Hurricane Sandy was dubbed, “Frankenstorm” even before it hit the most densely populated section of the United States last week. It was indeed one of the most destructive storms to ever hit the east coast. A meteorologist on the weather channel announced, ‘the worst case scenario came true.” The ferocity, the magnitude, the location, the timing (one week before a crucial election) make me wonder, was this vicious storm just a terrible natural disaster or a deliberate act of God sent to warn America? If it was a message from God, what was the message? How do we know?
NATURAL DISASTER?
The Bible teaches that since the sin-virus polluted the Garden of Eden all of nature is groaning as in the pains of childbirth longing to be liberated from the bondage of decay. (Romans 8:21-22) We live in a fallen world and are sometimes wounded by nature which is out of sync with God’s original intent. Maybe Hurricane Sandy was just one of the natural disasters that occur from time to time.
GLOBAL WARMING?
Former Vice President Al Gore and others insist that Sandy is additional evidence of “Climate Change” caused by man-made pollution of the atmosphere and therefore we must act quickly to eliminate carbon emissions. While there is ample evidence that the earth’s climate has changed over the centuries (the ice age), I don’t buy into the theory of man-made climate change simply because God promised after Noah’s flood, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Gen. 8:22). God keeps His promises. God’s earth is not so fragile that it will be destroyed by automobile fumes.
GOD’S WARNING?
While we need to be careful about labeling every natural disaster an “Act of God,” there were times in the Bible when extremes of nature were sent from God to warn His people to repent of their sin before it was too late. A study of the Old Testament reveals numerous occasions when droughts, earthquakes, floods, blackouts, windstorms were initiated by God to humble the proud and motivate the rebellious to repent.
For example the prophet Ezekiel warned, “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord’” (Ezekiel 13:13-14),
IS GOD SHAKING AMERICA?
A year ago, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of 911, I listened to a nationwide podcast in which Joel Rosenberg, respected author and student of Bible prophecy, suggested God has been shaking America. He read Haggai 2:6-7 to illustrate his point that the Lord will shake all the nations in the last days.
“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations.”
Joel Rosenberg said while 911 was not caused by God –(it was caused by fanatics devoted to a false religion), God did allow it to happen to wake us up and motivate us to repent. He then pointed out that we ignored the warning and within 2 months reverted back to pre-911 immorality.
He then documented a series of warnings that should have awakened us spiritually the last ten years. He mentioned Hurricane Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which we got bogged down and lost thousands of lives…he talked about our economic woes and political gridlock.
Rosenberg declared that 2011 was the worst year in history for natural disasters:Killer tornadoes in Joplin Missouri and Alabama, the biggest earthquake on the east coast in decades, Hurricane Irene that flooded the Northeast, and the worst fires and droughts in Texas history.
The year 2012 was fraught with numerous natural disasters as well. Horrible tornadoes (Henryville, Ind.) one of the worst droughts in the history of the midwest, terrible fires in Colorado and now hurricane Sandy.
It’s not just the United States, the whole world is being shaken. In 2011 Japan experienced the horrible earthquake with its Tsunami that killed thousands Along with thenuclear meltdown that followed. Australia has had such horrible floods that one newspaper headline called it a, “Biblical Flood.” Haiti was rocked with an earthquake that killed thousands, Russia experienced the worst drought in 100 years and China the worst drought in 200 years.
In addition to the natural disasters there is a world-wide recession and political unrest. Revolutions in Egypt, Libya, Yeman, Tunisia in what some hoped would be an Asian Spring but appears now to be an Asian winter due to the takeover of those nations by the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran, led by an anti-Semitic dictator, is close to developing a nuclear weapon and in response Israel is threatening a preemptive strike.
Rosenberg suggested people world-wide sense that these are uncertain times. It’s like we are on a frozen lake and we hear the ice cracking beneath our feet but we don’t know which way to flee and no respected leader is emerging to show us the way out.
What should we be learning in these uncertain times?
We are vulnerable and need God
First we are vulnerable and need to repent of our self-sufficiency. Solomon wrote, “In his pride the wicked does not seek him, in all his thoughts there is no room for God” (Prov. 10:4).
