“Old Literature” is an occasional series pointing to works of the past, sometimes well known, sometimes not, that have embedded in them a clear creation care message.  [Check out previous posts in the series here.] C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books are perfect subjects for this series, and have long been on my mental list.  Before I got to him, though, Dean Ohlman at Wonder of Creation blog did the job for me, with a little Isaac Watts and John Newton thrown in for good measure.  Here is his meditation on Narnia – reposted by permission:

No one knows.

The “official” estimate is 210,000 gallons per day (5,000 barrels).  This is almost certainly way too low.  Some outside experts (non-government and non-oil industry) put the rate at more like 1,050,000 gallons (25,000 barrels).  BP itself has admitted that in a worst-case scenario the rate could be more than double that pessimistic amount, or 2,520,000 gallons (60,000 barrels).

Whatever the amount, it adds up fast.  NPR has designed a Widget that I have installed to the right ———>>>

You can use the slider to adjust the rate and see what the current total would be if it were leaking at that rate.

Again, no one knows.  But what we do know is it isn’t going away.

Lord, forgive us.

[If you are reading this post on FaceBook or on Networked Blogs, you will need to come over to http://ourfathersworld.org to see the widget.]

Pastor Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing MI has posted some comments on how Christians can celebrate Earth Day “better”  over at his blog. This is a response to that post.

While I appreciate Pastor DeYoung’s sincere desire to “build a Christian foundation” (his very good image) under the concept of Earth Day, the ‘bricks’ he is using to build that foundation, most of which were purchased somewhat uncritically from Jay Richard’s Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition, could have been baked a little longer.

Here are his ‘bricks’ and my thoughts in response: Read more »

[Alarmist alert!]

About a month ago we posted a story on frogs quoting a video segment from Planet Earth that I use in my seminars in which we are told “I think we’re facing the loss of half the world’s frogs.”

Had some pushback on that one from people who are struggling with the balance between people and nature.  In this equation, frogs are kind of like insects – it might be nice to keep them around, but what’s really the big deal if we lose them?  This week’s report on endangered primates – our closest natural cousins and the cutest things in the jungle – is more bad news and its hard to think of any excuse for not being upset about this:

Of the world’s 634 primate species, 48 percent are threatened with extinction, according to the report, issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Switzerland-based group calls itself the world’s oldest global environmental organization. Read more »

Flourish Online Magazine has been running a feature celebrating the 30th anniversary of the publication of Wendell Berry’s essay, “The Gift of Good Land”.  This essay draws lessons on “ecological and agricultural responsibility” not from Genesis 1 or 2 or even Romans 8, but from the Old Testament story of God’s gift of the Promised Land to Abraham and his descendants:  “a divine gift to a fallen people.”  And that certainly applies to us, doesn’t it?

Read the essay here, and comments from many leaders in the field of creation care here.  Below is my contribution to this collection…

On being introduced to the world of Christian environmental stewardship about ten years ago,  I found early on that I had a lot of catching up to do.  Wendell Berry was one of the authors I was directed to  who has taught and continues to teach me.  Evidently, this is true of many of my colleagues as well.  It is a privilege to be counted among those who have sat at Wendell’s feet and learned from him, and I am sure I am not the only one who wishes that that learning could have been in person rather than through the pages of his books. Read more »

It was big news last week that there was snow in 49 of 50 states.  Today we learn that, no, that’s not actually true.  There is now confirmation of snow in all 50 states at the same time:

Patrick Marsh received photos of snow on the ground in every state in just more than 24 hours, but it took him about 36 hours to realize it.

The Hawaii photos were lost in a deluge of incoming snow shots — which arrived at a rate of about one every two minutes. It took a second query from the photographer before he realized it, he said. Read more »