A paper delivered at the
Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology
Annual Conference, October 23–25, 2009
The dominion mandate to Adam and Eve at the creation makes human responsibility for creation stewardship inescapable. Neither our fall into sin nor the redeeming work of Christ eliminates that responsibility. Rather, the fall complicates it, as the Earth too suffers the consequences of human sin. But redemption elevates environmental stewardship, making it part of the hope-filled task of the redeemed in spreading the kingdom of Christ.
The creation teaches us to praise God. And it shows us God’s wisdom and power in establishing complex, inter-connected, and resilient systems sheltering humanity and other creatures. Yet those systems and creatures are vulnerable to harm when humans abuse their dominion. With time, study, and experience, the Church has grown in its understanding of these truths.
It is encouraging to see many U.S. Christians embracing creation care. But we must undertake that task with discernment. Unfortunately, many contemporary church statements on the environment fail that test. It is important to understand, for example, the “environmental transition” by which rising wealth enables societies to solve environmental problems. This historical lesson—that economic growth, lifting the poor out of their poverty, is in the long run beneficial and not harmful to the environment—should offer us guidance and confidence as we address current environmental problems. Among other things, it points to the fact that economic development is the most important step toward improved environmental stewardship.
Neither the environmental transition nor the credibility of many claims of environmental degradation, however, is the focus of this paper. Instead, this paper focuses on the Biblical foundations for environmental stewardship and how some important Christian thinkers and churches past and present have built on them.
Psalm 148: Creation Praises God
There is a kind of praise, the worship that is “in spirit and in truth,” as Jesus described it, that can be rendered only by rational creatures—men and angels. But there is also a kind of praise, simply by being what God designed them to be, that non-rational creatures can render and indeed always do. So a psalmist felt no awkwardness in calling on them to praise God:
Praise the Lord! . . .
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters that are above the heavens! . . .
Praise the Lord from the Earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills;
Fruit trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and winged fowl. [Psalm 148:1, 3-4, 7-10]
Psalm 19 and Job 38-41: Creation Reveals God
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). Just what, though, does creation reveal about the Creator? His greatness, His glory, surely. But greatness and glory in what? The simplest, briefest summary comes in Romans 1:20: His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature.
The Book of Job contains a dramatic illustration of how God evokes human praise through creation. After he had harangued God because of what he considered his own unjust suffering, Job suffered the onslaught of God’s challenges to him. God ironically demanded that Job explain to Him various aspects of creation—a task Job found impossible (Job 38:2-11). When God finished His long rebuke, spanning chapters 38-41, Job replied:
I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
“Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.” [Job 42:2–6]
As we think about creation stewardship, then, the first thing we must keep in mind is the doctrine of God—particularly, that an infinitely wise, infinitely powerful Creator made and sustains the universe and every part of it. This doctrine does not mean we have no responsibility for stewarding the creation. But it does mean that the design of all things reflects the wisdom of God, and the sustaining of all things reflects the power of God. These truths are relevant to creation stewardship.
Genesis 1 and Psalm 24: Humanity the Crown of Creation
In Genesis 1 God repeatedly declared good each new day’s creations. But the crown of creation was humanity. It was not till after He had made humanity that He looked at all that He had made and declared it Avery good.@ Created things derive their worth not from their usefulness to humans but from God=s sovereign evaluation of them. Nevertheless, their intrinsic worth does not make them immune to use by other creatures. After making man and woman, God said to them, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food.”
Neither does the intrinsic worth of created things make them immune to human rule. God made human beings in the image of God and granted them dominion “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” This “cultural mandate” in Genesis 1 bids humans, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth, and subdue it.”
The crown of humanity is Jesus Christ, whom the letter to the Hebrews describes as the “heir of all things, through whom also [God] made the world[,] . . . the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,” who “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Because of man’s fall into sin, “we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.“
What does it mean for human beings to be the image of God? The Genesis 1 passage presents four principal aspects of this image: wisdom, righteousness, creativity, and dominion. The creation narrative indicates all of these: God creates and orders the heavens and the Earth by His authoritative word and passes moral judgment on all His works. These four characteristics of the image of God ought all to be employed in fulfilling the vocation God gave us: to rule over the Earth.
Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains.” Another psalm teaches that God has entrusted the Earth to human stewardship: “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men” (Psalm 115:16).
In this dominion people are accountable to God. We must reflect God’s own creative work and dominion, conducting ours in cooperative fellowship as the Father, Son, and Spirit all were involved in the work of creation. Humankind is called to beget life after our own image and multiply to fill the Earth, subduing it and ruling over all the creatures in it. We are to cultivate and guard the garden and eventually turn all the Earth into garden.
Genesis 3 and Romans 8: Human Rebellion and Redemption Affect All of Creation
Rather than acting as a responsible steward, mankind rebelled against God. Every aspect of the image of God suffered. What had been a sound mind full of the light of truth, full of the God who is the Truth, became unsound and darkened by falsehood, futile, dark, and ignorant. What had been a clear conscience, untainted by sin, became fouled with the stench of guilt and fear. The once living soul died, becoming mere dust again. He who had been alive in righteousness and holiness became “dead in . . . trespasses and sins.” The companion and servant of God became the companion and servant of Satan. The child of God became a child of wrath. His once fertile and creative brilliance collapsed into “unfruitful deeds of darkness.” Sin brought God’s judgment not only on human beings but also on the whole Earth. The Apostle Paul writes of how “the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now,” as with humankind it awaits God’s redemption.
1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 21: Resurrection and New Creation
But God had from eternity past a plan for redemption through Christ Jesus, the “last Adam.” In Christ’s life, He exercised a wise, righteous, and life-giving dominion over the Earth itself (calming a storm), over plant and animal life, and even over human life (healing the sick and raising the dead). By His death and resurrection He saved us from God’s wrath, reconciled us to God, gave us the gift of righteousness, and restored us to life. Now those who are His are being restored in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.
The effects of the atoning death, victorious resurrection, and triumphant ascension of Christ, then, sweep over all of creation. They include people, animals, plants, and even the ground itself. They include the restoration of the image of God in the redeemed and the restoration of knowledge, holiness, and creativity in working out the cultural mandate. This new impetus for the cultural mandate flows especially through the redeemed but also, by common grace, even through many who are not redeemed. Their mandate includes human multiplication, subduing and ruling the Earth, transforming the wilderness by cultivation into a garden, and guarding that garden against harm. It is significant that Revelation 21 presents the new creation not as a wilderness or even as a garden but as a garden city. This city does not rise Babel-like from human endeavor but descends out of heaven.
As the authors of Earthkeeping in the Nineties put it, “redeemed men and women are to be ‘fellow heirs’ with Christ—Christ, the sustaining logos of the world, in whom all things consist. The idea that humanity—redeemed humanity—is to share in that ‘creatorly’ task is clearly the implication of Romans 8:19. . . .” That passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans draws the connection between the liberation of humankind and the liberation of creation: “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21).
Genesis 1:26-28: The Dominion Mandate
The dominion mandate, then, did not cease with the coming of either sin or redemption. It continued, and all people exercise it all the timeBsome wisely, righteously, and fruitfully, some foolishly, wickedly, and barrenly. In response to abuses, some critics have blamed biblical teaching for environmental degradation and called for repudiation of the doctrine of human dominion over nature. Yet it is not dominion per se but selfish or foolish dominion that leads to environmental abuse. Christians, who seek to be faithful to the Bible, cannot simply abandon its doctrine of dominion.
Some seek to soften the biblical doctrine of dominion by redefining it, in the process replacing rule with service. They often use Genesis 2:15 (the mandate to “cultivate and keep” the garden) to reinterpret or replace 1:28 (the mandate to fill, subdue, and rule the Earth). Yet while dominion is not exploitation, Genesis 2:15 does not say the same things as 1:28. Garden and Earth differ, and the Hebrew words for subdue and rule have very different meanings from those for cultivate and guard. Further, the frequent claim that the Hebrew for cultivate properly means to serve—implying that the mandate in 2:15 is for mankind to serve the garden and, by extension, the Earth—is mistaken.
The dominion mandate, then, must be neither repudiated nor softened. Properly understood, it gives human beings legitimate authority to subdue and rule the Earth, progressively transforming it into a garden, indeed a garden city, to serve their needs and the glory of God. Both the dominion mandate and man=s creation in the image of God imply human priority over other created things. As Jesus remarked in the Sermon on the Mount, people are of greater importance to God than birds or flowers (Matthew 6:26-30). This principle points to a biblical environmental ethic that puts human needs before others.
Biblical Law: Dominion Is Not License to Abuse
Yet this principle does not imply human autonomy in dominion. The moral law of God—revealed in the two great commandments to love God and neighbor, the golden rule of doing to others as we would have them do to us, the Ten Commandments, and all the moral statutes, ordinances, and precepts sprinkled throughout Scripture—defines righteous dominion. There is no excuse for tyranny, which violates that law. Some specific laws of Scripture have direct relevance to creation stewardship. Consider several examples from the Old Testament.
While people are free to harness animals to perform tasks for them, they must ensure that the animals’ needs are met while they labor. The law of Moses contains the prohibition: “You shall not muzzle an ox [preventing it from eating] while it is treading out the grain” (Deuteronomy 25:4). We may infer from this passage a general duty to guard animals.
Yet such laws aim principally at human, not animal, welfare. The Apostle Paul, in quoting this verse, asked, “God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake . . . .” (I Corinthians 9:3-11). Paul pointed out that the principle was that someone laboring for others should have a share of the production. While that principle entails making sure a laboring animal is properly fed, its primary point is that a laboring person should benefit from his labors.
Similarly, when God instructed the Israelites not to destroy fruit trees while besieging a city, He permitted destroying other trees to make siege works. The fruit trees were to be spared because from them the Israelites could eat. The command’s focus, then, was on preservation of trees not for their own sake but for people’s sake—not for their intrinsic value, but for their value to people.
Likewise, the focus of an ordinance to help a donkey struggling under an excessive load is more on doing justice to the neighbor who owns the donkey than on care for the animal. The provision that the Israelites= domestic animals should rest on the Sabbath seems intended mostly to ensure that those who worked the animals should be free to rest on the Sabbath. Yet human benefit from such laws was not exclusive. Israel learned this lesson when God ejected it from the Promised Land so that the land could enjoy the seventy years of sabbatical rest the people had failed to observe.
Clearly, care must be taken in both interpreting and applying biblical laws to creation stewardship. They tell us that we should care for all that God created: the Earth and the various plant and animal species that dwell in it. But the Scriptures do not tell us which are the most urgent environmental problems for our society today. They do not prescribe precise solutions for those problems. So we must not make biblical texts into clubs with which to strike those who disagree with our assessments of particular environmental problems and their solutions.
Wisdom from Church History and Tradition
Environmental stewardship has not been a main topic of Christian—or indeed any other—thought until recent generations. That should surprise no one when we recall that for most of human history until the nineteenth century, “nature” was in practice not a lovely place to be preserved and in which to escape the stresses of urban and suburban life but a harsh place to be survived and subdued. The one thing nature seemed to do best was to kill.
Pre-modern teaching on creation by Christian thinkers includes significant tensions. Some lends itself to criticism by modern ecologists as anti-ecological, stripping nature of sacred character and viewing it as mere backdrop for the drama of human salvation and raw materials for human economic production. Other teaching emphasizes nature as God=s self-revelation, as itself praising God, and as deserving admiration and care.
An early representative of the latter thought was Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. a.d. 130–200). In contrast with widespread Gnostic thought of his day, Irenaeus believed that the material creation was itself good. While the current plight of creation, dominated by the devil and sinful people, will pass, its essence will be renewed, and the just will receive the Earth as an inheritance at the resurrection. Therefore, Irenaeus affirmed, human flesh is “not destitute [of participation] in the constructive wisdom and power of God” but will itself be renewed in the resurrection.
An early representative of the more negative view of the material world was Origen (ca. a.d. 185–254). He speculated that when rational souls (logikoi, men and angels) sinned, they fell from heaven, by varying degrees. God made the world as a sort of safety net for fallen souls, keeping them from falling all the way into nonbeing. For Origen the material world was a place of probation whence souls could attempt to climb back up to union with the divine, as they repudiated and left behind that material world.
St. Augustine of Hippo (a.d. 354–430) had a much more positive view of creation. Augustine admitted that our limited knowledge and experience prevent humans from understanding how everything God created fits together into a beautiful, harmonious whole. Nevertheless, he urged belief in the beauty and harmony of creation, “lest in the vanity of human rashness we presume to find any fault with the work of so great an Artificer.” Even things that we find inconvenient or harmful to ourselves—even the “eternal fire” of hell—are part of this beauty and “with respect to their own nature . . . are glorifying to their Artificer.” “All natures, then, inasmuch as they are, and have therefore a rank and species of their own, and a kind of internal harmony, are certainly good.”
St. Maximus the Confessor (ca. a.d. 580–662), an Eastern Orthodox mystical theologian, like Origen and indeed Augustine, had a hierarchical view of creation. He assigned human beings the highest rank. He believed that, through grace, they were capable of overcoming the five divisions in reality, including—though in a qualified sense—even that between Creator and creation.
Reality, Maximus thought, was divided in five ways, as shown in the accompanying table.
Strongly influenced by neo-Platonic philosophy and the idea of the “Great Chain of Being” associated with Plotinus (a.d. 205–270), Maximus believed that, according to the “great mystery of the divine purpose,” all divisions must be overcome in a kind of evolution toward divinity achieved by human participation. “In order to bring about the union of everything with God as its cause,” he wrote, “the human person begins first of all with its own division, and then, ascending through the intermediate steps by order and rank, it reaches the end of its high ascent, which passes through all things in search of unity, to God, in whom there is no division.” The person begins by “shaking off every natural property of sexual differentiation into male and female [a differentiation that “depends in no way on the primordial reason behind the divine purpose concerning human generation”] by the most dispassionate relationship to divine virtue”—a union achieved through “perfect knowledge. . . . Then, by a way of life proper and fitting to Saints, the human person unites paradise and the inhabited world to make one earth. . . . Then, through a life identical in every way through virtue with that of the angels, so far as is possible to human beings, the human person unites heaven and earth. . . . [T]hen the human person unites what is perceived by the mind and what is perceived by the senses with each other by achieving equality with the angels in its manner of knowing, and thus makes the whole creation one single creation, no longer divided by what it can know and what it cannot know. . . . And finally . . . the human person unites the created nature with the uncreated through love . . ., showing them to be one and the same through the possession of grace, the whole [creation] wholly interpenetrated by God, and become completely whatever God is, save at the level of being.”
Although Maximus’s neo-Platonism led him to an unbiblical, deprecatory understanding of sexuality, and although he nearly denied the quintessentially biblical Creator/creature distinction, nevertheless his recognition of the primacy of humankind within creation is clear and, as we have seen, firmly rooted in Scripture. He also believed that creation was a Self-revelation of God and, unlike Origen and others who viewed the material world as evil per se, he had a scheme for its redemption.
The medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) reported a vision in which God said: “I, the highest and fiery power, have kindled every spark of life. . . . I remain hidden in every kind of reality as a fiery power.” Hildegard described human beings as illumined with the “living breath of the spirit.” The Word of God, in her account, “awakened all creation by the resonance of God’s voice.” God “called creation to himself,” “led all creatures to the light,” and “committed himself to all creation.”
Many people consider St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) the “patron saint of environmentalism.” His Canticle of the Sun has been an inspiration for many modern environmentalists. David Kinsley calls him “the most unambiguous example in medieval Christianity of the affirmation and embrace of nature.” His early biographer Celano wrote that when Francis
found an abundance of flowers, he preached to them and invited them to praise the Lord as though they were endowed with reason. In the same way he exhorted with the sincerest purity cornfields and vineyards, stones and forests and all the beautiful things of the fields, fountains of water and the green things of the gardens, earth and fire, air and wind, to love God and serve him willingly. Finally, he called all creatures “brother” and in a most extraordinary manner, a manner never experienced by others, he discerned the secrets of creatures with his sensitive heart.
It is not certain, however, that Francis spoke more than metaphorically when he called creatures Abrother@ and Asister.@ Yet his Canticle of the Sun rivals some of the Psalms in the poetic grandeur of its appreciation for the natural world:
Most High, omnipotent, good Lord,
All praise, glory, honor, and blessing are yours.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
And no man is worthy to pronounce your name.
Be praised, my Lord, with all your creatures,
Especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who brings the day, and you give light to us through him.
How handsome he is, how radiant, with great splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the Stars.
In heaven you have formed them, bright, and precious, and beautiful.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind,
And for Air, for Cloud, and Clear, and all weather,
By which you give your creatures nourishment.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water,
She is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
By whom you light up the night.
How handsome he is, how happy, how powerful and strong!
Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister, Mother Earth,
Who nourishes and governs us,
And produces various fruits with many-colored flowers and herbs.
Praise and bless the Lord,
And give thanks and serve him with great humility.
Even in this great poem, however, Francis recognized that the intrinsic value of creatures coexists with their utility value. God gives “light to us” through “Brother Sun,” and by air and cloud and fruits and flowers and herbs God gives “creatures nourishment.”
The great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) had a highly anthropocentric and hierarchical view of earthly creation. “As we observe,” he wrote, “. . . imperfect beings serve the needs of more noble beings; plants draw their nutriment from the earth, animals feed on plants, and these in turn serve man’s use. We conclude, then, that lifeless beings exist for living beings, plants for animals, and the latter for man. . . . The whole of material nature exists for man, inasmuch as he is a rational animal.” But the usefulness of earth, plants, and animals to man was not solely material but also spiritual, “helping him to know God, inasmuch as man sees the invisible things of God by the things that are made.”
The two great Reformers Martin Luther (1483–1546) and John Calvin (1509–1564) both also wrote things relevant to creation stewardship. Many of Luther’s comments about nature present it as an arena in which we suffer God’s chastening, meant to lead us to repentance and faith in Christ. “God’s wrath,” he wrote, “. . . appears on the earth in all creatures. . . . And what of thorns, thistles, water, fire, caterpillars, flies, fleas, and bedbugs? Collectively and individually, are not all of them messengers who preach to us concerning sin and God=s wrath?”
Yet Luther could also write that “night and day alternate for the purpose of refreshing our bodies by rest. The sun shines that work may be done.” He did not consider the creation itself evil, even though it was destined to be dissolved in judgment because of man’s sin and then recreated. The German Reformer interpreted the “vanity” to which God had subjected the creation (Romans 8:20) not as its own corruption and decay but as its being required still to serve people’s needs despite their being sinful and unworthy. “For instance,” Luther wrote,
