I was somehow sidelined into this thought this morning, during a reflective time with God. Why are Friday nights and Saturday nights almost always associated with partying, letting one's hair down, getting drunk, having a good time, going out, meeting mates, going clubbing etc?
Is it really because it is the weekend? or is there something else? Something spiritual?
Satan, was a fallen angel. He was once known as Lucifer. He was the head of worship. He was worship. He loved to worship God. He loved to worship for worshipping. He began to worship himself and this led to his downfall and to the whole realm of sin and seperation from God.
God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest and also a day of celebration, a day of worship dedicated to God for who he is and what he has done for us. The Israelites and the Jews celebrate the Sabbath from twilight of Friday through to twilight of Saturday.
We brits and the rest of the world consider our Sabbath to be on a Sunday. That is the day we set apart specifically, historically and traditionally as the day for worship and celebration. Yet this leaves the gap. The original Sabbath and its spiritual connotations were regarded highly by God and by his ordained rules. These still apply, but now the fallen Lucifer has taken over the 'gap' in our lives. The worship is still there, the celebration is still ringing around the world, but it's not to God, but to the devil and to carnal desires. Music, love, lust, drunkeness, debauchery, orgies, violence, anger, hatred are all prevalent when people lose self control. The heady mix of alcohol, laughter and drugs makes for an interesting evening of escapism, which is becoming increasingly popular in our culture today. It's the devils scheme for making people worship themselves and him. Little do they know that when they are set out to have a good time, do they fall under the spell of the deceiver.
Satan still wants people to continue the sabbatical pattern of worship, but to worship anything else but God, the father and creator, as he originally ordained.
Next time you go out to have a good time, think of the reasons as to why, and then think how you can change that why to be more effective for God.
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
The Parenthesis of ... (Sin)
In the beginning God…
Had a plan to create the earth and populate it with people who would worship him as their creator and take delight in his creation of the animals and the plants, the trees, the mountains, hills and seas around them, plus the myriad of stars above. Perhaps also to interact with God on a more personal level and to worship alongside his angels, just as he had a relationship with Adam in the beginning.
God placed man in the Garden of Eden where there was a whole variety of species awaiting his delight and there was the tree of life.
(Then came sin…..and seperation of man and a 1/3 of angels from God. Through sin, God had to readjust his plan, and send his son to die so that man could be reconciled to God once more and the pain of seperation and death would be dealt with once and for all, by binding Satan up and evicting him in to the lake of fire. This plan took man through many phases and many generations, from two people (adam & eve) through to today, where 6 billion people are living on the earth, and over time whoever knows how many have lived and died in the earth, perhaps 10 – 12 billion over the generations).
God planned a definitive time for all things to come to a head, to judge and to overcome the sin that caused his creation to go astray. God gave man time to try to overcome sin themselves but instead are destroying the very planet they live on, and creating technological advances which they claim can match those of God (or even transcend them).
The earth will be laid bare. Bare rock. No green grass, trees, plants, animals, people. A new earth. Seedlings will begin, life begins. Lichens and moss. This spreads, young plants will grow and these will spread. Over time the green grass will be renewed and be fresh and pleasing. This will be the new earth. Heaven, where men will dwell to worship God. On the earth there will be a city. The new Jerusalem, where God will dwell amongst man. The tree of life will be there and men will worship God forever. The city will be 12000 stadia long on each of its four sides – 1500 miles long x 1500 miles = 2.25m sq. miles
The people of God in their new bodies will be forever young, forever worshipping the magnificent creator and praising him for his new creations which he will do for us to take delight in once again and never will there be any more sin or death or all of the evil that is associated with it for God in his glory will be the ultimate for whom we run to when he extends his open arms and walks with us upon the lush green grass in the garden.
Had a plan to create the earth and populate it with people who would worship him as their creator and take delight in his creation of the animals and the plants, the trees, the mountains, hills and seas around them, plus the myriad of stars above. Perhaps also to interact with God on a more personal level and to worship alongside his angels, just as he had a relationship with Adam in the beginning.
