"The mature Christian rarely experiences God. The mature Christian simply knows He's present." I recently attended a 1/2 day spiritual retreat and was struck by that comment the leader made. There have been moments in my life when I feel as if my number one craving is to experience more of God. I have witnessed him act in mighty and tangible ways and I long for those experiences again. Like a child whose daddy is throwing her in the air and catching her back in his arms cries out in delight, "Do it again, daddy, do it again!" I find myself praying those same words often. And when I don't see him act - which I translate into experience - I think he's being silent or not active in my life. 

The comment above has really caused me to stop and think. In 1 Kings 19 the radical Prophet Elijah finds himself in the presence of the living God on the same mountain top Moses stood before him also in the Lord's awesome presence. The elements swirling around him as well as with Moses. But God was not in the elements with Elijah contrary to what I would have expected and I think contrary to what Elijah wanted having just witnessed God in the elements before this. Check out 1 Kings 18 for that story. 

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Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 100 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post's “On Faith," BeliefNet, The Huffington Post, and Relevant magazine. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010). As a respected Christian voice, Jonathan has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Jonathan, you are very gifted writer. Briefly tell ConversantLife, why you wrote this book?

I am not sure about this, but I think chopping wood might help us save the earth.  Follow the bouncing ball:

1. We live in San Diego and have a nice chunk of land behind our house thanks to the power line that runs over it and the power pole that is in the middle of it.  Once a year, the power company comes out to trim all our trees in the back area so that they don’t touch the power lines.  This year, they cut down a 50 foot eucalyptus tree and left the trunk and big branches in 2 foot sections on the ground. 2. Enter me, last Saturday, to the back yard with an axe, VERY VERY frustrated by the US v. England result in the World Cup (yes I love the World Cup and yes we need a new coach and yes I tried to cheer for the US instead of England and ended up frustrated with both sides).

In October of this year, if the Lord does not prevent it, I will fly to Cape Town, South Africa, to participate as a US delegate at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Sounds pretty intense, huh? Well, it is.

In January, I travelled to Dallas for my first meeting in preparation of this event. I have been part of two meetings since then - one in NYC and one in Boston - and I will be participating via webstream next week in a meeting taking place in California, at Saddleback, pastored by Rick Warren, who prayed at President Obama's inauguration.

As the BP oil pipeline continues to uncontrollably gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening ecosystems, coastal communities, fishing industries, and all sorts of other living things, the conversation about protecting the environment continues–and perhaps is more relevant than ever.

Christians (particularly evangelicals) have been sadly absent from this conversation in the past, for reasons more political than theological. But that has started to change in the past decade, and one of the leading voices in the evangelical movement for “Creation Care” is my friend Jonathan Merritt, who just released his first book, Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet.

Jim Moriarty (Surfrider CEO) Talks About Faith & Oil 

I have known Jim Moriarty for over five years now and I consider him a good friend.  He and I don’t always see eye to eye on every issue, but we do see eye to eye on Christ.  As the CEO of Surfrider Foundation, one of the biggest coastal environmental organizations on earth, Jim agreed to be a part of Humanitarian Jesus (one of only two secular non-profit leaders who are in the book) and I will share that interview later this month.  But, given the media coverage that the current oil spill is getting I asked him if he would answer 5 Questions on the topic.  He did and the answers are worth reading:

1.  What was your immediate reaction to the spill as someone that cares deeply about our oceans?

I met Rusty Pritchard (founder and president of Flourish) several years back when we were both at different organizations and I ended up writing a story on surfing and creation for his then journal Creation Care.  I found him to be profoundly passionate about the environment and the impact it has in our lives. 

Flourish exists to inspire and equip “churches to better love God by reviving human lives and the landscapes on which they depend” -- a decidedly de-political mission and message.  With a background in environmental academics, research, policy, ministry, and consulting he has touched and seen a lot; and it would seem that he continues to find the overwhelming truth that God through His creation is still transforming hearts and minds one person at a time. 

Each weekday morning, I read through a summary of the days top humanitarian news stories via Reuters AlerNet. The top stories are typically depressing and a daily reminder of how sick our humanity is and our planet is. People are sick, hungry, killing each other and in complete desperation all over the globe.

This morning I was pleased to read a story of hope. Women are farming vegetables and it's changing the world!

Farming vegetables is changing family dynamics, economics, health and even the climate. I was so encouraged by this story I wanted to share it with you. What are your thoughts on this? How can we help encourage this to continue to grow here at home and in the developing world? 

Here is the article:

A comment to my post on Elmo caused me to consider the “heart” of environmentalism.  I am by no means an expert on the topic, but for me, as a follower of Christ, my heart for the environment begins with an understanding of where creation fits in God’s greater plan of redemption.   

A while back I was given the chance to publish an article online at Flourish responding to Wendell Berry’s great work “The Gift of Good Land.”  Looking back, I think it really sets forth my thinking in this area:

“The Gift of Good Land,” was published 30 years ago, and we reprinted it in the Fall 2009 issue of Flourish Magazine to celebrate Mr. Berry’s work, but also to provoke some questions: How has the natural world, and efforts to steward it, changed in these 30 years? How has Christianity changed? What is still relevant about Mr. Berry’s words today? What have been our successes and failures as creation’s stewards in these three decades? Where do we go from here?

This is just becoming all too familiar. The first reports, the death toll climbing every half-hour or so, the news of those who survived, grieving for those who did not. I first learned about the earthquake today in Chile from Twitter - from Alyssa Milano on Twitter, in fact, retweeting photo images from the New York Times. I jumped on Facebook and learned that several friends of mine have relatives in Chile; thankfully, all reports are good news so far.

As I continued combing through news reports, I discovered that there was also an earthquake in Japan this morning. Then I heard further news - the warning of an impending tsunami. I have just been looking at the images on the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center web site, and I see nations and cities along the Pacific coast that are now at risk: Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga and many other place.