Participants: Pr. Dwight K Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP041908
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02:07 Amen.
06:49 I was reading in Genesis 1 this week, 06:52 knowing that the topic was creation 06:54 and I'm just amazed 06:58 at how God created the earth in six days 07:01 and on the seventh day He rested, 07:03 but throughout all of His creation He says, 07:06 I do all things well. And that's what the song-- 07:08 we're going to teach you a new song, it's called 07:11 "You do all things well." 07:14 And we're going to sing it through once 07:16 and then we're going to ask you to join us 07:17 the second time through. 07:22 Mountain maker 07:28 Ocean tamer 07:33 Glimpses of you Burn in my eyes 07:39 The worship of heaven 07:42 Fills up the skies You made it all 07:47 Said let there be And there was 07:53 All that we see 07:56 The sound of Your voice 07:59 The works of Your hands 08:03 You do all things well 08:09 You do all things well 08:14 You do all things well 08:19 We're going to ask you to join us 08:21 the second time as we sing it. 15:09 Just like a tree that's planted by the water 15:14 I shall not be moved 15:18 The winds are blowing all around me 15:24 I shall not be moved 15:28 Just like a tree that's planted by the water 15:33 I shall not be moved 15:38 The winds are blowing all around me 15:43 I shall not be moved 15:47 These winds will never last 15:52 This storm is sure to pass 15:57 This trial is just a test 16:01 So I shall not 16:04 I shall not No, I shall not 16:09 Be moved 16:11 These winds will never last 16:16 This storm is sure to pass 16:21 This trial is just a test 16:25 So I shall not 16:29 I shall not No, I shall not 16:33 Be moved 16:37 The winds of affliction sweep over my soul 16:39 and billows and storm clouds continue to roll 16:42 The winds of affliction sweep over my soul 16:45 and billows and storm clouds continue to roll 16:47 The winds of affliction sweep over my soul 16:50 and billows and storm clouds continue to roll 16:53 The winds of affliction sweep over my soul 16:56 and billows and storm clouds continue to roll 16:58 I shall not I shall not 17:03 No, I shall not be moved 17:08 I shall not I shall not 17:13 No, I shall not be moved 17:23 Let's pray together. 17:28 Holy Father all of creation has a song, we have a song. 17:34 We wanna sing along. 17:39 We have been much in reflection already, 17:48 regarding You as our Creator. 17:58 What does it mean here and now 18:05 teach us through Holy Scripture 18:10 and may we be the earth children you have called us 18:13 to be in Christ name, amen. 18:20 Did you know that last month Google 18:23 turned black in order to go green? 18:28 Google, everybody knows Google, of course. 18:31 The largest internet search engine on this planet. 18:34 Last month by the way, in the United States 18:36 alone 6.44 billion searches Americans made on Google. 18:42 Anyway last month may be you saw it 18:44 on Google.com homepage this sort of press release 18:50 notice appeared. 18:53 "Google users in the United States will notice today 18:56 that we turn the lights out on the Google.com homepage 19:00 as a gesture to raise awareness of the world wide 19:03 energy conservation effort called "Earth Hour." 19:06 Have you heard about it? 19:09 On Saturday March 29, 19:13 Earth Hour invites people around the world 19:15 to turn off their lights for one hour 19:17 from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM in their local time zone. 19:20 On this day cities around the world including 19:22 Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai and Tel Aviv 19:26 will hold events to acknowledge 19:27 their commitment to energy conservation, 19:30 Given our company's commitment 19:31 to environmental awareness in energy efficiency, 19:34 we strongly support the earth our campaign." 19:37 So on March 29, if you had gone to Google.com, 19:40 this is what you would have seen. 19:43 Google went black in order to go green. 19:48 Green of course being the operative color 19:50 of what Paul Hawkens in his new book, 19:52 "Blessed Unrest" given to me by my friend Dixie Wang, 19:57 but Paul Hawkens calls 19:58 the largest social movement in all of history, 20:02 The Green Movement. 20:05 In honor which today I am wearing this tie 20:09 that does not belong to me. Three weeks ago 20:12 our worship leader Justin Davis was up front, 20:15 I said, "Hey, Justin. In three weeks 20:16 I've got a preach on green, can I borrow your tie?" 20:20 So thank you Justin, very nice. 20:24 We are talking about the Green Movement, 20:25 we are talking about the conservation movement, 20:26 we are talking about earth day ecology, green Google. 20:33 So here's the pressing question. 20:35 Do you suppose we have to be as green as Google? 20:39 The pointed answer is simply we must be greener than Google. 20:44 I want you to open your Bible with me please 20:46 to the greenest story in all of Holy Scripture. 20:49 Back to the very beginning, Genesis 1. 20:53 I want to plunge into this with you, Genesis 1, 20:55 there is no greener chapter in the entire book. 21:00 Genesis 1, we're going to pick it up. 21:03 By the way I need to warn you, 21:05 this story starts green but almost literally 21:07 overnight the story turns brown. 21:10 We'll get the brown story, let's start with a green story. 