Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Cannot hack into what has been forgiven!

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”  Hebrews 8: 12

I spent the morning walk listening to an Alistair Begg sermon on atonement. That's a
great way to grow while exercising! In going through the many aspects of what Christ
Jesus accomplished in the atonement of sin, Mr. Begg spoke of a computer analogy that
really hit home for me.

I do not know about you, but every so often I recall some of the downright horrible and
ridiculous things I did as a younger person. I could use the true excuse that I was simply
twenty-one going on fourteen, but the fact remains that some of the things I remember
both horrify me and sadden me. While I would be embarrassed to really go into detail
about many of these, I do find myself, at these times, reminding God that I am really
sorry to have acted in these ways; in a sense, I re-ask for His forgiveness. 

It has become common knowledge that once something is typed and saved on a computer,
all of the deleting one does really never truly expunges these files completely from that
computer. Somebody, somewhere has the geeek skills to retrieve things that we may
mistakenly think have been erased. It calls, certainly, for some forethought before doing
certain tasks and, certainly, some real contemplation before hitting 'send' or 'save!'

Well, I'm not going to go very far in comparing our Holy God to a computer, but, certainly,
being an all-knowing God, He would have and does have the ability to know what we are
thinking, saying, even typing. He also knows our every sin which, without the righteousness
of Christ, would still count against us. Yet, and here's the amazing part, with the
atoning sacrifice of Jesus, God could very well say, when we go to Him and apologize
for past sin, "I do not have any record of that sin. I have forgiven and forgotten that and
all other sins because they have been washed clean by the very blood of my beloved
son, Jesus."

That's atonement. The price, cost and debt has already been paid by He who become
sin despite being totally without sin so that we could be forgiven, completely, for
the sins we have, are and will commit. No hacker could retrieve these nasty files,
even Al Gore would have no chance and he, after all, invented the internet. The
point is that though we remember things that we have done we'd like to take back
and erase, God, in His infinite grace, through the precious spotless lamb, does not
remember them, forever!

Praise God!

Monday, April 28, 2014

The final piece of the puzzle!

13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. 14The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145: 13-14

There's something very compelling about a jigsaw puzzle. They are great for that rainy day
during a beach vacation. They can be shared work; the more the merrier when it comes to
doing the many-pieced ones. I've seen folks use some sort of gluing process to turn
completed puzzles into works of art... neat! 

Yet... and this is one very nasty scenario... it's bad when you get to, or near to, the end of
a long process of sorting, completing that border, meticulously working out each separate
bit of the image.. to find that a piece is missing. Well that creates the feeling of a very long waste of time and effort. It's a lot like shuffling and dealing from a deck of cards only to find 
that there are only 51 cards!

Well we could liken our lives to a jigsaw puzzle. There are a whole bunch of experiences,
people, accomplishments, set-backs... I could go on... that go into the image of you, as a 
puzzle. Yet, and this is often sadly the case, when one looks at the totality of a life, very
often there is that one, final piece not found. It may not be a very much larger piece or
oddly-shaped piece; yet, it comes up missing.

Even of the person pictured in this puzzle is highly motivated, highly educated, wonderfully
personable, very actively engaged in a myriad of activities, a pillar of his community,
a regular church attendee.... again, I could go on, without that one, final, most important
piece of the puzzle, one might just as well put all the other pieces away because the
puzzle is incomplete! Lacks meaning, lacks fulfillment, lacks purpose, lacks a reason for
being, lacks hope....

That final piece is shaped like the living God of creation. It isn't for sale. It isn't
earn-able, it isn't unapproachable, it isn't for only a few.

He reaches out and calls His own. Sometimes we must get very quiet and listen.

Praise God!


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Don't let "life after death" blind you to "life before death!"

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...
Rev: 21

My latest read is Surprised by HOPE, a book by N. T. Wright. I was smart enough to
buy this book for a friend who is a whole lot smarter than I because it isn't an easy read.
So I hesitate, having written that, to paraphrase what this splendid author is saying; however, here goes.

