If life means hope, what's wrong with Kaffeblubben Sø?

A few year ago, when I was working through one of the earlier iterations of A Very Convenient Truth, I read with disdain the words of a maritime lawyer, who opined that global warming would actually be good for commerce, since it would open up the Northwest Passage to shipping and allow for quicker routes between world markets.

Well, that was then - this is now; and while looking at the economic benefits of something that others are bemoaning doesn't quite seem right to me, I'm also less inclined to look at something like global warming/climate change as the "disasters" that many others say it is.

Recently, CBC Radio's science program, Quirks and Quarks, looked at the latest discoveries about the Kaffeblubben Sø -- the world's most northern lake (it's in Greenland). As New Scientist notes in its article about the same research, the lake, which has been pretty much frozen solid for thousands of years, is now showing signs of life. Algae are multiplying again, after being dormant for all that time. While algae bloom has generally been associated with pollution from human sources, the scientists looking at Kaf-etc. have determined that this change is solely to do with global warming.

Global warming, in other words, has brought life back to a place that was virtually barren for millennia.

This, of course, is bad news, according to Geology magazine.

Wait a sec'. How is the appearance of life bad news? I'm not talking about cases where an invasive species like zebra mussels or snakehead fish have been introduced artificially: I'm talking about a situation where conditions have changed to allow life forms to flourish where there had been nothing before.

The boffins with the Geological Society of America (publishers of Geology) point to this as a sign of how the Arctic is our "early warning system" about climate change, tipping us off about the "threat".

Why not look at this as another sign that God is in control, is working out His plan, and confirming that by restoring life where none had been before?

It's rather like the Pharisees saying, "What shall we do with this man, for He works many miracles?" or John the Baptist's disciples, asking Jesus if He was the Messiah. The signs were all there, but Jesus didn't fit in with their world view, so they refused (at least temporarily, in some cases) to recognize the signs.

The trouble with a lot of our climate change research is that it's mostly after-the-fact. When the researchers say the Arctic is our "early warning system", they're still not saying that these warnings will have been in time for us to do anything about it. Nor have they actually established that there's anything mankind can do to prevent these changes from happening.

God, on the other hand, has already told us this would all happen. He's told us what to expect next, too, and while we're not supposed to fight Him, He's given us explicit instructions: clean up our environmental act, seek Him first, and lead others into the Kingdom.

A Very Convenient Truth has gone through another revision, and I think it's the last now. It also has a new title: A Very Convenient Truth - or, Jesus told us there'd be days like these, so stop worrying about climate change and get with His program.

That version will replace the one that's currently online at Smashwords (or any online bookstore) in the first week of November.

Climate change, hindsight and God's certain promise

A couple of weeks ago, the media reported on a large "ice island" that broke off from Greenland. One of the local papers in Vancouver placed a topper over the headline that read, "Climate Change" (even though the article from The Register here quotes an expert as being uncertain whether the break-off was caused by global warming); and that got me to thinking.

When there is a major environmental event like a devastating storm or a gigantic piece of ice breaking off from a polar ice cap, the knee-jerk response is to say, "aha! Global Warming!" But it's always after the fact. As I point out in my book, A Very Convenient Truth, the Word of God is filled with promises and prophecies that are shown to be true all the time. God doesn't hide anything from us: He may say it in prophecies and parables, but He does reveal it to His prophets, and anyone who has ears to hear will receive it.

So it's one thing to point to an event and say it was caused by something in the past, but quite another to prophesy and have it happen exactly in the way it was said. You may have noticed this already, but the pronouncements from the environmental movement do not actually say that the measures they demand will actually stop global warming or reverse its effects; they just leave an impression that they might. God's promises are direct and clear and have been proven out over and over again.

The Bible, by the way, contains countless passages that draw a direct connection between our walk with God and the state of the environment. "If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal the land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Can't get much more direct than that, can one?

Consider this: it is written that Jesus' disciples went out, preaching the Gospel with signs following. The signs referred to there were "positive" signs like healings and other miracles; but are not negative signs -- like disease, war and problems with the land -- things that can also be expected to follow disobedience and straying from God?



From the book:
 

Jesus told us there’d be days like these …

Another reason why Satan is taking such an interest in climate change is because he knows what time it is. Again, we go back to Matthew 24:5-7, where Jesus foretells the signs of His return. Famines and pestilences can both be seen as climate change symptoms. Jesus spoke in language people could understand, and while “global warming”, “melting polar ice cap” or “ozone depletion” would have gone over their heads, they would definitely have known about “famine and pestilence”.

We also have plenty of false christs today – self-help gurus who claim to show people how to feel good about themselves without repenting; others who presume to “simplify” things by reducing Christ to Just Another World View and looking for ways other belief systems “agree” (“many paths to the top of the mountain,” as some say), when God has already simplified things by reducing the number of paths to one; men called “holiness” with beatific smiles, pronouncing that we are each our own universe.

We have the wars and rumors of war -- terrorism. Incurable diseases are cropping up, the moral rule book has been thrown out the window, “tolerance” has replaced “love” and “rights” have replaced “what’s right”; governments try to legislate things that can remedied if we were all walking in agape love for one another – truly, “the love of many (is waxing) cold” (Matt. 24:12). 

With those signs becoming more numerous and intense, Satan knows that the best way to keep people from turning their eyes towards God is to have them chasing straw men – like arguing over climate change. Like a magician using a “mis-direct” so we don’t see him slip the coin up his sleeve, Satan is using the debate as a sleight of hand.

Consider how something that is not part of the “climate change” discussion is the earthquakes in diverse places – Japan, Haiti, Iran, the California coast, Chile; Southeast Asia, with the horrific tsunami that followed; not to mention the volcanic eruptions in Indonesia. Famine and pestilence fit in with the “climate change” paradigm, but do volcanoes and “earthquakes in diverse places”? A 2009 conference in England raised the possibility that climate change is a cause of earthquakes, but even the scientists studying the issue admit it’s a “stretch” to draw that conclusion. But here again, there is a “mis-direct”: if the enemy can somehow bring earthquakes under the heading of “symptoms of climate change”, that can keep people from considering that these are the signs Jesus foretold.

The more time we spend worrying about climate change and searching for worldly solutions, the less time we spend doing what we should be doing: getting right with God, helping the poor and homeless, healing the sick, spreading the Gospel. The more time we spend on personal attacks against people who don’t agree with us, the less time we spend loving the Unsaved to Christ.

This is a battle in the Heavenlies: it is not a battle to be fought and won with worldly weapons and tactics (II Cor. 10:3-6[i]). As we have seen in many cases, relying on science and technology for solutions has not been blessed with success. Getting into a worldly debate over the issue has been a disaster. 

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[i] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds); casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ …. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

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