COP 29 AND JUDGEMENT 

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”  (Acts 17: 32)

According to Luke, the physician, whose name appears as author at the start of the book of ACTS, Paul, the apostle, said this, while visiting Athens, Greece, somewhere between the years 40-45 A.D. 

Then Athens and, in particular ‘the Areopagus’ was the centre of the scientific world. It was there, on that famous hill, where the world’s wise and learned debated the topics of the day, and where newcomers were openly welcomed to air their views. 

So, Paul went there. But Paul, the apostle, educated in the world’s most ancient and unique school of thought, falling back on a thousand years of divine Jewish wisdom, was soon silenced when he mentioned “judgement and the resurrection of the dead”. The dead coming back to life, clashed with the Greek philosophy of the separation of body and soul, ingrained in Greek thought until this very day, and, sorry to say, prevalent in contemporary Christianity even now, evident in the dominant belief that upon death, we go to heaven. 

And then there is judgement. 

That brings me back to the present, and COP 29.

Is the church’s teaching to blame for CLIMATE CHANGE? Is that why judgement is waiting in the wings? In the text quoted above, it mentions that Jesus will return, heralding a day of reckoning, an occurrence often overlooked in churches.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the word ‘judgment’ appears 294 times, while the word “grace” is shown only 170 times. In my long life, with some 90 years of weekly church attendance, I cannot recall a sermon on ‘Judgment’, even though Paul uses that dreaded concept in his opening statement to the then World’s First University. 

Judgement and Sin.

In my opinion our generation is the most ‘sinful’ of all times, because a ‘sin against creation’, is a sin against the Creator. Yes, carbon use is sinful.

Creation/God is taking revenge.

Now creation is fighting back: we only are experiencing the opening salvos: COP 29 is a religious event: treasuring Creation is our main task in life. The thousands of COP delegates only increase earth’s vengeance. You may know that this week, Cop29 officially opened on Monday 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, a conference scheduled to end 11 days later. Had the church chosen to live by Genesis, describing the earth as God’s possession, and regarding it as ‘good’ and ‘very good’, in line with God’s opinion, this world gathering with 197 nations present, plus the European Union represented there, and the 28 preceding ones, would not have been necessary. Had ecclesiastical Christianity seen God’s grace to include the entire spectrum of life, believing God’s Earth and what it contains, as HOLY, following Psalm 24, “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, the world and all it contains,” a conference, such as COP 29, would not have been needed.

The conference is all about reducing, if not eliminating, the use of Carbon Products, known to cause our Climate Heating Predicament. The irony is that the host country Azerbaijan, relies on fossil fuels for more than 90 per cent of its exports. This, combined with the election of Trump, a Climate Change Denier, offer little to inspire confidence in this year’s conference.

So, why did Paul, the famous missionary, go there in the first place?  Paul, trained as a biblical scholar, wrote in the first letter to his church in Thessalonica (verse 5: 21), that we should ‘test all things and retain what is good’. 

That’s why he went to Athens, the centre of learning in his day, to learn first hand what ‘the world’ was teaching. 

He came, he saw, did not argue, and left.

In my previous blog I wrote: “Yes, Socrates, as recorded by Plato, welcomed death and eagerly drank the poison, sending him, supposedly, to a better life, because death could not be evil, as it frees the soul by guiding it to eternal truths, which, after all, is the entire point of life”.

And today?

Both, in their writings, Paul and Socrates are still around. At first blush, Socrates has been the winner, although his name is seldom mentioned. A casual look at English and American hymnbooks, reveals that heaven is almost universally praised as our ultimate destination. The fact that Trump has the overwhelming support of both Roman Catholic and Protestant believers, is a signal that Socratic beliefs are still particularly popular. Today we are witnessing the fulfillment of Socrates’ wish: the earth is seen as ‘evil’, as something to be destroyed.

God loves the earth. We are killing it. Climate Change is God’s built-in Judgement.

FROM CHAOS TO COSMOS TO CHAOS TO COSMOS.

Cycles

The world turns on cycles. I define a ‘cycle’ as a regular recurring event, that goes around and around, endlessly repeating its course.

Yes, everything turns in cycles: each day sees the switch from night to dawn to daylight to evening to night. Each month we see the moon in her 28-day cycle. Each year we experience the four seasons, or used to, anyway. 

All these phenomena are so familiar that we hardly pay any attention to them: they are the built-in laws of nature.

