Excuse #4 Naturalism
Isaiah 43:20 "The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people."
There is a fear amoung many Christians that if we 'go green' we will place an importance of animals and plants over people. this is called 'naturalism'. It's treated almost like a cult. As if recycling is brainwashing people to marry pigs and hug trees all day long. My response, not true!
Even though animals and plants don't have souls, (sorry New Ageists, paganists and Tom Cruise) God did give them the ability to honor Him. Remember, in Genesis He looked at all creation and considered everything very good. And technically, if you read the acount of creation closely, man was made dead last. But God was saving the best for last, because He created us in His image. And surely God considers himself more important than animals and plants right? And God gave us plants and animals to provide for our needs.
This is why I'm a little skeptical of PETA. They do great things for our planet, but the people involved with PETA can take it to the extreme. No dairy? No beef? No chicken?! Sorry but I can't live without KFC. Besides, think of the way the Isrealites used to sacrifice to God. The priests were allowed to eat the meat burned at the alter. Think of the Isrealites wandering the desert. God provided them with quail and manna. Which I take to mean it's okay to eat meat. However, we must do so with responsibility and moderation. Only the priests were allowed to eat of the sacrifice and the Isrealites were only suppose to use a certain amount of quail and manna a day. If they tried to save some for the next day, it would instantly spoil overnight.
Jesus talks about God providing for our needs in Luke 12: 22-32. It also mentions in v.24 that we are more valuable than birds, but lets look at the whole section together.
"He said to his disciples, "therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the raven; they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil no spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you-you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keey worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
I think Jesus hit the nail on the head. Our world is out of balance. It is so worried about getting what it's needs that some people try to take everything they can. Also, our own culture confuses needs with want. We want Big Macs, therefore we will raise cows strictly for slaughter. Non Christians try to balance things out by refusing animal products and only eating organic produce. But the issue there is they place more importance on the plants and animals they try to protect than than themselves. Christians are out of balance because we forget our responsibility to tend to the earth as God instructed in Geneisis. And were so afraid of placing more importance on other living things that we don't give them any importance at all. Our job is to get the world back in balance. Back to where we don't have to worry about the clothes on our back or the food we eat. Back to where no one has to worry. Back to where we can use the other living things of the earth as God intended us to use for our 'good pleasure'.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Day 5: Sorry PC issues to blame this time
Excuse #3 Protecting the environment is something worldly people do.
True. Do you know why? Because when God's people doesn't do His Will, He'll appoint someone else to finish the job. Even people who don't believe in Him. But to use that as an excuse not to help our planet is just plain silly. 'Well those heathen tree-huggers do all kind of sin and they're trying to save the environment, so that must be a sin too.' Say that out loud. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
The problem is, we assume that those people will never change. We assume they can't be saved. but what if they who are already drawn to protecting this earth realized that they are protecting God's glory? And us so called Christians do care about the planet because we want to give Glory to God and we want to help people suffering as a result of our environmentally irresponsible behavior? They might listen to us and ask us to tell them about Jesus. See the world believes, if you're a good person who does good things, you'll go to heaven. We know better. We know half the equation. Jesus. They know the other half. taking care of the earth and taking care of the people who live off the earth. If we add those together we get a better world doing God's will.
Take the example of Cyrus the Persian in Isaiah 45:1-6.
"Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him-and the gates shall not be closed: I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, that that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Cyrus wasn't a believer. But God chose him to save Israel. Not just to save Israel, but to show that He was God. And he wasn't just showing the world He was God. He was showing Cyrus. Working side by side with non believers to protect our planet is a wonderful way to witness and make disciples of all nations. And lets face it. We're all sinners. Remembering that and our common goals to protect the earth is common ground to a conversation about Jesus. And remember that we're still sinners like non-believing environmentalists. Just because we're born again doesn't make us better than anyone else. But saying that 'going green' is a sin because the world does it is essentially saying just that. 'I'm better than the world so protecting the environment is a sin'. Sounds even sillier huh?
True. Do you know why? Because when God's people doesn't do His Will, He'll appoint someone else to finish the job. Even people who don't believe in Him. But to use that as an excuse not to help our planet is just plain silly. 'Well those heathen tree-huggers do all kind of sin and they're trying to save the environment, so that must be a sin too.' Say that out loud. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
The problem is, we assume that those people will never change. We assume they can't be saved. but what if they who are already drawn to protecting this earth realized that they are protecting God's glory? And us so called Christians do care about the planet because we want to give Glory to God and we want to help people suffering as a result of our environmentally irresponsible behavior? They might listen to us and ask us to tell them about Jesus. See the world believes, if you're a good person who does good things, you'll go to heaven. We know better. We know half the equation. Jesus. They know the other half. taking care of the earth and taking care of the people who live off the earth. If we add those together we get a better world doing God's will.