21:13 Genesis 1, this is in the middle of day six, 21:17 God's creation is almost about to wrap up. 21:21 And when you step into Genesis 1 21:22 as you're finding it here it is, 21:24 it is the greenest and most luxurious global garden 21:27 you can possibly imagine. 21:30 Karen and I love to go to webshots.com. 21:32 Are you acquainted with webshots.com? 21:34 These brilliant color photographs from the world over. 21:38 And you know, you put those on your screen saver. 21:40 You put them on your desktop and ooh, 21:42 and you ah, just as luxury in glory. 21:46 During the Genesis 1, 21:47 and while you and I have witnessed 21:50 spectacular sunsets and sunrises. 21:54 This is almost heart-stopping. 21:55 Take a look at this Genesis 1:26, 21:57 this is almost heart-stopping. 21:59 This first of the green story, Genesis 1:26. 22:03 If you didn't bring a Bible yourself, 22:05 grab our pew Bible, same translation 22:07 in New King James Version. 22:09 I want to move to the end of day six, 22:11 this would be versus 26, Genesis 1:26, page 1, 22:14 of course in your pew Bible. 22:17 Then God said, creation almost over, 22:22 "Let us make man ha-adam, 22:25 from which eventually came the name Adam 22:28 but speaking of humankind, 22:29 "Let us make humankind in our image 22:32 according to our likeness, let them, male and female, 22:36 let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 22:39 over the birds of the air and over the cattle, 22:41 and over all the earth and over every creeping thing 22:45 that creeps on the earth." 22:46 Verse 27, "So God created ha-adam in His own image, 22:51 In the image of God He created him, 22:52 male and female, He created them, 22:55 them then God blessed them and God said to them, 22:57 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue do it, 23:01 have dominion over the fish of the sea, 23:04 over the birds of the air and over every living thing 23:07 that moves on the earth." 23:09 Now I got to tell you that for some people 23:10 there are two very scary verbs tucked away in 23:13 what we've just read. 23:14 Verb 1, have dominion and verb 2, subdue. 23:19 It's almost as if, I mean you could get this sets 23:22 that God has somehow granting 23:23 to the human race a despotic rule, 23:26 sort of a carte blanche permission 23:31 for unbridled exploitation of nature and her resources. 23:35 We could make that conclusion with those two verbs, 23:38 were it not for two more verbs quickly inserted 23:41 into the very green chapter two. 23:42 You go to read the two chapters together. 23:44 So two more verbs, green chapter two, 23:47 go to--drop down to verse 15, 23:50 "Then the Lord God took the man 23:53 and put him in the garden of Eden to tend," 23:56 here comes the two verbs, "to tend and keep it." 24:00 Now that's 1 Hebrew, abide, it means to tend. 24:04 You can translate it to till, but something fascinating 24:06 about that Hebrew word is that the verb 24:09 is very similar to the noun, 24:10 so abide is very similar to abed. 24:13 And you find abed, listen to this, guys, 24:15 the very last occurrence of the Book of Genesis, 24:17 you remember, Joseph's brothers sold him 24:20 in the slavery 18-- 12 years later, 12 years later. 24:27 19 years later, I'm sorry 19 years later. 24:30 Those brothers are gathered in Joseph's presence, 24:32 so we all know the story of how he introduces himself to them. 24:38 And in that moment when they fall to the earth, 24:41 they cry out the words in Genesis 50, 24:44 "We will be your servants forever." 24:48 The word servants and the word to tend are identical, 24:52 same writ, meaning that when God speaks in Genesis 2 24:57 of tending the garden, 24:58 He is describing serving the earth. 25:03 Now hold on, you'd say how this fits that second verb. 25:06 Read verse 15 again. 25:07 "Then the Lord took the man and He put them 25:09 in the garden of Eden to tend," and what's the second verb? 25:12 "To keep it." 25:14 The Hebrew word for keep is Shamar. 25:16 Now when we were boys, 25:17 my mother had us memorized the 121 Psalm. 25:22 We often repeated the 121 Psalm 25:24 at the beginning of the Sabbath at sundown. 25:27 I want to show you something very fascinating 25:30 about this word Shamar, as it appears in Psalm 121. 25:32 Hold your finger right there in Genesis 1. 25:34 Finds the 121 Psalm, Psalm 121, look at this. 25:41 What does that word Shamar mean? 25:44 What are the implications of this word? 25:48 All right, we are in the green story, Psalm 121. 25:52 You remember these words, familiar words. 25:55 All right, Psalm 121, as it begin their in verse 1, 25:58 "I will lift up my eyes," everybody knows it, 26:01 "I will lift up my eyes to the--" 26:04 "I will lift up my eyes to the hills 26:05 from whence comes my help comes from the Lord 26:08 who made heaven and earth." 26:09 All right, it is a song to the Creator, 26:12 "I'm lifting up my eyes to the Creator. 26:14 He will not allow your foot to be moved." 26:17 Now notice this, "He who keeps you," same word, 26:21 as Adam and Eve were asked to do in the garden. 26:23 "He who keeps you will not slumber." 26:24 Verse 4, "Behold He who keeps," there it is again, 26:26 "He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 26:29 The Lord is your keeper." There it is, the third time, 26:32 "The Lord is your shade upon your right hand. 26:33 The sun should not strike you by day nor the moon by night. 