September 8, 2005
Richard Markland
To state the catastrophe in New Orleans is heartbreaking is an understatement. The images of desperate families and children could be any one of us. One heartbreaking story has overlapped another. The feeling of helplessness and frustration is felt by Americans all over the country.
Leaders in Washington have been gloating for years as to how prepared the United States is for a coming terrorist attack. Billions of dollars have been spent on Homeland Security measures, yet New Orleans is a glaring testimony of just how unrealistic the government's statements have been. Instead of admitting the obvious, the blame game is now showing the American Spirit for what it is-a nation of characters instead of a nation of character.
A person can only imagine the absolute chaos if an earthquake occurred in California at this time. What would happen if a terrorist attack occurred in any given American city within the next few days? What if another catastrophic hurricane hit the eastern United States between now and November 1st? It would be the nightmare of all nightmares for the stability and survival of the nation.
If evacuees from New Orleans are being sent to other American cities and put in temporary shelters shrouded by total chaos, just how prepared is the United States for another catastrophe if it happens in Los Angeles, Denver or Washington D.C.? Distance has everything to do with the ability to deal with scenarios of the extreme. The United States does not have a limitless supply of essential goods and services. Many National Guard troops from around the nation are not only stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Louisiana and Mississippi. It may well be a scenario of the masses for themselves if millions of people are caught up in a domino nightmare as a result of another catastrophe.
Little does the nation realize that New Orleans is a showcase to the nation and the world as to just how unprepared America really is. President Bush has been reassuring the nation that the country will rise to the occasion. Just how realistic is his assessment? The present 90,000 sq. miles of destruction on the coast of the U.S. will be in the hundreds of thousands of square miles if a similar disaster as we see in New Orleans takes place anywhere else in the country.
It is one thing to come to the aid of a city and the surrounding region as a result of the destruction from one single event, but quite another if multiple disasters take place. The American spirit will find itself in dire straits if another nightmare similar to New Orlean's occurs in the days, weeks and months ahead. America does not realize how easily it could unravel and collapse. It is one thing to witness a disaster thousands of miles away, and quite another to experience unbelievable hardship and emotional trauma in a personal way. At any given moment America could find the morning may be peaceful, but the evening could end in total chaos as a result of one single event..
Anguish from the people experiencing an unbelievable hell in New Orlean's and the Gulf Coast is a scene that will soon take place in major U.S. metropolitan centers throughout the country. Why? Because America has rejected God. Such a notion is ridiculed and scoffed at by the skeptics. Even churches throughout the United States reject such a possibility. Bible prophecy is completely overlooked by the clergy in church after church and when a catastrophe such as Katrina takes place, the very individuals who should know are at a total loss as to why God allows suffering and death.
Many scriptures in the most neglected book in America explains why problems are increasing at an alarming rate, but how many people are aware of what the Bible says? Scriptures such as John 3:16 or versus from the book of Psalms are the equivalent of being served leftovers from a meal fixed months ago. They become stale and meaningless. Many people only want to read of a side of God that fits within a personal comfort zone. America's churches simply don't want to preach what God has to say to the country when it comes to a personal and national way of life. It is already bringing regrettable results.
America Has Rejected God
1 Samuel 8:7-"And the LORD said unto Samuel, 'Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.' "
America Must Change Individually And Nationally
Ezekiel 18:32-" 'For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD:
wherefore turn yourselves, and live' "
(C) 2005 By Richard Markland