. . . the blessed sun, most glorious of created things, serves the small minority of the godly, but where it shines on one godly man it must shine on thousands and thousands of knaves, such as enemies of God, blasphemers, persecutors, with whom the world is filled . . . . To these it must minister in all their ungodliness and wickedness, permitting its pure and glorious influence to benefit the most unworthy, most shameful and abandoned profligates. According to the apostle, this subjection is truly painful, and were the sun a rational creature obeying its own volition rather than the decree of the Lord God who has subjected it to vanity against its will, it might deny every one of these wicked wretches even the least ray of light; that it is compelled to minister to them is its cross and pain, by reason of which it sighs and groans.
Indeed, Luther considered things in nature good in themselves but often abused by humans. “A wicked tyrant, a shameful harlot, may wear gold ornaments. Is the gold responsible for its use? It is the good creature of the Lord our God and fitted to serve righteous people. But the precious product must submit to accommodating the wicked world against its will. Yet it endures in hope of an end of such service—such slavery.”
Calvin taught that “man was created to be a spectator of the created world, and that he was endowed with eyes for the purpose of his being led to God Himself, the Author of the world, by contemplating so magnificent an image.” Yet he also taught that humanity’s fall into sin blinded people to the creation’s testimony. Romans 1:20, he said, shows that “the manifestation of God by which He makes His glory known among His creatures is sufficiently clear as far as its own light is concerned. It is, however, inadequate on account of our blindness. But we are not so blind that we can plead ignorance without being convicted of perversity.” Calvin affirmed human dominion over the Earth as taught in Genesis 1 and added that part of “the end for which all things were created” was “that none of the conveniences and necessaries of life might be wanting to men,” which showed “the paternal solicitude of God for man.”
Modern Christians developing our own understanding of creation care can gain inspiration and insight from the past. But we must be careful not to read into past teachings more than is there. Awe and respect for nature, gratitude to God for it, and a desire to care for creation are all excellent motivations. But they resolve no debates about the reality or extent of environmental problems and answer no policy questions.
Further, it can be anachronistic to expect thinkers before the start of the Industrial Revolution to answer current questions about environmental stewardship. Most did not confront problems comparable to ours. For them and for everyone before the Industrial Revolution, “nature” was not an idyllic place from which to escape the stresses of urban life. Instead it was primarily a harsh surrounding from which one needed protection. Human impact on nature was minimal by comparison with modern economies.
Yet even then, people sometimes exaggerated human impact on the environment. For example, the Church Father Tertullian lamented how the weight of sinful humanity was oppressing the Earth. Writing around a.d. 200 (when world population was probably under 500 million), Tertullian saw a grim future as humanity pressed up against supposedly fixed limits to the resources available:
Everything has been visited, everything known, everything exploited. Now pleasant estates obliterate the famous wilderness areas of the past. Plowed fields have replaced forests, domesticated animals have dispersed wild life. Beaches are plowed, mountains smoothed and swamps drained. There are as many cities as, in former years, there were dwellings. Islands do not frighten, nor cliffs deter. Everywhere there are buildings, everywhere people, everywhere communities, everywhere life. . . . Proof [of this crowding] is the density of human beings. We weigh upon the world; its resources hardly suffice to support us. As our needs grow larger, so do our protests, that already nature does not sustain us. In truth, plague, famine, wars and earthquakes must be regarded as a blessing to civilization, since they prune away the luxuriant growth of the human race.
To put it rather simply, if we go to history and tradition, we may well find helpful insights on our general attitude toward Creator and creation. But we shall be disappointed if from them we expect much help measuring and responding to specific environmental problems today.
Nevertheless, Christians reflecting on the Scriptures and their own situations have carried forward some of the biblical themes sketched above: the unique place of humans in creation; creation as source and motive for praise to God; and the effects of sin and redemption on both humankind and the rest of creation.
Churches’ Voices Today
With rare exceptions, churchmen are generally at their best when they speak of Biblical and historical theological principles of environmental stewardship, and at their worst when they speak of scientific and economic aspects. In the latter, their entirely proper tendency toward compassion tends to lead them to embrace, without the due caution Paul’s instruction to “test all things, hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) should generate, claims of extreme environmental harm. Many messages coming from churches promote such environmental misinformation and poor thinking. As early as 1970 the American Baptist Church adopted a “Resolution on Environmental Concerns” that is a model of the exaggerated, context-free, snapshot claims common to the environmental movement:
The rapidly increasing pressure of world population, coupled with massive technological capabilities, constitute an unprecedented threat to the survival of life and beauty on this planet. The quality of our air and water is visibly deteriorating. Indiscriminate use of pesticides threatens to annihilate whole species of animal life and to jeopardize vital links in the food chain. The freedom to enjoy wilderness areas and uncluttered landscapes is rapidly becoming a memory.
It is increasingly evident that the apparent limitlessness of our natural resources is an illusion and the concept of unending economic expansion is now being questioned. The total creation is wondrously interrelated, and annihilation of any link threatens the existence of the whole.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2001 statement on climate change, although it included some vague qualifications, embraced the “consensus” view that human action is causing destructive climate change and that prudence requires trying to stop it. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America went so far as to say in 1993 that manmade global warming was a more serious problem than resource depletion, species extinction, topsoil erosion, and air and water pollution—although at that time the evidential basis for the claim was slim at best, it has since deteriorated significantly, as we saw above, and the harm to human life and health from air and water pollution was and continues to be much greater than from global warming. Perpetuating that thinking, the presiding bishop of the ELCA issued a letter on Earth Day in 2007 describing the buildup of greenhouse gases as “sinful treatment of God’s gift of the Earth.” The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. adopted “A Brief Statement of Faith” that asserted that human beings “threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.”
The United Church of Christ on June 25, 2007, adopted “A Resolution on Climate Change” that evidenced no awareness of the scientific and economic debate documented above but simply repeated widespread claims and admitted “Christian complicity in the damage human beings have caused to the Earth’s climate system and other planetary life systems” and expressed “profound concern for the pending environmental, economic, and social tragedies threatened by global warming, to creation, human communities and traditional sacred spaces.” It resolved “to respond to global warming with great urgency and firm leadership by supporting mandatory measures that reduce the absolute amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and in particular emissions of carbon dioxide, to levels recommended by nationally and internationally recognized and respected scientific bodies.” Similar statements have been issued by the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.
An important exception to the generally poor quality of most ecclesiastical pronouncements on global warming was a resolution adopted in June 2007 by the Southern Baptist Convention, which recognized climate change as primarily natural and cyclical and asserted that attempts to mitigate it were more costly than whatever benefits might be expected from it. The statement displayed an awareness of scientific and economic arguments pro and con on the issue. Likewise, the National Association of Evangelicals adopted “For the Health of the Nations: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility” that made measured, if vague, statements on environmental stewardship and said nothing specifically of climate change.
Blest Be the Ties that Bind: Matters of Ready Consensus Among Christians
Despite all the matters on which Christians can and do disagree about creation care, there are matters on which we can all agree.
All should join together in praising God for the beauty and goodness of His creation and its testimony to His wisdom, power, and goodness.
All should appreciate the connection, in God=s providential plan, between the fate of humankind and the fate of the creation. All should grieve the brokenness that afflicts the creation as the result of human sin. And all should look toward the hope of God=s redemption in Jesus Christ, liberating both humans and the entire creation from their bondage to sin and death.
All should accept our human responsibility as God=s stewards on the Earth, called to rule and care for it to His glory. All should understand that this dominion does not mean autonomy. We will have to render an account for our stewardship, under the strict standards of God=s moral law.
All should be committed, as stewards under that moral law, to caring for the rest of God=s creatures, protecting them from senseless harm. God created them and pronounced them Agood.@ He cares for them, and we as His image bearers should follow His pattern.Yet we should follow God=s pattern fully, not only caring for other creatures but also caring more for human beings.
All should be committed, in particular, to protecting the most vulnerable people among us. In large measure this means the poor, whose very poverty makes them vulnerable to malnutrition, disease, hunger, and premature death. While Scripture forbids partiality either for or against the poor, still it often associates help for the poor with justice, because the poor are particularly vulnerable to injustice.
This concern entails looking carefully at the potential for various environmental hazards to harm the poor more than others It also involves being watchful for the potential that environmental policy itself might have unintended consequences that harm the poor—as when environmental regulations or energy taxes raise their cost of living or slow economic development that could lift them out of poverty.
Finally, as we weigh the benefits and costs of different policy options for addressing different environmental problems, all should be committed to honesty. That is, we should strive to tell the truth as best we understand it. We must study diligently various sides of controversial issues, remembering that A[t]he first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him@ (Proverbs 18:17).
Matters on Which There Should Be Consensus
There are also matters on which there ought to be widespread agreement among orthodox Christians. As the church statements cited above illustrate, there is not currently a consensus on these points. But we believe that the weight of biblical teaching and historical experience is so strong that it cannot credibly be denied:
- Economic development is a good to be pursued (wisely and responsibly) rather than an evil to be restrained. It is the key to alleviating poverty and its attendant ills, including environmental ills.
- Our environmental ideal is not wilderness but rather a garden—or even a city—where nature is used wisely for the benefit of humankind and for the greater glory of God.
- Creative humans enhance and improve what they have been given in nature.
- The environment and the economy are not zero-sum games in which consumers fight for fixed resources. Creative people can enhance, improve, and multiply what they have been given in nature.
- In view of the fall, we must avoid utopian expectations that all problems can be vanquished in the next generation by government fiat. Human sin and its consequences are intractable realities. There will be benefit-cost trade-offs in any policy that we adopt. It is foolish to imagine that we can have perfectly “clean” technologies without unintended side-effects.
- We must avoid the panic of excessive alarmism about the imminent destruction of the planet. Instead we must take a sober and balanced view of the environmental problems that confront us and trust God to give us the means to be responsible stewards if we are attentive and faithful. The resilience of natural systems and the historical record of the environmental transition also offer some reasons for encouragement.
Where the Churches Must Not Bind
One of the Apostle Paul’s sternest admonitions was against being taken captive by human traditions masquerading as laws of God. Jesus condemned putting human tradition in the place of God’s law and making it the standard by which to judge sin and righteousness. The law of God, and nothing less, is the standard of righteousness.
One of the characteristics of good human law is that it is stable. The stability of divine law is symbolized in its having been written by the finger of God on tablets of stone “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
But the natural and human sciences are a very different realm. Ongoing developments in our understanding of ecology, in technology, and in economic conditions result in constantly changing judgments of “best practices” in creation stewardship. For example, the evangelical authors of Earthkeeping in the Nineties pointed out the changing costs and benefits, both financial and environmental, of paper recycling. These made it difficult to judge whether recycling was a best practice. At the time, they wrote, “the use of recycled paper appear[ed] to be only slightly more stewardly than the use of virgin materials.”
The comparative economics and ecology of recycling versus making paper from newly logged trees are vastly simpler than the economics and ecology of such enormously complex systems as Earth’s atmosphere and the various habitats that shelter global biodiversity. Significant revisions of our understanding of these matters occur over and over. For instance, famed climatologist James Hansen of NASA changed his view from warning of an ice age starting around 2020 to warning of catastrophic global warming. But famed geochemist Claude Allegre went from being one of the earliest to warn of manmade global warming to being one of the chief critics of the theory. Such rapidly evolving understanding implies that much that we consider understanding at any given time may later turn out to be misunderstanding.
This characteristic of science stands in stark contrast with the stability of Biblical law. It is an important reason why Christians should not presume to make current science or economics the basis for judgments of sin. While government regulation often must be adopted on the basis of shifting science, theological and ecclesiastical judgments of sin and righteousness should be based only on the unchanging standard of God=s moral law revealed in Scripture. Only that can bind the conscience. Pronouncements that individuals or churches have a moral obligation to support one or another policy regarding creation care, therefore, are fraught with the danger of substituting changing human standards for the abiding standard of divine law.
Pastors, other religious leaders, and ecclesiastical bodies should exercise great caution in making pronouncements about environmental issues. Particularly, they should refrain from calling sin what cannot be shown to be sin from the unchanging law of God in Scripture. Thus they will avoid make binding pronouncements on questions like these:
- How do we assess different factors that might be causing global warming?
- What is the likely extent of future global warming? Will its effects be catastrophic or manageable?
- Is prevention or adaptation a better strategy?
- If we seek to prevent global warming, is a given policy too strict, too lax, or just about right?
- Is global warming our top environmental problem, the issue of the age, or is it a misguided panic?
- Should U.S. energy policy give greater emphasis to fossil fuels, nuclear power, or solar power? What is the best mix of conserving current energy supplies versus expanding energy supplies?
On none of these questions does the Church have the expertise or the authority to proclaim, “Thus says the Lord.” It should leave these matters open for debate among well-intentioned Christians who agree about their environmental responsibilities while disagreeing about the best means of fulfilling them.
Some Tentative Theses for Further Study
Aside from the biblical teachings on which Christians have or should have consensus, and the scientific and policy questions on which consensus is not possible (or even necessarily desirable at this point), there are also matters that fall into a middle ground. These are matters on which there are no plain biblical directives. Nevertheless, reason and experience point strongly in one direction, I believe. Perhaps further study and the passage of time might yield an informal consensus, although not a binding doctrine.
With that hope, I submit these tentative theses for discussion in the U.S. Christian community:
- Providing pure drinking water to the poor and protecting them from indoor air pollution may be the most important environmental tasks for today.
- Preventing predicted global warming is probably near the bottom of the list of environmental challenges.
- In responding to possible climate changes, adaptation is probably a better strategy than prevention
- Over and above specific environmental challenges, overcoming poverty through economic development is the best long-term strategy for improving the environment.
- The environmental transition is already well advanced in the developed countries, and we should be grateful rather than alarmed at the growth of our economies.
- The environmental transition is feasible in developing countries, especially with just and accountable governments that allow economic and political freedom to their peoples and thereby reap the benefits of free trade.
- By contrast, the empowerment of unaccountable international regulatory bureaucracies that rob the sovereignty of more accountable democratic national governments would not be a step in the right direction.
Featured image “Coast Redwood forest and understory plants” in Redwood National Park, California, by Michael Schweppe, Wikimedia Commons
This and all subsequent Bible quotations are from the New American Standard Bible.
Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, 29
Genesis 1:26, 28; cf. Psalm 8:4-8; Hebrews 1:2-3; 2:8-9
Genesis 1:26, 28
Genesis 2:16-17; 1:1-3; Revelation 22:1-5
Genesis 3:1-17; Romans 1:21; Ephesians 4:17-18; Titus 1:15; Genesis 2:7, 17; 3:19; Ephesians 2:1-3; 5:11.; Romans 8:22-23
1 Corinthians 15:45; Colossians 2:3; Colossians 3:10; 1 John 2:2; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Mark 4:37-39; 5:21-43; Matthew 14:13-21; Romans 5:9-11, 19, 21; Ephesians 4:24
Loren Wilkinson, ed., Earthkeeping in the Nineties: Stewardship of Creation, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 108.
Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, edsd., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. Edward Robinson (Oxford: Clarendon Press,  1978), 461, 712-13, 921-2, and 1,036.
Matthew 22:37-39; 7:12; Exodus 20:1-17
1 Timothy 5:18; Deuteronomy 5:14; 20:19-20; Exodus 23:5-6; Leviticus 25:3-4; 26:34, 43; 2 Chronicles 36:21; Mark 2:27
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5.36.1, 5.32.2, 5.3.2-3.
Origen, de Principiis, 5.6.2.
Augustine, City of God, 12.4.5.
Maximus the Confessor, The Difficulties, 1304D-1308C, in Maximus the Confessor, translated by Andrew Louth (New York: Routledge, 1996), 156-8.
John Hart, Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), 9.
David Kinsley, A>Christianity as Ecologically Harmful= and >Christianity as Ecologically Responsible,=@ in This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment, ed. Roger S. Gottlieb (New York: Routledge, 1996), 104-24, at 121.
Cited in Kinsley, 122.
Cited in Roger Sorrell, St. Francis of Assisi and Nature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 68.
Cited in H. Paul Santmire, The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 91-2.
Cited in Kinsley, AChristianity as Ecologically . . .,@ 111-112.
Martin Luther, Sermon on Romans 8:1822, Fourth Sunday After Trinity, 1535, in The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, 7 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, trans. John Nicholas Lenker et al. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 4.2.96-118, at 105-112.
Martin Luther, Sermon on Romans 8:1822, Fourth Sunday After Trinity, 1535, in The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, 7 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, trans. John Nicholas Lenker et al. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 4.2.96-118, at 105-107.
John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, trans. Ross Mackenzie, ed. David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance (Calvin=s Commentaries, 12 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 8:31.
John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, trans. John King (Calvin=s Commentaries, 22 vols.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984), 1.1.96.
Tertullian, Opera II: Opera monastica, cited in Susan Power Bratton, Six Billion & More: Human Population Regulation and Christian Ethics (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 76.
American Baptist Church, AResolution on Environmental Concerns,@ 1970, modified 1988, 1995, online at http://www.restoringeden.org/resources/denominationalstatements/American%20Baptist.
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, AGlobal Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good,@ June 15, 2001, online at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.shtml.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ACaring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice,@ August 28, 1993, online at http://www.elca.org/What‑We‑Believe/Social‑Issues/Social‑Statements/Environment.aspx.
Mark S. Hanson, Earth Day letter, April 2007, online at http://www2.elca.org/ScriptLib/CO/ELCA_News/encArticleList.asp?article=3556.
Presbyterian Church in the USA, AThe Brief Statement of Faith,@ undated, online at http://www.pcusa.org/101/101-faith.htm.
United Church of Christ, AA Resolution on Climate Change,@ June 25, 2007, online at http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/climate-change-final.pdf.
World Council of Churches, AA call to action in solidarity with those most affected by climate change,@ November, 2002, online at http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/international-affairs/environmental-justice/00-10-02-a-call-to-action-in-solidarity-with-those-most-affected-by-climate-change.html.
National Council of Churches News Service, ATheologians Warn of >False Gospel= on the Environment,@ February 14, 2005, online at http://www.ncccusa.org/news/14.02.05godsEarth.html.
Southern Baptist Convention, Resolution #5, AOn Global Warming,@ June 2007, online at http://www.sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc07/resolutions/sbcresolution‑06.asp?ID=6.
National Association of Evangelicals, AFor the Health of the Nations: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,@ 2004, online at http://www.nae.net/images/civic_responsibility2.pdf.
Exodus 23:3, 6; Leviticus 19:16; Psalm 72:2, 4; 83:3; 140:12; Proverbs 29:14; 31:9
 Colossians 2:1-4, 8, 18-23; Matthew 15:1-6
Wilkinson, ed., Earthkeeping in the Nineties, 381-2.
John McCaslin, ACold Yet?@, The Washington Times, September 19, 2007, online at http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070919/NATION02/109190067; Lawrence Solomon, AAllegre=s Second Thoughts,@ Financial Post, March 2, 2007, online at http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2f4cc62e‑5b0d‑4b59‑8705‑fc28f14da388.


