Little Relief Organization Making Big Difference

I love to see stories about private relief agencies stepping up during times of crisis. Most Christian denominations have some sort of disaster relief agencies and my particular denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, is no exception. We have an organization called the Mission to North America Disaster Response and they are on the ground right now helping people. Check out this blog to see them in action: simul justus et peccator.

Katrina Blogs

One of the neatest things about the advent of blogs is to be able to have direct access to other people all around the world without any filters. I've been reading several blogs this past week that are written by people who endured Hurricane Katrina. The stories are breathtaking.

Check out these blogs:

Katrinacus Rex
Standing by Grace
Keeping the Home
Kay's Hurricane Katrina Blog
The Interdictor

The Taking Away

I'm currently using a book called "The Valley of Vision" during my prayer time each day. It's a collection of Puritan prayers that quickly make the reader realize how shallow his or her prayer life has been.

One section from a prayer I read today says: "The greatest injury is in the having, the greatest good is in the taking away. In love divest me of blessings that I may glorify thee the more."

My prayers don't typically include requests for God to remove blessings from my life so that I can glorify him more, but this particular prayer rings so true that I need to rethink my prayer life. Abundance often causes complacency. Lack often causes dependency upon God. Recognizing that truth is one thing. Praying for it is another.

Praying for Authorities

This morning, I heard reports that quite a few 911 operators in New Orleans quit their jobs in recent days because of all the stress. Can you imagine receiving one call after another and not being able to give any concrete information or affirmation that help was indeed on the way?

Then I saw this in an article on CNN.com just a few minute ago: "Several dozen of the city's 1,600 police officers have failed to report for duty, and some have turned in their badges." Included in that article is the sad news that two New Orleans police officers committed suicide.

"What's affected most of our officers is they don't know where their wives or kids are," New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley is quoted as saying in the article. "They don't have homes. They don't have anything."

Can you imagine reporting for your job and having to help people all day while at the same time you don't even know if your wife or kids are alive? It's almost beyond comprehension to me.

While we are praying for New Orleans and the entire Gulf Port area, let's include the 911 operators, the police, and every other person who is trying to serve others while going through a high level of stress in their own personal lives.

God Answers to No Man

I don't think we can ever know for sure whether situations like Hurricane Katrina are judgments from God or not. But a few things are certain: God controls the weather, just as he controls everything else. His ways are higher than ours. He does judge both men and nations.

While others debate about whether Hurricane Katrina was a judgment or not, I'd like to point you to a slightly different perspective: Was Hurricane Katrina 'Intelligent Design?'

Another Way to Help

If you are a Christian, I'm guessing that you have six or eight or ten Bibles in your home—many of which you probably haven't used in a long time. How about sending them to this couple who will distribute them to the victims of Hurricane Katrina who probably don't have one copy of the scriptures left? I'm planning to round up several of my Bibles and send them asap.