Take the example of Cyrus the Persian in Isaiah 45:1-6.
"Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him-and the gates shall not be closed: I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, that that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Cyrus wasn't a believer. But God chose him to save Israel. Not just to save Israel, but to show that He was God. And he wasn't just showing the world He was God. He was showing Cyrus. Working side by side with non believers to protect our planet is a wonderful way to witness and make disciples of all nations. And lets face it. We're all sinners. Remembering that and our common goals to protect the earth is common ground to a conversation about Jesus. And remember that we're still sinners like non-believing environmentalists. Just because we're born again doesn't make us better than anyone else. But saying that 'going green' is a sin because the world does it is essentially saying just that. 'I'm better than the world so protecting the environment is a sin'. Sounds even sillier huh?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Day 4: Total domination?
Excuse #2 We are the dominate beings of the earth
Gen. 1: 26 "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upong the earth."
Gen 1: 29-30 "God said, "See, I have given you every plant yeilding seed that it upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the eart, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so."
Christians look at these verses and think' okay, God gave us the earth, we can use it however we like." We call this dominance. We think to dominate means to control and that a second party, in this case, our enviroment, is completely submissive to the dominate party. The problem is we are confused by the definition of dominice and the defineition of submission. At least we're confusing God's definition with our own.
God wants us to submit to Him, meaning we follow His will. He is the truly dominate being in the universe. He is Alpha and Omega. We are in His control even when we don't know we're being controlled. And in these verses, God wants us to submit to him by giving us dominion over the earth. Its like a dad trusting his teenager with the keys to the car. He's giving the kid permission to drive it around, but he's the one who paid for the car. The car is in his name. the Dad is trusting his child to be RESPONSIBLE with the car and not drive it into a pole. That's the key. God's definition includes responsibility. Ours includes the dominate party being selfish and thinking they know what is best. That is denying God's power over our lives. Than is sin. We're the teenager who doesn't care if he has a few beers with his friends and totals that car. We just want to feel good and have fun. The problem is the Father knows that if we're not careful, when we total that car, we might end up killing ourselves or someone else.
Now that example is a little extreme, but that's how serious it is to God. He gave us this world hoping we would be responsible stewards that would take care of His Glory. But because of our selfishness, we lost our way and our world is moaning. Again everything that affects our environment affects people living in this world. And if they can't live their lives without suffering because they can't find food to eat because the farmlands have been plowed down for urban sprawl or the water they drink is polluted with waste and garbage, we who support irresponsible development and throw away our trash without throught to where is goes is partly responsible for killing our fellow human beings.
Scary thought huh? Aren't you glad you're forgiven by Christ? And as Christians we now have a chance to return to God's orginal purpose for us. By accepting our responsible as stewards for God's earth, we are showing our submission to God's will. We are showing we understand that taking care of this world brings glory to God's heavenly kingdom and that all life is affected by our actions. Are you ready to take the keys?
Gen. 1: 26 "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upong the earth."
Gen 1: 29-30 "God said, "See, I have given you every plant yeilding seed that it upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the eart, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so."
Christians look at these verses and think' okay, God gave us the earth, we can use it however we like." We call this dominance. We think to dominate means to control and that a second party, in this case, our enviroment, is completely submissive to the dominate party. The problem is we are confused by the definition of dominice and the defineition of submission. At least we're confusing God's definition with our own.
God wants us to submit to Him, meaning we follow His will. He is the truly dominate being in the universe. He is Alpha and Omega. We are in His control even when we don't know we're being controlled. And in these verses, God wants us to submit to him by giving us dominion over the earth. Its like a dad trusting his teenager with the keys to the car. He's giving the kid permission to drive it around, but he's the one who paid for the car. The car is in his name. the Dad is trusting his child to be RESPONSIBLE with the car and not drive it into a pole. That's the key. God's definition includes responsibility. Ours includes the dominate party being selfish and thinking they know what is best. That is denying God's power over our lives. Than is sin. We're the teenager who doesn't care if he has a few beers with his friends and totals that car. We just want to feel good and have fun. The problem is the Father knows that if we're not careful, when we total that car, we might end up killing ourselves or someone else.