The answer is . . . it depends on who you ask. And sometimes the same person will give two different answers!
The contenders are Father James Healy (1830-1900), ordained 1854; and Father Augustine Tolton (1854-1897), ordained 1886.
The simple genealogical data would seem conclusive: James Healy was the first African-American priest. But it's not quite that simple.
The 1830 census of Jones County, Georgia, helps tell part of the story. That census shows a household that consists of a single white man and a number of slaves. Despite the characterization on the census, the slaves are in fact Michael Healy's wife and children. According to Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience, co-authored by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Michael Healy had been an Irish soldier in the British Army who deserted in the War of 1812. He eventually made his way to Georgia where he acquired land and slaves. He began a relationship with a slave named Mary Eliza Smith and had children with her. Some reports claim that Healy and Mary Eliza were married by an itinerant preacher. Such a marriage would have been illegal under Georgia law at the time.
Michael Healy acknowledged his children and was concerned for their welfare and education. He arranged for Mary Eliza and three of their sons, Hugh, Patrick, and James, to be sent north so that the boys could be educated.
The Healy sons were enrolled in a Quaker school in New York State. Sometime later, they transferred to Holy Cross College in Massachusetts. James was the valedictorian of the 1849 graduating class. While at Holy Cross, James felt the call to the priesthood.
Blacks were not admitted to American seminaries at the time, so James went first to a Canadian seminary in Montreal and then to the Sulpician seminary in Paris. In 1854 in Paris, he was ordained a priest of the Boston diocese. Healy spent some time as secretary to the bishop and then as an assistant pastor. In 1866, he became pastor of St James Church, the largest parish in Boston.
Father Healy was a strong spokesman for Catholics in what was then a hostile environment. His work at St James led to his being selected as bishop of Portland, Maine, in 1875.
Many parishioners apparently did not realize that the light skinned Father Healy was of African descent. He did not particularly make that fact known. For several years, he declined to attend the Congress of Colored Catholics, expressing the view that, "We are of that Church where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, slave nor freeman, but Christ is all and in all."
Father Augustine Tolton was born in 1854, the same year Bishop Healy was ordained. He was born in Ralls County, Missouri, the son of slaves. Some reports say that his father left the family to join the Union Army, but my cursory search found no evidence of that. In any event, during the Civil War, the family escaped slavery and moved to Illinois, a free state. One report claims that the slaveowner, a man named Elliott, actually freed the Tolton family. An extension of that story and likely apochryphal, says that upon being freed, young Augustine was baptized in the waters of Brush Creek, with Mrs. Elliott as his godmother.
The family ended up in Quincy, Illinois. Augustine attended Catholic schools in Quincy and heard the call to Holy Orders. But black men still were not permitted to attend American seminaries. In 1880, he went to Rome to attend seminary. He was ordained in 1886 and returned to the diocese of Alton, Illinois.
Father Tolton became well known in Illinois and was either loved or hated. At some point, he was transferred to Chicago. Some say this move can as the result of the antipathy of a white priest in the diocese.
In Chicago, Father Tolton initially was assigned to a basement church that later became known as St Monica's. His reputation grew and he did not hesitate to travel and speak to various groups of Catholics. Unlike Bishop Healy, Father Tolton attended and spoke at the 1890 Congress of Colored Catholics.
Father Tolton died of heat stroke in 1897, at the age of 43.
So who is considered the first black priest in America? Some say it can't be Bishop Healy, because he never "proclaimed" himself black. Less charitable folks say that Healy was "passing." But by the racial rules in place then and now (although different "rules" now) Bishop Healy is properly considered the first man of African-American ancestry to be ordained a priest. Father Tolton is properly considered to be the first man with two slave parents to be ordained a priest.