God placed man in the Garden of Eden where there was a whole variety of species awaiting his delight and there was the tree of life.
(Then came sin…..and seperation of man and a 1/3 of angels from God. Through sin, God had to readjust his plan, and send his son to die so that man could be reconciled to God once more and the pain of seperation and death would be dealt with once and for all, by binding Satan up and evicting him in to the lake of fire. This plan took man through many phases and many generations, from two people (adam & eve) through to today, where 6 billion people are living on the earth, and over time whoever knows how many have lived and died in the earth, perhaps 10 – 12 billion over the generations).
God planned a definitive time for all things to come to a head, to judge and to overcome the sin that caused his creation to go astray. God gave man time to try to overcome sin themselves but instead are destroying the very planet they live on, and creating technological advances which they claim can match those of God (or even transcend them).
The earth will be laid bare. Bare rock. No green grass, trees, plants, animals, people. A new earth. Seedlings will begin, life begins. Lichens and moss. This spreads, young plants will grow and these will spread. Over time the green grass will be renewed and be fresh and pleasing. This will be the new earth. Heaven, where men will dwell to worship God. On the earth there will be a city. The new Jerusalem, where God will dwell amongst man. The tree of life will be there and men will worship God forever. The city will be 12000 stadia long on each of its four sides – 1500 miles long x 1500 miles = 2.25m sq. miles
The people of God in their new bodies will be forever young, forever worshipping the magnificent creator and praising him for his new creations which he will do for us to take delight in once again and never will there be any more sin or death or all of the evil that is associated with it for God in his glory will be the ultimate for whom we run to when he extends his open arms and walks with us upon the lush green grass in the garden.
The 4th Horse - Revelation 6
UN Report Exclusive: Climate Change Impact More Extensive than Thought - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
The above link to DER SPIEGEL's report on Climate Change makes interesting reading, particularly when read in conjunction with Revelation chapter 6, where it describes the Seals and in particular the 4th Seal which reveals the 4th Horse, a pale horse whose rider is called Death and he is given power over 1/4 of all the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts.
1/4 of the earth by sword - Islamism is growing ever popular and 1/4 of the countries on the earth now fully claim they are islamic, and there are representatives of islam in almost every other country, so we could argue that 1/4 of the world's population may base their religion beliefs on Islam.
The link above indicates that global warming is on an alarming increase, and by 2050 they estimate that 20% - 30% of all species (including humans?) will be killed off due to the effects of global warming to cause rising sea levels, eradicating low lying lands and islands, freak weather patterns, destroying the hiterto natural pattern of life and causing animals to seek food elsewhere around the planet and thus affecting their breeding rates and populations which also directly affect us for use of food sources and by attacks as certain animals may develop wilder characteristics in the chase for food and attack anyone in their way.
Plants and crops will be affected as the temperature warms and desertification spreads northwards and southwards and a distinct lack of rainfall over much of the lands means that crops will fail and there will be more famines which would not just affect those in poor Africa but may affect North Americans and Europeans since they consume most of the world's supply of foodstuffs and these will become scarce necessitating a change in lifestyle which most would deem to avoid if at all possible.
High ground will become a precious commodity as sea levels rise and those living in flood plains and low lying areas will likely lose their dwellings.
Imagine 1/4 of the earth's population. If by 2050 it is 7+billion then that would equate to 1.75 billion losing their lives.
If global warming continues then the rains may stop. They were not known before the time of the flood. Perhaps the earth will resort back to pre-flood conditions where everything was tinder dry and rain was not known. Then God will destroy the earth this time not by a great flood, but as he says in many passages, by fire. The vegetation will be tinder dry and we already know the devastation that forest fires can cause, as in Australia at the end of 2006. A forest fire on a global scale will destroy the earth and everything in it.
