Quote from Forum Archives on January 4, 2005, 1:14 am

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

01.03.05

Tsunami Response

(Watch the streaming video of the entire message at:
www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html)

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and
unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable,
disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. - Titus 1:15-16.

Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of
trouble. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be
blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. -
Psalm 41:1-2.

The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He
made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The LORD
is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. - Psalm
103:6-8.

In the past week, we have seen the news from the Pacific Rim grow worse and
worse. A week ago the headlines were “Tidal Wave Kills More than 13,340 -
Strongest Quake in 40 Years fuels tsunamis, ramming miles of Asian coast;
rescuers mobilize.” By Sunday, a week later, the headlines read, “Anguish in
Asia deepens - The death toll may reach 150,000 as health risks grow more
ominous.” The President of Indonesia was quoted as saying, “We mourn, we cry
and our hearts weep.”

Some might say that this is evidence that there is no God. However, I
believe that the response to the Tsunami is evidence there is a God. God
cares for the poor and the oppressed. God cares about those who are hurting.
The response from the world in response to this great disaster is an
outpouring of help through the giving of funds and the providing of physical
aid. It is a response that has been generated by a God embedded desire in
the human nature to help those in need of help. It is evidence that God is
alive and well.

Sadly, however, there is another headline that needs to be written. It is a
headline directly from Titus 1 revealing that the natural conscience and God
embedded human desire to help others has been corrupted in some people. It
is a headline about the unaffected. You could possibly say it would be a
headline about the heartless or the godless.

Some people simply ignore disasters like this and go on living as if there
had never been a disaster. After all they think, it happened to someone
else. I can somewhat understand that attitude from those who live in some
other country far removed from the Pacific Rim region. But I was startled
Friday to learn that there are still tourists flocking into the region to -
not to help - but to vacation. In Phuket, Thailand, some hotels were spared
destruction and at those hotels right next to death and destruction - are
tourists. Many are even out on the beach, a beach of death, sunning, laying
on beach towels, frolicking in the surf, riding jet skis - seemingly
oblivious to the tragedy that only recently visited the place.

Now some are saying that they have paid for their hotel rooms, and their
flights, and so they are going to get their money’s worth. How they can do
that in the midst of so much death and destruction is beyond me to
understand. Only a short distance down the beach there are still bodies
washing up on the shore, and still bodies being found amidst the ruble of
destroyed structures. The insensitive, oblivious, tourists of Phuket seem to
have no cares and continue on with their lives just as if nothing had ever
happened.

So, what does that have to do with us? I think it should be a sober reminder
that in our own communities, there are similar disasters, on a much smaller
scale, that occur every day. People all around us are, figuratively
speaking, swept out to sea, hit by tsunamis they did not see coming. They
are floundering emotionally, spiritually and financially. Their lives have
been shredded to ribbons. Their relationships are coming apart at the seams.
Everyday around us there are people who die and go out into eternity without
Christ. It is an eternal disaster and yet what is our response even when we
know we have failed them? We go on with acting and living the same way we
always have ignoring the great spiritual need that we have in our own
backyard. This Tsunami ought to be a wake up call for us. It ought to wake
us up to the great needs all around us.

If we have a conscience, if we are children of God, we should respond to the
Tsunami disaster. In addition, we should respond to the little disasters of
life happening all around us. How would God have you to respond?

Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
www.christianpost.com.

If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free
links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the
bottom of the front page www.theburningbush.org.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org

Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at:
www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical
ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to
interclife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. A closely related website is
Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need
peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm