|
|
 |
Thoughts of...Bowling in the USA
August 29, 2005
Watching the news this morning, I cannot help but think of bowling.
On the surface, bowling is a very simple game. The bowler rolls a large, hard ball toward a set of ten wooden pins, trying to knock down as many as he can. However, bowling requires a measure of grace and lots of strength under control to achieve the desired accuracy necessary to get a high score. In addition, putting spin on the ball and adjusting the velocity of the ball are finer points of the sport used by the more skilled bowlers. The object of the game is to knock the pins down, not to break the pins. A pin that is knocked down can be set up again but a broken pin must be discarded.
The LORD of heaven and earth went bowling in the USA this morning. Yesterday, Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph and gusts of up to 225 mph. Plowing through the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina was headed for a direct strike on New Orleans.
The “bowling lane” of Katrina is very significant to the economy of the USA: a critical production region with high-capacity refining and distribution infrastructure for the domestic oil and gas industry. In the Gulf of Mexico are thousands of oil and gas rigs. In and around New Orleans are major refining facilities. New Orleans is a major import harbor for foreign oil. The Mississippi River is a major distribution channel for oil products to the cities in the Midwest. Relative to the nation’s economy and the world’s oil and gas markets, New Orleans is a very tender spot.
Last night, Katrina slowed a bit to 140 mph and took a slight curve to the east. Rather than hitting New Orleans directly, she hit land between New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi. On the radar displays on all the news channels this morning, Katrina looked like a bowling ball skillfully splitting the 1 and 3 pins. The “ball” glanced off both “pins” but did not hit either directly, which possibly would have broken them.
What I saw on the news this morning was the grace of God. Grace because this nation deserves the judgment of God. In the past 40 years, the USA has pushed God out of its government, schools, and courts. We have taught several generations that our origins are pond scum and monkeys. We have slaughtered millions of innocent lives in abortion clinics under the euphemism of “choice.” Homosexuality has blossomed in this “progressive” land and aggressively pursues a militant social and political agenda. The USA is the pornography capital of the world. Sexual immorality is rampant, the “darling” our entertainment and advertising industries. Mind-altering drug addiction is a national crisis. And, most alarming of all, the USA has “assaulted” the wife of God!
On the news two weeks ago, we all watched Jewish soldiers evicting Jewish civilians from Jewish homes and synagogues in Jewish settlements in Gaza and in Samaria. This misguided step toward a false hope for peace was taken by the nation of Israel because of intense political pressure applied upon them by their “friend”, the USA, and our cohorts, the EU, the UN, and Russia, all of whom are hostile toward Israel. Our government is either blind or callous to the truths that
1. the nation Israel is the wife of the God of the whole earth (, )
2. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob calls that land His own (…notice the personal pronouns “My”)
3. He has promised that land to His chosen people, Israel (, ).
The USA is guilty of parting God’s covenant land (), guilty of “assaulting” God’s wife.
The USA wants to appease the oil-producing enemies of Israel by muscling Israel into surrendering covenant land. As a result, the USA’s oil production infrastructure is the target of Katrina. Is the “ten pin grouping” called the USA strong enough to deflect a hard ball from heaven? I don’t think so. Pins are going down.
Yet, this morning, God was again gracious to this wicked nation. None of us know the breaking point of the longsuffering of God, but there is such a point. The USA is toying with it.
As born-again believers in Jesus Christ, wild branches grafted into the true olive tree of Israel (Rom 11), we must understand the times in which we live by understanding the Word of God like Daniel did and pray for our nation like Daniel did for his (Dan 9:1-19)! We are the only thing standing between a holy and jealous God and a pin-breaking strike on our nation.
We also must pray as fervently for the nation of Israel. Their problem is not their enemies. Their problem is not the nations of the world. Their problem is unbelief. They will never know peace without the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ ( with , , , , Ps 110 with Acts 2:22-39).
Pastor Doug
PS.
It isn’t over yet. Katrina is carrying an enormous amount of water which will be dumped in the South, Midwest, and Mideast USA. All the rivers between the Appalachians and the Rockies, most notably the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, feed the Mississippi River, which enters into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. Seventy percent of New Orleans is built below sea level and is protected from the mighty Mississippi River by a system of levees. An incredible amount of water will be coming to town…
|