Current Events - Natural Disasters

20/03/2006
Do you think that God causes storms, earthquakes and such. Do you think that Katrina was the judgment of God?

I think that we need to understand that when Adam sinned, it affected everything. It affected the earth. The earth would not have endured and would not be enduring the hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, the tsunamis, if sin had not entered into the world. I don't believe that any of the sins of human beings that are living today are affecting this earth. The sin that affected this earth is the original sin of Adam and Eve and that threw the earth off of its perfect axis, off of its perfect situation, where the weather was perfect and the water came out of the ground and watered the earth and there were no problems or disasters. There was a band of protection over the entire earth in the Garden of Eden and in the book of Genesis. We understand that sin affected all of creation; the earth being a part of creation, sin was affected by that. All of creation is, according to Romans 8, longing for the manifestation of the son's of God. That is why God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth because sin has contaminated the earth.

However, it is not the judgment of God that has contaminated the earth; it is not the judgment of God that brings tornadoes, hurricanes, and these kinds of things. It is the fallen nature of this earth that was affected by Adam's sin. Is this God judging the earth or is this God judging the world? Is this God judging the southern most region of America? I want to reference Luke 13. It says there was present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices and Jesus answering said unto them, “Suppose you that these Galileans were sinners above all the other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you no.” Let me read that from the Amplified. “He replied to them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners then all the other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?’ And Jesus said, “I tell you no.”

The answer is no. It is not because there is more sin in the southern part of the country that has caused those cities to be hurt by the hurricane. It is simply because there are natural disasters that have come into this world through Adam's sin. Not because some people are worse sinners than in other parts of the country. He said I tell you no in verse 3, no it is not because they are sinners, it is not because the Galileans were judged, it is not because God bright judgment on the Galileans, but he said unless you repent, the same kind of tragedy is going to happen in the end to every one of us without Jesus; we are going to experience great tragedy in our lives. There are worse things then hurricanes and disasters and that is hell itself without Jesus Christ.

Current Events - Natural Disasters

16/03/2006
The parable from Jesus when he talks about the house that’s built on the stone versus one built on sand, and that when the floods come, the one that’s built on sand will be washed away. I just keep going back to the disaster down in Louisiana, and wondering if you had thoughts? I’ve been to New Orleans, and it may be one of the most corrupt cities I’ve ever been to.

Well, you make a valid point. You make a valid Scriptural point. But let’s talk about that. Because I know of other cities, such as Las Vegas, that is more corrupt that New Orleans, taking advantage of more people, causing more people to lose money, and getting rich because of poor people. And to me, if your logic was the one that God used, and that world was under, then Las Vegas should have been destroyed rather than New Orleans. Or both of them should be.

No, people are going to reap what they sow, right? The Scripture you bring up is a very good point, and it should be looked at as what an example that this is—that this city was not built properly. That the levies were not built properly. That the governments of Louisiana and of Mississippi did not prepare themselves properly for this disaster, this tragedy, and therefore they are now paying the price for the consequences of not preparing properly.

I think that the lesson that can be learned from that is that we as people should take that as our example and realize that if we don’t build our lives upon God’s Word, and if we don’t build our lives upon the rock of Jesus Christ, then there are going to be storms that will come and they will devastate us and will even devastate innocent people. There are a lot of innocent that have been devastated from the hurricane disaster. And in the same way, a lot of innocent Christians will be devastated if they don’t build their life upon hearing the Word of God and doing the Word of God.

And I think that that’s where the analogy needs to be drawn. Not that those people were wicked and that city was wicked and that’s why it was destroyed, but rather in a physical way, it gives us a picture of a spiritual principle and that is: let’s build our lives on God’s Word because there will come storms, there will come tragedies and we need to be built upon the rock so that when the storms come, it won’t destroy us and it won’t defeat us.

Current Events - Natural Disasters

16/03/2006
I can already start to hear people saying that God is judging the southern part of the United States with the hurricane. I want to do a teaching to counteract that and show what has happened here. I heard another minister quite a while back reference a Scripture that said that sin affects the weather. I can't find it and wondered if you knew where it was?

Well I was going to answer your question with something the Lord just put on my heart. But before I do that, let me answer your direct question of a Scripture that says that sin affects the weather patterns. I think that we need to understand that when Adam sinned, it affected everything. It affected the earth. The earth would not be enduring the hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, the tsunamis, if sin had not entered into the world. I don't believe that any of the sins of the human beings that are libing today are affecting this earth. The sin that affected this earth is the original sin of Adam and Eve and that threw the earth off of its perfect axis, off of its perfect situation where the weather was perfect and the water came out of the ground and watered the earth and there were no problems or disasters.

