This year we have focused on History & Destiny. As we ready ourselves for Thanksgiving, I am reminded of the history of the season and of the future to come. It is always great to celebrate this time of year and reflect back. There is so much to be thankful for, but the providence and provision of the Lord is foremost. His enduring guidance never gets old as He takes us to churches and people that need the message He has given us. This year has taken us to many places we have been to before, letting us reconnect with old friends. At the same time the Lord has opened new doors where people have been excited to hear and see Genesis in a new light with new emphasis. What a blessing to make new friends and meet co-laborers for the Gospel! God has given us connections with young and old alike, enabling the Kingdom work to continue and flourish for His praise. We are so thankful. Another year has passed and the Lord continues to provide all we need to continue this mission, including His provision of a new truck when we needed one. Yes, we still need help to pay it off, but just to be in a position to handle all that comes with purchasing a new truck is something for which we give great thanks to the Lord. To have what we need month in and month out, even when our program schedule was thin, has been a blessing worthy of great thanks. Two mornings in November we had the opportunity to teach a group of adults that many in the world forget about - those with special needs. It was a blast to talk with them about dinosaurs and, with several attendees, Biblical history. The Lord allowed us to help a blind young woman to “see” dinosaurs for her first time. All we needed to do was take her hand and let her trace the fossils with her touch. It was a truly exceptional moment to teach someone for her first time that dinosaurs are part of the Lord’s creation. We are so thankful to have been a tool in His providence and provision for those who were able to come. Our continuing mission is supported by each and every one of you who pray for us. The power of prayer is very real and we see its manifestation so often in this ministry. The financial support from family, friends and the body of Christ, His Church, carry us each and every year. We once again enter this season with extraordinary thankfulness for our Lord and for you. Thanksgiving Blessings!

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.

Summer of 2025 is two-thirds finished. We have taught at 7 different camp weeks along with 6 VBSes. Ryan and I have had a busy summer for the Kingdom. Our travels have stretched from Ohio to Colorado and all points in between. We have taught in churches and connected with many supporters and friends. This summer, as usual, ministry has taken us away from family for periods, but there has been great returns for the sacrifice - more than fifteen souls have been added to God’s eternal Kingdom and even more seeds planted with life-changing fruit produced, from the young to old. Again and again we encounter students that are fired up with a passion for knowledge of the Word of God. As these students have found answers to questions or faith-challenging issues, they are better equipped to share their faith. This summer we have had the opportunity to reconnect with many students whom we taught at a younger age. Now they are in their teens or heading to college. Their testimonies of strengthened faith because of the mission God has called us to is more than rewarding. It never gets old to meet grandparents, or even great-grandparents, during VBS that have lived their lives as followers of Christ yet have never seen the impact of Genesis to the Gospel. Just yesterday this happened with a grandmother who was overjoyed and appreciative of our teaching and message. Knowing more about dinosaurs Biblically allows for them to have new lines of communication with their cherished grandkids. Our ability to give these great warriors of the faith answers that can impact their families for eternity is priceless to us.  Please continue to lift us up in prayer as our summer is not over yet. As always, know that your support is making an impact for the Kingdom that we are eternally grateful for. If you are thinking about having us come next summer, don’t hesitate to contact us as summers fill quicker than the rest of the year. Summer has and will continue to be a crazy busy time for Kingdom work. Blessings.

Over the course of time a person can accumulate many things. Most of the stuff we collect is meaningless to most everyone else, but when a person collects books, they can be treasured for a lifetime and even beyond. In this age of digital media, physical books seem to be less important to many people. Digital books are searchable, and copy/paste functions make it easy to use those great quotes. Yet, there is still something great about a physical book, things you can’t get digitally: the turning of pages, the feel of it in your hand, and the “book” smell. For our founder Dr. Sharp, physical books could never be replaced by digital. While my collection of books is growing each year, it is dwarfed by Dr. Sharp’s collection. Over the years he collected thousands of titles for research and enjoyment. Through the course of his ministry he had to sell his book collection a couple of different times to support his family, only to start collecting again when he was able to do so. When Doc passed his office full of packed bookshelves to me and said he would clear the shelves, I laughed out loud at the prospect of having loads of empty bookshelves. So I urged him to instead leave his books for my, and anyone else’s, use. Little did I understand that the four bookcases in my office were only a fraction of his entire collection. A couple of years back when Doc moved from his house, it was decided that his book collection would be stored at the office. Our thought was to establish a library, yet none of us had time to plan, organize and catalog all 79 boxes of books. They sat piled in his office until last year when my daughter Megan joined our ministry. She has a love of books, both reading and writing. So we offered her the task of cataloging and establishing Doc’s library. Can you picture me, a bbq lover, being offered a table full of succulent smoked offerings - brisket, sausage, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and all sides? Yep, that was Megan’s response to the library. For over four months she cataloged and organized the entire collection. The Dr. G. Thomas Sharp Library was completed earlier this year in his old office space, with overflow into my office. The entire 2700+ volume agglomeration is digitally cataloged for searching and locating. As you might expect, there is an extensive collection of creation and evolution subject matter, yet the library is full of many different categories. It very much reflects Doc’s love of gaining knowledge and research. An extensive commentary collection and multiple Biblical reference sections are invaluable to our ministry. There is even a whole bookcase housing books that are over 100 years old. Our desire was not to just house books but to also make a place of honor and inspiration. One wall exhibits Doc’s many diplomas, and throughout the library we have placed personal memorabilia of the mission trips he took over the years. Come, grab a book, relax in the sitting area and allow Doc’s handwritten notes from the margins or post-it notes bring a smile to your face. For those who may be more ambitious, Doc's office chair resides at the credenza for anyone to sit and be inspired to study. This is a place to honor Doc’s life and love for books. We at CTF have already utilized this great resource for further study, and we are so thankful to Diane and their family for donating these books for continued Kingdom growth. Blessings.

