Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What about the aftermath?

By Joel Ferraris

Prompted by the behavior of the three typhoons I have to write this very important note as a reaction to the recent calamity and the ongoing devastation caused by the 2nd typhoon (Parma) still wreaking havoc in Luzon (as of this writing) while it changed its course and is forecast to move South Southwest at 12 kph.
http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/

People familiar with military strategy (learned either by experience or through computer games), I presume, could easily agree that if one part of the army is used for advanced frontal attack on the enemy a second wave of attack behind to hit enemy supply lines will cause so much damage to weaken and eventually defeat the enemy.

Such a scenario is what I have observed in what's going on in my country. While Ondoy devastated parts of Metro Manila and its neighboring areas before its final exit Peping (Parma), followed by another typhoon (Quedan), went north as if to purposely target the farmlands wherein crops supposedly ready for harvest in the coming months were destroyed. Now one understands and could imagine what this will eventually mean.

I am seriously thinking as to why all these things happened. What are the reasons? What is the main reason? What have we done to deserve such fate? What will the aftermath be?
It’s all Biblical.

What comes to mind is the more serious calamity happening to an individual. The presence of reality that there is confusion going on about religion and spirituality whereby true Christianity, suffering serious attacks from all sides, is either absent, obscured, ignored or even dismissed as dying or even inexistent in an age of computers makes one question about life and the afterlife and if there is a need for repentance.

Meanwhile, as soon as everything’s back to normal old habits and continued ignorance of what ways are sinful might come back again and everything’s back to “normal” again especially when society follows a confused sense of morality whereby the line dividing right from wrong is obscured. And as in the aftermath of the flood in Noah’s time evil will continue to lurk and resume business to devour the next victims without them having the chance of salvation through Lord Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life.

I have my own share of personal calamities as a citizen of a country ravaged by all sorts of calamities big and small, subtle or obvious. But all these have ceased their hold on me in 1988 when I was finally baptized in the Holy Spirit and accepted God the Father Almighty and His Son Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. And truly, the gifts of the Holy Spirit available for free are what a person needs for him or her to be able to walk a straight path towards the right direction and make life easy and most of all to obey the will of the Almighty God the Father and make one identify what things are evil to be able to resist it and be free from captivity to the many deceptions of the evil one.

Indeed, after practicing true worship, my prayers were answered many times in many ways and instances. In the devastation brought by typhoon Frank last year in Iloilo my old, 80+ year old mother, who lived in our small house together with my younger brother, was spared from that calamity that not only destroyed property but also claimed many lives. Our house is located in lowland too but it was not directly affected by the devastation.

I love my family and I always pray for them and because of this that I teach them about true worship and I give my trust and faith to the Almighty God the Father who is the One who could protect not only me but all the people I love as well in this lifetime. And this love is indeed really true if we all enjoy it in the eternal afterlife.

I have no control of what happens to them but the fact that I have not hidden the truth from them about Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation through Him makes me accept the will of the Almighty God the Father for them.

Calamities and God�s Judgment: What Can We Learn From Natural Disasters? by Bob DeWaay http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue90.htm

Tsunami, Sovereignty, and Mercy by Dr. John Piper
http://www.leaderu.com/theology/tsunami_sovereignty_mercy.html

The God of Disasters by Vincent Cheung
http://www.rmiweb.org/other/disasters.pdf

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