The above link to DER SPIEGEL's report on Climate Change makes interesting reading, particularly when read in conjunction with Revelation chapter 6, where it describes the Seals and in particular the 4th Seal which reveals the 4th Horse, a pale horse whose rider is called Death and he is given power over 1/4 of all the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts.
1/4 of the earth by sword - Islamism is growing ever popular and 1/4 of the countries on the earth now fully claim they are islamic, and there are representatives of islam in almost every other country, so we could argue that 1/4 of the world's population may base their religion beliefs on Islam.
The link above indicates that global warming is on an alarming increase, and by 2050 they estimate that 20% - 30% of all species (including humans?) will be killed off due to the effects of global warming to cause rising sea levels, eradicating low lying lands and islands, freak weather patterns, destroying the hiterto natural pattern of life and causing animals to seek food elsewhere around the planet and thus affecting their breeding rates and populations which also directly affect us for use of food sources and by attacks as certain animals may develop wilder characteristics in the chase for food and attack anyone in their way.
Plants and crops will be affected as the temperature warms and desertification spreads northwards and southwards and a distinct lack of rainfall over much of the lands means that crops will fail and there will be more famines which would not just affect those in poor Africa but may affect North Americans and Europeans since they consume most of the world's supply of foodstuffs and these will become scarce necessitating a change in lifestyle which most would deem to avoid if at all possible.
High ground will become a precious commodity as sea levels rise and those living in flood plains and low lying areas will likely lose their dwellings.
Imagine 1/4 of the earth's population. If by 2050 it is 7+billion then that would equate to 1.75 billion losing their lives.
If global warming continues then the rains may stop. They were not known before the time of the flood. Perhaps the earth will resort back to pre-flood conditions where everything was tinder dry and rain was not known. Then God will destroy the earth this time not by a great flood, but as he says in many passages, by fire. The vegetation will be tinder dry and we already know the devastation that forest fires can cause, as in Australia at the end of 2006. A forest fire on a global scale will destroy the earth and everything in it.
Is God younger than you?
We had a guest speaker in our church (an ozzie), and he said something which seems on the outside fascinating.
When the devil caused sin to enter our world the period of aging began and now we take it as normal that we have our allotted time of three score and ten (70 years) or there abouts (on average) to live out our lives.
We know from the bible that people pre-Noah's time lived far longer, i.e. Methuselah lived 969 years.
It was not God's original intention that we grow old so quickly. This is a cause of sin in our lives.
Jesus says let the children come to him.
God wants us to have a simple faith in him. To believe him and trust in him without us complicating things and making provisos or ifs and buts, but just to trust him, like a child simply trusts its parent without question.
My child trusts me even though he has often no clue what I am doing. I say to him, come we are going out in the car, and he tags along because a) he enjoys going out in the car, b) because he enjoys being with me, whereever I go and whatever I do.
This is how God wants us to be.
Could it be that we age to become older than God? That God is an eternal child in simplicity and without complication? He sets down the rules and he never changes. There are no provisos. No ifs and buts with God. He wants us to simply love him and trust him. His rules are there to keep us close to him, like we tell a child not to wander off or stick their grubby fingers in the electrical sockets. Those rules keep them safe and God's rules are designed to keep us safe in him.
That's all he wants folks........
When the devil caused sin to enter our world the period of aging began and now we take it as normal that we have our allotted time of three score and ten (70 years) or there abouts (on average) to live out our lives.
We know from the bible that people pre-Noah's time lived far longer, i.e. Methuselah lived 969 years.
It was not God's original intention that we grow old so quickly. This is a cause of sin in our lives.
Jesus says let the children come to him.
God wants us to have a simple faith in him. To believe him and trust in him without us complicating things and making provisos or ifs and buts, but just to trust him, like a child simply trusts its parent without question.
My child trusts me even though he has often no clue what I am doing. I say to him, come we are going out in the car, and he tags along because a) he enjoys going out in the car, b) because he enjoys being with me, whereever I go and whatever I do.
