Probe’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Banquet

On Nov. 4, 2023, we commemorated Probe’s 50th Anniversary with a celebration banquet at Dallas’ Renaissance Hotel. We are so very grateful for God’s goodness and supernatural enabling to serve Him this half-century by sharing biblical worldview and apologetics worldwide!

200 friends gathered in the Malachite Showroom to help us celebrate God’s goodness over 50 years of ministry.

Probe President Kerby Anderson read an official proclamation honoring Probe from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

We were blessed to share video and written endorsements, like this one from former Moody Bible Institute President Erwin Lutzer, who also wrote a book for us.

Dr. Ray Bohlin, a 48-year veteran of Probe and former president of the ministry, presented an overview of what we’ve been able to do in our 50 years. See a short list below.

The three children of Probe’s co-founder, Jimmy Williams—Trey, Todd and Leslie—shared powerful memories of their amazing parents and growing up along with Probe.

Dr. Jim Thames, representing Dallas Theological Seminary, surprised Kerby with a Lifetime Achievement Award from DTS as our chairman of the board, Parker Eng, documented the award.

We were especially honored to be joined by our beloved June Hunt and her friend Kathy. When June founded the Hope Center, the beautiful retreat lodge-like office building housing scores of Christian ministries, she invited Probe to be one of the first to office there.

 

 

Some of what Dr. Ray Bohlin shared of the past 50 years:

  • Through our Christian Update Forums, we brought biblical worldview to college classrooms as guest lecturers on more than 50 campuses. At least through 1980, we spoke in over 1,600 classrooms, to 70,000 students, with 70% positive to only 7% negative comments. Then we got canceled by administrations who didn’t want their students exposed to truth.
  • So we launched a radio outreach. Our weekly radio program, still airing after 40 years, has had tens of millions of listeners. They are available as 12-minute podcasts on Probe.org. We launched a second conversational podcast, Head & Heart, in 2020.
  • Our website continues to have a literal worldwide impact, being visited by 193 (out of 195) countries in the past year. We offer over 2000 articles and answers to email. (You might say we were the original “Got Questions.org”?)
  • Our staff has taught on every continent except Antarctica (the penguins aren’t interested).
  • We’ve taught 180 Mind Games conferences, both weekend and week-long camps.
  • As the world gets darker and the church becomes more like the world than the Word, the need for what Probe offers is greater than ever.


Probe Live: Truth Decay

Probe Live Truth Decay

Join us for the next Probe Live event

Thursday, December 1, 2022
7:00 p.m.
The Hope Center, Plano TX

We encounter postmodern thinking when we share the gospel and then hear, “That’s your truth, but it’s not my truth.” Moral relativism surfaces when someone says, “That may be your morality, but it’s not my morality,” or “Who are you to say abortion or homosexuality is wrong?” And progressive Christians deny absolute moral truth and therefore question the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.

Probe Ministries President Kerby Anderson will provide an overview of these faulty ways of thinking and answer questions from the audience.

We will record this message but not live stream it. 


Probe Live: If God is Good, Why Does He Let Me Hurt?

The problem of why God allows pain and evil has been the biggest obstacle to faith for thousands of years. Sue Bohlin, living with a lifelong disability, provides both philosophical and practical answers to this question.

PROBE FB LIVE Sue Bohlin 2022.mp4 from AGAPE MEDIA on Vimeo.


Probe Live Presents “Climate Change and the Green New Deal”

Probe Live Presents “Climate Change and the Green New Deal”

Dr. Ray Bohlin is Vice-President of Vision Outreach for Probe Ministries.

A lifelong conservationist with a deep commitment to a biblical perspective on environmentalism, Dr. Bohlin has been closely following the Climate Change issue for over 20 years. In this public lecture he presented lots of charts and graphs showing there’s no reason to be worried about a climate catastrophe.

PDF of Dr. Bohlin’s Slides:

Climate Change – Green New Deal PDF

 


Probe Live: Woke Theology

Probe Live presents “Woke Theology”

Kerby Anderson is president of Probe Ministries and host of the live nationwide Christian talk radio show “Point of View.”

He addresses important questions:

  • Is the social justice movement hijacking the gospel?
  • What is all the fuss over Critical Race Theory? Where did that come from?
  • What about White Fragility? What is that exactly?

The free booklets Kerby mentioned are available here: probe.org/kerby-anderson-booklets/

And be sure to check out the Head & Heart Podcast about Woke Theology here: probe.org/podcasts-and-messages/head-heart-podcasts/

See previous Probe Live talks here: probe.org/probe-live-videos/


Probe Live – Thinking Clearly About Gender Confusion

Probe Live Gender Confusion

Probe Live — November 18, 2021

God’s good gift of gender—male and female—has never been more broken or confused. Sue Bohlin brings the clarity of biblical worldview thinking to this issue with grace and truth.

