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15:25:23 06/04/11
Sweet Dreams A Vision Of The Rising Dead (Ezekiel 37)
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:25:23 06/04/11
For more CBSM content and downloads: check us out at www.youthgrouptruth.com .I told CBSM last night that if they didn’t understand or believe the topic we were going to talk about, they could not be saved! I told them that if this topic was not understood or believed on the mission field, then the people could not be saved. We here preaching on this in our churches usually no more than once a year. This is devastatingly sad since the majority of the Bible points to it, and it is absolutely necessary for saving faith and a spiritually growing life. What did we talk about? The resurrection of Jesus Christ! Do Christians, believers, or church members truly understand the necessity and the power of Jesus’ resurrection? His resurrection is the most important event of all time. Without the resurrection, Christmas (Jesus’ birth) and Good Friday (Jesus’ death) were failures! So here you go…my attempt at a biblical, theological, comprehendable, fun, and convicting sermon on the resurrection of Jesus to teenagers. ;
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05:36:24 11/28/10
David Rovics - Song for the Mavi Marmara
[LESS INFO] 23 VIEWS | ADDED 05:36:24 11/28/10
Described by Amy Goodman as the "musical version of Democracy Now!," Rovics is an internationally celebrated political folks musician. David has traveled the world as a professional flat-picking rabble-rouser, and regularly tours on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable of who's who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times. Most importantly, he's really good. He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible.This was filmed at MonkeyWrench Books (http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org).Palestine Online Store (http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/) is the web's leading website marketing products from or about Palestine.This is a zgraphix production. Produced by Jeff Zavala. http://zgraphix.orgLyrics of Song for the Mavi Marmara: In 1948 they were driven out at the point of a machine gun Families fled in fear to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon They fled around the globe, firmly held in terror's grip And about a million refugees ended up in the tiny Gaza Strip In 1967 the IDF moved in And the refugees in Gaza became refugees again Settlers took their farmland, soldiers took the ports And the people were surrounded by military forts In 2007 they cut it off completely No access to the borders, no access to the sea The world began to see this unavoidable stamp The most crowded place on Earth was now a concentration camp Israeli jet fighters bombed Gaza from the air And they kept out the supplies needed to rebuild and repair They kept out the convoys of humanitarian aid Anemic children going hungry, crushed and burned in bombing raids From around the world good people tried To get across the border to the other side Almost all of them were turned away Deported back to Turkey, Jordan, France, the USA They were barred from ever coming back Adam and Huwaida decided on a different tack They loaded up a boat and managed to get through That's when activists in Istanbul decided what they had to do Armed with food and wheelchairs And prosthetic limbs for victims of the bombing raids to wear They packed cement by the ton They had a few kitchen knives but not a single gun They were determined to reach the bay To break the siege of Gaza and not be turned away As they left Turkish waters everybody wished them well As for what would happen, only the Apartheid state could tell All aboard the Mavi Marmara Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone Tell the children of Jerusalem you are not alone Seven hundred people on board this Turkish ferry They were sixty miles from the shore out in the open sea In international waters with no plans for turning back That's when Netanyahu told his soldiers to attack They came down from helicopters, fired guns from Zodiacs They shot some people in their heads and shot others in their backs The captain raised a white flag high into the air The soldiers kept on shooting beneath the floodlight's glare The soldiers kept on shooting, it was a free fire zone So many dead and wounded, just how many isn't known So many dead and wounded, blood flowing on the floor The soldiers kept on shooting sixty miles from the shore Medics tried to treat the wounded, all they could do was watch them bleed The soldiers wouldn't let them get the urgent help they need Masked troopers held their hostages, the Navy towed the ship Just for trying to sail to the Gaza Strip Chorus They took every laptop, every camera and cell phone This is what Goliath does to those who dare to throw a stone The ghost of the Exodus is shouting at the sky But Netanyahu isn't listening, he's just watching people die For days nobody knew just what happened on that boat Because everyone was held in jail and dead men do not float All the world will remember what happened on that night And to end the siege of Gaza more will go and join the fight Last Chorus: All aboard the Rachel Corrie Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone To tell the children of Jerusalem you ar
