Is Jesus Green?

Slides from My Pepperdine Class

Matt — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:10:37 +0000

Here is a pdf of the slides I used in my presentation at Pepperdine. The class focused on applying green theology in the local church setting. Part 1 focuses on helping your congregation become greener (more creation friendly). Part 2 focuses on environmental ministry (making a difference in your community.

Green-Theology-In-Action

If you’d like a higher resolution version or the Keynote version, drop me a line via the Contact page. I can also convert it to PowerPoint, but I can’t vouch for how well it will work in that format.

You may buy the mp3 of my class here. (Disclaimer: Pure Logic Video records the program at Pepperdine, and I do not receive any money from the sale of this mp3.)

You’ll find the video I used in the class here on the downloads page of this website (free to view online or download in a high-res version).

Hope these resources are helpful.

Peace,
Matt

Two Interesting Articles

Matt — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:31:53 +0000

I came across two interesting articles that I thought you might find interesting. The first is an article by Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, “The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Creation Care”. In response to the idea that environmentalism is by definition “liberal”, Moore offers this challenging response: There’s nothing conservative though, and nothing “evangelical,” about dismissing the conservation of the natural environment.

The second is an interesting article from John Mark Hicks, Professor of Theology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, “The Playfulness of Creation”. Hicks points out the playfulness that God built into his creatures, highlighting the biblical picture of animals playing.

May God use these articles to continue to touch your heart for his creation!
Matt

Pepperdine Bible Lectures 2

Matt — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:29:46 +0000

Felicia and I had a wonderful week in Malibu on the beautiful campus of Pepperdine University. We saw lots of old friends, made some new friends, and shared the message of partnering with God to care for his creation. As is often the case, for many people this was a totally new way of thinking – and awkward, for some. Two of my preacher friends told me they had received resistance when they even brought up the idea from the pulpit. And also, as is always the case, we found many people for whom this resonated, giving them a theological framework for living out the convictions God had already given them.

View Photo Album

Pepperdine has a beautiful campus in the LA area, so it’s a great place to talk about caring for creation. It’s real life opportunities as you see the ocean, the wildlife, and the plants outside the door of your dorm or classroom.

I’m hoping that some of the folks I spoke with will be inviting me to speak with their church about creation care. I’m confident that there are people in nearly every church that already take steps to be earth friendly – but too many of us segment our lives and leave that at home when we go to worship. I’d love to come speak at churches to support and encourage these voices from within.

You may buy the mp3 of my class here. (Disclaimer: Pure Logic Video records the program at Pepperdine, and I do not receive any money from the sale of this mp3.) My class focused on the practical side of the question – how to make your congregation greener, and how to engage in environmental ministry in your community.

I’d also encourage you to buy Chris Doran’s class. Chris is a theology professor at Pepperdine, and he laid out some of the theology behind Christian responsibility for creation care. He really hammered the social justice aspects of environmentalism, and brought a lot of research to the conversation.

Peace,
Matt

Pepperdine University Bible Lectures

Matt — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:00:50 +0000

I’m heading out tomorrow for the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. I’ll be teaching a class on Friday about greening your church. My class will be the third in a series of classes. Chris Doran, a professor of religion at Pepperdine, will be teaching a theological framework for environmental care in the first class. The second class will focus on the early church father’s and creation care, which is an intriguing topic.

I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to connect with some other Christians who care about creation, and perhaps gain some opportunities to conduct workshops for churches.

Peace,
Matt

National Trails Day

Matt — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:19:04 +0000

Here’s a great project your church, small group, or Sunday School class can participate in: June 5, 2010 is National Trails Day.

From The American Hiking Society’s website:

The American Hiking Society’s signature trail awareness program, National Trails Day® (NTD), inspires the public and trail enthusiasts nationwide to seek out their favorite trails to discover, learn about, and celebrate trails while participating in educational exhibits, trail dedications, gear demonstrations, instructional workshops and trail work projects.

NTD also provides an opportunity to thank volunteers, land managing agencies, and outdoor-minded businesses for their support in developing and maintaining trails.

Trail maintenance is a great volunteer opportunity that can use all levels of skill and ability. Even young children can help pick up trash!

Peace,
Matt

Green in 3

Matt — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:58:21 +0000

The Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University is having a video contest. Applicants are invited to submit a video of less than 30 seconds (no audio) that gives a 3-word-answer to the question “How would you make the environment better?”

Here’s the answer that Jane Norton and I gave:

What’s your three-word-solution?

Peace,
Matt

Solar Energy

Matt — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:51:22 +0000

This week we visited Solar Tech South in Chapel Hill. The good folks at Solar Tech South design and install systems for solar hot water heating and for using solar power for electricity.