This is how God wants us to be.
Could it be that we age to become older than God? That God is an eternal child in simplicity and without complication? He sets down the rules and he never changes. There are no provisos. No ifs and buts with God. He wants us to simply love him and trust him. His rules are there to keep us close to him, like we tell a child not to wander off or stick their grubby fingers in the electrical sockets. Those rules keep them safe and God's rules are designed to keep us safe in him.
That's all he wants folks........
Age of Methuselah
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to live to the age Methuselah did? In Genesis 5 v 27, the bible states that he lived for 969 years. Longevity in those days was the norm. Imagine if Methuselah had been born 900 years ago in Britain. The year 1107. As he grew up what would he have witnessed? What events would have been key in his memory? Born into medieval Britain, witnessing the change of Kings and wars with scotland, the collapse of the Roman empire, the rise of the protestant church and the beginnings of the methodist movement, Queen Elizabeth 1 and her wars with spain and france, the civil war - would he have been a roundhead?, the conquering of the new worlds of america and the exploration and expansion of the British Empire to boast the Empire is such that the sun never sets upon it, and then man's almost nihilistic destruction beginning at the start of the 20th Century leading through until today.
He'd be saddened by the fact that 800 years had gone by where yeah there were battles and unrest, poverty and decline, power and victory, but never had there been near total destruction as there is nowadays on a almost global scale. The skirmishes he'd witness as a young man would have affected perhaps two villages and their fields, perhaps upto 300 men each; now its two or more countries with 3 million people at stake
How he would now feel the need for the hunger of God. He would know man needs God so much now than ever before. Even the dark days of the civil war do not account for anything like the dangers we see on our streets.
Methuselah did actually live in a similar time. An unlawful and uncivil society, keen on getting their own way and doing what they wanted and wishing to live lavishly against the rules of God and morality. Society was then at breaking point.
What happened?
God intervened and through Noah decided he would save the human race, but at a cost to everyone else who were all drowned in the flood.
The bible says God will intervene again. This time not by flood but by fire. We humans didn't learn from the first lesson and the devil has made God seem totally unimportant in this world of personal freedom, gain, TV and PCs, where all of our attention on God has been directed elsewhere, so that now God is a little less than a picture on a wall, a dusty book hidden under glossy magazines, a gold effigy hung on a chain for good luck; a book from the past hidden in a darkened cupboard long forgotten behind the bright lights of a plasma screen.
Man is causing damage to the world. The boulder rolling down the hill can no longer be stopped. It's momentum gaining speed as it heads down to flatten and destroy.
Only God can now save us.
Jesus Christ is the key. Look to him and believe and you will be saved.
Man cannot be saved by Noah again. His time is gone.
Now the world is the stage for Armageddon. Beware for your time is soon up. In the twinkling of an eye, it will come to pass and you will question yourself as you see the burning flames of hell and wonder where your time is gone and wonder why in the end it was all for nothing. Meaningless.
You have your chance. Take it now before it is too late. Jesus is waiting for you with his arms open wide. Go to him before you sink below the flames.
He'd be saddened by the fact that 800 years had gone by where yeah there were battles and unrest, poverty and decline, power and victory, but never had there been near total destruction as there is nowadays on a almost global scale. The skirmishes he'd witness as a young man would have affected perhaps two villages and their fields, perhaps upto 300 men each; now its two or more countries with 3 million people at stake
How he would now feel the need for the hunger of God. He would know man needs God so much now than ever before. Even the dark days of the civil war do not account for anything like the dangers we see on our streets.
Methuselah did actually live in a similar time. An unlawful and uncivil society, keen on getting their own way and doing what they wanted and wishing to live lavishly against the rules of God and morality. Society was then at breaking point.
What happened?
God intervened and through Noah decided he would save the human race, but at a cost to everyone else who were all drowned in the flood.