13 Views
16:34:03 12/15/09
Youngsters Learn Recycling Nmu Earth Keeper Student Team Eco Christmas
[LESS INFO] 13 VIEWS | ADDED 16:34:03 12/15/09
Teaching youth: Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team Eco-Christmas(Marquette, MI) - Dozens of youngsters from across Michigan created recycled holiday cards and homemade tea bags for gifts this weekend during the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper's Eco-Christmas Workshop at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.The Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team hosted the workshop from 1-4 p.m. across from the children's library attracting several mothers from the Lower Peninsula and a teacher from Paradise in the eastern Upper Peninsula who plans to bring the idea into her classroom.While finding ways to entertain and educate her children while her husband checked out job offers in Marquette, Tara Strong of downstate Grand Blanc brought her young daughter and baby son to the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum and then the Peter White children's library.“My husband is here interviewing for a residency position for after med school,” said Strong. “We just found out about the project from the librarian.”“I love it. I love the recycling idea. We're also on a very limited budget and so I really like the idea of recycling and hand making things. I think it's great.”Strong said she and her daughter “are having great fun.”“I've been making crafts,” said four-year-old Anja Strong. “I made a tea bag and I have a honey bear stick”Joined by her brother and a friend, 18-year-old NMU EK Student Team member Ellen Lindblom said the end of the semester meant lots of scrap paper lying around the university.“School just ended and people have lost of papers left over” that was cut into tiny pieces by NMU EK team members, said Lindblom, an NMU freshman “You put it in the blender with a little bit of water and you blend it until it looks a little bit chunky like this.”“You put it in a screen flatten it out - pat the water out,” said Lindblom, while using a towel and iron to dry and flatten the multicolored wet paper as 21 year-old NMU EK Student Team Director Ben Scheelk of downstate Charlevoix used a small hair dryer to speed up the process.“We took a towel and pressed the water out to speed up the drying process a little bit,” she said. “Then flattened it out a little harder with an iron. I think it looks nice.”His hand atop the lid on a blender that whirred with red, blue, purple and white bits of paper, Mike Robinson, a 21-year-old NMU senior geography major, from downstate Grosse Pointe, said the project is a “good holiday craft.”“We are taking some scrap paper from various places and construction paper and making it into some pulp in a blender with some water,” said Robinson, a member of the NMU EK Student team.Pressing the bits of soggy paper into a screen with borders, 16-year-old Negaunee High School junior Phil Lindblom said “this is what they call extreme pulp.”“I am taking this wet paper and putting it on these screens and pushing water out of it,” said Lindbloom, whose sister is a member of the NMU EarthKeepers. “I am making new paper which is pretty exciting.”Escanaba native Carole Beck, who teaches in third through fifth grade at the White Fish Township Community School in Paradise, said she'll take the NMU EarthKeeper's idea into her classrooms and maybe make Valentines Day cards.“We're trying to figure out how we could create the screen there that would be the only thing that we would need extra,” Beck said. “We should be able to do that.”The student put out bowls with spearmint, raspberry leaves, juniper berries and rose hips that the youngsters used to “make a green tea - a detoxifying beautiful beverage,” said 21-year-old NMU EK Student Team Event Coordinator Amanda Emerson of Cary, Ill. “We also have honey sticks to go along with the tea.”The herbs were donated by Catholic EarthKeeper Kyra Fillmore and the Marquette Food Co-op.“You just wrap those up herbs in an eco-friendly coffee filter and tie it with a string in a nice little bow and there you go,” said Emerson, an NMU Senior Majoring in International Studies (emphasis on Latin America) and Earth Science (emphasis on rocks and minerals). “There's your gift - a homemade card and homemade tea bags.”Protecting the earth and teaching the young to respect the planet are major goals of the EarthKeepers, said 21-year-old NMU EarthKeeper Leandra Dziesinski of Alpena, MI.