Question-Comment: Dear Pastor Don:

I am thinking that Hurricane Katrina was God's Judgment against the USA because the USA really leaned on Israel to go along with the Gaza giveaway that land was part of the covenant God made with Abraham.  He said I will bless those that bless thee and curse those that curse thee.

Also, New Orleans was going to host the homosexual group Southern Degeneracy, and we recall how God nuked Sodom and Gomorrah for THEIR sins, don t we?

And then let s not forget how the US Federal Court has just declared under God is unconstitutional even in the Pledge of Allegiance. (Here s a prophetic scene from a TV show by Red Skelton in 1969: http://www.spiritisup.com/pledgeofallegiance.html.)

I just pray this will be the end, but I fear not.  America for too long has slidden way too far from God, and now His judgment seems to be falling upon us meaning the US.

DON WROTE:

Hello Marc,

Long time no hear from you.  Thanks for taking the time to WRAP with us.

Since your WRAP came in, we have also had hurricane Rita--and our hurricane season is far from over.  As to your concern that America is ripe for the judgment of God, I couldn't agree more.  However,

I Peter 4:
¹⁷ For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

In other words, when things get so bad that God must deal with them, then His judgment will begin with the house of God/the Church. 

Hebrews 12:
⁵ And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ⁶ For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. ⁷ If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ⁸ But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

I Corinthians 11:
³¹ For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

As we were watching the first pictures on TV of the destruction brought on by Katrina, B'Ann was shocked not only to see the utter devastation, but to learn that the upper Gulf Coast where she used to live is no longer known as "The Bible Belt" of America, but the gambling belt of our "One Nation Under God"!  Also, I noticed that one of the hardest hit areas in New Orleans was the adult bookstore area where the signs advertising their perversions were hanging all askew.  This brought to mind pictures in historical books dealing with the early days of World War II where adult bookstores, etc. were flourishing in Germany and the US had entered into the immoral days of the speakeasies and the flappers in the US.  As to New Orleans and the upper Gulf Coast, at first glance, it would be easy to say that God was bringing judgment upon the gambling casinos with their ill-gotten monies and the merchants of pornography and perversion; however, we need to remember that light and darkness cannot coexist and if the children of light (the Church) were not hiding their light under a bushel, then such darkness could not be filling their land. 

Let's consider the Scripture:

II Chronicles:7
¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We can conclude at least two things from this verse.  (1) It was the wicked ways of the people who were called by God's name (their refusal to humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways) that had brought sickness upon the land; and (2) if God's people would pray, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked ways--then God would heal their land.

One day recently, my son Sammy Jon and myself were driving and I was talking about the lost (those without Christ) and how that they have no hope unless God has mercy upon them.  Jon came out of the blue with, "tribulation is God's mercy".  He went on to explain how the tribulation that God will allow/bring upon the inhabitant of this world, if allowed to do its work, will bring people to God and to repentance--and that without tribulation, most would just continue to plunge headlong down the path of utter destruction!   

Jon's comments started me thinking about the difference between the judgment and the tribulation prophesied for the awful Tribulation Period just prior to the Lord's return to take up His Church--how that the judgment for this period will be upon the Church and the tribulation will be upon the lost.  The judgment will hopefully bring the believers to Christ for repentance, deliverance, and power to help Him seek and save the lost.  The tribulation will hopefully bring the unbelievers to their knees before the One Who loves them with the love of the Cross so that they might know the forgiveness of God and the love and deliverance that can be found only in His Only Begotten Son.

John 3:
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Acts 4:
¹⁰ Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
¹¹ This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
¹² Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
 

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B'ANN WROTE:

I have contemplated God's love in my own life and found that I sound similar to Ecclesiastes.  He loved me so much that I had a serious thyroid condition.  This kept me from having the energy to run around and do many of the "wild" things that teenagers often do.  This was gradually brought under control.  His love was manifested again when I had an ugly cancer right in the middle of my forehead.  The help and concern I had from doctors that were stranger helped me get through this after a seven years of treatment . Then he loved me so much that I had an afflicted daughter born in 1977.  The top 5% of the doctors in the U. S. said she could not possible live but one by one the conditions improved and she is now 27 years of age and has a good quality of life.  Next, he loved me so much that a serious conditions caused by Lyme Disease afflicted my 15 year old son.  He was not able to go "wild" and do the "drug scene" as many around him. I was very thankful for that because I see people around that suffered great grief when their precious children began to destroy themselves. He is better today but still becomes very fatigued if he over exerts.

Now where am I going with all this!!!  The Scriptures do say that it rains on the just and the unjust.  We walked around on earth under the same cloud of germs, bacteria, viruses, chemical, impurities in the soil, water and air as the unsaved do.  The difference I see is that we do have a "passover" in many forms.  Each time I would get this Scripture:

Acts 27:

¹⁰ And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives...

²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
²¹ But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
²² And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
²³ For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
²⁴ Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
²⁵ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. ²⁶ Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

Translation for me:  If I would remain steadfast in my faith, I would have to journey through these common times, but I knew that I would reach the other shore.  All that would be lost during this "spiritual journey" would be physical objects.  This was true.  We had to sell all of our property to meet the obligations that caring for afflicted and ill children requires.  But we found people along the way that let us live in their unoccupied homes as caretakers/no rent, helped us buy another car, offered to take the children shopping for school clothing....He made a way when there seemed to be no other way.

It is going to rain on the just and the unjust.  Jesus is not a rabbits foot for luck that we hang around our neck but rather is a constant help in trouble.

Matthew 5:
⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust....
⁴⁷ And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

We need each other in these latter days when we are bombarded not with just the thoughts and wiles of Satan that war against our minds, but with actual physical and chemical impurites that war against our bodies and immune system.  When we have to battle pollution on any scale, whether X-rated movies or carcinogens in our food/water, we have to be more than conquerors.  For this reason, we need to draw close to God.

He directed our steps through the Holy Spirit and we found the path we needed to take for superior medical care, financial stability, and emotional stability.  The organized church that sat on the corners of our community were not visible when we had such a  need in  the spiritual realm . In fact, because we were having to travel eight hours-one way, which required an overnight stay, during the first three months of our daughters life, the church my husband pastored decided that we were gone to often during the weekdays.  Keep in mind that we brought her home to die with she was 3 months old.  They could not tolerate trips to see about our daughter during a three month interval.  We had to move into a camper because our finances were wiped out.  BUT this was GREAT  The people we met out "in the highways and hedges" as we traveled were like jewels that God had dropped along our path.  I often felt like Hansel and Gretel as we followed "His trail of crumbs".  I look back upon those days now as the happiest and most productive of my life. We was not receiving the "crumbs of life" but were fulfilling this Scripture"

Luke 14:
²³ And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Now, we have recovered financially and have a substantial home.  My "trail of tears" was never one of frustration and despair for I had so many promises from God's word.  I saw many of them happen, not as an instantaneous miracle, but as a slow process that helped all of my family grow. 

What a blessed witness to be able to say this about God:

II Timothy 1:
¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Question-Comment:

B'ANN WROTE:

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