By Dr. Charles McVety
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Reprinted from November 9, 2006
The Republican Party lost the mid-term elections primarily due to the war in Iraq however there were other contributing factors. According to the Pew Research Centre, 78% of Evangelicals in the United States voted Republican in 2004. This week polls indicate that just 50% of Evangelicals voted for the Republicans and Evangelical turnout was dramatically lower. The Democrats, with pro same-sex marriage--pro-abortion leader Nancy Pelosi, now control the legislative agenda of the U.S. government. How did this happen?
Rev. Ted Haggard, the defrocked president of the National Association of Evangelicals led a two-year campaign to subject the Evangelical Church to the laws of global warming. The introduction of the earth movement has confused the Church with neo-pagan teachings. In Romans chapter 1 God warns us not to place creation over the Creator. The Global Warming movement began at the 1992 UN Earth Summit where its director, Maurice Strong started with the statement "we must therefore transform our attitudes and values, and adopt a renewed respect for the superior laws of divine nature". Mr. Strong subsequently passed several worldwide laws in 1997 known as the Kyoto Accord. In 1994 the UN commissioned Strong to write the Earth Covenant that was introduced in the year 2000 as the Earth Charter. The new edict was written on papyrus paper, placed in a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, ceremoniously ushered into the UN and called "the new 10 commandments", a "Global Ethic" that will transcend all religions and countries.
Nearly two years ago Rev. Haggard began his earth campaign as he threatened the Republican U.S. Senate stating that he would turn the Evangelicals against them if they refused to ratify Global Warming laws. On March 10th, 2005 the New York Times described his efforts with the headline "Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming." Rev. Haggard said in the article. "The question is, will evangelicals make a difference? And the answer is, the Senate thinks so. We do represent 30 million people, and we can mobilize them if we have to." Haggard's vice-president Richard Cizik followed by saying "When evangelicals speak, Republicans tend to listen, and frankly it's Republicans who need to get the message".
The Republican Senate did not take heed to the threat therefore Rev. Haggard carried out his plan. By February, 2006 they launched Evangelicals Against Climate Change with a joint declaration signed by 86 prominent leaders. They went ahead with the program despite protests from a Who's Who of politically powerful evangelicals, including Chuck Colson, James Dobson, and the Rev. D. James Kennedy. The CNN headline read "Strange Bedfellows" as Evangelicals had joined forces with radical environmentalists, who are well known for being ungodly and sexually immoral. James 4:4 says " Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." They spent an initial $200,000 on the crusade. "We will see tens of millions of evangelicals engaged in the work we are talking about today," said the Rev. Dr. Leith Anderson, the now interim president of the NAE.
Haggard's "environmental evangelism" as he calls it, continued. In October the NAE promoted their program "Is God Green?". Their interviewer started by stating "A new holy war is growing within the conservative evangelical community, with implications for both the global environment and American politics." He was right as the NAE stepped up efforts and launched a new vision for the church on October 18 th called Re:Vision, (www.revision.org) a new action plan to promote environmental activism.
On the surface this all seems like harmless activity to ensure clean air and clean water. God does command us to be good stewards of the earth but not subservient to it. Everyone wants to reduce pollution and save cute cuddly animals. Unfortunately this is not the focus. Instead the Global Warming movement seeks to trump all other issues, including spiritual concerns, with threats of catastrophic destruction if we don't follow its precepts plus reduce CO2 production, the very gas every plant on earth needs to survive.
God warns us numerous times in scripture to never subvert His precepts with that of man or earth. Romans Chapter 1, versus 22 - 26 says " Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions."
We all sympathize with Rev. Haggard's pain. He obviously experienced great torment as he entered into his "vile passions" hiring a homosexual prostitute and buying crystal methamphetamine. His wife and children are devastated as well as the 14,000 members of his church by such debauchery. Rev. Haggard confessed that saying "I am a deceiver and a liar". Millions of airplanes take off and land safely every year however when one crashes it is headline news around the world. We don't blame all aircraft for the faults of one.
God warns us not to place anything above Him. His first commandment in Exodus 20:3 is "You shall have no other gods before me". We cannot subjugate Father God to mother earth. The original sin of Adam was to trust the creation over the Creator. God gave man dominion over the earth, not subjugation under it. Jesus Himself says to us in Luke 21: 34 " And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (drugs), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares ." The hedonistic cares of this life including drugs, drink and the earth must not be our concern. We are to focus on eternal affairs, not temporal things.
Today we live in the last days before the return of Christ. Second Thessalonians 2:3 warns us to "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." I believe this "falling away" has begun.
The seductive earth movement has crept into our churches and is leading us to trust the creation over the creator. The "False Prophet" or Apostate Faith described in Revelation 13 as the lamb with two horns and verse 17 as Mystery Babylon and the Scarlet Harlot clearly lines up with the earth movement of today. My book "The Great Falling Away" , to be released December 15 th compares 100 aspects of the "Apostate Faith" with the earth worship of today.
Scripture warns us "be not deceived", "beware of the false prophets", "take heed lest you be led astray". Rev. Haggard assisted in exalting the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi to power. He was led astray and is now suffering tremendously. We need to pray for him and pray for protection for us. If it can happen to a great leader such as Rev. Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals representing 51 denominations with 30 million members then it can happen to you or me. With God's help we can avoid being seduced into the "falling away" as we place Jesus Christ Lord of all, including the earth.
Dr. Charles McVety is Senior Director, Defend Marriage and President of Canada Christian College.
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