History

2007 – Sirius Knotts & Thoughts

Technically, the Creation ministry that became DefendingGenesis.org began in earnest on April 27, 2007 as the Sirius Knotts & Thoughts blog. My introductory post was called Writing a Blog: Here Be Nits & Dragons. Not a very imaginative title, but one has to begin somewhere. In this case, I began writing under the pseudonymn Sirius Knott with the simple intention to vent ideas. In the beginning, I wrote about politics and media bias, about television shows and movies and, well, things that amused and interested me. In all honesty, the Sirius Knotts & Thoughts blog was best known for my explorations of the ABC cult phenomenon, LOST.

It wasn’t until November 21, 2007 that I wrote my first Creationist piece, The Faith of Richard Dawkins. I continued to write posts on Creation and Evolution, on ABC’s Lost and a fair number of other subjects including a new interest of mine, Creation Cryptozoology.

2008 – The Birth of a Creation Ministry

The problem was that the blog was only supposed to serve as a black box for all of the ideas and thoughts that took me away from the major writing projects that I had going on all the while. Specifically, an as-yet-unfisnished sci-fi project dubbed Otherworld was suffering because of how much of my life the blog was taking up. So I went on hiatus to sort out my feelings about the Sirius Knotts & Thoughts blog on July 12, 2008. [See Slaying the Kronosyphon]

When I returned from my first hiatus on August 16, 2008, I decided after due reflection to reveal why I’d chosen the pseudonymn Sirius Knott [see Sirius Knott: What’s In a Name] and that my true identity was Rev Tony Breeden [see I Am Sirius Knott]. During this time, my interest in Creation Apologetics intensified. While I wrote the on-going What’s Wrong With Church series, it was Creation that held my thoughts. I became a member of the local Creationist group, the Kanawha Creation Science Group. I visited the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio. In retrospect, I think God used that hiatus to cause me to do a little soul-searching and to engender a little divine discontent in my heart.

Late 2008 – The Creation Letter Project

The turning point came in September 2008. I became aware of the intended Year of Evolution planned for 2009 and I found myself suffering from a bit of righteous indignation at the thought. [see Darwin’s Dyke: So much depends on Evolution: On Philadelphia’s Year of Evolution, Darwin day and the New Desperation of Darwinism] This was the precursor to my discovery of Dr Michael Zimmerman’s pro-evolution Clergy Letter Project.

I went on a second and unannounced hiatus in November 2008 [see Sirius Returns], which I spent writing the sci-fi novel I’m currently editing, Johnny Came Home. At the end of that post, I hinted at the upcoming Creation Letter Project:

“Compromise Old Earth Creationism [OEC] seems to be on the rise. Ol’ Sirius is currently working with other YECs to combat this insipid movement with a strong dose of pure truth! Stay tuned!”

And at long last, the Creation Letter Project was launched on December 12, 2008, sponsored in part by the Kanawha Creation Science Group. [see Sign the Creation Letter!] One of the first things we did was to try to get churches to celebrate a Creation Sunday.

2009 – In Review: CreationLetter.com

  • Jan 11 – I get the opportunity to speak on the Creation Letter Project at the Northern District Conference of the West Virginia chapter of the Association of Fundamental Ministers & Churches [AFMC] – Parkersburg, WV. The AFMC’s official publication, Fundamental News, reported:

“The Reverend Breeden brought the message from John 3:12, preaching “Creation vs Evolution.” He shared the scriptures that prove creation and debunk evolution. He encouraged all churches to recognize Feb 15. as Creation Sunday, to counter the churches who have fallen into the trap of having Evolution Sunday. He passed out brochures to help us understand God’s plan for creation. To add your signature to the Creation Letter, visit the website http://kcsg.wordpress.com . The site also informs churches about the opportunity of promoting a Summer of Creation initiative, creation conferences and trips to Creation museums. This will be a good resource to help churches equip themselves to combat the lie of evolution and defend biblical creation.”

