Quotes

A few years ago, it was my privilege to speak on the campus of Toccoa Falls Bible College in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. My host led me along a lovely walkway to the famed Toccoa Falls, some 186 feet of plunging water. Beautiful... And, on one night, deadly! Early in the morning of November 6, 1977, a dam just above the falls suddenly ruptured and in a little over 15 minutes an entire 40-acre lake poured over the falls at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, flooding the canyon below. It wiped out a college dorm, a trailer park for married students and several college personnel residences. 39 students, children and college leaders drowned in those awful moments. The tragic story became headline news across the nation. Our president at that time was Carter, whose wife rushed to the campus to help. TV kept a constant watch on the story. A visiting reporter asked Professor Gerald McGraw how he could ever vindicate God in the eyes of his students after such a disaster. The lanky McGraw replied quietly, "The question has never come up." At the memorial service, Dr. Ken Opperman, then president of the college, preached from Colossians 1:27, "Christ in you, the hope of Glory. He concluded, "For a Christian, the most important thing is a relationship with Christ, so that whether we live or die, we glorify Christ." Then the huge crowd stood to sing at the conclusion. "Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed; finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest." Paul wrote to Titus that Christians are peculiar people. Peculiar how? In the way we respond to outside stimuli. In the way we react to tragedy. In the way we deal with disaster and death. For us, to live is Christ Jesus! He is our constant hope.


source: Dan Betzer tags: Apologetics, Suffering

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