Synopsis

Not long ago, J. Matthew Sleeth had a fantastic life and a great job as chief of the medical staff at a large hospital. He was living the American dream---until he saw an increasing number of his patients suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases. He began to suspect that the Earth and its inhabitants were in deep trouble.

Turning to Jesus for guidance, Sleeth discovered how the scriptural lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship could be applied to modern life. The Sleeths have since sold their big home and given away more than half of what they once owned. In Serve God, Save the Planet, Sleeth shares the joy of adopting a less materialistic, healthier lifestyle, stronger relationships, and richer spiritual lives. With the storytelling ease of James Herriot and the logical clarity of C. S. Lewis, Sleeth lays out the rationale for environmentally responsible life changes and a how-to guide for making those changes.

'Creation is groaning. And Matthew Sleeth has responded. Serve God, Save the Planet is not an alarmist call of despair, but a hopeful invitation to re-imagine the way we live. Sleeth's words have the urgency of an ER crisis coupled with the deep faith that the Church is ready to join God in healing the wounded world.'

--Shane Claiborne, activist and author of The Irresistible Revolution.

Books & Culture

'...remarkable: elegantly written, theologically and scientifically acute, and not least, beautifully typeset and bound.... Serve God, Save the Planet is about much more than environmental activism.... [W]hat I took away from Sleeth's book had less to do with the specifics of energy use and recycling than the hope that there is a better way to live as families: that it is possible to detoxify our technologized and hypermediated homes, and that our children will thank us for it.... Sleeth...is the perfect missionary for the environmental cause;....he recognizes, in time-honored evangelical style, that the most important battleground for any social change is the human heart....' — Books& Culture

Biography

Matthew Sleeth, MD, is the author of Serve God, Save the Planet and The Gospel According to the Earth, as well as 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. Dr. Sleeth and his family live in Kentucky. To learn more, visit www.blessedearth.org.