By Michelle A Vu, Christian Post

Evangelical churches across the US, including several megachurches, joined in a national day of prayer for the Gulf Coast community on Sunday.

The National Day of Prayer for the Gulf, sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Environmental Network, brought Christians together in praying for the residents of the Gulf Coast impacted by the BP oil spill.

Organisers had planned to pray for the oil to stop gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, but now that the new containment cap seems to be stopping the oil leak, the prayers focused instead on the long-term recovery process.

“I do think the shift in emphasis will be how do we ask God for His help and the help of the church in the long-term recovery process both in nature and in terms of people’s livelihood,” the Rev Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed near Orlando, Florida, told The Christian Post on Friday.

Hunter, who is an NAE board member, said he plans to talk to his congregation on Sunday during “family time” about the oil spill and ask them to pray for the affected Gulf Coast communities.

Somewhere between 94 and 184 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20 drilling rig explosion, according to government estimates. BP was able to stop the oil from gushing into the Gulf for the first time on Thursday after nearly three months.

Experts are still analysing the pressure in the well to determine if there is a leak elsewhere. The pressure as of Friday was 6,700 pounds per square inch, which means there could be a leak or that so much oil has spilled that it will take time to build up pressure, according to CNN. A pressure higher than 7,500 psi would indicate a low chance of a leak.

The Rev Mitch Hescox, president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, was in several Gulf Coast states this weekend to pray with local Christians for their communities.

He recalled memories from his trip to the Gulf Coast in June.

“I think the most poignant was putting my hands in the oil and just seeing how it stains all of creation – the grass, the water, and even the animal – and hearing the people tell their stories how they can no longer shrimp or get oysters out of those waters, and that their whole life was destroyed,” Hescox said.

The evangelical environmentalist said the feeling among the people he met in the Gulf Coast is that it will take decades to clean up the devastation from the oil spill. Yet despite the great obstacles they see ahead, Christians in the area remain hopeful that God will “correct the problem”, he said.

“God is the source of their strength,” said Hescox, who will be in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana this weekend to pray with the Gulf Coast communities. “When someone would start talking negatively, others would jump in and say God will deliver us we have to keep hope and have to trust in God.”

Churches in the Gulf Shores, Alabama-area held an inter-denominational sunrise service Sunday on the beach at Gulf State Park.

The Rev Leith Anderson, president of the NAE and senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, said the leaders of the seven Sunday services at his church would lead congregants in prayer for the Gulf Coast communities.

“America has a long tradition of calling for prayer when we face national challenges,” Anderson told The Christian Post. “The Gulf oil spill is a major national challenge. We are just doing what Americans and evangelicals have been doing throughout our history.”

FIND THIS ARTICLE AT: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/us.evangelical.churches.pray.for.gulf.coast.communities/26307.htm

Environmental journalist Simran Sethi interviews Pastor Joel Hunter about the ways the green movement and religion intersect—and why it should be such a natural fit.

By Alexander Bolton – 05/17/10 07:13 PM ET

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) have turned to evangelical Christians in a last-ditch effort to move immigration reform and climate change legislation.

Democrats are making a direct appeal to the GOP base by turning to evangelical Christian and other religious leaders, and there’s some evidence that the talks could be fruitful.

“We’re encouraging Southern Baptists to reach out to senators and congressmen to encourage Democrats and Republicans to quit playing politics and deal with immigration reform in a fair way,” said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Read more…

IPL National Conference Keynote — Rev. Joel Hunter from Interfaith Power & Light on Vimeo.

Pastor Hunter gives the keynote speech at the Interfaith Power and Light National Conference in Washington, DC, May 3, 2010.

Dr. Joel C. Hunter stands with government officials and power company executives in support of The American Power Act, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions at the country’s biggest polluters including power plants, heavy industry and transportation.

DR. HUNTER’S COMMENTS AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT (37 minutes in):
“Added to the obvious practical benefits of this package is its moral aspect. It is never too early or too late to do the right thing. All religions and non-believers alike have a sense that being a good steward of the earth and atmosphere is the right thing to do. The Bible, the Koran, the Vedas of the Eastern traditions all say that to protect the earth is to honor God. In Genesis 2:15, God orders us to cultivate the earth and keep it. That means we have to balance protection with production. We are not just interested in fighting pollution but poverty as well, ‘green’ should mean a growing economy as well as healthy environment.

“And the time for action is now. It is the business of those with a political perspective to calculate success, but legislative success is not the standard for moral action. I don’t want to be standing before God on Judgement Day saying, ‘I would have worked to protect the earth and the poor but I didn’t think we had the votes.’ It’s never too early or too late to do the right thing.”

God communicates with people through the written word and through nature, said a Florida megachurch pastor on the eve of Earth Day.

Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland, a Church Distributed, in Longwood, Fla., cited Romans 1:20 Wednesday evening at the Hope for Creation event. He said like the Bible verse, which says God’s invisible qualities can be seen through creation, God allows people to understand Him through nature.

“The word of God is really both nature and Scripture but in Scripture it commands us to do exactly what we are doing tonight, and that is to guard God’s creation,” said Hunter, who co-hosted the Hope for Creation event with Dr. Matthew Sleeth, the founder of Blessed Earth and the visionary behind the event. Read more…

Part 6 in a series of teachings from Dr. Joel C. Hunter about how to approach today’s issues biblically, respectfully and effectively.

This educational mini-documentary reveals how faith, science, art, and conservation voices are joining together to discuss the threat of climate change to wildlife and talk about hope for the future. It features several Christian leaders including Northland’s senior pastor, Dr. Joel C. Hunter.