  • Jan 25 – Realizing that we would have little time to build up any sort of publicity or support by the date of Creation Sunday 2009 [Feb.15.09], we announced the Summer of Creation campaign.
  • Feb 7 – The Creation Letter Project gained the attention of Answers in Genesis. A link to our site was included on their 200 Lost Years page. On the sidebar under Creation Sunday, their site advised:

    “Encourage your pastor to visit The Creation Letter Project and sign the letter. You can sign it as well, and they also have many more ideas for how to celebrate a Creation Sunday.”

  • Feb 15 – Creation Sunday 2009
  • Feb 22 – We acquired the domain name CreationLetter.com. Creation Letter logo [Fibonacci spiral with cross and name] established.
  • Mar 7 – Creation Letter signer Rev Jeff Setzer of Creation Family Ministries starts the I Signed the Creation Letter! Cause on facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/239565
  • Mar 13 – Deceptivorus image [dinosaur skull eating a Darwin fish] created. Becomes CreationLetter.com’s official mascot. [Later adopted by DefendingGenesis.org]
  • Mar 19 –  I was honored to give a devotional and presentation on the Creation Letter Project to the staff at Answers In Genesis’ Creation Museum. This was mentioned in Ken Ham’s blog on March 21, 2009 at http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2009/03/21/bbc-radio-and-ambush-journalism/:

    Tony Breeden (see photo) informed our staff on Thursday about an outreach he leads and that we’re finding more about called the Creation Letter Project. This is in response to the efforts of evolutionists who are recruiting pastors to lend their names to a petition that declares that evolution and Christianity are compatible (it has about 12,000 clergy signed up). Tony is asking pastors and others to show their support for biblical creation at www.creationletter.com and to give Tony their names.

  • Mar 29 – We launched our Creation Letter email newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/creationletter/ to give supporters a way to get updates on our latest efforts.
  • May 1 – We made our 13-week series of Defending Genesis church bulletin inserts available for free download for churches to use during our Summer of Creation initiative.
  • May 7 – I become a speaker for the KCSG after delievering a presentation during their regular monthly meeting. The subject was “Heere Be Dragones: Relict Dinosaurs and Dragon Legends,” which included an overview of Creation Cryptozoology.
  • Jun 9 – Dr G Charles Jackson of Creation Truth Foundation is kind enough to advertise our Defending Genesis inserts to his email group:

“Dear readers, this series of inserts has been produced by a reputable group. The Creation Letter project is in direct response to the Darwin Sunday project of the evo-Sith NCSE group. I’ve checked over these and found them to be solid and useful. You are free to use these in your bulletins at will, if it is agreeable to your church secretary and the other authorities over the bulletin materials.

God bless all, Dr J”

“During our week at the Creation College, we were approached by a gentleman who informed us of the startling “Clergy Letter Project”, in which nearly 12,000 ministers have pledged to adhere to an evolutionary interpretation of Genesis and hold an “Evolution Weekend” at their churches, promoting the ideas of Darwin and a compromised position of God’s Word. Fortunately, the gentleman provided us with a business card with some web-sites devoted to challenging this gross compromise within the depths of the Church. They urged everyone to convince  their churches to take a stand for Biblical Authority by promoting a “Creation Sunday”. You should sign the online petition at CreationLetter.com.”