26:36 The Lord shall," How does it read? 26:37 "The Lord shall," What? Same word again, 26:40 the translators now have given 26:42 a slight deferential to the word. 26:44 "The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. 26:47 He shall preserve," There it is again, 26:49 "He shall preserve your soul." 26:50 Finally verse 8, "The Lord shall preserve your going out 26:53 and your coming in from this time forth 26:55 and even forevermore." 26:56 The point ladies and gentlemen is that word Shamar 26:58 which is to keep is essentially to preserve 27:02 and to protect which gives a powerful green truth 27:08 that God is attempting to bring to the human race 27:12 in the very green chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. 27:16 This truth is so powerful that I wish you take out 27:18 your green study guide today. 27:20 Look at this, our green study guide, have mercy. 27:22 Take out your green study guide today. 27:24 Let's scribble it down, will you? 27:27 Let's jot this-- what is the green point, guys? 27:29 Thank you ushers for making sure 27:31 that everybody here gets a green, 27:33 a green, this is a collector's item, 27:35 you can sell it on eBay. 27:36 A green study guide for today's green Google. 27:42 Take your study guide, by the way those 27:43 who are watching on television, we're delighted to have you. 27:45 You can get the same study, 27:46 and by the way, it will be green. 27:48 If you have green paper in your printer, 27:49 it will come out, I promise you it will come out green. 27:52 Go to our website, and let me put it 27:53 on the screen for you www.pmchurch.tv." 27:58 You're looking for a series called God's Party. 28:00 We are wrapping up the series. 28:01 Next Sabbath, the final installment in God's Party: 28:05 Yahoo, a perfect way to end this series 28:08 but today it's Green Google. 28:09 So you are looking for God's Party 28:10 then you are looking for Green Google 28:11 and you're looking for the word beside Green Google 28:13 that says study guide. 28:15 When you find study guide, you click on 28:18 and you will have this same study guide. 28:20 All right so let's just scribble it in. 28:22 What is the green point that in the beginning 28:26 is seeking to making to the human race? 28:28 First make sure that you know that we're in the green story. 28:30 So would you fill it in please, 28:32 jot it down this is the green story. 28:35 All right, Genesis 1 and 2, the green story. 28:37 Now keep the pen moving. 28:39 Genesis 1:26-28, here are the two verbs, 28:43 "To have dominion" and "To subdue," 28:47 we look at those two verbs is explained by Genesis 2:15 28:51 where the next two verbs where "To tend" means, 28:53 jot this down, "To serve" and "to keep" 28:56 means "To preserve and protect." 28:59 I.e. write it down, 29:02 "To rule the earth means to serve creation." 29:07 And God describes putting the human race 29:10 on this planet to rule, to have dominion means 29:12 you're going to serve it, you're going to protect it, 29:15 you're going to preserved it. 29:17 In fact, jot this down. 29:18 You could say that the Sabbath is God's original earth day 29:22 for his green agenda from the beginning 29:24 because after He gives those orders 29:26 for the green movement in the beginning, 29:28 He then gives the Sabbath. 29:29 Let's read that, go back to Genesis 2 in your Bible. 29:34 Back to that green chapter, Genesis 2, 29:36 pick it up in verse 1, 29:37 "Thus the heavens and the earth 29:38 and all the host of them were finished. 29:42 And on the seventh day God ended His work 29:46 which He had done and He rested on the seventh day 29:50 from all His work which He had done. 29:52 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, 29:55 because in it He rested from all His work 29:58 which He had created and made." 30:02 The green story, but the tragedy is the green story 30:07 was not to remain green for long. 30:10 And we move almost overnight to the brown story. 30:13 In fact write it down please, it's the brown story. 30:18 Everybody knows the story of the fall. 30:21 God puts a tree in the middle of the garden, 30:24 nothing poisonous in the tree, no evil curse to the tree. 30:28 It's simply another tree 30:30 but in order to have a voting booth, 30:32 in order to establish that the human race has chosen Him, 30:36 God has given simple instructions for this tree, 30:37 "If you go to this tree, you vote for Lucifer. 30:39 If you go to this tree, you vote for evil. 30:41 If you wish to remain on my side in this cosmic warfare, 30:48 stay away from the tree. 30:50 We know the heartache of Eve and Adam 30:53 both going to that tree 30:54 as if they were pulling the lever, 30:56 pulling the lever to that voting booth. 31:01 They hide, God comes in search of them. 31:08 "Why are you hiding from me?" 31:10 "I heard you coming, I was afraid." 31:11 "Why are you afraid?" "I am naked." 31:12 "How do you know you are naked? 31:14 Did you eat of that tree? Ah, you pulled the lever." 31:18 Ladies and gentlemen, 31:19 there are four consequences to the human fall, 31:22 and I want you to get this down in your study guide please. 31:24 Four consequences, number one. 31:26 As God begins to talk to them He says, 31:28 "Hey, serpent, I want to tell you something. 31:29 You are going to be forever changed." 31:31 Consequence number one, 31:32 is that animal life on this planet is affected, 31:35 the serpent, all of animal life is affected. 