Reasons To Believe
Huntsville, Alabama Chapter
E-mail: - Phone: (256) 837-8988
Evangelism - Edification - Education
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International Space Station Zarya Control Module and Unity Node. Unity Node was constructed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Image obtained from NASA Media Library. |
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of our Huntsville Reasons To Believe Chapter. Our goals through these ten years have been to build the faith of believers and demonstrate a credible Christian worldview for those who seek the truth. Over these ten years we have held roughly 100 monthly chapter meetings, taught seminars, spoken in numerous churches, and conducted several radio and newspaper interviews. We hope you have shared in the blessings of these ministry events.
On this our tenth anniversary, we believe it is time to redirect our efforts to achieve our ministry goals. We have been considering a change in meeting format for several months and are now ready to begin this new format.
After taking the month of July off as we have done in the past, we will begin in August to hold monthly "Mars Hill" lunch meetings. These lunch meetings will be hosted by "Rocket Science Ministries," which is our local science and faith outreach ministry that complements the Huntsville RTB Chapter. In conjunction with this change, the Huntsville RTB chapter will continue to hold evening chapter meetings, but the chapter meetings will be held quarterly rather than monthly.
We hope that you will use the monthly lunch meetings as an opportunity to invite your friends and colleagues to a casual lunch where they will hear a brief (15 minute) presentation and topics related to Science and the Christian faith in the 21st Century. Again, our goal in these "Mars Hill" lunch meetings is to provide a venue for believers and seekers to learn how Christian faith can be consistent with and even strengthened by modern science. Please invite your believing and seeking friends.
Thanks for your support to the ministry during these first ten years. We hope that these "Mars Hill" lunch meetings will provide a great opportunity for you to invite friends and coworkers to hear how the Christian faith is relevant to their lives. Please invite your friends and colleagues and we look forward to seeing you at our first "Mars Hill" lunch meeting on August 2!
Blessings,
Mark Whorton, President
Huntsville RTB Chapter
Chapter Meetings - Bring Your Interested Friends!
" The Bible and NASA's Evidence of Extra-Terrestrial Life"
- Dr. Rob Sheldon will give a presentation entitled "The Bible and
NASA's Evidence of Extra-Terrestrial Life." The talk is based on several papers given at the San Diego SPIE Conference on Astrobiology, in which certain
scientists believe there is compelling evidence for extra-terrestrial lifeon comets, Mars, and the outer planets. Conventional science questions some conclusions about this evidence and it is often disputed because it has
consequences for Darwin's evolutionary theory, Intelligent Design, Christian theology. Since ID is often criticized as not providing a scientific method "how", this talk will attempt to answer objections as well as reconcile
ETL with Christian theology.
Rob Sheldon was a NASA Faculty Fellow and now consults at the National Space Science and Technology Center with Marshall Space Flight Center. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Religion from Westminster Seminary. With clergy forebears, he has a keen interest in reconciling religion and science.
- When: Thursday, 7 February 2008, 7:00 - 8:30 PM
- Where: Whitesburg Baptist Church, Main Campus, 6806 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, AL
"Mars Hill" lunch meetings:
- Location: Shoneys (corner of University and Parkway) at 11: 30 a.m. Dates: (First Thursday of each month) August 2, September 6, October 4, November 1, and December 6.
Quarterly Chapter Meetings:
- Location: Whitesburg Baptist Church, Main Campus, 6806 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, AL
- Time/Dates: 7:00 PM - first Thursday of quarterly months (November 1, 2007; February 7, 2008; May 1, 2008; August 7, 2008)
Who Are We?
The Huntsville chapter of Reasons To Believe is a local extension of a worldwide ministry by the same name in the Tennessee Valley. We believe that "new discoveries about the cosmos . . . add more evidence to the already weighty case for a transcendent, personal Creator, none other than the God of the Bible." Unfortunately , both secular society and the Christian community have, for the most part, operated under the deceptive illusion that science and faith are at odds, that must be kept apart. This has caused many a non-believer to shun the Bible and its God, and many believers to blindly reject scientific reasons to believe.
Information about the Huntsville Chapter of Reasons To Believe may be obtained by writing to
Our Mission
"Religion and science are opposed.... but only in the same sense at that in which my thumb and forefinger are opposed and between the two, one can grasp everything." ó Sir William Bragg
Our mission is to show that science and faith are, and always will be, allies, not enemies. We endeavor to bring that life changing truth to as many people as possible, both believers and unbelievers.
As Christians we long to know more about the Creator and His creation. We affirm that in creating and preserving the universe God has given it order and intelligibility, the basis of scientific investigation. Therefore, we seek to learn more about the creation through formal education and personal study. We take pleasure in this pursuit and encourage one another in it.
To carry out our mission, participants of the Reasons To Believe Tennessee Valley Chapter:
- Meet regularly to fellowship and formulate plans for mission execution.
- Proactively seek opportunities to show believers that God's message through nature is harmonious with His written Word.
- Proactively seek opportunities to present the Gospel to unbelievers by demonstrating that the latest scientific evidence points to design in the universe and that the Designer is none other than the God of the Bible.
- Use our skills and knowledge to equip each other for service.
- Appropriate God's will in all we do through prayer.
Relationship Between Science and Scriptures
God is not silent in this area. He speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures which were written by his special messengers who " . . . spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21). The Bible is God's instruction manual for living. "All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (II Timothy 3:16). While God's primary methods of communicating with Mankind are His written and living Word and Spirit, he also uses His creation. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalms 19:1-4) And, When God speaks, He is trustworthy. God does not lie. Therefore, what He says through His written Word is consistent with what He declares in the heavens. They must agree in every detail.
