Tag Archives: Climate Change

Creation Care, Spirituality

Why Should Pentecostals Care about Climate Change?

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by Joel Daniels. Originally posted at Engaged Pentecostalism.

It was widely reported last week that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented new research that says we humans have just over decade to change the way we consume energy or the detrimental effects will be irreversible. In an era where apocalyptic-style news is commonplace, this story has not received the space that it is due.

Indeed, we must ask ourselves some questions. First, why do so many people of faith, particularly Pentecostals, continue to refute the reality of climate change? Second, do we have a moral obligation to fix the ecological problem that we created? And third, what can we, as individuals, even do?

1 Climate Change

According to surveys, disbelief in climate change rose 7% between 2013 and 2014, and for those that can at least acknowledge that temperatures and sea levels are rising, white Evangelicals are the least likely among their Christian sisters and brothers to claim that it has anything to do with human activity.

What is perhaps most disheartening is that the more people go to church the less likely they are to take responsibility for this planetary crisis. How can that be? Continue reading Why Should Pentecostals Care about Climate Change? →

Creation Care, Spirituality

Four Ways an Apostolic Lifestyle will Solve the Climate Crisis

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You thought that we had enough wars, hunger, and diseases. You thought that the current refugee crisis was big. You thought that natural disasters were too severe already.

Well, you were wrong.

The recent IPCC report cannot be taken lightly. It is based on 6,000 scientific studies and has received input from 40,000 peer-reviews. This is the scientific consensus. It’s time we stop getting distracted by climate change deniers and face the facts.

And the facts are that we are heading right into enormous environmental disasters that will kill and hurt hundreds of millions of people.

There is still time to change course, but it has to be done immediately. The modern, Western lifestyle is doomed. Either we choose to abandon it, or we will be forced to do so when the climate crisis hits. Many are confused as they are not sure how they ought to live in order to reduce their ecological impact on others.

What if I told you that we as Christians have had the solution to this problem for 2,000 years? What if I told you that if we simply lived like the early Christians, there would be no climate change? Continue reading Four Ways an Apostolic Lifestyle will Solve the Climate Crisis →

Creation Care, Politics

Bush vs Trump: How Presidents Respond to 3,000 Dead Americans

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“How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?” – James 2:1.

3,000 people died because of the horrible terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. 3,000 people died because of the horrible hurricane of September 2017.

We all know President Bush’s response to the attacks on World Trade Center. War on terrorism. The Patriot Act. Fear.

The attacks were framed as a national tragedy, Muslims were portrayed as the enemy, violence and surveillance were offered as the solutions.

Skärmavbild 2018-09-18 kl. 14.21.14

The contrast to President Trump’s response to hurricane Maria couldn’t be greater. Trump recently denied on Twitter that 3,000 people died because of the hurricane. He has described the federal relief as “fantastic” even though the infrastructure on the island still is malfunctioning one year later and many children haven’t been able to return to school. Continue reading Bush vs Trump: How Presidents Respond to 3,000 Dead Americans →

Creation Care, Racial Justice

Rick Joyner’s Daughter Won’t Have It With Her Father’s Trump Support

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Rick Joyner

Rick Joyner is Executive Director of MorningStar Ministries and a prophetic minister who has cooperated with various charismatic churches. He has in a recent Facebook video stated that “serious judgment is coming upon our media”, that “Trump has a divine purpose” and that nobody will be able to put him out of office because of that, and in yet another video claimed that Black Lives Matter is a hate group of the worst order and that the rise of white supremacy in America is Barack Obama’s fault.

These comments led Rick’s daughter, Anna Jane Joyner, to post a Facebook video of her own where she in tears apologized to her African American friends and promised to stand by their side:

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Anna Jane Joyner

She says:

[People like my father have] in the last couple of weeks not stood up for what Jesus stood for, and are perpetuating some very dangerous and hurtful narratives and ideas. I wish I could change it. I’m trying my best.

I just want you to know that you aren’t alone, and that I hear you… I’m absolutely standing with you in this very serious sort of battle for the soul of our country.

The video has gone viral, with currently over 70 000 views and almost 1000 shares. In response to this Anna Jane writes: Continue reading Rick Joyner’s Daughter Won’t Have It With Her Father’s Trump Support →

Creation Care

How To Save the Climate: No Meat, No Air Travel, No Car and No Babies?

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A new study from Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies in Sweden has identified the four most efficient things one can do to reduce one’s greenhouse gas emissions. For us who have studied environmental issues they aren’t surprising, but for the general public they might come as a shock since most environmental organizations tend to emphasize other, less efficient actions when calling for a transition to a greener society. The four actions are:

1. Going Vegan

Eating a plant-based diet instead of a meaty one will save you approximately 0.8 tonnes of CO2-equivalents every year. That’s four times more than what you save if you always recycle, and eight times more than changing your lightbulbs to energy efficient ones. In fact, UN studies have shown that the meat and dairy industry account for 18 % of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the UN Environmental Program has urged the global population to eat more vegan food.