31:39 Number two, God looks at the serpent, 31:41 He says, "You know what, the woman's going to have 31:43 a baby one day and that seed, I am going to create enmity 31:46 between you and the human race, that the entire human life 31:50 is affected on this planet." That's consequence two. 31:52 Consequence number three. God comes to Eve and He says, 31:55 "Eve, you are going to still have babies 31:56 but it is going to be an awful pain. 31:58 You're going to bare in pain and labor 32:01 to bring forth that child." 32:02 And then God comes to Adam and He says, 32:04 "Adam, I got to tell you, the whole creation, 32:07 all of creation will be affected because of your decision." 32:11 In fact, I want you to read this, 32:13 verse 17, in this tragic brown story. 32:16 Verse 17, Genesis 3:17, "Then to Adam, 32:19 God said, this is the Creator, 32:20 this is the pre incarnate Christ. 32:22 He says to Adam, 'Because you have heeded 32:23 the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree 32:26 of which I commanded you saying, 32:27 "You shall not eat of it." 32:29 Cursed is the ground for your sake. 32:32 In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 32:34 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. 32:37 And you shall eat the herb of the field." 32:39 And verse 19, "In the sweat of your face 32:41 you shall eat till you return to the ground for out of it 32:43 you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you shall return." 32:48 It is brown from here on out. 32:50 You are brown now. You go back to the earth. 32:55 And what's the brown story? 32:56 Ladies and gentlemen, the brown story is simply 32:58 that as a consequence of our rebellion against the Creator. 33:04 And by the way the brown story 33:06 is what the green movement does not tell. 33:08 They either don't know or don't believe it 33:11 but it is the brown story that tells us 33:13 as a consequence of usurping our divinely 33:18 ordained dominion on this planet allowing it 33:24 to be usurped by the fallen angel Lucifer, 33:28 by voting to choose his side over God side. 33:34 It is the brown story of an entire creation 33:38 that is plunged into the heartache. 33:43 The green movement does not tell the brown story. 33:46 You and I must recognize, we live with that brown story. 33:50 In fact the New Testament even more powerfully 33:53 than Genesis 3 in a very succinct way 33:56 tells the from green to brown story. 33:59 Go to the Book of Romans, our last text 34:01 we will look up together, Romans 8. 34:07 I want to reflect with you. I want to reflect the meaning 34:09 of the third millennia survivors that we are. 34:11 How do we relate to the movement, 34:18 the largest social movement in the history of earth 34:20 as Paul Hawkens calls it. 34:22 Romans 8:19, drop down to verse 19. 34:27 By the way this is page 761 in your pew Bible. 34:32 "For the earnest expectations of the creation," 34:34 you're going to see those two words, 34:36 the creation, four times, that little couplet. 34:37 "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly 34:41 waits for the revealing of the sons of God." 34:43 Something has gone horribly wrong in creation 34:45 and all of creation awaits that the word that the Paul 34:49 uses there is apocalypses. 34:50 It waits for the apocalypse. 34:52 It waits for the wrapping up of this 34:55 tragedy experiment in rebellion. 34:57 "For the earnest expectations of the creation 34:58 eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God," 35:01 Verse 20, "For the creation 35:02 was subjected to futility, not willingly." 35:06 Nature itself had no choice in the brown story. 35:11 The choice was made by the human race 35:13 and as a consequence all the creation is thrown 35:17 into this horrible dysfunction. 35:22 Verse 20, "For the creation was subjected to futility, 35:24 not willingly, but because of Him 35:26 who subjected it in hope." 35:27 God didn't say, "Okay, nature, 35:29 I am going to kill you now because Adam and Eve said, 35:31 no, no, no, no." He said, "I am awfully sorry to do this. 35:33 I am awfully sorry that the entire ecosystem 35:35 now will be plunged into brown." 35:41 Why did God do it because, verse 21, 35:42 "Because the creation itself also will be delivered one day 35:47 from the bondage of corruption 35:48 into the glorious liberty of the children of God." 35:50 Here comes the summation, 35:52 "For we know that the whole creation, 35:54 the entire earth, all of nature groans and labors 35:59 with child pangs together until now." 36:01 Jot it down ladies and gentlemen, 36:03 "There is no more succinct and emotive a retelling 36:06 of the green to brown story than this. 36:09 The whole creation groans. 36:15 We were in Kenya at the Masai Mara couple of months ago, 36:18 this huge wild kingdom 36:23 and I took this picture of a lioness 36:24 that had just filled a gazelle. 36:29 Take a look at that picture, ladies and gentleman, 36:31 that's the brown story. That's all creation groaning. 36:37 Do you think that gazelle shows this consequence? 36:44 Creation has not sinned, creation cannot be faulted. 36:49 It got sucked into the brown story 36:53 because of our choice. 36:56 All creation, the whole creation groans, longing for redemption. 