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As a hurricane named Gustav appears to be headed towards the Gulf coast we're all reminded of the unbelieveable damage and suffering caused by Katrina. I have no doubt that there were countless numbers of prayers when Katrina flooded New Orleans and Mississippi but none of them appear to have been answered. For those who believe in God, does God have the ability to control the weather and if he does why would he allow a hurricane to kill people who happened to be in the way? Or do you think that God lets nature follow it's own course of action whether it's a hurricane, earthquake, flooding, or whatever the situation might be. Since natural disasters are a common occurrence and people often perish by the thousands when it's a really serious event it seems to be obvious that if God exists he's not out there battling nature to save lives. If a parent saw their child in danger from some threat I have no doubt that the great majority of them would risk their own lives to save their child. If we're supposedly God's children why doesn't he act like a loving parent and do everything within his power to save us?
As a hurricane named Gustav appears to be headed towards the Gulf coast we're all reminded of the unbelieveable damage and suffering caused by Katrina. I have no doubt that there were countless numbers of prayers when Katrina flooded New Orleans and Mississippi but none of them appear to have been answered. For those who believe in God, does God have the ability to control the weather and if he does why would he allow a hurricane to kill people who happened to be in the way? Or do you think that God lets nature follow it's own course of action whether it's a hurricane, earthquake, flooding, or whatever the situation might be. Since natural disasters are a common occurrence and people often perish by the thousands when it's a really serious event it seems to be obvious that if God exists he's not out there battling nature to save lives.
That's pretty obvious isn't it? The big scam of religion is not that there's a god but that there's a benevolent god you can influence with rituals, chants & incantations. Nope.
As a hurricane named Gustav appears to be headed towards the Gulf coast we're all reminded of the unbelieveable damage and suffering caused by Katrina. I have no doubt that there were countless numbers of prayers when Katrina flooded New Orleans and Mississippi but none of them appear to have been answered. For those who believe in God, does God have the ability to control the weather and if he does why would he allow a hurricane to kill people who happened to be in the way? Or do you think that God lets nature follow it's own course of action whether it's a hurricane, earthquake, flooding, or whatever the situation might be. Since natural disasters are a common occurrence and people often perish by the thousands when it's a really serious event it seems to be obvious that if God exists he's not out there battling nature to save lives. If a parent saw their child in danger from some threat I have no doubt that the great majority of them would risk their own lives to save their child. If we're supposedly God's children why doesn't he act like a loving parent and do everything within his power to save us?
Can I speak frankly to you, MG?
I mean, I truly consider you a friend so if this comes across rude please give me the opportunity to rephrase before you get angry with me.
OK, now to my comments......
You're joking, right?
God has given us radar, forecasting computers, weather stations at sea, planes to fly into the eye of these things, and a bevy of other things that could take all night.
Forecasters were warning about this thing days ago, close to a week in advance.
The weathermen have been talking about the danger and the caution that needs to be considered for the coming storm. The people have had an opportunity to listen and choose whether they want to respond. Salvation from the storm is only a heartbeat away and provision has been made.
If the people don't heed the warning, it is not because God let them down.
It is because they heard a message and chose to ignore it.
Sound familiar?
EDIT: Dangit, I was saving my 5000th post for something special. Now I've blown it! I'll have to do something special for 6000.
God already did something within His power to save us....He sent his only son Jesus to die on the cross for us.
Yes I believe this is the answer to your question Montana. And like Alpha said some will heed the warnings and some won't. Congratulations on your 5000th post Alpha!
I've actually wondered about whether or not God controls the weather. I tend to think of it this way: Yes, he can control the weather, but that doesn't mean He always does. It's certainly possible that He set in motion the laws which govern how the weather occurs, and allows it to go on as it will. But I'm also reminded of something in the Bible, Revelation 18:4-5, which states...
"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes."
I'm not necessarily try to reference New Orleans by posting that verse, as if I'm stating that it and it alone is a city full of crime and sin. Rather what I'm doing is pointing out that the verse shows God warning his people to come out of a place that is about to undergo wrath and judgment. The implication is that if you don't remove yourself from that place, you will suffer in the punishment along with others who don't heed His warnings. So just because an atheist thinks God is a "bad parent" because He doesn't save all His children from danger, that doesn't make it so.
Furthermore, I'd like to say that it was not that long ago that we had some very bad storms blow through my area, and one of the storms included a tornado that was heading directly toward my brother's house on the other side of the county. The radar indicated he was in the bull's eye. All I could do was helplessly watch it unfold on radar, and I prayed and prayed that God would have mercy, and allow him and his family to escape unharmed with no damage to the house. As it turns out, that tornado never touched the ground as it passed over my brother's town. It was then taking a course toward MY part of the county, and I again prayed for God's mercy that it would dissipate. The track changed and the storm missed me. Now whether or not that was a direct answer to my prayer or not, I don't know. But that's what happened.
Also, just this evening we had more storms coming through. I generally don't get hit with them in this part of the county where I live, so as I listened to the weather reports about storms moving through the area, they said they were down south. In fact, one passed over my mom's neighborhood, and as I was on the phone with her she was telling me about it, and I looked outside and saw nothing. My mom doesn't live but maybe 10 miles from me, so I concluded that the storm was going to miss me. And it did. However, I mumbled to myself that I'd be willing to bet I would not see a storm this evening at all, because they would probably pass around me like they normally do. The next thing I knew, I was getting pounded by the heaviest storm I've experienced in YEARS....literally. The thunder boomed right over my head, the lightning struck not far from me, the rain poured harder than I've seen in a long time, the wind was whipping trees around and blowing leaves all over the place, and it HAILED. I rarely see hail around here. I stood there at my front door mesmerized.
Unless you're a believer in God, you're never going to find satisfying answers to your questions ABOUT God. And even if you ARE a believer, you still need to know that we simply don't know all His ways or reasons.
Alpha said...."God has given us radar, forecasting computers, weather stations at sea, planes to fly into the eye of these things, and a bevy of other things that could take all night."
I always thought these things were invented by people. If God is responsible for all of this, then I guess man's efforts are futile. What happened to "free will"?
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