Day 4 was very much the same as day 3, only in a much poorer village known as Chavin and, with probably twice the number of people seeking our help. We had so many come, in fact, we had to open up the eye glass clinic again the following morning just to serve everyone who registered with us! We were able to lead many people to Christ through the counseling tables and brought the day’s events to a wonderful close with another message from Pastor Tito. The warmth and friendship that these people show to each other, as well as to this group of outsiders coming into their homes, is truly amazing. Despite their less than ideal conditions, they open their homes and hearts to us without hesitation and it struck me that while we are trying to be of service to these people in the name of Christ, they too, are being of service to us with a humbleness that mirrors Christ beautifully and, it has truly been a joy to watch and be a part of!


House Groups are short-term (3 -7 weeks) gatherings of 6 to 12 people who come together to Connect and develop friendships (they always share a meal together), Care For one another, which might mean praying, providing meals, helping with household tasks, helping to pay bills or generally carrying each other through hardships, and Cultivating our relationship with God through sermon based discussions.
These groups happen 3 - 4 times per year and are always in line with a sermon series. Sometimes these groups meet for 3 consecutive weeks ranging upwards to 7 consecutive weeks depending on the sermon series.
Our next house group cycle begins the week of January 29 with our sermon series, Jesus For Grownups. Keep scrolling to sign up.