He emphasizes that the whole history of creation changed with the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, ushering in, as he puts it, the resurrection of all creation. So the wish for the
future is not limited to God's creation of man being saved but the entirety of God's
creation being changed into what was its original purpose.

Now, out of that, I want to touch on two items that relate to the title of this blog. In our
emphasis on the fallen nature of this world, a fact that isn't debatable, we may become
so entrenched on living in the hope of our life after death that we mentally "throw away"
our life here. Regardless of what ones hears about us not being of this world, we do, in
fact, reside in the world that God created and called very good.

One aspect of this, it seems to me, is simply in our lack of appreciation for what beauty
exists on this earth. if we are marching toward our eventual "trip" to heaven and
the loosing of the binds that tie us to this planet, we can easily miss glorifying the
amazement of this place. We can become numb, blinded to the glory shown in the very
environment we inhabit. It is a loss, in my opinion, just refusing to notice, but it
also has to put a roadblock in front of our stewardship of the creation. If we are about
to leave, 'does it really matter what we do to this place?' 

Secondly, in our focus on getting out of here, we can miss out on making a real
difference in the lives of those around us, both our Christian  brothers and sisters,
as well as all with whom we come into contact. Our smallest positive donation to this
world is a reflection of the God we adore and expresses or appreciation and
our desire to glorify God. If, as the author appears to be suggesting, this earth
will be transformed into the new earth, alongside of the new heaven and in the
presence of God, we are simply depositing into the account of the eventual new
creation, the resurrection of God's entire creation.

Take off those nasty blinders, won't you... there's work to be done. There's a God
to glorify!

Praise Him!


Friday, April 25, 2014

We're only as strong as our weaknesses

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  2 Corinth. 9

Well, as some of you might know, I am a retired English teacher of many years. As I get
further away from the classroom, I am less bothered by poor English usage and form.
Now, being a practicing Christian, thanks to a loving God who sought me, I find the hairs
on my neck standing up when I hear someone say, "Well God promised that He would
never give me more than I can handle."

No He didn't! That's a close approximation to a scripture that talks about God's protection
against tempting His creatures. It only stands to reason that if our God denied Paul's
request that his 'thorn' be taken away, actually three requests, and if even Christ Jesus
was denied having the cup removed that faced Him as He prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane, He will probably deny us at times when we face adversity.

Adversity is part of life, and since God is in complete control of our life's path, that
adversity is purposely, if painfully, placed. Why? Well without weakness in facing some of
the things that this life throws at us, why would we even need a God? Being of the
mind that we are quite capable of handling whatever might occur brings pride and
self-sufficiency. Besides being totally opposed to the relationship God wants with us,
it opens that squeaking, nasty doorway to our arch enemy, Satan, himself. He wills
us to pride, to believe that we are not in need of the grace of God.

Our hardest times certainly don't measure up to the beatings, stoning, death threats
and numerous other maladies that faced Paul in his ministry. Yet even then, God saw
fit to add a thorn to Paul's life. A thorn of humility that Paul eventually saw as a means
to steadfastness and strength from God.

Weakness is strength when our lives turn to the encompassing grace of God almighty.
He wants our dependence. He wants our trust. He will answer by being there with us
to guide and strengthen us as we, inevitably, face the challenges this life will bring.

Jesus, in so many ways, turned this world upside down. We, in our weakness,
can find glorious strength in a Holy, Loving God!

Praise Him!


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Mensa... Densa... To See the Face of God

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12). 

Spent some time last evening in Mens' Bible Study watching and discussing a rather
old video with R. C. Sproul wherein he discussed the overlying goal of every Christian...
to see the very face of the living God.

God warns, early on, that anyone seeing His holy countenance will die. While there are
glimpses, they always are unclear in nature. What IS clear is an eventual resurrected
existence with the very God of creation, when, like Adam and Eve before the fall, God's
creation, man, will once again live with God.

I used to take little, simple Mensa puzzles and give them, as a treat for extra credit, to
my middle school students. Since I was a language arts teacher, they normally centered
around language skills. I would tell the kids that I was a member of the Densa Society...
some of them readily agreed. 

