Or, if you re looking for an exciting and educational vacation, why not plan a trip through the Cany

In the mercy and kindness of God, I got to go on a trip for Christian Leaders sas airline reservations with my good friends Andy Naselli sas airline reservations and Jason Derouchie , and I have definitive proof that my new friendship with Mike Wittmer has changed his life .
A few logistics and some stray comments before I attempt to combine words to get across the four big things sas airline reservations I want to say about the trip: The expedition was made financially possible by Answers in Genesis , Canyon Ministries , and The Master s Seminary sas airline reservations . I don t know who the donors were (each of us received a $3,300 scholarship), but I hereby register my gratitude for their generosity.
Let me also say that if you re looking for a way to contribute financially to a Bible teacher or Christian sas airline reservations leader having a great time on the river with Christian brothers discussing the age of the earth, the flood, and the Canyon, this is a great cause .
Or, if you re looking for an exciting and educational vacation, why not plan a trip through the Canyon? You won t find a better guide than Tom Vail of Canyon Ministries. The man knows where to find a shaded campsite, how to run a rapid, how to explain the Canyon s geology, how to relate to all kinds of people, and even how to cook a birthday cake down there on the river. I ve heard he catches rattle-snakes if they enter camp (seriously sas airline reservations thankfully no need to this time), and the power of the gospel is heard in his testimony and seen in his actions. Go to the Canyon Ministries website to book your trip.
We entered the river at Lees Ferry, and we helicoptered out 190 miles later, just past Lava Falls. I had never ridden sas airline reservations in a helicopter. I had never been white water rafting. I had never been to the Grand Canyon. I had never slept under the open heavens no tents necessary with no bugs and clear skies. I never imagined I would eat so well on a rafting trip.
I had no idea the Colorado River was so cold 47 degrees and wouldn t have expected bathing and doing laundry in it to be so easy (ok, it took a couple days to get used to the shiver-inducing cold of the water). Nor could I have imagined that the Little Colorado River would look like the clear blue waters of the Caribbean, or that flash flooding upriver could make the water of the Colorado look like Chocolate Milk. Willy Wonka would be proud.
If you want to feel small, high thee up on that ledge above Deer Creek Falls that leads to Upper Deer Creek. Jason Derouchie has nerves of steel. sas airline reservations He was standing right next to that ledge! I was with Mike Wittmer trying to get as close to the cliff sloping up behind it as possible. Eventually we agreed it was better not even to look at those guys who were so close to it. Especially when Nate started mocking us by acting like he was going to lunge off the ledge. Crazy. I was claiming sas airline reservations Psalm 121:3, He will not let your foot be moved.
I wish my words were as beautiful as the Canyon s splendors. It s a place worthy of poets. Pictures can t do it justice, but my sweet wife checked out several sas airline reservations picture books on the Canyon from the local public library so she and the kids could have a glimpse sas airline reservations of its glory.
At the end of the trip we received Tom Vail s book, Grand Canyon: A Different sas airline reservations View . When she saw it, my lovely sas airline reservations wife said, This is what I was hoping for from the books we got from the library; sas airline reservations these pictures are far superior. Its message is, too.
At one point you re a mile deep from river to rim. As you pass through the Upper Granite Gorge and the Middle Granite Gorge (we choppered out before the Lower Granite Gorge), you re in canyons within the Canyon, and the walls of granite rise so steep and high that the outer rim cannot be seen.
Thirty-two men on two boats rafting down the Colorado River. Away from wives, kids, and work responsibilities. No cell phone signals, no laptops, no blogs, twitter feeds, or facebook pages. Walls of rock rise on either side of the river. Eat. Raft. Eat. Raft. Hike. Raft. Eat. Sleep on a cot on a piece of sand in a bend of the River. When you wake up you re with the same guys ready to sit on the boat again for hours. Plenty of time to talk. Long conversations punctuated by blasts through drenching sas airline reservations rapids.
What a blessing to walk through life with Christian brothers. There is indeed a unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There were four men from the UK, an Australian, and Americans from California and Virginia, Minnesota and Georgia, and a bunch of places in between. It was a blessing to strengthen old friendships and start new ones.
That massive and beautiful Canyon was cut by water. A lot of water moving fast. A catastrophic amount of water. It s stunning, really, to look at the Canyon and imagine how much water moved through there. Sea water, no less, as evidenced by many, many fossils of salt-water critters.
