feel it. Embrace the possibilities.

Evangelicalism has become “Disney-ized.”

For example, enter the Mickey Mouse world of Ken Ham and his theme park vision for the Christian faith.

. . . How can any thoughtful Christian  support a project like this? I  know some of you are going to write and  complain that I’m being  judgmental and why can’t God use this to bring  others to Christ and  teach people about the Bible? Please. I will  respond as clearly and  directly and forcefully as I can—this project has  nothing to do with Biblical Christianity.

www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-most-discussed-posts-on-im-in-2010

Nothing to do with biblical Christianity?’  Does the authority of God’s Word and the gospel have nothing to do with biblical Christianity?

The originator of this blog site, Michael Spencer, passed away, and the site is now run by a “Chaplain Mike.” Michael Spencer came from a Southern Baptist background, but seemed comfortable in other “traditions.”  He preached in a Presbyterian church but also worshiped at an Anglican church.

Here are excerpts from a previous blog on this site about the Ark Encounter:

For example, enter the Mickey Mouse world of Ken Ham and his theme park vision for the Christian faith.

IM’s ever-vigilant Ohio correspondent, Jeff Dunn, reported in yesterday’s Saturday Ramblings that Ken Ham and company is at it again. The Creation Museum near Cincinnati has decided to expand and build an 800-acre theme-park style complex featuring a replica of Noah’s Ark. The project will cost an estimated 125 million dollars and is scheduled to open in 2014 in nearby Williamstown, KY.

Some have questioned whether it is legally permissible for the state of Kentucky to fund a religious theme park. I raise another question: Is it appropriate for Christians to “Disney-ize” their faith like this?

One critic termed the project a “particular confluence of faith-based fantasy and place-based entertainment in which the usual laws of physics, taste, or logic will obviously not apply.” May I add, an informed reading of the Bible does not actually apply here either.

However, I’m sure that doesn’t matter to the folks behind this. They are not really concerned about promoting a serious study and careful understanding what the Bible teaches, any more than the Disney corporation was truly interested in a thoughtful reading of Hamlet when they created The Lion King. They know what they believe already. And believing, they have set out to shape reality according to that image and make a new “dream come true.””

This blog has previously attacked the Creation Museum (a number of times in fact).  Here are a couple of excerpts as examples of what has been said on such blogs:

“Anytime someone tells me the “Creation museum” is a museum I want to run this piece out. Ham’s organization owns this “museum.” It’s goal is to get the public in and discredit any science that doesn’t come to the conclusions of fundamentalists.”

“The museum is a very popular destination already. It’s one of the major tourist draws in the Cinci region. Obviously they get a lot of church groups, but they just get a lot of crowds: adults, senior adults, vacationers, school groups from all over and kids who want to see Dinosaurs.

Friends who have been there tell me it is less a presentation of science than a presentation of Genesis. The point is evangelism more than education.

The article makes plain one of the things I’ve noticed most often about this kind of presentation: you can’t trust anything a public school teacher or a public education source (like PBS) ever told you. History is different than you were told. Science is different. Astronomy is different. It’s all very conspiratorial and it’s meant to teach children especially to talk back to their teachers and to challenge them when they make any claims to historical or scientific knowledge that don’t back up AIG’s interpretations of the Bible.

One of the motivations for the museum is to counter the kinds of presentations done at zoos and museums around the country. In a way, it’s kind of a propaganda race to see who can claim the minds of young people.”

As I have always said, our ministry is first to the church—to call God’s people (including Christian leaders) out of compromise and back to the authority of the Word of God—and then to the secular world, to proclaim the gospel based in real history (God’s Word).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying—and pray for a new reformation in our churches and with our church leaders.

Ken