I'm a wife, a mom, a friend, a daughter, a sister and a follower of Jesus who is learning how to love God and people better. Scroll down to take a look at some of my adventures!

12.27.2007

Serve God, Save the Planet

Serve God, Save the Planet is an EXCELLENT book. Dr. Matthew Sleeth, the author, focuses on the responsibility that we have as Christians to be good stewards of the resources that God has given us here on earth. He focuses on the very practical-- what individuals can do today, and tomorrow, and this year, to change their lives in a way that is honoring to God, and hence saving the planet.

There were some GREAT chapters...I was really impacted by chapter 6-- Too Much Stuff. This guy and his family has done some incredible simplifying in their lives-- down to getting rid of their clothes dryer and washing machine. And just being really .... aware of what they are buying and consuming. Outsiders could view them as legalistic, but they're actually just really intentional, because their hearts have been changed by the Lord and they want to be pretty radical in how they are living. Not that he labels himself as radical-- but I think most people would say that about him.

How will I adjust my life in light of what I learned in this book?

I'm still thinking about it, but I think that it may be getting rid of some stuff-- shoes, clothes, jewerly, books. Getting rid of the stuff that is just sitting around. Either selling it and putting it in our Africa fund, or giving it away to people who need it.

Although this book was uber good, there were a few chapters that I thought were a teeny bit outlandish, and maybe didn't even fit the book that well. Particularly the one about being good parents. I think that may have been his soapbox and he wanted to fit it in somehow.

One idea he talked about was the idea that we, as Americans, are really afraid of death, and will spend thousands and thousands of dollars to put off the inevidable. Everyone dies. Why spend millions of dollars to put that off for a year? Interesting idea, and one I will think about. But, if anyone has someone close to them that is sick and close to death, I'm sure that they would say that the millions of dollars is worth it to them for one more time with their loved one. But, the question is- is it worth it to our global neighbors? Could that money be spent in a better way?

I recommend this book to everyone!

1 comments:

A Rocha USA said...

Hi, my name is Dustin and I work with Christians in Conservation: A Rocha USA. I saw your post about the book "Serve God, Save the Planet”, and I thought that you might like to know that our organization sponsors its author, Dr. Matthew Sleeth, as a "creation care evangelist." We would love for you to check us out at our website, en.arocha.org/usa. You might also be interested in the website for Dr. Sleeth's book, www.servegodsavetheplanet.org.