After reading that, my self-righteousness started to dissolve. I knew I had a lot room for improvement. The book was challenging and thought provoking when I really began to dig into it. I had looked into creation care many times before but it is often difficult for me to move past the stage where I say I care about the environment but do nothing different in my daily life. I think the best part of this book was the fact that the author was living it out. He isn’t rattling off things that are wrong with our consumer society, explaining why it is bad, demanding that we change, and then leaving it at that. He makes it very personal by attaching it to Christian faith and explaining how his faith affected him and helped him change. I cannot help but be compelled to change after reading about the way it affected his life.

The author visits a woman who is writing about taking care of the environment and yet she is not living the lifestyle that she speaks of. Dr. Sleeth is dead on when he says she cannot possibly expect people to believe what she is writing when she, herself, doesn’t believe what she is writing. Dr. Sleeth is living it out, which makes his writing honest, applicable, and inspiring.

It was motivating for me to think about the positive effects of hard work instead of pursuing ever-increasing comfort and convenience — finding new opportunities to worship God in those little things like hanging laundry. I really appreciated the appendices and intend to continually go through the checklists in order to see how I am doing and how I can improve.

Coupling this with a summer in the National Parks is a good idea. Change is a slow process and, for me, living in the parks brings my expectations of creation care to a high level. The longer I live in National Parks, the more respect I have for the earth and more ambition to take care of it. The book offers great insight into ways of doing that. I think I will apply this back home by hanging my clothes to dry inside, turning off the lights unless they need to be on, and learning to worship God through the many seemingly menial tasks that life requires.

Les Kuiper read “Serve God, Save the Planet” during his time with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks at Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

“I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works.” Psalm 145:5

The South American country of Bolivia is filled with incredible beauty that is matched only by the beautiful people who live there. My wife and I had the privilege of going there twice last year, as we developed a partnership with Compassion International and our new “sister” church in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

As with most mission trips, it is easy to get fatigued and feeling overwhelmed due to the conditions that much of the rest of the world experiences. So, usually there is at least one play day. The trip to the Lomas de Arena (Sand Dunes) was an amazing discovery. Even though it is only a few miles outside of the city limits, the arid sand dunes are about the last thing you would expect to find in contrast to the lush, surrounding landscape.

Some very unusual birds and animals including storks, armadillos, owls and even emus can be found. I walked all across the dunes, working my way across the left side. Then, I walked down the hill to the green grassy area so I could explore around the edge and find some contrasting textures. I will spare you the photo and memory of the large snake I found as well. Imagine my surprise when I came upon this collection of tin cans and water bottles!

Until that moment, it had been a couple of hours of wonder and being thankful, meditating on the majesty of “wondrous works.” It can be so simple and easy to respect this beautiful place that God created for His pleasure and ours. I am going to try to do a better job myself.

Jeff Rogers – With twenty years of nature photography experience as well as a lay pastor background, Jeff brings an appreciation for God’s creation as well as spiritual guidance. His wife, Melissa, an emergency room physician, shares his passion for serving God and preserving the beauty of nature.

Dr. Sleeth will be preaching at the Community Church Edgewater at 6 p.m. The church meets at the EDGE Gallery on 6318 N. Clark St. in Chicago.

Brian Webb, Blessed Earth’s Director of Educational Programming, will be preaching at University United Methodist Church in Syracuse.

Nancy will be delivering one of the keynote addresses at the Ohio Earthkeeping Summit (co-sponsored by Ohio Interfaith Power & Light and Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources). She will also be teaching a workshop on “Rest.” The summit will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More details TBD.