GOING GREEN FOR GOD ~ MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Meeting & Discussing with Leaders in the White House

This past week I got an interesting phone call. I got a call to meet in Washington D.C. in our nations capital at the White House. I ended up flying to D.C. on Wed for a Thursday 1pm meeting at the White House. I had a meeting with the Social Action and Faith Based Initiative Departments to discuss how to mobilize 5 million Americans and faith based communities to GO GREEN, or better care for our environment. (find out more at: www.GodsGreenAmerica.com) They asked me to be the youth and pop culture spokesperson to create a strategy and campaign to educate and empower the next best generation to care for God’s creation.

HOPE ~ THERE WERE OBAMA PICTURES EVERYWHERE!

To be honest with you, I found it a surprise that I would receive this call and be privileged to meet with our nations leaders on this subject matter. The more I prayed and thought about it, I realized it was God’s providence and assignment to take on this issue of “Creation Care” and mobilize this current generation to take up the responsibility given to us from the beginning of time, to tend to the garden and steward the earth. I believe that “creation care” is an Biblical issue that all people of faith can agree upon, converse and work together to make happen. For many in the liberal left or the conservative right, there has not been an issue of faith that we could take responsibility together without being divided. I believe “going green for God” is at the root issue about promoting a culture of LIFE in this nation and our generation. We have to start from here…

The Bible says in, Genesis 2:15 – The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. In other words, part of God’s original purpose and assignment for humankind was for us to take care of the earth and be good stewards of its resources. Sadly, it seems that we as human beings have not cared for God’s creation rather we have consumed it and in many ways destroyed it.

Whether that is through: 1) Alteration of Earths Energy Exchange (Global Warming, Depletion of the Ozone Shield) 2) Soil and Land Degredation (Destroying our agriculture through injection of pesiticides/chemicals) 3) Consumption, Waste and Ecosystem Dysfunction (garbage, waste & oil consumption) 4) Land Conversion and Habitat Destruction (turning more natural land into commercial estates for agribusiness) 5) Species Extinctions (the killing and extinction of more animals each year) 6) Global Toxification (chemical and oil spills, vehicle pollution) 7) Human and Cultural Abuse (degredation and extinction of cultures that have lived peaceably on natural land for centuries) etc. We can see clearly that as a human race we have not taken care of the earth as we should, rather the earth is quickly becoming a wasteland due to our neglect of paying attention to its needs.

Recently, I watched a story on youtube.com of a university student (Ben Lowe) who wrote a book called “Green Revolution” inspiring this next best generation to take a stand and care for God’s creation. What I loved about this short video clip, was how it showed others in simple practical ways how one person can care for the environment God’s way. Ben is a university student in Chicago IL, he lives with three other roommates who all choose to live a GREEN lifestyle. In the video some practical things they do to live environmentally responsible lives were…

• Taking short 5 minute showers to conserve water
• Making sure to not use plastic bags when shopping, but reusable shopping bags
• Using less voltage fluorescent light bulbs to conserve energy
• Riding a bike or roller-blade to school instead of driving cars & causing vehicle pollution
• Eating tofu and organic foods as opposed to fast food and preserved
• 10 other ideas to practically GO GREEN: 1) Save Energy 2) Save Water 3)Use Less Gas 4) Eat Smart 5)Skip Bottled Water 6) Think Before You Buy 7) Borrow Instead of Buying 8) Buy Smart 9) Keep Electronics Out of the Trash 10) Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies

God cares about His creation. He asked Noah to put 2 of each the animals He created into the Ark to preserve His creation from the great flood. Why? Cause God cares about His creation and gave us the charge to care for it. It is our purpose and calling as humans to steward and look after the created order. It’s about promoting a culture of life. If we care for the land, we will care for a plant, if we care for a plant, we will care for a tree, if we care for a tree, we will care about the air we breathe, if we care about the air we breathe, we will care about the animals who breathe that air, if we care about the animals, how much more will we care for each other as human beings? How much more will we care for the unborn child, the starving orphan or the person facing injustice in this world? Life is precious at every level, lets promote a culture of life by caring for our environment and ultimately creating a more healthy, sustainable and safe environment for our families and future generations to live in as an expression of our love for God and one another!

For morn info on going GREEN for God: www.flourishonline.org, www.renewingcreation.org, www.GodsGreenAmerica.com

Blessings,
JMA