As luck would have it, the town of Chapel Hill had called earlier in the day asking Solar Tech South to help them power a sound system for a band on a float in the holiday parade. Ed and Jason walked us through the process of designing and building a system to produce the power needed. In an hour, we were rocking in the parking lot!

Ed and Jason were so slick, they had us learning about electricity, figuring wattage, and calculating the power we needed before we realized it. They did a great job of working with our bunch of rowdy middle schoolers.

From Solar Tech

We learned about the need for solar energy (and other forms of renewable resources) and we learned that our local energy comes from coal. A lot of coal comes from our neighbors in West Virginia, and some of the coal is mined by literally blowing the tops off the mountains, which has serious environmental and human health consequences.

You’ll find a video here about the type of mining where our coal power comes from, and you can check here to see if your electric company is using coal that comes from decapitated mountains.

From Solar Tech

Peace,
Matt

Orange County Landfill

Matt — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:06:42 +0000

The week before Thanksgiving we visited the Orange County Landfill. Muriel Williman, educator for the Orange County Solid Waste Department, gave us a great tour. She was obviously knowledgeable about the landfill and recycling programs, but she was also good at communicating with our middle schoolers.

The Orange County Landfill is a part of the county government, but is not subsidized by tax dollars. The landfill earns it’s operating expenses by the fees charged to dump garbage (including fees paid by city garbage trucks) and through selling material to recyclers.

Three things I learned:

1. Things aren’t supposed to break down in the landfill. If biodegradable things do “degrade”, then there’s a problem, because the soil/water produced in this process is contaminated by all of the other things in the landfill. The goal is to compact the material as much as possible and seal it in so that no air and water can get t to help it break down. Hearing this made me realize it’s even more important than I thought to keep as much waste as possible out of the garbage.

2. I’ve wondered why only plastic bottles are accepted by Orange County’s recycling program. The answer: bottles are blown plastic, so the fibers are useful for recycling. Molded or injected plastic containers are not suitable for recycling. (I’m sure I worded that poorly, so feel free to comment!).

3. Through recycling, we’ve added seven years to the lifecycle of the current landfill. It was slated to be “full” in 2007 (“full” = “as tall as the tree-line”). By reducing the amount of garbage going into the landfill (through increasing the amount we recycle), the landfill is estimated to be full in 2014. Another good reason to keep recyclables out of your garbage.

I learned a lot more, but that is enough for today. Feel free to comment below!

Peace,
Matt

Piedmont Biofuels

Matt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:32:03 +0000

On Friday, we visited Piedmont Biofuels. This innovative company produces biofuel, which is made from various types of fat and fuels diesel engines. They convert a variety of fats to fuel, ranging from animal fats, oils from crushed seeds, and cooking oils from restaurants.

The plant location was an abandoned aluminum plant. The good folks from Piedmont Biofuels took this barren area and brought in native plants, which brought back bees and butterflies and has reintroduced the native biodiversity of the region. There are currently five hives of bees on the property.

Piedmont builds portable biofuel “plants” that can be used to produce fuel on location – wherever the raw materials can be found. The example they gave us was a wastewater treatment plant which grows sunflowers on the wastewater. The seeds aren’t used for food because they grow in wastewater. With the portable unit, they could convert the sunflowers seeds to oil, convert the oil to fuel, and power the wastewater treatment from the fuel, creating a sustainable system. The City of Raleigh Waste Water treatment plant is growing sunflowers at their location, so that’s a step on the way to this type of sustainability.

Piedmont Biofuels also promotes vermiculture (composting using worms). The worm castings (poop) make a great fertilizer. The biofarm gave several of us our first glimpse of red okra!

This is really giving you a glimpse of their organization and the things they do to care for the earth. I encourage you to head on over to their web site, and consider taking a free tour of their facilities, sponsored by The Abundance Foundation.

Next week we’re off to Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) to check out our local wastewater treatment facility.

Peace,
Matt

Eco-Impact Road Show

Matt — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:43:51 +0000

In the spring, my friend Jane Norton and I taught a class to young home-schoolers called “Eco-Impact”. We helped the students identify how much of an impact their life and lifestyle choices have on the earth, and we identified ways to decrease our ecological footprints. This fall, we’re taking the show on the road.

We took 9 kids ages 9-12 to Spence’s Farm, a local educational farm.

At Spence’s Farm, we were able to focus on our food choices. Local, organic produce that treats all parties fairly in the process. The kids were particularly interested in the compost pile (of course), and they enjoyed digging sweet potatoes.

Next week, we’re off to Piedmont Biofuels.

Peace,
Matt