The Mysterious Islands Premiere

Tuesday night we went to a premiere of The Mysterious Islands at the Carolina Theater in Durham. Over 800 people attended. It was very well done, and it is very interesting and exciting. The Mysterious Islands is the story of a team from Vision Forum that went to the Galapagos Islands off South America. They did this because the Galapagos is where Charles Darwin went and got the ideas for the theory of evolution. 2009 is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of his book, On the Origin of Species where he first set out his theory of evolution. The movie shows how evolution is scientifically impossible through the animals of the Galapagos. It also shows that evolution led to the bloodiest century in the last millennium, through people like Margret Sanger and Adolf Hitler. Evolution caused all this bloodshed because people were attempting to speed up natural selection by killing off 'lesser' human races. The film was very well done, and we would recommend it. For more information, visit their website. For pictures see Mr. Phillip's post.

At the far end of the world, there exists a strange and unusual chain of islands, resting above vast tectonic plates.

This is the world of the Galápagos Archipelago, home to salt-spitting marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, and giant tortoises that can live to be more than 150 years of age. It is also the birthplace of Darwinism, for here in 1835, a young Charles Darwin began to formulate a theory which would turn the world upside down. More than a century and a half later, these mysterious islands remain at the center of a controversy that has shaped the way modern men perceive science, religion, and life itself. The unique ingredients found on the Galápagos have led many of Darwin’s followers to describe it as Darwin’s Eden — a “laboratory of evolution.”

Now, for the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, Doug Phillips leads a team of Christian scientists and investigators to this “ground zero” in the war of the worldviews. Seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Joshua Phillips, who joins his father and noted researchers like Dr.John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research, The Mysterious Islands is the story of one boy’s search for answers to the great controversy of the modern world. It is a refreshing father-and-son adventure that combines cinematically breathtaking footage with high adventure. The quest: to determine whether the Galápagos Islands are a laboratory of evolution, or a testimony to creation.

This beautiful, ninety-minute documentary takes viewers deep beneath the ocean waves, among hundreds of white-tip sharks, into volcanic craters with giant lizards, and to the unusual habitat of the Blue-footed booby. Featuring the only team of Creationists and Christian scientists to shoot a documentary on the Galápagos in 2009 — Darwin’s anniversary year — the film brings a fresh perspective on the Theory of Evolution and presents stunning cinematography of one of the most desolate and fascinating locations in the world.

For more information on The Mysterious Islands, visit their website.

Reformation Celebration Dinner

On Friday October 31 our church had a dinner celebrating the reformation at Forks Cafeteria, in Wake Forest. We ate dinner and then five of the young men at our church talked about the five Solas of the Reformation, which are: Sola Scriptura, which means by Scripture alone, Solo Christo, which means by Christ alone, Soli Deo Gloria, which means Glory to God alone, Sola Fide,which means by Faith alone, and Sola Gratia, which means by Grace alone. After one of them talked, Mr. Brown led us in a song about the Sola, and then Daddy talked about how it effects us today. After that we had a time where the people could share what they were thankful for, and then people fellowshipped until it was time to leave.

One way that we have benefited from the reformation is that we can have assurance of our salvation by the gift of faith, and not live in superstition and fear like the Roman Catholics. We can be thankful that we do not have to rely on our good works for salvation, because we would never be sure we had done enough. Daddy also said we have light bulbs and electricity today because of the Reformation.

Lexington and Concord: Who Won?

by Stephen Horn based on Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first battle fought between the Militia and the Regulars in the First War for American Independence. The Regulars were commanded by Francis Smith and were on a mission to destroy the military stores in Concord, and also to catch Sam Adams and John Hancock. The American spies in Boston found out about this and sent out messengers to tell the militia to be ready. There were great quantities of military stores at Lexington and Concord, which the Americans needed to resist the British. They also wanted to catch Sam Adams and John Hancock who were two leaders of the War for American Independence. The Regulars lost because they failed to accomplish their mission, they were driven back, and they had more casualties.

