Spokane Chapter, Reasons To Believe

April, 2004 Newsletter

Table of Contents:

Chapter Meeting: Sunday April 18, 3-5 P.M.

We invite you to attend our monthly meeting. A presentation is offered to the group, followed by discussion and questions, and we conclude with snacks and a little club business. This time we’ll watch the fourth part of a six-part video, How to Talk to a Skeptic, by Fed Heeren of Daystar Ministries.

We always try to start and end our meetings right on time. If you need directions, don’t be afraid to call the phone number below.

  • Date: Sunday, April 18
  • Time: 3-5 p.m.
  • Hosts:  Dan and Cathy Bakken
  • Location: 13003 N. Miami Ct, Mead
  • Phone: 466-2693  (for directions, etc.)

2004 CLIC Conference a Success

This year’s Christian Life Impact Conference went well for us, and we hope all attendees were edified and encouraged by their time at the conference.

We sponsored Jay Richard’s talk on his new book, co-authored with astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, the Privileged Planet. Jay is a great speaker, and the audience’s response was very positive. Many thanks to Jay for coming to Spokane from Seattle to support our chapter by sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge with us.

The book is based on the concept that the things that allow the Earth to be habitable for humans also ‘coincidentally’ allow humans to explore and understand our surroundings, and how things work. For example, our moon is just the right size and distance from earth to allow us to experience perfect solar eclipses. If that weren’t so, we wouldn’t understand how the sun works.

A video product (DVD) based on Jay and Guillermo’s book will shortly be available. Watch for it at your Christian bookstore!

If you’re interested in a copy of the Privileged Planet, contact Cathy Bakken at cgbakken@yahoo.com. We have some left over that we’re selling for $15 plus S&H.

We also had great response from our other talks, dealing with topics ranging from Why we Won’t be Visited by Aliens to the different Christian interpretations of Genesis 1. We hope we got a chance to talk with you at our booth! Thanks to all our great volunteers for helping us out over the three days of the conference!

Is this Your First Newsletter?

For those of you who signed up for our newsletter at the conference for the first time, we welcome you. We put this newsletter out monthly, but often take one month off out of the year, either in the middle of summer for vacation time, or at Christmas, depending on which time of the year is busier!  We invite you to join us for our monthly meetings, which are usually about a week after we mail out the newsletter. If you have any questions about the newsletter or the meeting, contact the editor, Cathy Bakken at cgbakken@yahoo.com.

Meet Spokane’s Newest Apologist!

Our local chapter is proud to add Frank Taylor to our list of local apologists. Frank is one of our regular meeting attendants, and has spent the last couple of years taking Reasons To Believe’s apologist training course. He’s been active in helping our local chapter – you may remember him from our booth at the CLIC conference in March! Read on meet Frank, and to learn about the apologist training course.

Frank, how did you become interested in science apologetics, and in Reasons To Believe?

My interest in Christian apologetics in general  began in high school.  In my Junior and Senior year, I was very involved with the ’Christian club’ on campus.  During this time Campus Crusade for Christ came out with their ’I Found It!’ campaign of which I was actively involved with.  Through this campaign, I used the little booklet, ’The Four Spiritual Laws’ to share my faith with a couple of friends.

In college, here in Spokane, I came across a couple of sub-Christian cults that forced me to study more about what they believed and what I believed to be true.  Several years later, when I was in the electronics field, I had some ’friendly’ arguments with a microwave engineer friend of mine about the age of the universe and earth.  At the time I was a pretty strong ’young earth-er’, but his arguments regarding expanding galaxies, red shift etc. really got me thinking.  However, my fear that millions of years equaled evolution made me ‘brush off’ his views.  Deep down inside I was divided between what I knew of objective science and my YEC views and ’science’.

In about 1985 (I’m not sure of the date); I saw Dr. Ross interviewed on TBN’s ’Praise the Lord’ show.  I was impressed by his knowledge of different dimensions (the dimensionality of God) etc.  However, I was mostly impressed by his humble attitude.  Soon it was announced that there would be a new program on TBN called ’Reasons To Believe’.  After watching a few episodes of the RTB show, Dr. Ross began talking about the billion-year age of the universe and earth.  At first, I was shocked!  How could this wise and humble fellow believe this kind of stuff?  This thinking leads to evolution, doesn’t it?

However, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I felt like I had to ’hear this guy out’ of which I did.  Little by little, I began to except the idea that the universe and earth were billions of years old and this didn’t mean biological evolution could be right, thus jeopardizing my faith.  Before long, I read most of Dr. Ross’s books, but never knew if anyone in Spokane held his views.  It seemed that I was surrounded by nothing but ’young earth-ers’.  Shortly after watching the PBS ’Evolution’ series, I finally called the California RTB office to see if ’anyone’ in Spokane had a connection with RTB.  Thankfully, Dan and Cathy were still in the beginning stages of starting the Spokane chapter of RTB, where I have been actively involved for the last three years.  

You've just completed the RTB apologist-training program. Could you describe the program? What was your experience like?

This training program is a very ‘knowledge intensive’ course.  After reading the five required books for the course, I spent the better part of two years, taking extensive notes from Dr. Ross’s taped lectures--a little over 40 cassette tapes.  Throughout this course, I wished I could finish faster, but God kept reminding me that His timing regarding my course completion was perfect, and not to worry.  I enjoyed this course every ‘session’ of the way, because it helped solidify my knowledge of the different subjects.  In addition, over time I’ve gotten better at mentally recalling apologetic information needed in a discussion.   I’ve learned that this skill can be developed over time.

What are your favorite science apologetics topics and issues? What 'rings your bell' when it comes to issues of science and the Bible?

Lately, my favorite subject has been rebutting the ‘young-earth-er’s claims.  Over the last several weeks, I have had a friendly email debate with a YEC friend of mine at my church.  I’m hoping and praying that he will ‘see the light’ as I did when I was a young earth-er.  Actually, every aspect of science apologetics fascinates me.  It’s like have specialized power tools that can break down the walls of a persons sincere or un-sincere objections to truth.  It is my prayer that the Lord would use me effectively for His service with what I have learned and am continually learning through ministries like Reasons To Believe.

Thank you, Frank.

Interested in the apologist training course?

Contact us here at the Spokane chapter, and we’ll tell you about it. Apologists do all kinds of things. They man the main RTB hotline from 5 to 7 P.M. (PT) daily, stay on top of the issues in science and apologetics, give talks and represent Reasons To Believe at local events, and more!

New RTB Book Available Now! Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off

For years naturalistic theories have monopolized academia as the only possible scientific explanation for the origin of life. But there's something many people don't know--the facts just don’t support such theories.

In Origins of Life, biochemist Fazale Rana and astronomer Hugh Ross reveal a model that shows how perspectives on first life’s beginnings can be tested--as a creation event--with astounding results. Rana and Ross explode the myth that scientific evidence supports naturalistic theories and show how research corroborates a transcendent Creator who formed and nurtured the initial life forms and more.

Visit the RTB online store at store.reasons.org to buy your copy!

Resources To Know About

Reasons To Believe’s Web Site: www.reasons.org. Many useful documents are available, as well as their daily new “reason to believe” from the latest scientific research.

Watch (or record) the "Reasons To Believe" television show. Airs on Thursday mornings, 2:30 A.M. Pacific Time on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). An archive of recent shows is also available at www.reasons.org.

Listen to the Creation Update Radio Show on the Internet at http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/creation_update/. Or learn what’s coming up on the next show at http://www.reasons.org/resources/multimedia/rtbradio/index.shtml.

Who We Are and What We Do: Your Local Reasons To Believe Chapter

We’re here to answer your questions and help local Christians and churches get more answers about science and the bible issues. 

  • Our monthly meetings enable training and dissemination of new reasons to believe.
  • We help people access Reasons To Believe resources, including the Apologist Training Program.
  • We offer trained apologists to speak at local churches and other events to share these exciting discoveries.
  • We provide a forum for members to discuss the latest scientific discoveries.
  • We bring national speakers into the area to promote the scientific reliability of the Bible.
  • We build alliances with churches, ministries, and groups to share the Reasons To Believe message.
  • We help Christians overcome their fear of science and equip them to use it as an effective tool in spreading the Gospel.
  • We reach out to skeptics and non-believers with gentleness and respect, encouraging them to evaluate their worldviews.

Contact us if you have any questions! And watch this newsletter for more information!

Local Chapter Contact Information

For more information about the Reasons To Believe Spokane chapter, contact:

  • Phone: Ray Luse (509) 465-8562
  • Email:
  • Web Page: www.reasons.org/chapters/spokane
  • Newsletter Questions? Cathy Bakken, editor, cgbakken@yahoo.com