The bible says God will intervene again. This time not by flood but by fire. We humans didn't learn from the first lesson and the devil has made God seem totally unimportant in this world of personal freedom, gain, TV and PCs, where all of our attention on God has been directed elsewhere, so that now God is a little less than a picture on a wall, a dusty book hidden under glossy magazines, a gold effigy hung on a chain for good luck; a book from the past hidden in a darkened cupboard long forgotten behind the bright lights of a plasma screen.
Man is causing damage to the world. The boulder rolling down the hill can no longer be stopped. It's momentum gaining speed as it heads down to flatten and destroy.
Only God can now save us.
Jesus Christ is the key. Look to him and believe and you will be saved.
Man cannot be saved by Noah again. His time is gone.
Now the world is the stage for Armageddon. Beware for your time is soon up. In the twinkling of an eye, it will come to pass and you will question yourself as you see the burning flames of hell and wonder where your time is gone and wonder why in the end it was all for nothing. Meaningless.
You have your chance. Take it now before it is too late. Jesus is waiting for you with his arms open wide. Go to him before you sink below the flames.
Is our life our choice or is it God's?
Did we choose to live?
Was it our choice to be born?
When did we realise we were born? During our first memories? More likely,when someone, whether our parents or a teacher made us realise the process of our birth into life and our life for the future and how our life up until that age of realisation is documented either by stories, photos, certificates etc.
Our realisation that somehow we had started living in our world began when it became a fascination of how we could then live in it. Planning for our future through education and relationships; finding out what drives us, whether it be money, love, career, attention, fame or reputation.
If it wasn't our choice to be born, is it really our choice to live, and how we live?
Yes, and no.
Is it our choice whether to continue living or to die? Yes.
Is it our choice when we die? Yes and no.
Obviously we choose our time to die if we want to commit suicide, but then sometimes that may not work, and chances happen that people survive their attempts.
Does this mean God is in ultimate control, even if we think we may take our own life at the time we choose?
Yes.
God allows us to choose our paths in life, who we develop relationships with, where we live, what we do for work, whether we are successful or poor. So as we steer our lives, we may believe we are holding the wheel, yet God is standing behind us navigating and warning us to steer in the right direction, according to his plan and purpose for our lives.
What of those who don't believe in God? God is still in control yet allows people to get into all sorts of scrapes and trouble with the choice of accepting Satan as the one who navigates their lives for them.
Is it God's plan for people to be murdered? Or killed in vehicle and plane accidents? Yes, often God allows disasters to befall man because of man's sin.
What choices do I have to make?
Firstly, believe in God and his love for you.
Believe in Jesus Christ who died to save your sins. Jesus conquered death and rose again victorious. He took away the sting of death.
Believing in God gives God direct control of our lives and our destiny
And he will still allow you choices, yet if you are humble and allow him to control your thinking every day, then that destiny will become as God has originally purposed for you.
God chose you to be born. He chose you to live, lavishing his love upon you, and he will lift you up to sit on the right side of Him when he so fulfills the purpose of your life on earth. Our life is not destined to be the only life we know. It is but a stepping stone to eternal life with God himself in his beautiful heavenly mansion, with streets paved with gold, where we will worship the Lord, forever and beyond even then.
Will you do that?
K. S White
6/12/04
Was it our choice to be born?
When did we realise we were born? During our first memories? More likely,when someone, whether our parents or a teacher made us realise the process of our birth into life and our life for the future and how our life up until that age of realisation is documented either by stories, photos, certificates etc.
Our realisation that somehow we had started living in our world began when it became a fascination of how we could then live in it. Planning for our future through education and relationships; finding out what drives us, whether it be money, love, career, attention, fame or reputation.
If it wasn't our choice to be born, is it really our choice to live, and how we live?
Yes, and no.
Is it our choice whether to continue living or to die? Yes.
Is it our choice when we die? Yes and no.
Obviously we choose our time to die if we want to commit suicide, but then sometimes that may not work, and chances happen that people survive their attempts.
