Editor's Note: For resources on responding to Hurricane Katrina,
see the "Today at DG" section on the Desiring God homepage.

September 2, 2005

“The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed
me. . . This God—his way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31).

From pulpits to news programs, from the New York Times to
the Wall Street Journal, the message of the tsunami was missed.
It is a double grief when lives are lost and lessons are not learned.
Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to
repent. “Weep with those who weep,” the Bible says. Yes, but let us
also weep for our own rebellion against the living God. Lesson one:
weep for the dead. Lesson two: weep for yourselves.

"Weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). When love has wept
and worked, it must have some answers. Not all the answers, but
some. No earthquakes in the Bible are attributed to Satan. Many are
attributed to God.** This is because God is Lord of heaven and
earth. "He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey
Him" (Luke 8:25). "He sends forth His command to the earth. . . .
He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts
forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before His cold? . . . He

Let these numbers* fuel you to words ... to God in prayer.

Tornadoes remind us that we are small. In the Minneapolis StarTribune, a map showing the path of Sunday’s tornado in North Minneapolis placed the arrow of the path directly over our daughter and son-in-law’s house.

I have spent parts of three days in clean-up, insurance appeals, re-roofing arrangements, and humble worship of the God who makes the storm and calms the storm.

We watch the news, see the gripping images, hear the heart-wrenching statistics and wonder how to pray. The following prayer request was written over 10 years ago:

Global Diaconate Annual Report 2010.pdf

Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.—Galatians 2:10

This year Bethlehem Baptist Church has continued to have the opportunity to strategically care for the poor around the world through Bethlehem’s generous giving from Treasuring Christ Together. The Global Diaconate task force has met monthly to make decisions on behalf of the church for the careful distribution of these funds.

TCT Tear-Off Nov 2010.pdf

Treasuring Christ Together

TCT is our ongoing strategy to fulfill our mission through a multiplying movement of campuses, new churches, and a Global Diaconate, united by a common mission and founded on a common biblical life and doctrine.