Left Speechless By The Suffering in Haiti

Last night, I was preparing some things to say about the devastation in Haiti. I was planning on dealing with the issue of the sovereignty of God and the suffering of the people there. Then, this morning, my wife and I watched this special sermon from Mark Driscoll, and I've been left nearly speechless. I still have a lot of theological thoughts, but John Piper is right in saying that these are things we need to teach ourselves and others BEFORE the earthquake strikes. Now is a time for the Church to pastorally minister and to give. There may come a time where we can discuss suffering and the sovereignty of God, I just don't feel, after watching this video, that now is the time for me, personally, to tackle the issue.

A few days after the earthquake happened, Driscoll was in Haiti, seeing the state of the Haitian church, and honestly, after watching it, all I can say is that the Church universal needs to see this video.

I felt convicted about a dozen times during the course of watching and hearing the things that are happening there. The most convicting part of the video was when Driscoll encountered a pastor whose daughter had been badly injured. He waited in a makeshift tent while his daughter suffered for seven days (a cinderblock had fallen on her face), and all because he didn't have the $15 needed to take a cab to get medical assistance for her. For me, at this stage in life, $15 still feels like a lot of money. But we are so wealthy here in the United States that even meager giving on my part, I'm convinced, can do a lot of good. I hope that the events in Haiti will continue to receive the utmost giving and attention by the Church around the world.

I am convinced that because the Haitian government is all by non-existent, the people of Haiti will be looking to the Church to see how much we love Jesus, and we need to show it by our generosity. This has been a tremendously convicting time for me, and I hope that you will all take the time to watch Driscoll's sermon as he relates the 36 hours that he spent in Haiti.