Summary
Joe Crews founded amazing Facts, Inc. ("AF") in 1966 as a nonprofit Christian radio ministry. This evangelistic ministry is dedicated to reflecting and spreading Light of Jesus Christ - "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:9. AF’s ministry has three basic elements - teaching, baptizing, and discipling people. In addition to its broadcast ministry, AF offers a Bible study course and publishes dozens of pocket-sized books. In the mid-'80s, the ministry included TV to its media outreach. AF’s Bible-based TV messages gained acceptance from viewers, and now the first Amazing Facts TV series is seen in major markets across America. This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Contact Information: [ Back to top ]
| Mailing Address: | P.O. Box 1058
Roseville, CA
95678-8058 |
| Website: | amazingfacts.org |
| Phone: | (916) 434-3880 |
| Email: | You need to enable javascript to see the email |
Organization Details [ Back to top ]
EIN: 680389022
| CEO/President: |
Mr. Douglas Batchelor |
Tax Deductible: |
Yes |
| Chairman: |
Jin Pedersen |
Fiscal Year End: |
|
| Board Size: |
25 |
Financial info from: |
|
| Founder: |
Mr. Joe Crews |
Member of ECFA: |
No |
| Year Founded: |
1966 |
Member of ECFA since: |
|
Joe Crews founded Amazing Facts, Inc. ("AF") in 1966 as a nonprofit Christian radio ministry. This evangelistic ministry is dedicated to reflecting and spreading Light of Jesus Christ - "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:9. AF’s ministry has three basic elements - teaching, baptizing, and discipling people.
In addition to its broadcast ministry, Amazing Facts offers a Bible study course and publishes dozens of pocket-sized books. In the mid-'80s, the ministry included TV in its media outreach. AF’s Bible-based TV messages gained acceptance from viewers, and now the first Amazing Facts TV series is seen in major markets across America.
In 1994, Joe Crews died suddenly after nearly 30 years as the ministry's director and speaker. Now under the leadership of Doug Batchelor, Amazing Facts is broadcasting four different television programs and one live call-in radio program on major media outlets throughout North America. Amazing Facts remains committed to giving people the concise biblical answers to life's important questions. This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Need Mission Statement
Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]
Amazing Fact's programs include the following:
TV: Amazing Facts began its TV ministry 10 years ago, and Doug Batchelor's new evangelistic series, filmed last year on the campus of Andrews University, is currently airing on 24 local broadcast stations, two nationwide cable networks, plus an international satellite network. This 58-part series is drawing an average of 546 calls a week to AF.
AF’s television studio, located in the Sacramento Central Church, produces regular Amazing Facts programming, major evangelistic crusades, training seminars, and other special events.
Radio: AF offers answers to your Bible questions every day. Their Bible Answers Live Archive site takes select questions from our Sunday night broadcast of Bible Answers Live and makes them available via the internet. AF also offers popular Classic Radio Sermons by Joe Crews online.
Bible Answers Live is broadcast live over the Internet in RealAudio every Sunday evening at 7:00 PM Pacific Time or on Positive Life Radio and KFSG 96.3
Amazing Facts Study Guides: First published in 1966 the Amazing Facts Study Guides help Christians gain a clearer understanding of the Bible. AF also offers the Amazing Facts On-line Bible School.
Seminars: Amazing Facts employs a team of Bible Seminar Speakers that share what God has taught them.
Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]
Amazing Facts uses the following to express its Statement of Faith:
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is profitable for correction, reproof, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and that it reveals the almighty God.
We believe that Jesus is the eternal, self-existent God and is not a created being. Even though He is fully God, He took upon Himself the form of a man to live and die for our sins.
We believe that the penalty for man's sin was paid on the cross of Calvary in Jesus' death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23. By believing on Jesus Christ and accepting the grace of His shed blood, we receive the gift of eternal life. "Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:9.
Because we love Jesus for His sacrificial death, we want to obey Him as he commands in John 14:15. We are not saved by our works; but, because we are saved, we choose to keep His commandments as the guide for successful living.
We believe that prophecy reveals Jesus is coming again very soon.
The first Amazing Facts radio program went on the air in Baltimore in the spring of 1966 with the aim of attracting both religious and secular listeners. Joe Crews, the ministry's founder and first speaker opened each broadcast with an amazing scientific or historical fact and then present a related biblical message and Bible lesson to encourage people to study God's Word for themselves. In less than a decade, God had taken AF from a Baltimore-based radio broadcast to a nationwide ministry.
Amazing Facts began to expand its resources and specialties. AF developed a Bible study course and published dozens of pocket-sized books. In the late 1970s, Joe began training young men to preach the gospel. In the mid-'80s, the ministry included TV to its media outreach. AF’s Bible-based TV messages gained acceptance from viewers, and soon the first Amazing Facts TV series was distributed to major markets across America.
In 1994, Joe Crews died suddenly after nearly 30 years as the ministry's director and speaker. But Doug Batchelor continued the work of Joe Crews. Under his leadership, Amazing Facts is now broadcasting four different television programs and one live call-in radio program on major media outlets throughout North America. AF remains committed to giving people the concise biblical answers they want and need.
Amazing Facts ministries requests your prayers. ("The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availith much") Amazing Facts accepts various gifts and other support. They accept collectibles, automobiles, real estate, etc. They accept sponsors for a TV/Radio program, Evangelistic event, or other Amazing Facts resources.
Research Analysis
Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]
| Transparency Grade of : F |
| Criteria category | Grade | Other Comments |
| Timeliness: | 0 | |
| Financial Information: | 0 | |
| Foundational Clarity: | | |
| Level of Cooperation: | | |
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MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]
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MinistryWatch.com’s Take
Fact or Fiction?
Amazing Facts Ministries began in 1966 as a Baltimore broadcast radio effort to attract religious and secular listeners to the truths of Scripture, with a provocative bit of historical or scientific information, upon which a Bible message could be developed. Through the brainchild of ministry founder Joe Crews, the effort was enormously successful, quickly reaching up and down the East Coast of America with broadcast and printed study material, and eventually developing trained evangelists to reason from the pages of Scripture in a winsome manner that would be effective in leading people to Christ. The ministry branched out into television during the 80’s, and today reaches major broadcast media markets with numerous television programs and a live radio call-in show.
AFM’s current president is Pastor Doug Batchelor of Sacramento Central Church, Sacramento, California. The son of millionaire airline magnate, George Batchelor and showbiz socialite and film critic, Ruth Batchelor, Doug Batchelor’s life is a model for capturing the attention with the sensational as an opportunity for disseminating the reality of Scripture. Converted out of a life of cynicism, self destruction and suicidal ideation, Batchelor directs an evangelistic ministry committed to the angelic messages in Rev. 14:6-14, with the stated purpose of opening the Bible, “to everyone's understanding regardless of religion, race, nationality, or gender,” making use of such modern communication and distribution technology as, TV, radio, video and audio cassette, the internet, and high-speed printing. This is accomplished on various ministry fronts through careful organization and deliberate marketing presence.
A major element of AFM’s original ministry, the Bible School is structured around a free correspondence course, originally 12 lessons, recently expanded to include 27 independent full-color Study Guides covering cardinal doctrines of Christianity, with additional lessons ranging from prophetic commentary to issues of diet and health. The school is staffed by 5 full time personnel and 20 volunteers. College level training is offered through the Amazing Facts College Of Evangelism (AFCOE), a resident program offered through the facilities of Weimar College, approximately an hour from Sacramento, California. College credit is available by arrangement with Weimar College.
Local church based Bible Seminars continue to be a mainstay of AFM in the United States and around the world, featuring trained ministry teams and eye catching platform props, and emphasizing the “talents” of ministry participants. Trained Teams handle evangelism and a wide range of support services and logistical details, all necessary to the success of any large ministry effort. Evangelistic successes are chronicled in the bi-monthly magazine, Inside Report.
Bible Universe is an AFM website offering a 24 hour life resource with evangelistic appeal, issue oriented Christian commentary, devotional reflection, and additional study resources against a backdrop of the Bible as a reliable core information resource. Additional ministry resources include audio and video tapes, Bible software recommendations and classic reference standards as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and a wide range of printed lessons by numerous authors and teachers connected with AFM, all available through the ministry website. AFM has continued to offer founder Joe Crews’ material after his unexpected death in a 1994 traffic accident, and also offers some reference work by Seventh Day Adventist founder Ellen G. White.
“Join Us”
If outward appearances are to be believed, Amazing Facts Ministries is flourishing. Ministry publications are replete with disclaimers of donation seeking, promise to “not beg you for your money” (Mission Statement). To be sure, study courses, pamphlets and numerous print resources are offered at no charge, and a remarkable volume of study information is available though the website. Book-length publications and reference volumes, however, are priced for sale. In keeping with this apparent fundamental that those who benefit directly from the ministry should be willing to pay for it, the College of Evangelism tuition, board and room are the enrollees’ responsibility.
On an introductory web page, ministry supporters are encouraged to “join” in the effort of Amazing Facts Ministries by partnering in giving. Charitable gift annuities are suggested as a means of supporting God’s work, increasing personal income and reducing taxes, with gifts not less than $10,000. Gifts of real estate, stock and charitable trust are also explained and encouraged, as are one-time cash gifts and scheduled contributions. Assistance in estate planning is offered, presumably in the hope of establishing that proceeds from the estates of deceased Christians continue to support Christian endeavor.
Amazing Fact
Amazing Facts Ministries is affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventism. Though not conspicuously asserted in ministry media presentations, this fact becomes clear as ministry publications and study curriculums are examined. Many consider the ministry’s most compelling doctrinal distinctive to be those, which issue directly from the teachings of Ellen G. White, and may find the apparent avoidance of this association disturbing for a ministry purporting to deal with the facts. Indeed, some may even find it amazing.