37:04 Oh, good, so let's just wait then. 37:05 Let's just wait till Christ comes 37:07 and then we get green again for ever and ever, amen. 37:10 Wrong, wrong. I want you to listen for a moment 37:14 to one of the most articulate voices in the green movement. 37:16 He is Harvard scientist, Edward Wilson, 37:18 hailed by Time Magazine 37:19 as one of the world's greatest naturalists. 37:23 My son Kirk as we were flying off to Africa, 37:27 he said, "Dad, you got to read this. 37:28 You just got to read this book." 37:31 It's E.O. Wilson's book, new book, 37:32 The Creation, an appeal to save life on earth. 37:35 Now, Kirk is in environment studies, 37:37 major, double major with communications 37:38 and so he's working for Dennis Woodland, 37:40 the resident scientist and botanist on this campus. 37:44 And so Kirk said, "Dad, read it." 37:47 Now, I did, look at this, atheist scientist. 37:51 And here's how the whole-- here's how the book is set up. 37:52 He is writing to an imaginary pastor. 37:58 And the whole book is his passionate appeal to Christians. 38:03 Here's how it begins, "Dear Pastor we have not met, 38:06 yet I feel I know you well enough to call you friend. 38:09 First of all, we grew up in the same faith. 38:11 As a boy I too answered the altar call, 38:13 I went under the water." 38:14 He was a Baptist, he grew up a Baptist. 38:16 "I went under the water, 38:17 although I no longer belong to that faith, 38:19 I am confident that if we met 38:20 and spoke privately of our deepest beliefs, 38:23 it would be in a spirit of mutual respect and good will. 38:26 I write to you now for your counsel and help. 38:30 Of course, in doing so, I see no way to avoid 38:32 the fundamental differences in our respective worldviews. 38:34 You are a literalist interpreter of Christian Holy Scripture. 38:38 You reject the conclusion of science 38:39 that mankind evolved from lower forms. 38:41 I am a secular humanist 38:43 which is kind of a euphemism for atheists. 38:46 I think existence is what we make of it as individuals. 38:48 There is no guarantee of life after death, 38:50 and heaven and hell are what we create 38:52 for ourselves on this planet. 38:53 There is no other home. Humanity originated here 38:56 by evolution from lower forms over millions of years. 38:59 And yes, I will speak plain, our ancestors 39:01 were apelike animals, preacher. 39:06 For you, the glory of an unseen divinity; 39:08 for me the glory of the universe revealed at last. 39:10 You have found your final truth, I am still searching. 39:13 I may be wrong, you may be wrong. 39:14 We may both be partly right. 39:18 I put it this way because you have the power 39:21 to help solve a great problem about which I care deeply. 39:24 I hope you have the same concern. 39:26 I suggest that we set aside our differences 39:28 in order to save the Creation." 39:29 And Creation, all through the book is capital C. 39:31 "The defense of living nature is a universal value. 39:34 It doesn't arise from, nor does it promote 39:36 any religious or ideological dogma. 39:38 Rather, it serves without discrimination 39:40 the interests of all humanity." 39:42 And now, take your study guide 39:43 because I am going to pick it up right 39:45 what you have in your study guide. 39:46 "Pastor, we need your help. 39:50 The Creation-living Nature is in deep trouble. 39:53 Scientists estimate that if habitat conversion 39:55 and other destructive human activities 39:57 continue at their present rates," 39:59 write this down, 40:01 "Half the species of plants and animals on earth 40:03 could be either gone or at least fated for early extinction 40:06 by the end of the century. 40:11 A full quarter, jot that down. 40:12 A full quarter will drop to this level during 40:14 the next half century as a result of climate change alone. 40:17 The ongoing extinction rate is calculated 40:19 in the most conservative estimates to be about 40:21 a hundred times above that prevailing 40:23 before humans appeared on Earth, 40:25 we would say since the fall 40:26 the extinction rate is hundred times more than 40:30 it was in the beginning and it is expected to rise 40:33 at least a thousand times greater or more 40:36 in the next few decades. 40:37 If this rise continues unabated, the cost to humanity, 40:41 in wealth, environmental security, 40:42 and quality of life, will be catastrophic, catastrophic." 40:48 So write this atheist scientist. 40:52 "You may well ask at this point," 40:54 let me just keep reading a couple of more lines. 40:56 "Why me? Because religion and science 40:58 are the two most powerful forces in the world today, 41:00 including especially the United States. 41:02 If religion and science could be united 41:04 on the common ground of biological conservation, 41:07 the problem would soon be solved." 41:10 Now listen to this, "I am puzzled 41:11 that so many religious leaders, who spiritually represent 41:14 a large majority of people around the world, 41:15 have hesitated to make protection of the Creation 41:18 an important part of their magisterium." 41:21 Hold on, "Even more perplexing, now listen, 41:24 is the widespread conviction among Christians 41:26 that the Second Coming is imminent," sound familiar? 41:30 "That the Second Coming is imminent 41:31 and that therefore the condition of the planet 41:33 is of little consequence. For those who believe 41:36 this form of Christianity, the fate of ten million 41:39 other life forms indeed does not matter. 