Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Why being a Christian is being green

Ok. Stay with me on this one. I was reading from the book of Revelation the other day (you know, as you do) and in chapter 21 it talks about the New Heaven, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem (part of the future promise/vision for anyone who has dedicated their lives to trusting in Jesus) - a place to go where Giod is and not necessarily heaven. The New Jerusalem discussed in Revelation is not in heaven - it is on the New Earth. 

There is a trend in current Christian thinking that suggests that we are transforming this current Earth into the New Earth by bringing God's love and light into the lives where we are. I like this idea as it means that, if we truely believe what the Apostle Paul mentions - that God is dwelling in us - then as christians we carry that transforming love and light in every situation we find ourselves and that appeals to me.

All the same, if we read Revelation, we notice that the new city has been given dimensions - 12,000 stadia. These dimensions may not seem too relevant until you actually transpose them into something we can relate to. So the new city is as wide as it is long as it is high (in other words, a cube). 12,000 stadia is approximately 1,400 miles... cubed - that's not a small city and unlikely to fit into the dimensions of this current planet. With this in mind, I did a rough estimate of the potential population of this city (going on current population/area of Hong Kong) and estimated that the city would hold upwards of 30 (UK) billion people.

Reading further we can see that this large-scale city does not have sickness, pain, sadness and those things in life which most people would rather do without. Moreover, it is not energy consuming (it would have to be pretty efficient based on it's size) as we read that the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light... for there will be no night there.

So here's my point: Much of the world today is concerned about the sustainability of the human race. Making the assumption that the book of Revelation is accurate, then the future looks bright. This of course does not invalidate our efforts to care for our environment. In actual fact we should take a leaf out of the Bible and actively look for ways in which we can develop sustainable energy in which we can protect what we have (Adam's commission). In a saying that was popular a few years back - What would Jesus do? I think we have an inkling of the answer in Revelation - he would create a city where there is no energy crisis and all of mankind (rich, poor, kings, paupers) can access the benefits of the good things within. And for those who did not realise, this started two thousand years ago through his birth, death and resurrection. If you choose to investigate, it's all there in the New Testament.

Blessings and Peace for 2012.

 

Holidays

That's it for a week or so. Back in on 3rd Jan. It's been a long time coming. Still gives me more time to put those last few touches to my photography book (so not a real holiday - change is as good as a rest).

My book's nearly ready

Little taster of my soon-to-be-launched photography book.