Gospel.com Blog

The massive cyclone destruction in Myanmar has occupied world attention in recent weeks—but the earthquake that struck central China has wreaked havoc and left a horrifying body count as well. Mission Network News has a story up about Christian ministry efforts to bring aid to the quake victims:

Baptist Global Response’s Jeff Palmer says they’re partnering with the Southern Baptists in an emergency response. A needs assessment is ongoing. “The first thing we’re going to do is get water, food and shelter to those who are in need. That in and of itself, people coming from halfway across the world, is a testimony to the people who are there. It’s the love of Christ that compels us, and we are commanded to help those who are in need.”

Even as Christian relief teams are being assembled, Palmer says, “Prayer is the strategy that we want to mobilize, first and foremost–praying for those who are in suffering, those who’ve lost family members, those already responding to the effort, [and] also pray for wisdom and knowledge of how to respond.”

Another story includes quotes by an International Aid representative who says that they’re standing by to help as well. If and when we learn of other Gospel.com ministries working in the area, we’ll post an update here on the blog. In the meantime, the ongoing relief efforts are certainly something to add to your prayers this week.

We’ve updated yesterday’s list of ministries affected by the California fires with several new ministries that have staff in the threatened areas. Keep an eye on that post, as we’ll continue to update it as we hear from ministries in the San Diego area.

As fires rage through San Diego county, thousands of people are being evacuated and displaced from their homes. A number of Gospelcom ministries are in the area too, with staff who could also use prayer support. Here are some of the ministries in the San Diego area.

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Yesterday, tragedy struck in the form of yet another fatal school shooting–this time in a Cleveland, Ohio high school. Dale Fincher of the Soulation ministry talks about the religious and spiritual elements of the shooting, and wonders how Christians can do a better job of reaching spiritually troubled individuals–like this shooter–before they act out destructively.

In the wake of the recent earthquake disaster in Peru, several Gospelcom Alliance ministries are stepping up to the plate to help with rescue and relief efforts. International Aid is working with local churches to distribute supplies to the thousands of people affected by the quake. Meanwhile, Mission Network News has been reporting regularly on the developing situation and relief efforts there. If and when other ministries get involved, we’ll note them here on the Buzz.

Apologist Ravi Zacharias has written an essay reflecting on last month’s tragedy at Virginia Tech, and on the way we as a society have responded to it. Events like this raise countless questions about God and evil, he notes–but are we serious about finding the answers? He has some sobering thoughts about the spiritual health of an American society that has yet to come to grips with the existence of moral evil. From his essay:

The greater tragedy may well be ours. How we as a society, claiming to be well, put question marks on whether there is such a thing as evil or not, whether individuals bear any instigating responsibility or not, and whether life is just a temporal thing or not. Putting question marks to which God has already given names and categories is precisely the reason we mourn and weep with no answers because we wish to re-name and redefine God’s order. That is the tragedy that leads to atrocities. Jesus said to the self-righteous that the man with physical blindness had an advantage. He knew he could not see. The one with spiritual blindness that doesn’t know he is blind is truly the one bereft of insight, truth, and reality. That may be our biggest danger at this hour.

Read the full piece for the rest of his thoughts.

As the story of yesterday’s massacre at Virginia Tech slowly takes shape, several more Alliance ministries have put together online resources responding to the tragedy. We’ve added them to the resources we mentioned yesterday and have gathered them all on our Responding to the Virginia Tech tragedy page. If you or somebody else is struggling with grief and difficult spiritual questions in the wake of the attack, take a look at these resources.

News reports are still filtering in about today’s school shooting at Virginia Tech. As the details emerge and as Gospelcom Alliance ministries respond to the shootings and the spiritual questions being raised, we’ll post them here. Here are some early responses to the Virginia Tech tragedy, as well as related materials posted in response to school shootings in the past:

• There’s a discussion of the shootings going on at the Youth Ministry Exchange forums.

• Youth Specialties has some excellent web resources on youth violence.
• Jim Watkins has some good links about dealing with school shootings and coping with death and grief.
• Peggie Bohanon has put up a devotional responding to the Virginia Tech tragedy.
• Bruce Narramore wrote the essay “Why Teenagers Turn to Violence” in response to the Columbine shootings, and it’s still relevant today.
• Violence: Is There a Way Out? was written primarily about Columbine, but has some excellent insights into the nature of school violence and the steps we can take in response to it.
• Columbine Redefined is a short Our Daily Bread devotional that challenges us to think differently about tragedies like Columbine and the Virginia shootings.
• In the aftermath of Columbine, Terry Mattingly wrote about spiritual questions and dimensions of the violence.
• Stuart McAllister wrote the essay The Gravity of Our Disconnection in response to school violence, and discusses the real reason that terrifying violence like this happens.

Still following the “Jesus tomb” story? In addition to the ministry responses we mentioned here earlier, take a look at Back to the Bible’s new article on the topic. It explores what the Bible tells us about the details of the lives of Jesus and his family–and how the filmmakers’ claims match up to those details.

As promised, Answers in Genesis has published a thorough review of the The Lost Tomb of Jesus, the controversial documentary that aired over the weekend. To say that they weren’t impressed by the film’s theological and archaeological claims would be an understatement–read the full review for the details.