Required fields are marked *. Get this two-piece necklace set at an affordable price. Both come with a twenty-four inches box chain necklace. That is why Christ and His disciples and the early Church did not use a Cross, whether with or without the image of Christ on it. John 3:16 ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is a historical fact. I am Spencer Alexander McDaniel. Egyptian Djed. Many of the translators of Scripture into The Bible were Masons. Deep Thinker. The djed symbol, so closely associated with Osiris, was one of these but the ankh continued in use. Another Greek word that is used in the New Testament to describe the cross Jesus died on is ξύλον (xýlon), which is a very generic term that can refer to any kind of structure made of wood. I always love it when people give me positive feedback. The crux ansata also occurs in a number of surviving fragments of Egyptian cloth from late antiquity, which suggests that people wore it on their clothes as a protective symbol as well. Join our Patreon community! Unsurprisingly, the things that this article claims are “undisputed facts” are not, in fact, undisputed facts at all. We must pay close attention to what Scripture says. But my heart is wholly devoted to God. I know of 7 year old Muslims who can read and recite the Quran in Arabic. There are numerous testimonies of what it means metaphorically and literally. The staurogram has been suggested to be influence… Early Coptic (Egyptian) Christians used the ankh symbol as a staurogram – a representation of the Christian cross itself. The earliest known use of the crux ansata comes from the bottom of the final page of the Gospel of Judas in Codex Tchacos, a manuscript dated to around 300 AD or thereabouts containing Coptic translations of various early Christian apocryphal texts. This indicates that, by at least as early as the second century AD, many early Christians already believed that Jesus’s cross had been shaped like a Latin cross or at least very similar to a Latin cross. That is why I respect Apostle Johnson Suleman. The usage of the Cross and the Crucifix came from the Roman Emperor, Constantine, who was a pagan and claimed to have converted to Christianity. […] It is an undisputed fact that Christ did not die on a Cross. It is an indisputable fact that Christ asked us to teach believers “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”-Matthew 28:20. There is no story in Egyptian mythology about Horus walking on water. Enter your email address to subscribe to Tales of Times Forgotten and receive notifications of new posts by email. I did not say The Bible never said Christ died on The Cross. Certainly not God or His Son.”. Next: Mabon; Goddess and Gods. Did Cleopatra Really Dissolve a Pearl in Vinegar? Certainly not Scripture. Irreligious proponents of the claim that Christians copied the cross off the Egyptian ankh often also claim that Christians “plagiarized” the whole story of Jesus off the Egyptian god Horus. Image. In other words, this is less like when white people were native American war bonnets as fashion accessories and more like when native people themselves continue to practice their own ancient rituals even after nominally converting to Christianity. ABOVE: The crucifixion of Jesus and suicide of Judas Iscariot depicted on a Roman ivory panel dated to between c. 420 and c. 430 AD. So, where did the Cross originate from? What better way to fulfil the above Scripture than to read Scripture in its original language and “conform” to it?


You’ll see our preacher presenting the sermon on most Sunday mornings. During the week he holds group or individual Bible studies. Contact him if you would like information on joining a study!
Max, his wife Karen, and his son Zeb are pleased to be a part of a group of people who love the Lord and seek to serve Him. Max has preached for congregations in KY, AR, LA, TN and IN. Max and Karen love to study the Bible with anyone who is willing to study with them. Max’s favorite book of the Bible is whichever one he is studying at the moment and his favorite Bible character is the Bible’s main character, God.