“It's very important to care care of your things and the earth is absolutely our thing - it's where we're at - so we have to take care of it we only have one earth, said Dziesinski, an NMU senior graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in marketing. I think if we have a happy, safe and a clean place to live that just makes our population that much more happy.”In September, the NMU EarthKeepers cleaned up hundreds of pounds of litter at the Upper Dead River Falls, a popular studnet hangout, Scheelk said.The NMU EKStudent Team is the youth wing of the Upper Peninsula EarthKeepers, an interfaith environment group involving over 150 churches and temples across northern Michigan.The EarthKeeper Initiative is co-sponsored by the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute, the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and 10 faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) and Zen Buddhist.For more information on the Michigan EarthKeepers email or call the following contacts:Ben Scheelk, Director of NMU EK Student Teambscheelk@nmu.edu231-675-0121Rev. Jon Magnuson, Co-Founder of EarthKeeper Initiativemagnusonx2@charter.net906-228-5494Greg Peterson, news reporter and volunteer media advisor for the EarthKeepers and other projectsearthkeeper@charter.net906-401-0109U.P. EarthKeeper Team:http://www.upearthkeepers.orgNonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership in Marquette, MIhttp://www.superiorwatersheds.orgNonprofit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, MIhttp://www.cedartreeinstitute.org
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19:54:32 10/25/09
Make A Difference Day 2009 Nmu Earth Keeper Student Team Cleans Along Dead River
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 19:54:32 10/25/09
Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Teams Makes a Difference by removing trash from a favorite youth party spot on a Lake Superior tributary in Michigan's Upper Peninsula(Marquette, Michigan) - A student environment group from Northern Michigan University honored “Make A Difference Day” by picking up hundreds of pounds of litter and garbage at a favorite youth party spot around the Upper Dead River Falls in Marquette, Michigan.The rubbish collected by the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team on Saturday (October 24, 2009) included rusty box springs, a smashed vehicle windshield and a plethora of beer bottles and cans. Some of the beverage containers were very old because they had the old pull-top design.The Upper Dead River Falls is a rugged area with sandy hills, steep trails, rocky cliffs, a lengthy series of waterfalls and the obvious remnants of many campfires.“I just found a used diaper, a lot of glass, broken bottles, cans and cigarette wrappers,” said Ben Scheelk, 21, of Charlevoix, MI, director of the NMU EK Student Team.“What really disappoints me is all the big things we are finding like bed springs and other rusty old metal things,” Scheelk said.While looking at the rushing water, NMU EK Student Team Event Coordinator Amanda Emerson said "water is an important entity of the world and even though we have so much of it around here we have to cherish it that much more.""We been out here so many times there is no one out here ever picking it up their trash,” said Emerson, 21, of Cary, Ill. (NW Chicago).NMU Senior Chelsey Cebulsky said she was proud to participate in “Make A Difference Day” and “picking up this trash is a good thing to do for the environment.”“I have been out here many times for the party scene but I was always the one carrying around a plastic bag telling everyone to put their cans in it - sadly not very many people listened,” said Chelsey Cebulsky, 22, a physical geography major from of Adrian, MI. "Get a trash bag and get rid of trash yourself."NMU junior Ben Youren used gloves to carefully separated hundreds of pieces of shattered glass from the muddy soil on a hillside along the river.“It looks like it is part of a windshield,” said Youren, 26, an English major. “I am trying to dig the glass out of here.”The NMU environment group is the student wing of the interfaith Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper Team that holds annual Earth Day environment projects across northern Michigan including planting over 12,000 trees this past spring.Prior to the collection, the group sat in a circle at the NMU University Center and got a lesson in the importance of clean water from the co-founder of the Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper Initiative.“Almost 80 percent of the world is water and our bodies are 80 percent water, said Rev. Jon Magnuson, co-founder of the EarthKeeper Initiative and campus pastor for NMU Lutheran Campus Ministry.“There is a delicate balance when it comes to pH or the amount of acid in water and if that balance gets thrown off we can die.”Magnuson said people who grow up in northern Michigan sometimes “take it for granted because we have so much water.”“If you go to other places in the world you will see people who have to travel miles to get fresh water,” Magnuson said. “Their whole life is centered around accessing good water.”The students clean up project may of had a preventative effect.While the students were cleaning up the area, a pickup truck pulled up with a load of tires in the back. After talking briefly to the students, the two men in the truck pulled away.