GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A massive Hurricane Ike sent white waves crashing over a seawall and tossed a disabled 584-foot freighter in rough water as it steamed toward Texas Friday, threatening to devastate coastal towns and batter America’s fourth-largest city.
Ike’s eye was forecast to strike somewhere near Galveston late Friday or early Saturday then head inland for Houston, but the massive system was already buffeting Texas and Louisiana, causing flooding along the Louisiana coast still recovering from Labor Day’s Hurricane Gustav.
The National Weather Service warned residents of smaller structures on Galveston they could “face certain death” if they ignored an order to evacuate; most had complied, along with hundreds of thousands of fellow Texans in counties up and down the coastline. But in a move designed to avoid highway gridlock as the storm closed in, most of Houston’s 2 million residents hunkered down and were ordered not to leave.
This satellite image showed Hurricane Ike as of Wednesday morning
This fall, in our Sunday school class at church, we are studying a book called “Is God on America’s Side?” The book looks at the thinking that God somehow reserves his blessing for American because it is a “Christian nation.” We’ve just started it, but I think it will be a good thing to clear up some attitudes about how God’s will is not always what we think it is.
In light of that, I want to add an essay by Joe Carter, who is the managing editor for Culture11. Carter, in what he calls “an open letter to the religious right,” lays out 11 thoughts he wants to share with them about religion and politics. You may agree or disagree with his points, but his conclusion is well worth noting:
(F)inally, we must recognize that America is not a “Christian nation”, though we should aspire to be a nation where those of us who are Christians are admired as good and noble citizens. America is not a “shining city on a hill”, though we should let our light of freedom be a shining example for the entire world. America is not the “greatest blessing God gave mankind”, though it is a great nation worthy of our conditional adoration. Patriotic sentiment has its place but we mustn’t let it expand beyond its acceptable borders. We are citizens of both the City of God and the City of Man and must always be careful not to confuse the one for the other.
The History Channel’s “102 Minutes That Changed America” was hard to watch, but fascinating. I wasn’t anywhere near New York City that day, but looking at the event through the eyes of several witnesses brought to mind the confusion and utter helplessness we all felt. I think it was a powerful way for us to shaken from the fog of our American dream and the idea that we are somehow beyond the reach of pain, suffering and evil.
Below is a preview of the special as producer Nicole Rittenmeyer talks about the collection of videos and people gathered for the program.
John Piper's latest book is "Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ"
On this day, seven years ago, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon and crashed another into a Pennsylvania field. More than 3,000 people died that day in an openly evil act. Our nation’s history was dramatically altered on that day.
With the thought of evil on my mind, I became aware that John Piper’s new book “Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ” has now been released. This is what it says about the book at the Desiring God Web site:
What does the fall of Satan reveal about Christ’s glory? How does Adam’s sin magnify our Lord? How does the glory of Jesus shine through in Judas’ betrayal? How is the honor of Jesus at stake in the sin and evil, the suffering and the calamities and the wickedness, which abound in the world today? In this book John Piper seeks to provide a biblical perspective on God’s sovereign and righteous governance over even the sinful acts of men. History’s greatest sins do not thwart God’s purposes to save his people and glorify his Son; they fulfill them. And being grounded in this hope is the key to “Christ-exalting strength in calamity and Christ-exalting courage in conflict.”
We see indescribably evil things happen each day in our world. There is no escaping it. When we think of these things we may wonder how God can allow it and, if so, how does it fit into his plan. John Piper recently explained what he hopes to accomplish with the book:
The aim of this book is not to meet felt needs, but to awaken needs that will soon be felt, and then to save your faith and strengthen your courage when evil prevails.
And, even though the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are receding into history, I think none of us who lived through that day will ever feel we are free from the presence of evil. And, for that reason, it would be good to understand the purpose of God in “spectacular sins.”
ALSO SEE: How Sept. 11, 2001, proved 10 truths about God’s sovereign love
SEN. JOE BIDEN: Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. She is say close personal friend and qualified to be president of the United States of America. She is easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me, but she is first-rate. I mean that sincerely.
Christian publishing giant Zondervan, the company behind Rick Warren’s megahit The Purpose Driven Life, announced last week that it will release the biography of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin next month.
The former little known Alaskan governor raised much curiosity after her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last week where she showcased her no-nonsense attitude, passion and moral convictions.