As many of you may know, I appreciate space. Not space around me, although the older I get the more I appreciate that as well. The things in the heavens fascinate me and have for a large chunk of my life. I love working with our telescopes, allowing people to see for themselves objects that the Lord made on the 4th day of history. When I was younger I followed our Space Shuttle program, and over the years I have had the opportunity to see a couple of those shuttles around the country. Now it is great to see all the renewed interest in exploring the heavenly creation. I know most of it is for evolutionary reasons, yet over and over again something is discovered that points to the trustworthiness of God’s Word. After all, we are to study His creation as Genesis 1:28 states. On a recent trip to El Paso, it occurred to me that Blue Origin’s launch facility is in west Texas somewhere. After some quick searching I realized we were within an hour and half of it, and there was a rescheduled launch window during the time of our meeting. So, with some persuading of my colleagues, we arose early one morning to make the launch. We made it with just minutes to spare. It was spectacular! The whole launch to just beyond the Karman Line (space boundary, 62 miles/100km) and return of the rocket and capsule is about ten minutes total. While Blue Origin is best known for its New Shepherd rocket that carries paying customers to space and back with the biggest windows ever in a capsule, this NS-29 launch was purely experimental with a payload of instruments to measure simulated lunar gravity. Even though it was not a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Starship or Falcon launch, it was great to hear and feel a launch for the first time, from blast off to the sonic boom return. It has piqued my desire to see a bigger launch now. As I began to reflect on what I experienced, the Lord reminded me of His design. Earth, our home planet, is so well designed for life. There is literally nowhere in all the universe like it. Yet He gave us the ability to discover creation beyond it. The only reason we can launch rockets and do space exploration is because He set it up in an orderly way. Physics works because He established it to work in a predictable fashion. As much as we may never understand everything in the universe from our position here, it works on an ordered reality that is reinforced by God’s Word. This is what drove Sir Isaac Newton in his understanding of physics. He wrote, “The motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were by an intelligent Agent.” Evolutionists may come up with theories about the origin of things in the heavens, but over and over again they are being shown through experimentation and observation to be wrong. The Lord set the order of everything in the beginning and sustains it by His Word (Hebrews 1:3). So as you look to the heavens tonight, gaze into the depths of space and observe the different facets the Lord placed up there for our eyes (Genesis 1:17). Peer through a telescope at the lesser light of the moon with marvel and anticipation of further human study in the coming years. Check out the amazing observations being made by the James Webb telescope from deep in space. All of these place a perspective of how awesome our Creator is and how much we depend on Him. Our design becomes more and more obvious with every discovery, yet in our universe we appear so minuscule and fragile. Thanks be to God that His infinite focus has, is and always will be here on us! Blessings.

Ministry Updates

Another year in history is completed with a new year before us. Do you remember when you did something dumb in the past? Or maybe remember someone else (wink, wink) doing something dumb? If only we had thought a little more about the situation or outcome first. Those moments make up our history. Even if we would like to forget them, we may never. In a way, they shape our destiny. History is always there, ready to remind us of the past, good and bad. All of us probably remember those moments in our history where we messed up, failed, and/or even sinned. Just because we don’t like our history at times doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. All of us might like to erase certain moments of our past, especially those embarrassing or shameful ones. For some, dumb decisions made today will never be forgotten thanks to the internet. There will be a video or photo out there until Jesus returns. Those moments are important to who we are today, whether we like them or not. Most of us have learned from those bad “lessons” so they don’t happen again in the future. Today, it seems many want to rewrite history by erasing mistakes, wrongs, and sins - make it seem like they never happened, ever. Is that good for our destiny though? In the Word of God, since the beginning we see failures and sins recorded over and over again. Very quickly after perfect creation, we messed it up. Did the Lord destroy creation and start all over? No, He showed His plan for our destiny. Notice the Lord didn’t erase it from our past but recorded it for us to know ourselves and Him better. To those that would prefer to never remember mistakes and sin, I say they remind us of a better destiny. Throughout Scripture we see the Lord’s chosen fall . Yet when they repent, their destiny changes as they experience grace. History is all about learning from mistakes, failures, and sins to right the ship of our lives through our Creator and Savior Jesus Christ. We must understand our sin and repent from it for our destiny to achieve hope. When all we desire to do is forget our sin and failures, they will most likely raise up again. Sin must be covered (atoned for, forgiven) to be conquered or it becomes a nagging shame, not a lesson learned. When the lesson is learned, we see those moments in history as a reminder of a forgiving Lord that shows grace for our eternal destiny. This year at CTF our focus is HISTORY & DESTINY. In Romans 15:4 the apostle Paul writes: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” As a studier of different translations, the NIV seems to translate the verse better to me in light of our ministry here at CTF. This year, as every year, our focus is the reliable history of Genesis and its connection to the Gospel, educating us of the sin that has been covered to give hope for eternity, not to forget our sinful nature but to conquer it through Him. I pray this year HISTORY will impact DESTINY with more hope than ever before. Blessings.

