A few minutes into his talk on the church and the environment, Matthew Sleeth, MD called up a young man named David to share his story.

David recounted how he had recently suffered a grand mal seizure. After a trip to the emergency room, David received some devastating news: he had an inoperable tumor the size of a racket ball growing in his brain. He's 27.

How does that relate to the environment? I don't know. I tuned out for a good 15 minutes after hearing David's tragic story. I just sat there looking at the guy—passionate, articulate … and only a few years to live, according to doctors.

When I came to, I gathered that Matthew is making a film about David's story. The film has something to do with time, about not having of it, and how that sobers us, and reveals what's important.

Matthew sees a connection between our conception of time and our treatment of God's earth. He didn't mince words.

"How many of you take a Sabbath?" he asked the room of Christian leaders.

Not a single hand went up.