"Storm of the Century"

I suppose I have reached that point in life when I now join with those who have gone before me and say, "When I was younger..." You know...the whole, "I used to walk in snow up hill to school with no shoes" routine. Be that as it may, I must say it...when I was growing up, a few inches of snow, a little wind and ice did not constitute a winter weather emergency. Honestly, my mind is clear on this...we did not consider 3-5 inches a big deal. It was not big news. As a child, you went to bed with no hope of school canceling. But now, if the threat of snow is on the radar we go into winter storm advisory mode two days before the snow is to hit.

So, just humor me and say that I am on to something...that we now consider a little, snow, ice and wind to be a major storm...if that is true, why is it true? Hang with me here...could it be that for a people that have relatively little threats and problems, small problems like a few inches of snow seem huge?

For instance, a year after the earth quake in Haiti, people are still dieing. People in Haiti are dieing in their tents (they have no hope of rebuilding their homes)of cholera because they still do not have clean drinking water. (By the way, for a one-time gift of $55 you can purchase a filter system that will produce clean water for 60 people for life...Star 93.3 is talking about it today). And it is not just in Haiti...one child will die every fifteen seconds today because they do not have clean drinking water.

The examples could go on and on...40% of the world's population (outside the US, of course) live on less than $2 a day. 143 million children live as orphans every day.
15 thousand Africans will die today of preventable, curable diseases because they do not have access to the medication we take for granted. 30,000 children...half of Paul Brown's Stadium...will die today of starvation in a world that throws away 30% of its food. Over 25% of kids who age out of foster care in Montgomery County become homeless.

Do you see where I am going with this? What if the reason weather storms are such big news to us is because our problems are so small compared to the problems of our world. As we have been studying the Story of God, I keep hearing the words of God to Abraham in Genesis 12, "I will bless you to be a blessing to the whole world." There is no doubt about it...if we see a little ice, snow and wind as the storm of the Century, we are blessed...and so the question for us to ask is, are we being a blessing to others for God?

It is an important question to ask considering what happened to the people of Israel when they chose to stop being a blessing and start oppressing as King Solomon led them to build the temple on the backs of slaves (1 Kings 9:15). God has shown us what happens when his people forget to be a blessing so that we do not have to experience exile. Will we choose to listen?

I thank God that you are a Church family that is open to learning to listen. I praise God that you are growing in in what it means to be a people of both righteousness (love God) and justice (love others). Last Sunday was a great demonstration of your heart and action for being a blessing. This Sunday, we will share the details!