I giggled when I saw the photo the Star used for their article The Wrath of God?
I look a little slimmer and younger right? Sure! Because this picture was taken quite a few years ago. 🙂
Anyway, the experience of answering the questions posed by Liz Tai was helpful to force me to work out how can I communicate a short amount of information, deal with some misconceptions and introduce what I understand about the defeat of evil (which much never have the final say!) as succinct as possible.
Hope it worked, Many thanks to those who SMSed me to drop some words of encouragement. Below is my little contribution:
“It’s common for people to think that lightning is a sign of God’s judgment. After all, who has control of the weather? Only God. And if a church is struck by lightning God is angry with a particular individual or the church. Some would even see God using lightning as a weapon on their enemies!” says Sivin Kit, pastor of Bangsar Lutheran Church in Kuala Lumpur.
However, Kit says that in Christianity, lightning is not just about God’s judgment but about divine presence too.
“Thunder and lightning can also signify creation’s (way of) acknowledging God’s awesome presence,” he says.
He cites how lightning appeared after Moses was given the 10 Commandments in the Old Testament’s Exodus and how the theme is echoed in the New Testament Book of Revelation when describing the visions of God.
“Of course, I have always been intrigued by the words of Jesus: ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven’, which to me is an interesting twist in the lightning imagery, turning the focus on how God has defeated evil,” he says.