My Speech...

If you want to read it...here it is! I'd love to hear your thoughts :) I gave this speech last Friday :) A lot of verses, I know, but what can I say? It's spiritual evidence for a spiritual topic :P

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"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
The official death toll for Hurricane Katrina is stated to be over 1300. The number of deaths of the Tsunami is even higher- as high as 295000 people. Some Christians are attributing these disasters to God’s judgment- such as beliefnet.com, and one of my Bible Study Fellowship leaders. After all, there were some wicked people living in these cities. But with such high numbers, don’t you think there were *some* righteous people?
This reminds me of Genesis, when God warned Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded for the wicked cities, asking that if only 10 people in that doomed area were found to be righteous, that God would spare the cities. God agreed, but when there were not even 10 righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, He judged Sodom and Gomorrah.
Rather than judge these people, why not display Christ’s love to them, and help them get through this difficult time? Why should we say, “Well, if something bad happened here, all the people there must have been horrible sinners.” When in reality, we’ve all been just like them? For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The truth is, God does not want the world to die. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We should be careful when attributing natural disasters and other recent events to God’s judgment. When a natural disaster happens- we can ask ourselves, has God warned? –or what good come out of this?
As I read up on why Christians attribute the Tsunami or Hurricane Katrina to God’s judgment, I came across something rather interesting. India was one of the countries affected by the Asian Tsunami, and Christians tried to say that it was because there were so many Hindus that God supposedly sent His wrath against India. But a column on a widely-read Indian news site, Rediff.com, suggested that the Tsunami was an avengement against Christians, for having their missionaries in India. So the Hindus are blaming the Christians, the Christians are blaming the Hindus. Is there not something a little troubling about this? There obviously were righteous people in India, if there were Christian missionaries, and if it was God’s judgment, He would spare the city if it had only 10 righteous people.
New Orleans is a city known for its wickedness. From Satan worship to voodoo, this city is *full* of wickedness. But isn’t every other American city wicked too? There are no degrees of sin with God- sin is sin. If God was punishing the wicked, why didn’t he throw the waters at the whole United States? I loved what a man named Joe Scarborough said, “I think the part of this New Orleans story that bothered me the most was the fact that you had young, 12-, 13-, 14-month-old babies dying of dehydration on city sidewalks in New Orleans. I don't know about you. I mean, the God that I worship is not a Santa Claus, but the God that I worship does not kill 14-month-old babies in such a heinous way to punish Florida residents that go over and have too much fun on Bourbon Street.” Innocent people suffer too, and some die because of natural disasters.

Remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? God didn’t just decide, “Ok I’m going to wipe out this city and not tell anyone.” He told Abraham what He was going to do. This is how it was with every judgment in the Bible. God always warned beforehand through prophets, dreams, and messengers. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh of judgment. We read this in Jonah 3:2-3, “"Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” And if the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina *were* judgments from God, wouldn’t He specifically warn of it first?

Even if the people of Asia and New Orleans were wicked people, God could still take their actions, which they meant for evil, and use them for good. He could use missionaries to show them His word, and change the wicked people. From Romans 8:28, we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to {His} purpose. Does this mean He doesn’t punish the wicked for their actions? No, but He has set another place and time for that, in the end times at Judgment Day.
And just because He allows bad things to happen doesn’t mean that He is judging someone or someplace. He can use natural disasters for good as well. After all, Romans 8:28 didn’t say God causes all things *except natural disasters* to work together for the good of those who love God, it said ALL things. Sometimes God uses tragedy to teach people to rely on Him.
Finally, this is not to say that God does not judge. John 12:31 tells us that, “"Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” Yes, God will judge the wicked, and spare the righteous. The Bible tells us that, “"The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” God doesn’t judge us out of hatred. He judges us out of love- because He wants to redeem us.
So the next time something bad happens, and someone tries to tell you its God’s judgment, remember: God always warns before He judges, and He can make good out of the bad.
So let’s quit feuding over why things happen, and try to help people and show Christ’s love. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."