41:41 Pastor, tell me I am wrong." Is he wrong? 41:48 Is he wrong about us as a community of faith in learning? 41:52 Is he wrong about us who have this passionate 41:55 hope that Jesus is coming soon 41:56 and because of that hope is he right? 41:59 And in fact, who cares whether we trash the earth or not, 42:03 it's almost over. Is he wrong? 42:08 I tell you what if E.O. Wilson were here today, 42:10 I like to write him a letter back. 42:11 If he were today, here's what I will do. 42:13 Since he call me by my first name, 42:14 I will call him by his first name, 42:16 "Dear, Professor, yes it is true, yes it is true. 42:22 So here's my letter to E.O. Wilson, all right. 42:24 "Yes it is true, we are Adventists 42:27 and we believe that Christ is soon to return to this planet. 42:30 Nevertheless we reject the notion 42:32 that the creation is no longer of any concern to us, 42:35 for we are not simply little a Adventists, 42:37 a hope shared by Christians everywhere. 42:39 No, we are Seventh-day Adventists 42:43 which means that ideally we should choose 42:46 to live our lives by the following four credos." 42:49 Would you write these down in your study guide please. 42:51 Number one, "We are not products of nature's-- 42:55 of natural selections random chance 42:58 but we are the creation 42:59 of a loving and intelligent Creator." 43:01 Write that in. Number two, 43:05 "As a memorial of His creation, 43:07 God gave to the human race the seventh-day Sabbath, 43:10 a day in which we rest in His friendship 43:12 and celebrate His handiwork." 43:15 Write that in. Number three, 43:17 "We therefore are reminded every seventh day 43:20 that this world of nature is God's entrustment 43:23 to us for our care. And finally, number four, 43:27 "We recognize that the Creation will never be 43:30 fully healed though we do recognize 43:32 that it will never be fully healed of its obvious 43:34 dysfunction evil's final eradication, 43:37 and though we eagerly do await 43:39 the return of our Savior and Creator, 43:41 nevertheless we believe our care of God's Creation 43:45 is required of all who are children of the Creator." 43:52 Pastor, tell me I am wrong, you wrote. 43:54 "Professor, I wish that you were, 43:56 in fact I hope that you are. But let me be quick to assure 44:02 you that you're also right. 44:04 For now more than ever religion and science, 44:05 the church and the academy must join forces 44:09 to fight for the preservation and protection 44:11 of the creation whether or not 44:12 we believe it to be the product of natural random selection 44:15 as you do or the gift of a loving Creator as we do. 44:18 Our radically different worldviews must not prevent 44:21 or preclude our joining forces for this shared cause, 44:26 your friend, the Pastor." 44:34 So how green shall we then live, 44:36 we who believe that Jesus is soon to come? 44:41 Dixie Wang gave me Paul Hawkens book, Blessed Unrest. 44:45 How the largest movement in the world 44:47 came into being and why no one saw it coming. 44:50 In that book, this is in your study guide, 44:51 in that book he speak of a rabbinical tradition 44:53 that holds that if the world is ending 44:55 and the Messiah arrives, you first plant a tree 44:59 and then go to find out if the story is true or not. 45:02 You plant a tree. 45:05 So how should we then plant our trees, 45:07 we who await the return of the Messiah? 45:09 How shall we color our world green 45:11 even while it is still brown? 45:14 Let me close with ten ways, ten ways you and I 45:19 as Creator loving, creation serving 45:22 and Sabbath keeping Christians can turn our world green. 45:25 All right, ten ways. Write them down, ten ways. 45:29 Please get this, this is now 45:30 a part of the Back to Green story. 45:33 Now back to green, back to green. 45:35 We were green, then we were brown and now finally, 45:37 how do we get back to green? 45:39 Number one, eat greens. 45:48 Became a vegetarian. 45:52 New York Times, January 26 this year, 45:55 carried a piece entitled 45:56 "Rethinking the meat guzzler that is food for thought." 45:59 keep you pen ready. 46:01 Americans, get this guy's, 46:03 Americans consume that means grow 46:04 and kill 10 billion animals a year, just Americans. 46:10 All right, write that down. 46:12 Number two, jot this down. 46:13 An estimated 30% of the earth's ice free-land 46:17 is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production 46:19 which generates nearly a fifth of the world's 46:23 greenhouse gases more than even transportation. 46:26 Can you believe it? 46:28 More than transportation, those animals. 46:32 800 million, you don't have this down but let me tell you, 46:34 800 million human being suffer from hunger 46:36 and malnutrition and yet guess what, 46:38 the dominant, the dominant purpose for growing corn 46:42 and soy is not to the feed the hungry, 46:44 it's to stock up the animals that we will then kill to eat. 46:51 Jot this one down, two to five times 46:53 more grain as much as ten times more in the United States 46:56 is required to produce the same amount of calories 46:58 to livestock as to direct grain consumption. 47:01 Listen, you want to live healthy, 47:02 take the grain in your hand 47:03 and shove it down in your mouth. 47:04 Don't eat it after the cow has eaten it. 47:09 Just shove it down your mouth. 