Ever since mountains, and forests, and rivers have existed, men have set about exploring them. From Erik the Red with his Viking fleet heading to Greenland, Ernest Shackleton leading an expedition to the frozen seas of the Antartic, and Paul's missionary journey through the mediterranean sea and Macedonia.
When God created Adam, He set him in beauty, mystery, and adventure. He put him among beasts and wild animals. Gardens, and wild flowers. He also gave him order and rule in the world covered in wilderness. And gave man permission to explore.
Although God created community, and gathered his people (Israelites), often he took them away for days or even years. He drove them into wilderness to speak to them. In Hosea 2:14, God speaks in the metaphor of Israel, "Therefore, I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her." The wilderness is where our eyes and ears are opened to hear God, and receive his "tenderness" and strength.
He took the prophet Elijah there, and fed him by Ravens. He took Moses and the Israelites into the desert for 40 years to teach them dependence. John the Baptist was raised there. And even Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days.
There is something in the wilderness, we need to be trasformed.
Few of us have ever explored the world around us beyond a paved road, a vehicle, and our cell phone. We are more comfortable with air-conditioned malls and the safety of our homes.
You will experience the wild in many areas at Training Ground. Our goal is to help you experience Christ through a fishing rod, and a quiet steam. Whether it be in the Rocky mountain streams fly-fishing with our guides Ron, Timm, and Andy, or mountain biking after work through sandstone valleys, up steep terrain of Moab mountains, or our week canoeing through the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. It will be an adventure of a life-time.
Does the "wild" make you a man? No. But it is in that place where our deepest fears, and what we truly need comes out. It is the context where our lives become center stage, and our emotions, and our God is revealed.
Our hope is to take you into the adventures, and the wilderness to bring you closer to God, and your masculine heart. To be tested, challenged, and pushed into new areas of the heart God put within you.
