New Design – Healing Grace Magazine

Check out our redesigned site for Healing Grace Magazine.

http://healing-grace.net/

Includes a daily blog:

http://healing-grace.net/wordpress/

Share your testimonies of God’s healing grace

As Christians, we’re supposed to share our testimonies of God’s awesome goodness in our lives. He is always right on time. The poem “Footprints in the Sand,” is so appropriate to our relationship with our Father. When situations are at the worst, God is always there to carry us through. Share your testimony as a witness to God’s healing grace. Give words of encouragement to those who are struggling with circumstances that you have already gone through.

For more information on Healing Grace Ministries, visit Healing-Grace.net.

God’s Wrath vs. God’s Favor

The recent, catastrophic earthquake in the small, island-nation of Haiti has reignited the debate between believers and non-believers of the Christian faith on the reasons why bad things happen to certain people or groups of people.  Just like with the past events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and the category 5 Hurricane Katrina devastation in New Orleans,  Christian leaders such as  700 Club’s Pat Robertson have been mocked by the media for sharing their belief system on the root of Haiti’s destruction.

Resources:

• Pat Robertson says Haiti paying for ‘pact to the devil’

• OPINION: What Pat Robertson Was Really Saying About Black People

• On A Qualified Defense Of Pat Robertson

• Haiti legend cited by Pat Robertson a ‘fabrication,’ scholar says

• Is God Mad at Haiti?

Bible Study Discussion / Research Questions:

Please provide scholarly, religious, and historical sources (not just opinion) to support your answers.

1. Throughout scripture God makes it clear that idolatry and lascivious behavior are unacceptable, and that when we turn from Him there are consequences. When things get so bad, He allows destruction for rebirth (i.e., Noah and the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah,  Babylon invasion, and Armageddon. In fact, Jesus died (destruction) for our sins, so that we could be born again (rebirth). Haiti and Louisiana were both colonized by the French and have similar cultural and spiritual rituals, such as Voodoo and the celebration of Carnival / Mardi Gras. New Orleans, Louisiana experienced a significant, catastrophic event by Hurricane Katrina, as well as Haiti with the recent 7.0 earthquake. Is there a spiritual connection or significance? If so, what is God’s message, good or bad?
2. Digging deeper, African Americans and Haitians have a common ancestry through slaves brought from Africa. Haiti is an impoverished country that never seems to catch a break, subject to one catastrophe after the next whether political strife or multiple hurricanes in one season. African American communities are the most impoverished in the United States, experiencing many of the same travails as the people of Haiti: high rates of HIV/AIDS, high infant mortality and disease, lack of education, poverty, etc. African American cultural practices also may include Voodoo, which makes sense because both African Americans and Haitians are descendents of Africa, where Voodoo originates. Despite the fact that Africa is the origin of civilization, Africans are one of the poorest people in the world, too. How can that be when Africans are descendents of Kings and Queens? What happened historically to lead to the present day situation? Is there a spiritual connection or significance? If so, what is God’s message, good or bad?
3. Even further, some would say the African American, Haitian, and African connection is a generational curse. If so, what did Africans do to set this in motion? How can the curse be broken? But can we really say it’s a generational curse, when other races experience catastrophic events as well?  The Native American Indians had their land stolen from them and they were never able to recover; however, they also incorporate Voodoo like rituals, spirits, and pagan gods in their culture.  Asians experience tragic earthquakes and typhoons; many of them serve Buddah, not God. Is the curse related to all people of color? How can that be when most of the world’s population is people of color? Is everyone doomed to destruction to pay for sin that re-occurred after God gave us a fresh start by destroying the Earth with water?

About Trumpet Magazine

Healing Grace Ministries’ Trumpet Magazine is a scholarly, spiritual discussion of Christianity, world religions, world history, and cultural customs.