Writers' Guidelines Back Issues Reader comments
(coming soon)

Fall 1999

Table of Contents

From the editor
Canadian Church Becomes a Creation Awareness Centre by Cindy Verbeek
Contemporary John the Baptist by Dean Ohlman
Ministry of Madness by Stan LeQuire
The sound of sheer silence by Michael Crook
Shalom and the rose next door by David Clements
The daffodil phoenix by Nicole Belfiore
Family Time: Family Devotions
God, creation and us in scripture by Jackie Green

From the editor

Dear friends,

I hope this issue of Creation Care magazine comes to you with at least a tablespoon of grace. We have focused on the devotional aspects of earthkeeping, or earth stewardship. In these pages you'll find good writing that has the power to make us think, to give us an appetite for action, to challenge us in our comfortable lives.

Especially noteworthy are the offerings from Dean Ohlman, who sees parallels between John the Baptist and Creation Care Christians, and from Stan LeQuire, who reflects on the struggle of "being biblical" in a world that continues to ignore biblical teachings on creation care.

Here at the Evangelical Environmental Network, we remain passionate about our calling. We strive to help our network members and the world beyond them to care for creation in a way that is faithful to Jesus Christ, biblical revelation and scientific analysis.

We do rely on God's grace and power to keep this ministry healthy. It is clear, though, that we must build a network of EEN partners who will further support this "mission" with their time, talent, prayers and, yes, financial resources.

If you are reading this and wondering when was the last time you provided financial assistance to EEN, perhaps it is time to consider renewing that support.

You can rely on us to be good stewards of your support. We are a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), which measures the stewardship of dozens of Christian ministries by setting strict guidelines for financial planning, accounting and auditing.

Help us to grow into a strong international network, focused on one of the world's most pressing issues: environmental degradation. As Christmas approaches, please consider giving a gift subscription to Creation Care magazine (see the back cover for details) to a friend or loved one. As the New Year approaches, remember that donations to EEN are fully tax-deductible.

Please accept our warmest wishes for the season ahead.

Your brother in Christ,
Michael Crook

Canadian Church Becomes a Creation Awareness Centre

Cindy Verbeek

"What was that?"
An eager hand shoots up, pointing towards the bushes.
Everyone stops dead in their tracks and ears strain to hear the delicate "sweet sweet sweet chew chew chew chew" somewhere in the branches above.
"Sounds like a yellow warbler," whispers Dennis, the tour guide. The tiny bird flits from branch to branch and we catch the movement. All eyes focus on a male yellow warbler clothed in brilliant yellow with bright streaks of red down its breast.
This Creation Awareness Walk is part of a growing Caring for Creation ministry that started last February at Covenant Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
In November 1997, several people in our congregation who shared an interest in natural history agreed that making our Church a Creation Awareness Centre would be a great idea. In February 1998, we presented the idea to Church for beginning this new ministry. In our presentation we focused on why creation care is important, and why we should make our church a Creation Awareness Centre.
We gave quotes from the Bible, the CRC Psalter Hymnal's contemporary testimony, and from well-known theologians, trying to convince council members of the legitimacy of this ministry. Thankfully, no real convincing was necessary. Council unanimously and enthusiastically supported our proposal. Several other members of the congregation had already been working on caring for creation projects, including a community garden for single parents and involvement in the Jubilee 2000 initiative, so this proposal just made this ministry more official.
After a short presentation at our congregational meeting (where we were again met with enthusiastic support) a Creation Awareness Committee (CAC) was formed to help put our faith into action. Several initial CAC members may be familiar to some Creation Care readers: Justin Mulder, Geoff Abma, John Sneep (council liaison at the time), myself and Dennis. (It now also includes Janelle Zwier, Rita Haarsma (present council rep.), Jeff and Rosalyn Sneep and Cheryl Marten).
With the encouragement and hard work of these committed people the CAC has sponsored activites like:

• A Creation Awareness Sunday with an in-church morning service with a Creation theme and an afternoon liturgical walk on a local farm;
• Creation Awareness Walks to local natural areas;
• Providing a small booklet, containing ideas for "eco-friendly" building materials, to our Building Committee (in charge of designing our new church building); and
• An eight week adult bible study based on Cal DeWitt's book Earthwise.