 

There was a problem with part of the audio recording on the video, but here is the back-up audio recording:

www.ministeriosprobe.org/mp3s/GenderConfusion_11-18-21.mp3

Powerpoint Slides:

PDF form: app.box.com/s/iv7z9j1ao9thnn2syfwrajh94pjrxxxm

PPT form: app.box.com/s/iv7z9j1ao9thnn2syfwrajh94pjrxxxm

 


Dr. Ray Bohlin Presents “The Return of the God Hypothesis”

At our Probe Live Event on September 18, 2021, Probe Vice-President and Discovery Institute fellow Dr. Ray Bohlin presented fascinating evidence for Intelligent Design from Dr. Stephen Meyer’s book Return of the God Hypothesis.

 

Read Dr. Bohlin’s article providing an overview of the book: Return of the God Hypothesis for Regular People

 


We’ve Got a New Podcast!

We are delighted to announce the launch of a second podcast!

Head-Heart PodcastHead & Heart by Probe Ministries is a conversation between Probe Staff and guests related to Christian apologetics, worldview, and faith for a 21st century Christian. It provides a helpful perspective aimed at transformation of the heart.

Paul Rutherford hosts this exciting new resource aimed at connecting the head and the heart. We don’t just offer information—we want to provide the “so what” to impact your relationship with God through Jesus.

New episodes will be released periodically, at least once a month. You can subscribe on Apple, Google, and Stitcher.

Check out all the episode choices here: probe.org/podcasts-and-messages/2020-head-heart-podcasts/

Here’s the podcast address: www.ministeriosprobe.org/head-heart-podcast.xml


Social Media, You and Your Family

Arts, Media and Culture bookProbe Ministries hosted a presentation by Kerby Anderson on “Social Media, You and Your Family” on October 16, 2018 at the Hope Center in Plano, Texas. All attendees received a free copy of the new book Arts, Media, and Culture: A Biblical Point of View. (You can order it from our online store here.)

You can download a recording of Kerby’s message here.

We are all the beneficiaries of the information on the Internet. But scientists have also been able to document that our digital devices and social media are altering the way we think and altering our ability to concentrate.

As one psychologist at Tufts University explains, “We are not only what we read. We are how we read.” The style of reading on the Internet is different and profoundly changing the way we read and acquire information. Our brains are able to reprogram themselves on the fly through a process called “neuroplasticity.”

There is a crucial need for Christians to evaluate the impact of media in their lives. We need to develop discernment and pass those biblical principles to our children and grandchildren.

The new media represents an even greater threat to our discernment processes and can easily conform us to the world (Romans 12:2). Media is powerful tool to conform us to group think and thus to a secular worldview taking us captive to the false philosophies of the world (Colossians 2:8).

Let’s look at how we can harness social media to use for good while, at the same time, protecting ourselves and our children from potentially harmful effects.


Dr. Ray Bohlin Publicly Debates in Belarus

Something wonderful and heretofore-unseen happened in March 2018 in the formerly Communist country of Belarus, part of the Soviet Union until 1990. The capital city of Minsk was the site of a public debate between two scientists: Dr. Mikhail Gelfand, an atheist biology professor at Russia’s Moscow State University, and Probe’s own Dr. Ray Bohlin, a Ph.D. in molecular biology.

Ray had submitted a number of intelligent design-related topics to Dr. Gelfand who refused them all, deciding instead on the topic “Evolution or Creationism?” It was clear he was expecting a religious rather than a scientific argument from Ray, who presented “Is intelligent Design Science?” with the primary evidence that the DNA genetic code requires an intelligence. Dr. Gelfand did not respond to any of Ray’s points.

Belarus debate

Following their presentations, the debaters responded for an hour to written questions submitted by the audience. One question was, “Would either of you consider changing your mind if shown sufficient evidence of the other side?” With clear contempt, Dr. Gelfand dismissed the possibility that there was evidence for anything other than evolution. Ray related how, in his graduate studies in evolutionary biology, he continually asked, “Show me the evidence for evolution. Please convince me.” By the end of his studies, he was more of a skeptic of evolution than ever before.

Belarus debate - Shaking handsConcerned about making his flight back to Moscow, Dr. Gelfand gathered up his things. He was very surprised when Ray came over and, smiling, shook his hand after having been insulted several times during the debate. Christian kindness and compassion is its own kind of culture.

Following the debate, 55% of participants in an online vote chose Ray as the winner. The debate was uploaded to Russian YouTube with over 1000 views that weekend  (Link to English YouTube video is here). There was quite a bit of social media buzz about it, including requests to bring Ray back to Belarus in November for another debate.