“It looks like we prevented them from dumping a whole load of tires along side of the river,” Scheelk said.Background on EarthKeeper Initiative:The EarthKeepers are an interfaith environment group involving over 150 churches and temples across northern Michigan.The EarthKeeper Initiative is co-sponsored by the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute, the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and 10 faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) and Zen Buddhist.For more information on the Michigan EarthKeepers email or call the following contacts: Ben Scheelk, Director of NMU EK Student Teambscheelk@nmu.edu231-675-0121 Rev. Jon Magnuson, Co-Founder of EarthKeeper Initiativemagnusonx2@charter.net906-228-5494Greg Peterson, news reporter and volunteer media advisor for the EarthKeepers and other projectsearthkeeper@charter.net906-401-0109U.P. EarthKeeper Team:http://www.upearthkeepers.orgNonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership in Marquette, MIhttp://www.superiorwatersheds.orgNonprofit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, MIhttp://www.cedartreeinstitute.orgMake A Difference Day:http://www.makeadifferenceday.comhttp://www.facebook.com/makeadifferencedayhttp://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/index.html
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17:28:20 07/13/09
Ordinances Not Sacraments A Sermon By Pastor Nelson Turner Of Av1611 Reformation Com July 12 2009
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 17:28:20 07/13/09
Pastor Nelson Turner preaching on the Lord's Day July 12, 2009 from the AV1611 King James Bible, the inpired word of God for the end-times English speaking people of the earth, demonstrates that there are only two ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, and that while these show forth the grace of the Lord unto believers they do not in themselves by mere outward signs impart that grace. The Pastor shows that the sacerdotal system of the "works salvation" Arminian sects (still tethered to the church of Rome in this practice) is something that was pasted into the pure practice of the early Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and transmitted by His apostles. The two ordinances given by the Lord for observance by His followers are Baptism and the memorial of The Lord's Supper. Both of these are for believers ONLY. So infants and those who have not or cannot profess belief in Jesus Christ -- as the son of God who died for our sins and is risen from the dead seated at the right Hand of His Father in heaven where He serves as the One Mediator between God and man until He comes in glory to gather His Elect from all corners of the earth at the last trumpet -- do not receive any benefit from either Baptism or communion in the Lord's Supper since they cannot receive by these signs what has not been given them by God's Will and calling by the Holy Spirit. In fact, lack of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior brings a condemnation upon those who thus unworthily eat and drink the symbols of His sacrifice. The proper performance of the rites transmitted to the faithful from the beginning is reviewed by Pastor Turner, particularly baptism by immersion, which he demonstrates contrasts dramatically with the "sprinklings" practiced by many churches which have not been able historically or willfully to cut their subservience to Rome in this matter - as in others. Verses from the AV1611 King James Bible used in this sermon include: Luke 1:6/ Hebrews 9:1,10; 6:2/ 1 Corinthians 11:2/ Ephesians 2:15; 4:5/ Colossians 2:17/ Acts 8:26-29, 36; 1:21; 28/ Matthew 3:13/ Romans 6:4/ 1 Peter 3:21. If this is a blessing unto you by God's grace, or if you have questions regarding the pure practice of the Christian faith as found in the word of God, please contact Pastor Turner at drogheda@comcast.net .
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16:42:14 05/13/09
Over 12 000 Trees Planted Across Northern Michigan In Early May 2009 By U P Earth Keepers
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 16:42:14 05/13/09
Over 12,000 trees planted by Northern Michigan interfaith EarthKeepers during early May across 400 miles of northern Michigan and Minocqua, WisconsinRaging forest fires underline importance of planting treesEarth Day 2009: First tree planted and blessed by northern Michigan bishops and faith leaders on Earth Day 2009 near shores of Lake Superior at Presque Isle in Marquette (Marquette, Michigan) - Northern Michigan residents planted more than 12,000 trees in early May across a 400-mile area of the Upper Peninsula and in northern Wisconsin during the 2009 interfaith EarthKeeper Tree Project.White Spruce and Red Pine seedlings measuring 12 to 16 inches tall were given to over 100 churches and temples in all 15 Upper Peninsula (U.P.) counties and Minocqua, WI, said Catholic EarthKeeper Kyra Fillmore of Marquette, the project distribution coordinator."We hope these trees grow strong and tall," Fillmore said.EarthKeeper volunteers planted the 12,000 trees by homes, camps, parks, American Indian reservations and many other places with help from hundreds of chilren ranging in age from two-years-old to twenty-two.In a tragic irony, within hours of the last trees being planted two raging forest fires erupted in Marquette and Alger counties. In Marquette County, 33 structures were destroyed including 12 homes. In Baraga County, an EarthKeeper tree planter was preparing to bury a cousin at the Pinery Cemetery when the wildfire ripped through the Native American cemetery destroying 45 spirit houses. Fortunately there were no deaths or serious injuries reported. Untold thousands