Mother Nature

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:28

Over the past decade I have watched with increasing interest the debate over the state of the earth and whether or not man is or is not to blame. I have finally decided to attempt to put into writing my thoughts on the earth and what mankind’s relationship with her entails.

First off there is the title, “Mother Nature” which I will address. I find the term in theory to be accurate biblically based on the following verse: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 Technically, while not giving the earth credit for creating us, we do issue from her substance and as such we hold a somewhat mystical tie to her. But this is the extent of what should have been her rule over us. In Genesis 1:28 we are told what is to be the order of relationship between mankind and earth. She is our domain and we are to replenish her. In close observance, the relationship between man and earth which God instituted is extremely sacred and intimate.

Let me put it into a different perspective. Think of the earth as our wife. We are to care for her, replenish her, love her, and bring her happiness. Any gardener can tell you that the more you attempt to beat your land into submission the less return you will get from it. There is much delicacy and tenderness in the art of gardening and harvesting from the earth. We cannot run around punching holes in her and stealing her resources without replacing what we have taken. It’s rather like a love bank. You cannot empty someone’s bank without attempting to refill it and expect to maintain the relationship. Such actions are selfish abuse. There is a saying, “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned”. I am afraid the earth fits very well into this stereotype. When we misuse her, she reacts. She is angry and she is hurt. Now I do not attribute personality to the earth to in some way deify her but merely to emphasize the point that she is alive.

Over the last century science has served us well in discovering and proving some of the previously disregarded truths surrounding nature. We discovered that animals have emotions, feelings; that they experience pain. When we discovered and grasped this concept we fell into accountability to no longer mistreat the animal kingdom but to care for and nurture it. Today we are coming into an even starker realization that the earth too experiences pain and suffering. The question then comes into play of who is causing this pain. Now it would seem that some within the scientific community have, as of late, abused the trust of the public and propagated the issue of global warming. It is my opinion that there is no such thing as global warming but that there is such thing as the earth reacting to her mistreatment. I think (until science proves otherwise) that the extremes of “climate change” will continue with greater intensity until we cease to misuse the earth and her resources. But I do not think this is merely a matter confined to climate but is inclusive of all nature’s unleashed wrath: earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, etc. The more selfish our ambitions become, the greater our sin, the greater her anger.

God did not create the earth to die. When man fell in the Garden of Eden and died spiritually, he forever sealed the fate of the earth in his destiny to die. So at its source, man is indeed responsible for the death of the earth. But what does that mean for us? Do we continue to let the earth die? Did God continue on His course and simply allow man to die? No. He developed a plan to restore to us that which was lost. God’s entire pattern throughout Scripture appears to be one of bringing wholeness and restoration to that which is broken and lost; to mend broken relationships with Him and with others. If we are attempting to follow in His footsteps then should we also be finding ways to provide healing and restoration to the earth; to mend the relationship between man and earth? Based on the charge in Genesis to care for and replenish the earth it would seem that such actions would fall under our responsibility.

Another question I asked myself was whether or not the earth could feel. After studying a passage from Hosea I came to the conclusion that, at least based on Scripture, yes the earth can feel and express in some manner and that God hears and validates those expressions. “’It shall come to pass in that day, That I will answer,’ says the Lord; ‘I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; They shall answer Jezreel (God sows).’” Hosea 2:21-22 Logically, one cannot answer or respond to something inanimate therefore the earth and the heavens are animate and God hears them and answers and responds to them. This is a very profound relationship we see here and we have scientific evidence that such a relationship exists between heaven and earth. The more we pollute our air the greater impact we see on the earth. And to make matters even scarier… God sees it all and cares enough to respond about it! If you still doubt God’s degree of concern over the earth then examine the purpose behind the Sabbath. Jesus is pretty emphatic about the idea that the Sabbath was created for man. Well guess what… God gave the earth a Sabbath too. So He must care about the earth and her use/abuse. If you care to see the repercussions of using the earth without sabbatical provisions then all you have to do is look at the dustbowl phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I must say, I am slightly embarrassed that the Church has not been on the forefront of the environmental movement. But I think I am beginning to understand how that happened and where we erred in judgment. The Church wasn’t always so indifferent to matters of nature. We took seriously our task to cultivate the land and be fruitful and multiply. But something began to happen in the world that closely accompanied a complimentary movement in the Church. It was the industrial age. The industrial age was one of the fastest growing surges in history but brought along with it severe damage to the earth and her resources. What accompanied this age was the inception of an internal Church movement known as fundamentalism. Now when I speak of fundamentalism I am not talking about the basis of our faith but of the fundamentals we began to embrace in matters of eschatology. Fundamentalism in this sense dictated that the earth would eventually see its end but that we, Christians, would not be here to see it; that we would escape all of that. Whether or not the outlook is correct is not the issue, it is the mindset the view plants in the believer. When environmental issues arise we think to ourselves, “Who cares… we’re outta here anyway when the end arrives. Why waste my time on saving the earth? God doesn’t care about the earth, He only cares about souls.” Well, according to Hosea that’s not true. God cares about the earth and He hears her plight. Taking that view into account I have another proposal which also comes from Scripture.

