Hurricane Harvey: Church's credibility is on the line

Psalm 34:10 reads, "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Frederick Lewis Donaldson in a sermon given on March 20, 1925 in Westminster Abbey with profound insight declared that:

“The Seven Social Sins are:

Wealth without work.

Pleasure without conscience.

Knowledge without character.

Commerce without morality.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

Politics without principle."

Interestingly, no statement could be more timely, then or now. The sober fact is, however, that one need not necessarily have to commit all to be guilty of one or a combination thereof of these sins.

One fellow I heard about spent 10 million dollars on a breakfast to celebrate getting inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.  That, my friend, is morally reprehensible, as far as I am concerned. Wonder what the poor victims of Hurricane Harvey think about such self-indulgence? I am sure that the breakfast can be rationalized by some; however, I don’t think I could with clear conscious lavish such extravagance on myself while others are so needy.

Don’t get me wrong, the is nothing wrong with wealth. There is, however, a great deal wrong with how some spend it. The scripture declares that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof (1 Corinthians 10:26; Psalms 24:1),” so what any of us has is not ours anyway. We must be good stewards, however; or otherwise, He will judge those that are not (Malachi 3:9-10).

Sad, isn’t it?

Well, money aside, here are 10 prayer suggestions that we can bless the victims with:

1.    Please pray for divine intervention on the environment. Specifically pray for a high-pressure system to dissipate. This is not a silly request, either; for we know that God "Whether [it is] for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, [God] causes it to happen (Job 37:12-13).”
  2.    Ask for strength and wisdom for those responsible for the dams and levees that they not add to the catastrophic flooding.
 3.    Pray for supernatural wisdom for the pastors of the affected areas, many have never faced such devastating problems.
 4.    Ask God to minister peace to the weary shell-shocked refugees who of have lost everything.
 5.    Pray for those who are actively rescuing those in distressed. Pray for their safety.
 6.    Ask God to cover and protect those still in need of rescue.
 7.    Pray for all the churches nationwide to measure up to the task presented to all of us, that we will be strong in the Lord and complete the task set before us.
 8.    Pray for the waters to wash away racism and socioeconomic prejudices, as people are working together to survive.
 9.    Pray for the waters to quickly recede so that constructive recovery may begin.
 10.  Ask God to shine in His mercy over all South Texas, and the affected areas beyond.
 

Through it all, however, we must remind ourselves that the work of the Church Universal still goes on, and that we must not neglect, also.

 Again, be bless; better yet, bless others!

JimR_/-