Pat Robertson has said on the 700 Club that God has told him that severe storms could lash the United States this year with something as severe as a tsunami hitting the Pacific Northwest.
Robertson says that he received this information in a time of private prayer in January. It is the latest in a series of controversial statements by the television evangelist.
Robertson has had a couple of high-profile pronouncements in the past year that have gotten him in hot water. He said that if a disaster struck a town in Pennsylvania that voted out its school board because the board favored Intelligent Design, the town should not look for help from God because it had thrown God out.
Robertson also said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a threat to the United States and we should send a team of people down there to "take him out."
Also, the CBN founder said that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was punishment from God for giving away the Gaza strip to the Palestinians.
It could be that we will be lashed by storms. It is not much of a stretch to believe that severe weather would hit the United States, particularly since we had so many named storms last year that the National Hurricane Center ran out of letters to use and had to go the Greek Alphabet.
Also, the Pacific Northwest is part of what is called "The Ring of Fire", which is a series of intersections of tectonic plates in the earth.
Since the movement of these plates cause earthquakes and an undersea earthquake caused the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, it is not outlandish to believe that such a thing could happen.
Among some tribes in the Pacific Northwest there is a tradition of a thunderbird who did battle with a whale, which some scientists say is a depiction of an earthquake and a tsunami
It is also not out in left field to say that Jesus predicted such things would take place (Mt. 24:7= Mk 13:8 = Lk 21:11).
So it's not too wacky for Pat to say such things. Whether God told him specifically of these disasters is not too outlandish, for charismatic Christians (like me) believe in the modern-day revelation of God's will through the Holy Spirit, either through inward impressions, thoughts, or the illumination of a passage of Scripture.
But the proof is in the pudding so the old saying goes. Will these things hit the USA this year? They could. Some say that such pronouncements have no value because if they happen the person is proven to be a prophet and if they don't the person can say it was because people prayed and God stayed the disasters.
I'll leave that to a Higher Authority. One thing that does concern me is when Christians hear people say controversial things they have the same sneering, knee-jerk reaction as those who do not claim to know Christ.
So as Christians let's be discerning, but let's remember that discerning is not a synonym for condemnatory.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Pe 3:15,16)
But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! (Gal 5:15)
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