“There fore He said: ‘A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come’… And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’…” Luke 19:12-27

The story continues on. I am sure most of us have read it. My point in citing this parable in particular is this: I see the earth as being a “talent” God gave to mankind. Whether or not we leave it before whatever destruction occurs is not the issue. The issue is, if you believe that God will in some manner provide, create, restore… whatever, a new earth, then will the measure of that new earth be determined by how faithful we were with the first “talent” God gave to us to care for? I’m not convinced He’s simply going to create a new world, look at what we did to the old one and say, “Here you go, guys. Have at this one”. But if we are intent on loving God and obeying His commands, we will take the very first command He gave to us much more sincerely, and attempt to do just that instead of adopting this attitude of escapism. I challenge you today to think about what part you can play in making this earth a better and safer place. Imagine the witness we could have to world if they saw how much we cared for others and their future by caring for the environment.

Dying to Self

“But He said, ‘You cannot see My face: for no man shall see Me, and live.’” Exodus 33:20

In my previous blog I wrote about coming face to face with Christ and eliminating those things which prohibit us from seeing Him. I stumbled upon some interesting thoughts following that blog as I thought more deeply about what it means to be face to face with Christ.

Some of the misconceptions about God that I have come to embrace have to do with what it means to come face to face with God and what would happen to me if I did. I based my understanding of God’s face on the occurrence in Exodus where God tells Moses that he may not see the face of God or he will die. But then another passage came to mind from the New Testament that challenged my traditional understanding of this.

“If you had known Me; you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:7-9

So let me get this right: to come in contact with the face of Christ is to come in contact with the face of the Father. And yet I am not dead… or am I? And if I am not dead… then have I truly come into contact with the face of Christ? Will this death be physical or spiritual? What difference was there between the time of Moses and the time of Christ? Aha! There is the key. The difference is Christ. At the time of Moses there was no incarnate Christ yet and as such there could be no true life and no true redemption from sin. So to come into contact with God who can behold no sin would in essence snuff us out of existence. There was nothing to keep us alive. But after Christ there was life and something that could indeed survive coming face to face with God. Following this train of thought I am now able to come face to face with God through Christ. But does something still die? You bet! Again we turn to scripture.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4

In light of that passage, everything has changed… but nothing has changed. When we come face to face with God, we die. We must! We must die to self and live in Christ. Prior to the New Testament there was no life in Christ so to see God would demand the dying to self but offer no life in Christ. You would die if you came face to face with God.

Today, when there is sin in our lives we are faced with a choice. We may bring it before God, coming face to face with him, in which case we must then die to that sin and to ourselves and allow God to replace what has died with the life offered through the resurrection of Christ. If we attempt to come before God without Christ then we will truly die with no hope of life to follow.

The astounding and wonderful realization of this for me was that I may see the face of God. The terrifying, frightening aspect of this is that in order to do so, I must die to myself. Are you seeing God face to face? What have you died to today?

Saint Peter and This Life We Live

For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world - Coldplay


A few weeks ago as I drove along, heading to Sam’s Club, the Coldplay song, Viva la Vida came on the radio. I have heard this song many times and knew most the lyrics so I sang along. When the stanza citing Saint Peter came along I belted it out and suddenly it gave me great pause. Thoughts rushed in and I found myself quite perturbed over this idea of Saint Peter calling my name at heaven’s gate. Now don’t get me wrong. I love Peter to death; he has always been my favorite apostle but when I get to heaven he is not the first person I want to see. How on earth did Peter end up in Christian tradition as heaven’s bouncer anyway? Well, in all fairness, Peter did not receive that role through legitimate tradition but assumed that role more for the sake of making good jokes. But needless to say throughout Church History there was indeed a strange affinity for Peter and his supreme pontific role, and so I must analyze why this was.

Let me begin by working backwards… I could work forwards but I always prefer to take you along the thought process I used and in this particular instance I traveled backwards.

When I arrive in heaven at the end of this life the first person I want to see is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to see his face at the gate. I want him to speak my name in love and say to me, “I know you.” I want him to take my hand, lead me inside those pearly gates, and show me all the wonderful things he has prepared for me. I don’t want to see Peter (sorry Peter, no offense). But what would it take for Jesus to truly “know” me?

Jesus’ character is quite complex. That’s the greatest understatement of all time. We’re talking about the character of God here. Jesus embodies the characteristics we love to dote on – the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. When we think of those characteristics then of course it is easy to love Christ. But what happens when we do not have those characteristics in our own lives and the nature of Christ comes into conflict with our very own flesh nature? What then? I believe that when Christ comes into contact with our flesh there is a battle waged. He is all of the sudden transformed into the Christ of Matthew 21:12 and God forces us to witness the “Cleansing of the Temple”. We literally see the very essence of Christ enter in and overturn the selfish ambitions we cling to, the idols we have erected, and the thrones we have set up. Have you met this Christ? I dare say you cannot meet one without meeting first the other. The fruits of the Spirit cannot be cultivated if the temple is not first cleansed. It is a conflict of interest.

