Category Archives: climate change

Web Roundup

Some gleanings from the past month:

  • Are we heading for ecological disaster? Or is it all hype? Or perhaps there is a hidden agenda. It’s not often that dissenting voices are reported, and usually they’re written off as crackpots. That might be a little hard when they come with environmentalist pedigrees like Bjørn Lomborg and Indur M. Goklany. The Kairos Journal article “Is Economic Progress Killing Our Planet?” makes interesting reading. I’ve had a growing suspicion of the popular view for some time. It looks like there might be hard evidence to back up scepticism. Lombord has his own Web site at http://www.lomborg.com/.
  • Justin Taylor posted ‘On the Distinction between Christ’s “Passive” and “Active” Obedience‘ (Between Two Worlds, 15 May 2009). Very helpful in making the distinction clear.
  • The Soul in Cyberspace: An Interview with Gouglas Groothuis (Tim Challies, 6 May 2009) was an interesting piece that got me thinking again about the effects of technology. The quote that struck Tim forecefully, “Chistians are specially equipped to think rightly about technology,” also struck me.

The greatest crisis facing the world?

According to Terence Stamp at Live Earth, Wembley, tonight, climate change is the greatest crisis facing our world.

Sorry, Terence, it’s not. The greatest crisis facing our world right now is the prospect of the certain judgment of Almighty God. We must all give an account to him for all we have done (2 Cor 5:10), and particularly what we have done with Christ.

The jury may be out as the the reality of catastrophic climate change. It may or may not be happening. But the judgment of God is absolutely certain because God has appointed human beings to die, and after that will come judgment (Heb 9:27; Acts 17:31).

In the face of that certain and terrible reality we must do what God commands — that we repent of our sin (Acts 17:30) — all of us individually. And we must trust in Jesus Christ for our only certain salvation (John 14:6; John 3:16-21). Only then may we face the greatest crisis facing our world with confidence that it will not overwhelm us.

Live Earth Irony

How ironic that those who will proclaim the message of action to prevent climate change the loudest are also those whose generally conspicuous and consumptive lifestyle contributes to it both by their own actions and the actions of those who would seek to emulate them.

And yet these pop idols are so lie the idols of the classical and pagan worlds. No one suggested they should be paragons of virtue — holy deities. They were not bound by the lifestyles they expected of mortals. So, too, these pop idols do not practice what they preach, and to a large extent no on expects them to.

Christian preachers, though not perfect, are expected to model their message, and though redeemed they are still fallen, so sometimes do fall. Nonetheless, Christian preachers and church leaders are expected to maintain high moral and spiritual standards. They do seek to live by the message they proclaim.