Now that example is a little extreme, but that's how serious it is to God. He gave us this world hoping we would be responsible stewards that would take care of His Glory. But because of our selfishness, we lost our way and our world is moaning. Again everything that affects our environment affects people living in this world. And if they can't live their lives without suffering because they can't find food to eat because the farmlands have been plowed down for urban sprawl or the water they drink is polluted with waste and garbage, we who support irresponsible development and throw away our trash without throught to where is goes is partly responsible for killing our fellow human beings.
Scary thought huh? Aren't you glad you're forgiven by Christ? And as Christians we now have a chance to return to God's orginal purpose for us. By accepting our responsible as stewards for God's earth, we are showing our submission to God's will. We are showing we understand that taking care of this world brings glory to God's heavenly kingdom and that all life is affected by our actions. Are you ready to take the keys?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Day 3: Excuse #1 We're going to Heaven!
Gen.1:31a "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."
Excuse Number 1: "We're going to Heaven! Why worry about this flawed planet?"
Congratulations! You accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and now you've won the Grand Prize! An all expense paid trip to Heaven! You'll praise God for eternity and stroll streets of gold! Sit at the Savior's feet and meet celebrities like Abraham, David, Mary and many more!
Sounds like a game show host doesn't it? I think that's how we Christian's view our walk sometimes. We're good to go and we don't need to worry about this world anymore. The problem is our everlasting life includes the here and now. God told us to go and make disciples of every nation. How can we do that if we don't care about the world they live in? People need food to eat and clean water to drink more than a tract about how to ask Jesus to be their savior.
How many times in in the new testament have we been told how Jesus fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish? We call them miracles, but the real miracle is that he fed their physical needs before he fed them spiritually. People can't listen on empty stomachs. Or if they're struggling to breath from polluted air. Or too busy thinking about how to get water for that night. Or food for the table. My prayer is that you'll see that taking care of this earth is an extension of our ministry to others.
Also and more important, taking care of God's creation is giving Him glory. God created the earth to give Him pleasure and to bring Glory to Himself. It us humans who tried to ruin that by polluting our planet. In Genesis, God called everything he had created, not just humans, everything very good. I truly believe that when Jesus comes back a second time, our planet will be restored to how it was at the beginning of creation. And it will be wonderful and beautiful and God will once more invite us to walk with Him in the garden. Now that sounds heavenly.
Excuse Number 1: "We're going to Heaven! Why worry about this flawed planet?"
Congratulations! You accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and now you've won the Grand Prize! An all expense paid trip to Heaven! You'll praise God for eternity and stroll streets of gold! Sit at the Savior's feet and meet celebrities like Abraham, David, Mary and many more!
Sounds like a game show host doesn't it? I think that's how we Christian's view our walk sometimes. We're good to go and we don't need to worry about this world anymore. The problem is our everlasting life includes the here and now. God told us to go and make disciples of every nation. How can we do that if we don't care about the world they live in? People need food to eat and clean water to drink more than a tract about how to ask Jesus to be their savior.
How many times in in the new testament have we been told how Jesus fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish? We call them miracles, but the real miracle is that he fed their physical needs before he fed them spiritually. People can't listen on empty stomachs. Or if they're struggling to breath from polluted air. Or too busy thinking about how to get water for that night. Or food for the table. My prayer is that you'll see that taking care of this earth is an extension of our ministry to others.
Also and more important, taking care of God's creation is giving Him glory. God created the earth to give Him pleasure and to bring Glory to Himself. It us humans who tried to ruin that by polluting our planet. In Genesis, God called everything he had created, not just humans, everything very good. I truly believe that when Jesus comes back a second time, our planet will be restored to how it was at the beginning of creation. And it will be wonderful and beautiful and God will once more invite us to walk with Him in the garden. Now that sounds heavenly.
Day 2: Or What Should have been Day 2
Excuses Excuses...
"then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." Gen. 1:3
Human beings live for excuses. Our sinful natures program it into our DNA. Think of a baby. Innocent of the evils of the world maybe. For about the first day or two. But as soon as they comprehend that if they scream like little banshees they get what they want, innocence is done for. When they start to learn right from wrong, even before they can walk, they learn the word no. But we give them an excuse. 'Oh they're just a baby. They don't know any better.' Yeah. Tell that to a baby who grins because he knows he has a poopy diaper and you make that funny face when you change him.
