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Pastor's Corner by Pastor Larry

October, 2005

Wow, what a sudden change in the weather yesterday (9/20)! There were lighting and thunder, followed by pebble-sized hail, and finally a gush of short but heavy rain. In the end, there was no harm done to our beautiful homes in the Bay Area. Such is not the case in the Southern parts of the country. At the wake of cleaning up the mess created by Hurricane Katrina, and with the rise of Hurricane Rita, it keeps the residents in the Gulf area on high alert. From a tropical storm, Rita has changed to a category four hurricane within a relatively short period of time. I can only imagine the chaos and the stress the people in that region must be feeling and having to endure, especially those who are in New Orleans. It is difficult for us to judge the cause of such a devastating natural disaster.

Again, some good-intentioned Christians claim that God is punishing the city of New Orleans because of city’s annual MardiGras, which basically is a festival to parade immorality. Before we give God a “bad name,” we need to separate our own individual speculations and the truths. When Christians make such outrageous claims, they seem to speak for God, when in fact they have no right to do that. I’m not saying that God is blind to the sins of the world, and it is also true that no unrighteous person can escape His judgment, but how and when He judges is His prerogative. When evil seems to have the upper hand or when immorality is on a rampage, remember what the Apostle Peter said: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) As healthy Christians, we should not use disasters as lightning rods to “zap” people. We need to have compassion for those who suffer, just as Jesus did when He saw the hopeless multitudes.

It seems not too long ago I wrote about the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and it wasn’t that long ago we had to face the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. Why are there all these tragedies? Though the time and the hour is a mystery, the signs of the “End of the Age” are clear that there will be tribulations caused by men and nature. Are we entering this so called “End of the Age”? Nobody knows for sure because one may argue that wars and earthquakes have always been around. It is true, but no one can disagree that the magnitude is becoming greater. Come to think about it, how could Jesus and the disciples, especially John, who were not well-traveled nor had they viewed any CNN reports, predicted these kinds of disasters so long ago? The answer rests on the “behind the scene” author of the Bible—God, who remains ruler of history, regardless of how bad this world seems to be heading. His plan is beyond anyone’s understanding.

Before I sign off, I encourage all Christians to take time to reaffirm your faith in Christ. He hasn’t lost control of the world. He is directing this world and all these signs we have seen lately should direct our thoughts to rely on His promise—His Glorious Return. If you have yet to believe in Christ, I wish you to take some time to meditate the value of things you work so hard to build. If there is no eternal value, it can vanish in a matter of hours. All you can do is to watch and mourn! God is preparing an Eternal dwelling for you only if you believe.

Pastor Larry

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嘩！昨天﹝9/20﹞的天氣變化得很厲害，不單只打雷及閃電，跟著還落雹，然後是短暫的傾盆大雨。還好這不竟並未對我們灣區的房屋造成破壞，但在美國南部的地區就沒有那麼幸運了。墨西哥灣的居民正在清理旋風Katrina帶來的破壞之時，又要為將要侵襲的旋風Rita作好準備。旋風Rita在很短的時間內，由一個熱帶氣旋變成一個〝四級〞旋風，我可以想像那混亂和那地區的人﹝特別是那些在新奧爾良的居民﹞所要面對和承受的壓力。要來斷定造成這種破壞的天然災害的成因是很困難的。

就如過往一樣，一些好意的基督徒宣稱這是神要懲罰新奧爾良這個城市，因為他們每年舉行的那個MardiGras（一個在鼓吹不道德的節日）狂歡節。但在我們給神一個〝臭名〞之前，我們必須要把自我的猜測和事實分開。當基督徒作這樣不合理的宣告時，他們好像是代神說話，但事實上他們並沒有權利這樣做。我並不是說神對世界的罪惡是盲目的，而且，不義的人斷不能逃離祂的懲罰是千真萬確的，但在什麼時候和怎樣懲罰是祂的特權。當魔鬼好像得勝和不道德的事情橫行的時候，讓我們記著使徒彼得在彼得後書三章九節的說話：「主所應許的尚未成就，有人以為他是耽延，其實不是耽延，乃是寬容你們，不願有一人沉淪，乃願人人都悔改。」作為一個健康的基督徒，我們不應該强調天然災害是摧毀人的工具。我們應該對受難的人有憐憫的心，就好像當主耶穌看見那些無盼望的群眾一樣。

好像就在不久之前，我寫過有關於在印度洋發生的海嘯；而在再前一段的時候，我們都面對〝911〞所帶來的後果。為什麼會發生這麼多的悲劇呢？雖然時間是不可知，但〝末世〞的徵兆很清楚說明很多人為或天然的災難是會發生的。我們是否已經進入這個所謂〝末世〞的時候呢？這是無人可以肯定的，因為其他人可以反駁說戰爭和地震是一直在發生的。不錯，但沒有人可以否認的是它們是越來越厲害的。讓我們來想一想，主耶穌及衪的使徒們，特別是約翰，他們不曾週遊列國，也沒有收看CNN的電視新聞，又怎可以在這麼久以前就可以預測這些災難呢？答案只有在聖經〝背後〞的作者 – 神的身上，就算這個世界是走向極敗壞的境況，祂仍然是掌管歷史的主，祂的計劃是超乎任何人可以明白的。

在我擱筆前，我鼓勵所有基督徒再次在基督裏面堅立你對神的信心，祂並不是不能控制世界，祂仍在帶領世界，我們最近見到的所有徵兆，應該可以帶引我們到祂的應許─祂榮耀的再來。如果你仍未相信基督，我希望你可以用一些時間來思想你那些苦苦耕耘得來的東西的價值，如果沒有永恆價值的話，它們都可以毁於旦夕，你就只可以觀望和悲嘆而已。只要你相信耶穌，神就會為你預備一個永恆的居所。

唐若愚牧師

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