There also are huge cycles. Take ‘religion’. It seems that every 500 years something happens there. King David initiated the temple service around 1,000 before Christ. The Israel exile to Babylon occurred around the year 500 BC, also the era when Buddhism emerged. We start tabulating our time from the year Zero, the birth of Christ. The year 500 saw the birth and rise of Islam. The Christian Church had its top monopoly in the year 1,000. Luther challenged that hegemony with the Reformation in 1,500. Now, around 2,000 all religions are under attack, most certainly the Christian one.

But.

There is one cycle that is never cited: ‘From Chaos to Cosmos to Chaos to Cosmos. That’s the longest cycle that runs from eternity to eternity, from the Beginning – whenever – to the End (Telos) – whenever.

That’s the one I want to dwell on.

While Cosmos indicates beautifully orchestrated regularity, Chaos denotes a gaping void or chasm, a formless primordial matter. The concept comes to us from the French, the Latin, originating from the Greek, hkaos. 

The Bible starts with that Chaos. Genesis 1: 2 describes it as “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Chaos personifies lack of order, devoid of meaning, without purpose or goal, directionless, serving no cause whatsoever. 

In the Beginning.

The Bible starts with three simple words, ‘In the Beginning”. Yes, our world, the world we live in, love in, are born in, and die in, had ‘a beginning’. 

Psalm 33: 9 describes the second stage: “God spoke and it came to be”. 

That short phrase is beyond human conception. When we build a structure, many factors are involved: an idea, an elaboration, a plan, blueprints, financing, backers, implementation: all this may take years. But with God, 1,000 years is as one day. Imagine: “God spoke and it came to be!” All phases, every step, all stages, from concept to implementation, from scratch to completion, from chaos to cosmos, done in no time. 

And then we came.

Then we came along, us, you, me. A long time ago, but now, in the last 200 years or so, when our CARBON age emerged, matters accelerated, speeded up out of control. Now, with Trump in charge, and the ‘heaven-oriented, earth-hating’ “Christians” in the drivers’ seat, events are in overdrive, hell over heels, racing towards God’s future. Yes, from Cosmos to Chaos. That’s what we now are witnessing. 

The election result will send shockwaves through annual UN climate talks that start in Azerbaijan on Monday, November 11. The election of a climate denier to the US presidency will prove fatal for the world, thanks to organized religion, operating totally under the influence of Greek Pagan philosophy. 

What? 

Yes, Socrates, as recorded by Plato, welcomed death and eagerly drank the poison, sending him, supposedly, to a better world. Socrates believed that because of the immortality of the soul, death could not be evil, because to free the soul by guiding it to the eternal truths was the entire point of life.

Today we are witnessing the fulfillment of Socrates’ wish. The earth is seen as ‘evil’, as something to destroyed.

Never mind.

Never mind the Bible! Never mind Jesus’ death, dying to restore the cosmos, dying to conquer death. Never mind: John 3: 16!! For God so loved the world, the cosmos, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Never mind: John 3: 17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Save the world!!  That’s why Jesus came: To save the world. Personal Salvation and creational salvation go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. 

Just as the Old Testament Church killed Jesus because he offended the church-rules, so much of the heaven-oriented New Testament Church is killing the COSMOS, the world that God bought back through Jesus’ death.

From CHAOS to COSMOS to CHAOS to COSMOS. 

We are coming full circle. History, church history, is repeating itself. 

Must I conclude that Trump and his ‘Christians’ are the Antichrist? 

Think about it.

FACING DEATH.

Pray non-stop.

Last week I was about to cross the busy road running through the village. I saw no traffic coming from the South, and the traffic light to the North was red, so, I proceeded my way without a worry, when, suddenly a heavy gravel truck rushed past me, missing me by inches, having ignored the red light: I had been a few seconds away from sure death. 

That episode reminded me of Psalm 91: “God will command his angels to guard you”. Yes, I believe in guardian angels. In my book, DAY WITHOUT END, the very first person I meet in the New Creation, is my guardian angel, whom I have named Cornelius for no obvious reason. He welcomes me to my ‘perfect after death LIFE,’ and is, in my story, eager to introduce me to life in eternity.

Quitting TV.

Months ago, I simply abandoned watching TV. I suddenly saw it as sheer superficial, with its constant advertising and sensational stories. 

Television is, in my opinion, leading and has led to our spiritual death by giving us a distorted view on the immense dangers we face as a society. Neil Postman, in his AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH, was right when he wrote a book with that title in 1985. With him, I believe that Television has contributed to the ascent of the godless Trump, has sped up the decline of ecclesiastical Christianity, and totally obscured the rise of Climate Change. 

And then there is Political Death.

On November 5, the day of the American election, ‘DEATH’ is on the ballot. 

