I’m really excited about the three interdisciplinary tracks that are part of FC08. Of the three, I am especially intrigued by God’s Green Kingdom, chaired by Dr. Rusty Pritchard. The Christian community is becoming increasingly aware of our responsibility for creation care. Groups like Evangelicals for Social Action and the Evangelical Environmental Network have led the way in this.

For a long time talk of conservation, hybrids, and simple living was the domain of hippies and liberals. Now the evangelical church is maturing in our theology of creation.

Counselors often tell us that we change only when the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change. With the price of oil going through the roof and Americans seriously addicted to automobiles, especially big automobiles, the pain of staying the same is intensifying.

And it seems that our way of living is in the process of changing at a fundamental levels. I’m not talking simply turning off the A/C in your F-350 and rolling down the windows. I’m talking profound changes in the way he travel, where we work and where we live.

Rod Dreher of Crunchy Con has an interesting post pointing this out. Read it here. He links to several articles indicating that America is on the verge of a serious economic earthquake. Especially interesting is a web-tool that allows the user to calculate the real cost of living in the suburbs by factoring in the cost of travel (i.e., premium gas for your Suburban). Makes me glad that I live in a little cottage three miles from downtown.