Category Archives: Creation

Encouraging Thoughtfulness About Our Food Choices

Posted on by under Creation, Farm

 

Warning: The following contains information that may change your food habits. Please don’t hate me if you disagree.

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Ever since watching the documentary Food, Inc. we continually see stories of injustice in the world food system. Further research on GMOs has also gotten me more concerned about the future of our food and how it will affect future generations (see study on molecular difference in corn). For us this is a concern because of what we see in the Bible and how we are called to care for creation. Start in Genesis and you will see God makes all things, makes man in his image, then brings all things under man’s dominion. We have a responsibility to care for God’s creation. Shouldn’t we delight in all that He has made and care for it so that our fields and our guts are not depleted?

We also come to the injustice factor in our food systems. There are many large companies that are not hoping to build up our soil’s health and productivity resulting in healthier plants and animals, but are out to kill off the inconvenient weeds for a short term, yet quite large, profit. Spraying weed killer on my food is not what I would call healthy. The fact that the amount of weed killer only needs to be increased with time also exacerbates the situation, yet further increases the large company’s profit. As we can see in Food, Inc. and other documentaries, farmers have been sued rather than compensated when their field is cross-contaminated with GMO seeds. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not played out in these situations and many others around the world.

And so I urge you to think more about this whatever your worldview. Read up on different opinions, watch documentaries from your library or there are many free with amazon prime right now or engage those who are interested in the topic.

Another very important factor in food choices is to know your farmer, how they raise their food and if it’s up to your standards. There are so many quality farmers around the state of Minnesota that we have come to know through the Sustainable Farmer’s Association and through the MN Organic Conference. Seek them out. Show them where your support lies.

Reputable reading:

Other reading:

His Invisible Attributes…Have Been Clearly Perceived…

Posted on by under Creation, His Invisible Attributes...Have Been Clearly Perceived...

Since I have been busy making sure chicks are happy, getting sap from the sugar bush, and boiling it down to syrup I haven’t been able to do much blogging. So when I’m busy I’ll try to post somethings that I have written in previous newsletters we have sent out. This particular piece comes from ponderings on how God makes His invisible attributes clearly perceived within His creation (Romans 1:19-20). My apologies to those of you who might have read this before.

God has made us in many marvelous ways. And all of these marvelous ways point to Him if we take a moment to consider them. One feature we have been given is the ability to taste sweet stuff. God did not merely give us food as a source of energy, rather he gave us taste buds. We can go beyond surviving on food to savoring food. Oh how good it is to bite into a sweet juicy orange or to crunch into a crisp, succulent pea pod! We all have something sweet that we have a hankering for on occasion. It might be an old fashioned doughnut or fresh juicy peach. Now one of these is quite a bit healthier for you than the other.

God uses His good creation to illustrate spiritual truths in ways that we can grasp. So how does having the ability to enjoy sweet things (both healthy and unhealthy) figure into spiritual truth? In Psalm 119:103 the sweet taste of honey is used to help us understand how the psalmist delights in God’s word. In Proverbs 9 the woman named Folly calls out to the simpleton that, “stolen water is sweet.” Here are two very different kinds of spiritual sweets. The wise psalmist highlights the sweetness of God’s word. The foolish woman highlights the sweetness of ill gotten gain. Where do these proclamations of longings for spiritual sweets come from? There seems to be a distinct connection with what our mouth says and the condition of our hearts (Matthew 12:34). Thus a good heart will savor God’s word and a bad heart will savor the products of sin. Isn’t it wonderful how God reveals to us in His word how our hearts can be captivated by both good and bad sweets, just like our physical tongues can be captivated by both healthy and unhealthy sweets.  And just like a peach is designed to do us good while we savor it, so to God’s word is designed to do us good while we savor it. Isn’t God good to us?

So, have you been finding God’s word sweet lately? If not, try to savor some of the promises God has for you in His word today (try Psalm 23, Romans 8, or Ephesians 2 for starters). If you have been finding His word particularly sweet, why not share that sweetness with others(in person or comment below)?

He is risen!

Posted on by under Creation

He is risen! What a glorious proclamation. HE IS RISEN! We can say with confidence that our sins have been properly dealt with through Jesus’ death on the cross AND Jesus has conquered death for us. He is the living God. The wages of sin are death. Jesus did receive those wages on our behalf, but He is the living God and death could not hang on to His life. So now through Jesus we have new life as well.
For us in the temperate Northern Hemisphere this great truth is magnified by God’s creation. At this time of year the death of Winter is being replaced by the new life of Spring. Just today (the Saturday before Easter) I heard the laughing and leaping waters of the beaver dam set free from their icy blanket, I saw tender shoots of green rising up out of the brown mat of last year’s growth, I smelled the freshness of life coming back into the newly thawed soil, I tasted the sweet running sap of the freshly awakened maple trees, and I felt the moist air of spring overtake the dry and parched air of winter. Every year I feel a sublime undercurrent of excitement both within myself and from others as this life springs forth. Don’t miss the truth about God that he has woven into His creation. Just as He has designed the new life of spring to come out of the deadness of winter, so also He has designed our new life in Christ to come out of the deadness of our sins. Isn’t this exciting? Isn’t this amazing?
For me, there once was a disconnect between enjoying God and enjoying His creation. I didn’t realize that my enjoyment of His creation could heighten my enjoyment of God. But that is exactly what God has intended His creation to do. To bring Him glory through its entirety. From the smallest sub-atomic particle to the greatest galaxy if we pay attention and look close enough everything points to our Creator. So now when I experience the joy of the new life of spring, I make the connection that this is a reminder of what God has done for you and me spiritually (Check out Ephesians 2). So go ahead and get excited about spring, and let it be an avenue for you to get excited about your great Savior who has brought you new life!