Here
we go down a snowy lane with the hottest group on the charts
today...the all-vocal band Pentatonix (with an assist from Tori Kelly):
and for you traditionalists, Mr. Perry Como...
Written
in 1934 by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard D. Smith (lyricist),
"Winter Wonderland" has become one of the most well-known seasonal songs
airing on radio waves around the world during November
and December. Smith was said to have written the lyric while in a
sanitarium where he was being treated for tuberculosis. His inspiration
was the Honesdale, Pennsylvania Central Park during the winter. Over
200 artists have covered it since its initial release on RCA by Richard
Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Orchestra. According to ASCAP, the most
popular cover since the late 2000's is the 1987 version by the
Eurythmics from the various artists, Special Olympics supporting, A Very Special Christmas. Give it a listen here: "Winter Wonderland" by the Eurythmics from A Very Special Christmas, 1987
Let's flashback to the '70s...remember this prediction?
By
this point in time, we were supposed to be seeing glaciers forming in the Great Lakes, crops being unable to be grown for lack of warm weather,
and a global pandemic of food shortages and cold weather. Granted we
were making mistakes with the environment in the 70's. Remember this
guy? "Crying Indian" PSA
If you were in elementary school, this poignant PSA struck a nerve for
saving the planet. Much was done at that time to stop pollution in the
United States due in part to conservationists and PSAs like this one
that was aired in prime time. Pollution in the United States has
diminished steadily since legislation that began by the Environmental
Protection Agency and other pollution-fighting measures. Scientists at
this time were predicting that the earth was in such a cooling period,
enhanced by man-made air pollution, that the effects would be
catastrophic by the turn of the century. I haven't seen icebergs in the
Great Lake region yet, have you? Maybe we saved ourselves from
permanently walking in a Winter Wonderland...or did we?
Fast forward to a few years after the turn of the century...
Perhaps
we've done too good of a job, fixing our cooling problem. Now we are
faced with man-made warming of the planet! Polar bears are looking for
the icebergs that were supposed to be everywhere by this point. Penguins
are seeking refugee status as the polar ice caps are all but melted
away...sarcasm? I think so...
Within a 40-year time frame, environmental science has gone the polar opposite direction (pun
purely intended). 40 years ago we were in danger of freezing to
death, and now we are on the verge of causing a thawing of the ice caps so
bad that the water levels will rise so high Noah's ark couldn't save
us...Good thing the Creation Museum (Creation Museum, Answers In Genesis) has one built just in case.
Do scientists of renown exist on both sides of the argument? Sure they do. ("Confirmation Bias: Why Both Sides Of The Global Warming Debate Are Nearly Always Right, Forbes, August 14, 2012, "Global Warming: Fact Or Fiction", Answers In Genesis) Just like musicologists argue about who was the better lead singer for Van Halen, David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar? ("David
Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar: Michael Anthony Mulls Over The Great Van
Halen Debate", somethingelsereviews.com, August 11, 2014) In light of what the Bible has to say, arguing about environmental changes seems rather silly.
In
case you hadn't guessed, Tuesday's Musical Notes does not buy into
the idea that a 0.2 increase in the mean temperature over
the last 20 years is an indicator that we are all about to melt off the
face of the earth or become a polar bear's desert. A more reasonable
explanation is that someone is very greedy and they saw an opportunity
to make money, once again, by scaring folks into a frenzy about their
SUVs causing grannies begonias to not live as long as they once did
because it's too hot. Couple that with millions of dollars in marketing
efforts, a pitchman in the form of a former Vice President of the
United States, and a world view that is for lack of a better descriptor,
"worldly" It is easy to see how the idolatry of man-made climate change
can have its grip on world leaders. ("Historic Deal To Curb Global Warming Deal Reached", Dallas Morning News, December 12, 2015, even though there is not a way of holding ANY country
accountable to the agreement) Is this a simplification of the argument,
sure it is. But there is a much better, less panic-inducing, way to
look at the environment and man's responsibility to steward it. Que
flashback music...no even further...nope still not far enough...
From
this point forward the argument really becomes about world view. If
your worldview is based on the Bible, you understand that man has a
responsibility to steward the earth: Genesis 1 NIV/The Message parallel.
With the temptation and subsequent sin of Adam and Eve, everything got
thrown off kilter. This is where man-made environmental damage began,
with the sin of the first man and woman. From that point until the
worldwide flood, man has had to fight the physical earth to get food to
grow. Man had to fight the elements to survive through the seasonal
changes. Then the worst global environmental disaster known to mankind
occurred, the Great Flood. World Region Historical Flood Myths, wikipedia.org
Since the time of the flood, mankind has struggled to subdue the
elements. So much so that one could feasibly see the struggle segueing
into a religion. At this point, the struggle, worship, or "protection"
of and with the environment becomes an idol. Referring to another
controversial document, the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20 NIV/The Message parallel.
Exodus 20 makes it very clear that there is no other thing in our lives
that is to be worshiped other than God. And when it comes to the
physical earth, God's got this...Psalm 29:3-10 NIV/The Message parallel, Psalm 68:9-10 NIV/The Message parallel, Jonah 1:4-6 NIV, The Message parallel, Mark 4:35-41 NIV/The Message parallel
None
of the Scriptural evidence regarding God's control will make any
difference if your worldview is not based on the Bible and God's plan
for man's (and I think ultimately the earth's) redemption. You see
God loves us very much...John 3:16 NIV/The Message parallel
All have sinned...Romans 3:23 NIV/The Message parallel
God loves us despite that sin...Romans 5:8 NIV/The Message
Our
sin separates us from having a relationship with God. We get to choose
which we would rather have, a relationship with the God who loves us and
created us, or a relationship with the world that hates us and only
wants our destruction...Romans 6:23 NIV/The Message parallel WE GET TO CHOOSE
Jesus
paid those sin wages by dying the most horrific death ever created by
man so that we can have a relationship with God, His Father...2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV/The Message parallel
Jesus
was buried in a sealed tomb but came back to life 3 days after his
death on the cross. He did this freely, with no strings attached,
because He loves us that much!!! We can accept this gift by believing
that Jesus did all of this for us. We must believe this with every
sinew of our being and cede control of our lives to Him...Romans 10:9-10 NIV/The Message
If
this is something you are prepared to do, the Bible says that Jesus
will restore the broken relationship between you and God...Romans 10:13 NIV/The Message Paraphrase
Take
just a minute and allow the truth of these passages from the Bible to
sink in. They are powerful enough to change your heart AND your worldview. Who knows, one minute you may be breaking out in a sweat from a
0.2 mean degree change in the temperature, the next you're just...walkin'
in a winter wonderland...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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