Comments on: On Tornadoes, Piper, and Godwin’s Law

By: Rob S.

Rob S. — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:11:08 +0000

Greetings John! I read your current post and I was intrigued by this one.

I was attending Bethlehem Baptist at the time of the tornado strike and I completely agree with Piper’s assessment that the tornado was an act of God to warn the ELCA of the wickedness of their deliberations. I base my opinion on a few premises:

1) Miracles defy convention. No miracle today has the acceptance of the public because the western mindset has already relegated miracles to the past. It’s a myth, a parable, or a legend, no matter how obvious it may seem. God is under no obligation to please the counsels of men in order to accomplish His will (Psalm 33:10).

2) It fits the chronology of judgment and the holiness of God. 1 Peter 4:17 mentions that the house of faith experiences judgment first, and as the one’s who are called by His name and experience the glory of His presence (Leviticus 10:3), the Church has the vocation of being the visible body of Christ and the active presence of God. The tornado did not hit the gay pride parade itself just a few weeks removed from the ELCA convention; it struck the deliberations of a mainline denomination claiming the name of Christ while accepting the homosexual lifestyle.

3) It was a precise strike. On a day when no severe weather was predicted (and no alarm was given), the church hosting the convention and the convention center itself was struck at the very time the vote was underway, while the rest of the area–comprised of different businesses, a hospital, the Metrodome, an Assemblies of God Bible College, and numerous other churches (including Bethlehem)–all experienced virtually no damage.

4) Everything seems lame, secondhand, misguided, offensive, and theologically inarticulate when it comes to you by way of the blogosphere. Let’s face it. If you would have witnessed the tornado firsthand and would have understood what was taking place at the convention, you would have a much different idea of what took place.

By: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:59:02 +0000

There is no God.

By: Love Wins and Truth Prevails, But Speed Kills ‘em Both | Don't Eat The Fruit

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:48:00 +0000

[...] months ago to John Piper – the only difference was the teams were swapped. Piper said something vague and controversial, famous people who already don’t like his stuff denounced it, and then lots of emergent and [...]

By: Online Church – Heresy or Helpful, Opportunity or Obscene? | ChurchCrunch

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:24:11 +0000

[...] is in the context of online as well as the obvious and potential dangers of engaging online at all (go read some of John Dyer’s thoughts here).If I am to be dogmatic about anything though it would probably be this: Christ came and died for [...]

By: Top 9 Posts of 2009 | Don't Eat The Fruit

Top 9 Posts of 2009 | Don't Eat The Fruit — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:48:54 +0000

[...] On the Tornado, Piper, and Godwin’s Law – My goal in this post was to show that the speed of Internet communications often leads to misunderstandings and angry words. [...]

By: Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:07:16 +0000

Was just up in Minneapolis for the Desiring God conference, and John Piper addressed this again. He said the same thing can be said for any of the many disasters that happen every day, that God can come in the wind, as it were, to remind *all* of us sinners, not just homosexuals, that we should turn from sin.

Interesting to note that there is still not a cross on the church. If I were pastor of a church that was stinging from some controversy, and I felt that I was truly right with God on the matter, I would have gone up the next day with a broomstick and some bailing wire and made a cross. Just sayin’…

By: God Punishing Us One Bad Theological Statement At A Time | Based on a True Story

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:14:00 +0000

[...] An awesome post by John Dyer on how discussions like this one get out of hand and how any internet discussion gone long enough [...]

By: John Dyer

John Dyer — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:57:12 +0000

You’re right – ‘pharisee’ is also a great conversation ender.

By: threegirldad

threegirldad — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:38:57 +0000

Actually, I think “pharisee” is closer to the Christian equivalent of Godwin’s Law. Perhaps it depends on which segment(s) of the blogosphere one inhabits. At any rate, good observations…

By: Sausage « City of God

Sausage « City of God — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:56:24 +0000

[...] Dyer hashes through the fallout from John Piper’s tornado comments. [...]