As we approach Thanksgiving, my heart is full of thanks, not only personally but even more so in service to the Lord through Creation Truth Foundation. Over the course of this year, we have added to our productiveness by moving forward with the expansion of our Mobile Museum of Earth History (MOEH). This adds to a great staff, which is another thing for which we are thankful. And of course we are incredibly thankful for you, all of our supporters, who have been as faithful this year as any previous year, with an abundance of extra gifts to push us forward in ministry. As you may know, Doc and Diane launched this ministry out of their garage over 35 years ago with a staff of family members. We are all exceedingly thankful for that call and mission to teach the importance of the Bible’s history so we can trust our promised eternal hope. I am more than thankful for our staff as they serve the Lord day in and day out, never complaining no matter what the task may be that is needing done. Every one of them has a servant’s heart for the Lord and ministry. Bob, our Vice President, has faithfully served for more than 23 years. I am so thankful for his spirit of diligence over the years to Doc and now to all of us. He’s always ready to share a witty comment that is needed for a laugh as well. We would not be who we are without him, and we are thankful to his family who has sacrificed days and weeks at a time for him to go and do ministry on the road. Ryan and Amanda have been nothing more than a God-send since their addition in 2018. Ryan’s ability to preach the Word, sharing the truth of Genesis as well as the importance of history, is priceless. His genuine graciousness and love of people is unmatched as he brings them to the Truth. Our effectiveness for the Kingdom over the last several years is a direct result of Ryan’s passion for ministry. His wife, Amanda, is no exception. She too is gracious and humble in her quiet spirit. How she focuses on eight children and still has time to keep track of our books and resources is amazing. And I must mention the ongoing gift of hospitality that she bestows during every Cadre meeting as she provides wonderful meals that sustain us in our studies (many with her made-from-scratch cooking skills, I might add). Megan, our new office assistant, joined us this spring. Her desire to serve has been evident from the beginning as she is always ready to do whatever is needed. From keeping our office clean and tidy to answering phones, receiving and making shipments, shrink-wrapping bundles of resources, being a road crew member, MOEH expansion assistant and seamstress as needed, to whatever else anyone needs done at a drop of a hat, she is willing and ready. Her defining task as she came aboard was to create the Sharp Library. Taking all of Doc’s books that have been collected over the many years of ministry and organizing them in a fashion for use was more than daunting to all of us, but Megan jumped right in. It was a labor of love to categorize and digitally catalog the books as she physically shelved all 2600+ volumes in Doc’s old office. Now CTF has a library that will be useful for years to come as a legacy to our Founder. She makes this father very proud doing “full-time” ministry in a part-time position. Last but not least, Theresa quietly goes about her job of keeping track of our finances. She is not only the right person for the task from a skills perspective, but even more so from a discerning spirt of stewardship and faithfulness. Tackling the task of wrangling us for our monthly expense reports is a job she does not relish but knows we need to do to be faithful in our service. She is always an encourager to me, as I have experienced the lean years of our ministry, and that is always on my mind as I desire us to continue the mission which the Lord blessed Doc with years ago. Theresa continues to do the necessary job that Diane did for years in this ministry, and she encourages us with the faithfulness of the Lord through our supporters. We take our stewardship of resources very seriously, to be faithful to the Lord and you. Theresa is the God-given right person for the task, and the bonus is that I have experienced her faithful heart for ministry our entire 32 years of marriage. I am blessed and thankful beyond words. I am so thankful for all the Lord has done this year. As Paul encouraged those in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 to give for the Gospel effort, he also gave thanks for those that had fulfilled that call of the Lord. I now give thanks to the Lord on for you and your support of this ministry. None of what we have accomplished this year would have been even remotely possible without your faithfulness. The CTF team is so thankful for the opportunity to continue impacting lives for the Lord. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Eclipse 2024