God and Hurricane Katrina — Friday’s Appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show

Hugh Hewitt gathered three theologians on his Friday show and led a discussion about a Christian understanding of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. I was glad to join John Mark Reynolds, director of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University, and , Mark D. Robertspastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, for the discussion.
The conversation was both interesting and sobering, given the issues at stake. Hugh Hewitt is a masterful interviewer, and he asked questions that prompted serious responses.  Radioblogger has helpfully provided a transcript of the program. An excerpt:

Hugh Hewitt: Now, I would like to ask each of you, maybe starting with Dr. Mohler in the East and then moving West, the appropriate response for a believer. We’re all members of the Christian tradition, but I think it’s appropriate far beyond ours, but the appropriate response to a Christian looking at this mayhem, Al Mohler.

Albert Mohler: Well, I think the first thing we have to do is to weep with those who weep. And this is not a tragedy that is over. It continues to unfold. And so right now, there are people who do not know where their wives and husbands and children are. They have no idea what their future might be. They have no idea if there’s even a home to which they can return. Some of them already know they have lost loved ones, and some of them have not even been recovered, in terms of bodies. So there’s an appropriate Christian response to weep with those who weep. And then we have to be there to do what we possibly can do. To feed the hungry and to clothe those who are naked, and to give water, and all these things, by the way, are not just metaphorical needs. These are dramatic, physical needs of the present. And then we as Christians have to be there to speak, not so much on behalf of God like Job’s friends, but to speak as Christians. To speak of the hope that is within us, and to speak to those who right now have no hope.

RECOMMENDED FOR DISASTER RELIEF DONATIONS:  The North American Mission Board Disaster Relief, now on the ground, feeding at least 500,000 meals a day in the Gulf region.

“People are weeping, they want to help desperately. And we have a tremendous opportunity. We all don’t have to go to the affected area–we all can’t go to the coast. Many of the unfortunate people are being relocated throughout the country. We don’t have to go to them, they are coming to us. Everyone can give and everyone can collect. The diapers, the formula, the canned goods, the clothes, the bottled water–all of it can be collected and sent to the evacuation centers.”
          — Gerald Peters, Southern Baptist disaster relief
                 volunteer from Oklahoma