1.
Activist Feedback
2. Commentary on the Lectionary, Romans 12:9-21, On
Vengeance
3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary
Hoffman
4. Regarding Pet Snakes
5. Answers to Last Week’s CVA Quiz
1. Activist Feedback
Sharon, who leafleted with three friends at the Wisconsin State Fair
and the Ozaukee County Fair, writes:
At the Wisconsin State Fair, we stayed for only about 2 hours outside
the main gate. Much to our surprise, we were welcomed. Many people asked
questions about meat alternatives. We also had a map of the fair grounds
and were able to direct people interested in vegetarian options on what
vendors they could go to. As we walked around the fairgrounds, we
thanked the vendors who offered vegetarian options.
We went to the Ozaukee County Fair, Cedarburg, WI on Sunday August
7th. This was the last day of the fair; however it is also the day the
animals are sold for slaughter. We decided to set up at the entrance of
the barn yard.
We had a welcome response from a local church that will be putting on
a vegetarian health fair this fall. We gave them some extra leaflets and
the web site information.
Again as we always do, we walked around and thanked the vendors who
had vegetarian options to eat. I wanted to take every creature home with
me, so before we left, we gathered outside one of the barns, we created
a small circle, and we prayed.
Upcoming Outreach Opportunities
The Christian Vegetarian Association is looking for volunteers to
leaflet at the upcoming events with our “Would Jesus Eat Meat Today?”
booklets to spread the word about vegetarianism as good stewardship of
all of God’s Creation. Volunteers have a great opportunity to earn
$18.00 per hour (up to 2 hours) per person to be donated to their
favorite Animal Advocacy or Veg Group. For more information please
contact Paris at christian_vegetarian@yahoo.com or Lorena at (770)
633-7415.
9/1-2 PA Pittsburgh Benny Hinn
Miracle Services
9/2-4 KS La Cygne Music with a
Mission Tour
9/2-4 SD Sioux Falls Lifelight
Christian Music Festival
9/3 NC Shelby Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/4 NC Boone Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/5 MO Springfield Music With A
Mission Tour
9/7 TX Plainview Music Music
With A Mission Tour
9/9 TX Kileen Music With A
Mission Tour
9/9-10 FL Orlando Night of Joy
Magic Kingdom® Park
9/9-10 CA Anaheim Women Of
Faith Conference
9/9-10 PA Philadelphia Women of
Faith Conference
9/9-10 FL Orlando Rock The
Universe Christian Music Festival
9/10 TX Longview Music With A
Mission Tour
9/10 PA Philadelphia GreenFest
Philly
9/10 CA Los Angeles Harvest
Crusade
9/10 TX Midland Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/15-17 MO St. Louis Love Life
Women's Conference- Joyce Meyers-
9/16-17 WA Spokane Women Of
Faith Conference
9/16-19 MO Kirkwood Greentree
Festival
9/16-17 PA Shippensburg Uprise
Festival
9/17 OH Sandusky PointFest
Christian Music Festival
9/17 OH Mt Vernon SonFest 2011
Christina Rock Festival
9/17 MI Coldwater Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/18 OH Greenville Music With A
Mission Tour
9/18 OH Greenville Illumination
Festival
9/23-24 NC Charlotte Women Of
Faith Conference
9/23-24 VA Middleburg Awakening
Festival Christian Music Festival
9/23-24 AZ Phoenix Women Of
Faith Conference
9/24 NC Charlottesville TABLE
Vegetarian Festival
9/25 PA Mifflintown Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/25-26 IL Belleville Our Lady
of the Snows Youth Day Celebration
9/28 OK Inola Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
9/29 SC Central Music With A
Mission Tour
9/29 NJ Ocean City Starfield
Christian Concert
9/29-10/1 TX Dallas Benny Hinn
Miracle Conference
9/29-10/1 GA Atlanta Joyce
Meyers Ministries Conference
9/30 WI Milwaukee Women Of
Faith Conference
9/30-10/1 CO Denver Women Of
Faith Conference
9/30-10/2 CA San Diego National
Youth Workers Convention
10/1 OK Grove Seventh Day
Slumber Christian Rock
10/1 MS Crystal Springs Music
With A Mission Tour
10/1-2 CA San Francisco TABLE
World Vegetarian Festival
10/2 AL Madison Music With A
Mission Tour
10/7-8 PA Pittsburgh Women of
Faith Conference
10/7-8 VA Lynchburg
Extraordinary Women's Conference
10/7-8 OR Portland Women Of
Faith Conference
10/7-8 CO Co. Springs Hearts @
Home- Mom Revolution Women's Conference
10/7-8 MA Amherst Acquire the
Fire Christian Youth Conference
10/8-9 MS Biloxi TABLE Gulf
Coast Street Fest
10/13-15 CA Long Beach Joyce
Meyers Ministries Conference
10/14-15 IN Fort Wayne
Extraordinary Women Conference
10/15 FL Tampa TABLE Tampa Bay
Veg Fest
10/21-22 MS Tupelo
Extraordinary Women Conference
10/29-30 MA Boston Boston
Vegetarian Food Festival TABLE
11/3-5 OH Cleveland Joyce
Meyers Ministries Conference
11/4-5 IL Rockford
Extraordinary Women Conference
11/4-5 MN Rochester Hearts @
Home Mom Revolution Conference
11/18-20 GA Atlanta National
Youth Workers Convention
International Events:
8/26-30 England, London
Lincolnshire Grapevine International Christian Celebration
9/17 Canada, Ontario Leamington
Project X @ UMEI Fireflight
10/2 Canada, BC Langley Come to
the Well Tour
2. Commentary on the Lectionary, Romans 12:9-21,
On Vengeance
In this passage, Paul encourages members of the church in Rome to
live peacefully and harmoniously with each other. In dealings with
others, Paul advised, “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil
with good” (12:21). I want to focus on Paul’s teaching, “Beloved, never
avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written,
‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (12:19).