and thousands of trees were burned in the forest fires. The fires underline the need for people to plant trees and remove dead underbrush from around your home."My kids and I had a great time packing trees and planting trees," said Carl Lindquist, who has a son Nels, 13, and a daughter Ingrid, 11, and is executive director of the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership in Marquette. "I think everyone likes to feel like they are part of something much bigger than they are."The EarthKeeper team includes ten faith traditions with over 150 participating churches/temples (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Zen Buddist, Quakers), plus the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership, the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute, and the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team.Three Native American sisters and their mom volunteered at the Marquette tree distribution center. The girls planted trees behind their Gwinn, MI home hoping to attract more wildlife to what has turned into a nature preserve of sorts with a wide variety of wild animals and birds."We've decided to do a wildlife sanctuary in our backyard because we already have deer and many other animals come," said Pamella Vincent, 17, a senior at Gwinn High School. "It will be really cool to see different animals come because of the trees."In the eight-acre area, "we already have Sand Hill Cranes, and deer and coyotes there, so we are trying to get more animals to come," said Paige Vincent, 14, an eighth grader at Gwinn Middle School.The youngest sister, Gilbert Elementary School sixth grader Paula Vincent, 12, said she has spotted cranes and "had popcorn in my hand and a crow came to eat out of my hand.The Vincent family are members of St. James the Less Episcopal Church in Harvey, MI.The girl’s mom Theresa Vincent said her great-grandpa was a Cherokee chief in Maryland who was joined by other relatives in walking the "Trail of Tears" into the Appalachian foothills. Vincent said she has taught her daughters about the respect Native Americans have for the land and wildlife."We're here to help keep the earth green and the trees are important," Theresa Vincent said. The family believes it's important to "keep in touch with Mother Earth" in ways that include "recycling, reducing (energy consumption) and reusing" manmade products.The sisters said Americans Indians have always respected the environment."It's always been tradition for natives that if you take something away from the earth, you have to give it back - or give a blessing - so normally we would give tobacco or (in this case) plant trees," Paige Vincent said. "We're planting trees to give back to Mother Nature."The trees were purchased or donated by the U.P. EarthKeeper team, Superior Watershed Partnership, Holli Forest Products, the Forestland Group, Plum Creek Timber Company and Meister's Greenhouses.Some groups and individuals have donated money to help the tree project including Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Western U.P. Chapter 30918 in Ironwood, MI.The EarthKeepers is "focused on how the faith communities can work together" despite theological differences, said Northern Great Lakes Synod Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes."Religious differences are a huge factor in many parts of life and certainly there are big differences between different religious communities," said Bishop Skrenes, the head of 94 U.P. Lutheran congregations with 40,000 members.Skrenes asked "where is it that we can find ways to work together?""Nature is one of those places and EarthKeepers has provided us the opportunity to again renew our relationship with people who are very different in some ways and yet very similar," said Skrenes, an original signer of the EarthKeeper Covenant.Volunteer Johnny Bryant delivered 3,000 seedlings - one fourth of the entire planting effort - from a Marquette warehouse to Messiah Lutheran Church that served as the Marquette County distribution center for 25 churches and temples.In a parking lot of the Marquette distribution center, the trees were blessed by numerous other faith traditions as the seedlings were picked up including a Catholic and Jewish blessing.After speaking in Hebrew, Dr. Michael Grossman, a member an Ishpeming Synagogue, translated what he had said into English and explained some of the Jewish beliefs about protecting the environment."We have blessings for everything in Judaism, so I just blessed the trees," said Grossman, a member of Temple Beth Sholom in Ishpeming. "We are grateful to God for bringing trees from the earth - when we eat we bless the bread - when we drink wine we bless the fruit.""Trees are symbolic of life," Grossman said. "Trees are very important in Judaism as I am sure they are important to all faith traditions."Grossman then planted the trees at several locations in west Marquette County and in the city of Negaunee with help from two employees from his office."We jumped at the chance to help plant the trees," said Rachel Riley, 25, hile standing next to fellow volunteer Kim McCarthy, 35, both of Negaunee. After the long winter, "I've been meaning to get out and do some work."Gail Griffith of Marquette, the EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair, brought trees to her congregation at the Marquette Unitarian Universalist Church (MUUC).The MUUC planted seedlings in a Memorial Garden on their property near Harvey, MI and other trees as a future noise buffer to the heavy M-28 traffic that passes by their meeting house. The MUUC donated some of their trees to youth projects including 30 seedlings to a 4-H group.‘We had a blessing of the trees as part of our service," Griffith said.Powell Township students (above) in the first through fourth grades planted about 30 seeedlings donated by the UU congregation. In Big Bay, MI, the first through fourth graders at Powell Township Schools planted about 30 of the UU trees at several locations including in the schoolyard and at near-by Perkins Park.“The students really took on a great deal of empathy for the trees - they carefully placed them in the holes, tucked the dirt around, created moats, stood up the sticks,” said teacher Kathy Wright. “Most kids visit their trees faithfully, sometimes leaving little special rocks or giving the trees and extra drink.”The students and teachers “thank the Unitarian Universalist congregation for the opportunity to connect with our Mother Earth, and for the vehicle to teach our kids about the value of trees and earth stewardship,” Wright said.MUUC member Nancy Irish the planting was more fun than work."We were digging and watering," Irish said. "We talked about how big they would be 20 years from now, and how we might drive by and remember the day that 12,000 trees were planted all across the U.P."Northern Michigan Quakers planted approximately 50 trees during the EarthKeeper project.The Lake Superior Friends is one of two U.P. Quaker groups in northern Michigan (the other is Keweenaw Friends Meeting in Houghton).David McCowen of Lake Superior Friends said at one of their recent meetings a seven-year-old girl said planting trees is one way to respect the planet."I think it is important to help the earth by planting trees, because it is giving and good for the earth," the youngster said.In accordance with their religion, the Quakers quietly support the EarthKeepers and seldom publicly discuss their daily actions that show respect for the earth, wildlife and people, McCowen said.One of the basic testimonials of the Quakers is "Simplicity of Living," McCowen said. "A modern outgrowth of that testimonial is care for the environment.""Being planters of the trees helps us personally take part in continuing that creation," McCowen said. "Here in the UP it is easy to take trees for granted, but trees are a major part of the surroundings that we love.""The technical benefits of trees are well known: carbon sequestration, sound buffers, wind breaks, wildlife habitat, fuel source, cellulose fiber source," McCowen said. "But faith communities have the privilege and responsibility of unselfishly considering the natural environment as being inherently desirable."Lake Superior Friends Meeting member Jim Smit of Harvey said that "stewardship of the earth finds its roots in the biblical account of creation.""Adam's job was to cultivate a garden filled with beautiful trees that produced good fruit," Smit said."Six times in the creation story the writer pauses to say that God looked at what he had made, and behold, it was very good," Smit said, adding "the implication is that we are meant to celebrate the earth and protect it."Smit said an example of Quaker views on the environment was explained during the Faith and Practice book written based on the North Pacific Yearly Meeting that reads in part: "We are obliged to cherish the earth, and to protect all its resources in a spirit of humble stewardship, committed to the right sharing of these resources among people everywhere.""Friends use questions or queries to approach issues of faith, implying that each of us is a seeker after truth," Smit said.The Faith and Practice book from the Friends' (Quaker's) 1972 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting questioned human impact on the environment: "Are you concerned that our increasing power over nature should not be used irresponsibly but with reverence for life and with a sense of the splendor of God's continuing creation?"McCowen said passages in the Bible books of Genesis, Isaiah and Leviticus reflect the Quaker view on nature, land and the Earth:"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." - Genesis 1:31"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." - Isaiah 55:12"Your land must not be sold on a permanent basis, because you do not own it; it belongs to God, and you are like foreigners who are allowed to make use of it." - Leviticus 25:23In Chocolay Township, seven-year-old Isabelle Gostomski was dressed in her finest Sunday dress as she and her father planted a seedling in their front yard."I got it from church and it's a tree - today was my first communion and I got this for a present." said Gostomski, the daughter of Jennifer and Greg Gostomski. The family attends St. Louis the King parish in Harvey, MI.Several faith leaders gave examples how the tree is used in religion in both a literal way and in a figurative way as in the "tree of life."Whiling hosting a planting party on a Bah
