Allen brought home a new book a couple of months ago with the title, "Serve God, Save the Planet." I was a little skeptical at first I guess because I figured the author was probably one of those tree hugger types and it would make me feel bad to even read the book because we are so far from that. I can't say there's not the tiniest bit of truth in that statement...but not enough to keep me from recommending this book.
The author's name is J.Matthew Sleeth and he comes from the perspective of a doctor that used to work in the E.R. and started seeing some medical conditions actually caused by environmental issues. I didn't even know this existed besides like asthma or allergies. Although that's not the main tenant of the book, his background does set the stage for what he set out to discover.
He simply and eloquently shows scriptural evidence for why we should be better stewards of our planet and gives basic steps in how to do it. I appreciated the book because he comes from the perspective of one who used to live in a huge house and accumulate huge masses of trash to now one who lives in a house that is the size of his former garage and his family only produces one plastic grocery bag of trash a week!
He doesn't look down on those that live the way he used to, he just gives simple, everyday steps to becoming more green, like: running the dishwasher only when full and without a heated dry, running the dryer as little as possible and line drying when the weather is nice, conserving gas by combining trips, cooking two casseroles at once, recycling, using less paper (plates, napkins, cups), buying things with less packaging, etc.
I'll leave you with an excerpt from the book.
He talked about the changes they made in their home and commented,
"Because of these changes, we have more time for God. Spiritual concerns have filled the void left by material ones. Owning fewer things has resulted in things no longer owning us. We have put God to the test, and we have found his Word to be true. He has poured blessings and opportunities upon us. When we stopped living a life dedicated to consumerism, our cup began to run over. We have seen miracles."
The workbook is available online at: Workbook
The website is: Serve God, Save the Planet
That sounds like a wonderful book! Thanks for the recommendation, I'm going to go check out the website now.
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