June 2011 eNewsletter

G. Thomas Sharp • June 9, 2011

I again greet you all in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ, for by Him, through Him and for Him were all things created—heaven, earth and sea—plus all things in them. And I again thank you for your continued faithfulness to this ministry—please don’t let these words become idle or mundane because without You CTF cannot accomplish her mission. God bless you.

Diane and I were recently blessed (May 10 through May 21) to be the guests of two dear Friends of the Foundation that have moved to Istanbul, Turkey. Our purpose for going there was first to visit, to fellowship and to enjoy time with these dear people, but also to take advantage of the location of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor and to visit these sites.

Of course, I was a little hesitant to go to Turkey because of all the fear mongering about this country, and, of course, after we arrived we found many people in deep spiritual dilemma, but not due to the national religion, because Turkey doesn’t have a national religion. In fact, since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 and the Presidency and forward leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country of Turkey has become more and more secular and modern. There are Christian churches there! I did not know this.

Then, I became astonished by the fact that most all gentile church development mentioned in the book of Acts from chapter 13 to the end of the chapter, plus Paul’s epistles and even Peter’s, took place in Turkey. Notwithstanding the fact that the geographical location, and probably the prophetic location, of ancient places like Meshech, Tubal, and Togarmah are also in Turkey. Modern Turkey is the place of ancient Asia Minor, the of locations Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, Pontus—to name a few. The cities of Colossae, Miletus, Lystra, Derbe, Tarsus, plus all of the cities of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 and the Isles of Patmos and Samos are there (plus many, many more locations mentioned in Scripture).

Now, to put this in context, I have for some time had the desire (I believe “a godly desire”) to lead a trip to Israel with many of the “Friends of the Foundation.” Then I discovered that there are already many available tours to Israel, many of which are hosted by my own ministerial colleagues that made this desire a little anticlimactic. I was puzzled about this for a period of time, that is, until this recent trip to Turkey. Now, please understand, I still think a pilgrimage to Israel is a vital journey for all Christian believers because Judaism is the roots of our faith and Israel is the matrix of Christianity. (Romans 11:17-18)

In His Name,

G. Thomas Sharp

Founder/President

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September/October 2025 Printed Newsletter

October 2, 2025

Flooded Marine Reptile

By Matt Miles • October 2, 2025

The Flood during Noah’s day was a devastating judgement against the sin and wickedness of the time. Most people focus on what the Lord did as He saved the eight people and animals on the Ark. Yet while they were being saved, the Flood destroyed the earth and left behind some remarkable things. Geology around the globe shows water burial of plants and animals. Many of the animal remains show signs of drowning and then burial. One particular reptile that shows this is the Ichthyosaurus. From what we can understand, water was her home for everything in life, even giving birth to live young. This well designed creature may even help us trust the Word of God when it comes to the history of the Flood. In our Mobile Museum of Earth History we exhibit a research replica of an ichthyosaur called Stenopterygius quadriscissus . She is from Holzmaden, Germany and is one example of hundreds that have been found in the area. The reason we can so confidently state this fossil is a “her,” when we rarely know for sure about fossil animals, is because she is pregnant. She has three babies present with her remains: one under her tail, one in or near the birth canal, and one still inside. Our fossil is in situ, which means the fossil remains in the rock matrix it was buried in. So, the presence of momma and babies are how they were buried and not articulated in some manner after excavation. This is important to show the rapid, watery burial that must have taken place to lock this scene in the fossil record. The Flood trapped organisms all over the world in different life positions. Sometimes the fossils left behind have shown eating, hunting, sleeping, swimming, nesting, or drowning. When it comes to ichthyosaurs around the planet, there is a significant number of females that seem to be pregnant. They have been found in the fossil record on at least four continents. A fair assumption would be that Ichthyosaurs had a certain time of year they mated and gave birth to young, much like sea turtles today that nest from late spring to late fall depending on the region around the world. So it should come as no surprise that we find pregnant ichthyosaurs all around the world as the Flood lasted an entire year. It would have buried the females that were pregnant near their location of habitat. Evolutionists maintain that ichthyosaurs lived tens to hundreds of million years ago and each of the mothers found in the fossil record just died while giving birth. This is difficult to support in a millions magnitude time scale. That would mean every time a disaster happened, millions of years apart, the right conditions existed to quickly bury ichthyosaurs that just so happened to be pregnant. It just might take some “faith” to trust that “miracle” would happen over and over again through eons of time. Or you can have faith that the Word of God’s history is correct with a judgement of man’s sin bringing global devastation through the Flood during Noah’s 600th year of life. The Word of God is trustworthy, with even the fossil record showing us glimpses of historical evidence in support of our faith. I’m so thankful we don’t need blind faith to trust our salvation! Blessings.

Our God Whom We Serve Is Able

By Ryan Cox • October 2, 2025

14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 …if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:14-18 In the 6th century BC, three young men stood up for their faith in the one true God, for which someone attempted to kill them. Today, in the 21st century AD, one young man was gunned down for his faith in the one true God. And sadly, Charlie Kirk is not the only one. According to The Esther Project, martyrdom for the cause of Christ is commonplace around the world ( theestherproject.com/statistics ). On average: 322 Christians are killed monthly. 214 churches or Christian properties are destroyed monthly. 772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, etc.) against Christians are committed monthly. 100,000 to 160,000 Christians are killed annually in the 21st century. 1.093 million Christians were martyred between 2000 and 2010. And more than 70 million Christians are believed to have been martyred since the 1st century, with more than half killed in the 20th century alone under communist and fascist governments. And how should Christians respond? Peter wrote, “ if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name ” (I Peter 4:16). Jesus took this a step further; He told us, “ …love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ” (Matthew 5:44). Now, as Shawn Grant, minister at Kissimmee Christian Church, FL, preached on the Sunday following the assassination, th at may not be what you want to hear right now, but that is what Jesus has told us we must do. Why? So the world will see the difference Jesus makes! The night of and the days after the assassination, businesses did not have to board up their stores. Police and soldiers did not have to be deployed. There were no riots, no property damages, no police spat upon – only tears, prayers, and a witness to the world that Jesus is the answer. So noticeable is this to the world, there were more international press requests for the Charlie Kirk memorial service than are requested for Super Bowls. Within seven days of his death, Kirk’s ministry Turning Point USA had received over 54,000 campus chapter requests. And most importantly, scores of videos of young people considering or even deciding to give their lives to Jesus have been posted to social media platforms.