Asian Tsunami killed more than 212,000 Katrina, Rita and Wilma, have claimed nearly 1,300 lives

1. Asian Tsunami killed more than 212,000 • Katrina, Rita and Wilma, have claimed nearly 1,300 lives • The earthquake in Pakistan - death toll over 55,000

2. Are these to be called natural disasters, signs of the end times, or the judgment of God - punishments for idolatry, fornication, abortion or other sins?

3. To listen to some religious leaders, it would seem that God is angry with us and we are being judged for our sins.

4. Baptist Pastor in Kansas: “Thank God for the tsunamis - and for 5,000 dead Swedes." "We sincerely hope and pray that all 20,000 Swedes are dead, their bodies bloated on the ground or in mass graves or floating at sea, feeding sharks and fishes, or in the bellies of thousands of crocodiles washed ashore by tsunamis."

5. Baptist Pastor in Kansas: "Let us pray that God will send a massive tsunami to totally devastate the North American continent with 1,000-foot walls of water doing 500 mph -- even as islands in southern Asia have recently been laid waste, with but a small remnant surviving."

6. There were many who believed that Katrina was a consequence of the destruction of Gaza's Jewish settlements with America's urging and encouragement.

7. "We don't have prophets who can tell us exactly what are God's ways, but when we see something so enormous as Katrina, I would say the President and Secretary of State need to make an accounting of their actions, because something was done wrong by America in a big way. And here there are many obvious connections between the storm and the Gaza evacuation, which came right on top of each other. No one has permission to take away one inch of the land of Israel from the Jewish people."

8. What does it mean to bless Israel?

9. Not only do some Christian leaders proclaim that disasters are punishments from God, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim clerics do the same.

10. According to the stories of Noah, Lot, the Passover and the Korahites, whenever God judges, the righteous are saved.

11. The God of the Bible is the One who is "not willing that any should perish" (II Peter 3:9), the One who "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“ (John 3:16)

12. "God, I thank you that I am not like other men -- robbers, evildoers, adulterers -- or even like this tax collector." Luke 18:11

13. "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" Romans 11:33,34

14. Judgment comes after death - "And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) "When the Son of Man comes in his glory . . . he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." (Matthew 23:31,32)

15. But what about Amos 3:6 – "When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?"

16. How did Jesus coach His disciples to respond to the "signs of the times"? He said, "Look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)

17. If we're going to pass judgment, where should we begin?

18. II Peter 3:10-12 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat."

19. A number of passages having to do with storms Psalm 107:24-31 A storm used by God to bring famine to Egypt - Genesis 41 Jonah endured a great storm. Jonah 1:4 Jesus and the storms: in one He calmly slept, in the other, He walked across the water - the only scolding received by the disciples was that their faith was weak Luke 8:25 Elijah experienced a great storm, but the real message was in "the still small voice." I Kings 19:12

20. Isaiah 4:5,6 "The LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain."

21. Isaiah 25:1-5 "O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners' stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.”

22. Isaiah 25:1-5 “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert."

23. Isaiah 32:2 "A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

24. The wise and foolish builders. One built his house on a solid foundation, the other on sand. In both descriptions, Jesus ended with, "The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house." Matthew 7:25-27

25. The important question is whether or not our own house will stand.