Early Gnostics fell into the trap of thinking that somehow the God of the New Testament differed from that of the Old Testament. They never made the connection between the God who hates sin and the God who loves humanity. Well, they are one and the same but come to fullness within the person who is Christ. As you study Christ throughout the New Testament you will realize that his tolerance of sin remains the same as that of the God of the Old Testament. The only difference is that his presence here on earth finally made it possible for God to confront and remove the sin that plagues us. Christ does not ever ignore or tolerate sin but instead cleanses us and removes it.

In the final judgment when the entire world comes face to face with the reality of sin, the image of Christ that appears is one that sparks a great amount of fear. Regardless of what your “end-times” views are, if there is sin in your life, that sin will experience God’s wrath.

All of this to say, there are many facets to the character of Christ and if we are to follow him we must truly know him and all that is him and not just take the parts that are pleasing to us. If we take only those parts of his character that make us feel good but fail to recognize the part of Christ that confronts our selfish sin nature then he can never truly transform us.

So what does that all have to do with Saint Peter? It’s not just Peter but all forms of intermediaries and buffers we attempt to place between us and Christ. We act like the Israelites of old. “God, don’t speak directly to us! Speak to someone else and he’ll pass it along to me. Coming face to face with you is too terrifying!”

If you follow Church History closely you can see that in the presence of saints and earthly intermediaries we begin to look very much like that unclean temple; full of all sorts of practices and purchases guaranteed to grant us access to heaven. Once we remove these obstacles we gain a much clearer view of Christ. But beware of the opposite extreme that accepts only the pleasurable, intimate characteristics of Christ and ignores his Lordship and confrontational aspects making him instead a God who tolerates all manner of sin. The result is that when we take on the command to become “Christ-like” we also become tolerant of all manner of sin in our own lives and in the lives of others and we never truly encourage each other to grow and change. Loving God and loving others should never translate to loving sin.

The true nature of Christ in addition to loving humanity is also confrontational, terrifying, angry, and saddened in the presence of sin. The mentality of having an intermediary other than Christ is this: if we can place enough space between the hard to accept characteristics of Christ then perhaps we can rub shoulders with him without having to look him in the face or ever truly giving up those selfish ambitions that rule our lives. If I muddle through life in this mindset then when I finally arrive at that gate I may very well run into Saint Peter. Christ sure isn’t going to know who I am or come out to greet me. As difficult as the experience will be, I want to look my savior in the face, allow him to root out sin and cultivate his fruit in my life. Peter, my brother, out of the way… I want to see Christ. Who or what stands between you and Christ?

Happy New Year!

And so a new year begins. Welcome to 2010! It has been five months since I last updated my blog. I wrote on the "Fullness of Time" and then, quite literally the fullness of time arrived the following month and I have been slammed ever since. Here is a brief update of the last five months.


Labor and delivery went surprisingly smooth. I felt contractions begin early afternoon on September 28th. They were very mild so at first I wasn't sure whether or not we were really in labor. They continued, narrowing down to ten minutes apart until about 8pm and then stopped for an hour. I fell asleep for that hour and then woke up again at 9pm with slightly stronger contractions. I called the midwife to inform her and she also said it sounded like false labor. She told me to take a Tylenol and hop in the bath to see if the contractions either increased or decreased. So I followed the instructions and almost immediately we were down to 5 minute contractions. I called her back when they began to feel noticeably painful and she, somewhat skeptically, said I could come in and they'd measure to see where we were but that I would probably end up back home. I agreed and off we went to the hospital at 4am on September 29th. Upon arriving they took my measurement and found out I was at 8 cm! We rushed into the delivery room and they hooked me up to vitals and then allowed me to walk around (thank God!) until it was time to push. Declan Rhys Basehore was born at 6:38 am September 29th and weighed in at 7lbs. 4oz.


Declan took off very well in the eating department, which I suppose is typical for boys and has been growing ever since. I put him on the Babywise eating schedule, which worked very well for his sister when she was born. He fell easily into the schedule and was pulling all nighters by week 10. He has his trouble periods as does any infant. If he gets a cold or congested then of course he doesn't sleep well at all but I take it all in stride. For the most part he sleeps from 8-10 hours straight each night.


My favorite time of day with him is early morning. He wakes up and eats and then is as cheerful as ever and we just sit and chat and giggle together until he falls asleep again.


Naomi will go back to school on Monday, January 4th. At that time I foresee having much more time to get back to blogging and am looking forward to being able to express all the thoughts I have been accumulating over the last several months. I miss writing!


In book news, my manuscript still remains at that stage. I have many new readers who are evaluating and providing input on the subject matter. If you would like to be one of those readers please let me know and I can get a copy of it out to you. The book is currently titled "Made In Their Image" and is a work I put together on my interpretation of the Trinity and more specifically the feminine roles of the Holy Spirit and how those dynamics function within the Trinity and are in turn a beautiful example to model ones own femininity after. I am sure at first glance that may seem like a reach but trust me when I say I have put much effort into presenting a solid case.


Well that is all the updates for now. God Bless!