2009 – In Review: DefendingGenesis.org

  • Jul 23 – Defending Genesis ministries, named after our immensely popular Defending Genesis church bulletin inserts is organized as an umbrella ministry over CreationLetter.com, the Creation Sunday Network, the Sirius Knotts creation and my expanding Creation speaking ministry. The Sirius Knotts blogsite becomes Defending Genesis with Sirius Knott
  • Jul 30 – The Creation Sunday 2010 Cause is created on Facebook at http://causes.com/creationsunday
  • Aug 7 & 8 – I participate as a Featured Speaker during the KCSG’s 7th annual WV Creation Conference at Rock Branch independent Church in Nitro, WV
  • Aug 15 & 16 – I participate as a Featured Speaker during a KCSG-sponsored Creation Conference at Trinity Baptist Church in Buckeye, WV.
  • Aug 16 – The Creation Letter Newsletter email group becomes The Defending Genesis Newsletter. Web editions of the monthly newsletter are made available at the newly re-named Defending Genesis site.
  • Aug 30 – We acquire the domain name DefendingGenesis.org for the Defending Genesis site.
  • Sep 2 – DefendingGenesis.org and the KCSG announce the 1st WV Creation Science Fair and launch its website at http://wvscience.wordpress.com. The event is slated for Feb 27, 2010.
  • Oct 3 – Presented information on DefendingGenesis.org and our various projects to the West Virginia state conference of the Association of Fundamental Ministers & Churches. Also, the following sidebar appeared in that AFMC’s official quarterly, Fundamental News, under the heading Creation FYI:

“The Rev. Tony Breeden has a ministry dedicated to promoting the Gosepl of Christ, the Creator, and exposing the lies that are used to support the theory of evolution.

DefendingGenesis.org has relevant news and articles concerning Creation, evolution, apologetics and ministry projects like Creation Sunday 2010, CreationLetter.com and the upcoming WV Creation Science Fair. You can download Defending Genesis fact sheets as an evangelistic apologetics aid or to use in your church bulletins.

Creation Sunday is Feb. 14, 2010, and this site provides practical suggestions for churches on how to celebrate and prepare for having a Creation Sunday. Check it out!”

  • Dec 11 – Our Defending Genesis church bulletin inserts were updated. These have no dates so they are more readily used as syand-alone apologetics and witnessing tools and can be used by churches any time!
  • Dec 13 – The DefendingGenesis.org Facebook Fan page is launched.

2010 – The Ministry Expands – Noah’s Ark: Beyond Flannelgraph, The Bookwyrm’s Lair & Operation: Wittenberg

“Visiting recently at the Creation Museum with his family—for the fourth time—was Tony Breeden. Tony heads up a creationist ministry in West Virginia (where I am today—speaking at Appalachian Bible College, which includes an open-to-the-public talk Thursday evening) , and one of his outreaches (a national one) is to involve churches in something called Creation Sunday. Find out more about his unique ministry (he is also a very good speaker) at www.creationletter.com.

Creation Sunday (February 14) is a call to churches to dedicate a church service to the doctrine of creation and to counter something called the Clergy Letter Project, where churches (maybe 12,000 of them) will be—believe it or not—celebrating an “Evolution Sunday” (on the same date) and promoting evolution as true and Genesis as myth.

You can see a photo of Tony speaking to our staff last year here.

Here is a nice email from Tony Breeden, a creation speaker in West Virginia, who visits the Creation Museum on occasion (about a 3–4 hour drive away). He has become very active in “creation evangelism” ministry in his state—and beyond. On my blog a few days ago we mentioned his website, and he wrote Mark Looy, our CCO, to thank him for that web posting:

http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2010/01/27/creation-sunday-february-14/

“Mark,

I wanted to take a brief moment to let you know how much I apppreciated the way you promoted Creation Sunday 2010 on Ken Ham’s blog last week. … CreationLetter.com experienced a 350% traffic increase whenKen Ham’s blog on Creation Sunday was posted, and we’ve nearly doubled the number of signatures, notably clergy and pastor signatures.

I was able to thank Mr. Ham personally at Appalachian Bible College and I found him very gracious. His presentation was very thought-provoking, both to those who’ve never heard creationist material and those of us who are more familiar with these arguments and evidences. Thanks for keeping it fresh!

I just finished an interview with WGRC’s ‘The Matter at Hand’ with Larry Weidman. Tonight, I’ll be doing a creation presentation for a local creation group, and will then be on KFAX’s LIFE!LINE with Craig Roberts [9pm EST/6pm PST]. If the only thing I have to complain about is how busy I am and how many opportunities I’m encountering, I am truly blessed.

Thank you again for your support, encouragement, and friendship, Mark.