Presently we are planning for another Creation Awareness Sunday and have been asked to lead field trips at the church campout in July. Overall, it has been an amazing experience and we have really felt the Lord working in the lives of the congregation and in us as a committee.

There is one event in particular that many people still talk about as being a very powerful experience. It happened last year during our afternoon Creation Awareness Sunday liturgical. Our first stop was beside an oil derrick in a wheat field to talk about God's provision of the sun's energy, stored in the oil and the wheat. As we reflected on the words of the song "This is my Father's World" (which we sang to conclude that stop) we had to walk through the wheat field to get to our forest path. Half way across, not more than 1 metre from the path we had chosen, lay a newborn fawn. A sense of awe, wonder and excitement rippled down the line as people whispered of the discovery to those behind them.

As we passed, each person paused to view the tiny speckled wonder that God created. One of my professors from Au Sable (Fred Vandyke), says that when you're out for a walk, God only allows you to see what He wants you to see. I am awed and delighted that God chose to reveal that fawn to us on the very day that we were acknowledging Him as Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the Cosmos. This truly is Our Father's World!

If you know about other Creation Care type ministries in Canada I would love to find out about them. Please contact me at (780) 452-1665 or <verbeek@planet.eon.net>.

Cindy Verbeek is a graduate of The King's University College and the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. She lives with her husband, Dennis, her corn snake, Jenny, and her two leopard geckos, Hammie and Zo. When she's not riding Alberta's wetlands of purple loosestrife, she can be found, net in hand, chasing butterflies and ladybird beetles.

Contemporary John the Baptist

Dean Ohlman

In a sense, the creation care movement is playing the role of John the Baptist for the Messianic age-the promised peaceable kingdom. John the Baptist appeared, as prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-5, as "a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord....'" He spoke of the fact that "all mankind will see God's salvation."

In John's day, God's salvation was revealed in the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. That advent led to the Messiah's death, burial, and resurrection.
Ultimate salvation for man and the creation was not fully attained at that time, but the provision was fully complete in His atoning act as God the Son. And from that time to this, God the Father sees believers as perfect because we are under the blood of the Savior.

To prepare Israel for the first advent of Messiah, John the Baptist called the Jews of his day to be baptized in an act of "repentance for sin leading to forgiveness"-a cleansing that looked forward to the soon-coming Messiah.

This call to a baptism of repentance was unprecedented, because until that time only proselytes to Judaism were baptized for that purpose. Even Jesus submitted himself to John's baptism, saying, "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."

The Jews who came to be baptized asked John what they were to do in their daily lives as a result of their baptism. No doubt many expected that he would recommend some religious rituals.

Instead, he gave them practical economic mandates: They must share both food and clothing with the poor; they were not to defraud or extort money from one another; and they were to be content with their lot.

Today we are looking for the second advent of Jesus the Messiah, who will this time come in power, as the last Adam, to restore the groaning creation and "destroy those who destroy the earth" (Rev. 18:11).
Is it absurd to think that some of us may be called today to take a sort of John the Baptist role as we look forward to the Second Coming? 1)To again call for repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 2)To call for a return to justice not only for the poor and disenfranchised, but also for the entire creation, which has received the promise of restoration. 3) To call for Christians to denounce the self-centeredness and materialism that is destroying the earth. 4) To plead with our fellow believers to begin to act toward the creation like we will be expected to act when our prayer for the coming of God's kingdom will finally be answered. 5) And to pray for, hope for, and work toward a revelation of the first fruits of the Messianic kingdom even now (Romans 8:23).

