I recently attended a “Jesus Worldview Initiative” retreat sponsored by Good Faith Media. The continuing education event occurred in West Yellowstone, Montana with excursions into Yellowstone National Park.

Longtime friend, John Pierce, facilitated the week. He warned the group, “The National Park Service does not prevent people from killing themselves.” Rangers rather optimistically expect tourists to exercise common sense, which is not so common.

Boardwalks skirt boiling geysers. Broken limbs line paths around mud pots and steam vents. The South Rim Trail parallels a thousand-foot plunge into Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. Bison, elk, bears, and wolves roam the fenceless park with clueless guests.  

Retired ranger, Lee Whittlesey, wrote Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park. The 440-page book recounts the tragic results of grizzly attacks, bison gorings, hot-springs falls, and freak avalanches.

Johnny shared this sage advice, “Never be within a step or a slip from death.” Appropriate boundaries guard against lethal consequences.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Most of us can find temptation quite easily on our own.

Boundaries protect God’s people from physical and spiritual dangers.

I recently attended a “Jesus Worldview Initiative” retreat sponsored by Good Faith Media. The continuing education event occurred in West Yellowstone, Montana with excursions into Yellowstone National Park.

Words cannot convey the majesty and diversity of Yellowstone’s geography. The landscape features something of everything that the Lord God Almighty created: majestic mountains, steep canyons, lush meadows, flowing streams, large lakes, crashing waterfalls, gushing geysers, and scalding thermals.

One of our leaders, Bruce Gourley, literally wrote the book on Historic Yellowstone National Park. He led us on a hike starting at the Wapiti Lake Trailhead. We walked through knee-high meadows of sagebrush and grass overlooking the Hayden Valley, stepping carefully around the reminders of bison’s recent passage. 

The path meandered from meadow to forest before entering a desolate landscape filled with smoke and steam. The seared soil resembled a lunar landscape devoid of life. Mud pots and steam vents bubbled and burbled with caustic, watery voices. Pieces of wood marked a scant trail through the hydrothermal area.

The pathway reentered the wood line and passed two ponds. Silt and plants ironically obscured Clear Lake; but Lily Pad Lake lived up to its name. Various hues of green painted the water, plants, and trees.

The vista opened a few hundred yards down the trail. The South Rim Trail of Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon suddenly appeared. The steep walls plunged to torrential waters below. We ended the hike at Artist Point with a postcard-view of the Lower Falls.

The ancient Greeks believed that the world contained four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. We experienced them all in a two-hour hike over varied terrain. The flora, fauna, and landscape declared God’s glory.

Hike and see that the Lord is good.

I recently attended a “Jesus Worldview Initiative” retreat sponsored by Good Faith Media. The continuing education event occurred in West Yellowstone, Montana with excursions into Yellowstone National Park.

We entered the park through the Roosevelt Arch at the North Gate where Yellowstone’s wildlife greeted us. Pronghorn antelope grazed in the fields, bald eagles soared through the skies, and bull elk posed by the road.

6,000 buffalo roam the national park. Taxonomists classify America’s national mammal with the repetitiously redundant title of Bison bison bison. Herds regularly block roads and jam traffic. One group sauntered past our vehicle a foot beyond the rolled-down windows.    

Rangers warn about the unpredictable nature of wild animals, but tourists exhibit an idiotic lack of common sense. I observed several people taking closeup selfies with one-ton bison. Others approached within ten yards of a rutting elk for photo ops.

A friend taught me the adage, “Never underestimate the stupidity of people in groups.” Intelligent people do dumb things in group settings. Stories of animals goring or trampling incautious tourists illustrate Darwinism at work.

Yellowstone’s wildlife displays the majesty of God’s handiwork.

Just don’t pet the fluffy cows.  

I recently attended a “Jesus Worldview Initiative” retreat sponsored by Good Faith Media. The continuing education event occurred in West Yellowstone, Montana with excursions into Yellowstone National Park. Seven clergy explored ways to encourage fresh commitments to following Jesus above all other commitments.

John Pierce and Tommy McDearis participated in the retreat. John will retire this year from a career in Christian journalism. Tommy serves as the senior pastor of Church on Main in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Our 45-year friendship began at Berry College. We bonded as religion majors answering God’s call into full-time ministry. I styled my wiry hair into a six-inch afro, Johnny sported wavy locks, and Tommy, well, Tommy possessed SOME hair. A recent photo reveals that the years have not changed us a bit.

Our friendship has survived the test of time, including college, seminary, vocations, marriages, children, moves, accidents, surgeries, and funerals. We’ve been there, done that, and share the wrinkles and scars to prove it.  

Proverbs 27:17 observes, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” I am grateful for good friends who have sharpened, supported, and loved me. They may not want to take the blame, but I am who I am apart because of who we are together.

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)