http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6791508/
God and the tsunami How can a merciful God allow such disaster and suffering? TRANSCRIPT Updated: 5:58 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2005 With some 175,000 people dead and vast stretches of Asia ripped apart, a lot of people are asking, how can a merciful God allow such disaster and suffering? And should we interpret this as a sign from above? Below are excerpts from a discussion with men and women of different faiths on 'Scarborough Country' last night: Anne Graham Lotz, author of "Visions of His Glory": I know that God is a loving God. I don't look at the tsunami and what has happened at Asia. I look at the cross. And when I look at the cross of Jesus Christ, when God sent his own son to die to take away my sin, I know that God loves me. So, I don't know the love of God is in question when this happens. Why he has allowed it to happen, I don't know. I can't answer that question. But I think one of the things that we need to do when there's a disaster like that is to look up and ask God, "Are you trying to get our attention? Is there something we can learn from this? Is there something you're trying to say to us?" What is interesting about this is that this tsunami did not increase death. All of those people who died were going to die anyway. And I don't mean to be cold. We desperately don't desire to see people suffer in such a horrific way. But, at the same time, every single one of us is going to die. And the critical thing is to determine what is going to happen to us the moment after we die. Where are we going to spend eternity? And that's why God, who does love you, and he sent his own son to die on the cross, that, when I place my faith in him, I can be forgiven of my sin and I can know for sure that, when something happens to me-and I can die on the highway. I can die as a result of a disease. It doesn't have to be a tsunami. But one day, I'm going to die. And I know when I do, I am going to be ushered into my father's home into heaven because I have placed my faith in Jesus. So, this is a tragedy and it's a disaster, but it's not a reflection on the fact that God doesn't love us, because God loves us and the proof of that is the cross. Jennifer Giroux, director, Women Influencing the Nation: Throughout history and reported early in the Bible, God has always used plagues, floods and natural disasters as a source of punishment. One can talk about a sad lost generation over there in the disaster going on in Asia. We have a lost generation of 40 million aborted babies in this country that is being ignored by so many people. I believe that this situation that happens makes all of us look inward, realize God is ultimately in control of life and death. Look at what we're looking with just in this country with cloning, homosexuality, trying to make homosexual marriages, abortion, lack of God in the schools, taking Jesus out of Christmas. I can't pretend to know the mind of God. But, historically, there have been warnings. And God, who is all-loving and all-good, and he will not be mocked. What I'm saying is that God does allow natural disasters to happen. He always brings good out of bad. There is sin in this country. There is sin around the world. There's no way anybody could look over there and say they are more deserving than anybody else to have this disaster. We all look with horror. And I think one thing that really has made all of us think is, we all know in the Bible it says death comes like a thief in the night and we know not the day or the hour. And it makes all of us look inward and ask, "Am I ready to meet my maker? And am I ready, if this were to happen right now, where is my life? Am I doing what God wants me to do? And am I living a moral life? " We as individuals and as a country need to turn to God again, ask for forgiveness and mend our ways. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author, "Face Your Fear": I think Jennifer Giroux is guilty of colossal blasphemy and even more colossal arrogance, because even Jesus on the cross says in Matthew 27 and Mark 15, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " He wanted to live. He was challenging God. He was saying life is precious, unlike Anne Graham Lotz, who just said only the afterlife matters. Jesus challenged God. It's what Abraham also does when God says, "I'm going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah." And they were more sinful than any American or people living in Sri Lanka or Indonesia. How dare one say that 150,000 people that you have never met who are probably more righteous than you, more innocent than you, poor people who just worked hard to feed their kids, how dare you say they were punished by God? You don't know those people. Tim Lahaye, co-author, "Left Behind": Bible prophesy is history written in advance. And it doesn't mean that God is arranging all these activities. I think the God of the Bible is a God of love, as Anne has described. But in order to understand what he does in an isolated situation like this, we have to come back and understand who he is. And although it's true as, I think the rabbi said, that Jesus prayed, "Why have you forsaken me?" the fact is, that's not the end of the story. If you go on, three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead and God raised him up from the dead, proving that his sacrifice for sin was acceptable. But the point is, we're looking through a glass darkly. We don't see the end from the beginning. Bible prophesy tells us that, as we get closer to the end of the age, there will be more and more of these natural phenomenon. And that's one of the things that I resent, people trying to say that this is the judgment of God. No, this is just the natural result of the phenomenon of nature. As the Earth changes and shifts on its plates, you have earthquakes caused and such tidal waves that are just unbelievable and you have death and so on. I don't believe God is picking on these people. But we're approaching a time when people have to make sure that they are right before God, because all of these uncertainties-and certainly death is an uncertainty-when it comes, it's an uncertainty. It points out to us that we have to be ready at all times to understand not the God that man sees just in an isolated event, but the God of the Bible. The amazing thing about it is, if you go to the U.S. Geological Society, you will find that they chart earthquakes and they have been increasing. For the past five decades, every decade has increased the number of earthquakes, killer earthquakes we're talking about. And this is one of the granddaddy of all earthquakes, and it has taken so much life. And the good thing about all of this is, it points out that man really has to get right before God, because the time is short. Things are happening so rapidly today. Even unsaved secular scientists say they see no hope for this world beyond 25 or 50 years. What should our response be? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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