I was reminded about this article where Pat Robertson claimed to pray off hurricanes from attacking Virginia Beach with success. I do believe that God does listen to people and can divert natural disasters from hitting their hometown. However, I had to ask myself one question.

What happens when the hurricane that was diverted from one town because of prayer finally hits another town? Does this mean that these people in the town hit are not a praying people and are inferior Christians than the Christians in the town that was spared?

In most Charismatic, Pentecostal, Third Wave / Riverite, and Word of Faith circles, the answer to that question in order to preserve their theological stance would have to be an astounding YES because seeing it otherwise would produce a flaw in their theology which would equate in their eyes to having ‘missed God’. Growing up in Pentecostal circles, I used to hear this about hurricanes, other natural disasters, birth defects, etc. that they were sent as God’s judgement because some town was evil and heathen or some Christian in that town either:

(1): Had the big super-secret sin.

(2): Disagreed with the pastor or the Word of Faith movement which was equivocated to ‘Touching the anointing and doing the prophet harm’ and therefore ‘lost the covering’

(3): “lacked faith”

(4): did not pay their tithes.

(5): did not repent enough, read their bible enough, or pray hard enough.

However, one has to look at Job and see that tragedy comes on the just and the unjust. Wayne Watson in his song Home free talks about

“You know pain has little mercy and suffering’s no respecter of age, or race or position “

That sums it up right there. What a theoillogical guilt trip to put on people to make them think that something they did caused the hurricane to hit their town. Of course, you knew what happened after the hurricane hit, there was a ‘season of repentance’ in the church where people confessed sins and confessed disagreeing personal opinions made pastorial pet theology thinking they caused the ‘loss of covering’ to be placed against their town. Then some people felt some ‘tingles’ and felt that God forgave them and restored them. The hurricane happened bercause of natural scientific facts and phenomeon, not because some eight year old did not memorize his Bible verse of the week nor because some Christian missed church and therefore was late on their tithe.

It will be interesting to see what the wack-jobs at the Elijah List (the site is so wacky it does not deserve a link) has to say about the hurricane. Someone there will have a ‘prophecy’ about it or the aftermath of the hurricane.

Related Posts

1. Florida’s Hurricanes Mean Spiritual Warfare Over Florida
2. Slavery Caused The Hurricanes…
3. Repenting Hard Enough, Hopefully Addressing Everything Before Dying.
4. The ‘Word of Faith’ Teachers Creed
5. The ‘Covering”