Well Done, Mike Riddle.
Nate Loper - August 1, 2026 On July 31, 2026, Mike Riddle passed from this life into eternity. For those of us who knew him personally, learned from him, or were shaped by his ministry, the loss is deeply felt. Mike was a strong and steady voice in the biblical creation movement for decades. He was a teacher, author, apologist, curriculum developer, international speaker, and mentor. Yet perhaps the role that best expressed his heart was that of a trainer. Mike did not simply want to give effective presentations himself. He
From Rim to River: Grand Canyon’s Vertical Habitats
Nate Loper - July 21, 2026 From rim to river, the canyon is a living reminder that God is not only powerful enough to create. He is faithful enough to provide. Stand at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on a cool morning and the landscape below can look almost lifeless. The cliffs are dry, the slopes are steep, and the river is barely visible as a narrow thread winding through rock nearly a mile below. From that distance, the canyon seems like a monument made almost entirely of
The Pale Blue Dot God Chose to Visit
Nate Loper - July 2, 2026 The stars declare the glory of God, but the cross declares His love. There is something wonderfully humbling about sleeping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. On our recent Stargazer Special river trip, days were filled with the kind of beauty that almost overwhelms the senses. Towering canyon walls rose above us in layers of color and stone. The Colorado River carried us through narrow corridors, around sweeping bends, past cliffs, side canyons, fossils, and folds. But then night would come. As the last light faded
Florida’s Geology Through the Lens of Noah’s Flood
Nate Loper - June 5, 2026 Florida is not a simple one-event landscape. It is more like a layered story. Being in Florida right now sharing about Canyon Ministries at the Southern Baptist Annual Meeting has me thinking about geology in a different way than I usually do. Out West, geology is obvious. You stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and the rocks are right there in front of you, stacked in massive layers like a giant open book. In the West, you see cliffs, canyons, faults, folds, desert
Making the Invisible Visible — Remembering Ray Strom
Nate Loper - May 14, 2026 Every sample had to be carefully cut, mounted, ground paper-thin, analyzed, photographed, and documented. In many ways, Ray helped make the invisible visible. There are some people whose names become widely recognized through books, films, and conference stages. Then there are others whose work quietly supports and strengthens the efforts of countless people around them, often without much public attention at all. Our friend Ray Strom was one of those men. Recently, Ray passed away, and many throughout the biblical creation community have been reflecting
The Wow Factor of Yosemite National Park
Nate Loper - May 4, 2026 The moonlight now spilling into the forest and onto the trail provided all the light we needed, yet we never would have seen it if we did not trust enough to turn our lights off. There is something memorable about taking people into God's creation where the senses move the soul of man. My friend Steve Lummer from Outdoor Nations Network says it best: “We take people outside, so that God can speak to their inside.” I absolutely love this phrase. Over the years, I've
How Was the Grand Canyon Formed? A Catastrophic Lake Spillover Model
Nate Loper - April 29, 2026 If you read most park signs, you'll find the formation of the Grand Canyon is often treated as a simple question of slow erosion and time. A river cut downward over 5.5 to 6 million years and produced the canyon we see today. At first glance that might seem reasonable. But the more closely the landscape is examined, the more that simple explanation begins to fall short. And interestingly, that explanation is losing favor among many geologists today. You see, the canyon is not
An Evening with Geologist Dr. Steve Austin
Nate Loper - April 17, 2026 Having Steve here this last time, in the middle of that ongoing work, brought a unique perspective. Not because he handed us answers, but because he has spent decades asking the same kinds of questions in other places. We had one of those evenings you wish you could bottle up and revisit later again and again. Out here in northern Arizona, where the land itself invites questions, our team recently had the chance to gather with geologist Dr. Steve Austin and others who were
The Appalachians and the Global Flood
Nate Loper - February 10, 2026 To understand the Appalachians properly, we have to step back far enough to see not just a mountain range, but a world that was once unified, later broken apart, and reshaped by catastrophic events. A World That Was Once Whole There are landscapes that feel settled, as though their story is complete the moment you arrive. The Appalachian Mountains are not like that. They stretch on quietly, ridge after ridge, forested and familiar, until the repetition itself begins to ask questions. Why do these
The Grand Canyon Never Gets Old
Nate Loper - January 28, 2026 The canyon doesn’t change us because it’s impressive. It changes us because it reminds us who God is—and who we are not. There are places in the world that lose their edge the more you see them. Familiarity dulls the wonder. The first visit stuns you, but over time the awe slowly erodes into routine. The Grand Canyon has never worked that way for me. I’ve been here with Canyon Ministries for twelve years now. I’ve stood on the rim, hiked the trails, floated the