DAWN Fridayfax 2005 #02

World

God's two tsunamis

2004 ended with a bang. On 26th December, St. Stephen's Day, the day on which Christians remember Stephen, their first martyr, hundreds of thousands of people died in the tsunami. On the same day in 1939, some 30,000 people died in Turkey; and 41,000 in Bam, Iran on the same day in 2003.

The Bible has no concept of a God unknowing and disinterested in the happenings in the world, so God is not only informed about this tsunami, He explicitly allowed it. Instead of just being shocked, donating or participating in the aid in some way, there is also a question which we must answer: if God allowed the tsunami, what does that tell us? And how should we react? The post-modern answer, that it is an unfair and incomprehensible act of judgement against the Indonesian Muslims, Indian Hindus, Sri Lankan Buddhists and pleasure-seeking tourists, is way too cheap and simplistic. God is saying something very deep to every one of us. My wife's family lives less than a mile from Madras' tsunami-hit coast; the following is a summary of our current feelings. You can read more at www.simsonwolfgang.de/html/welcome.html.

Personally, we don't know whether we should cry more for the dead or the survivors. Who can grasp the enormity of the situation? Which technology could have prevented this destruction? The tsunami is a foretaste of our ability to stand before God when He comes in His anger; there is no escape. We must ask ourselves "What prompted God to react in such anger?" Christians have been preaching the chocolate side of God for centuries, which is just what people want to hear. But God is also a consuming fire, the hammer which smashes stone, a double-edged sword, jealous, and a father who disciplines those he loves. What have we, His people, done, that He could not restrain His anger? How did we escape judgement this time? And why?



A tsunami of grace and judgement

1st Corinthians 15 teaches us that nature is a mirror of the supernatural: "However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, then the spiritual." For years, many prophets have been speaking of two coming tsunamis: one of judgement, the other of grace. On the one hand, God is shaking everything which can be shaken, with water playing a major role (Habakkuk 3). This is the dismaying, cleansing and judging aspect, in which everything built on human instead of Godly foundations is shaken to the bone. On the other hand, a harvest of truly Biblical proportions is building up around the world, and if you look carefully, you can already see it sprouting and blossoming. God is watering it.

We can see clear parallels between the natural tsunami on 26th December and the spiritual tsunami, which is having a similar effect on Christianity:

Natural Tsunami	Spiritual Tsunami
Foundations are washed away	Traditions and structures are shaken to the core
Security is gone	Financial disaster is hitting large churches and mission circles
Houses and large buildings washed away	Individuals and Churches washed away by every wind of teaching
Dead bodies everywhere	High percentage of youth, Pastors wives, Pastors & leaders have given up
Destroyed shops	Empty leaders that rely on others to lead and provide nourishment
Wave of Orphans	Spiritual Orphans, the Out-of-Church Christian phenomenon
The Poor suffer most	Rich middle and upper class Christians overlook the "Poor Brother"
The tourists have the microphone	The Western nations and their agenda dominate Christian news
Corruption often prevents help to the most needy	Pseudo-Christian empire building takes large cuts of funds
Military Spending: $900 billion p.a. Disaster relief: $1 billion p.a.	98% of Christian funds flow into self-preservation 2% into mission
Lack of coordination in relief-work	Lack of unity, everyone does as he pleases



According to the Bible, judgement always starts "in the House of the Lord". And we seize and judge those who earnestly warn us; if Jeremiah were alive today, we would have thrown him into the well! We have done enormous damage to the House of the Lord and His sheep. We are headed on a totally Godless course. It is because of us that godlessness is spreading like fungus in our nations. We have turned our back on our Creator. For whom, then, should we weep? For the dead, or for the survivors?

What is this tsunami saying to Christianity, to a libertarian church which graciously accepts God as Saviour, but effectively rejects Him as Lord and King? A rebellious, idol-worshipping and completely un-Christian Christianity protests loudly against the mere suggestion that an absolute God is a judge. It stands up and proclaims "No more war!", and if it would not appear so laughable, would angrily shout "No more earthquakes! No more tsunamis!" in God's face. There's only one message for this "Christianity": "Repent!"

What does that mean? God is giving everyone a historic opportunity to repent and rebuild, renew their foundations, rebuild the ruins, re-lay the tracks and reopen the blocked wells. Our chance lies in radical repentance, personally re-establishing Biblical principles in our own lives, and taking part in probably the last reformation and harvest in history.



So what should we do?

1. Wake up and build His Kingdom - united and coordinated;
2. Show people the Rock. What remains, when the ground beneath your feet is shaking? The Living God is the only hope;
3. Explain the water masses: judgement and grace, cleansing and watering;
4. Seek His face. Let's do everything we can, pleading to God to turn His face to us, and not His back.
5. Scream out to Him for our own deliverance. We Christians must ask God to judge us with His double-edged sword, and set us free from our selfish jails.


Source: Mercy and Wolfgang Simson. Further information at www.simsonwolfgang.de/html/welcome.html.

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