47:12 You don't need all that stuff on top of it. 47:17 One more, the environmental impact of growing 47:20 so much grain for animal feed is profound. 47:23 Agriculture in the U.S. much of which now serve 47:26 the demand for meat contributes nearly 47:28 three-quarters of all water quality problems 47:31 in the nation's rivers and streams." 47:35 Ladies and gentlemen, I need you hear me 47:36 very, very clearly now. 47:40 Strictly, all right, strictly from an ecological 47:44 or green perspective, let's just deal in that way, 47:49 not saying a word about the massive, 47:51 health cost carried by disease-causing 47:53 animal flesh consumption. 47:55 Not saying a word about that. 47:56 Not saying a word about the moral issue 47:59 of animal cruelty in our assembly line, 48:01 hormone injected, animal production and slaughter. 48:04 Strictly from a green perspective, 48:08 it is both incongruous and inconsistent 48:11 for anyone advocating environmental stewardship 48:14 to adopt a diet that requires the raping a both animals 48:17 and farmlands for the sake of meat consumption. 48:22 It is absolutely incongruous. 48:25 The next time you're at McDonalds 48:29 and you're wolfing down that cheeseburger, 48:32 I want you to think, no, I am serious 48:35 because we have a whole lot of people 48:36 walking around saying, I am green, man, I am green. 48:38 I am into this green movement, bring it on. 48:41 Okay put your money where your mouth is. 48:45 The next time you wolf down that double whopper, 48:52 you ask yourself the implications of my purchasing, 48:58 this product sustains 49:01 an industry that is destroying this planet. 49:07 Go green, eat greens, number one. 49:11 Number two, and by the way from two to nine 49:14 I am embedded to Ashley Burnett. 49:19 In last weeks at student moment, 49:21 delightful little piece she put together. 49:22 So numbers two through nine are from her. 49:25 This is good stuff. So just scribble these, 49:27 I will fly through it. 49:28 Number two, number one is eat greens. 49:31 Number two, power down. 49:33 What is she talking about? 49:34 She's talking about turn off the lights. 49:36 I went to Sierra clubs website and found out that 44% 49:39 of the electricity we use in our offices, 49:41 in buildings, in classroom, 49:42 44% electricity is from lights alone. 49:47 Just turn the light out when you leave. 49:49 Just turn the light out when you leave. 49:51 You can help the earth, turn it off, power down. 49:54 Number three, I like this, this is Ashley, 49:57 tune up, pump up and team up. 49:59 Tune up means if you have that old belching car 50:03 that keeps blowing blue smoke all through campus, 50:05 get it tuned, just get the car tune. 50:07 Team up means carpool, but pump up, 50:09 I like this. Jot this down. 50:10 If we all kept our tires properly inflated, 50:13 we could save almost two billion gallons of gas a year, 50:18 isn't that some, two billion 50:19 just from keeping your tires pumped up. 50:21 Number three, no, that's number three. 50:23 Number four, let me go back to number three 50:28 because there's an evangelical movement called 50:30 the evangelical environment, environmental network 50:33 and they are challenging Christian and Adventists 50:37 love affair with the SUV's and they are asking 50:39 the bumper sticker question, what would Jesus drive? 50:48 Drive through our parking lot after church today. 50:55 Are we doing our best to conserve gasoline 50:59 and oil consumption? You say, "Pastor, 51:02 I see that you're driving a little blazer SUV." 51:06 Yeah, but its 1996, gives awful gas mileage, 51:11 I am telling you the truth, 14 miles per gallon. 51:15 Yeah. I know it's a Sabbath but yes if anybody wants us-- 51:19 What did you say, sell it? 51:20 All right. See me afterwards. 51:27 All right, number four, number four, make it quick. 51:32 Jot this down, will you. 51:33 On average we each use 123 gallons of water 51:36 per day with 60 of them coming 51:37 from a single 10 minute shower. 51:40 You can save 12 gallons by cutting two minutes off 51:42 you shower time. Look at that, go green, shower less. 51:48 Now that's not Ashley, that's kind of slipped in, 51:50 I don't know how that got in there. 51:52 Shower well but shower shorter, that's the point, all right. 51:55 Number five, number five, recycle it. 51:58 Write it down, recycle it. 51:59 The environmental protection agency estimates 52:02 that each of us produces 4.5 pounds 52:05 of trash everyday. 52:08 Now, there's been a big-faculty send me their, 52:11 some of their emails, so there's been quite 52:13 a discussion on campus over the last two weeks 52:15 about recycling on this campus 52:16 and I'm not going to get into the thick of that. 52:18 I do believe our provost has heard the conversation 52:20 and is acting to respond. 52:21 Ladies and gentleman, we've got to recycle. 52:23 We recycle here at the church, you these bulletins 52:25 that you lovingly leave behind when you exit this church. 52:30 We take all of that, all goes to recycling, 52:32 recycle, recycle. There's a website here, 52:34 if you don't know where your recycle center is, 52:35 recyclingcenters.org to find a center near you. 52:39 Number six, go mobile. 52:40 Now this one surprised me. Buy your own thermos jug 52:43 and get a water filter and do this. 52:47 Write it down, when you purchase 52:49 a one liter bottle of water you are actually 52:51 consuming six liters since plastic manufacturing 52:54 requires five liters of water 52:56 just to cool the plastic container before you get it. 52:59 So you're drinking six every time you drink one, 53:01 you are spending six liters of water. 