3 edition of Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association found in the catalog.
Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association
|Series||Early American imprints -- no. 3738|
|The Physical Object|
|Number of Pages||11|
Jan 11, · Governor’s Letter Book, Edward B. Dudley Philadelphia Baptist Church, Minutes Docket of Slaves Indicted for Capital Crimes Minutes of the Georgia Baptist Association, – Book/Printed Material The minutes and sermon of the Second Presbyterian and Congregational Convention, held in the Central Presbyterian Church, Lombard Street, Philadelphia, on . Reason to Be: The African Baptist Association as a Response to Systemic Racism of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, from A.D. to A.D. (; rpt. Atlas, Mich.:Baptist Book Trust, ), p. 9 Nova Scotia Association Minutes 10 Systemic racism? White .
Mathematics for the million.
use of computerized mapping in crime control and prevention programs
Math for Daily Decisions (Skills for Success)
Last Summer of Mata Hari
International economic institutions
descriptive analysis of the Gary-Banneker performance contracted curriculum center
The Green Man Tree Oracle
Supporting literacy across the sunshine state
Records relating to North American railroads
note on the physical characters of the prehistoric Kansu race
only three discipline strategies you will ever need
A Brief Account of the Churches Holding Believer's Baptism in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association There are 19 histories. Baptist History Homepage [p.
9] An Association Book Containing A Brief Account of the Beginning and Progress of the Churches Holding and Practicing Adult Baptism, and Commonly Called Baptists, in Pennsylvania and the Jersies; Now Annually Associating at Philadelphia: with the Time when, and the Persons by whom Each Church was Settled, and who were the Ministers that Labored among them in.
Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association,ed. Gillette published originally Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, New printing, Springfield, MO: Particular Baptist Press, Designated as a Tricentennial Edition edited by Terry Wolever.
For those reasons--its singular importance in the eighteenth-century and its lasting influence on Baptist life in America--the Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association,edited by A. Gillette and published in by the American Baptist Publication Society, is a classic of Baptist history in America.
Fortunately, the Baptist Book Trust. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association: held by special appointment, at Southampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday and Wednesday, 29th and 30th of October, A.D.
having been prevented meeting at the time appointed in the city of Philadelphia by a prevailing infectious disorder, with which God in his providence has been pleased to visit that city.
PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSN. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, Held in Philadelphia, October 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, The th Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Baptist Association took place on Saturday, May 4, at Esperanza ( North 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA ) The Rev.
Luis Cortes, founder, president and CEO of Esperanza, served as our host. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association: From to () by A.D. Gillette Hear about sales, receive special offers & more.
You can unsubscribe at any menards.club: Sep 13, · Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, from A.D. to A.D. being the first one hundred years of its existence by Philadelphia Baptist Association; Gillette, A.
D., Pages: Get this from a library. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, from A.D. to A.D. being the first one hundred years of its existence. [A D Gillette; Philadelphia Baptist Association.]. He currently teaches and directs the choir at Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church, in Philadelphia.
The Choir supports many Haitian Churches spiritually and financially in New York, Connecticut, Montreal, Lancaster, PA and in Philadelphia for their harvest festivals/5(7).
Get this from a library. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, held, by appointment, in Philadelphia, October [Philadelphia Baptist Association.]. Minutes of the 9th Annual Session of the Philadelphia Association Old Regular Baptist Church of Jesus Christ Minutes of the 46th Annual Session of the Mud River Old Regular Baptist Association Proceedings of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Session of the Union Association of Old Regular Baptists Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association held by appointment, in Philadelphia, October 4th, 5th, and 6th, Published: () Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, held at Lower Dublin, Philadelphia County, state of Pennsylvania, October 3d, 4th, and 5th, Author of A confession of faith put forth by the elders and brethren of many congregations of Christians (baptized upon profession of their faith) in London and the country, Minutes of the th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, and Minutes of the th Anniversary of 5/5(2).
Minutes Books of First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, A. Gillette, editor, Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association from A.D.to A.D. (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, ), and William Williams Keen, The Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the First Baptist Church of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.
Minutes, North Carolina Negro Baptist Associations. Other Authors: /Bear Creek Baptist Association /Yadkin-Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Association of North Carolina /Zion Missionary Baptist Association; Similar Items.
African-American Baptist annual reports. Similar Items. Minutes of the Baptist Association, held at Philadelphia, October, Published: () Minutes of the Baptist Association, held at Philadelphia, October 6, Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, from A.D.
to A.D. being the first one hundred years of its existence / (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, ), by Philadelphia Baptist Association and A.
Gillette (page images at HathiTrust). Staff The Philadelphia Baptist Association (PBA) is staffed by a dedicated team that is committed to serving and holding in trust the congregations, missions and ministries that make up this region of the American Baptist Churches.
The Old Regular Baptists are a Christian denomination of Old School Baptist [see Black Rock Address] based primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States.
This group at one time was in full fellowship with the Primitive Baptist and Old School Baptist nationwide, due to divisions and changes among some of the Primitive Baptist,they.
Philadelphia Baptist Church, Deville. 1, likes · 5 talking about this · 3, were here. Celebrating over years of ministry, Philadelphia Baptist Church continues to present the relevant, 5/5(54).
PHILADELPHIA BURMESE BAPTIST CHURCH c/o Tasker Street Philadelphia, PA Pastor: Pastor La Seng Dingrin Pastor Saw Thomas PINN MEMORIAL BAPIST CHURCH. (The Philadelphia Association) The accepted view of the time line of Baptist in Kentucky according to Spencer’s History of Kentucky Baptists and Miniutes of the Burning Springs Association is as follows: THE ARMS GIVEN OFF FORMING ASSOCIATIONS THROUGH WHICH THE NEW SALEM ASSOCIATION CAME 1.
Philadelphia Association, organized 2. Please Note: A split occurred in from a result of a split in the Indian Bottom Church (J.T. Whitaker) in This side was known as the W.G.
Combs side of the Indian Bottom Association and dissolved in the year lasting only 5 years. Available in the National Library of Australia collection. Author: Philadelphia Baptist Association; Format: Book, Online; 12 p. National Library of Australia. Login | Register.
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Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist. History of the Western Union Baptist Association of Ohio /, by Charles D. Swayne and E. Curry (page images at HathiTrust) The monitor of Richland Creek Baptist Association: with biographical sketches of the founders and leaders of that organization /, by John Smith Gilmore and Richland Creek Baptist Association (page images at HathiTrust).
Aug 02, · Each volume is a 6 x 9 Hardback. The set contains - 7, pages Original Publisher: Mathews & Leigh - London Original Pub. Date: The Philadelphia Baptist Association, in its official minutes of October recommended, "that each member church of the Association subscribe for a copy of Dr.
Gill's incomparable Exposition of the Old and New Testaments for the use of their /5(8). Open Library is an initiative of the Internet Archive, a (c)(3) non-profit, building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital menards.club projects include the Wayback Machine, menards.club and menards.club Ketoctin Baptist Church, also known as Short Hill Church, is a historic Baptist church located at Round Hill, Loudoun County, menards.club is listed on both the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks RegisterAdded to NRHP: May 22, The official website of the American Baptist Association. The American Baptist A ssociation is a network of churches who have chosen to come together and share resources to further the reach of the gospel.
Their efforts have led to churches sending and supporting missionaries in. Yadkin Baptist Association of Southern Baptist Churches Minutes of the annual session of the Yadkin-Philadelphia Baptist Association and Minutes of the annual session of the Yadkin-Philadelphia Missionary Bapitst Convention Minutes of the annual session of the Little Yadkin River Primitive Baptist Association.
Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association: From to A.D. Gillette. Philadelphia American Baptist Publicatio, J. Newton Brown. Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association: From toBeing the First One Hundred Years of Its Existence.
A Brief instruction in the principles of the Christian religion, agreeable to the confession of faith, put forth by the elders and brethren of many congregations of Christians (baptized upon profession of their faith) in London, and in the country: To which is added, the proofs thereof, out of the Scriptures, in words at length by William Collins (Book).
Baptist History of the Liberty Baptist Association. Madison and Limestone p., Good condition, loose papers, typewritten manuscript Baptist Record book of Philadelphia Baptist Church. Monroe p., Good condition, photocopies Baptist Minutes for Pisgah Baptist Church. Cherokee.
In Baptist: Colonial period were united to form the Philadelphia Baptist Association, and through the association they embarked upon vigorous missionary menards.club the Philadelphia association included churches located in the present states of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia; and by further multiplication of churches had.
Central to Baptists of the early 18th century, the Bible was paramount to Baptist life as viewed through the Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association.
Indeed, the imagery of the biblical Zion in the midst of a great spiritual wilderness is the biblical analogy that emerges from Associational Minutes of. Seeking information or Minutes on the Philadelphia Association and their "Council of Elders" held around Kenova, WV in the 's - The Association Minutes show there was a printing of these Minutes.
United Baptist: 1.) Booklets, Pamphlets, Newspapers, Histories of the United Baptist The Regular Baptist Hymn Book - John A. Thompson Minutes of Pacolet (Skull Shoals) Baptist Church microfilm reel (partial reel) P Philadelphia Baptist Church (Pauline, S.C.) Minutes of Philadelphia Baptist Church microfilm reels.
P Ramah Primitive Baptist Church (Wilkinson County, Ga.) Minutes of Ramah Primitive Baptist Church THE PHILADELPHIA CONFESSION OF FAITH, Chapter 1 Of the Holy Scriptures 1.
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave.
Minutes of the New-Jersey Baptist Association, held at Mount-Holly, New-Jersey, September [microform] Dennis Heartt Philadelphia Australian/Harvard Citation New Jersey Baptist Association.History of the Baptist Churches in Ohio (Fund has been started on this project - 20% raised so far) 2.
Ministers of the Philadelphia Baptist Association (Fund started - 20% raised so far) 3. The Works of Benjamin Wallin - Volumes 1, 2 and 3. 4. Many others - some commentaries, etc.
Works out of print waiting for sponsorship to reprint: 1.Sep 25, · NEW Baptist History Collection CD-ROM - version * The Baptist History Collection CD-ROM - Version THE BAPTIST HISTORY COLLECTION CD version (ISBN# ) is now in menards.club may order this CD by clicking menards.club regular retail price for this new CD is $


LANGPROS CONTRIBUTION DURING POPE FRANCIS’S VISIT IN THE UAE
Gulf News, 29 August 2019 – page 6
“Dubai translator of Fraternity document humbled”, an article by Sharmila Dhal appeared on the 6th page of Gulf News on 29 August 2019.
Matteo Ippoliti, CEO and founder of Langpros, recounts his personal experience being one of the key contributors in delivering the message of Pope Francis.
Langpros’ team provided Italian-English-Spanish interpreting services and was also involved in the English translation of the book dedicated to the Pope’s visit.
The high profile historic event took place in Abu Dhabi on February 2019. Pope Francis was welcomed by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr. Ahmad Al Tayyeb and the Authorities of the United Arab Emirates. The Holy Father delivered a mass attended by tens of thousands and signed the historical document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.
The UAE has undeniably opened its door to promoting openness, acceptance, unity and living harmoniously.
Langpros’ team understood the importance of being a part of this historical event by aiding the Pope in delivering such an important and historical message and worked together to provide nothing less than the best.
About The Author
Matteo Ippoliti is a qualified and Certified Translator of English, French and Italian, recognized by the Consulate General of Italy in Dubai and the Embassy of Italy in Abu Dhabi. He is a sworn Legal Translator licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice and Italy Law Courts.
His great passion for traveling, foreign languages and cultural differences motivated him to study and work abroad in many countries such as Canada, Australia and the UAE.
Almost a decade ago he founded LANGPROS, a Dubai Translation and Interpreting Company working with over 100 languages and the only LSP in the UAE licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice to provide ITALIAN, SPANISH, ENGLISH, ARABIC and FRENCH legal translations.


