Fear. Perhaps the strongest of all the emotions that we possess is that which we call fear. As defined by Noah Webster nearly 200 years ago, fear is “a painful emotion or passion excited by an expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger.” He also said the force of this passion is expressed in degrees of apprehension, the most moderate degree expressed by the word “fear” itself, then “dread”, and then “terror”, with the greatest degree being that of the word “fright”.

Simply put, fear will cause you and I to do things that otherwise we would not do. Fear will cause a small child to run blindly, headlong toward a raging campfire because of the fear of even a friendly dog, while fear for that child’s safety will cause its pregnant mother to hurdle people and benches as she races to intercept her child just paces from that fire. The fear of heights will cause a small child to fight the efforts of a father to place them on a piece of playground equipment barely four feet off the ground, while the fear of enclosed places will require even a grown man to take a sedative before being placed into some of the most sophisticated radiological equipment in use today. While some fears are real, others are only imagined, but they all invoke responses from us that otherwise would remain dormant.

I say all this because we have begun to hear rumors that this winter we may experience rolling black-outs because home heating is more important than home lighting (though gas heating appliances are also dependent on electricity to some degree) and because we don’ t have the infrastructure to store greater amounts of natural gas for peak demands. While I do not dispute these assertions, or disagree with those who have put these forward, I think it is important to understand that we are at this juncture because of fear. While I do not know if we could have had a coal-fired power plant up and running yet or not, the reason that we have not even started is, again, due to fear. Fear that it will lead to higher utility bills because due to coal’ s abundance and proximity, there is no cheaper alternative fuel source on the horizon. What’ s more, this same fear has led to a closed-mindedness toward innovation that could have propelled the Mat-Su Valley, not to mention Alaska, as possible world leaders of clean-coal burning technology. And it is fear that has led to the firing and defamation of the man who would dare point us in such a direction.

But fear of what? The fear of global warming, that’ s what. Fear that the polar ice caps will melt, creating millions of miles of new sandy beaches. Fear that places like Alaska just might have four seasons. Fear that some mystical “carbon footprint” will lead to the demise of civilization as we now know it, and that if we don’ t act “now,!” the consequences of which will be irrevocable.

Folks, this is such a bunch of nonsense and a myth because God is not done with this earth yet. There are at least another 1,007 years of useful life in this planet that, try though they may, mankind will not be able to destroy it. For those who really believe in this thing called global warming, hear what the Bible says about real heat that is on the horizon.

In Revelation 16, verses 8 and 9, we find that God will intensify the sun so as to bring great heat upon the earth during the time the Bible calls the Tribulation. The fatal flaw in the global warming theory is its orientation: It is man centered. The truth is that this “warming” will be God-centered; that is, this scorching heat will be the judgment of God on a Christ-rejecting world. And for all the heat that he will pour out in Revelation 16, the return of Christ in chapter 19 will usher in 1,000 years (chapter 20) of such agricultural increase that Amos 9 says “the plowman shall overtake the reaper.”

When God finally does destroy this earth, and destroy it he shall, it will be on his time schedule (Rev. 20:11) and for his reason (I Cor. 15:26). Friend, rather than fearing the warming of the globe, you need to fear the day that you will stand naked before the Judge of all the universe (Rev. 20:12-15) where you will have to account for all your ungodly deeds.

Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.