MANSFIELD — Some say a natural gas pipeline coming to the area is a Divine blessing following diplomatic efforts by clergy that took international stage. The region is stepping on the gas and as a result, the economy may be taking off.
Last week the Rover Pipeline reported it has paid more than three million dollars to Richland County in annual property taxes in 2018, with more than sixty-nine million dollars paid across the state.
“There is something precious and beautiful about seeing GOD’s hand of blessing as a community seeks Him,” says Pastor Robert Kurtz of Mansfield Baptist Temple. “We can be grateful for the leadership that GOD has provided in Richland County and all glory goes to GOD for this new injection (pipeline) of income.”
Pastor Kurtz was one of group of over one hundred area clergy who sent a correspondence to the Israeli Prime Minister defending Israel’s sovereignty of its land. He believes the uncanny timing of the Rover Pipeline approval could not have come at a better time, especially when energy projects often go contested.”
The massive seven hundred mile pipeline was approved for construction thru North Central Ohio just ten days after the letter was delivered to the Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Describing the abundance of natural resources as a “blessing” is not foreign in the marketplace of ideas. In 2010, the discovery of an onshore oil site was made in Northern Israel by the exploration company Givot Olam. The company based its search for oil in Israel on Biblical texts. Prior to this discovery, large natural gas fields off the coast with Biblical names like “Leviathan” and “Tamar.”
Pastor Robert Kurtz, Mansfield Baptist Temple
“”We can be grateful for the leadership that GOD has provided in Richland County and all glory goes to GOD for this new injection (pipeline) of income.”
According to Pastor Kurtz, the Bible is not silent about natural resources.
“Isaiah 45 talks about the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places. Likewise, Deuteronomy 32 describes how GOD allows man to eat the increase of the fields and suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.”
Fracking has made it possible to access deposits of shale oil and natural gas in subterranean rock. Israel’s oil-shale reserves could amount to as much as two hundred-fifty billion barrels and bring great wealth and leverage in an unstable region.
“Just as GOD provided the Promised Land for the Israelite nation full of milk and honey, perhaps the land we are stewarding can provide blessings if we walk in obedience to GOD,” says Pastor Kurtz.
The Rover Pipeline transports more than three
billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for delivery to markets across the U.S.
(Photo courtesy of Rover Pipeline)
Benefits of the pipeline will help stimulate the local and state economy. Annual taxes paid by the Rover Pipeline are used to support local needs such as: schools, libraries, roads, hospitals, health departments and senior citizen centers. In addition, Rover Pipeline has donated more than $375,000 to a variety of local non-profits and emergency management associations along the route.
The full Rover Pipeline project officially went into service November of 2018. Rover expects to pay $165 million across the state in 2019.
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Job Twenty-eight, “There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.”
View video below discussing the benefits of the Rover Pipeline by local town‘s people. (4 min. duration)
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