Ignorance seems to be the biggest excuse everyone falls back on. 'I didn't know!' we cry. When it comes to our earth and the natural resources God provided, we can say that our ancestors didn't know those resources were limited because they couldn't comprehend science and technology as we know it today. Maybe. Except God warned them about how to use their resources wisely. Take Exodus 22:5. Here God is telling the wandering Israelites the laws of the land. And how to use it.
"When someone causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets livestock loose to graze in someone else field, restitution shall be make from the best in the owner's field or vineyard."
The Israelites didn't have to know that stripping their fields of vegetation causes the rain to run off and flood other regions and dries up the soil. God knew. He told them not to do it. Now those who didn't listened learned the hard way and discovered why God told them not to do such a thing. But they could not use ignorance as an excuse not to do God's will.
The world tries to do the same thing when it comes to our planet. We shift the blame, saying we didn't know or this thing caused it not us. Had we known about it we would have stopped it. Like BP and the recent oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. They blamed the machinery. Thankfully they took responsibility for it. But I don't think I heard BP actually say 'we' messed up. I think I heard, 'Had we known this would have happened...'
Now before you start to feel good about yourself hang on. Christians have just as many excuses for not protecting God's earth. And we're going to discuss those excuses over the next few days. But I would say they all come down to that old standby.
"I didn't know..."
"then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." Gen. 1:3
Human beings live for excuses. Our sinful natures program it into our DNA. Think of a baby. Innocent of the evils of the world maybe. For about the first day or two. But as soon as they comprehend that if they scream like little banshees they get what they want, innocence is done for. When they start to learn right from wrong, even before they can walk, they learn the word no. But we give them an excuse. 'Oh they're just a baby. They don't know any better.' Yeah. Tell that to a baby who grins because he knows he has a poopy diaper and you make that funny face when you change him.
Ignorance seems to be the biggest excuse everyone falls back on. 'I didn't know!' we cry. When it comes to our earth and the natural resources God provided, we can say that our ancestors didn't know those resources were limited because they couldn't comprehend science and technology as we know it today. Maybe. Except God warned them about how to use their resources wisely. Take Exodus 22:5. Here God is telling the wandering Israelites the laws of the land. And how to use it.
"When someone causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets livestock loose to graze in someone else field, restitution shall be make from the best in the owner's field or vineyard."
The Israelites didn't have to know that stripping their fields of vegetation causes the rain to run off and flood other regions and dries up the soil. God knew. He told them not to do it. Now those who didn't listened learned the hard way and discovered why God told them not to do such a thing. But they could not use ignorance as an excuse not to do God's will.
The world tries to do the same thing when it comes to our planet. We shift the blame, saying we didn't know or this thing caused it not us. Had we known about it we would have stopped it. Like BP and the recent oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. They blamed the machinery. Thankfully they took responsibility for it. But I don't think I heard BP actually say 'we' messed up. I think I heard, 'Had we known this would have happened...'
Now before you start to feel good about yourself hang on. Christians have just as many excuses for not protecting God's earth. And we're going to discuss those excuses over the next few days. But I would say they all come down to that old standby.
"I didn't know..."
Day 1: Or what should have been Day 1
Day 1 Welcome to the Garden
Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters"
A few years ago, God began to work in my heart a desire to serve Him by serving our Earth. This is better known as 'going green' in our secular world and 'creation care' in our Christian world. For the last two years, I've tried and sadly failed to bring my goal of blogging about creation for a full thirty days during the month of April when the world celebrates Earth Day on April 22. This year is different. This year, I'm rededicating my self and my goals and my desire to serve Him. So this blog is more for me studying God's word than anything else. (note: not counting these first two days of April I missed already, God willing)
To be perfectly honest I've always been at odds with how I'm suppose to serve God. First as a kid growing up in a church that is in another county from where I grew up. That made it hard for me to connect with my fellow Christians in the youth when they went to different schools and lived in different neighborhoods. Then in college, I majored in Apparel Design and Merchandising. The world of fashion and creativity and design is completely fascinating to me. However, as my professor said, really only about 1% of the US population really cares about and follows fashion. Which makes me a weirdo.
I guess in hindsight, that's similar to my walk in Christ where I am suppose to be set apart. The difference is, the fashion industry is notorious for fueling the American drive of consumerism and selfishness. And yet I felt called to this career path by God. Weird I know, but it's the truth as revealed to me. So how was I suppose to reconcile a desire to serve God but work in an industry that works to serve itself? A few years ago, I got a small glimpse of the answer when I happened across a sewing website that encouraged being environmentally responsible. I asked myself what the bible had to say about protecting the environment and after a little research on the Internet, and reading the bible cover to cover, I discovered protecting the environment can serve God, because everything in God's creation is meant to give Him glory. So I can be a designer and serve God but creating environmentally sustainable clothing. Neat huh?