Interestingly, the Greek text here says “wrath,” not “wrath of God.”
In virtually all translations, “of God” is added, evidently because
translators have believed that this what Paul meant. However, if we take
Paul at his word, it is possible to interpret this passage in a way that
permits us to regard God as purely loving and caring rather than as
wrathful.
To my reading, Romans 12:19 tells us that vengeance is the
prerogative of God, and God can choose to repay or not repay as God
pleases. In ancient times, it was generally believed that sin must be
punished, and nobody would have taken seriously a teaching that sin
should go unpunished. I think Paul is saying that our inclination to
mete out punishment ourselves is unnecessary, because God will punish as
God sees fit.
Actually, Paul writes that if we treat our enemy with kindness, “you
will heap burning coals upon his head” (12:20). If you really want
vengeance, then attend to the needs of your enemy, because this will
frustrate your enemy’s desire to find an excuse to harm you.
What, then, is “the wrath”? I think “the wrath” refers to humanity’s
anger, which is ultimately self-destructive. God can choose not to
avenge wrongdoing, because wrongdoing avenges itself. We are punished by
our sins and not necessarily for them. One important mechanism of that
process is that, to the degree that we harm others, we distance
ourselves from others and become more alone in a mysterious and often
terrifying universe. We need a sense of connection with the earth, with
nature, and with each other – the grounds of our being – to avoid
existential despair. We weaken that connection whenever we harm the
earth, nature and its creatures, and other humans.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary
Hoffman
All of Hell Witnessed Jesus Christ’s Victory
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons97/s11sep88.html
4. Regarding Pet Snakes
In recent years snakes have become increasingly popular in the exotic
pet trade. Unfortunately, this news is all bad for snakes. The exotic
pet trade is extremely cruel and exploitive because it creates a
platform for anyone to obtain exotic animals for captives - even though
most are ill-equipped to properly care for the animals.
Due to this, many snakes ultimately end up in deplorable homes where
they wallow in misery. It has been well documented by animal cruelty
groups that 90% of all pet snakes die prematurely due to gross neglect
and improper care. The majority of snake keepers are individuals who buy
animals on a whim, driven by novelty and shock value. Due to such
problems the exotic pet trade should never be supported. Doing so only
funds the suffering and death of legions of snakes.
Matt Ellerbeck - The Snake Man...Snake Advocate & Conservationist
5. Answers to Last Week’s
CVA Quiz
A. Carbon dioxide
B. Methane
C. Nitrous Oxide
1. Which of the three gasses is the most potent in terms of global
warming?
Answer: A. Nitrous oxide has 310 times the global warming
potential compared to carbon dioxide over a 100 year period. Methane
has 56 times the global warming potential compared to carbon dioxide
over a 20 year period. The shorter comparison period for methane
reflects how methane has a shorter atmospheric half-life as carbon
dioxide. However, after correcting for duration in the atmosphere,
methane is still a much more potent gas in terms of global warming
potential.
2. Which of the three gasses has contributed the most to global
warming?
Answer: B. While less potent than nitrous oxide and methane, the
volume of carbon dioxide emissions attributed to humanity is far
greater than that of the other two.
3. Animal agriculture contributes heavily to emissions of which of
these gas(ses)?
Answer: All of them. Methane is directly produced from digestion
of plant foods by herbivores raised for flesh and dairy. Carbon
dioxide and nitrous oxide are produced by animal agriculture
indirectly, particularly in the production of fertilizers for plant
foods that are fed to farmed animals. Most people answered B
(methane), and I regarded this answer as correct, since it wasn’t
clear that indirect effects were included.
We had many people respond with correct answers. Two lucky winners
will win a t-shirt or book prize (their choice among a list of available
prizes).