Is a tree truly destroyed when it is burned?
No. When a tree is burned, it is not truly destroyed; it only changes form. Every part remains in the universe, including heat that goes up the chimney. What occurs is entropy: matter and energy move into a less usable state, not out of existence.
Les teaches that there is nothing being created nor destroyed, but with sin and the curse the second law of thermodynamics became operative: everything is constantly moving into a less usable state, which is entropy. Using a tree, he explains that it may take a hundred years of sunlight, rain, and nutrients to grow, but when cut up and burned in a fireplace, only ashes remain. In our common everyday way of thinking, that tree is destroyed, but Les says no—every part of that tree is still in the universe. The heat that went up the chimney is part of the universe because heat is energy.