In John's day, despite the truthfulness of his proclamation , only a minority responded. Nonetheless the Messiah did make His first appearance and did make atonement for the universal curse.
Only a minority will likely respond this time to prepare the way for the coming King-but He will come, He will be victorious, we will receive our final adoption, and there will be one grand and glorious united doxology as we harmonize with the billions of heavenly bodies as they "join with all nature in manifold witness to [God's] great faithfulness, mercy, and love." There will be "joy to the world" as the reigning Messiah takes away all sin and sorrow, eliminates the thorns that "infest the ground," and makes His blessings flow "far as the curse is found."

Let us with faithfulness consider being a "John the Baptist" to what could be the terminal generation of those who struggle under the curse. Let us be "a voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.... And the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind together will see it" (Isa. 40:3-5 NIV).

Ideas:

Consider adopting a behavior or discontinuing a behavior as a sacrament-a sacrament that instead of looking backward, as do the Lord's Supper and Baptism, looks forward to the restoration of the earth. It must be voluntary and personal, not legalistic. You could discontinue a practice clearly allowed by God in this current administration of His grace that may likely not be a part of the restoration period after the Second Advent of Jesus.

Things you could possibly begin:

1. Maintain a garden for food
2. Plant and use herbs for health and nutrition purposes
3. Become vegetarian
4. Join a responsible environmental organization
5. Do an environmental project
6. Join an organization that seeks to eliminate weapons of war
7. Take a natural history course
8. Become an interpretive naturalist for a camp or nature center
9. Take inner-city children camping or hiking
10. Do nature arts or crafts

Things you could possibly discontinue:

1. Hunting for sport
2. Eating meat (or merely reducing the amount and frequency of meat eating)
3. High consumption
4. Fixation on material things

Ministry of Madness

Stan LeQuire

Ministry of Madness
by

At least, well-meaning brothers in Jesus have told me as much. It seems that my involvements in caring for creation really irk these brothers. Others say that I cannot be a Christian and an environmentalist at the same time, that if I only knew the truth, I would repent of my errors. I could give many more examples of my alleged waywardness. Perhaps you could too. Many of my sisters and brothers in the creation care movement give similar testimonies of deprecation and even damnation sent their way.

Such scorn is directed to more than just individuals. Our creation care organizations have also been the recipients of everything from hate mail to misinformation from a variety of truth squads. I will speak from my experience with the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), but I know that the Au Sable Institute, Target Earth, and other groups could tell similar stories.

I will never forget the day when the EEN received a letter in the mail. The author had stumbled upon a good idea. If the EEN was in support of the Endangered Species Act, then we should be required to pay for the supposed millions of dollars lost by businesses and homeowners from implementing the Act.

Two Congressmen from the Resources Committee of the US House of Representatives distributed a press release publicly exhorting the EEN that "all Americans... expect religious leaders to abide by a higher standard." The press release also requested us to "keep the debate honest... Don't use the pulpit to mislead people... As religious people, you have a high obligation to seek the truth, even in the political arena."

Several economic and public policy think tanks have posted "dossiers" about the EEN on their web pages. We have been the focus of seminars at "Wise Use" conventions.

An evangelical newsmagazine has printed an article about us. The headline read, "Deforestation of the truth." In another issue, the same magazine accused us of mixing "bad theology with pseudo-science."

People get mad; they laugh at us; they accuse us of foul play. These people come from all sectors of our society. Broad spectrums of fundamentalists, evangelicals, economists, and politicians have taken it upon themselves to lead us to the light. We would hope that our many activities would inspire rather than irritate. We would want to help renew a sense of awe in the Creator's handiwork, but others find our ministry awful. What is it about the care of creation that makes people mad? Why do we have what I call a "ministry of madness?"

