It is the day after Father’s Day.  I stayed busy on Father’s Day going to church, working in the garden, being with the love of my life, Suzanne.  Today is different.  I have time to think.  I am thinking about Dad.  He died Labor Day weekend.  My thoughts are:  Father’s Day and no Dad.  I suddenly realize that something is missing.  Something missing from my life that has always been there.  I look at Dad’s picture on the dresser of our guest room.  He is wearing the cowboy hat that he often wore on special occasions.  The hat was on his chest in the casket.  I look at the picture and I remember.

Dad was a big man.  He had big hands and a big heart.  Injustice, especially aimed at children, angered him.  I remember his dark hair, dark complexion, and big hands.  When I was a child there was a tinge of fear when I thought of Dad.  He expected discipline.  I lived to please him.  I also remember his tender side.  He would watch the Jerry Lewis Telethon and call in pledges.  He thought anyone who hurt a child should be executed.  He demonstrated tough love sometimes.

  There were a few times when he held me close and let me know how much he loved me and appreciated who I was.  Just a few.  On this day after Father’s Day, those are the times I am remembering.  Dad was the bread earner.  The provider.  The one who took care of the really big problems.  There was nothing Dad couldn’t fix.  At least that is what I thought. 

There is definitely something missing in my life.  Father’s Day and no Dad.

NATURAL DISASTER

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM VISTA WRITER

SUBMITTED BY CHARLES LILLARD, BCM DIRECTOR

1.        Many individuals look to science to explain these events, while others look to the Holy Bible.  What is your perspective about the recent numbers of natural disasters?

I have no problem with people looking to science to explain events.  However, there are reasons beyond science.  Science is not contradictory to God.  Science seeks to explain occurrences only on a surface level.  I believe that God is the creator of science.  He is not bound by its (science) rules and can interfere with science as He wishes.  When this occurs it is called a miracle.

                Our planet has not always existed and was not created to last forever.  This planet is dying.  The natural disasters are just that, natural.  They are groans from a planet that is passing away.

2.        How does the Bible’s explanation differ from the perspective of science?

The Bible gives an eternal perspective of physical happenings.   They do not contradict science but rather reveal that even this is part of God’s plan.  In the gospel writings (Matthew 24) we are told that there will be wars but don’t be alarmed because that doesn’t mean the end is near.  It also says that there will be famines and earthquakes but this is just the beginning of the birth pains.  As you know birth pains get closer and closer together before birth comes.  By the way birth signals a beginning not an end.  The beginning will be a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1).  This earth is physical and the next will be spiritual.  All believers will have part in this eternal existence (1 John 5:11-13). 

The Bible seems to indicate that these natural disasters will not be the death of this planet but will cause us much anxiety before the end actually does come.   Luke 21:25-26, indicates that the end will come from the heavens.  Perhaps there will be a scientific explanation for this also.  Perhaps our planet will die from a star exploding or an asteroid collision.

3.       Does the scientific explanation conflict with what the Bible says about natural disaster’s? 

I ‘m not sure it conflicts.  It does fall short of a full explanation. 

4.        Are there certain aspects of scientific explanations that are true?

Yes.

5.       Should individuals take heed to natural disaster’s?  Why?

Yes.  The events of this life are wake up calls.  The Bible says that God has put eternity in the hearts of man (Ecc. 3:11).  Everything about God’s creation including that yearning in our hearts tells us that there is purpose in life.  You cannot imagine not existing for a reason.  God has put that in our hearts.  Human suffering and tragedy bothers us.  It seems wrong.  Why?  We have a thought that there is right and wrong.  It is more than just natural science.  Not only are we physical, and mental, we are also spiritual. 

Reason number one of why we should take heed to natural disaster is that it is a warning of our frailty and finality.  Reason number two is that God has given to us responsibility for the planet.  We didn’t create it.  It doesn’t belong to us.  We are care takers of this blue ball (Gen. 2:15).  Believers should be the most concerned environmentalists because we know we are stewards of the planet.

6.        How far does the Biblical explanation of natural disasters go back?

If you count thorns and thistles as natural disaster, then Gen 3:17, which was at the beginning of man’s history.  Some say that Job was one of the earliest books written.  In the book of Job we find natural disaster coming upon an innocent victim.  Job was a righteous man that had his family and possessions wiped out by natural and unnatural disaster.  The stated cause of this tragedy was the testing of his faith.

This morning I sat on the back porch of my home and enjoyed the spring.  My quiet time reading was from Joshua 11-12.  Joshua was commanded to kill every man, woman, and child in several cities.  I would be lying if I didn’t say that killing everyone in a city didn’t bother me.  Sometimes I wonder if my picture (concept) of God is not true.  He is God.  I have no other.  There is no other.  I trust Him.  Sometimes obedience is tough.  I wonder if Joshua found that to be true.  Obedience and faith are difficult because our LORD is such a complex God.  It is a firm conviction of mine that all the Bible is true all the time.  I can’t rewrite it because I don’t understand it.  I set on my back porch and I enjoy God’s creation.  Birds come to sing to me and allow me to enjoy their presence.  The scriptures tell me that God created this world and everything in it.  He has revealed that He cares about birds and so surely He cares about me.

