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| How can we preach good news to all of creation and leave that creation out? The good news is not that man is hear to exploit and destroy the world! The good news is that God loves man and his creation and has redeemed both through the atonement on the Cross. The good news to creation is that a redeemed Christian is to care for God's creation as a good steward. A redeemed Church is to evangelize the lost, and it is to be pro-life to all life! Isaiah 11:6-10 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper�s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. |
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| Laatst gewijzigd: september 2006 |
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| Respect and Responsibility to all God's Creation (by pastor Harry) |
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It was a very upsetting walk, since the park is a landfill. It is basically a hill of sand covering tons of toxic garbage next to the Charles River. At first glance it is a pretty hill with newly planted grass and trees with a playground and a sports field on it.
The day that I took the walk was after a large rainstorm. As I walked around the area one could see where the rain had eroded the thin veneer of soil (6 inches) exposing the sand below, a desert covering a grave of trash. I could not see any garbage specifically, but the smelly green and brown oily runoff was staining the nice tar walkways. As I looked closer I could see that most of the nice evergreen trees planted on this pretty fa�ade were already dying. It was a perfectly modern parable of Man abusing the earth and then building his kingdom of domination on a foundation of sand. In the distance I could see the Blue Hills to the south of Boston. These hills are the hills that give this commonwealth its name, for it is a Native American name, Massachusetts (the land of the blue hills). Those hills God created and have stood countless rainstorms without exposing any toxic treasures hidden beneath. That beauty is built on the rock of God's creation, and still supports countless forms of life despite man's trampling its hillsides. What a contrast to the hill I was standing on that was built on the sins of man, a cheap imitation of the beauty of Nature, a graveyard of man's greed and stupidity. The Following Scriptures are a Biblical Mandate for Christians and the Church to put themselves back into a proper relationship with All of God's Creation as a witness to a greedy self destructive world. We are supposed to be the Salt of the Earth". Salt preserves life! |
| More from partor Harry: - - |
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| The following article is the result of one of my many walks around the wild places of New England. This walk was specifically one I took in a new park in Boston called Millennium Park. |
| Biblical Mandate:
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation! (Mark 16:15) |
| Green Thoughts "feathers" for the Christian: - Man fell and took creation with him. We corrupted nature. Nature did not corrupt us. - The church is as much part of the destruction of the earth as the unsaved. Why? Are we only pro-life when it is our lives that we are focusing on? - God saved Noah, his family, and the creatures of God, not only Noah. - After the Exodus came an Exile where the Promised Land was left desolate because of the sins of the people. Do we think we are somehow exempt from such a judgment? - Are we being good stewards by exploiting all of nature around us hoping Jesus' second coming will happen soon before we destroy ourselves? What if Jesus waits two more millennia before he returns? - What kind of world are we preparing for our Lord's Return? - Jesus fed and healed people before he preached to them. How can we feed and heal people if we destroy the land that God uses to feed us and heal us? - How can we show the Glories of God and his invisible attributes if all people see are toxic dumps and urban development? - God created all of nature and saw it was good. What insult are we giving God by saying it is not good enough for us? - Are we that conceited to think only we matter to God? What about the Sparrow and Lilies of the field that God is concerned about? - How can we hear the trees of the field clap their hands, if there are no trees? - Salvation brings us into a proper relationship with God, with people and with God's Creation. We must make every effort to proclaim salvation to every nation, but the faith that we preach and the God we serve is one of Sacrificial Love. We are to live sacrificially so that the Gospel will go forth, and we must live sacrificially so that others may live, human and non-human. |
| God's Relationship with Nature: God is Involved with us and His creation today! But He (Jesus) answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I myself am working." John 5:17 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call (...) He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow. Psalm 147:8,9,15-18 God is Lord of Creation, not Man! God saw all that he had made, and it was very good� Genesis 1:31 (the Lord said) The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. Leviticus 25:23 The earth is the LORD�s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; Psalm 24:1 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. Psalm 50:10,11 You (God) care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. Psalm 65:9 Nature's Relationship with God For since the creation of the world God�s invisible qualities�his eternal power and divine nature�have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you-the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you-every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." Genesis 9:9-11 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19 |
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| The Incarnated Jesus and His Relationship with Nature:
No Dualistic Gnostic Heresies in the Gospel! Spirit and Flesh are called to be holy! God came in the flesh, he was resurrected in the flesh, and he will raise us in the flesh. Gnostic heretics call the flesh evil and the spirit holy, which is impossible if Jesus was flesh and blood. God calls us to give all of us; body, soul and spirit to God so that it is all redeemed! The natural world is not evil. It is men's actions that are evil. Jesus and Holy Spirit The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities�all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He (Jesus) was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. Mark 1:13 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:27 |