Beliefs in the roots of our folly range from spiritual collusion with Satan to hidden agendas of the Democratic Party. I can debunk any of these supposed plots, but I would like to focus on one particular root of this rage. Idolatry. I believe that the care of creation inadvertently points a damning finger at our most dearly cherished idols and so, some respond in kind, by damning us. This is not to say that our critics are insincere, childish or vindictive in their criticisms. My point is simply that even as the environmental crisis is largely a spiritual problem, so there are spiritual dynamics at work in those who are angry. The anger that we arouse arises from complex spiritual dynamics. What is at stake is more than mere politics; it is our own identity as human beings living in God's world.

I believe that the care of creation strikes a deadly blow to the notion of personal sovereignty, freedom, and convenience. It is a part of the human condition to want, and to crave a world of our own making. We shun any accountability. This can be seen in the criticisms of "big government." Surely, Washington has many excesses, but those who criticize may be revealing as much about themselves as they do about federal bureaucracy. "Big government" is a problem, but "bigger egos" are the greater danger. We all want to live in a world where we answer to no one. We would love to go through life thinking that we can do whatever we like. That we can drive through life at any speed, because there are no speed bumps. This is "my" property; this is "my" life and nobody will tell me what to do with it.

This is a spiritual problem and the Bible addresses it with frankness. The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) is one of many texts that take on a modern flavor in our era of personal liberty and convenience. The rich man seems so contemporary in his easy self-absorption and inability to acknowledge anything or anyone else but himSelf. Our society would undoubtedly applaud such a man. A pastor would want him on the Board of Deacons. Fund-raisers would solicit major donations from this man for their worthy cause or candidate.

However, a closer look at Jesus' story reveals a poverty, which tarnishes the man's golden opulence. The rich fool is the only human character in the whole drama. There are no other signs of life. As the man ponders his wealth, no family members are mentioned. As the man lays out his development plans, no friends are to be found. This man is on his own, he is free and he seems relish his lifestyle. At the height of his success, God intervenes and bluntly reveals the depths of his poverty. God brings the foolish man back to reality. He is concerned about his own personal wealth, but is not "rich toward God" (verse 21). The foolish man "had it all," but he had little that mattered.

Jesus' point in telling this parable is not unique. In Scripture, he addressed the idols of money and personal freedom more than any other topic. Jesus knew the grip that these idols hold on the human heart. In the New Testament, we read the story of Zacchaeus who found freedom from his idols of greed and self-promotion (Luke 19:1-10). However others, such as "the rich ruler" (Luke 18:18-27), were not able to turn away from the love of money. Such people are unable to give Christ his rightful place above the idols of their hearts. The "rich ruler's" billfold was his temple.

I believe these parables and teachings explain why those who care for creation can be such gadflies. We remind both Christians and non-Christians alike that the world has limitations. It would be so convenient to go through life thinking that we can do whatever we like, wherever our heart desires. No big government breathes down our backs. No "big God" slows us down. We would be so much more comfortable if land were only real estate; if a river were only weekend entertainment for rafters; if trees were only so many board feet of lumber. However, this world is not our own; "the earth is the LORD's." How inconvenient it is to reorder the way we approach creation and its Creator. It seems so confining to pause and prayerfully consider what it might mean for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven! Moreover, what if God's will is not our own and we must repent? Perhaps, one of the chief contributions of the creation care movement, like that of the ancient prophets, is to speak honestly about our rebellion against God and to remind our neighbors how far we have drifted from God.
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15).
It is enough to make the whole world mad.

The sound of sheer silence

Michael Crook

Reading: 1 Kings 19:4-12

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.

I have a love-hate relationship with solitude and silence. I love the opportunity. I hate the struggle. Christ has come to me in silent moments, granting me the awesome comfort of his presence, sometimes even speaking to me.

My earliest memories of this phenomenon take me back to those rare moments in church, just after taking Holy Communion, when I would return to the pew, get down on my knees, bury my face in my hands, and wait. When I was able to dive down past the crowding thoughts to the cool depths of quiet, God would be there, welcoming.

