ULDAH MINISTRY

No,83　　SEPTEMBER. 2002

【 WHEN DISASTER COMES … 】

　 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.' There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its pray; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their pray; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. …The people of the land practise extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and ill-treat the alien, denying them justice. I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."
Ezekiel 22:24~31.

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: 'Hear the word of the LORD! …Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! …You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD. Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. …Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, …"'Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace", when there is no peace and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, "Where is the whitewash you covered it with?" …in my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD. … You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scrapes of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live. … Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, …I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.'" 　
Ezekiel 13:2~23.

Torrential rain over the past weeks in August devastated a wide range of the European Continent, flooding Prague in the Czech Republic, Salzburg in Austria, Russia's Black Sea coast, River Danube and River Elbe in Germany, Budapest in Hungary, Basel in Switzerland and Northern Italy. On the other hand, millions are thought to be facing starvation in the African Continent as rains failed and crops withered in several southern African countries. On top of that, rejection of GM maize as food aid from the U.S. by Zimbabwe seemingly makes the situation worse. However, among much criticism, the editorial comment of New Scientist Vol.175 No.2354, poignantly points out the root problem. 'The real causes of hunger in Africa are poverty, debt, a lack of infrastructure and the Western farm subsidies that make it difficult for African growers to compete in world markets. Today's GM crops will not ease any of these problems. They might even make them worse.' (Underline added). It is not only Africa that is facing an impending crisis. In India, the monsoon rains usually lasting from June to September failed this year in the majority of the land and the worst drought for more than a decade is devastating it. Ironically, north-east India alone and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal are said to be experiencing heavy flooding. Likewise in China, a large lake flooded and threatened lives of ten million people. What is going on in these areas is exactly what Amos prophesied as a warning to the apostate ancient Israel, 'I (God) also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.' According to scientists these global weather disturbances are linked to El Nino, the rise in Pacific Ocean temperatures. This global warning is the prime cause of the rapid melting of Alpine glaciers which has increased the water-level downstream of the continents' largest rivers. But a man-made cause is also suggested to be responsible for the recent unprecedented scale of the floods. Scientists warn that building higher dykes will not bring any answer, by pointing out the fact that so many people inhabit river flood plains as holiday homes, which should have been preserved for the allowance of space in case of floods. Accordingly an attempt of barricading off the plains from the river to protect the inhabitants itself increases the river's flow downstream, making the situation worse. What they suggest is to work with nature, by directing the stream of water back onto wetlands or farmlands that can be flooded in an emergency. Their suggestion seems to remind us, who are so used to manipulating things, of the important principle of the Maker of the earth and heaven that we should not work against nature with a greedy motive of tourist industry or city planning, etc.
Thus, more or less, we are experiencing and witnessing powerlessness and helplessness against the power of nature. Although there are some who boldly claim the possibility of controlling the weather and indeed, a vain attempt of "weather wars" is said to have once been undertaken by American forces in the late 1960s during the Vietnam war, the weather has so far always had the upper hand. The utter failure of the Indian Meteorological Department to forecast the dreadful drought which is now afflicting the country, only serves to highlight the complexity of the weather. The Bible is clear that it is God that changes climate and causes natural disasters or blesses produce of the land.

　Thought of the Month……….

'How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong! Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will very gladly spend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?' (2Corinthians 12:13~15)
This passage overwhelms us with Paul's fatherly concern to build up fellow-brothers and sisters in Christ. He apologises to them for not urging them to offer financial contribution to his ministry lest he should become a burden to them! Paul, while emphasising that offering money for the Lord's work was always an act of blessing in his previous chapters, did not ask for an offering to his own ministry as he saw himself as their spiritual father that spent his money for their good and growth. How many Christian leaders like Paul can we find today? Unfortunately, we have been confronted with one too many unbiblical and disappointing cases. As the next question might illustrate, many Christians are now voicing their scepticism about church offering. I will partially quote from Q&A in The Berean Call, July '02.
Q: My church is raising funds by a "faith promise." The promise to give what one doesn't have and can't afford is supposed to allow God the opportunity to supply it. Isn't this presumption and pressuring people? Praising the 'faithful' who miraculously got the right amount, the pastor shames those whose 'faith' has failed. They feel condemned and even go into debt sometimes to live up to the pastor's expectations. Is this biblical?
In response to this question an answer is given, which might be summarised as follows: The so-called "faith promise" is neither taught nor practised in Scripture but is a pressure tactic invented by men. Such a technique of persuading people to pledge more is used by many churches and ministries. Along with the answer, I believe that if it is the Lord that is guiding your church and your ministry and if you are genuinely working for the Lord by doing what pleases the Father, He will move peoples' hearts and provide what you definitely need for His work through people and other miraculous means. Therefore you needn't solicit financial support at all. If you cannot maintain what you have started any longer, stop it decisively rather than try to maintain it by overloading upon others' shoulders because it would be God's set time for you and he would replace your church or ministry by newly anointed and appointed successors. No matter what you reason, you should always subjugate the Lord's initiative alone but not try to manipulate for survival. I believe that it would be a good reminder to acknowledge that 'I'am not the only one that can be used by the Lord but there are many 'Elijah-s' around us. It would also be a helpful reminder to understand the difficulty of retirement for anyone who has been fully committed, as in the example of Elijah, who was one of the greatest of prophets and God's most obedient servant, failing to recognise the time of his retreat. Elijah, so overwhelmed by self-importance and self-conscience, had completely forgot God's omnipotence and the fact that God had preserved 7000 other faithful believers in addition to Elijah. A safeguard against man-oriented churches and ministries would be to occasionally remember God's transcendence that He can raise up faithful servants any time if he could raise up children for Abraham even out of stones and at the same time, to always check our own motive to the commitment.

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　　This month a money gift has been sent to THE JOSEPH STOREHOUSE TRUST to support their 'Pack to School' project of this year. They have already ordered 14,000 school bags (£20 will provide one child with a school backpack.) to be distributed to those needy children living under the poverty line in Israel for this upcoming September. They are being distributed throughout Israel to Arab and Jewish children of the most needy in the land including Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, refugees from South Lebanon.
Pray that this project will give joy and hope to the children who have most been victimised under the current unceasing conflict in Israel, where fanatical suicidal bombings have been inflicting countless innocent people without a sign of cessation. Also pray for all the required finances for this project being met by the Lord so that its complete pay-out to Israeli based manufacturers will boost them up over economic depression due to the ongoing intifada. Last but not least, remember that there are Jews and Christians from all over the world helping their project with a united heart. Pray for the Lord's blessings upon those participants and also for the Lord working out His salvation to those helped through His human aids.
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