There was a band of protection over the entire earth in the garden of Eden and in the book of Genesis. We understand that sin affected all of creation; the earth being a part of creation, sin was affected by that. All of creation is, according to Romans 8, longing for the manifestation of the Son of God. That is why God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth because sin has contaminated the earth. However, it is not the judgment of God that has contaminated the earth; it is not the judgment of God that brings tornadoes, hurricanes, and these kinds of things. It is the fallen nature of this earth that was affected by Adam's sin.

Let’s address the situation with the questions you are going to hear from people when they say to you, “Is this God judging the earth?” Or “is this God judging the world?” “Is this God judging the southernmost region of America?” I want to reference Luke 13. It says “there was present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices and Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Suppose you that these Galileans were sinners above all the other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you no.’” Let me read that from the Amplified. “He replied to them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?’ And Jesus said, “I tell you no.”

The answer is no. It is not because there is more sin in the southern part of the country that has caused those cities to be hurt by the hurricane. It is simply because there are natural disasters that have come into this world through Adam's sin. Not because some people are worse sinners than in other parts of the country. He said, “I tell you no” in verse 3. No it is not because they are sinners. It is not because the Galileans were judged. It is not because God brought judgment on the Galileans. But, He said unless you repent, the same kind of tragedy is going to happen in the end to every one of us. Without Jesus, we are going to experience great tragedy in our lives. The worst of all hurricanes and disasters is hell itself without Jesus Christ.

Current Events - Natural Disasters

16/03/2006
Why are there disasters like the recent tsunamis and massive deaths like 9-11 and the earthquakes and the hurricanes? Why are these things happening? Why doesn’t God just take care of these things?

Well, there’s something called sin in the world. Six thousand years ago, Adam and Eve sinned and when they did, it threw the earth off of it’s perfect course, off of it’s course of perfection. And now the earth is groaning. Now the earth is stirred up because of sin. And the earth is stirred up because the earth is waiting, the Bible says, for the revealing of Jesus Christ, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And the earth is like a woman in labor, giving birth and having contractions and her whole body goes through feelings and motions and emotions and she’s getting ready to give birth. The contractions in her body are making her body ready to deliver that baby. And in the same way, the earth is going through contractions right now, getting ready for the return of Jesus Christ and His return is soon. I want you to know that that’s the answer to your question. That is why these things are happening. God is not letting these things happen. They’re happening because the earth is going through birth pangs. The earth is going through travail. Scripture talks about the earth going through travail. And that’s what’s happening. And Jesus is coming back soon. We need to be ready. We need to make sure that we’re serving the Lord. We need to make sure that we’re walking with Jesus Christ.

Current Events - Natural Disasters

16/03/2006
I am asking this because I’ve been running into a lot of this with people dealing with what happened with the hurricane in New Orleans. I’ve been hearing the same old, “the Lord giveth and Lord taken away” and “God is doing this” and things like that. And I’m really trying to correct as many as I can. What words from Scripture can you point us to to tell people if someone may be hearing this? Some are thinking that God loves them and is trying to kill them at the same time, but he didn’t put this on people. He didn’t bring on devastation. What words of wisdom would you offer?

That’s a great question. I would start with Psalm 103, particularly verse 10 says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is His love and kindness toward those who fear Him.” That’s Psalm 103:10-11. What God’s point is here in this verse is “I could deal with you based on your sins, but I’m not going to.”

He doesn’t deal with us that way. He doesn’t bring punishment for sin. He took the punishment of our sins, of our cities and put it on Jesus and nailed it to the cross. The only people that will truly receive punishment for their sin, their individual sin, are people who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And on the day of judgment is when they will receive the punishment for their sin. That punishment is hell. The wages of sin is death. The Bible does not say the wages of sin is catastrophes and disasters and these kinds of things. God does not bring those things upon us. Those are natural reactions of this earth to what Adam did when he infected the earth with sin.

So it’s not your sin, my sin, the people’s sin of New Orleans that caused this hurricane because when you think about it, if God’s going to do that, then every city should be hit with disaster and tragedy. Why wasn’t Germany hit with tragedy and disaster when Hitler was committing so much sin and crimes against humanity? We have to realize we reap what we sow, but God is a God of mercy and not a God of punishment. The only punishment people will receive will be the punishment that comes from rejecting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That punishment will be spending eternity in hell.

Let me give you another chapter to read, in Luke 13:1-5. That’s where Jesus told the story of cities that had been destroyed by Pilate and where Pontius Pilate had mingled their blood and destroyed their city. He said, are they worse sinners than anybody else? Is that why this happened to them? He said no, that’s not why it happened to them. Unless you repent, if you don’t turn to Jesus, the same thing is going to happen to everybody who rejects Jesus Christ.