This weekend we finish our series about Life in These United States. We have been talking about what everyone is talking about. I’ve enjoyed this series, though it has made me squirm from time to time! But as we conclude this series, we look forward to Advent. Yes, Advent begins next week. And during Advent we will be studying five passages in the Old Testament prophetic book of Isaiah. Five passages that talk about the mission of the Messiah. Then after the new year, we will begin a series through the book of 1st Timothy.
This weekend, though? Creation care. Creation care is just theological code for “environmentalism.” But creation care is different from environmentalism, and I think you’ll see why.
As I was preparing this week, I came across this amazing headline: “China delegate hits back at Trump’s climate change hoax claims.”
What is that all about? Four years ago, the article reports, President-elect Trump said “China had created the concept of climate change to make America’s manufacturing sector less competitive, dubbing the global phenomenon…’non-existent’.”
Now this week, the article goes on to say, “Beijing has turned the tables on US President-elect Donald Trump over his accusation that climate change is a Chinese hoax, claiming that it was the Republican’s own party that initiated global warming negotiations.”
Really? The Republicans? Can’t be. Well, it turns out it can be: “Climate change negotiations began with the UN’s International Panel for Climate Change in the 1980s, supported by the US Republican-led administrations under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.” Reagan and Bush? Did you know that?
Furthermore, “China and the US are the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases that are causing the earth’s temperatures to rise, according to UN data.”
How many of you watch the weather reports on the news that list the record high and low for each day? How many of you see how often the high for that day was recorded way back in 1894 or 1927 and think “Global warming is a crock.”? How many of you hear the reports that world-wide the last year few years have been the warmest on record? What should we think about global warming? Is it a hoax?
The article above notes that “scientists say a 2-degree Celsius rise would be dangerous for the planet. The US and China signed the Paris agreement in climate change talks last year, which involves both developed and developing countries. It aims to keep the world’s rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to create a carbon-neutral world by 2100.” But you have probably heard what President-elect Trump has said about it: “He plans to dump the agreement, which he described as a ‘bad deal’.”
Why am I bringing this up? I don’t want this to be a political sermon. I’m not trying to prove to you what science says about environment. But the environment is something that is often in the news. So how should Christians think about it?
Doesn’t the book of Revelation predict that God going to destroy the world? So what should we care about global warming? What is the big deal?
Perhaps it is a bigger deal that some people think.
Join us at Faith Church this coming Sunday 11/20/16 as we seek out biblical passages and theological principles that we could apply to our world, teaching us how we should view this planet.
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