I'll never forget the cold Arizona dawn when my stepfather's voice lowered to a whisper. Let's sit here for a minute. We were on a mountainside, dressed in funny orange clothing, smelling of sleep and gun oil and bird dogs. Son, I've always believed you can be with God out here as much as you can in church. I laid down my shotgun and sat, squirming a little on a cold flat rock. And suddenly, God was with us. No burning bush, no pillar of fire. Just me, my Dad, and God. He was dead-on right.

As I've grown older, I have packed my life with sound and action, like a Hollywood movie. Marriage. Family. Career. Activism. Ministry. Communication. Congregation. Settling into silence is not as easy as it sounds any more. It's a struggle for me. I have to brace myself for the noise, the voices, the clamor inside my head and heart. When I'm strong, I confront them one by one, and lay each one aside, swimming deeper. When I'm weak, they defeat me. Like howling watchdogs in a junkyard, they stop me at the gate. I cannot pass.

Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

If you share the struggle with silence and solitude, you're in good company. Since the early days of Christianity, a faithful and stubborn people have witnessed to the power and, indeed, the necessity of quiet, solitary prayer, remembering the words of Jesus when he was asked how we should pray: "Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. . ." These Desert Fathers, as they have come to be known, willingly separated themselves from the noisy world, living in caves and crude shelters, praying constantly. They had no ringing phones, no doorbells, no e-mail to check, no Pentiums, no cellular phones. Lest we be tempted to envy their freedom from modern distractions, let's listen to Abba Agathon, whose brother monks asked him, "Amongst all good works, which is the virtue which requires the greatest effort?"

The abba answered, "Forgive me, but I think there is no labor greater than that of prayer to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies, the demons, want to prevent him, for they know that it is only by turning him from prayer that they can hinder his journey. Whatever good work a man undertakes, if he perseveres in it, he will attain rest. But prayer is warfare to the last breath."

In our times, no one has described the struggle better than Henri Nouwen:

"As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed begin to show their ugly faces. I give long, hostile speeches to my enemies and dream lustful dreams in which I am wealthy, influential, and very attractive(or poor, ugly, and in need of immediate consolation. Thus I try again to run from the dark abyss of my nothingness and restore my false self in all its vainglory." (The Way of the Heart, p. 15)

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

Bible translators have apparently gotten stuck on the last words of this passage in Hebrew. The King James Version says it "a still, small voice" came after the fire. The New International Version calls it "a gentle whisper," and the New English Bible describes it as "a faint murmuring sound." I believe this is a reflection of the mystery of God's conversation with us. Each one of us might experience it and describe it differently.

Still for us, the same as it was for Elijah, quiet solitude will be a wilderness, populated by the wild animals of our noisy minds and the demons of our dark side. The weather will be stormy, the earth will shake under us, and our passions may sweep the inward landscape like wildfire. Yet we know that angels can come to feed us, to nourish us. And in the sheer silence, we may hear the word of God.

Prayer: Friend Jesus, come quickly to my side when I am alone and silently praying. Help me to swim past the noise and lights and beckoning distractions that crowd my spirit. I will surely need your help. Amen.

Shalom and the rose next door

David Clements

What makes a good story? As you read through a good story or view it on a screen, or even see it lived out in real life, powerful tensions build. In a really moving story, those tensions make you long for some kind of resolution, because something has been displaced (moved) from a more peaceful state. Yet, when the resolution happens, that state of peace is even deeper and more meaningful because of the struggles throughout the story. The kind of stories that tend to go through this motion most powerfully involve reconciliation between two people who should be drawn together, and yet through the story become pulled apart, as in a classic love story.

Why are we so attracted to stories of reconciliation? If we know God as Creator and Redeemer, we know that this is the grand narrative to govern each of our lives. He created us to be drawn to Him, and yet through our lives we get pulled away, ever-longing for the peace of being totally reconciled to Him. In the first chapter of Colossians, we read about the great work of reconciliation that Christ is doing, to reconcile "all things" to Himself, making peace through His blood. This can be a powerful incentive to follow the Lord in loving the "all things" of His creation, but it can also defuse our passion if simply read like some bureaucratic pronouncement. Remember that in a good story, the power of reconciliation is seen through just a few characters, sometimes only two.

In Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry's classic story "The Little Prince," the prince is guardian of a single rose plant on his planet. He thinks it is special, until he travels to Earth and finds many rose plants here. This is depressing to the little prince because it seems there is nothing unique about his own rose bush, until someone tells him that what makes his rose special is all the time and effort he has invested in caring for his rose. It is all well and good to talk about redeeming the whole of creation, and give examples from around the world where this is being attempted, or where it might be possible to work alongside the great Redeemer. However, I believe the only way to really experience the power of God's reconciliation is through seeking peace with the particle of creation right where you live. In other words, the story should be: "Think globally, act locally."

Which one of the "all things" will be your rose bush? Sometimes I walk through the ravine near where I live, look at the garbage strewn here and there, and wonder how this riparian area can possibly survive the onslaught of traffic from the nearby high school and community centre. But, do I put myself in this story? Like the boy who suddenly wakes up to "the girl next door," we need to seek to love the place in Creation where God has put us, and to reach somehow towards everlasting shalom.

David Clements is Associate Professor of Biology at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C., Canada.

The daffodil phoenix

Nicole Belfiore

Spring, a year ago, when the veil of green began to tint the woods with a subtle haze of fresh color, I happened to take note of daffodil leaf tips peeking out from under an old split log. Tenderly, I lifted the log and set it aside. The leaves emerged from the ground where the center point of the log had been. They were sickly yellow and in disarray, twisted and bent in odd directions. The plant's flattened form hugging the ground betrayed the only life it ever knew, under the weight of the log.

Such determination made my eyes widen and my mouth say "WOW." Without a second thought, I recognized this as a demonstration of the persistence of life...to reach for light, to make a way.

A little bulb was warmed in the earth, a sprout was born, only to discover its way to sun and space was blocked by an old dead log. But, being born equated to having no choice but to grow.

Perhaps because it didn't have the capacity to recognize an obstacle as an obstacle, it didn't stop. Growth toward light went on as it moved itself into any crevice that would receive it. Finally extending beyond the log, it could be noticed. Lifting the log off changed its course and revealed a story. This is the story I title Daffodil Phoenix.

If this daffodil were animated, it would be a determined, patient, focused being, with no room or energy for resentment or blaming. Moving toward light and space, it had become all the "daffodilness" that the environment would permit. Without question, it was ugly, especially compared to the straight dark green leaves of its kin around the other side of the tree. But Daffodil Phoenix now had a story with an invaluable message of encouragement.

Upon seeing this plant then, without knowing its story, one may have despised its crumpled form. But to the few who now know, this humble sight is a symbol of utmost courage. This spring, my friend grew out of the ground straight and tall, unencumbered by a crushing load. So it is only I who remember and can speak of her season of struggle. I feel priviledged to pass this story on to you.

"A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish: He will faithfully bring forth justice." Isaiah 42:3 "Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, in order that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light." (Luke 8:16 &17)

Family Time: Family Devotions

Genesis 2:4-20a

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ...Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Then the LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field ...

Talking questions
God formed the first human being out of the dust of the ground. Can you imagine that? Isn't God amazing? Did you know the stuff that your body is made of-carbon, calcium, oxygen, water, minerals like iron and zinc-is the same stuff you find in dirt, in the air and the oceans around us, even in the stars we see at night?

