No words...

There are no pictures today, because today we were working on people's actual houses. We helped a man clean out the possessions and gut out the dry wall and floors, as well as muck out the mud. The man's grandparents died in the tsunami and all his mementos of them were destroyed as well. After working we met another man who lost his wife and two of his children as well as his house in the tsunami.

The brokenness here is so hard to explain, and even harder to try and be a light in. The first guy we met asked us flat out why God did this when we told him we were Christians...

There isn't an easy way to explain, but I'm going to try...

Over 30,000 people died in just this one earthquake/tsunami disaster and the amount of pain and destruction left behind is unimaginable. There are disasters all over the world, just check the news, and things happen everyday that never make the news.

So why does a loving God allow it to happen?

Because sin entered the world. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and as a result they fell from perfect harmony and unity with God. Causing a rift and everything done in separation from God is sin. The Japanese people did not sin more than those in Ft. Collins, it's just the place God chose to work and how the degeneration of things is playing out.

But can't God stop it?

Yes. God can and he will...but in his infinite love, he is going to save as many people as possible and reconcile them to himself. He sent his only son to come, and live in pain and die by being tortured and mocked and them hung to suffocate. He knows and understands all that we go through, but by going through that pain and death, he created an injustice. A just God cannot allow that...and thus an open door.

Jesus is pleased to tack our sin and yuckiness on to his death, to end the separation and make his death worth it. 

It is pride not to accept that gift, and it is sad to leave that offering in Christ's hand. It is rejecting his pain and sacrifice....you would be hurt by anyone doing that to you.

So what now?

Now, I rest in the Gospel and do my best to share it with as many people as possible so they can make their own choice to accept or reject Christ's offering of a free way to Paradise. I remember that God was so good he sent his only son to make that way and I do my best to explain that it is enough.