And speaking of confusion ...

If you Google "climate change emails" today -- and probably for the foreseeable future -- you'll find reams of items about the emails purportedly heisted from the University of East Anglia. That's more or less the centre for climate change research/activism, and the emails discuss things like suppressing contradictory views, discrediting scientists who hold those views and even altering data to support the notion of human-induced climate change.

Let me refer back to a previous posting a week ago, dealing with a possible schism in the Body of Christ over climate change and what to do about it. I don't take sides in this: the fact that there's a discussion at all, with the deep personal attacks, suppression of facts (truthful or otherwise) and the mammoth guilt trips and fear attached to it all, makes me look beyond the surface issue and find who's really pulling the strings here.

See, if you have taken a side, you need to realize that neither is Simon Pure here. Many of the nay-sayers about human-induced global warming have been linked to businesses and lobby groups. There have been suspicions about the motives and connections of the environmentalist causes. Now comes this -- a very environmentally unfriendly smoking gun, and I notice none of the principals involved has leapt up to accuse anybody of altering the actual emails.

For the ordinary person, just trying to get on with life and do what's right, discovering that the very data used to dictate our whole way of thinking may have been altered only ramps up the confusion level.

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Cor. 14:33)

Take a look at some of the comments posted on various websites and blogs about this latest story, and see how much peace there is.

Confusion comes from not knowing whom to believe: it comes from wondering, "what is truth?"

But remember who said "what is truth?" and what he was doing at the time.

It was Pontius Pilate, and he was looking the Truth right in the face.

Praise God, He has given us His Word, so we can find the Truth! The enemy has very cunningly tried to get us to ignore the Word of God when it comes to environmental matters -- as if it's a completely separate area where the Word does not apply.

But instead, we need to look to the Word for answers in this issue, as in everything else.

"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land."
-- 2 Chr. 7:14

Remember that Satan doesn't give a flying fish about climate change or taking care of God's Creation: he just wants to keep us at one another's throats so that we don't seek God's face in all things.

Blatant plug alert: if you want to purchase a copy of my book, A Very Convenient Truth - real hope in the face of environmental fears, you can find it at Pilgrim Book & Bible and El-Shaddai's Books in Vancouver, House of James in Abbotsford or Christian Book & Music Centre in Victoria. Or just contact me.