Tony Breeden

DefendingGenesis.org & CreationLetter.com”

Well, let’s try to increase his web traffic even more! Go to www.creationletter.com.

  • Feb 14 – Creation Sunday 2010
  • Jun 15 – Noah’s Ark: Beyond Flannelgraph is moved to its own blog site due to popularity.
  • Jul 19 thru 23 – I portray Noah in a very special Noah’s Ark VBS in which a Emmanuel Baptist Church [Charleston, WV] turned their sanctuary into a live mock-up of the Ark interior complete with stalls and animals. More details and photos available in our Summer 2010 Newsletter.
  • Jul 29 thru 31 – Creation Space Camp 2010 at Sar Shalom Bible Center [Hurricane, WV]
  • Aug 6 & 7 – I participate as a Featured Speaker during the KCSG’s 8th annual WV Creation Conference at Rock Branch independent Church in Nitro, WV
  • Aug 14 – The Bookwyrm’s Lair launches. The Bookwyrm’s Lair is a review site which examines media from a Biblical Creationist perspective.
  • Aug 15 – Our review of Already Gone [our very first review at The Bookwyrm’s Lair] is featured on the Around the World with Ken Ham blog, Already Gone Review.
  • Sep 3 – DefendingGenesis.org issues a Media Advisory concerning Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design: Is Stephen Hawking’s New Book Science or Science Fiction?
  • Sep 21 thru 23 – I attended the Answers For Pastors 2010 conference where CreationLetter.com was mentioned as I had the honor of praying for those assembled before Dr. Jason Lisle spoke on Sep 23rd. I certainly appreciated the opportunity!
  • Oct 3 – A note of appreciation was featured on the Around the World with Ken Ham blog at AnswersinGenesis.org, Churches and Already Gone:

“Here is some more feedback from the pastors’ conference (“Answers for Pastors”) we held last month here in northern Kentucky (it was so successful, we may do many more):

I wanted to say “thank you” for the great resources and relevant information you offered at the Answers for Pastors conference! In particular, I appreciate the free copy of Already Gone. This book explains a lot about why so many young people are leaving the church.

My generation was a part of this alarming trend of “graduating” (i.e., leaving) church when we graduate high school. Already Gone confirmed my suspicions: We’d been taught in church what to believe, but not why we ought to believe it or how to defend it. Thank you for taking the initiative to research this crucial issue and for responding to it with presuppositional apologetic resources like Dr. Lisle’s book Ultimate Proof of Creation.

I also thought you might like to hear about how Already Gone is affecting real-world change in a local church in West Virginia. After I gave my pastor a copy, he announced the very next Sunday morning  that it was one of the catalysts for a new series of in-depth Bible apologetics classes at the church, intended to train disciples who can teach their own Bible studies.

I believe God is using Answers in Genesis and the message of this book to call His Church back to authentic discipleship and presuppositional apologetics!

 – Rev. Tony Breeden

See Rev. Breeden’s website: www.CreationLetter.com“

2011 – The Year of Taking the Bible Seriously

  • Feb 11-13 – Creation Weekend 2011
  • Mar 23-26 –  We wrote a series of posts concerning Ken Ham’s expulsion from the Great Homeschools Convention.
  • Mar 31 – DefGen.org calls out Benny Hinn for promoting the Archko Volume as a legitimate historical resource.
  • June 9 – I defended the Ark Encounter against a snarky hit video by Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
  • Sep 28 – Johnny Came Home, a superhero sci-fi book, is published. A work of apologetics fiction, it

2012 – Writing Books

  • Sep 28 – Johnny Came Home, a superhero sci-fi book, is published. A work of apologetics fiction, it explores the subjects of origins and racism during the course of the story.
  • Oct 31 – TonyBreedenBooks.com is launched to help promote Johnny Came Home and any forthcoming books.

2015 – The Book

2016 – Exotheology

2020 – The End

  • Jan 12-14 – DefGen.org announces that the ministry is at an end.

 

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