If your summer has been like mine, I have experienced a gratifying and full summer. Nevertheless, life presses on. With the beginning of the fall semester on August 25, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary will begin its thirty-third year of operation. With the inception of this fall semester, I will begin my twenty-sixth year of teaching at DBTS. From my perspective, one of the great blessings of teaching at DBTS is that our faculty has been very stable. I look forward to the challenges that this academic year will bring.

If you are scheduled to take one of my fall semester classes at DBTS or are interested in seeing what the course requirements are for a seminary class, the course requirements for my class are now available. If you are taking Pentateuch, click here; Elementary Hebrew, here; or Rapid Hebrew Reading, click here for the ThM program and here for the MDiv.

Dating back to my days in seminary, I have been taught and used the water vapor canopy as a model, not as explicit biblical teaching, to explain some aspects of life in the antediluvian world. One of the key issues relates to where did enough water in the earth’s atmosphere come from so that it could rain for forty days and forty nights producing such a global flood that the highest mountains were covered with 20 to 23 feet of water (Gen 7:19-20 [show]Genesis 7:19-20 [19]And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. [20]The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits(1) deep. (ESV) Footnotes 1. [7:20] A 'cubit' was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
). To state this issue another way, where did all the water come from in the Noachian Deluge when God opened “the windows of heaven” in Genesis 7:11 [show]Genesis 7:11 [11]In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (ESV)
? The water vapor canopy provides an explanation as to how so much precipitation was in the earth’s atmosphere. But this model also has some inherent difficulties. I was faced with some of these difficulties while writing part one of my framework critique. In doing my research for this article, I did some ancillary reading that raised some additional questions about the viability of the vapor canopy. This issue was brought before me again on my recent white water rafting trip as we had some further discussions about this model. For example, if a vapor canopy has more than 20 inches of water, the greenhouse effect on the earth’s surface would be so great that life would not be sustainable. However, if the vapor canopy only has 20 inches of water, then its value for storing water for the Noachian Deluge seems to be negated. Though the vapor canopy is only a model that explains the environment in the antediluvian world, the issue relates to whether this is the best model. To read an introductory article that lays out some of the issues and presents some problems for the vapor canopy, read
Noah’s Flood - Where did the water come from?” For a more detailed article, read John Woodmorappe’s “Hypercanes: Rainfall Generators During the Flood.”

As Congress continues to use the energy crisis to advance each parties political agenda, Americans are being financially slain at the pump. In yesterdays Wall Street Journal, Joseph Petrowski’s opinion piece reflects on the current stalemate in Congress.

As president of Gulf Oil, New England’s largest independent petroleum company, and as someone who has spent his life in and around energy markets, I find the tone and substance of the current debate about our energy policy to be profoundly disappointing.

Partisan sides are using a serious crisis to advance political agendas, create political attack sound bites, and launch hearings to “expose” the culprit. Pick your favorite: speculators, Big Oil, environmentalists, China, India, etc.

To continue reading this article go to “A Bipartisan Fix for the Oil Crisis.”

Friends, we need to be proactive in our fight against Congress’ bureaucracy. A step in the right direction is for you to sign the American Solutions’ “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less” petition. Let me urge you to sign this petition and then send it along to others. The only way to communicate a message that something needs to change is to get Americans to act corporately. As of this morning, 1,314,995 people have signed this petition, but this is not enough to get most of these derelict Congressmen to do something. To sign the petition, click here (BTW, on the same page, you can go to a designated link to see if your Congressmen support this petition).

Many members of Congress remain in an apathetic stupor about doing anything to offset the rising cost of oil. In an interesting article yesterday, Environment News Service, reports that public sentiment has shifted in favor of greater exploration (such as mining and drilling) into what the United States can do to correct growing energy turmoil:

As gas prices soar to record highs across the United States, public support for more energy exploration is also rising, according to a new public opinion poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

A few months ago, fewer Americans gave a high priority to energy exploration, and more favored conservation. But the survey, conducted June 18-29 among 2,004 adults, found that an increasing proportion says developing new sources of energy - rather than protecting the environment - is the more important national priority.

Nearly half of those polled (47 percent) now rates energy exploration as the more important priority, up from 35 percent in February.