Choosing Trump and the Republican ticket, is choosing death over life. It is not that Kamala Harris is perfect, but at least she stands for democratic principles and regard for creation as we experienced the deity in ‘nature’.

How do we live out the ‘last days?’

Now more than ever, to live ‘religiously’, means walking in the footsteps of Jesus. He simply told us in John 10: 10 “to live LIFE and that to the full.” Jesus did not call us to a new religious setup, of whatever color and stripe, but to LIFE in all its manifestations. Christian living does not mean being ‘religious’ in some way, rather it means being a true human being.

Television tears us away from ‘true’ life, and leads us to death.  Christ’s first miracle was to make the best wine ever, at a 7-days (!) wedding celebration. No wonder his opponents – the religious authorities – called him ‘a glutton’ and a ‘winebibber’. The loudest laugh came from Jesus!

Pray without ceasing.

More than ever, we need prayer, and pray for Christ’s return, as we now live in pure godless times.

Here is my prayer to sustain me in the perilous period ahead:

God of heaven and earth, listen to me.

Teach me respect and solidarity with all created matter.

Teach me to remain of sound mind.

Teach me to live in peace with each other, as members of households, as relatives, as community, as nations, as humanity.

Teach me to assume responsibility, to have patience and hope, even in these testing times, always ready to extend and embrace love.

Gracious and merciful God, teach me to choose 

The way of goodness. 

When I stumble, help me to get up.

Teach me assist others, and do so unconditionally for the benefit of the earth that sustains me.

I pray to walk in your Light, and so see Light.

I pray that the breath of your words may surround me and

Teach me to taste the goodness of life,

And embrace peace, shalom.

I pray to always look forward to the New Creation 

That is rushing on, and always live in

The full expectation and confidence of its imminent 

Arrival.

I pray for love, love that extends beyond my immediate communities, so that what I do and say reflects your love.

May I live the resurrection life,

I pray, Merciful Lord, to be a helper and protector on my way.

I see so much suffering in your world.

Please Lord, hasten your coming, so that pain and dislocation, 

Through wars and natural disasters, may cease, and your glorious future 

May arrive.

Amen.

Death is inevitable.

There is a saying: The only certainties in life are death and taxes: of the two, death is the ultimate inevitable, our own death, and also the death of our current way of life, which is totally unsustainable, as the symptoms of death and extinction become more evident by the day.

In the Lord’s prayer we often say, “Forgive us our trespasses”, without realizing, or even wanting to know that almost all of our actions mean ‘trespassing’ in your holy creation, simple matters such as driving our cars, and turning on a light, and heating our large homes cause pollution

Forgive us.

TURMOIL TRIGGERS TURMOIL; FIRES FOSTER FIRES.

Gazing into the future – falteringly, of course.

The future fascinates me. I know how it will end: Global heating only has one ending: fire. Only fire has the built-in feature of complete cleansing, a ‘from the roots up, radical, comprehensive, all-consuming cure’. 

Why?

Because a realistic look at the environmental situation today, reveals that nothing has been left unaltered: nothing pristine, pure, has been preserved: from water to air, from soil to souls, everything and everybody has become de-purified, as turmoil triggers turmoil.

Fire reminds me of the last Old Testament book, Malachi. There, in 3: 2 it says: “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”

I like that imagery of ‘refiner’s fire and complete cleansing,’ taking out all impurities, restoring the earth and her inhabitants, to their original pristine state. With Noah’s Flood, only the then humanity there was taken away: creation itself remained untouched. Now it is different: everything, everybody needs restoration.

Ignoring the situation is no solution.

Of course, we can ignore ‘the signs of the times’, but the happenings are unmistaken. Turmoil is everywhere, in ‘nature’, in business, in politics, in churches, in gender: no wonder that gold, pure gold, is soaring, seen as the last unpolluted resource. 

Nothing is sure anymore. 

‘Turmoil’, the word itself, reminds me of terminal: many of the same letters. The word ‘terminal’ has a distinct meaning, as in ‘bus terminal’, the final destination, or as in a sickness that is terminal, meaning death. Turmoil also reminds me whirling waters with their sucking sounds, their dragging down whatever is in their swirling grip to their doom.

Where are the hopeful signs?

Cop 16 on Biodiversity is meeting right now in Columbia, while the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) will convene from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Frankly, these meetings only add to the problems, as very little of the pledges is implemented. All around the world the tide of war is rising. Russia is bent on conquering Ukraine. Iran is fighting a proxy war with Israel. China is preparing to invade Taiwan. North Korea regularly threatens the South with annihilation. 

