Unbiblical View Of Nature, Genesis 2:15

I recently vacationed at Ocean Shores, an ocean beach in Washington State. I was walking Buddy in the back of our hotel when he refused to move. It turned out that the grass was full of some sort of stickle burrs. I carried him back to our room and used a pair of tweezers to pull the thorns out of his paw pads. He didn’t squeal once and remained still while I pulled the thorns out of his paws. What really upset me was that there were no warning signs not to walk your dog on the grass. I subsequently warned every dog owner I saw about the bad lawns.

This is going to be a little controversial but why blog if everything I say is predictably boring?

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”–Genesis 2:15

One of the very first jobs God gave Adam and Eve was to tend and care for their natural environment which was perfect. The Fall and separation of humankind from God, the source of life, had not yet occurred. Yet, nature required tending.

Nature was never created, nor intended, to be a HANDS OFF project.

God intended for us to care for the planet. Not to let it “go natural”.

If a perfect environment, an Eden, required maintenance to keep it healthy, why would a fallen world not require EVEN MORE work to keep it functioning properly?

Years ago I heard about a piece of property that a nature conservancy group purchased to let it go natural and untouched. It was “hands off” to humanity. What occurred is that the undergrowth went wild and choked off the plants that the forest needed to keep it healthy. The forest began to die.

In the Seattle area our air has been unhealthy for over two weeks because of the wild fires burning in our state and the air being blown down southward from the wildfires in Canada. Dead wood and debris was allowed to accumulate in our forests to create the perfect massive acreage of kindling for potential fires.

I’ve also heard in the past about how the native Americans used to tend our forests to keep them healthy. They did not consider the forests “Hands Off” territory but ensured that they were well maintained. Sadly, as they were forced into reservations, their maintenance of the forests ended.

My main point is, and will always underline all that I blog about on this site, that every single problem we face can be traced back to a rejection or neglect of some Biblical command or principle.

ALWAYS.

God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend. And please stay safe.

PS. I realize I’ve made some claims about what I’ve heard or read in the past, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time finding the material to document this blog post for you. I really want to get to bed on time tonight!

Are You A Fake Christian? Part 1, 1 John 4:20-21

Most of us dog owners love to dress up our dogs. Sometimes it’s gratuitous, like Buddy’s Hawaiian shirt, or at times, like the above, it’s necessary to keep him warm or dry in inclement weather conditions. Buddy tolerates the coats and neck scarves but hates to wear anything on his head.

It’s sad when people claim to be Christians but really aren’t. They give God a bad name. It’s even sadder when the person believes they know Christ but don’t. They are presenting a false image to the public, wearing fake clothing.

Now I cannot look into a person’s heart and know if they are saved or not–only God truly knows who His sheep are and will reveal them on Judgment Day, when He separates His sheep from the goats (Matthew 13:25-30). But it deeply grieves me when someone claims to know Christ but puts down and criticizes their brothers and sisters, particularly publicly to nonbelievers and doubters.

“If someone says, ‘I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.'”–1 John 4:20-21

Many times recently I’ve heard people who claim to know Christ say they don’t like to go to church or hang around other Christians because they aren’t sophisticated enough, or educated enough, or just enough of something or other. They don’t meet this particular person’s standards.

“Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”–Apostle Paul, Romans 12:16

Apparently, it escapes their notice that they don’t have a right to judge their brothers and sisters because NO ONE measures up to God’s standards. As Christians, we are only acceptable to God because Christ died for our sins and attributes His righteousness to us. Otherwise, this holy God could not tolerate the presence of unholy people. That means all of us.

Not only that, but everything we have and are as persons is a gift from God: our talent, our IQ, our physical abilities, our level of beauty, is from God. We cannot brag about being smarter than others, because God is the one who gave us our intelligence. We cannot brag about being more handsome or beautiful than someone else, because our bodies were designed by God. Probably most people would like to be smarter or have more talent or skill, but everyone was designed to please God and serve His purpose. If anyone has a right to brag or put someone down, it’s God: our perfectly holy, omniscient and omnipotent God could easily squash any of us in a few words, but He doesn’t. He encourages, uplifts, heals, exhorts and strengthens us instead.

Rather than shun us, He chose to love and find a way to fellowship with unholy and far less intelligent and talented and creative people than He is.

Who invented color? Or thought up the concepts of rocks, grass, trees, and dirt? Or birds and fish and feathers and scales and skin? Who designed dinosaurs and worms and bacteria? Who flung the stars and planets across the galaxy and spun gold in the depths of the earth? Who invented air and water (the most miraculous of substances) and wove DNA?

There really is no more humbling philosophy than Christianity, because no one earns their way to Heaven by being good enough or smart enough or wise enough (Gnosticism). We all enter the same way, regardless of race, age, sex, health, beauty, talent or experience: By humbling our pride, acknowledging that we are sinners and require God’s forgiveness and guidance to understand right from wrong. We all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”–Jesus, John 13:34-35

“There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes…”–Proverbs 6:16-17a

Listed #1 as the thing that God hates (strong word) is haughtiness. Thinking you’re better than someone else, instead of being humble and serving others.

Even Jesus washed the dirty feet of His disciples. The great God stooped down and washed the feet of his quarreling, imperfect followers (John 13:4-16).

Do you love your fellow believers in Christ? If not, please ask yourself why.

We love you. Dawn and Buddy

PS. No apologies for creating blog titles designed to get your attention!