The proportion saying it is more important to increase energy conservation and regulation has declined by 10 points (from 55 percent to 45 percent).

The poll also finds that half of the Americans surveyed now support drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, up from 42 percent in February.

To continue reading, go to “Pain at the Pump Raises Support for Domestic Drilling.”

What can we do to correct this growing problem? We need to be more politically aggressive with our votes. If your Congressmen does not support drilling for oil, you need to cast a vote against him with the next election (to see who has signed this petition, go here). In addition, you must sign the American Solutions’ “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less” petition. As of this afternoon, this petition now has 1,307,340 signatures. Click here to sign this petition.

“Let’s Go Boatin’” still rings in my ear; and I can still vividly remember the first time I heard Tom Vail’s call when we launched our trip from Lee’s Ferry in the Marble Canyon on June 23rd (pictured above, the Vermilion Cliffs are in front of us). Though it has been over a week since I have returned from our 8-day/7-night white water rafting trip on Colorado River, Tom’s typical call to get on the boats is permanently etched in my mind. In a rough analogous way to Pavlov’s dog, Tom’s call moved us to “salivate” for boarding our boats to begin another informative aspect of our white water rafting trip down 187 miles of the Colorado River, starting at Lee’s Ferry in Marble Canyon and concluding at Whitmore Wash in the Grand Canyon. While I could write many posts about this valuable trip, I plan to highlight some key items from our trip in this post and a few subsequent posts.

Canyon Ministries in cooperation with Answers in Genesis, through the gracious gifts of donors, gave scholarship to 23 College and Seminary professors. Since the aim of this trip was to influence professors, it was described as the “2008 Grand Canyon Christian Scholars’ Trip.” More specifically, the purpose of the trip was to influence College and Seminary professors, who seemingly had more post-graduate degrees than Carter has liver pills, that the geological evidence in the Grand Canyon is best explained as a result of the universal flood in Noah’s lifetime. Besides the 23 professors, 5 additional scholars came on the trip to provide biblical and geological discussions. The following is a picture of our august body after the trip.

The following picture is of the team of five instructors who gave us a biblical and geological education on this trip. Pictured from left to right are David Coppedge (NASA’s team lead system administrator for the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena), Bill Barrick (Old Testament Professor at The Master’s Seminary), Andrew Snelling (Geologist par excellence, Director of Research with AIG-US), Tom Vail (director of Canyon Ministries; my impression from some river rafters is that Tom is something of a legend among river rafter), and Terry Mortenson (lecturer & researcher with AIG). All of these men are experts in their fields.

The expertise that these five men brought to the trip was invaluable. Since “let’s go boatin’” is permanently etched in my mind, I thought it appropriate to use this as a title for this series of posts. Here is a picture of Tom leading the way down the Colorado River.

Though I cannot forget Tom giving candid directions laced with humor, articulating geological insight about the canyon on a raft, climbing the canyon like a seasoned mountain goat, testifying how God in his sovereign grace saved him, and instructing how Noah’s flood provides the best explanation for the rock formations in the Grand Canyon, what I remember most vividly is “Let’s Go Boatin’” (for some other blogs describing aspects of our trip, click here for Bill Barrick’s blog, here and here for Del Tackett’s). With my next few posts, I will share with your a few of the thrills of white water rafting, geological data and theological observations.

Since I returned home late last Sunday night from my 8-Day Grand Canyon River Trip, I am just getting caught up on some reading since I had access neither to the internet nor to a cell phone. In scanning over some blogs that I normally read, I found a “fair and balanced” article on the upcoming presidential elections.

Many people are just waking up to the fact that this is an election year. John Mark Reynolds has posted an article that looks at the strengths and weaknesses of both presidential candidates. In the end, Reynolds notes that there are three areas where the next president will have an impact: the energy issue, judicial appointments and the war in Iraq. Though Reynolds clearly notes that McCain is not the conservative ideal, he indicates that he is voting for McCain because of the war and the courts. Because of the gravity of this election year, you will profit by reading “If You Are Just Starting To Think About This Election.”

