In response to the wildfires that have ripped through California in the last week, prominent pastor Franklin Graham made a statement to the news on the disaster. Graham who is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, stated that crisis-trained chaplains are being deployed to Los Angeles to provide spiritual support.
The famous pastor said that he doesn’t believe the fires ravaging parts of California are God’s judgment on the secular culture of Hollywood. 11 have died and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate. In the wealthy neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, many prominent celebrities have been made homeless. Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and John Goodman have had their homes burned.
The pastor told reporters “People have lost everything. A lot of people are asking ‘Why?’, and that’s a hard question to answer. We want to reassure them of God’s love – that He cares for them and that He hasn’t turned His back on them.” He explained that God isn’t using these disasters as a way to express His wrath. He says that natural disasters are an inevitable but tragic part of life on earth.
“I think we have these storms in life, and because we have TV, and because we have social media, and every iPhone now is a broadcast quality video camera, we see a lot more today than we did 20 years ago or 40 years ago. And so whether the fires are worse today than 100 years ago, I don’t know, but we see it, and it’s all around us” he said.
He went on to say “The reality is we’re going to have more storms like this. It’s not going to get less and the most important thing that we as Christians can do is make sure everyone understands that God loves them. And that when storms like this come, it’s not God’s judgement. I don’t believe that for a second. We know that God loves us.
He addressed the question by stating, ” Could God be judging Hollywood? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. The question is, do we know the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we prepared to stand before Him? If our house was burned and we were burned up in it, would we go into His presence? Would God receive us? ” He added that there’s only one way to be sure.
“…The only way we can be sure is by confessing our sins and asking for His forgiveness and by faith, believing on the name of the Lord Jesus, Christ, who took our sins and died on a cross, He was buried, and on the third day, God raised him to life. And if we’re willing to believe that, just accept that by faith and ask Christ into our hearts, then God will forgive our sins” he said.
In his final remarks, he said “We can have that assurance, knowing that whatever storms come our way in life, we’ll be prepared to stand before God.” Josh Holland, who works at a charity Graham runs, says The Billy Graham Rapid Response team crisis-trained chaplains have already begun ministering at local shelters, providing prayer and encouragement to those who have lost everything.”