Bayside Church

It never ceases to amaze me how religious non-religious people get in times of crisis.  When the Black Saturday bush fires devastated lives and property many people asked the question: “Where is God in all this?”  And, “If there’s a loving God why did he let this happen?”  Even one Christian leader waded into this accusation by saying the bush fires were the result of God lifting His hand of protection off Victoria to punish our government’s evil decisions.  Only problem with that is that innocent people, including Christians, lost their lives and property.  That’s like punishing my 7 year old for something my 10 year old did wrong.  But I digress…
 

Last week I posted my blog on the Bayside Church website as usual but, for the first time, I also posted it as a note on my Facebook page never thinking for one minute that my comments would stir up so much emotion.
 
One person in particular – a prominent American Evangelist – misunderstood my comments as being unsupportive of Israel.  He said the Church has a Scriptural mandate to always be Pro-Israel and he cited Genesis 12:3 to support his view: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” 

New Years bring new things – good and bad.  One of the not-so-good things so far in 2009 has been the escalating hostilities between Israel and Gaza; and not only has it divided the Middle East it has also divided the world. We’ve seen demonstrations in various nations – some opposing Israel with others showing their support.  And there are good arguments both ways.

Mark Knight’s cartoon in this week's Herald Sun on Monday was very interesting.  He showed the Bali bombers – Amrozi, Muhklas & Imam Samudra – entering the fires of hell with the caption, “So where are the seventy-two virgins?”  I can imagine many people would be happy to think these evil men really are in hell especially as they were responsible for creating hell on earth for the victims, their families and friends.