2. Skipping Air Travel

Air travel is a luxury, being experienced by only 6 % of the world’s population any given year. Every transatlantic trip one avoids saves 1.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalents.  A family abstaining from flying to hotter countries every other holiday will do a massive environmental heroic deed. Take the train if you want to go somewhere, or use the Internet to talk with people in other countries. Continue reading How To Save the Climate: No Meat, No Air Travel, No Car and No Babies? →

Creation Care

Trump Didn’t Kill the Paris Agreement – the Media Did

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Vlog by Micael Grenholm:

Trump didn’t kill the Paris agreement. The media did, by not talking about it since it was signed in 2015. We can’t rely on crazy politicians in order to save the lives of the millions that will be affected by climate disruptions, we have to start living simply and sustainably pronto and stop portraying wealth as a virtue.

Watch the video above. /Micael Grenholm, editor for pcpj.org.

foto-magnus-aronson-9158Micael Grenholm is editor for Pax Pneuma. Having studied theology as well as peace and development studies in Uppsala, Sweden, Micael Grenholm’s passion is to combine charismatic spirituality with activism for peace and justice. Apart from editing the Pax Pneuma website he vlogs for the YouTube channel Holy Spirit Activism and is active with evangelism and apologetics both locally and online.

Creation Care

Pentecostal Strategies for Saving the Environment

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by Luis Aranguiz Kahn. Part 4 of 4. Read the whole article as a PDF here.

Let us end this series with some conclusions and concerns. Pentecostals have notably matured since they began. They have the potential to do great things in societies. If they become aware and reflect more on ecological matters, they could be a strong agent of influence and change. This is a long process that has already begun. What would happen if we mix radical morality, poverty and exploitation experience, political holiness, ecological concern, and spirit-baptized human strength focused on the problem of creation as a spirit-baptized one?

Let’s see some aspects in which this possible new Pentecostal LatinAmerican Eco theology ethics could engage. Some global ecological issues we can name are, for instance, carbon dioxide emissions, creating a renewable energy future and the social cost of energy. In the first place, Pentecostals can do a great influence calling for carbon equity policies by requesting the creation of jobs while demanding a decrease in the impact of air pollution, an improvement in economic conditions and climate resiliency for the poor. The most polluted cities in the region like Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Montevideo and Cochabamba, are part of countries with a strong Pentecostal presence and big national churches must take part in this discussion to work on fighting against pollution.

In another way, if Pentecostals develop a larger and stronger reflection about ecology, would it be possible for them to discuss to invest 5% of their investments into climate solutions to end energy poverty with clean energy? It is one of the most important questions regarding the economic power that different Pentecostal denominations have reached. In the present, Pentecostals are near to 13% of total population (560 million people) in Latin America. In all countries it is possible to find big national churches that are economically strong. If leadership of these organizations assumes a commitment with energy ethics, they not only could mobilize thousands and thousands of believers but a lot of economic resources to work in climate solutions and clean energy. Continue reading Pentecostal Strategies for Saving the Environment →

Creation Care, Economic Justice

It Should be Natural for Christians to be Vegan

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by Sarah Stenmark.

I have discovered that few things are so controversial among Christians and met with such incomprehension (and ignorance) as veganism. “Do you eat only salad?” is a question I often get, or “you don’t eat wheat flour, right?” Not to mention all the extremely hilarious meat jokes (sarcasm intended). But I have discovered that most times people have preconceptions about what it means to be vegan and the reasons behind it.

When I tell people that I’m vegan, most assume that it is due to the animal ethics. And to be honest, it was probably how it started. Twelve years ago, I became a vegetarian because I loved animals, and felt like a hypocrite towards them when I ate meat. But over time I began to think about whether this really was a sufficient reason. As a Christian, I believed that humans have been appointed to manage creation and that we have a higher value than animals. If an animal’s death would be the prerequisite for human life, it would be a morally acceptable thing to do (as it turns out this is not the case today, as I will explain below).

The Bible doesn’t condemn meat eating or consumption, it doesn’t forbid us to kill animals. Jesus ate fish. Paul ate meat. I know. But this is not directly applicable to today’s society; partly because of the meat industry’s impact on climate change, but also because of hunger. Continue reading It Should be Natural for Christians to be Vegan →

Creation Care

Blood Cries Out: Pentecostalism and Climate Change

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9781625644626John McConnell Jr. was the famed founder and visionary of Earth Day. McConnell’s vision was one of creating a day of remembrance, solitude, and action to restore the broken human relationship to the land. Little acknowledged are McConnell’s religious convictions or background. McConnell grew up in a Pentecostal home.

In fact, McConnell’s parents were both founding charter members of the Assemblies of God in 1914. His own grandfather had an even greater connection to the origins of Pentecostalism by being a personal participant at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906. Earth Day, thus, began with strong religious convictions. McConnell, seeing the ecological demise through his religious background, envisioned a day where Christians could “show the power of prayer, the validity of their charity, and their practical concern for Earth’s life and people.”

In the spirit of McConnell, today’s Pentecostal and Charismatic theology has something to say about the earth. Blood Cries Out is a unique contribution by Pentecostal and Charismatic theologians and practitioners to the global conversation concerning ecological degradation, climate change, and ecological justice.

Blood Cries Out: Pentecostals, Ecology, and the Groans of Creation, edited by A. J. Swoboda, Foreword by Steven Bouma-Prediger