53:04 Just use your own thermos, fill it up, 53:07 drink out of that. 53:09 You go Ashley. Number seven, hug a tree. 53:12 This isn't something, guys. 53:14 Just by leaving receipts in the ATM machines 53:16 and gas station pumps will save 53:18 over three billion feet of paper, 53:21 enough to circle the globe 22 times, amazing. 53:24 Just, hey, I don't need a receipt, keeps it. 53:28 Sierra Club reminds us by the way, 53:29 to print on both sides, they use the back sides 53:31 of old documents for faxes and drafts. 53:33 The average US office worker goes through 53:35 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year. 53:39 Number eight, charitize. 53:41 What does Ashley mean by that? 53:42 She means never throw old clothes away 53:45 unless they are exceptionally stinky. 53:48 Take your clothes to the neighbor to neighbor, 53:50 there's a little neighbor to neighbor center here 53:52 in the village you take it their. 53:53 Take it to the goodwill, recycle your clothes. 53:56 There is somebody on this planet 53:57 who would love to have that outfit. 54:00 And not have to pay to have something to wear. 54:03 Recycle your clothes, charitize it, give it to charity. 54:05 Number nine, this is a two-mile challenge. 54:07 Ashley says, if you're going two miles or less, 54:09 park your car, walk your feet, lose the weight 54:12 and enjoy becoming green, just park your car. 54:17 Now we don't have to drive that hundred yards, 54:19 a hundred yards, I got to drive that parking 54:22 lot across campus, please. 54:24 And finally, number ten, I want to add this. 54:26 Ponder the green tree. I love this, Desire of Ages, 54:30 page 660, here's something for the green movement. 54:32 "To the death of Christwe owe even 54:34 this earthly life. The bread--" 54:36 and I am thinking about farmlands globally. 54:38 "The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. 54:41 The water--" I am thinking about rivers and streams, 54:43 lakes and oceans, "The water we drink 54:44 is bought by His spilled blood." 54:46 Listen to this, "The cross of Calvary 54:48 is stamped on every loaf. 54:50 It is reflected in every water spring." 54:53 Final line, would you jot it down, 54:55 "The death of Christ upon the cross 54:57 in some mysterious way set in motion 55:00 the re-greening of a creation turned brown." 55:04 Yep, redeeming the sinners but of course, 55:06 but also a re-greening of nature as well. 55:10 I'm telling you what guys, to the cross of Christ, 55:12 truly, truly, truly, to the cross of Jesus. 55:15 We own it all, we owe everything to the cross of Christ. 55:19 You know why don't you, you know why? 55:21 You know why we owe it all to the cross? 55:23 Because remember when we were 55:24 in Genesis 3 and God said, 55:25 I am going curse the ground, here's the word, 55:27 the Creator who said He cursed the ground came 55:31 and bore that curse on Calvary itself. 55:35 God bore the curse. You thought that it was Google 55:39 that turned black in order to become green? 55:42 No, no, no, it is God who on that Friday 55:44 turned very black in order for you and me 55:49 to become very green. 55:54 If any man is in Christ, 55:55 if any woman is in Christ she, he is a green 56:03 and new creation, 56:08 which is why ladies and gentlemen, 56:09 the Sabbath day is God's green earth day 56:16 which means that of all people on this planet, 56:18 you and I have got to lead the return to green. 56:26 Let's pray. Oh, God, 56:31 our Creator, You make us green, 56:37 You keep us green in Christ Jesus 56:42 and now holy Father, help us, 56:46 help You turn your world back 56:52 to green again, amen. 56:57 I wanted to take one more moment here 56:59 at the end of the telecast to let you know 57:01 how grateful I am for your journey with us, 57:04 with our New Perceptions Ministry. 57:06 You may think that New Perceptions 57:07 is only about television but I need to tell you, 57:10 we do have a website which is more than 57:12 just the study guide. 57:13 I know we go to the study guide every week 57:15 but if you go to our website, 57:16 let me put the address on the screen again, 57:18 www.pmchurch.tv. 57:22 You'll find at that website a blog. 57:24 I write every Wednesday. 57:25 I sit down with my laptop and write up a blog, 57:27 something as commenting on world events, 57:29 something local, something national. 57:31 You get the blog. 57:32 You want archive, previous teachings from here 57:35 in the Pioneer Pulpit, you go to that annotated archive. 57:38 You can pick out a message, it will be sent to you. 57:41 You want to get into the podcast business, 57:44 I am not real high-techie on this 57:46 but if you click podcast, 57:47 you'll be able to connect instantly 57:49 with every new teaching that comes 57:50 from the Pioneer Pulpit. 57:51 The point is we're trying to connect 57:53 with a generation on the move, on the go. 57:56 Thanks for being a part of it. 57:57 Thanks for your prayer partnership. 57:58 We have got to connect with this generation 58:01 at this time in earth's history. 58:03 And I'm grateful you and I are sharing the mission. 58:05 God bless you until next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17