The first reason the Regulars lost that we will discuss is that they did not fulfill their mission. The main reason for this is that although it was a top secret operation, the word of it got out, and most of the military stores had been moved. Sam Adams and John Hancock had already left from there, but they had not left for long when the British came to Lexington. After having routed the Lexington militia, they forced one of the residents to tell where a few brass cannons were buried, which the Americans had not been able to remove. They burned the wooden parts of these, along with a few other military stores. They had expected to be able to destroy more than this. This fire spread to some of the buildings in the town, which both the towns people and the Regulars soldiers were trying to put out. This and some other incidents were strange, and they showed that they still considered themselves the same people. This fire had the effect of making the Militia in Concord come out against them, as the Militia thought the Regulars were burning the town.

Concord Bridge

The Regulars had driven back the few militiamen at Lexington, but the Militia who had gathered at Concord drove the Regulars back. They were stationed at a bridge and commanded to hold it. When the Regulars saw the Militia advancing, they tried to pull up the planks on the bridge, which maddened the militia who were from around there. The Regulars were commanded to form into street formation, which was designed to concentrate the fire of a large number of men into a small area. They got confused and disorganized while getting into this formation. Only the front ranks could fire, but they did not show their usual discipline. They only fired a few ragged volleys, which were aimed high and did not do much damage. The militia’s volleys on the other hand were aimed carefully, and took much effect. The Regulars were trained to fire in volleys in front of them, and not at specific targets. The militia were mostly men who had to hunt for their food, so they were good shots, and they fired at individual targets which brought better results. In the first volley from the Militia at Concord four of the eight Regular officers were killed. The Militia drove the Regulars out of the town. The Militia were reinforced by more Militia from other parts, and they ambushed the Regulars wherever they could as they retreated. A few of these traps were sprung too soon, but many of them were fatal to the Regulars and disheartened them. The Militia decided on a plan to harass them where there was a circle of men around the front of the column who would fire, and then retreat, load and fire again, and keep repeating. This plan worked well. Many of the Regulars were thinking of surrendering, as one Lieutenant Barker of the Regulars said, “We must have laid down our arms, or been picked off by the rebels at their pleasure.”1 When they came to Lexington Green they found a brigade of Reinforcements waiting for them there, and also a cannon. This cannon did not have many rounds, since an artillery wagon which was sent for had been ambushed and captured by some men who were too old for the Militia. The British finally made it back to Boston.


Another reason why the British lost was because they suffered more casualties. The total of the men killed wounded or missing was 300 for the Regulars, but only 93 for the Militia. The reasons for this were mainly that they only fired ragged volleys, and never altogether, and also what was mentioned previously about the militia being better shots. The Regulars had left Boston with 700 men. Only 300 of them had deployed to drive off 77 militia who had gathered at Lexington. At Concord, only 100 of them were at the bridge, when they were driven back by the 400 militia. All of the casualties were not from these engagements though, many of them were from ambushes on the march back. By the end of the day, there were 3,800 Militia, and 1,500 Regulars. The reinforcements for the Regulars might of changed the tide of the battle, if they would have come sooner, but they still saved the rest of the British force.


The British lost because they did not fulfill their mission, they were driven back, and they suffered more casualties. This battle showed that the British troops were not invincible, and they could be beaten by the American militia. This was the first battle of the war, but it had been clear that there was going to be a war before that. The battles of Lexington and Concord did not start the war. The British returned defeated, and with their mission unaccomplished. The Regulars had to be reinforced, or they would have been destroyed. The British might have retreated with fewer casualties if they would have been able to hold the militia back at the bridge until the reinforcement Brigade came up.

1 David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) p. 232

The Mysterious Islands Premiere

Our church is hosting a premiere of the Mysterious Islands on November 17th. You can see the trailer below:

Valley Tour CDs Now Available!

The MP3 CD from the Valley Tour is now available for sale! To purchase it, please click here.

Join Dan and Joshua Horn in the study of one of the most important campaigns of the American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Learn about the battles, strategy, important men and the causes of the Civil War.