Welcome

Welcome to our blog Preserving Eden. This project began as a Creation stewardship newsletter in our local church. It grew as we received positive feedback. It is now circulated through multiple churches monthly and now provided here online for everyone. Please enjoy, learn from, and share the information and tips provided here. You are welcome to circulate this newsletter as you like as long as it is done so freely (print on recycled paper if possible). Please credit the appropriate author and provide a link to the this blog. God bless as you care for his Creation!

Sincerely,

David F. Garner

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 2019

Is the modern (post-1800’s) conservation movement consistent with Christian and/or Seventh-day Adventist principals and theology? We will explore this over the next few issues.  Protection of God’s creatures has been a part of the Seventh-day Adventist movement since it’s inception. Cpt. Joseph Bates, one of the four principle founders of the denomination advocated compassion for living creatures. In 1848 he published a tract about the Sabbath truth. In it he pointed out that the Sabbath rest was not only for man, but also a protection for animals and all of creation. It is our duty to let our animals rest on the Sabbath because they cannot speak for themselves. “He has also given this day of rest to the beasts of burden, and makes man accountable for causing them to violate his day.”1 Bates took his beliefs of protecting animals further by becoming vegetarian.  Elliot J. Waggoner was another renowned evangelist early in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He wrote several
Read more

January 2019

Is the modern (since mid-1800’s) conservation movement consistent with Christian and/or Seventh-day Adventist principals and theology? We will explore this over the next few issues. To begin let’s look at some prominent Christians who influenced the conservation movement either indirectly or directly. Charles H. Spurgeon was a powerhouse evangelist and writer in the 19th century who is still read widely today. He frequently used nature imagery and metaphor in his teaching with the astuteness of an accomplished artist. This resonated with his city audiences who were enthralled with the outdoors during the back-to-nature movement of the later 19th century. He encouraged his hearers to see God’s lessons in nature just as Jesus did. Many at that time under the influence of manifest destiny saw nature as something to be completely conquered by man. The 19th century view that nature was simply a machine led people to regard it as solely for human use. For Spurgeon, nature was not there just
Read more

February 2018

In February nature is already on its way toward spring. Although this is the month of greatest snowfall for many northern regions, the daylight hours are already lengthening. Mating season begins in February for some species including sparrows, cardinals, raccoons, foxes, skunks, bald eagles, and of course, groundhogs. Perhaps there is a bit of fact in the lore of Groundhog Day.  Love is in the air in February. Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “The Parliament of Fowls” (circa 1380) describes how birds find the love of their life at an annual parliament on February 14 each year. It is considered the first Valentine’s Day poem and some scholars believe it is the origin of this holiday as a celebration of romance.  God gave us Creation as a gift of love. In it are a thousand expressions of the love he has for us. Indeed, God was the first to give flowers as a token of his love. Maybe there was even a chocolate tree in the Garden of Eden. When we look at nature, we ought to see it just as
Read more