So what will be the advantage of those with a somewhat higher I.Q. when they finally
come to that wonderful, magical moment when they can gaze upon God, himself. I'm
going to guess that I.Q. won't amount to a hill of beans advantage at that glorious
moment. I'm going to guess, again, that "speechless" will be the key word describing
all of us when we find ourselves on our knees full of unimaginable joy and fulfillment.
That missing piece that has been absent from our lives here on earth during both
the good and the bad times will finally be added, put in place. So even if we
will be unable to articulate much, we will have a feeling of finality of purpose that
has been missing.

To see the face of the loving majestic God of all creation and to reach out and
hold the hand of Jesus.... completeness, happiness, fulfillment, joy!

Praise God!


Monday, April 21, 2014

Ambigiuous...I think not!

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Matt 7: 13


Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14: 6

Well I hope you enjoyed celebrating the glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus. He HAS
risen and what that means for mankind, itself, is impossible to underestimate....unless...

There are folks out there who simply like choices. They want there to be an A,B and C door
that allows them a say in what is to happen. After all, it's their life, right? Well, I'm not so
sure, but that was handled in a previous blog. People want to be the captain of the ship, and
this may, unfortunately, include their perception of how they may find God. 

The Bible, Jesus, himself and God through His word have eliminated doors of choice. They
have made it clear that good people of other religions, of other beliefs or simply people who
are out there searching for their soul's destination really have but one choice when it
comes to the issue of their soul reaching God. Jesus.

That may seem a bit haughty, a bit limited, a bit stand-offish....okay. The choice of
following Jesus becomes more commonly known with every day. The gospel message
is available to people, everywhere, in some fashion. Whether one sides with the issues
of election and predestination or whether one sees God as reaching out to His whole
creation, the end route remains the same...acceptance, belief and trust in Jesus Christ,
the spotless lamb of God, the redeemer and our Savior. 

His arms are outstretched. There's plenty of room at the foot of the cross. He is strong enough and glorious enough to handle all concerns, fears, problems.. even sins. He
desires to be Savior, Lord and King.

What better time to find Him from your knees. He isn't hidden behind any door. He
is our accessible, grace-filled sovereign Lord. Speak to Him, today.

Praise God! 

Friday, April 18, 2014

What counts and what doesn't

Because the sinless savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Wouldn't be much of a stretch to suggest that these three days, the Friday of Christ's
death on the cross to Easter Sunday with the most important event in the history of mankind, the resurrection, are so very important.

So with that in mind, what is important and what not in the whole justification and
salvation of those belonging to Christ Jesus? As hard as it is for some to grasp and
understand, Christ, not we, achieved atonement for us; it IS by grace alone and through
faith in Jesus that we may, one day, stand before a Holy God and be invited in as a
son or daughter. We didn't do anything deserving, we didn't accomplish anything that
would merit being saved, we haven't done or said anything that warrants the greatest
gift ever given.

So what doesn't count? (in no particular order)....  the size of your bank account, the
latest credit rating, number of college degrees, notches on your belt, friends. the square
footage of your home, number and quality of automobiles you own, organizations to
which you belong, annual salary, number of hits on twitter, Facebook, etc. Size of
your plasma TV, amount you tithe, how you dress for church, where you sit in church,
favorite sports team and its success, your I.Q., amount of giving to charity, places you
have vacationed, body fitness, health status, good deeds you have done, kindness
you have shown, how you are perceived by others, books that you have read....

Obviously I could go on and on. the key, here, is that there simply isn't anything that
we can "bring to the table" when it comes to our own justification. 

So what does count? I'll start with something related to the above. We simply
have to recognize our own personal need for a savior. Nothing gets done until we
take to our knees and understand that we can't really control anything related to
God's willingness to accept us. We are unclean and sinful! Without Christ our future
is dim. We need to love God and others, the crux of Jesus statement about the
most important commands. We need to do this without expectation of any
related rewards, solely in appreciation and gratitude for what has been given us.
We need to forgive others because, yep, we have been forgiven! We need to be
ever aware of the darkness of Satan and his desire to heighten our pride and head
us in the horrible direction of rejecting God. 

