From the Desk of Jeff King

The sky is falling

A secular radio talk-show host in Seattle stirred listeners Sunday by posing the question: Are recent disasters in the news a sign that God is unhappy and sending mankind a message? He was unnerved by the weekend's major headlines – a killer earthquake in Iran, California mudslides and mad cow disease in Washington state.

The audience response was predictable for spiritually-dark Seattle – everyone had a quirky theory, and it was obvious no one had opened a Bible. A man named Lightfoot said the great spirit is trying to wake up man in order to restore peace and tranquility to mother earth. The host made a poke at Christians, wondering why – if Jesus is the model of peace, love and non-aggression – are His followers always so angry? That's a good question. Messiah said the world would know His disciples by their love. But the host was wrong to imply that the Savior is non-confrontational. Yes, the Lord is kind and merciful, but in the gospels we see His righteous anger burn hot against the corrupt priests and those who bought and sold in the Temple. God expects our best offering, yet the money changers were selling sick and blemished animals for sacrifices. Yeshua overturned their tables and later told the scribes and Pharisees they were hypocrites, fools and blind guides. In other words, not a politically-correct response. Yeshua says in Luke 12:51, "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division." We can see this picture in Luke 3:17 – the Lord will gather the wheat (righteous) into His barn, but the chaff (wicked) He will burn with unquenchable fire.

I give the host credit for asking an honest question about God to a largely secular audience. The call-in listeners were aware, too, that something unusual is happening. I wonder how the talk-show chatter will heat up as we draw closer to Yeshua's return. Luke 21:25-26 says the coming of the Son of Man will be preceded by signs in the sun, moon and stars, and distress among nations. Men's hearts will fail from fear. The listeners Sunday weren’t panicking, but the climate changes and natural disasters at least had them talking.