Spokane Chapter, Reasons To Believe

February 2005 Newsletter

Table of Contents:

Chapter Meeting: Sunday February 20, 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.

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, February 20
  • Time: 3-5 P.M.
  • Hosts: Dan and Cathy Bakken
  • Location: 13003 N. Miami Ct, Mead
  • Phone: 466-2693 (for directions, etc.)

April 8-10, 2005: Intelligent Design Conference to Take Place in Spokane

We have a great opportunity in the month of April to hear some of the country's best intelligent design speakers. Since there will be no Christian Workers Conference/Christian Life Impact Conference in 2005, we hope that all of you can make it!

The conference is called "Fingerprint of God: How Intelligent Design Points to Our Creator". Several members of the Reasons To Believe Spokane Chapter, including president Dan Bakken and myself (Cathy Bakken, secretary and newsletter editor) are involved in the group putting this conference on. Read on for more information on how this conference came to be.

Speakers

Four of the five speakers are big names from the Discovery Institute in Seattle. They are: Dr Stephen Meyer, formerly of Whitworth College; Jay Richards, co-author of the book The Privileged Planet, whom we brought to the CLIC conference last April; Jonathan Wells, the author of Icons of Evolution; and Scott Minnich, of the University of Idaho, who is a major investigator of the bacterial flagellum, a molecular machine that is highlighted prominently in the video "Unlocking the Mystery of Life". Our fifth speaker is Fred Heeren, of Daystar Ministries, an excellent speaker, and the author of Show Me God: What the Message from Space is Telling Us About God.

Conference Details

The conference consists of three components. On Friday, April 8, our speakers will talk on several area college campuses. On Saturday, April 9, an all-day conference will take place at Fourth Memorial Church in Spokane. And on Sunday, several of our speakers will give part or all of the sermons at area churches.

The all-day Saturday segment of the conference costs $25 for two tickets if you pre-register, or $30 for two tickets if you register at the door the day of the conference. The conference will run from 9am -4:30pm, with an optional Q&A session from 4:30-5:30. Fourth Memorial Church is the venue, located at 2000 N. Standard, on Indiana between Hamilton and Division.

Snacks will be provided, as well as a map of area restaurants, and a lunch room for those who want to bring their own lunch. The campus events and Sunday morning events are free. To find out about them, watch the conference's web site (www.GNATeam.org) and the next edition of this newsletter.

Sponsors

The conference is being sponsored by Fourth Memorial Church, His Place in Post Falls, Life Center, Mt. Spokane Church, and Spirit 101.9 radio station. Listen for our radio ad starting in March! Some free tickets will be given away by the radio station as well. And if you attend one of the four sponsoring churches, be sure to register through your church, because you will receive two tickets for $15! We are also offering two tickets for $20 to area churches who purchase a batch of them in advance to re-sell or distribute to their congregations, so watch for that opportunity to save, as well.

Why Two Tickets?

We're selling the tickets in batches of two with the idea that as many people as possible invite someone else to attend the Saturday conference.

This will be a wonderful opportunity for Christians with skeptical friends and relatives to engage them in a meaningful and thought-provoking experience. This is also a particularly great opportunity for teens, collegiates and their parents to learn about a viable alternative to evolution as it is taught in schools and universities.

How to Get in Free!

You can get free attendance to the Saturday all-day conference if you sign up to be a volunteer! We'll need help with registration, ushering, food, etc. the day of the conference.

Please contact Dan Croskrey if you're interested in being a volunteer. Call him at 993-6948 between 1pm and 8pm, or email him at info@GNATeam.org. There will be a meeting for volunteers on March 10 in the evening.

How to Register

You can register online at www.GNATeam.org. You can use PayPal to charge the registration fee of $25 to your credit card. We will include a conference brochure in the March mailing of this newsletter, as well. It includes a registration form and allows you to mail in a check. We are offering brochures and posters to area churches in the next couple of weeks, so you may see brochures at your church in the near future. If you volunteer, you do not need to register. Simply contact Dan Croskrey, as mentioned above.

