This week, there was a 7.3 earthquake in Haiti, virtually leveling the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Hospitals are gone. Within 24 hours of the quake, the Red Cross in Haiti was completely out of supplies. Haiti is the poorest country in this hemisphere. They have nothing to start with. Now, their buildings lay in ruins, and they have no ability to repair those hospitals and schools without help from the outside world.
God, help me to serve you in a way that will benefit the people of Haiti. I want to be your hands in that country. Help me not to just offer prayers, but be willing to obey.
In light of the great need (to help, I recommend working through World Vision or IDES; they are reputable and have experience in disaster relief), many are pulling together to help, as they should. Soon, people will make fake charities, preying on people's generosity. Over and over again throughout the Bible, God condemns those who do wrong to the poor (especially in the prophets, proclaiming destruction upon those who have done so. Read Amos). Amos 5:12 "For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts." (NIV) God PROMISES judgement on those who prey upson the poor. If that is you, you have been warned.
God, You will be faithful to your promises. Great and terrible will be your wrath on those who oppress the poor and refuse to repent. God, help me to turn from the ways in which I oppress the poor. Be gracious to me, teaching me and all who do this wrong to turn from our sin to your righteousness.
In addition to these warnings, let me know express my feelings about Pat Robertson. If you don't know, he said that the earthquake was a curse, because they supposedly made a pact with Satan to throw off the rule of Napoleon. So, to you, Pat, I say:
You wicked fool! How dare you, oh one of great senility, speak in such evil and ignorance! You blame the poor for being oppressed! You blame them for Satan's evil. Even if the pact was made, Ezekiel 18:20 says, "The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father , nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him." (NIV) God would not hold them cursed for the sins of their fathers! Woe to you, who sits in your chair as if it were a throne, wearing your fine suit like a kingly robe. You drive a car as the Caesars drove chariots! You live in a mansion, like a palace of old! Woe to you, for you proclaim judgement and oppress the poor by your words. Worse, you lead others to follow you! Great will be your judgement when you stand before God. Repent!
For anyone else who would read this, do not hold Christians accountable for Pat Robertson. He is the violation of what we believe. He is a Pharisee, a hypocrit. He claims to hold to our religion, but does not practice it in any way. He is a blight, a disease. He causes my stomach to turn.
No comments:
Post a Comment