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| Jesus lived out his Prayer in the Natural Places:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. Mark 6:31,32 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Mark 6:46 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, Matthew 14:23 At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. Luke 4:42 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Luke 6:12 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:1,2 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. John 6:3 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. John 6:15 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. John 3:22 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. John 8:1,2 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. John 11:54 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. John 18:1,2 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, Luke 21:37 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. Luke 22:39 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. John 19:41 Pastor Harry: How appropriate for Jesus to be buried in a garden. Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias� John 21:1 |
| Man's Responsibility to Nature: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 Pastor Harry: What is that Image? God's Image is that of Love. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. Exodus 20:10 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, �Speak to the Israelites and say to them: �When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Leviticus 25:1-5 A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. Proverbs 12:10 |
| Man's Sin against God's Creation: "Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their migration; But My people do not know The ordinance of the Lord. Jeremiah 8:7 "Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness. "It has been made a desolation, Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made desolate, because there is no one who cares. Jeremiah 12:10-11 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:4,5 Pastor Harry: Eventually breaking the commands of God will have the natural result of drought and disease because of ecological disasters. However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. (..) The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed. Deuteronomy 28: 15-19 &,22-24 |
| Nature Awaits Redemption: The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8:19-23 |
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| Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD. Psalm 148:1-14 |
| Some Pollution Facts: * Every mile a car travels puts 1 to 3 pounds of pollution in the air! * 100 million people in this country have health problems from air pollution. 40 million people suffer from Asthma, Emphysema, and Allergies from the air pollution. * 30 000 people die each year from Indoor Air Pollution which can be 70 times filthier than outside air. * 10 000 community water wells are polluted by pesticides and fertilizers from lawns and gardens. * 500 million pounds of pesticide are used annually in the USA. Pesticides can last 5 years before breaking down. Some pesticides will last for generations in clay deposits. * 80 TgN of fertilizer are spread over the USA each year. * 300 Tg of hazardous waste are created each year in the USA. * Their are 1.4 million gas tanks in the USA with 100 000 leaking. * 6 million tons of plastic are created each year for plastic shopping bags and plastic cartons. * 40 million kilograms of Atrazine herbicide is used annually. It takes 40 years for this herbicide to breakdown. * 7 500 beaches will be closed this summer because of road and sewer rain runoff. * Leaking cars corporately create oil spills larger than the Valdez oil spill every year drop by drop. The Exxon Valdez spilled 11 000 000 gallons of crude oil and effected wildlife and plants 1000 miles away. * 60% of automobile pollution happens on short road trips to the store where the anti-pollution devices do not have time to warm up and work properly. * Solid wastes in landfills pollute surrounding groundwater and streams because of leads from electronics, toxic household chemical containers, batteries, etc. * Solid wastes in landfills pollute the air by releasing gases such as methane into the air and into buildings built on landfills. |
| What are we to do as Christians and as the Church? * Commute to work by bike, hike, carpool or public transport! Click here to see the benefits of commuting by bicycle. * Recycle paper goods, glass, plastics, oil, and styrofoam products. * Use rechargeable batteries. * Use less paper, plastic, and Styrofoam products. Dishwashing with family and friends builds relationships. * Use environmentally friendly personal care products. * Buy Healthy: Many personal care products are built on low self esteem. Deal with your low self esteem instead of polluting the environment. * Buy Less: Deal with depression in other ways than filling your attics and cellars and garages with things you don't honestly need. * Live with Less: The more you have, the more you worry about. Let Mr. Jones next door have the ulcers. * Buy Green: Buy Items packaged with less packaging and packaged with recycled materials. * Compost kitchen and yard wastes. * Keep furnaces and chimneys tuned up and cleaned. * Ventilate buildings properly to reduce sick building illnesses. * Conserve water: keep faucets, hoses, toilets running properly. * Use low water flush toilets and water saving shower heads. * Use environmentally safe cleaning, dish, and laundry products. * Run washers when full. * Use less electricity and energy efficient bulbs and appliances. * Turn off lights, computers etc. * Weatherize your building. * Dispose of paints and solvents and toxic chemicals legally. * Dispose of appliances that use refrigerants legally. * Dispose of electronic and computer equipment legally. * Fight for environmentally healthy laws. * Plant native grasses, shrubs and trees that need less water and are more hardy to the climate without fertilizers and pesticides. * Plant Shrubs and Trees that absorb greenhouse gases. * Plant Shrubs and Trees to reduce noise pollution and soil erosion. * Mulch and compost and worm to fertilize your gardens instead of using processed chemicals. * Construct bird and bat houses on your property to control insect pests instead of using pesticides. * Plant native wild flowers in your garden that need less water and less fertilizer. * Cut down on short car trips: walk, bike, or ride public transport. * Keep your car leak free and tuned up with working anti-pollution devices. * Hold a car clinic for people to discover engine fluid and oil leaks and repair them. * Don't pour toxic chemicals and oils down storm drains. * Use Solar, and Wind Power to heat, and cool your home and buildings. * Educate the church community and your family on these issues. * Vote Green! Support candidates that are environmentally friendly. * Join an environmental group. * Support environmental projects locally and in countries where our Missionaries work. |
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