Does this mean God is in ultimate control, even if we think we may take our own life at the time we choose?
Yes.
God allows us to choose our paths in life, who we develop relationships with, where we live, what we do for work, whether we are successful or poor. So as we steer our lives, we may believe we are holding the wheel, yet God is standing behind us navigating and warning us to steer in the right direction, according to his plan and purpose for our lives.
What of those who don't believe in God? God is still in control yet allows people to get into all sorts of scrapes and trouble with the choice of accepting Satan as the one who navigates their lives for them.
Is it God's plan for people to be murdered? Or killed in vehicle and plane accidents? Yes, often God allows disasters to befall man because of man's sin.
What choices do I have to make?
Firstly, believe in God and his love for you.
Believe in Jesus Christ who died to save your sins. Jesus conquered death and rose again victorious. He took away the sting of death.
Believing in God gives God direct control of our lives and our destiny
And he will still allow you choices, yet if you are humble and allow him to control your thinking every day, then that destiny will become as God has originally purposed for you.
God chose you to be born. He chose you to live, lavishing his love upon you, and he will lift you up to sit on the right side of Him when he so fulfills the purpose of your life on earth. Our life is not destined to be the only life we know. It is but a stepping stone to eternal life with God himself in his beautiful heavenly mansion, with streets paved with gold, where we will worship the Lord, forever and beyond even then.
Will you do that?
K. S White
6/12/04
Wind is God's sculpture tool
God is in the wind.
The Wind is God's sculture tool. He likes to sculture rocks and landscapes with the wind. Consider the art of the mesas in Utah's monument valley or the angle with which a line of poplar trees lie in the fields of Belgium or how the rolling dunes of sand are shaped in the sahara.
Wind is full of matter. Of tiny particles of rock and tree debris which smash into these rocks at high speed. Time is a factor. If it occured just once, then like a drop of H2O in the ocean they would have no affect, yet over time, and continual hammering of the rocks and they become sculpted and shaped by the passing winds. Sand dunes roll over the lands of north Africa, travelling like ripples through water. Particles are carried all over the world by the wind. If we could place a GPS tracker on a given particle and send it into the air over time we could see it travel around the world. It would settle for long periods in certain places yet will then travel again, caught in with water droplets it may eventually become embedded in the frozen ice sheets at the poles until released with the warmth of the sun once again to begin its journey anew.
The Wind is God's sculture tool. He likes to sculture rocks and landscapes with the wind. Consider the art of the mesas in Utah's monument valley or the angle with which a line of poplar trees lie in the fields of Belgium or how the rolling dunes of sand are shaped in the sahara.
Wind is full of matter. Of tiny particles of rock and tree debris which smash into these rocks at high speed. Time is a factor. If it occured just once, then like a drop of H2O in the ocean they would have no affect, yet over time, and continual hammering of the rocks and they become sculpted and shaped by the passing winds. Sand dunes roll over the lands of north Africa, travelling like ripples through water. Particles are carried all over the world by the wind. If we could place a GPS tracker on a given particle and send it into the air over time we could see it travel around the world. It would settle for long periods in certain places yet will then travel again, caught in with water droplets it may eventually become embedded in the frozen ice sheets at the poles until released with the warmth of the sun once again to begin its journey anew.
Is Linfen really to blame?
Link: www.itv.com/news & click on the "big meltdown"
Watching the reports streaming in from Antartica and the worry from the reporters and scientists regarding the speed with which the Antartic ice is melting, is it right and fair to blame China and cities like Linfen in china where coal production is at a premium, producing steel for the construction and vehicle industries?
It is like the speck and the plank syndrome. We see a speck in china's eye, ignoring the plank in our own.
Britain and Europe and the USA have all been through the process we termed the industrial revolution. While we were smogging the air with our coal and steel plants and London was doused in permanent smog, China was still a farming community with virtually no hope of finding its wealth. They watched as Britain, Europe and the USA, and it's neighbour Japan developed its toys and fashioned its wealth. China could only stand by and wonder.
