Understanding the Times this Sunday Evening

Tomorrow afternoon, I am being interviewed by Mr. Lee Webb of the 700 Channel on the campus of RTS about the theological implications of Katrina. It is to be broadcast early next week. Many of us are asking the great questions: Where was God in all of this? Why did this happen? How can God claim to be good and destroy so many lives?

Some leading evangelicals have been supplying answers: God was not present; God allows us so much freedom that he can only advise; His hands are tied by the forces of nature. Such responses of course may bring us temporary intellectual relief, avoiding the need to "justify" the ways of God; but in the last resort we know that it is morally and theologically bankrupt as an explanation of why bad things happen. This Sunday, in about 5-6 minutes, I will try and reflect on what the Bible might suggest by way of a response in the section Understanding the Times at the beginning of the evening service.