My wife and I had an opportunity to visit two special places while visiting one of our kids and his family in Lexington, Kentucky last week. Following a scenic 45-minute drive through Kentucky’s low rolling hills, we found the Cane Ridge Meeting Hall (built in 1791) a few hundred feet off a forgotten two-lane country road. It is believed to be the largest one-room log structure standing in North America.
Cane Ridge was ground-zero for America’s “Second Great Awakening.” In August, 1801, some 20-to-30,000 settlers hitched their wagons and came from hundreds of miles for a 3-day weekend of old-time “camp meetings.” They stayed, however, for two weeks when the Holy Spirit came in power, igniting fires of revival that swept quickly across the nation—lasting for decades.
We also headed north from Lexington along I-75 to Florence at Kentucky’s northern border. Our destination: Ken Ham’s new Creation Museum. It opened last year—attracting double the number of visitors expected.
Advertising on the Museum’s web site says: The Creation Museum presents a “walk through history.” Designed by a former Universal Studios exhibit director, this state-of-the-art 65,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life. A fully engaging, sensory experience for guests. Murals and realistic scenery, computer-generated visual effects, over fifty exotic animals, life-sized people and dinosaur animatronics, and a special-effects theater complete with misty sea breezes and rumbling seats. These are just some of the impressive exhibits that everyone in your family will enjoy.
In the Hall of Mammals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, visitors are greeted with a sign that says, “Welcome to the Mammal Family Reunion! Come, meet your relatives.” At the Creation Museum, it’s more like, “Meet GOD. He will help you make sense of nature and LIFE.”
We were impressed that Ken Ham wastes no time attacking or disproving evolution. Neither does he use scientific evidence to lend credibility to the Word. Rather, he says “Look at what GOD says and look how nature complies.” The main theme in each exhibit seems to be: “Same facts, different conclusions.”
In one of several state-of-the-art theaters, the Gospel is shared and viewers are invited to trust Jesus and receive forgiveness for sin. It is obvious that Ken Ham and the folks connected with the Creation Museum are “not ashamed of the Gospel.”
Neither are we at the Christian Coalition of Washington. Because of our name, it is impossible for us to disguise our intentions in the name of “traditional” or “family values.” We are, in fact, a network of Christians who unashamedly lift up the name of JESUS.
And we can do no other.
Rick Forcier