Politics did not have much to do with it. It is knowledge and technology and learning.
We have now learnt. We went through the phase. Did Britain care about greenhouse gases when they were producing cars etc? Nope!
Did the USA care? Nope!
Even if they knew. Even if people were aware 100 years ago that the emissions from factories and vehicles and production were damaging the environment no one paid attention. Local environments and eco systems were damaged but no one cared. Think of the brown field sites. The toxic waste dump sites. The pollution in rivers and seas.
Now though. Now we don't produce anything as much as we used to and our factories have turned into shopping malls and our green vehicles are being produced elsewhere, we feel it is right to blame those people producing goods for our markets and our over-consumerism for the damage effecting the environment.
We blame China now, although the gases from 100 - 200 years ago have had to have landed somewhere. We produced Ozone holes, but China didn't blame us.
Guys. It is our fault. China is only producing vehicles and steel goods and other goods simply because they have a cheap labour force. It is investment from Britain, Europe and USA which is assisting China in sprouting these industries and products and are developing themselves. Yet what happens when China become developed and demand high wages and high quality products and lower emissions etc. Where will be get the goods from so we can go shopping?
Africa? Then the cycle starts all over again!!!!
No. Our hunger for consumerism is fueling the environmental damage.
Also, as God has made our planet and our environment, he is fully able to sort it out, if it means that he'll protect us, for he promised never to flood the world again.
Also, natural cycles of heating and cooling periods around the earth over time always continue.
Also, I think God has let us produce damaging effects on the planet because we can see what our sin is doing to our lives. God is allowing us to choose sin. We do have a choice. We can choose God and godly living. Not being greedy. Being content. Loving our neighbours instead of producing arms to destroy them.
Antartic Ice may melt, but God wants you to melt your heart towards him too.
Watching the reports streaming in from Antartica and the worry from the reporters and scientists regarding the speed with which the Antartic ice is melting, is it right and fair to blame China and cities like Linfen in china where coal production is at a premium, producing steel for the construction and vehicle industries?
It is like the speck and the plank syndrome. We see a speck in china's eye, ignoring the plank in our own.
Britain and Europe and the USA have all been through the process we termed the industrial revolution. While we were smogging the air with our coal and steel plants and London was doused in permanent smog, China was still a farming community with virtually no hope of finding its wealth. They watched as Britain, Europe and the USA, and it's neighbour Japan developed its toys and fashioned its wealth. China could only stand by and wonder.
Politics did not have much to do with it. It is knowledge and technology and learning.
We have now learnt. We went through the phase. Did Britain care about greenhouse gases when they were producing cars etc? Nope!
Did the USA care? Nope!
Even if they knew. Even if people were aware 100 years ago that the emissions from factories and vehicles and production were damaging the environment no one paid attention. Local environments and eco systems were damaged but no one cared. Think of the brown field sites. The toxic waste dump sites. The pollution in rivers and seas.
Now though. Now we don't produce anything as much as we used to and our factories have turned into shopping malls and our green vehicles are being produced elsewhere, we feel it is right to blame those people producing goods for our markets and our over-consumerism for the damage effecting the environment.
We blame China now, although the gases from 100 - 200 years ago have had to have landed somewhere. We produced Ozone holes, but China didn't blame us.
Guys. It is our fault. China is only producing vehicles and steel goods and other goods simply because they have a cheap labour force. It is investment from Britain, Europe and USA which is assisting China in sprouting these industries and products and are developing themselves. Yet what happens when China become developed and demand high wages and high quality products and lower emissions etc. Where will be get the goods from so we can go shopping?
Africa? Then the cycle starts all over again!!!!
No. Our hunger for consumerism is fueling the environmental damage.
Also, as God has made our planet and our environment, he is fully able to sort it out, if it means that he'll protect us, for he promised never to flood the world again.
Also, natural cycles of heating and cooling periods around the earth over time always continue.