We are not self-sufficient; we all need God. America’s largest, most secular and proudest city, New York, has been ground to a halt. The “city that never sleeps” was darkened and “eerily silent” according to one television commentator.
When million dollar homes are moved off their foundations, when the electricity goes off, computers shut down, mass transit is closed, gasoline is scarce and the shelves of the supermarkets are empty we are reminded of how vulnerable we are.
We are reminded that government agencies can’t prevent disasters or immediately resolve our most serious problems. Comedian John Stewart appealed for assistance for his home area saying, “It kind of hurts your pride to say, “Hey we need help here.” While some members of a political party may “boo” the inclusion of the word God in their platform, God reminds us that, “Apart from me you can do nothing”.
We are sinful and need a Savior.
Secondly, we are sinful and in need of a Savior. As patience grows thin due to long lines at gasoline stations there are reports of fist fights, guns drawn, some illegal siphoning of gas. At first people help out their needy neighbors but it doesn’t take long for our carnal natures to kick in and selfishness prevails.
God cannot continue to bless a nation that kills its unborn and calls it choice, redefines marriage and labels it as tolerance, scoffs at the Bible and calls it liberation. The Bible warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”
Joel Rosenberg suggests God is shaking America to persuade people to let go of whatever they are holding onto ideologically, philosophically, financially, materially or otherwise for security, and turn to Jesus Christ who alone can save, forgive and provide eternal security.
We are mortal and need eternal hope.
Third, the Lord seems to be reminding us that we are mortal and in need of eternal hope. On the eve of Hurricane Sandy, government officials ordered evacuations of large areas and cautioned people not to be foolish because, “This is a life-threatening storm. People are going to die.” The death toll is now over 100 persons and death is no respecter of persons.
The Lord cautions, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money’” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).
This morning I received a phone call from Micheal Cassara, minister of the Nesconset Christian Church on Long Island. He reported that while the electricity is off for 90% of his community, their church building still had power. He and his wife drove to the church to charge up their cell phones. As he did so he thought, “This is selfish, we need to open the church building to others.”
Mike and his wife made a makeshift sign inviting the community to come in and take advantage of their electricity and cooking facilities. He was amazed as scores of people from their community have stopped into the church to charge their cell phones, cook their food, and help serve others.*
Mike said, “People are turning to the church because it’s one of the few places available where the lights are on and they can be served.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if millions of Americans learned the spiritual application of that example?
Simon Peter summed it up for us when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
****If you would care to make a donation to the Nesconset Christian benevolence fund please note the instructions in the copy of an email from Mike below.
Dear Bob and Don,
As requested, I am writing to let you know the Nesconset Christian Church here on Long Island has established a hurricane relief fund that will give us the ability to assist families with tree removals, home repairs, and assistance with other storm related needs. Most have insurance but it’s the deductibles that will be hard for a lot of families. Many folks who are flooded out don’t have flood insurance so they have no coverage. So if you want to make a donation make the checks out to Nesconset Christian Church and mark it Hurricane Relief Fund. Mail it to Nesconset Christian Church, 247 Smithtown Blvd Nesconset NY 11767. Thanks for all of your concerns and prayers.
God has kept the electric on here at our church building throughout this week while at one point 90% of Long Island was without power. This enabled us to open up the building to our neighbors so they have a place to come to charge their phones, use our kitchen to cook their family meals and watch movies we are running on our screen in the auditorium. We’ve been told that it may take up to two weeks to get all the electric back on across the island. We’ve had an amazing time of outreach and a steady flow of people in our building for the past 4 days. People are bringing food from their homes (before it goes bad) cooking it in our kitchen and putting it out for whoever is here to eat it. And almost all of the folks here do not attend our church (prayerfully at least not yet). God has truly given us the opportunity to be a light in the darkness.
To see pictures of the folks we are helping here at the church go to my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MikeCassara <http://www.facebook.com/MikeCassara> .
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
In His Light,
Mike Cassara
Minister, Nesconset Christian Church.