Why Take the Pathways?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT)
Why Creation Care and the Environment?
“You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority – the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.” (Psalm 8:6-8, NLT). Creation care is simply caring about and caring for the natural environment that God created. We care about creation because it brings glory to God, it is commanded by God, it helps other people, and it builds bridges with others who need God. Click here to explore further these and other reasons to care about creation. Also, click here to see one of my published articles on this topic. Finally, click here to read even more convictions about creation care from these leaders below and from many others.
“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. “ Francis of Assisi
“I believe in my heart that faith in Jesus Christ can and will lead us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyards, the fish in our rivers, and every living creature on the face of the earth.” John Wesley
“A society in which consumption has to be artificially stimulated in order to keep production going is a society founded on trash and waste, and such a society is a house built upon sand.” Dorothy Sayers
“If I am going to be in the right relationship with God, I should treat the things he has made in the same way he treats them.” Francis Schaeffer
“To drive to extinction something He has created is wrong. He has a purpose for everything…We Christians have a responsibility to take the lead in caring for the earth.” Billy Graham
One surprising benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a dramatic downswing in air pollution and substantial improvement in air quality. Perhaps this temporary healing of the environment is but a preview of the positive impact that congregations around the world could make if they build on this momentum and find a pathway to take bold steps to care more for God’s wondrous creation. My name is John Watson, and in “My Story”, I share a few highlights of my own pathway with creation care (both personally and in helping others) over the last decade.