God has allowed me to work in my backyard garden.  I can’t make a plant grow but He allows me to work and arrange what He has created.  He created me.  He allows me to be me.  What does this say about my role in God’s universe?  I breathe by God’s permission.  My concept of God is as important as my faith that He exists.  It determines myself worth and my attitude toward life.  Passages like Joshua chapter 11 let me know that it is not about me.  John 3:16, lets me know God has chosen to include me in His plans.  Jesus came so that we might have abundant life.  Why?  A mystery. 

I was in New Orleans after Katrina.  I was at High Island after Ike.  Both were terrible disasters that destroyed property and took lives.  I have seen the poor in Malawi, Armenia, China, Houston, and Los Angeles.  Nothing prepared me for what I would witness and experience in Haiti.

On January 12 at 5:00pm, 300,000 lives were lost in a 7.2 earthquake.  Help for this island nation poured in from many sources, none more that the Baptist Disaster Relief.   I was part of a team of ten who spent an extended Spring Break in Haiti.  Two of us had been through Oklahoma Disaster Relief training.  The eight students were from various Baptist Collegiate Ministries in the state.  They were willing workers with a heart for God and people.  Looking back I can see that God put this team together.  We worked extremely hard and stayed in less than ideal circumstances.  The living accommodations were much worse outside the walls of Joy House, than inside where we stayed.  While we enjoyed running water, electricity, and abundant food, the Haitian populace lived without.  We learned the rule of three, three minutes without air, three days without water, or three weeks without food brings a person to a critical stage of survival.

The students sacrificed money and time to be part of the team.  While many of their friends were on the beach playing volleyball or in the mountains skiing, they were swinging sledge hammers and cutting rebar.  We were joined by a team of students from Texas A&M who were equally committed to the task.  The task given to us was to demolish the structure of a church that had collapsed during the quake.   As we surveyed our assignment it seemed overwhelming.   We only had a week.  We were able to complete the assignment in four days.  It turns out that the missionaries actually thought it would take several teams working three weeks.  We were happy and humbled that we could exceed their expectations.

We also helped with a food distribution.  The Joy House Ministry has started 17 churches over the past 12 years.  They use the churches when they distribute food.  One of the pastors was given 200 tickets.  We had filled 200 bags with beans and rice.  On the day of distribution people began lining up for food.  I noticed that none of them had tickets.  As those who had tickets came we handed them the bags of life giving food.  All those standing in line did not receive any food, at least on that day.  Our small act of mercy was dwarfed by the need.

Our assignment was just outside of Port Au Prince.  Driving from and to the airport we saw the massive scale of the disaster.  The sights, sounds, and smells of Haiti will be with me forever.  Relief efforts continue in Haiti.  Pray for the Baptist Disaster Relief as they make a significant impact on the people of Haiti.  Could it be that God will use this terrible thing to create something beautiful?

It seems many people are certain about things that aren’t clear to me.  I am not saying that there are things I am not certain about.  I’m certain about God and that I share life with Him.  I am certain about prayer.  I know He hears when we call on His name.  I am certain about Jesus.  I am certain about the Bible.  I know it is truth and that every word of it is God breathed. 

Being certain of these things does not mean that I am certain of all things.  It seems God has allowed us to live with mystery.  I know God because of Jesus.  I would imagine that to God followers of the first century that the very coming of Jesus brought even more mystery to God.  The mystery of the trinity boggles our minds.  I believe it but do I fully understand it?

The trinity is not the only truth that brings mystery.  I know that Jesus has promised to return and gather the saints for the close of this age and the beginning of the next.  There is an awful lot I don’t know about how that will happen.  Some have that part of the future down pat.  Some of those who have it down pat differ from each other.  Someone is wrong.

Another mystery to me is the conflict between God’s predestined will and the clearly Biblical teaching that man has a choice.  I believe that both are true but I don’t know exactly how it works.  Some call these teachings Calvinism and Armenianism.   I personally do not think a Biblical teaching should be named after a man.  The term Biblical carries more weight than any human name.  I think that giving a teaching a name is an attempt to take away the mystery.  When someone asks me if I am Calvinist or Armenian I tell them I believe the Bible.  I know what they mean but why should I have to be either one?  Where the Bible is certain we should be certain.  Where the Bible leaves questions we should leave questions.  There is much of the Bible that is clear.  There is more certainty in the Bible than I could ever live and practice.  As for now I choose to leave the mystery, a mystery.

So what am I certain about?  I am certain that Jesus died for all people.  I am certain that whoever calls on His name shall be saved.  I am certain that God is sovereign.  I am certain that there is nothing beyond His power.  I am certain that God’s love extends to all His creation.

With all this certainty there is still much mystery.

Paul wrote Philipians toward the end of his life.  This great saint in the last years of his life wrote, "That I might know Him."  He was still learning about our Lord.  If Paul could still be learning to know Him, what about us?