“Politically speaking, Susan Speakman is a different kind of evangelical,” writes John M. Broder of the The New York Times. “Mrs. Speakman, 59, a pastor and educator at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Bridgeville, Pa., an activist evangelical church southwest of Pittsburgh, backs Senator Barack Obama in the presidential race. Along with her 23-year-old son, Stephen, she supports Mr. Obama because of his stands on the Iraq war and matters of social justice. The two of them plan to spread the word in their community and beyond.” This female church leader “is one of thousands of evangelical Christians and so-called faith voters whom the Obama campaign is recruiting in a major effort to connect with a part of the electorate that accounts for an estimated quarter of the voting population and helped elect George W. Bush president twice.” To find out more about Obama’s strategy and appeal to evangelical leaders, continue reading Obama Courting Evangelicals Once Loyal to Bush - NYTimes.com.

However, before evangelical Christians are seduced by Obama, they need to consider that his moral positions are antithetical to a Christian ethic. For example, they need to consider that Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate, is committed to appointing activist judges and approves the formal sanction of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Further, they should ask why Hamas is hoping for an Obama victory.

Though some so-called Evangelicals are concerned about “social justice,” what has happened to moral justice? For example, what has happened to moral justice for those created in the divine image but cannot articulate they want justice. I am referring to those unborn children who will be murdered through the medical practice of partial-birth abortion (for some basic biblical information on abortion, see my concise paper “A Biblical Understanding of Abortion“). Obama’s clearly articulated support for partial-birth abortion should wave a huge red flag for anyone with a biblical ethic. Every Christian with any moral fiber needs to listen to Obama’s unambiguous support for partial-birth abortion in his 2007 address to Planned Parenthood. To listen to his speech, go to Barack Obama at Planned Parenthood 2007. This address speaks volumes. May God help God-fearing people to use biblical discernment in the upcoming election.

Before leaving on my 8-day Grand Canyon river trip, I checked the American Solutions’ website; and, as of 5:25 AM, 1,086,047 people have signed the “Drill Now. Drill Here. Pay Less” petition. Since my last post at 9:48 PM last evening, this means that 4,956 people in a little less than six hours have signed this petition. Hopefully, the swelling number of people signing the petition will put some pressure on Congress. And, if not, we need to vote some of these Congressmen out of office. To sign the petition, click here.

If you do not see the issues clearly, you need to listen to Newt Gingrich discuss three ways to solve America’s energy solutions (this is less than 4 minutes): “Y3 Ways to Lower Gas Prices.”

The Chinese have forged a deal with the Cuban government to start drilling for oil near Key West, Florida. As our Congress continues to hopelessly debate the issue about offshore drilling for oil, the Chinese are taking advantage of a golden opportunity. As Bill Mayer, in the American Free Press, reports,

While Washington dithers over exploiting oil and gas reserves off the coast of Florida, China has seized the opportunity to gobble up these deposits, which run throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and along the U.S. Gulf coast.

The Chinese have forged a deal with Cuban leader Fidel Castro to explore and tap into massive oil reserves almost within sight of Key West, Florida. At the same time, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who controls the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, is making deals to sell his country’s oil to China, oil that is currently coming to the United States.

To continue reading Mayer’s “China Starts Oil Drilling off Flordia,” click here.

I noticed the American Solutions’ “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less” petition now has 1,081,091 signatures. To read about the latest news with this petition, go here. And, if you have not signed this petition yet, you need to do it now by clicking this link.

Early tomorrow morning I leave for an 8-Day/7-Night white water rafting trip covering 190 miles of Colorado River. This trip is organized by Answers in Genesis and Canyon Ministries. In cooperation with AIG, Canyon Ministries launched in 2008 a program called the “Christian Scholar’ Trip.” Scholarships have been provided for 24 professors and theologians from seminaries and Bible colleges from around the world.

On June 21 I will fly to Las Vegas and will have dinner with a number of men going on the trip. On the following morning, we will leave for the Marble Canyon. The following day, June 23, we will meet our river crew at the Old Marble Canyon Lodge. They will then take us to our river launch point. The river portion of our trip ends early in the morning on June 29 at Whitemore Wash. From there we are given a scenic 8-minute helicopter ride to the Bar Ten Ranch. At this ranch, we will be able to freshen up for our flight back to Las Vegas. From Vegas, I will then return in the afternoon to Detroit.