It is a happy and blessed Easter because Christ has risen, defeating death, the devil
and granting to those who he tends, the gift of everlasting life in the presence of a
glorious sovereign God!

Happy Easter, everyone!!!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

He was born to die!

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are                        healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53: 5-6

That's powerful prophetic scripture! Alistair Begg, in What Angels Wish They Knew
points out many interesting and thought-provoking aspects of the death of Christ.
He mentions the three hours of darkness that spread over the land in the mid-afternoon;
quite a contrast to the bright light that ushered in the glorious birth of the child Jesus.

Hymn words:

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut the glories in,
When God the mighty maker dies
For man the creature's sin.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God"  2 Cor. 5:21

There are many confused nihilists in this world that would suggest that we are born, ____
happens, and then we die. Jesus, as fully God and fully man, came to this world 
in a total act of sacrifice and walked steadily toward a brutal death upon a cross. He, of
course, by necessity, needed to be both God and man, as chief priest and as the second
Adam to fulfill God's glorious grace-filled plan for redemption of those who would recognize
their need for a spotless redeemer. 

Yes, He came here to die. Along the way He taught the gospel of good news, performed
countless miracles, reached out to the sick with healing and succumbed to most
brutal, unfair treatment with unbelievable grace and class. His was on a mission for His
Father, complete and noble willingness to do what would bring glory and provide
for His sheep, who He knew from before the beginning of time.

They were dark moments done for dark people. He was the light of the world come down
to provide a means. He remains the light of the world, a light shining brightly in the
hearts of those who love Him.

I love Him! Praise His glorious name.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Sorry...I just cannot call it Good Friday!

The etymology of the term "good" in the context of Good Friday is contested. Some sources claim it is from the senses pious, holy of the word "good", while others contend that it is a corruption of "God Friday".

According to Wikipedia, Good Friday has also been known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday and God Friday. Personally, I'd prefer any of those terms to the one celebrated
mostly by Christians this coming Friday.

 I can certainly understand "good' in association with the events leading up to the
crucifixion of Christ Jesus. There is without question good that resulted from this sacrifice:
the potential salvation for those who would believe in and trust our Lord, in fact, the only
possible way to a lasting relationship with our Holy God, the unbelievable strength and
servitude that allowed Jesus to march to a horrible series of events culminating in His
death, the fulfillment of prophesy and the law and the presentation of the new
covenant between God and those who have been saved by the very blood shed on Calvary.
The very moment of victory over death and over satan would have to be labeled as
good.

Yet, I just cannot wrap my heart around calling what happened to Jesus in all the events
that led up to His death, from even before His arrest to His last most memorable words,
"good." I know that these events were planned even before the beginning of creation,
that they were understood as necessary for the eventual salvation of some and the
judgement of all. I know that the culmination of these events and the Resurrection
resulted in Christ Jesus being the King of all creation, being adored and honored by God
the Father as King of Heaven and Earth. I know the necessity of these events that led
to the Holy Spirit in-dwelling all those in Christ. Yet, I don't know how to get past the
humiliation, the suffering, the anxiety, the pain, the loneliness... you get the picture.

Yes, I will be there in church this Sunday praising God for the Resurrection that
brings the Easter celebration. I will be mindful of the great sacrifice that led to my
sinful soul being reunited with God, undeserved totally on my part, by grace and faith
alone. I will sing the hymns, take the bread and the juice and thank God in my heart for
what He has done.

And yet, in my heart of hearts, deep within my soul, I will mourn for what happened to
my beloved Jesus Christ, totally undeserving of what was asked due to my sin.

How I love you, Jesus. I am so very sorry!










Monday, April 14, 2014

To love Him is to know Him

"Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days
that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."  Psalm 139: 16

Heaven came down to earth, and earth perceived it not. Let God be praised, those days 
are over, yet even now what we know of Jesus is small compared to what He knows of
us.  (Taken from Morning and Evening devotionals by Charles Spurgeon, revised by
Alistair Begg)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...  Psalm 139

Okay, I will have to admit that the playing field is not level, here. We are starting at
a glorious disadvantage because Christ Jesus has known us... forever. We know, also,
that His being God allows Him to be omniscient right down to our every thought before
it is even spoken. 