I'm not there yet (thanks to a sewing machine I swear is possessed by the devil) but I now know what direction to head in. In the meantime, I'm preparing myself by working hard to pay off my debts to give me the time to pursue my career and studying His Word on creation care.
I think April is the perfect month to study creation care. Especially this year. My church is undergoing a revival in a few weeks, and the purpose of revival is to renew one's faith and get right with one's walk with God. And spring is a time the earth renews itself. And Easter is usually around April, so that is about the ulimate renewal.
So here is how it's going to work. This first day is an introduction. An outline of topics I'll discuss in the next few weeks. The last day will be a wrap up. A conclusion of thoughts and a prayer for achieving goals. The twenty eight days in between will be divided into four lessons with seven days to cover each lesson. And those lessons are as follows
Intro Day 1
Day 2 Excuses
Day 3 why protect earth when we're going to heaven?
Day 4 Dominance, a true definition
Day 5 Only something non-Christians do
Day 6 Naturalism
Day 7 I disagree with environmentalist and scientists
Day 8 Who is my neighbor? The good Samaritan
Day 9 Why Christians are called to care for the earth (how we give glory
Day10 Helping the Sick
Day 11 Helping the Poor
Day 12 War
Day 13 Money
Day 14 Natural Disasters
Day 15 Showing God's Love
Day 16 Palm SundayThe Earth keeping principle The Lord keeps us, so we should keep his creation
Day 17 the Fruitfulness principle enjoying God's creation
Day 18 The Sabbath and discipleship principle letting creating rest and reconcile with it as Christ reconciled with us
Day 19The Kingdom principle seeking first gods kingdom
Day 20 The Contentment principle be content and practice what you preach
Day 21 the Conservation principle serving the earth as it serves us
Day 22 Happy Creation Day! and Good Friday!
Day 23 Doubt winter
Day 24 Happy Easter! Imagine a world without Spring
Day 25 What Jesus Did after rising
Day 26 How to pray (the Lord's Prayer)
Day 27 How to serve the Earth
Day 28 How to think of God's Glory
Day 29 How to Be Still (psalms)
Day 30 My prayer for Creation
Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters"
A few years ago, God began to work in my heart a desire to serve Him by serving our Earth. This is better known as 'going green' in our secular world and 'creation care' in our Christian world. For the last two years, I've tried and sadly failed to bring my goal of blogging about creation for a full thirty days during the month of April when the world celebrates Earth Day on April 22. This year is different. This year, I'm rededicating my self and my goals and my desire to serve Him. So this blog is more for me studying God's word than anything else. (note: not counting these first two days of April I missed already, God willing)
To be perfectly honest I've always been at odds with how I'm suppose to serve God. First as a kid growing up in a church that is in another county from where I grew up. That made it hard for me to connect with my fellow Christians in the youth when they went to different schools and lived in different neighborhoods. Then in college, I majored in Apparel Design and Merchandising. The world of fashion and creativity and design is completely fascinating to me. However, as my professor said, really only about 1% of the US population really cares about and follows fashion. Which makes me a weirdo.
I guess in hindsight, that's similar to my walk in Christ where I am suppose to be set apart. The difference is, the fashion industry is notorious for fueling the American drive of consumerism and selfishness. And yet I felt called to this career path by God. Weird I know, but it's the truth as revealed to me. So how was I suppose to reconcile a desire to serve God but work in an industry that works to serve itself? A few years ago, I got a small glimpse of the answer when I happened across a sewing website that encouraged being environmentally responsible. I asked myself what the bible had to say about protecting the environment and after a little research on the Internet, and reading the bible cover to cover, I discovered protecting the environment can serve God, because everything in God's creation is meant to give Him glory. So I can be a designer and serve God but creating environmentally sustainable clothing. Neat huh?
I'm not there yet (thanks to a sewing machine I swear is possessed by the devil) but I now know what direction to head in. In the meantime, I'm preparing myself by working hard to pay off my debts to give me the time to pursue my career and studying His Word on creation care.
I think April is the perfect month to study creation care. Especially this year. My church is undergoing a revival in a few weeks, and the purpose of revival is to renew one's faith and get right with one's walk with God. And spring is a time the earth renews itself. And Easter is usually around April, so that is about the ulimate renewal.