Now that the entire country is familiar with the name Sarah Palin, people want to know more about the woman that could be second in line to the presidency.
The new biography Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader by Joe Hilley seeks to address some of the questions and allay curiosity by exploring how she became the leader she is today. The book looks back at Palin’s political career, life as a hockey mom, and her strong Christian faith.
No, but there are some scholars who would argue that. How well do we know the man considered perhaps the greatest Christian of the 20th century? Lewis once said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but by it I see everything else.”
We would do well to better understand this man, who is familiar to many — Christian or not — through his many popular writings. His insight into Christianity and his way of communicating it is unique. Brad Mercer, the senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, Miss., is lecturing on the life and works of C.S. Lewis at the First Presbyterian Church in Kosciusko, Miss. Mercer is currently pursuing his doctorate in Lewis studies. The church has graciously made his lectures available online.
From Rasmussen Reports comes an interesting poll revealing the public’s opinion about the Supreme Court. Of particular interest was this portion of the report there:
During his acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, John McCain told the audience, “We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench.” Most American voters (60%) agrees and says (sic) the Supreme Court should make decisions based on what is written in the constitution, while 30% say rulings should be guided on the judge’s sense of fairness and justice. The number who agree with McCain is up from 55% in August.
While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the justices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on the judge’s sense of fairness, while nearly half (49%) of Obama supporters agree.
When you have people who’s idea of “fairness” includes a fundamental right to kill unborn babies you can see why elections are so critical. The people who make these decisions serve for life, but the people who appoint them don’t.
The Dalits make up 25 percent of India's population and are the poorest caste group in Hinduism. They are severely discriminated against and oppressed.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I’m not always thinking about elections and hurricanes. In fact, this is something I’ve been watching and praying about lately. This was from a report in The Guardian from Aug. 31:
Thousands of terrified Indian Christians are hiding in the forests of the volatile Indian state of Orissa after a wave of religious ‘cleansing’ forced them from their burnt-out homes with no immediate prospect of return.
A mob of Hindu fundamentalists rampaged through villages last week, killing those too slow to get out of their way, burning churches and an orphanage, and targeting the homes of Christians. Up to 20 people were reported dead, with at least two deliberately set alight, after the murder of a Hindu leader last Saturday provoked the violence.
In some districts, entire villages lay deserted, abandoned by Christian populations who would rather shelter in the forests than return to face the risk of death. Some villagers attempted to return to their homes yesterday despite threats of further violence.
But Christian leaders who had spoken to those who have fled said that even among the trees they were not safe. Some of their tormenters have pursued them, trying to finish the job.
While the portion of the story above indicates the killings are in response to the killing of a Hindu leader the week before, the story goes on to say that Maoist guerrillas have in fact claimed responsibility for the killing. Still, there is tension between the groups:
Underlying the violence is a long-simmering dispute between Hindus and Christians in the state over the conversion of low-caste Hindus to Catholicism. The success of the Christian churches has fuelled resentment among hardline Hindus. The Vatican has condemned the violence. Most of India’s billion-plus citizens are Hindu, while just 2.5 per cent of them are Christians.
With that in mind, I would like to point out a resource that I use called Global Prayer Digest. From its site, the Global Prayer Digest:
(I)s a unique devotional booklet. Each day it gives a glimpse of what God is doing around the world, and what still remains to be done. Daily prayer for that still-unfinished task is at the heart of the Adopt-A-People movement. Condensed missionary stories, biblical challenges, urgent reports, and exciting descriptions of unreached peoples provide a digest of rich fuel for your own times of prayer for the world.
The Global Prayer Digest is a key tool in a movement to help fulfill Christ’s commission to make disciples of all the peoples of the earth. This movement involves a daily discipline of learning, praying, and giving to help reach the world’s nearly 9,000 ureached people groups. Unreached peoples are those groups which do not yet have a strong church in their own cultural and social setting.
This month’s guide is on the Dalits of India. They are the poorest caste group in India and face severe discrimination. In the story above, many of those are from this group. Each day GPD has a prayer topic related to that month’s guide. It is a valuable resource and one that I would encourage anyone who calls himself a Christian to explore. As it says on the site, “when man works, man works, but when man prays, God works.”
Rockstanding 
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