<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DhMy!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c6bca60-da74-4666-aac3-99ff832b7487_600x374.jpeg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="Pollution over the Tehran skyline" class="sizing-normal" height="374" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DhMy!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c6bca60-da74-4666-aac3-99ff832b7487_600x374.jpeg" title="Pollution over the Tehran skyline" width="600" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Smog over Tehran in December 2011. Credit: Mohammad Hassanzadeh/Fars Media Corporation via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Air_pollution_of_Tehran_-_17_December_2011_12.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></figcaption></figure></div><div class="pullquote"><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of my employer, any affiliated organization, or any institution with which I am associated.</strong></em></p></div><p>Earth Day is <strong>a global event dedicated to environmental protection, sustainability, and raising awareness about issues like climate change and pollution</strong>. Today, I am reminded that God called us to be stewards, living in abundant, shalom-seeking relationship with creation. The news in the United States reminds me that we are far from that calling – especially when we are at war with one another. Our planet – the soil, air, waterways, plants and more – are silent casualties.</p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://bit.ly/Crux-Community"><span>JOIN THIS COMMUNITY FOR $8/YEAR</span></a></p><p>“The U.S. Department of War is the world’s single <a href="https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/pentagon-fuel-use-climate-change-and-costs-war">largest institutional consumer of oil</a> – and as a result, one of the world’s <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047487/the-pentagon-climate-change-and-war/">top greenhouse gas emitters</a>,” <a href="https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/environmental">reports</a> Brown University. </p><p><strong>Sit with that for a moment.</strong> </p><p>“…a <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/04/15/the-environmental-cost-of-war/">single missile strike </a>generates approximately 0.14 tons of CO2 equivalent—similar to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle">driving a car</a> for 350 miles.” </p><p><strong>When we make war with one another, we break shalom with creation.</strong> </p><p><a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/04/15/the-environmental-cost-of-war/">Daryush Nourbaha</a> writes for the Columbia Climate School that: </p><blockquote><p>“War is not often described in environmental terms, but <a href="https://www.iuscientists.org/militarism-and-climate-crises/">it should be</a>. Modern conflict is carbon-intensive at nearly every stage: the extraction and refinement of fuel, the manufacturing of weapons, the movement of ships and fighter jets across long distances, and perhaps more obviously: the detonation of explosives, the fires that follow and the long process of rebuilding all that has been destroyed.”</p></blockquote><p><strong>Lord, have mercy.</strong> </p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/environmental"><span>the environmental costs of war</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1486944859394-ed1c44255713?fm=jpg&q=60&w=3000&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="selective focus photography of white and orange petaled flower" class="sizing-normal" height="2000" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1486944859394-ed1c44255713?fm=jpg&q=60&w=3000&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D" title="selective focus photography of white and orange petaled flower" width="3000" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>May God give us knowledge, wisdom, and courage – in ways large and small – to do what we can on this side of heaven to receive and reflect His Kingdom, not only in the faces of our neighbors but in the land, air, and water that feeds and clothes us all. </p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><div class="digest-post-embed"></div><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://thecrux.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><strong>Let me know what you think! I look forward to the conversation and comments because our screens make us into lonely consumers but God made us to be a vibrant, liberative community.</strong></p><p>In Christ and for His Glory,</p><p>jonathan</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://bit.ly/IVPBeautyandResistance" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="312" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f05o!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5cf7ee60-aa22-4d35-a957-e5cc57cb8ca8_820x312.jpeg" width="820" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div>