The new dangers

Perhaps citizens of the other democracies imagine the fight can be contained to these theatres. No such possibility. Whether they know it or not, the war is already being taken to them, in stealth or hybrid form: sabotage, intimidation, infiltration and disinformation, all using the West’s signature strength, its openness and freedom, against it.

Russia has been waging an increasingly intense war of sabotage across Europe. Iran has helped to fund the violent anti-Israel street protests that have convulsed much of the West. Chinese hackers are inventing new and more destructive forms of cyber warfare. The new war is fought unseen, using the magic of stealth. 

In the meantime, natural disasters multiply: we have either too much heat or not enough, too much water, or not enough. Artificial Intelligence – AI – and Bitcoin, as well as bottled water from springs sustain a virtual world that will be wiped out if we don’t leave enough water for crops, livestock, wildlife, and, yes, people. 

Reality, the naked truth, is disappearing. 

There is a sense that we have accepted that virtual landscapes have the same validity as real ones, and yet this is so utterly untrue as to feel perverse, wrong, unsettling. It threatens to mean that we strip-mine the world of its meaning to the point of having to exist as online entities (a deranged idea) because nothing else is left. Scientists say human activity has pushed the world into the danger zone in seven out of eight indicators of planetary safety. Under a business-as-usual scenario, biodiversity loss will accelerate, with more species surviving only in zoos. More than 70 percent of large wild animals have disappeared: we have taken away their habitat.

At the very moment when all human ingenuity is needed to repair the damage done to God’s creation, we waste our ever-shrinking wealth to wage universal war, not merely against each other, but especially against the natural elements: air, water, soil. 

And where is ‘faith’?

Amos 8: 12 says it all: People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. It is exactly our disregard for the Created Word, so well defined in John 3:16-17, God’s love for the cosmos, that lies at the heart of our predicament.

The danger of a huge temperature rise is very large in the Arctic, where vast amounts of methane are held in sediments at the seafloor and in permafrost on land, and where there is very little hydroxyl in the air to break down the methane. 

Turmoil triggers turmoil. Fires foster fires.

MY BODY IS HOLY

I believe in the resurrection of the body, and Life Everlasting.

                                                               The Apostles’ Creed

I am an expert in the field of aging, having just turned 96, and, fortunately, being in good health. My sight is good, my movements slower, my steps careful, and my hearing bad. The best hearing aids still keep me out of a general conversation, but enables me to have good person-to-person contact. 

My day-to-day routine suits me: in bed before 9.30 pm, up at 7.30 am, and usually sleep quite soundly. 

My wife, who died 4 years ago, trained me well for independence. Living alone, far from my 5 children (the nearest is Toronto, some 225km away), I am very fortunate that almost each week one of them visits, especially the oldest of my three daughters, who comes every other week from Tuesday nights to Thursday afternoon and arranges the necessary appointments for medical and other purposes. My other two daughters live in the USA.

I quit smoking, and started running.

My long life is, I believe, due to my routine. I quit smoking in 1961 when I saw one of my clients die of lung cancer, and vouched not to die in that manner, so I banned cigarettes and started running, which I replaced with walking a few years ago, and still do faithfully almost each day: 4,000+ steps, for 40 minutes. I believe that my body is God’s personal gift to me, which makes it holy, and requires my utmost consideration. That’s why I eat well, vegetarian, and, thanks to my church affiliation, I have 3 social contacts each week. Loneliness kills: books too are good friends.

Statistics.

Over the past century, life expectancy at birth in Canada has risen substantially to 79.8 years for males, and 83.9 years for females, but now, I read that the increase in the overall age in the Western world has stalled, and is even decreasing in the USA where men, on the average live 74.8 years, and females 80.2. 

In the world of statistics, Hong Kong ranks first with an average age of close to 90, while Canada is #20 on the list. I imagine that this is partly due to the deplorable state of health of our first-nation population, and the stress immigration takes on the many people: Last year Canada admitted ONE million newcomers.

Our village has a large clinic: 3 doctors and lots of support staff, nurses and nurse practitioners. It’s all free, fully tax supported, due in part to a 13% HST – Harmonized Sales Tax. 

We are aging, and so in our planet. 

We are not the only ones growing old: so is the planet: It too is up for renewal. This week I read that 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded: an international team of researchers has discovered that the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed and that forests, plants and soil absorbed almost no carbon. That makes the outlook worrisome.

There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream Ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift that could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor.

Yes, we live in a finite world. 

Every day we read of species under threat of extinction. Every day we notice more dangers, more hurricanes, more destructive unnatural disasters. Soon Florida, the winter destination of many, may become uninhabitable, as well as parts of Africa, where drought is forcing people to relocate.

