Posted on 01/25/2008 9:16:23 AM PST by mbarker12474
"Grace Notes" for February 2008, by United Methodist Church Bishop Charlene Kammerer:
Why we should care about God’s creation
The psalmist has declared in Psalm 8: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet..."
My Christian faith and The United Methodist Church have taught me that all of creation belongs to the Lord God Almighty. Because we are all created in the image of God, who created a beautiful earth and heavens beyond what we can see, we are given responsibility for the ways in which we use the earth, or abuse the creation. We are to value and conserve water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space. We are called to be good stewards of God’s creation, not because of what benefit it will be to us, but because it belongs to God.
If anyone is in doubt of how we humans have abused the gift of the earth, all you have to do is read Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. This book, complete with stunning photographs, charts, and compelling evidence of global warming, invites us to seriously consider again our stewardship responsibilities. [Editor’s note: A film of the same name was released the summer of 2006 and is now available on DVD.]
Gore states at the close of his book, "Now it is up to us to use our democracy and our God-given ability to reason with one another about our future and make moral choices to change the policies and behaviors that would, if continued, leave a degraded, diminished, and hostile planet for our children and grandchildren — and for humankind."
The earth is the Lord’s. We are children of God. We are called to love and protect the earth and all of creation. God is counting on us — will we be found wanting?
Inside every clergyman there is a politician—or a vacuum cleaner salesman—fighting to get out.
Maybe I should explain this to her:
1. Pursuing this nonsense will wreck the economy;
2. Wrecking the economy hits me in the pocket book;
3. Same for everyone in the pews next to me;
4. We will have less money coming into our households;
5. Therefore we’ll have less money to give to the church
Don’t blame us, you brought it on yourselves.
Any questions?
If you do believe in God, do you really think he would allow man to destroy the land he gave them to go be fruitful and multiply.
Can you believe in God and still pander to the global warming hoax?
With all due respect to the Bishop...
To quote atmospheric science from “An Inconvenient Truth” is no different than quoting theology from “Mad Magazine”.
Stay out of my profession...and I will stay out of yours.
Hubs and I have shifted aimlessly from church to church, failing instead to continue with the UM congregation we loved so much in the past. And it is directly because of the politics and policies.
We just got a report about the success of a foreign ministry or two. Nothing about the homeless situation we have, which affects us all directly.
****
And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.
This bishop is the former bishop in NC. For the record, I am a United Methodist, and I do not subscribe to this opinion. Frankly, I think it is a bit presumptuous of Kammerrer to suggest that we can destroy God’s creation. She is correct that God called man as a steward of His creation, but did not say that we are to “conserve” it. If that were the case then all inventions made from elements in the earth would be contrary to God’s command, and I don’t think even she believes that. We have created benefits to man and God’s creation by our clever stewardship and growth of His earth. It calls to mind Jesus parable of three men given talents (money) by their “boss.” The two men who took the talents and invested and “grew” them were praised. The one who “conserved” his talent by hiding it away in fear of losing it, was punished.
We have taken that which has been entrusted to us and created things did not exist before, in my opinion, acting in a way that is truly “in His image.”
Nothing has been “destroyed” (isn’t there a law of physics on this?). Just as God made man out of dust, man has made all sorts of wonderful things out of what God entrusted to us: medicines, transportation, books (like the Bible), and on and on. To have simply procreated and continued to live as in pre-Christian times would have been a waste of the minds that God gave us.
The bishop may mean well, but she is wrong. Mentioning Al Gore simply sealed the deal.
You're probably better off with "Mad" theology than you are with Algore "science". Someone has observed that the only truthful parts of a newspaper are the ads and the comics anyway.
Charlene has been featured on FR before. She seems to be a bat, bless her heart.
God says that the Sun will turn into a Red Giant and incinerate the Inner Planets. Go ahead, try to do something about it.
LOL!
That is correct.
> Estelle Pruden is the bishop’s administrative secretary. Estelle may be reached by calling 1-800-768-6040 or (804) 521-1102; e-mail EstellePruden@vaumc.org.
Why don’t religious professionals stick to their own fields of endeavor? Do they not realize that morality is the best way to ensure the stewardship of the earth is as wise as possible? If we would stop breaking up families, glorifying immoral celebrities, worshipping wealthy people, expecting the government to care for the poor, competing with each other for the latest tech toy, judging each other by the latest fashions, etc. etc. ad nauseum, we might just be satisfied for utilizing the earth’s resources for their proper and needful purposes and not for conspicious consumption. Let this Bishop, or ex-Bishop, look to apply the word of God in all its glory and the earth would be taken care of along the way.
Oh, but preaching the full word of God makes people uncomfortable, and they don’t come back next Sunday or drop money into the collection plates, you say? Easy choice for you, I guess.
Where is the “KOOL-AID-DRINKER” ALERT?
Charlene. Need go no further to know which way it will bend.
The Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church has a member of clergy assigned to a lobbying position with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. He is the Rev. Pat Watkins. He is assigned to environmental policy and legislation, and has also been pushing the conference towards all things “green.”
Google on: Pat Watkins, VICPP, Green Churches, Kammerer
Thanks.
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