creature praise

thanks to Dean Ohlman of The Wonder of Creation for this poignant reminder of our calling to join God's creatures in worshiping our mutual Creator ...

I’m not sure how many churches today still incorporate in their worship the traditional “Doxology” sung to the tune of the “Old Hundredth.”  It was so common in the past and familiar enough now that in almost any crowd gathered anywhere in the English-speaking world, if you started singing it, you’d likely be joined by the majority—much like the singing of “Amazing Grace.”  I’ve always loved it:

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talking to animals on Christmas Eve

It's becoming a bit of a Christmas Eve tradition to share this reflection from Nancy Janisch of Conversation in Faith, a heartfelt and hopeful complement for 'the night before' ...

When you were young, did anyone ever tell you that animals can talk at midnight on Christmas?  I don’t remember who told me, but I do remember looking expectantly at our family Dachshund for several years on Christmas Eve.  For the record, he never said anything.  At least not in a human language.

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this is my father's world

I first posted this Thanksgiving reflection two years ago, and again last year.  As I once again find myself heading into the holiday with much on my mind, I wonder if it's becoming a bit of an annual marker ...

Today is a day for giving thanks, and no doubt many of us are sharing the day with family, around a special meal prepared and enjoyed together.  It's a day for pausing to reflect on the many things we have to be grateful for, and certainly the wonderment of the animals in our homes, neighborhoods and throughout our world is one of them. 

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the interloper

"The Interloper" is a poignant poem contemplating the relationship of wildlife to God and to ourselves from Ben Witherington, a respected evangelical scholar and author, and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary ...

On lime stones we’d laid
The chipmunk sat erect
His beady brown eye watched me
Wondering what to expect

While he devoured a nut
His teeth worked at warp speed
He sat oh so still
Satisfying his need.

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Noah's Ark

When we were visiting my parents back in May, a book in my mom's children's collection grabbed my attention.  It was Noah's Ark, a mostly wordless telling of the well-known event recorded in Genesis 6-9, by Dutch-born American children's book author and illustrator Peter Spier, for which he was awared the prestigious Caldecott Medal. 

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a neglected horse and a study in value

The last post in our companion animal series is about Max, a former racehorse who lost his value to his owners and the industry he served, but not to his rescuers or to Lauren Merritt who reflects on Max's treatment.  But she also acutely points the way to our next series, when we'll be asking whether even the countless and often faceless farm animals we raise and consume for food have value before God?  Here's "Max: A Study of Extrinsic Value," from The Christian and Creation's series Addressing Animal Welfare and Suffering ...

The last post in this series defined “sentience” for the purpose of discussing animal welfare.  A sentient animal is “an animal for whom feelings matter.”  Feelings of pain, suffering, anxiety, pleasure, contentment and more.  This post about sentience was necessary to now talk about how we think about – and treat – sentient animals.

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hope deferred

Lauren Merritt follows up her insightful post on animal sentience and suffering, and our relationship to both, with an even more personal and devotional reflection on the same, "Hope Deferred" ...

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12, NIV)

When I read that verse recently I realized why stories about neglected or abused animals make me so upset.  Upset almost to the point of complete distraction.  I have this great hope somewhere deep in my heart, planted there by God, that all the creatures He spoke into being on this earth would be met and treated with the compassion He has mercifully shown us.  That hope deferred makes my heart sick daily as, instead of seeing a tree of life sheltering creatures under its gracious boughs, I see a mess of rotten thorns impaling creation left and right.

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the ugly consequences of our deeds

As we continue to respond to the question "Do animals really suffer?", I'm grateful to be able to share some very insightful thoughts on the reasons behind animal suffering from one of our blog readers, Jenny Sue Hane.  Jenny first shared them in response to another commenter, who posed the following questions under a previous post:

If God cares about animals so much, why did he kill a whole bunch of them in a giant Flood?  Why did Jesus send pigs to their deaths? ...

Why did God make parasitic wasps that eat the host alive from the inside out?  Why did he create predators that kill baby zebras?  Or cuckoo birds that kick the host's chicks out of the nest?  Why did God make dinosaurs, only to let them die via an asteroid?  In fact, why have 99% of all species gone extinct?

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John Wesley's concern for every living creature

I believe in my heart that faith in Jesus Christ can and will lead us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to a broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backywards, the fish in our rivers, and every living creature on the face of the earth.

This hopeful statement was made by John Wesley (1703-1791), a lifelong Anglican who was also the founder of the Methodist movement with his brother Charles.  Wesley, an evangelical who was intently concerned with both personal evangelism and holy living, was a hugely influential pastor, preacher, theologian and writer in both England and America.  He was also an advocate for many social causes.

Wesley's "The General Deliverance" is just as rare as it is valuable, an 18th century sermon which was sincerely given on behalf of both humans and animals.  The biblical text which Wesley is working with, one which we've referred to frequently as well, is Romans 8:19-22:

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learning from Romans

Lauren Merritt, via the apostle Paul and his letter to the Christians in Rome, helps us continue to understand why caring for creation and God's creatures is a biblically faithful proposition ...

A good Christian friend of mine once threw a soda can out the window of my moving car.  I slammed on the breaks and drove ¼ mile in reverse for him to pick it up.  Incredulous, I asked why he would do that.  He replied with a laugh (a nervous one I think, being thrown off by my rather abrupt and unexpected reaction to his using the beach as a trash can), “Just speeding up the rapture.”

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