And then there is the economy. All parts of the economy operate in cycles. In fact, individual people, individual businesses, and individual governments all have finite lifespans. We now seem to be coming to the end of an economic cycle. We don’t know precisely how this will end. We do know, based on history, that the downward part of the cycle will likely take years to resolve.

Yes, the earth is holy.

Karen Armstrong, in her book, SACRED NATURE, outlines how through human history, religions have regarded the earth divine. Bonhoeffer saw creation as an extension of the Creator, just as Bach and his music are one.  Psalm 24 says it so beautifully: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Everything that belongs to God is holy: you, I, the trees, the soil, the seas, the air, the animals: we all reflect God’s greatness. That’s why I believe in the resurrection of the body, and Life Everlasting, and that in a perfect world.

PURE SPECULATION?

This week’s ‘blog’ is mostly about numbers, so, here is one: #1,187! That means that, since the year 2,000, I have written 1,186 articles, almost one (1) each week. The first 505 were also published in the regional daily newspaper, the Belleville-based ‘Intelligencer’, sometimes called ‘the Stupidifier’.

Why do I write? 

Two reasons: I think have something to say, and I know how to say it in a way that reflects Biblical truths. I also believe that the church in general, is hampered by its structure, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to proclaim ‘the gospel of the kingdom’. 

That said, something that struck me this week: the number ‘’THREE”. Why Three? Well, I have a peculiar habit. When I see a 4 or less digit number, I, in my mind – without a calculator – try to reduce it to its basic or ‘prime number’ status. Take this year, 2024, an even number, thus divisible by 2 or multiple, so, 1012, 506, 253 which is divisible by 23, giving it 11 as the prime number. And 2025? Easy: 81 x 25, with 81 being 3 x 3 x 3 x 3. (3-9-27-81). That indicates that next year, 2025, has THREE as its prime number.

So, what is so peculiar about ‘the number THREE’?

In Scripture the number ‘three’ represents that which is solid, real, substantial, and something in its completeness.  This number indicates something of importance or significance in God’s plan of salvation by identifying an important event in Salvation History.  This number operates as a “sign-post” in Scripture study for the reader to “pay attention” to the significance of the next event.  

That’s how one commentator explains The Number Three. So, does the next year really figure in God’s plan for Salvation? It scares the wits out of me to even hint that it may be the year of Christ’s return! 

I have read that there are 4 perfect numbers in the Bible:  3 (divine perfection); 7 (spiritual perfection); 10 (ordinal perfection); and 12 (governmental perfection). The question that haunts me is: will 2025, with its divine base number, become ‘perfect’?

But first some substantiation, why THREE is prominent in both the Old and the Newer Testament.

The earth was separated from the waters on the 3^rd day and life began [Genesis 1:9-13].

There were three Patriarchs of the children of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel.

After the Great Flood humanity descended from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth [Genesis 10:1-32].

Three “men” announced to Abraham that his barren wife would bear a son [Genesis 18:14].

Baby Moses was hidden by his mother for three months [Exodus 2:1]. The adult Moses asked Pharaoh that he let Moses take his people on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to their God [Exodus 3:18].

There were three divisions of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. 

Jonah spent three days in the belly of the great fish [Jonah 2:1]; Jonah took three days to journey across the city of Nineveh [Jonah 3:3].

In the New Testament:

Jesus’ ministry lasted three years, covering three Passovers [John 2:13; 6:4; 11:55-12:1].

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months [Luke 1:56].

Jesus was missing for three days when He was 12 years old [Luke 2:46].

Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the Mt. of Transfiguration [Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2;Luke 9:28-36].

Jesus arose from the dead on the third day. [Matthew 16:21, 

Saul was blinded for three days [Acts 9:9].

The theological virtues are faith, hope and charity {1 Corinthians 13:13].

The heavenly Jerusalem has three gates on each of its four sides [Revelation 21:13].

Christians saw three as symbolic of the Trinity, the nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [Matthew 28:19].

In Addition:

There are three divisions of time: past, present, and future.

There are three persons represented in grammar: She/he/it.

Thought, word, and deed complete the sum of human capacity. 

Back to today. 

On September 16 I posted a NEW blog:

WILL WE BE ALIVE IN 2025, WHO WILL SURVIVE, 2025? 

In it I quote ARCTIC NEWS:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

Will we be alive in 2025, who will survive, 2025?

 

 

This past week the British Guardian had this headline:

Earth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance, say climate experts

Record emissions, temperatures and population mean more scientists are looking into possibility of societal collapse, report says.

PURE SPECULATION? Yes. Why? Because 2 Peter 3: 10 tells us:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

 

And Yet…………