The following weekend, along with his Probe colleague Todd Kappelman, Ray traveled several hours by train to Brest (on the border of Belarus and Poland) for another debate, this time with a professor of the history of Slavic people, Dr. Alexander Svirid. In his presentation Ray pointed out that the fossil evidence for human evolution is sparse and open to many interpretations. His opponent was not able to refute what Ray said, but suggested that the way information has “evolved” from the early computer software to what we have today is evidence of evolution. Ray pointed out that it takes an intelligent mind to rewrite and update software. Dr. Svirid was quite gracious and complimentary of Ray, remarking that “each of us would have been a good student of the other.” (Link is here.)

Monday through Friday for two weeks, Ray and Todd spent time with friends and potential church leaders. (Feel free to ask us for more information about that.)

Churches

This was Ray’s 14th trip to Belarus, and every time he goes, he speaks in the churches of people who have become friends. The first Sunday (of three), he preached in a church outside Minsk where one of his excellent translators is a teaching elder. He preached on Romans 1:18-20 in every church he spoke at, because after the previous day’s debate, many young people asked why the belief in creation mattered. Drawing on his worldview perspective sharpened by 40+ years of speaking and writing for Probe, he said that if there is no God, there is no purpose or meaning to any living thing—especially humans. Romans 1 assures us that we all know there is a Creator, so maybe the Creator’s intended purpose and meaning for us gives us worth and value. This is especially good news in a country that was recently Communist, which denies the worth and value of people. Questions continued through lunch, turning Sunday into another four-hour marathon like the (debate) day before.

The second weekend was jam-packed with ministry opportunities. On Friday night, Ray answered questions at an English club (for those working on learning to speak English). He heard the one question he can always count on: “What do you like about Belarus?” People always love his go-to answer: “Chocolate!”

On Saturday afternoon, he spoke at a student conference sponsored by CRU (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ). Both the Christians and the seekers in attendance were interested in hearing Todd address problems and issues in technology, and Ray was asked to address the problem of evil. Todd and Ray, along with their translator Sasha and his wife, took the train to Brest, arriving very late at night.

Brest debateThe next morning was the second debate, arranged by the pastor of Brest Bible Church, who had seen the YouTube videos of Ray’s 2016 debate and 2017 lecture, and really wanted him to come to his city.

The third weekend, with both men very tired, meant being driven to Brest and back the same day, to speak at a conference in another church. Todd, who doesn’t use a cell phone or wear a watch, spoke to the issues and challenges of technology, particularly smartphones and computers.  Ray, playing “good cop” to Todd’s “bad cop,” explained how helpful technology is to him as he tries to explain science to students and various audiences, especially the visual component of technology. Powerpoint is invaluable to him for showing graphs, tables and pictures, as well as showing videos using animation to demonstrate molecular machines inside the cell. Getting personal, he also explained that his wife Sue, a polio survivor who is no longer able to walk (and thus can no longer accompany him to handicap-unfriendly Belarus), needs the technology of her scooter to be mobile at all. Otherwise she would be bedridden, or unable to leave their home—which is what happens to most disabled Belarusians.

On Sunday, their last day, both Todd and Ray gave a short 20-minute talk in the small house church of a pastor and his wife who have become good friends of the Bohlins. That night at another small church, Ray answered lots of questions about the Minsk debate.

He was especially glad for the question, “Why bother?” Why, indeed, would anyone from Probe go 5500 miles to the former Soviet Union, giving time, energy and passion to the point of utter exhaustion, year after year?

It’s an opportunity to provide unbelievers with a reasoned, rational response to evolution.

It’s an opportunity to model to Christians how to engage in controversial issues without defensiveness or anger.

We pray something sticks, planting a “pebble in people’s shoes,” so to speak, sowing seeds of new information and a different perspective by asking questions for which the listeners have no answers. It starts a journey.

For over forty years, that’s what Probe Ministries has been doing. Sowing seeds, asking questions, planting pebbles in people’s shoes so they think.

In 1973, when Probe was founded, there was no glimmer of hope for debates like these behind the Iron Curtain, much less in the Soviet Union. But look what God did in March 2018! There is a great hunger for honest answers to honest questions in Belarus. The debates are possible because they are about science, not religion . . . because true science—the study of what God created—is the truth that points to Romans 1.

And for that, we thank and praise God.

 

Note: The funding for this trip is several thousand dollars short of what was needed to cover expenses. There is still an opportunity to invest eternally in what God is doing through Probe in Belarus! You can donate here and designate Dr. Ray Bohlin. All gifts will receive a tax-deductible receipt.

©2018 Probe Ministries