trivializing natural disasters

Quite a lot of Christians, usually Pentecostals, claim to know the mind of God. They (in particular) attribute natural disasters to punishment by God of particular sins. So some, in what seems to me an act of the grossest unkindness, attributed the disasters that beset New Orleans to alleged immorality...usually they want to name sodomy and homosexuality as the particular reasons that God apparently wants to wreak havoc on people.

This seems to me to be most cruel, simplistic, and really.....well infantile nonsense.

The Lord himself is at pains to point out that God does not make equations of particular sins, particular people or particular circumstance. (see for example John 9 which would seem to be about disabusing the faithful of the idea that God is in the business of punishing people for particular wrongdoing....a common Hebrew scripture idea). More than this, it actually seems to em to be a total travesty of the God who loves the world so much that he allows redemption through suffering.

When ever we are tempted to say that suffering can be relieved by getting God to wave a magic wand, or by getting people to do the right thing so that they won't be punished we are forgetting that our lived experience is that suffering would seem to be universal.

The question is not why does it happen......but what do we do when it does.

I hope these stupid Penties stop telling us that they have some inroad into the mind of God, and realise that the cross proclaims that in the midst of suffering there is life

On being self-righteous

As a callow youth, early in my days of ordained ministry I was occasionally aware of older clergy looking at me wryly when I was pontificating. In those days I would often think they didn't like enthusiasm (often true) or were resistent to change (also often true).
But I also recognise that sometimes they may just have thought I was stupid and/or naive (often true!)
Hence a previous post (here) does at least allude to the fact that, as the song says, "Regrets I have a few!" - particularly the naivety of not realising that when ever you think you clearly understand what God is saying that you need to be cautious.
I sometimes say that the real problem for me is discerning when "The voice of God!" is really the "voice of Stephen". An exercise in self-validation.
So I am cautious about saying this or that is God's voice. I am wary of those who do likewise.
One such is Danny Nalliah, a Victorian pentecostal pastor, who stated that he believes God revealed to him in a dream that Victoria would be punished for passing abortion laws last year. he has drawn the construction that these awful fires are that punishment (some comment on Wikipedia here)
He has, rightly in my opinion, been roundly criticised (see here and here )
That Jesus repudiates this cause-and-effect sort of theology is evident in a number of different places in the gospels.
That all preachers need to be cautious about their own Messiah complex is less well understood.
I say to all non-Christians. We are not all like this.
The quiet faithful pastor of Marysville, Norm Hart and his wife are now without house and church. They are not being punished by God, for other people's sins.
God most certainly did not allow hundreds of people to die and be injured in order to vindicate Pator Nalliah's view of the world.
God bless those Christians (and others) who see that the best witness is to stand alongside people in the midst of trouble; and not to make self-righteous capital out of it.