So here is how it's going to work. This first day is an introduction. An outline of topics I'll discuss in the next few weeks. The last day will be a wrap up. A conclusion of thoughts and a prayer for achieving goals. The twenty eight days in between will be divided into four lessons with seven days to cover each lesson. And those lessons are as follows
Intro Day 1
Day 2 Excuses
Day 3 why protect earth when we're going to heaven?
Day 4 Dominance, a true definition
Day 5 Only something non-Christians do
Day 6 Naturalism
Day 7 I disagree with environmentalist and scientists
Day 8 Who is my neighbor? The good Samaritan
Day 9 Why Christians are called to care for the earth (how we give glory
Day10 Helping the Sick
Day 11 Helping the Poor
Day 12 War
Day 13 Money
Day 14 Natural Disasters
Day 15 Showing God's Love
Day 16 Palm SundayThe Earth keeping principle The Lord keeps us, so we should keep his creation
Day 17 the Fruitfulness principle enjoying God's creation
Day 18 The Sabbath and discipleship principle letting creating rest and reconcile with it as Christ reconciled with us
Day 19The Kingdom principle seeking first gods kingdom
Day 20 The Contentment principle be content and practice what you preach
Day 21 the Conservation principle serving the earth as it serves us
Day 22 Happy Creation Day! and Good Friday!
Day 23 Doubt winter
Day 24 Happy Easter! Imagine a world without Spring
Day 25 What Jesus Did after rising
Day 26 How to pray (the Lord's Prayer)
Day 27 How to serve the Earth
Day 28 How to think of God's Glory
Day 29 How to Be Still (psalms)
Day 30 My prayer for Creation
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Day 3 There's no such thing as a coincidence in nature
First of all, I'm still going to do 30 days worth of blog, just terribly behind. But I'm committed to this. So here we go again.
A few days ago, it was Easter. The celebration of when the King of Kings rose from his grave and the stone was rolled away. When I think of Easter, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the dogwood tree in my backyard. It always blooms around Easter. A few years ago, I read the legend of the dogwood tree.
Apparently,back at the time of the Crucifiction, dogwood trees were as large and strong as oaks. And used in the making of crosses. One legend has it that after the death of Christ, all the dogwood trees withered and regrew as twisted bushes full of flowering blooms that resembled the cross. Another has the tree made into Jesus cross and regretting it's role in His death. Sensing this, Jesus blessed the tree saying, 'Never again will dogwoods grow large enough to be used in the making of crosses. And every year a flower shall bloom to remind people of my suffering.'
Now this is merely a legend, a story. Tree don't talk or feel. But the fact that so many trees and flowers remind us humans of the Christ, I think there may have been a little intelligent design going on there. After all these plants existed before Jesus walked the earth. Maybe God decided that nature itself would predict His future plan for redemption of creation. In the five pointed poinsetta shaped like Bethelehem's star that led to Christ, but that turns blood red like the blood he shed. The stargazer lily we also give at Easter. Also shaped like the star of Bethlehem. And the dogwood tree that blooms around Easter. Whose four white or pink petals are shaped like the cross, tipped with a blood red and a crown in the center. It's just a theory, but I have a pretty good feeling we're going to see dogwood trees in heaven.
A few days ago, it was Easter. The celebration of when the King of Kings rose from his grave and the stone was rolled away. When I think of Easter, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the dogwood tree in my backyard. It always blooms around Easter. A few years ago, I read the legend of the dogwood tree.
Apparently,back at the time of the Crucifiction, dogwood trees were as large and strong as oaks. And used in the making of crosses. One legend has it that after the death of Christ, all the dogwood trees withered and regrew as twisted bushes full of flowering blooms that resembled the cross. Another has the tree made into Jesus cross and regretting it's role in His death. Sensing this, Jesus blessed the tree saying, 'Never again will dogwoods grow large enough to be used in the making of crosses. And every year a flower shall bloom to remind people of my suffering.'
Now this is merely a legend, a story. Tree don't talk or feel. But the fact that so many trees and flowers remind us humans of the Christ, I think there may have been a little intelligent design going on there. After all these plants existed before Jesus walked the earth. Maybe God decided that nature itself would predict His future plan for redemption of creation. In the five pointed poinsetta shaped like Bethelehem's star that led to Christ, but that turns blood red like the blood he shed. The stargazer lily we also give at Easter. Also shaped like the star of Bethlehem. And the dogwood tree that blooms around Easter. Whose four white or pink petals are shaped like the cross, tipped with a blood red and a crown in the center. It's just a theory, but I have a pretty good feeling we're going to see dogwood trees in heaven.
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