Homily for the Solemnity of Mary (January 1, 2021) Total Time:10m21s
New Year Resolution: I refuse to live my life under a spirit of fear. I humbly ask for the Holy Spirit to purify my heart and anoint me with power from on high to witness to the power of God’s love as Mary did.” She is the STAR of Evangelization and will point and help us stay close to Jesus.
Homily for Holy Family Sunday (December 27, 2020). Total Time: 13m22s
Homily for Christmas (December 25, 2020). Total Time: 8m13s
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent (December 20, 2020) Total Time: 12m34s
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent (December 13, 2020) Total Time: 12m38s
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent (December 13, 2020) Total Time: 12m40s
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (December 6, 2020) Total Time 9m0s
Homily for the 1st Week of Advent (November 29, 2020) Total Time: 8m53s
Homily for the Solemnity of Christ, the King. (November 22, 2020) Total Time: 14m34s.
The book I was referencing is "Live Not By Lies" by Rod Dreher. It can be found at the link below.
Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (November 15, 2020) Total Time:8m20s


Welcome to certainty.org.au
The following has been written by Bible believing Christians to help people in the Catholic faith rightly understand salvation
When will you have certainty?
On our journey through life we face many challenges. Challenges to health, work, relationships, even challenges to our faith.
Life is a difficult journey. No matter what path you choose, danger and hardship are at every turn. And for many, the destination is uncertain.
We'd all like to be certain. Certain of who we are... that we're loved. Most of all, certain of where we're heading.
Who am I? Does God love me? Will I go to heaven?
Amidst uncertainty, people often turn to different religions for answers. It can be comforting to 'do' something. To participate in some religious activity to reassure us.
True Christianity, however, is very different from religion. Jesus offers himself as the only way into heaven describing himself as "the door" (The Bible - John chapter 10, verse 9). He says that anyone who listens to his voice and follows him will be saved. We need to respond to Jesus with a life that is changed, but we don't need to 'do' good works or perform rituals to earn salvation. This is because Jesus has already done all that is necessary.
Jesus loves us and is always there for us. As our great high priest, who sympathises with our weaknesses, He is able to help us in our time of need (The Bible - Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14-16).
On the cross Jesus died to pay for the things we've done wrong. Three days later he rose again from the dead. If we trust in Jesus' work at the cross we can be friends with God and be saved. Read More »
Catholicism & the Certainty of Salvation
This short video explores the catholic teaching on the salvation and also what the Bible has to say about certainty and our relationship with God. View Video »
Outreach Media has produced a short booklet outlining the certainty of salvation offered through Jesus Christ, rather than the uncertainty of trusting in things held out by the Catholic church such as the Pope and the Papacy, Mary and the Saints, Confession and the Mass, Purgatory and the giving of Indulgences. These are important things for us to understand ourselves with World Youth Day upon us and to be sharing with friends. You can purchase copies of the booklet for $0.25 each Click here to order »
Outreach Media - www.outreachmedia.org.au
Outreach Media is a non-denominational Christian organisation that exists to "promote Jesus". Our hope is that the whole world will know Jesus as Lord and saviour. The most significant undertaking of Outreach Media to date is the work of Outreach Posters.
Two ways to Live - http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple - simple enough to be outlined in a few pages. It is a message from the Bible about God and his son, Jesus. It is all about life and death, and the choice that we all face.


It is with a heavy heart that we share that Lorraine lost her battle with cancer this week. She was brave and strong to the very end, and is now safe in the arms and comfort of the Lord.
Beloved wife to Ged.
Beloved mum to Victoria, Amie, and Lucy.
Beloved granny to Lily, Bertie, Wilbur, Daisy, Hector, and Honey.
Her loss is felt deeply but she will always be loved.
Heaven is richer. Thank you for telling us.ReplyDelete
she will be missed by manyReplyDelete
So sorry for your loss.ReplyDelete
Thank you for letting us all know, she will be missed by so many, my condolences to you all.ReplyDelete
I am so sad. Gods rich blessing with your family.ReplyDelete
Rest in peace Lorraine. My condolences to all who love her.ReplyDelete
Heartfelt condolences to you all in your loss. The world has lost a very kind and lovely woman. May she rest in peace.ReplyDelete
I too will miss her very much. Thank you so much for letting us know.
Sending love to all the family xx
Rest in peace lovely lady. I will miss you immenselyReplyDelete
Sending my sincere condolences. I know she will be missed by many xxReplyDelete
How bravely she fought. Sincere sympathies.ReplyDelete
Rest in Peace Lorraine. She will be missed by so many of us. I am so very sorry for your loss.ReplyDelete
So sorry and sad to hear this. Thank you for letting us knowReplyDelete
I am so sorry. Take care all of you.ReplyDelete
Condolences to you and your entire family and thank you for posting this sad update. Lorraine was a creative, loving woman who shared much through her blog posts. She will also be missed by fellow bloggers, who became friends who never met, myself ncluded.ReplyDelete
So sorry to hear this. Lorraine was a wonderful lady. I only knew her through her blog, but she offered support and encouragement to me when I was going through tough times. She was wonderfully creative, and I loved hearing her stories of her wonderful life on the island. My thoughts are with her family xReplyDelete
Condolences to you and your family xReplyDelete
May she rest in eternal peace and may you and her family feel consolation as you grieve your loss. My prayers are for all of you.ReplyDelete
I am so sorry to read this. The world is a poorer place without such a sweet kind creative soul. My condolences to you.ReplyDelete
So sorrow for your lost....she was so gifted...ReplyDelete
We will miss her.
My deeply condolences.
My sincere condolences. XxReplyDelete
Deepest sympathies. Thank you for letting the blogging community know. She will be very much missed here. Praying that a loving Lord will comfort your hearts as only He can.ReplyDelete
So very sorry to read this sad news. I've read the blog for a while but never commented. Lorraine came across as being a kind and considerate lady. She was very talented and made a lot of people happy with her wonderful gifts. Condolences to you all, and thank you for updating the blog. My love and prayers to you all, take care xxxReplyDelete
So sorry for your loss.ReplyDelete
Thank you for letting us all know. She was a lovely, talented and kind lady and will be missed here in Blogland as she will in real time. My heartfelt condolences to all of her family. Rest in peace sweet lady. XXXXXReplyDelete
Oh, how sad. What a lovely photo. My condolences. We will all miss her.ReplyDelete
My deepest condolences to you and your family. Thank you for letting us know. She will me greatly missed.ReplyDelete
Oh I am so very sorry to read this. My deepest condolences to you and your family. Your mother will be remembered with much affection and admiration.ReplyDelete
Thank you for letting us know. Lorraine and all of you have been in my thoughts and prayers often this past month. My deepest condolences to all of you. So thankful that her suffering is over and she is with her Lord.ReplyDelete
So sorry for your loss. I will light a candle for Lorraine and say a special prayer tonight.ReplyDelete
So sorry for your loss. She was a lovely person.ReplyDelete
So sorry to hear this but thank you for posting. May she rest in peace.ReplyDelete
Condolences to you all, and thankyou for postingReplyDelete
My sympathy and prayers 🙏 for all Lorraine's family and friends. So thankful for the promise of heaven. Sad but it was good to know her via blogging and exchanged gifts 🎁 Christmas time for years. 🌹 thanks for letting us know.ReplyDelete
So sorry to read this sad news about Lorraine. I have read this blog from the beginning and have admired her for her faith and inumerable strengths. She was so happy that they were able to make the move to the Isle of Lewis and seemed to be truly happy and at peace there. My deepest sympathy to all her beloved family and friends.
Heaven has a new Angel who will be looking down and watching over her family. May God give Lorraine's beloved family peace and comfort in the days ahead. She will be missed by so many.ReplyDelete
My love and sympathy to you all at this sad time. xxReplyDelete
My thoughts and prayers are with the whole family and friends and neighbours. Rest in Peace beautiful lady XReplyDelete
I am so sorry to see this today. Even though I knew one day it would be here, I am still so very sad to know she is gone. I never met Lorraine in person, rather, I knew her as a faraway friend who I visit virtually anytime. She was an anchor here in this blogworld, welcoming me when I was just beginning. I will pray for her, but also for the beloved family she left behind when she gathered her wings and her heavenly reward. Thank you so much for allowing us to share in her life and in her death, as well as in your grief. I will come back here and visit often, for I know Lorraine has still so much to teach.ReplyDelete
I am so sorry to read this today. You are all in my thoughts. What a beautiful photograph, a happy memory. I will miss Lorraine's posts. Thank you for sharing your sad news xxReplyDelete
She had just crossed my mind and then I saw this post. I am so very sorry. I really enjoyed reading her thoughts. Sending prayers for comfort.ReplyDelete
I'm so sorry to read this sad news. She was a lovely lady. Thank you for letting us know.ReplyDelete
Thank you for letting us all know, Lorraine will be missed by so many.ReplyDelete
Sending condolences to you all.
May Lorraine rest in peace.
All the best Jan
I’m so sorry for your loss. Your mum was a dear and generous friend and I will miss her words and photos here on her blog, as well as her kind comments on my blog. Rest In Peace, dear Lorraine.ReplyDelete
Oh I am so sorry to hear this news. I have followed Lorraine for a long time on her blog journey and sometimes addressed her as mama when I commented on her beautiful crafting posts. She just felt to me like everyone's mama. God bless Mama Mercantile. Sending you healing thoughts. Jo xReplyDelete
I am so very sorry for your loss.ReplyDelete
Oh my heart is so sad today to read the news - sad for the family, but rejoicing that Lorraine is no longer in pain and with the One she loved so much. My prayers will continue for the pain and heartbreak being felt in the family. She was such a dear delight in this blogging world, and she will be so very missed!!!ReplyDelete
So very sorry to read this. Lorraine was such a kind and generous blogger. Praying for the family as you make this new journey without her. Thank you for letting us know xxReplyDelete
So sad and sorry to read this. She was so brave! Deeply sorry for your loss. I shall greatly miss her here in blogland xxReplyDelete
I am so sorry to read this. Your mother was such a special lady and will be greatly missed. My heart goes out to you all. Such a sweet and caring family.ReplyDelete
I am very sad to read this I have prayed each day for her, just to be comfortable and have her family around her. Every Blessing to you all, yes she is safe in the arms of our Lord.ReplyDelete
I am so sorry for your loss. She was a lady that so many loved by her blog. My prayers are with you, her family.ReplyDelete
I am grateful for the author's ability to provide readers with practical advice and solutions to their problems.ReplyDelete
My heart breaks. I'm so sorry for your loss.ReplyDelete


