005 | It Felt Like We Were In . . .

Hi, Fellow Dads,

 

I suppose you all watched a good bit of the news covering the wildfire that swept through and consumed the town of Lahaina, on the west coast of Maui, back in August. After over two months, it's still hard for me to wrap my mind around the magnitude of loss people there suffered, especially having acquaintances who lost their home, vehicle, and church building in the blaze.

I recorded this episode about a week after the Lahaina fire, discussing a Bible-based perspective and response to such tragedies.

 

Note: When, recording this episode, I unintentionally used the word “ideal,” but intended to say “ordeal.”

 

As a Christian, I believe the Bible is the word of God.

And because it is the word of God, I believe it accurately presents reality for what it is.

We do cling to hope of eternal happiness, but we don't ignore the harsh realities of this world.

And we have this perspective on life because the Bible has this perspective.

In Luke 13, the Lord Jesus Christ discussed two situations, both tragedies, and both sort of summing up the kinds of tragedies that people face--in verses 1 & 2, there's an atrocity--Roman governor Pontius Pilate had apparently executed some Galilaeans while they were offering sacrifices to God. In verse 4, the Lord mentioned what we might call an "accident"--a tower fell and killed 18 people.

He didn't deny these events, and when Luke recorded the Lord's words, he didn't sugarcoat them or whitewash them to make the tragedies sound better than they were.

They were tragedies.

And the Lord Jesus faced them and discussed them.

"Knowing God for eternity, being with God for eternity, this is everlasting life. So what is perishing? Perishing is the opposite of that. He said in John 3:16 'not perish, but have everlasting life.' What is the opposite of being with God for eternity? What is the opposite of spending eternity in complete and perfect and abounding happiness? It would be being separated from God, in absolute, complete, total darkness, sadness, sorrow, grief, torment."

"Jesus didn't want us to be without a warning, and so He said, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' What's the good news couched in this verse? The good news is, if you repent, then you shall not perish. If you change your mind about your sin, your breaking God's Law, if you change your mind about God--change from the perspective that He is wrong to the perspective that He is right and I am wrong--and change your perspective about who you're trusting in."

Show Notes

See the show notes for Scripture references, links to help victims of the Lahaina fire, and recommended reading.

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Notes

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/pony-express
License code: ZUCYKOROVB4PRHZC