Change in the Works for WOC

Change in the Works for WOC

WonderOfCreation.org is, of course, a new venture for RBC.  We are now in our sixth month and have gathered a good many statistics to help us make decisions about its direction.  We have had over 13,000 visitors since it began the first of October.  Because of the high number of visitors and visits, if you put the two words “wonder” and “creation” in a Google search, WOC comes out on the top after the searcher scans nearly 16 million finds.  It is on top at Yahoo also–after searching a staggering number of finds: 248,000,000!  That’s clearly the place we want to hold.

Nonetheless, we have discovered that the blog format does not seem to be the best way to serve the people we want to reach, and may in some ways be a hindrance to getting the biblical view of God, man, and nature out to as broad an audience as possible.   So we have made the decision to alter WOC from a blog to a “resource center,” which will be laid out more like a traditional website.

We hope to have this transition made by June.  Right now we are planning to have these category choices laid out across the top of the entry page:  Creation Pictures, Creation Quotations, and Wonder Kids will stay.  New categories being planned are Care of Creation, Theology of Nature, Missionary Earthkeeping, and Church Resources.

The “article” on the entry page will change about three times a week and will be broadened to direct visitors to the various resources on the site.  Whether or not we will have a blog feature is still to be determined.  Nonetheless, in each category there will still be the opportunity for visitors to make comments.  Because of the new categories and a lot more information, we expect more comments than we are receiving now.

And comments we do want—especially on this new approach.  So please feel free to let us know what you think of this new direction, and do make suggestions.  Now is your opportunity to help form the direction and future of WonderOfCreation.org.

Seminars On the Theology of Nature

Seminars On the Theology of Nature

WonderOfCreation.org host and feature writer, Dean Ohlman, is available to offer seminars and informal talks to churches, colleges, Sunday School classes, and other small groups on a number of different issues related to the theology of nature and the biblical worldview that includes the mandate for Christians to be “good earthkeepers.”  Dean can be reached directly by phone at 616.974.2726 if you’d like to have him speak in your church or small group.

Creation Care Concerns Continue to Rise in Conservative Circles

Creation Care Concerns Continue to Rise in Conservative Circles

The magazine from Dallas Theological Seminary, Kindred Spirit, recently made caring for creation its theme.  Its cover title:  “Should Christians Be Environmentalists?”  In the introductory comments by DTS president Mark Bailey was this excellent list of what the Bible says we observe about God from nature:

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God’s wisdom. When Job objected to his trials, what did God use to silence him? The revelation of His wisdom seen through creation (Job 38:1-7).
God’s righteousness. The psalmist wrote, “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge” (Ps. 50:6).
God’s grace. Jesus reminded His listeners that God’s creative act of bringing rain demonstrates His grace to the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:44-45).
God’s care. Jesus also pointed to creation to demonstrate God’s care, saying that not one sparrow falls outside of the Father’s knowledge (Matt. 6:28-32).
God’s invisible attributes. In asserting-through inspiration of the Holy Spirit-that all humans stand accountable to God, Paul looked to creation, which reveals God’s invisible attributes of eternal power and divine nature (Rom. 1:18-20).

In its feature article, “The Call to Care,” were these significant statements that echo the message WonderOfCreation.org has been seeking to get across:

Sometimes our practices fail to line up with our theology. At the first mention of environmental issues, many Christians become entangled in debate about the causes and cures of global warming and their political ramifications. Yet our biblical environmentalism is much broader than global warming. Think of endangered species, pollutants such as mercury poisoning, dirty air that makes our kids wheeze, poverty and its effect on environmental choices, the consequences of ignorance and greed. If we belittle environmental concerns as merely the province of political propaganda, we shirk our God-given responsibility. And we fail to engage the culture where we have some common ground.

Though some Christian leaders have warned that environmentalism distracts the church from preaching the gospel, such thinking suggests an either/or mentality. Obedience to our stewardship mandate is not only the right thing to do; it also gives Christ-followers more credibility when we do speak. Consider the Wiccan who wept when a Christian came to one of her pro-earth events and read Psalm 8. She had no idea the Bible had anything good to say about the creation she values so much.

People across the globe are growing in their awareness of environmental issues. And as followers of Christ we must contribute to that conversation. We can begin by acknowledging our failures and then demonstrating the depth of our repentance by embracing the truth—with all its ramifications—that God has called humanity to have dominion over the earth. We must work together to subdue God’s groaning earth, caring for it as best we can, managing what isn’t ours until the One who is coming soon makes all things new.

You can access the entire issue online here.

New Creation Care Organization

New Creation Care Organization

Flourish is a new organization that seeks to be a catalyst for creation care among churches and families.  Flourish recognizes environmental stewardship as an expression of our love for God and a celebration of the bountiful world in which he has placed us.

Thousands of churches in America are looking for teaching on the care for God’s creation that is biblically sound and that can fit into the programs and priorities of the local church.  To help address this need, the organization is focusing on three initial areas of ministry:

• Providing resources such as Flourish magazine (online and print), Bible studies and group guides, and other how-to materials for churches and families.
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• Working with local churches and partner ministries to help mission teams, youth groups and other church groups to engage in U.S. and international projects that integrate creation care with ministries of evangelism, compassion, missions, and community service.
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• Helping churches to audit their use of energy and to analyze their impact on local environments, and to guide churches in their implementation of cost-saving and creation-sensitive energy stewardship projects.

Together with churches, families, and partner ministries, Flourish is hoping to build a Christian environmental stewardship movement that it is focused on both lives and landscapes, depoliticized, integrated with other ministries of the church, and meeting the challenges of rural, suburban, and urban environments.

You can learn more about Flourish here.   In particular take note of its upcoming national church leaders conference.