Crawling back to the edge of the earth

I did apparently fall off the face of the earth, but I've managed to crawl back onto the surface again.

With regard to the situation in New Orleans that I promised to comment on, the Wall Street Journal said everything I could say even better than I could say it, so go read the archives. My main thought, even in the early days of the disaster, was that local leadership needed to step up. By local I mean not merely the mayor, but also the more able minded and able bodied of those who were stranded in the city in and around the Superdome. Over time, stories will probably come out showing how leadership qualities developed in the lives of some. I couldn't help but think that some of the young men yelling at the cameras, blaming America for the situation, might just be capable of turning around and using there oratory skills to help bring order.

Some have suggested that this is God's judgment on Biloxi and the Big Easy for their sins, which are perhaps more evident than the sins of America's other cities. I've even heard some say that we should not be afraid of man but instead call it how it is and declare that this is God's judgment. But it is my fear of God that keeps me from declaring that Katrina was somehow a judgment of God for the specific sins of these cities. Who knows exactly why God has allowed this? The one thing we can say for certain is that when God allows suffering to come to a person or a community, that person or community is always biblically responsible before God to ask "why, God? What lesson are you trying to teach me?" We need to pray that people and communities would ask this question and that they would respond in faith.

Finally, it's very interesting to see how thousands went forward over the years at Billy Graham crusades. It's easy to be critical because of how many were apparently unchanged in heart by the emotional pull involved. Yet, I am constantly amazed at how many strong Christians I know who look back at that common event as the time of their conversion. I wonder how many people I will meet in the future - over many years - who will say "I was displaced by Katrina, and while in city X, I came to faith" or how many will say, "My parents came to faith because of hurricane Katrina and what it did to them, and as a result I heard the gospel growing up in my home." It will take years and even generations for us to hear about what God is doing, but we need to pray that even now there will be those who say "it took a hurricane and the destruction of a city for God to get my attention and repent of my sin and turn to him."