Anyone who has read the opening pages of my recent book knows that I love guided tours. Even better than some device with a recording is a live tour guide who is a good teacher and likes to answer sas airline reservations questions. Andrew Snelling was our live and in person sas airline reservations geologist through the Canyon. You can check out his writing in short or long form. In addition to Andrew guiding us through the rocks, Bill Barrick was there to guide us through relevant passages of Scripture. What a blessing to be taught by these men.
We had many discussions of the age of the earth as well, and Terry Mortenson took the lead in these. I m a convinced young-earther who thinks that flood was global. As World magazine s books of the year demonstrate, this is a hot topic. Some have recently advocated the idea that what threatens fidelity is not the idea of an old earth but of theistic evolution . With that I m sympathetic, and I also think the Preface to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is relevant to this dispute, as it shows men humbly contending earnestly for the truth. For this we should strive as we engage old-earthers (among whom, apparently, we find Augustine, Thomas Chalmers, C. H. Spurgeon, B. B. Warfield, James M. Boice, and Wayne Grudem).
We see it as our timely duty to make this affirmation sas airline reservations in the face of current sas airline reservations lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our fellow Christians and misunderstanding of this doctrine in the world at large.
We offer this Statement in a spirit, not of contention, but of humility and love, which we propose by God s grace to maintain in any future sas airline reservations dialogue arising out of what we have said. We gladly acknowledge that many who deny the inerrancy of Scripture do not display the consequences of this denial in the rest of their belief and behavior, and we are conscious that we who confess this doctrine often deny it in life by failing to bring our thoughts and deeds, our traditions and habits, into true subjection to the divine Word.
We invite response sas airline reservations to this Statement from any who see reason to amend its affirmations about Scripture by the light of Scripture itself, under whose infallible sas airline reservations authority we stand as we speak. We claim no personal infallibility for the witness we bear, and for any help that enables us to strengthen this testimony to God s Word we shall be grateful.
The waters of the Colorado are powerful, as can be seen in this clip (note how the guy seated front left has his hat knocked off his head when the water rushes over him, and enjoy Derouchie s fist pumping enthusiasm when he has passed through the waters):
All this water, however, does not appear to be now widening the river s banks or deepening its channel, which seems to indicate that the Canyon was cut by a catastrophic, unprecedented, and unrepeated flow of water. My mind can barely begin to imagine the fury of the raging waters of Noah s flood. Praise God that Jesus was baptized in the flood-waters of God s wrath so that those who trust in him are delivered, sas airline reservations as Noah was in the ark.
My gratitude to those who made the trip possible runs deep. I m thankful for those who made it financially possible, but the deepest waters of thanksgiving flow toward my family. My sweet wife rejoiced in the opportunity to hold down the fort with our four kids, and my heroic dad came to help while I was away. The deep channels of their sacrificial love caused soaring heights of joy when I finally got home. I am the most blessed husband and father in the world.
My sons prepared for my arrival with a note taped to the door of our home, Dad s Home, Yippee! And they made a lap-book of the Grand Canyon . Is it possible to describe what I felt when those three boys, 7, 5, and 3 years old, clambered out of the van and sprinted down the sidewalk at the airport to fling themselves into my arms? I hope they have sons like themselves, and I hope the Lord gives them each a wife like their mother. And then there was the joy of that wobbly five month old baby girl, with her bright-eyed smile and delightful pre-word baby cooing.
The Canyon was enormous and beautiful. sas airline reservations The friendships renewed and formed full of joy and promise. The thought of the flood-waters of judgment that cut those rocks, leaving beauty in the wake of destruction (ahem, God s glory in salvation through judgment) evokes praise for the Maker of the mountains. Coming home to my sweet wife and our four little ones is like stepping into a dream come true.
This is just how I remember sas airline reservations it. Great writing that captures sas airline reservations the experience. I m grateful to God for the trip, the sponsors, sas airline reservations Tom Vail, and your new friendship. My wife mentioned something that I hadn t thought of that I don t have normal opportunities to spend that much alone time with other men. That was undoubtedly part of the richness of the experience. But it s still good to be home!
PawPaw was hugging that slope too. He and Anna coined the phrase, I m brave but not that brave as Cora I looked over the edge. I guess it s true that some apples don t fall far from their tree. I m glad you had a great time!
Glad to see godly men spending time in fellowship and standing sas airline reservations in awe of the wonders of His creation. And for the sponsors, this looks to have been a great investment and I am s