As far as signs from God go, things don’t get any clearer than this!
The other day we told you how the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is in Minneapolis deliberating on whether to lift the celibacy requirement for gay clergy. Amazingly, God has decided to weigh in on the debate. He did this Old Testament style by displaying his wrath. A tornado hit the Central Lutheran Church, which is directly across the street from where they are deliberating, knocking the cross off the steeple and inverting it. You can’t make this up!
Should we say debate over?
ht to The Orate Fratres
August 20, 2009 at 4:17 pm
They wont listen. Just as with their founder Martin Luther when he saw the havoc that was Germany when he liberated or rather discovered the "true gospel."
August 20, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Sometimes a tornado is just a tornado, but sometimes…
August 20, 2009 at 5:04 pm
At Mass two weeks ago, the Priest told a story of when he visited a Lutheran Church that looked absolutely Catholic, down to the statues of Mary. The Lutheran minister explained he was trying to get back to the worship that Luther himself practiced.
Quipped Father, "Go back one more year and you'll find yourself Catholic."
🙂
August 20, 2009 at 5:04 pm
One of my friends once told me when discussing "coincidences" that since God established Creation and the systems under which it operates, it's safe to say that certain coincidences were somewhat planned by Him.
Interesting…
August 20, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Considering heresy may doom your immortal soul to the depths of hell, I'd offer that NO day is a "good" day to be Lutheran.
August 20, 2009 at 6:34 pm
But your Last Day would be the absolute worst!
August 20, 2009 at 7:35 pm
But are Lutherans the sort to take stake in "Supernatural" signs, like this one?
Or wait, do the still believe in the Real Presence? Cause if they did than I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch for them to appreciate the "Sign." Or was that another branch of Protestantism? Somebody help me out here, I'm just a dumb Catholic.
(And what's with all the quotation marks in my posts today? Weird)
August 20, 2009 at 7:41 pm
"William", the "christian" Lutherans follow a "man" who put his will above God. I think they "know" what they're doing.
August 20, 2009 at 11:37 pm
We need to be careful reading too much into natural phenomena.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917):
"As the first of the Fathers stepped forward to declare his vote, a storm of thunder and lightning suddenly burst over St. Peter’s. All through the morning the voting continued, and every vote was accompanied by a flash and a roar from heaven. Both sides, with equal justice, claimed the portent as a manifestation of the Divine Opinion. When the votes were examined, it was found that 533 were in favour of the proposed definition and two against it."
Sometimes lightning is just lightning.
I do wonder about a spot-on-target tornado, on the other hand? Hmmm….
August 20, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Ironic! I park in that church's ramp and walk through the adjacent convention center (where the meetings were all being held) to work every day… Fortunately I was at a client meeting in the 'burbs all afternoon when that happened.
Tornadoes in the metro are extremely rare in MN thanks to that good, old, not-so-environmentally-friendly urban heat island effect. Apparently God makes exceptions to make a point…
August 21, 2009 at 1:44 am
When the chastisement comes, I wonder how that will be ignored.. or written off as a natural event. Especially by the godless media. Should be interesting.
August 21, 2009 at 2:38 am
Thanks for this post. Also just wanted to say I love your blog's ability to bring humor to nearly every story. You're one of few blogs I read everyday due to the great news you cover and your ability to communicated in an accurate and interesting manner!
August 21, 2009 at 6:20 am
You make an hilarious point, Anony, but we're probably worse off for knowing the truth and not doing more with it.
Well, I am, any way.
August 21, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Will they even see what has happened? I would hope the Holy Spirit would turn their eyes toward what happened. I hope SOMEBODY sees this and hears what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Of course, I've been hoping to win the lottery for years. But I don't play it, so I'm not even in the game.
Like the Lutherans "debating" human sexuality.
sigh.
August 21, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Although I hate homosexuals too, I think we need to be careful about this reasoning. If there were an earthquake in Rome tomorrow, would that mean that God doen't agree with the Catholic Church? Truth is truth; despite natural disasters.
August 21, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Troll alert!
August 21, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I guess any time you disagree with someone, just call them a troll. Focus on the person rather than the argument.
August 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm
But you have no argument. Your statement "although I hate homosexuals, too" smears the post writer and the commenters unjustly with an unfounded implication (or inference – one or the other). So either you're being insulting or ignorant – maybe both – hence Steve's comment.
As to the earthquake in Rome comment – depends on the context. If the Catholic Church were to conduct a vote in order to decide whether or not aberrant sexual behavior was no longer to be considered sin, contradicting revelation, then perhaps an earthquake would be deserved.
August 21, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Interesting that the cross atop the steeple was not blown off, only rearranged to be upside down. This is the positioning of the cross on which the first Pope met his death.
Of course, this is for discernment. But maybe the "sign" is saying, "Return to Peter."
August 21, 2009 at 4:57 pm
An Earthquake? No. An Earthquake not felt anywhere but inside the Sistine Chapel, that does nothing but split the alter in two? Maaaaybe we'd need to sit down and think about what's what.
This completely natural act has a lot of coincidence riding on it, which is the most common way God reveals Himself in our lives. It's the exact same as opening up the Bible to a passage that is exactly what you need to hear, or becomes prophetic for an entire year of your life.
God's been known to do more, but not every situation requires the sun to start wildly spinning.