Also, I think God has let us produce damaging effects on the planet because we can see what our sin is doing to our lives. God is allowing us to choose sin. We do have a choice. We can choose God and godly living. Not being greedy. Being content. Loving our neighbours instead of producing arms to destroy them.
Antartic Ice may melt, but God wants you to melt your heart towards him too.
Ice
I was reading an article this week. Don't ask me where from as I don't name sources, (apart from the fact I can't remember!). It concerned our body's ability to cope with the differing climates throughout the world. Medical boffins agree that our bodies are best suited for warm, temperate climates, rather than the cold ice and snow.
There are only a few differences (apparently) in degrees between what is good for us and what is not. Look at the following:
24C - top range of comfort
21C - recommended living room temperature
Less than 20C - death risk begins
18C - recommended bedroom temperature
16C - resistance to respiratory diseases weakened
12C - more than two hours at this temperature raises blood pressure and increases heart attack and stroke risk
5C - Significant risk of hypothermia
This is why in winter so many elderly and poorly people suffer so much. Checking the weather around the world today indicates some great temperature extremes in just the northern hemisphere. Winnipeg - 18C, Chicago -4C, San Diego +25C. Moscow +2C, Kiev -4C, Athens +21C.
What happens to the elderly in these towns? Our UK govt reports that they won't increase the fuel allowance for the elderly this year despite rapidly rising fuel costs, which then eat further into their meagre pensions, forcing some to withgo food just to keep a little warm.
God made us and created us to inhabit the Garden of Eden, a warm, temperate place, where no rain fell, yet was watered out of springs from the beneath the earth.
When sin entered the world and man was forced out from the Garden of Eden, and as sin grew exponentially, the came the first rains (Genesis 6) and also began to form the ice and the permafrost in the polar regions. I believe that Ice was not intended to be present on the earth. Imagine there being no cold climate, no frost to scrape away from our windscreens, no snow to clear from our paths, no skiing to watch or take part in. Our bodies cannot survive for long in the cold, yet there are those who dwell in the cold lands, the eskimos, for example, and the odd alpine skier!
Next time you shovel snow off your path, ask yourself, did God ever intend me to do this? It is clear the power of the effect of sin on our world.
I'll see you after I've moved to the mediterranean!
There are only a few differences (apparently) in degrees between what is good for us and what is not. Look at the following:
24C - top range of comfort
21C - recommended living room temperature
Less than 20C - death risk begins
18C - recommended bedroom temperature
16C - resistance to respiratory diseases weakened
12C - more than two hours at this temperature raises blood pressure and increases heart attack and stroke risk
5C - Significant risk of hypothermia
This is why in winter so many elderly and poorly people suffer so much. Checking the weather around the world today indicates some great temperature extremes in just the northern hemisphere. Winnipeg - 18C, Chicago -4C, San Diego +25C. Moscow +2C, Kiev -4C, Athens +21C.
What happens to the elderly in these towns? Our UK govt reports that they won't increase the fuel allowance for the elderly this year despite rapidly rising fuel costs, which then eat further into their meagre pensions, forcing some to withgo food just to keep a little warm.
God made us and created us to inhabit the Garden of Eden, a warm, temperate place, where no rain fell, yet was watered out of springs from the beneath the earth.
When sin entered the world and man was forced out from the Garden of Eden, and as sin grew exponentially, the came the first rains (Genesis 6) and also began to form the ice and the permafrost in the polar regions. I believe that Ice was not intended to be present on the earth. Imagine there being no cold climate, no frost to scrape away from our windscreens, no snow to clear from our paths, no skiing to watch or take part in. Our bodies cannot survive for long in the cold, yet there are those who dwell in the cold lands, the eskimos, for example, and the odd alpine skier!
Next time you shovel snow off your path, ask yourself, did God ever intend me to do this? It is clear the power of the effect of sin on our world.
I'll see you after I've moved to the mediterranean!
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