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Recently 85 "evangelical" Christians formed the "Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) and created the "Evangelical Climate Initiative." They had a media ad blitz February 9 and received extensive national attention.

Their message is that global warming hurts the world's poor the most. Signers-on included pastors, college and seminary presidents, aid organizations, denominational heads, and more. To read the entire list, go to this link http://www.christiansandclimate.org/signatories

Many conservative evangelicals have a problem with this effort. Is this a part of the "great commission?" Yes, we have a responsibility to the earth and the creatures and elements over which man was given authority to rule. But fighting the pollution and global warming wars will lead to only one thing: One world globalism.

Never before have humans wielded so much power over the earth and never have they so exploited it. While man is to have dominion over the earth, we are to be good stewards and caretakers. But the source of our ecological problem is in man's fallen nature because he has set himself at the center of the universe. In the absolute extreme of this, we see man worshipping "mother earth."

Dispensationalists who take Bible prophecy literally have come under particular wrath from environmentalists. Tim LaHaye, creator of the "Left Behind" book series, once stated, "God will destroy this earth that is so marred by Satan's evil." But neither Tim LaHaye nor anybody else who holds to his theology that during the Tribulation one-third of the earth will be burned up wants to see that process of destruction begin now! We don't seek to create the realization of Bible prophecy now. We don't do things to hasten the Rapture! Yet the world cannot tolerate the sentiment of evangelical Christians and their "last days" approach. Is it any stranger than EEN organizer Jim Ball who in 2002 led the "What Would Jesus Drive" campaign? Prophecy is rooted in the Bible. What Jesus would drive distracts evangelicals from their primary responsibility of saving souls while there is yet time.

Here are some problems I see with the "Evangelical Environmental Network" issues. I am not suggesting these men are not sincere in their concern for the poor and their concern for the earth. They clearly are. Critics of their efforts just wish that they would focus on things of an eternal nature.

* Man-made global warming is hardly scientific fact as cyclical global warming has occurred for millennia. The EEN claims global warming is human-induced when the jury is still out on that one and cycles of heating and cooling are well documented.

* According to "The New York Times," this effort is partially funded by leftist outfits like the Rockefeller Brothers' Fund and the Hewlett Foundation which support many anti-Christian ideals and organizations. Their worldview would make it appear like the signers on to the EEN are "unequally yoked together." These organizations do NOT have any interest in what evangelicals stand for. They are pro-abortion and pro-gay-marriage and lean to the left on many issues.

* Signing on to the Kyoto Protocol which the EEN advises just further hastens the globalization of the world which, in the long run, will create more destruction.

* The environmental agenda has always been driven by the left and they are some of the worst hypocrites. They block the thinning of the forests which then burn down so who is harming God's creation? The environmentalists are which should be an indication that this is really not an evangelical Christian issue.

* The solutions being recommended by the EEN and global environmentalists for a speculative problem would cause the cost of energy to rise with that burden most heavily on the poor. So let's help the poor apart from political means and uniting with agencies that are to the left of center.

It is not just the poor who suffer from climate abnormalities. All humanity suffers today. The Bible says, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs" (Romans 8:20-22) as it waits earth's real liberation--the return of Christ. The Kyoto Protocol is not the answer.

The pains on the earth stem from the Fall in the Garden. God is not waiting for us to solve the problem of global warming. We are waiting for Him to solve the problem of the global curse with His return. In the meantime, let's be the best stewards of the earth that we can be.

Sure, many of us look for a "new heavens and a new earth" because this one WILL be destroyed and the elements will melt with fervent heat" (2 Peter 3:10-12); thus, the job of a true evangelical should be evangelism, not putting time, effort, and money into an initiative that is being funded in part by pro-abortion, pro-same-sex marriage, globalist foundations.

Liberal Christianity has infected enough of evangelicalism to the point where "evangelicalism" doesn't mean what it did 20 years ago. The National Association of Evangelicals did not sign on to this initiative. They were founded in the 1940's to counter the rising liberalism within Christianity. Who will stand up and counter it in the 21st century for now liberalism is moving like a steam roller into the evangelical camp?

(Jan Markell is founder/director of Olive Tree Ministries and a Contributing Editor to Omega Letter Intelligence Digest. To learn more, get her e-updates, or free, print newsletter, visit her Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org.)

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