{"id":5651,"date":"2009-08-21T00:09:55","date_gmt":"2009-08-21T00:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/08\/the-minneapolis-tornado-and-jo.html"},"modified":"2009-08-21T00:09:55","modified_gmt":"2009-08-21T00:09:55","slug":"the-minneapolis-tornado-and-jo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/08\/the-minneapolis-tornado-and-jo.html","title":{"rendered":"The Minneapolis Tornado and John Piper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steeple.jpg\"<\/span><\/a>John Piper <\/a>has connected the Minneapolis tornado to God’s judgment on the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s very public debate about homosexuality. I have clipped some of his post which you can read at the link at his name in the previous sentence.<\/p>\n

The issues here involve these questions:
\nHow do we know these things?
\nHow consistent are we in making such discernments?
\nAnd this: Have you ever seen a calamity or a disaster and truly believed you knew why that event happened or why God made that event occur? How did you know that sort of thing?<\/p>\n

Here is [an excerpt from] Piper’s article:<\/p>\n

\n


\nI saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown
\nMinneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, “That looks
\nserious.”
\n<\/i><\/p>\n


\nIt was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote,
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

On a day when no severe weather was predicted or
\nexpected…a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts–most saying
\nthey’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The
\ncity: Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

The tornado happens on a Wednesday…during the Evangelical Lutheran
\nChurch of America’s national convention in the Minneapolis Convention
\nCenter. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as
\nits church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this
\npurpose. <\/i>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\nAccording to the ELCA’s printed convention schedule, at 2 PM on
\nWednesday, August 19, the 5th session of the convention was to begin.
\nThe main item of the session: “Consideration: Proposed Social Statement
\non Human Sexuality.” The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a
\nbehavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry. <\/p>\n

The eyewitness of the damage continues:
\n<\/i>\n<\/p>\n

This curious tornado touches down just south of
\ndowntown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses
\nI94. It is now downtown.  <\/i><\/p>\n


\nThe time: 2PM.  <\/i><\/p>\n

6. Conclusion<\/em>: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but
\nfirm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin.
\nTurn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction. Reaffirm
\nthe great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of
\nScripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality.
\nRejoice in the pardon of the cross of Christ and its power to transform
\nleft and right wing sinners.
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Piper has connected the Minneapolis tornado to God’s judgment on the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s very public debate about homosexuality. I have clipped some of his post which you can read at the link at his name in the previous sentence. The issues here involve these questions: How do we know these things? How consistent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Minneapolis Tornado and John Piper - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/08\/the-minneapolis-tornado-and-jo.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Minneapolis Tornado and John Piper - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Piper has connected the Minneapolis tornado to God’s judgment on the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s very public debate about homosexuality. 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