For
assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and
be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes
that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says.
Mark 11:23
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw [ it ] into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
Revelation 18:21
he will have whatever he says.
Mark 11:23
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw [ it ] into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
Revelation 18:21
Although I'm sure that those most, or even least affected by the most recent natural disasters would say that these events were 'of biblical proportions' ( and import, no doubt ), while they do emanate from the same Creator, the writer of this article does not follow this notion!
Hurricane Sandy met up with a winter storm-front coming in from the west, which also collided with a cold-front coming down from the Arctic. This recipe for disaster resulted in one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history. It rivaled and possibly even took the honors away from 'The Perfect Storm' of 1991! Not only was north-eastern West Virginia devastated by a pretty decent blizzard around the same time, a blizzard spawned by the collision, most likely, of the three storms, to top it all off, the East Coast was hit by a follow-up ( 'one-two punch' ) nor'easter just over a week later, causing heartache on top of heartache, !
Earlier this fall, New Orleans was once again hit by the effects of a hurricane, this time named 'Isaac' ( interestingly, the name of one of my nephews ), and according to most accounts, suffered more severely than under Hurricane Katrina, back in 2005!
To say nothing of the worldwide natural disasters which have hit in the last decade, and continue to grow in frequency and fury, it seems, one might be tempted to say, on one hand, that the end is near, on the other that man has caused a global warming effect ( might be something there ), but somewhere in between these two horrifying propositions is the notion that God is using these disasters to cleanse His 'landscape', not only physically, but spiritually speaking!
One writer observed that 'Even before Sandy struck the East Coast Monday, an observation was
gaining hurricane force: What if Sandy had struck a week later? What if,
on Election Day, tens of millions were without power, with mass transit
shut, roads flooded, polling stations shut or inaccessible? Would
states or the federal government postpone the voting?'
This writer went on to describe another storm that's brewing, and this is one that been brewing for a long time, a political fire-storm! Not only have these natural disasters brought a lot of discomfort to those who were in the midst of them, they also brought not a small disruption to the political machine!
These 'disasters', both natural and political, real and imagined, may have a seemingly deadly impact in the world around us, but we know that all these things are happening for our good and God's glory! Many lose their lives during 'natural disasters' such as those few mentioned above, and, this is deplorable, especially to those closely related, but through it all, we can rest assured that a greater purpose is being served!
'If you don't want to be crushed by falling idols, don't bow down to them!'
Many people, Christians included, tend to look at the political fire-storm that has been raging over the past decade especially, at least in this generation, and think that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket! If this candidate rather than that one becomes the next 'leader' ( ruler ) of 'the free world' ( HA! ), then all our freedoms go down the drain, and the best thing to do is either hope Jesus comes back soon and raptures us out of this mess, or take up arms and lead our neighbors in a revolt! Okay, so the first will not happen ( He's already here, in us! ), and though the second may become necessary in the not-too-distant future, we must remember that the political process, while somewhat necessary, is not our savior. Although we are responsible, as a body politic, to follow certain guidelines and to obey certain rules, it is God's Law, the Law of Love that we are constrained to follow!
Before the elections were held several days ago, I remarked to several people that our current president may be the best thing this country has ever endured! After they were done choking on their own saliva, or pulling their eyebrows out of the ceiling, I went on to explain what I meant. Especially since the terrorist attacks ( ? ) of 9-11, the financial heart of this country has taken maybe the biggest, and most devastating hit of all! With these last few storms that have hit the East Coast; New York's financial districts have seen some major flooding. With this, and with the recent political storms, the stock market has been going crazy! The economic system in this country, while probably the biggest fiasco the world has ever seen, is also one of our biggest idols, and it is toppling fast!
We must do what we can and must to survive these 'storms', but we must realize, all the while we are preparing, that there is only One Master of Storms, and only He can save us!
Charles Haddon Shank
This writer went on to describe another storm that's brewing, and this is one that been brewing for a long time, a political fire-storm! Not only have these natural disasters brought a lot of discomfort to those who were in the midst of them, they also brought not a small disruption to the political machine!
These 'disasters', both natural and political, real and imagined, may have a seemingly deadly impact in the world around us, but we know that all these things are happening for our good and God's glory! Many lose their lives during 'natural disasters' such as those few mentioned above, and, this is deplorable, especially to those closely related, but through it all, we can rest assured that a greater purpose is being served!
'If you don't want to be crushed by falling idols, don't bow down to them!'
Many people, Christians included, tend to look at the political fire-storm that has been raging over the past decade especially, at least in this generation, and think that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket! If this candidate rather than that one becomes the next 'leader' ( ruler ) of 'the free world' ( HA! ), then all our freedoms go down the drain, and the best thing to do is either hope Jesus comes back soon and raptures us out of this mess, or take up arms and lead our neighbors in a revolt! Okay, so the first will not happen ( He's already here, in us! ), and though the second may become necessary in the not-too-distant future, we must remember that the political process, while somewhat necessary, is not our savior. Although we are responsible, as a body politic, to follow certain guidelines and to obey certain rules, it is God's Law, the Law of Love that we are constrained to follow!
Before the elections were held several days ago, I remarked to several people that our current president may be the best thing this country has ever endured! After they were done choking on their own saliva, or pulling their eyebrows out of the ceiling, I went on to explain what I meant. Especially since the terrorist attacks ( ? ) of 9-11, the financial heart of this country has taken maybe the biggest, and most devastating hit of all! With these last few storms that have hit the East Coast; New York's financial districts have seen some major flooding. With this, and with the recent political storms, the stock market has been going crazy! The economic system in this country, while probably the biggest fiasco the world has ever seen, is also one of our biggest idols, and it is toppling fast!
We must do what we can and must to survive these 'storms', but we must realize, all the while we are preparing, that there is only One Master of Storms, and only He can save us!
Charles Haddon Shank
No comments:
Post a Comment