I have been looking forward to this trip for over a year (plans were being made in the spring of 2007). Since my areas of interest on Biblical Creationism focuses primarily on Genesis 1-2 [show]Genesis 1-2 The Creation of the World [1:1]In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2]The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3]And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [4]And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. [5]God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. [6]And God said, "Let there be an expanse(1) in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." [7]And God made(2) the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. [8]And God called the expanse Heaven.(3) And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. [9]And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. [10]God called the dry land Earth,(4) and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. [11]And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants(5) yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. [12]The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [13]And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. [14]And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,(6) and for days and years, [15]and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. [16]And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. [17]And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, [18]to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19]And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. [20]And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds(7) fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." [21]So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [22]And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." [23]And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. [24]And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. [25]And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [26]Then God said, "Let us make man(8) in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." [27]So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. [28]And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [29]And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. [30]And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. [31]And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. The Seventh Day, God Rests [2:1]Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2]And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. [3]So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. The Creation of Man and Woman [4]These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. [5]When no bush of the field(9) was yet in the land(10) and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, [6]and a mist(11) was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground-- [7]then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. [8]And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. [9]And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [10]A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. [11]The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. [12]And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. [13]The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. [14]And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. [15]The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. [16]And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, [17]but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat(12) of it you shall surely die." [18]Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for(13) him." [19]Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed(14) every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. [20]The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam(15) there was not found a helper fit for him. [21]So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. [22]And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made(16) into a woman and brought her to the man. [23]Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."(17) [24]Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. [25]And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (ESV) Footnotes 1. [1:6] Or 'a canopy'; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20 2. [1:7] Or 'fashioned'; also verse 16 3. [1:8] Or 'Sky'; also verses 9, 14, 15, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 4. [1:10] Or 'Land'; also verses 11, 12, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 5. [1:11] Or 'small plants'; also verses 12, 29 6. [1:14] Or 'appointed times' 7. [1:20] Or 'flying things'; see Leviticus 11:19-20 8. [1:26] The Hebrew word for 'man' ('adam') is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name 'Adam' 9. [2:5] Or 'open country' 10. [2:5] Or 'earth'; also verse 6 11. [2:6] Or 'spring' 12. [2:17] Or 'when you eat' 13. [2:18] Or 'corresponding to'; also verse 20 14. [2:19] Or 'And out of the ground the LORD God formed' 15. [2:20] Or 'the man' 16. [2:22] Hebrew 'built' 17. [2:23] The Hebrew words for 'woman' ('ishshah') and 'man' ('ish') sound alike
, there are facets of flood geology as it relates to the Grand Canyon where my knowledge needs to expand. This trip will be interesting for at least two reasons. First, the “Christian Scholars’ Trip focuses on educating both old earth and young earth creationists about how the geological details of the Grand Canyon concatenate with a literal interpretation of the Genesis Flood. Since I am a young earth creationist and have gone through some educational material on this subject, beginning in the early 1970s with Whitcomb and Morris’ The Genesis Flood, I look forward to detailed explanations, along with physical evidence from the Grand Canyon, showing how it relates to the biblical material. By the nature of this being a mixed group, this should allow for intriguing Q & A sessions.

Second, Tom Vail, the President of Canyon Ministries, has an interesting background. Tom left the corporate world in the early 1980s to become a canyon river tour guide through the Grand Canyon. He has also worked as a part-time guide for the Grand Canyon National Park Service and is a past-elected member of the board of directors for Grand Canyon River Guides. Until 1994 when he came to Christ, Tom guided tours through the Grand Canyon teaching an evolutionary model for the formation of the Grand Canyon. After his conversion, he developed a biblical creationist worldview that provided a superior explanation for the formation of the Grand Canyon. In 2003, he published Grand Canyon, a Different View.

Needless to say, because of his biblical explanation of the Grand Canyon, this book has created some stir among his opponents. Tom’s background and expertise should make this an excellent trip. To read more about him, click here. When I return from the trip, I plan to post on my website a few pictures with commentary.