Matthew Sleeth, MD, is the author of Serve God, Save the Planet and a former emergency room director and chief of medical staff. He practices what he preaches; after simplifying his life and cutting his energy use by more than two-thirds, he now writes, preaches and teaches full time about faith and the environment. Together with his wife, Nancy, and their two children, he helps lead the growing creation care movement. Sleeth is a graduate of The George Washington School of Medicine. The Sleeths live in Kentucky. To learn more, visit www.blessedearth.org.
"Sleeth is the perfect missionary to American evangelicals for the
environmental cause."-Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making:
Recovering Our Creative Calling
"Matthew Sleeth carries a fresh message and unique insights arising
from a life of integrity and a vantage point that offers glimpses
of the world that most others miss."-Dr. John Stumbo, president of
the US Christian and Missionary Alliance
"Reforesting Faith immediately captures the soul! It awakens a
hunger for the vastness of God as well as the immediate presence of
God. Matthew has a great gift of taking something as common as a
tree and exploding the Scripture before our eyes, resulting in an
overwhelming renewed love for our Lord."-Jo Anne Lyon, general
superintendent emerita of the Wesleyan Church
"Somewhere along the line, too many people picked up the notion
that loving trees was somehow pagan or Druidic. As this volume
makes clear, the Bible is a veritable forest, full of towering
cedars and heavy-laden fruit trees. Reading this will help make the
Scriptures come more fully alive."-Bill McKibben, author of The
Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation
"Reforesting Faith is an extraordinary book. Never before have I
gone on a 'nature walk through the Bible,' so I'm grateful I had
Matthew Sleeth as a guide. It's fascinating to see the Bible
through this lens-and to realize the connection has been there all
along. I heartily recommend this captivating and beautifully
written book that enables us to see Scripture in a fresh
way."-Howard Dayton, founder of Compass-Finances God's Way
"This is one of those rare books that makes you wonder how you
could have read the Bible your entire life and missed so many
insights and treasures. Matthew Sleeth invites us on an amazing
journey through Scripture with an eye to the special place of
trees. In the process he helps us reimagine the world in new ways
and awakens parts in us that have been asleep for far too long.
Drawing from nearly a thousand references to trees or their
derivatives in the Bible, Sleeth reignites our sense of wonder and
our love for the majesty of God. This book will help restore our
weakened imaginations and remind us of our proper place in the
world."-Timothy C. Tennent, PhD, president of Asbury Theological
Seminary
"All of physical creation is an object lesson of spiritual truth.
In this wonderful book Matthew Sleeth illuminates the most
profound, prolific, and practical object in God's inventory-the
tree. Both spiritual solace and spirited service find meaning in
trees."-Joel Salatin, farmer and author of The Marvelous Pigness of
Pigs: Respecting and Caring for All God's Creation
"When it comes to biblical knowledge and divine insights, I can
read Matthew Sleeth all day. In Reforesting Faith he has given us a
curiosity-driven tome telling the grand story of God through the
trees of Scripture. Don't be lost in the woods; read this book,
discover the thicket, and reforest your faith."-Kyle Idleman,
senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church and author of Not a
Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus and Don't
Give Up: Faith That Gives You the Confidence to Keep Believing and
the Courage to Keep Going
"The intricate symbolism of trees is woven through the Bible from
the beginning to the end in a way that is incredibly obvious to me
now after reading Reforesting Faith. Thanks to this book, I will
never look at a tree the same way again. If you care about nature
at all, this is a must-read."-Angela Correll, author of the novel
Grounded
"Matthew Sleeth is gifted at pulling out truths in Scripture the
rest of us read over. He did it with the Sabbath, and now he's done
it again with trees. Read this book!"-Jess Correll, chairman of
First Southern National Bank and UTG Life Insurance
"In Reforesting Faith Matthew Sleeth reveals his core identity as a
conservationist both in calling us to conserve trees and in
inviting us to conserve an often-forgotten core metaphor of the Old
and New Testaments. Through lively narrative grounded deeply in
Scripture and in the concrete experiences of his personal journey,
the author constructs a sort of tree-centric theology. Like a
seasoned gallery docent, he invites us to notice the pervasive
scriptural use of trees as sacramental signs in our world revealing
God's presence, his activity, and his eternal purposes. The
book-like its subject, the tree-is a gift, pointing us to the
triune God whose daily generosity sustains us and our
world."-Shirley A. Mullen, president of Houghton College
"Matthew again connects us to the essential: God, the planet, the
Sabbath, a tree. God's breath that gave life to man is being shared
daily by all that breathes, including trees. This reminder brings
hope and enormous joy. Reforesting Faith is a must-read."-Lisa
Renstrom, former president of the Sierra Club
"I never knew until reading Reforesting Faith how bountiful and
significant trees are in God's story of the Creation, the Fall, and
redemption. Before reading this book, I loved the beautiful trees
of God's world and the power of the Bible's rich symbols, but I
never saw how many connections there were between them. This book
has deepened my love for God's Word and his world even more."-Karen
Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life
Through Great Books and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life
of Hannah More-Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist
"The intrinsic and life-sustaining value of trees has long been
neglected. Sleeth proves God's love for trees and draws the reader
into the realization that we need to not only reforest faith but
also literally reforest our forests. This timely book is an almanac
describing the importance of sustainable farming at a time when it
is sorely needed."-The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, founder and
president emerita of Interfaith Power and Light, a religious
response to climate change
"Readers of the Bible will be refreshed and quickened to see the
sensible and intentional way God uses trees as blueprints for godly
living and as key players in major events, including the stories of
Adam and Eve, Moses, Gideon, Jonah, and Christ. Even if you are
unfamiliar with the Bible, this book will be a reminder of how
important trees are to every living thing on this planet."-Grace Ju
Miller, PhD, professor of plant biology and dean of the School of
Natural and Applied Sciences at Taylor University
"Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a stimulating thinker who came to Christ
later in life and consequently looks at Scripture with fresh eyes.
He sees biblical truths most of us who grew up in the church have
overlooked. This exceptional book reflects Matthew's keen insight,
his love for God's Word, and his passion for creation care. (PS:
Hey, preachers... This is great material for a unique sermon series
on the trees of the Bible!)-Bob Russell, retired senior minister of
Southeast Christian Church
"Matthew Sleeth takes us on a wonderful journey along a trail of
trees into a deeper and richer hope for life-eternal life through
faith in Jesus and thriving life for the Father's world in which we
live. This is a fun, inspirational, and provocative read."-Mark
Liederbach, PhD, professor of theology, ethics, and culture at
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Matthew inspires us to celebrate the powerful nature of the trees
that share the earth with us. The book transports me to the forest
floor. As I gaze at the shimmering leaves above, I always feel my
spirit rise toward the heavens. Reforesting Faith affirms that
trees play a central role in the teachings of many religions around
the world. The book is a fascinating journey into our past that
teaches us what we must do to ensure a future full of beauty, life,
and purpose."-Dan Chu, executive director of the Sierra Club
Foundation
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