Yet this is not a roadblock to a great desire to know Christ Jesus as thoroughly as we
can possibly know Him. It seems obvious, doesn't it, that we would strive to be aware
of Him in every way; yet, I have to admit that even in praising Him and glorifying
Him in my heart, I have been rather lazy when it comes to just getting down to
learning about Him in a useful way. In my case I cannot blame being busy, forgetful
or any other lame excuse...I just haven't put in the work. Yet, I really want to.

There are a myriad of great books available on Jesus. I will share just a couple that
I found helpful for starters:  Jesus- The Greatest Life of All by Charles Swindoll, More
Than a Carpenter by Josh Mcdowell, The Man Christ Jesus by Robert J Morgan,
Speaking of Jesus, by J Mack Stiles. Those are just the ones that I have had the privilege
to read through recently.

Obviously, The Holy Bible provides a look at our savior through His words, actions and
the words of those who shared His ministry here on earth. I know that even the gospels
and new testament books couldn't possibly exhaust the glory that is our Christ, but what
a wonderful resource they are!

So what are we waiting for? While we cannot match His supreme knowledge of ourselves,
we can earnestly work at knowing more about the God-man who came down to
this earth to provide the one possible means for we sinners to be reconciled to God,
and that way was so very costly, a lonely death like none other... hanging on a cross.

We love Him. We need to know Him! It's a natural subject matter!

Praise God!



Friday, April 11, 2014

Humble Pie...We are the clay!

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

Pride is one very difficult thing to swallow. It has been called the source of all sin; it
certainly gets in the way of perceiving God correctly. A lot of folks want their turn
at the potter's wheel when it comes to fashioning God in the way they wish Him to 
be. They pick and choose attributes that fit their own perception of what their God
ought be like. "Well, my God is a God of _____."  How could your God allow that
to happen?" Where was God when this or that crisis occurred?"

The tough-to-swallow news is that "we" are the clay. We are part of a creation
spoken into existence by the almighty God. He is the artist, the greatest creator of
them all. We are the material He chose to fashion into human beings created in the
image of God with certain characteristics that reflect the very different being
called God.

For us to attempt to limit or to define Him as some sort of prerequisite to our
willingness to "accept" or "believe" in Him is very dangerous. We have a hard time
accepting ourselves as raw material, if you will. We want to be the master of our
existence and we are very willing to nudge a God in that fits our conception of what
he ought to do and be like. 

Accepting the gospel of salvation requires us to see our vast limitations. To make
any sort of commitment to Jesus, we have to see ourselves as the sinners we are;
we have to realize our need to be lifted up and changed by the presence of God in
our lives. We have to call on Him to continue to mold us from what we have been
to what only Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God can make us be.

Once one sees the truth in the mirror, or at least perceives a bit of that reality,
one can go on to submit to the glory and grace of God. He is the King of the
universe, worthy of our worship and praise! He is God, not the God we think He
ought to be, but the artist who created all there was, is or ever will be.

Praise Him!




Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The REAL Domino Theory

Once again, I find myself reading Alistair Begg; this time his book entitled What Angels
Wish they Knew has my attention. If you have never read Alistair or listened to one
of his sermons or radio shows, you are in for a spiritual treat! 

In the book he mentions Aquinas's "Five Ways," five arguments suggesting that a
belief in God is consistent with the world as we know it. One of the ways talks about the
fact that everywhere in this world things are moving.

Let me digress a moment and mention the Domino Theory, as it pertains to my own
life story. I was of the age of conscription right in the middle of the Vietnam war. I'll
end the suspense by saying that circumstances led to my not being a participant. The
reason behind our involvement in that conflict was the perception held by some that
losing Vietnam to communism would simply begin or continue the fall of other nations,
almost like dominoes falling, one after another. After a grotesque number of deaths and
casualties, we left, defeated, and the whole theory proved to be unsubstantiated.

As Aquinas states, everything in this world is in motion. Electrons revolving about the
cell nuclei, rivers and streams, the tides and winds, our planet's rotation, the solar system
and galactic movement... I could go on and on.

