The Grand Canyon
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. (1Samuel 2:2)
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalm 18:2)
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalm 40:2)
I LIKE THIS PICTURE THAT PEERS THROUGH A CURTAIN OF TREES into the Grand Canyon, taken by our daughter, Joy Cofield. She and husband, Jim Cofield visited the park last week while they were in Arizona conducting a church-related retreat. I have several pictures of the Grand Canyon on file, which I enjoy studying for the beauty and interesting way God made the vast rock formations.
THE CANYON IS 273 MILES LONG AND UP TO 18 MILES WIDE, 1,902 SQUARE MILES. Yesterday a TV feature mentioned that there are 750 miles of trails inside the rim of the canyon. Many species of plants and animals live there. Hundreds of helicopters fly over and down into the canyon daily, carrying passengers who want a fast and closer look.
THE GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK PAGE SAYS: “Grand Canyon National Park, in Arizona, is home to much of the immense Grand Canyon, with its layered bands of red rock revealing millions of years of geological history.” The claim that this canyon is millions of years old is why the canyon has become a scientific and theological classroom...and battleground.
THE LATE DR. HENRY MORRIS LED GROUPS OF POST=GRADUATE STUDENTS into the Grand Canyon to study the rock formations. Dr. Morris pointed out the excellent display of layered rock formations that are best explained by the world-wide Noahic Flood in Genesis 6. He denied the claim that the canyon was formed by slow erosion. He believed the canyon was formed by the Noahic Flood when massive amounts of water dropped particles that settled out and formed layers of sedimentary stone. He believed the earth and universe were made by God in six, 24-hour days. When I met him in his home, he was the Chairman of the Hydraulics Department of the University of Virginia.
“HENRY MADISON MORRIS WAS AN AMERICAN YOUNG EARTH CREATIONIST, Christian apologist, and engineer. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research. He is considered by many to be "the father of modern creation science." Wikipedia
AS WE DRIVE THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES, the “road cuts” through the rock formations in the mountains and foothills have always fascinated me. That is expensive road building. But it also reveals the amazing designs of the hand of God in making mountains and the rock structures in them.
DURING MY JUNIOR-HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL DAYS, my father became friends with Alvin C. York, the World War I soldier, who lived in Jamestown, TN. My father had a hickory mill in Jamestown, and they spent some time together. Sgt. York had engaged in drilling for oil and hit a big well that overflowed into the river and the oil caught fire. Somehow, they put out the fire and began pumping the oil into the tanks to sell. Sgt. York became wealthy from it but didn’t want to keep up with the tax share the government wanted from it. So, the government seized his holdings and Sgt. York died bankrupt.
MEANTIME, MY FATHER LAUNCHED HIS OWN PROJECT OF DRILLING FOR OIL. He visited state-certified geologists and learned about rock formations from them. As a kid, I traveled some with my father and he loved to explain to me the anticline and syncline formations of rock as we traveled through the mountains. Anticline formations are shaped like a bowl, upside down and extend several hundreds of yards. Syncline formations look like a bowl sitting upright.
DRILLING IS ALWAYS DONE IN AN ANTICLINE FORMATION about a third of the way from the bottom of the slope to get the best flow of oil. If drilling is done in the top of the anticline formation, you will get only gas that is trapped in the top of the dome. By drilling 2/3 of the way down the anti-cline formation, the trapped gas will help to push the oil to the hole and maybe out of the hole. He listened carefully to the geologists. There’s a good bit of oil in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Small wells have been producing small amounts of oil for many years.
HE DID STRIKE OIL AND WAS ABLE TO PUMP FIVE BARRELS OF OIL A DAY into a holding tank and sold it to the big truck tanker that picked it up once a week. We never got rich from it, but neither did we go broke. Oil drilling is expensive. We kept a barrel of crude oil in the barn lot to use in starting fires to burn stumps and dead animals. There was always a pocket of gas in the top of the barrel and when I removed the threaded plug, it would almost knock the plug out of my hand when it came loose. I did not intend to get into a wildcat oil drilling tale. It just sort of pushed its way into the story.
THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY BUT I MENTION IT HERE because rock and stone are so important in the Bible. Also, it is used for art, building highways and buildings and there are vast stores of oil and water stored in the underground rock formations. My 9th grade science textbook taught us about the three main types, or classes of rock: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Google follows about the same wording of my science text book.
“THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THEM HAVE TO DO WITH HOW THEY ARE FORMED. Sedimentary rocks are formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles, and other fragments of material. Together, all these particles are called sediment.” (Google) The stone formation in the Grand Canyon is sedimentary stone. Would love to visit the Grand Canyon and fly down into it in a chopper and take pictures.
DAVID, SAMUEL, JESUS AND PETER ALL TALKED ABOUT ROCKS OR STONE and pictured the qualities of rock as being desirable for our lives. A stone foundation is necessary for a secure house. Building upon God as the foundation of our lives is essential.
Ye also, as lively stones, (living stones) are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1Peter 2:5-6)
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (Matthew 21:44) The idea here is that the stone is the defining characteristic and we are the pliable ones. If we fall upon God, our will is to broken into the shape and will of God. If we are unwilling to do that, there will come a day when we stand before Him to be judged, we will be forced to submit to Him. This is also portrayed in the idea of bowing the knee in submission to Him.
THE GRAND CANYON IS AN AMAZING, MASSIVE STRUCTURE that portrays the hand of God in His beauty and awesome power. It is impressive because it is so big! And then, there is the continuous display of ever-changing shape of the beautiful layers of rock. Our God is an awesome God! Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MAY 10, 2019 – FRIDAY
A.M. 1 Kings 19-20 P.M. John 2
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalm 30:4-5)
Song for Today:
My Hope Is Built (2:31) (Samonte-Mennonite Choir -A Cappello)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bWjb_6MzwY
Very good!
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