Adam named all of the animals. Picture that, God sending the animals one by one for Adam to name. From aardvarks to zebras, and everything in between. Do you think they passed by in alphabetical order? If so, then the mouse must have been right behind the moose. Can you think of the funniest name Adam came up with? (Duck-billed platypus is my favorite)

Exodus 3:1-6

NOW Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. Then He said, Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Talking points
Why do you think God met Moses in the wilderness? Is there something special about being in the wilderness, out where it's quiet, and there's no TV or video games or stereo music?
If you saw a bush that was burning, out in the middle of nowhere, what would you think? That it was struck by lightning? That someone forgot to put out their campfire? Would you stop and look?
What if God came and introduced himself to you? Would you be scared? How would you know if it's really God? Moses was worried about looking at God. Would you be worried? Or would you be curious? Would you tell anyone? Would you take off your shoes?

John 1:22-33

Then they said to him, Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord,", as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? John answered them saying, I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, "After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'

Talking points
John the Baptist called himself "a voice crying in the wilderness." It is said that he lived outdoors and ate wild honey and locusts. Do you think he was lonely? Why do you think people wanted to be baptized by John? Because it was hot and they wanted to cool off? Or something more important? Did you know John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River? When Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit of God came down like a dove out of heaven and rested on him. Here we are again: in the great outdoors. Big things happen outside, in the Bible stories. Why?

Luke 5:1-10

NOW it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered and said, Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.

Talking points
People really wanted to hear Jesus. Why do you think he got into a boat and got Simon (Peter) to push away a little from the shore? Was it so the people could see him and hear him better? Did you know Jesus was a rabbi? That's a Hebrew word that means "teacher." He was a teacher of religion. That's probably why he sat down in the boat: rabbis usually sat down to teach. Why did Jesus choose that moment to help the fishermen catch more fish? How do you think they felt about it?

God, creation and us in scripture

Jackie Green

The first of two biblical creation stories qualitatively describes various stages of creation by repeating the refrain..."and God saw that it was good." This description is used five times in the first chapter of Genesis (verses 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25). The account of creation then culminates with, "and God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

God values highly his creation. In fact, he loves it.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, the cosmos, the entire created order.
Paul echoes this theme of sacrificial cosmic love: "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." (Colossians 1:20)

It does have a New Age ring to it, but there is a universal embrace, a cosmic inclusivity in God's love. There is no ambiguity as to God's love of the whole earth.

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them."( Matthew 6:26)

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." (Matthew 10:29)

"In whose hand is the soul of every living thing." (Job 12:10) The soul of every living thing. All of it, encompassed by a divine love.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he male and female." (Genesis 1:27) That's us, formed in the image of the creator. As such, it should come as no surprise that our work is to care for creation.

The second creation story: "And the Lord God planted a garden. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2:8, 15) To keep it. As in, "the Lord bless you and keep you." To keep, to guard, to protect from harm. This is humanity's purpose. To keep the garden. To guard creation. To protect the earth from harm.

It's the same commandment given by God to Noah: "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee." (Genesis 6:19) Keep every living thing. Our species is guilty of the idolatry of egocentrism. Keep every living thing.

God's will is one of peace, of harmony. "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, reconciling all things in heaven and earth..." It's the vision of the peaceable kingdom. "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9) The vision, the will, is one of peace, of harmony. A balanced living with creation.

Hear the echo..."Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Luke 11:2)

"I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land." (Jeremiah 2:7 ) We have mismanaged. Sinned. A major part of our mismanagement is a defiance of limitations. "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." (Genesis 2:16, 17) Eat. But limit what you eat. Limit your consumption.

"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28) Multiply, yes, but exponentially? We have mismanaged.

"Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land." (Leviticus 25:3-5) Replenish the earth. Rest the land. Manage well the natural resources.

We have sinned. We have broken the peace. But Paul's words come back again... "having made peace through the blood of his cross, he reconciles all things whether they be things in heaven or earth." We need to repent. We need to join the work of reconciling all things on earth. We need to return to the garden to dress it and to keep it.

We need to re-learn wisdom. "Ask the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee; or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." (Job 12:7-8)

"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." (Psalm 24:1)
"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice." (Psalm 96: 11-12)

Jackie Green is a writer living in Louisville, Ky.