We have all probably set up or at least witnessed a long long line of dominoes standing
upright at just the right spacing to allow for a total avalanche once the very first domino
is set in motion. 

Here's the point. Without someone to begin that first nudge of domino number one, there
is no 'cool' domino destruction. They don't just decide, on their own, to self destruct, even if
there are a bunch of folks waiting for it to happen....

You can make the jump here. Without someone, a very powerful, omnipotent someone to
begin all of the movement we see around us in this fascinating universe, well... nothing would
be moving. 

Now I've come along way in my ability to believe, by faith, in the God I love. But I will go
ahead and admit that ideas like this make me smile. He's there. You and I know it and
nothing could be more fundamentally important to our souls' well-being.

Praise God!  (Alistair, too!)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Macular degeneration of the soul

"Open your eyes and the whole world is full of God!"  Jacob Bohme

It's been a long cold winter for a lot of folks! Even here in Northern Texas the weather
was a lot colder than the previous winters I have spent here. But now, as things warm
a bit, one can see the miracle of spring. Things, here, are actually, even if briefly, green
and lush looking. It's very nice to see the changes!

Seeing is the key, here. For whatever the reason, there are many people who simply
put on the blinders and fail to see the absolute positive proof that God exists and shows
Himself, abundantly, through His creation. One needs do nothing more than walk outside
and listen to the sounds of spring, look at the sights of spring and breathe in the new
smells of rebirth. 

A. W. Tozer said, "We pursue God because, and only because, he has first put an urge within
us that spurs us to the pursuit." This must be the reason why so many prideful people
not only refuse to seek God but go out of their way to find excuses to not believe in Him.
I believe all of us feel deeply saddened by the fact that there are those whose energies
get tangled up by what can only be, quite frankly, Satan's handiwork. It's really not
a difficult realization that there is a omniscient, transcendent God in control of this earth
and all who inhabit it. 

It's as if people have been blinded. Pride makes many folks unable to see themselves in
any position other than in charge. They will spend much energy seeking ways to deny
that which is plainly presented for all to who would look. Maybe God has simply caused
these individuals to overlook His presence. I am of the opinion, and that is all it is, that
these folks have simply decided to be blind of their own volition. 

How sad. What a tragic loss. I for one will continue to pray that these energies may
somehow be transformed into the joy that can only come when one realizes the
glory and majesty of a loving Father God. He's right there in front of your face...
get those eyes examined...get that heart unfrozen. Time is of the essence!

Praise God!


Thursday, April 3, 2014

Every Christian should be an environmentalist!

NIV The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.
 
Psalm 115: 16

I finally ordered "Planet Earth," a BBC production with some amazing photography. It's a look, mainly, at living things in different environments around this amazing blue planet that
God has shared with us. Sometimes the emphasis on the broken nature of this world can
paint a negative picture on the creation that God, Himself, called good. This DVD series
presents proof that God, indeed, did amazing work in creating earth and the life that
literally teems upon it.

It seems to me that a conservative bent which one finds where I am currently living
sometimes lumps all environmentalists and ecologists as whacked-out, tree hugging, coal
hating fanatics. I am sure that those types of folks exist; yet, feeling that all folks who
value the environment and wish to preserve natural resources are extremists seems a
bit juvenile.

We, that means all of us who seek to worship God by praising His glorious works, must,
in the end, feel the need to be stewards of this world he created. It is totally correct to be
in awe of God and His attributes, and certainly, a look at the world he has created, even one
seen on a walk in ones backyard, ought to bring about a desire to not only praise Him but also to defend this work by doing our best to maintain its beauty and blessings. 

So, yes, we are, after all, environmentalists because we want to thank our God for what he
has done, created and shared. The picture which has become quite famous of the Earth rising
over the horizon of the moon's surface, perhaps best illustrates on a large level, how very
amazing and beautiful this Earth is. Since we live here and benefit from what God has
provided, we are called upon by scripture to be stewards of this place. It's broken, that's
our bad, but we all can make our mark on showing God how much we appreciate
and honor what he has created.

Good, indeed. Great is our creator, Lord and King!