Hurricane Gustav hits Louisiana.

I find myself - somewhat blah as we await the fury of Hurricane Gustav. We have done all of our preparations and we managed to get some sleep last night - except for an early morning (4am) run that I made to the ice vending machine. Our attempts to buy ice yesterday found the machine empty with the same message blinking on the screen - "Machine unavailable for the next 4 hours."

Not Surprisingly - there were very few people out and about at the time in the morning - except those ice chest toting early risers who had the same idea that I had. My guess is – that I will see their faces again in the next few days and maybe even a few more crazy haired survivors hoping to stay cool. Maybe I will bring a couple of million dollar bills to see if anybody is in the mood to talk about spiritual things.

I remember after Hurricane Katrina – that most people were so shaken by the utter destruction caused by the storm that many people were speaking God’s name in ordinary conversation. Along with his name they were using words like spared, mercy and gracious all in the same sentence.

I remember taking advantage of people’s openness to talk about God – due to the events of the storm and the reality of life and death. Many seemed more interested to hear about heaven and hell, about God’s anger and wrath. There was a certain liberty in conversation to proclaim that God is patient and kind and slow to anger yet his wrath is kindled against the unrighteousness of men. Who could imagine that so many in our communities would be asking the question, “Has this been some kind of punishment or judgment from God?”

I hope to take advantage of the conditions of those whom I come in contact with – that I might speak to them about God’s mercy in sparing us from the storm and I hope to exhort them to give attention to the evident reality that the next storm may not be so kind to our communities. We are not certain that when the next storm comes – God will not require our life from us.

If you have not considered that one day – you will stand before the God who has a wrathful anger towards all men, women and children who have committed sin while in their flesh. One day you will give an account for all of the unrighteousness that you have done and will be judged guilty for your crime and cast out into the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

There is still time – this day – to seek the Lord. You can seek to be reconciled with God through the work of Jesus Christ his son. If you are not certain – how to go about seeking the Lord – please listen to my messages or check out the links provide on this page. I would be more than happy to talk with you about being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ – so please contact me via email and we can set up an appointment.