The Very Rev Dr Lorna Hood is a Minister of the Church of Scotland, and Honorary Chaplain to the Queen. She held the position of Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2013–14, the very highest position in the Church.
A new podcast from @SrebrenicaUK and @messageheard: 'Untold Killing'. A podcast that will explore the tragic events of the Bosnian Genocide in Srebrenica through the voices of those who survived it. https://t.co/5srksDhr9U
Today marks 25 years since the genocide in Srebrenica where over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men & boys were murdered because of their identity. We remember the innocent lives taken & join @SrebrenicaUK to commemorate these atrocities & pledge that Never Again means Never Again.


deep in the text of H.R. 3074, the $106 billion transportation and HUD porkfest
the Senate passed Wednesday by an 88-7 margin, one will find an $850,000
appropriation, originating with the office of erstwhile presidential candidate
Sam Brownback, for the renovation of one Morning Star Ranch in
The camp is situated an hour northeast of Wichita on a 650-acre site that includes, according to its Web site, “facilities for 72 campers and a year-round retreat lodge for 40…a dining room that seats 120 and a meeting room that seats 110 “ as well as “a swimming pool, a basketball/tennis court, a sand volleyball area, a horseshoe pit, hiking trails, biking trails, a baseball/softball diamond, playground equipment, and a park area for games.”
Oh, and one more thing. It is owned by the Los Angeles-based World Impact Ministries, whose stated purpose is to “minister cross-culturally to people unreached by the gospel of Jesus Christ through evangelism, follow-up, discipleship and indigenous church-planting.” (Well, if nothing else, they certainly won’t lack for fertilizer.) The camp is used as the headquarters for the group’s Christian Leadership Training Program, which describes itself thusly:
This two-year program is for single, urban young men, ages 18-25, who have made a commitment to Christ and want to grow in their walk with Him. Applicants are encouraged to have a church sponsor them.
But lest you heathens think this is just a gift from Brownback to help some fundie group back home repaint the tennis courts at their personal propaganda resort, oh no no no. While this may be a faith-based initiative, these guys are inclusive! After all:
The facilities are available to other Christian groups.
You see, they have both kinds of music…country AND western!


Well, we had quite the week here in sunny Salaverry! But first just a little update on the people we're teaching!
We have this hermano called Marcos who's less active. He's 55 and has a brother who is super active but over time and for some situations in his house, Marcos fell away from the church. He cares for his neice who has some special needs but LOVES to come to church and Relief Society. They both are a whole lot stronger and are ready to be reactivated! And we have a goal to go to the temple this next month! So we're super excited for them.
Next we found this family who has a lot of struggles but really want to change. Samantha and Fabio are the parents and they have two daughters of 14 and 9 years. We taught a bit about eternal families and the blessings of the gospel to Samantha and she is super interested. Now to get in to teach them all! The father works a lot, but we have faith we'll get in to teach them this week!
Then we have Karina and Alejandro and their kids. Karina and her kids are super active but her husband who is a fisherman has been inactive since he was 11. But all the sudden he came back SUPER stong and wants more than anything to get sealed to his family. He leaves on his boat for 12 days then is home for about 4-5. He was home this week and we got to teach him and his family AND he came to church!
But that's about it :) These people are so special and I love teaching, living and talking with them! Another cool thing, we had a sweet meeting with the zone leaders and sister leaders this week and I got to learn a whole lot! Mainly about the importance of trusting the Lord to do HIS work! And then afterwards we went to the TEMPLE! My first time in like 7 months. It was so amazing to serve in the house of the Lord. I have such a strong testimony of the power of the temple!
Lastly, I was reading a conference talk by Elder Oaks from this last conference about the strengthening power of the Atonment and a part really stuck out to me:
'sometimes His power heals an infirmity, but the scriptures and our expriences teach that sometimes He succors or helps by giving us the strengh or patience to endure our infirmities'
I just love how Christ understands us and our infirmities (be it physical, emotional, spiritual.....) because he passed though THE SAME. And how his power is open to us to lift us only if we seek and ask for it. Like it says in James 4:10 'Humble youselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up'.
Love you all and have a wonderful snowy week!
|There was an hermana (Hermana Watar) who had to go to the doctor and missed her bus back to Chimbote so she came and spent the night with us! Here she and my comp are making her bed of cardboard and lots of blankets in our tiny room!!|


Ich am of Irlande
And of the holy londe of Irlande
Good sir, pray ich ye
For of saintee charite
Come and dance wyt me
To this day one can still see her, that seductive Druidic fairy maid, calling wistfully to the Christian monks from out of the grassy green glen of ancient Ireland. The Irish poet, William Butler Yeats expresses this seduction, temptation, in even more passionate words at a later date as the fairy maiden, symbol of this ancient, earth based magikal religion, calls him forth:
to kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among the long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.”
This fairy maiden is at once a spirit and nature herself. In the misty, green, "betwixt and between" of Ireland’s lakes, the ocean and lush landscapes, there is no difference between the two.
To the Celtic mind heaven and earth are interdependent and wondrously interactive. The worlds of spirit and matter enjoy a sacred intimacy. This is the way it had been in pagan times, and even the new religion of Christianity did not change Celtic thinking on the matter.
This was the world that young Patrick inhabited as a he sat all alone night after night in the Irish countryside tending his sheep. Born in Briton of Roman parents, at age fifteen he was sold into slavery to a Celtic master, but was a free spirit in his mind. With no one around to talk to but the sheep, he spoke to God--a God that told him in visions that he must escape Ireland and learn more of Him.
Fifteen years later, when the Celtic speaking, newly ordained Bishop of the early Christian Church came back to Ireland to tell folks of his newfound God, he did it with a deep seeded love for nature and appreciation for the earth-based religion that he was about to modify forever. He did not discard the Celtic Spirit as he brought in his new faith, he built on it.
For legend has it that it was none other than St. Patrick who created the Celtic Cross. The story goes like this:
"While engaged in the baptism of the royal prince Aengus, son of the King of Munster, the saint, leaning on his crosier, pierced with its sharp point the prince's foot. Aengus bore the pain unmoved. When St. Patrick, at the close of the ceremony, saw the blood flow, and asked Aengus why he had been silent, he replied, with genuine heroism, that he thought it might be part of the ceremony, a penalty for the joyous blessings of the Faith that were imparted. The saint admired his heroism, and, taking the chieftain's circular shield, inscribed on it a cross with the same point of the crozier, and promised that that shield would be the signal of countless spiritual and temporal triumphs.
And so, we have the first appearance of the Celtic Cross.
The circle of the Celtic King’s shield is the sun and represents wholeness, timelessness, the round contours of the Earth, the feminine, the Druidic world of the cyclic Web of Life.
The cross is masculine, directional, finite, and human. It is the Four Directions, the Four Corners of the Earth, the times of year, up and down, left and right, beginning and end. Where the four points of the cross meet with the circle significant points in time are noted on a repeated time cycle: sunrise, mid-day, sunset, and midnight; the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Fall Equinox, the Winter Solstice or the Four traditional Celtic seasonal festivals of Samhain November 1); Imbloc (February 1) Beltane (May 1), Lugnasadh (August 1). The cross also points to the two trajectories of human life–the daily and life path and the spiritual path reaching after the stars. Its’ horizontal axis is the earthly world and the vertical axis is the heavenly world. Where the two come together at the center of the circle is the union of Heaven and Earth.
So, the Celtic Cross depicts the marriage of two worlds. The ancient Pagan and the Christian. Heaven and Earth. Natural and Supernatural.
This is a potent union of ecology and holiness that is felt in Ireland and the Celtic mind even today. It is a deep understanding that spirit and nature are one and to live in harmony with this union is the means for achieving holiness.
Celtic scholar Christopher Bamford explains that the Celtic interpretation of the divine Savior’s mission was to be “all in all,” and reconcile humanity and nature in God. He says, “Christianity and the act of Christ was never an end in itself, but a divine means to achieve that state of harmony for which creation was intended and which always was in Ireland.”
It is mankind’s duty therefore to become aware of and live within this network of divine power and natural phenomenon and to care for both.
This is a message for our times.


Please call the church office for more information on these ministries.
- AWANA – Runs from September to April.
- Children’s Church – Sundays during the Worship Service for ages 4 – 10
- Youth (6th – 12th Grade): (check out our facebook page!)
- Life Step Classes for all ages Sunday Mornings at 9:30 AM
- Young at Heart -Pastor Bob Coggins
- Celebrate Recovery – Thursday evenings with a free meal beginning at 6 PM – Dave Chamberlin
- Nursery – Sundays beginning at 9:30 AM
- Men’s Ministry – Fred Heinrichs – All men are invited to our Men’s Breakfast the 2nd Saturday of each month at 8 AM.