Hey Pat, Put a Sock in It!

Pat Robertson on Haiti Disaster
by burghnews

I'm not quite sure how remaining a French colony or making a deal with the Devil doesn't get you to the same place in the end (on a practical level).  But I digress . . .

For Pete's sake Pat, just send them the aid they need (a wonderful thing) without all the pious pretense about knowing the mysterious will of God.  Enough.

Comments

[Lloyd I. Cadle]

Politicians and dumb pastors will never learn that God does not endorse any particular form of Government since the time of Samual (1 Samual 8)--which had a theocratic form of Government. That includes our Dems, GOP and the Libertarian party and yes, even Cuba or Venezuela.

On a slightly related topic: I came across a great observation by Luther, which I don't think too many folks have thought of; He talks about the earth, sea, and mentions judgment:

"So we see the ocean seething miraculously, as if it were about to swallow up the entire earth. The sea stands out higher than the land, but it cannot pass over its limits. This statement at the first creation fixes the limits of the earth and establishes a most solid embankment against the sea."

Please notice this analysis by Luther in this act of God in His providence and how it relates to the Red Sea. "Thus it happens through divine power that the water does not pass over us, and until today and until the end of the world God performs for us the well-known miracle which He performed in the Red Sea for the people of Israel."

I love how he says that this is a miracle that God is performing for us today. Next time we go to the beach, marvel at the continuing miracle of God, right before our eyes!

He goes on to say, "For what is our entire life on this earth but a passage through the Red Sea, where on both sides the sea stood like high walls? Because it is very certain that the sea is far higher than the earth, God, up to the present time, commands the waters to remain in suspense and restrains them by His Word lest they burst upon us as they burst forth in the Deluge."

Now, Luther talks about how God can use such events as His judgment: "But at times God gives providential signs, and entire islands perish by water, to show that the sea is in His hand and that He can either hold it in check or release it against the ungrateful and the evil."

Like Pastor Kim says in the above referenced post; when he mentions the "mysterious will of God." To try to tie this into France is ridiculous.

Luther often warns us about taking off of God His mask. His mask covers His secret will, which is none of our business.

To try to apply 2 Chron. 7:14 theology to everything that happens around the world is ludicrous. All bad things that are happening in the world are because we live in a world that is severely tainted and tarnished by sin.

[Paul]

It is impossible to say why an earthquake struck Haiti. However, I get a sense from many of the responses to this tragedy that God does not judge nations for anything. Or, if he does, we are not supposed to talk about it because one sinner is just as bad as another.

Nobody really believes that one sinner is just as bad as another. I would refrain from putting my money in an Iraqi bank, even if it was offering a great interest rate. Instead, I'd put it in an FDIC insured American bank because although everyone is corrupt, I happen to think the American banks are the least corrupt (or "sinful" in this analogy).

Businesses have to make judgment calls about human sinfulness every day. Very, very few like to deal with the nation of Haiti. Not coincidentally, Haiti is among the poorest nations on earth. The perceived level of corruption that exists in a nation is directly correlated to the economic prosperity, or lack thereof, of the nation. In other words, even if we don't talk about God judging a nation for their sins, and He most certainly does, people also judge nations and individuals for their sins, every single day.

In the end, the only judgment that really matters is judgment that Christ bore for His own. In the meantime, I think we should be clear and resist calls for an across the board moral equivalency of cultures, nations and religions.

[pb]

Look, I agree that PR is a disgrace and an idiot. But just to get us thinking, how is this comment any different than Piper's observations about the tornado which hit the ELCA meeting in Minneapolis this past summer? We may agree with Piper on the issue there (homosexual clergy) and support him because he's "one of us"; but conceptually both statements presume to know God's intent in ways above our pay grade. My .02

[Zrim]

pb,

Bingo.

It's no different. (I think Orlando is still waiitng for terrorist bombs to fall on her because of allowing gay pride parades, another PR prediction). Maybe Piper gets a pass because he's a five-pointer? But since when does that give anyone license to overturn Dt: 29:29?

[pb]

Zrim, my MAN! Contrarians unite...

[GPLeague]

Took the words out of my mouth. Pat is just giving the public another reason to blaspheme God. Unless Pat repents, he would likewise perish (and so would I)!

[Zrim]

pb,

From your lips to DGH's ears:

http://oldlife.org/2010/01/15/brit-hume-pat-robertson-and-the-grandstanding-faithful/

[Timothy Kilgore]

Pat Robinson is an idiot. I like that as he is always speaking as if he knows what and why God is doing and for what reason or sin.
God does not judge nations for anything. If He did America would be in big trouble as we have made a mockery of Christianity or at least our version of it. We water down the Gospel message and very preach His Word in some churches. We seem to have very little reverence toward the God and His Word. We want things easy and simple.

We should thank God for miracle for not allowing us to go through more natural disasters as we could and defiantly deserve.


Know the banking industry is looking to make a big profit over the donations as they well not wave the fees to the organizations collection the money. Capitol One however, well not collect any fees on donations and American Express well wave any fees on Donations through the end of February.

Nice to see the banks are looking at disasters and seeing profits, instead of looking for a way to help those in need. I do not mean the executives who get large bonuses as most people struggle in this recession. The same banks are crying about the Presidents demanding the banks to repay all of the money used for the bailout.

[hb]

Okay, we're pretty much in agreement about PR. I found this little item on Drudge...
From The Telegraph: SaysDanny Glover: “When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I’m sayin’?” His obscene opinion would be bigger news if Glover had – in the manner of others – idiotically blamed a less-fashionable deity.

I can't comment further...

[steve]

so, wait...Robertson DOESN'T know the secret will of God? Sheesh - what's next? No secret rapture?

[Susan Vader]

I'm getting very annoyed with people who think they can know all of God's purposes in events. Like I told a FB friend who doesn't think we should be sending relief because Haiti is was already a loss cause..." Wait, we can't give him food he might continue to curse God." Is this the church's response?
Here's a helpful article.
http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/14/does-god-hate-haiti/

[Robert W]

Do you think that these Caribbeans were worse sinners than all the other Caribbeans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

[pb]

Ironically, it was Piper who penned a very good piece entitled "Tsunami and Judgement" shortly after the East Asia tsunami. Concise and respectful about what we can and cannot say at times like this. The article may be in his web site's archives, don't know on that count.

[Paul]

I hate to be so disagreeable with my Reformed friends but simply saying it "ain't so" doesn't make it "not so."

#1 God Almighty most certainly DOES judge nations--unless of course God no longer cares about nations.

#2 ". . . all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand." In others words, this happened because God WANTED it to happen.

#3 Has anybody read the report that Doctors are fleeing medical facilities in Haiti because they fear for their own personal security? Is that because we're all just a bunch of "unworthy sinners saved by grace" or might that be because "when you sew to the wind you reap the whirlwind?" And is that not "the Judgment of God?"

#4 Does anybody really care what Pat Robertson says? I care what the Reformed community says. When the Reformed community is so fixated on what a high profile religious broadcaster says that they "almost" suggest Almighty is God is really just about "love, love, love," . . . that is a little disconcerting to me. In the large scheme of things, who is Pat Robertson?

#5 By the way, according to the Operation Blessing Website,
Pat Robertson already had people on the ground in Haiti long before the earthquake. I say "already" because someone on this blog suggested Robertson should "just send them the aid they need." BEFORE the quake, Operation Blessing, an arm of CBN, had already established projects such as developing sustainable fish farms, anti-parasite programs,
in home water filtration devices, mosquito-eating fish hatcheries and clean potable water projects for hospitals.