How the Conference Came to Be

In the Spring of 2004, Pastor John Repsold of Fourth Memorial Church brought together a group of people interested in apologetics, to plan a conference on intelligent design in the spring of 2005. This group came to be called the Greater Northwest Apologetics Team, and it hopes to put on an apologetics related conference on a regular basis here in Spokane. The Team does not take a particular stand on the age of the earth or the universe, but agrees that God is the creator, and through his wisdom, power and precise design, the cosmos has become what we know it to be today.

Intelligent Design FAQ

For those of you who haven't heard much about the intelligent design movement, here are a few answers.

What is Intelligent Design?

Intelligent design argues that nature shows signs of having been designed by an intelligent cause. Plato, Aristotle and most of the founders of modern science accepted some form of intelligent design.

However, the scientific community largely rejected intelligent design after Darwinian evolution claimed to be able to explain the complexity of life through natural selection acting on random mutations.

In recent years, however, advances in biological science are causing a growing number of scholars and scientists to reexamine Darwinian evolution, and find it lacking. This new generation of scientists once again proposes intelligent design as the best explanation for the complexity and diversity of life on earth.

Evidence of design can also be found in physics, astronomy, and geology. Research from these fields points to an intelligence that designed the earth, the solar system and the universe for habitation by an advanced life form such as mankind.

How does Intelligent Design Relate to Evolution?

Evolution as it is taught in schools and universities is an explanation for the origin and development of all life on earth. It is a purposeless process driven by natural selection acting on random mutations.

Evolution "has no specific direction or goal, including survival of a species" (NABT Statement on Teaching Evolution). Intelligent Design challenges evolution's ability to generate information from randomness and purposelessness.

Is the Intelligent Design Movement the Same as Creationism?

Creationism focuses on defending the creative acts of the Biblical God. Intelligent Design, however, does not seek to "prove" the God of the Bible, but instead seeks to detect whether the apparent design in nature is produced by intelligence or is a byproduct of natural processes.

Some evolutionists attempt to lump Intelligent Design theorists in with Creationists in an attempt to discredit the movement, without having to actually address their case honestly.

Who are Some of the Players in the Intelligent Design movement?

Biologist Jonathan Wells (author of Icons of Evolution), astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and philosopher Jay Richards (authors of Privileged Planet), science philosopher Stephen Meyer (co-editor of Darwinism, Design and Public Education), biochemist Michael Behe (author of Darwin's Black Box), and law professor Philip Johnson (Defeating Darwinism - by Opening Minds).

Ken Samples' New Book Up for Award

Ken's book, Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions, has been nominated for one of Christianity Today's "best book" awards for 2004 (in the apologetics category).

Finalists in the various categories have just been announced, and "Without A Doubt" is one of them--which means it's one of the top five!

The book has been purchased by both Spokane public Library and Spokane County Library District. A large church in Colorado has begun a church-wide study based on the book.

Here are some of the "20 faith questions" Ken deals with in the book:

  • How can anyone know that God exists?
  • How can I believe in a God I can't see?
  • How can God be three and one?
  • Are the gospels trustworthy accounts of Jesus' life?
  • Is Jesus a man, myth, madman, menace, mystic, Martian, or the Messiah?
  • How can Jesus be both God and Man?
  • Don't all religions lead to God?
  • How should Christians respond to the world's religions?
  • Aren't Christianity and Science enemies?
  • Doesn't hypocrisy invalidate Christianity?

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.

  • We offer trained apologists and bring in national speakers to speak at local churches and other events to share these exciting discoveries.
  • 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 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

Resources To Know About

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

Reasons To Believe Web Store: www.reasons.org/shop. Buy the books you read about here!

Reasons Institute: www.reasonsinstitute.com. RTB's online distance learning program. Take college-level apologetics courses. Contact RTB for information at 626-335-1480.

Watch (or record) the "Reasons To Believe" Television Show: Airs on Thursday mornings, 3:00 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 OnePlace. Or listen to the archives on the Creation Update page.