The Weather Channel

                In that it started in the Western Caribbean....and that at one point had winds of 180 mph....with an almost record of 897 millibars....giving a few days of warning....there was little doubt that Hurricane Milton would be more than just dangerous coming into the Tampa area. I sat in front of the Weather Channel on our television for about eight hours on Thursday, September 26....when Hurricane Helene came ashore....and that is the only channel that has been on our TV since yesterday. It is hard to get my mind off of the people that live in this coastal area....hoping that they can get out....hoping and wondering and praying about those who do not have the means to get out....or even the mental acuity to stay abreast of what is happening. 
                There was one state or county official who I remember imploring of the people in tears to get out before Helene....warning that there could be hundreds of deaths. Yesterday one local meteorologist was in tears describing Hurricane Milton. A few minutes ago....as I am here typing....a Weather Channel meteorologist interviewed a man on a small craft in the Tampa marina area. This man said that he is new to Florida....and that he was in his boat during Helene....and was going to do the same thing with Milton! He said that God will protect him. I can only hope that he changes his mind and takes shelter in one of the high rises that were in the background of the video broadcast.
                 God had always given warnings with Israel and Judah and Jerusalem....at times forty and fifty years of warnings! Londoners were given warnings before both the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1665 and 1666. Charles Spurgeon warned London....and those around the world who read his wireless-sent sermons....of the falling away that was occurring from Biblical truths.
                 And we are in the same situation today in America as we have had forty and fifty years of warnings....but we are mere humans....and do not want warnings. We are fully immersed in our own plans and goals. Every disaster that passes only strengthens us in our resolve that God will not change our lifestyles....He will not judge us with any more than small disasters from which we can rebuild.
                As the Jews slowly and incrementally returned from Babylon.....Haggai rebuked them for building their own houses while the Lord's house remained in ruins. They were stirred by God's Spirit but many grew disappointed in that the new temple was not looking nearly as great as the one that some of them remembered. I submit to you that we today are trying to rebuild our own houses as the church essentially lies in ruins. 
               I encourage you to forsake this....Make America Great Again....and seek to rebuild the church. If you would but Google....The Holiness Of God, Ligonier, YouTube....there is available to you a series of teachings by R. C. Sproul that....if you listen to them with the intent of humbly seeking guidance from God....you will get more than guidance....but will as so many in the past have....prostrate yourself before the glory and sovereignty of God.
               I listened to a Charles Spurgeon this morning....from 1886....and this particular sermon was directed to me....in that Spurgeon sought to encourage those who were discouraged by the state of the church. You can listen to it if you are so inclined by Googling....Spurgeon sermon YouTube...The Abiding of the Spirit the Glory of the Church.