Thought Quotient

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is partnering with Charity Folks and the American Red Cross for a Hurricane Relief Auction - September 2nd.

100% of the final bid on each auction item will benefit The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Charity Folks - Hurricane Relief homepage

Freedom Experience (FX) is a free, 2-3 day event that features dramatic stunts, amazing illusions, rock music, exciting school assemblies, and death-defying escapes. By pulling together several churches in a city, FX is able to create a high quality week of creative evangelism that reaches out to a post-modern generation.

Currently the FX is touring with…

X-gamers:

Chaos on Wheels - a group of professional X-game bikers who create excitement by mixing a variety of high flying bicycle stunts with freestyle riding.

Tim Byrne - one of the top technical freestyle skateboarders in the world.

Musicians:

Inhabitated � In our entertainment driven society, where young people are constantly bombarded with ideals contrary to holiness, Inhabited seeks to plant values of truth, restore hope, and rescue those that are lost. Inhabited�s unique sound teamed up with their highly energetic stage performance proves their reputation among the critics, who deem them as one of the most influential bands to hit the Christian music scene.

Illusionist:

Brock Gill - he is not just an entertainer, he is first an evangelist. He is considered one of the most effective student ministers in the country. Brock uses death-defying escapes and amazing illusions to draw large groups of students out to an evening event where he visually shares the Gospel. Brock performs about 50 school assemblies and over 150 outreach rallies each year.

Check out the FX website for more info, and how you can bring this amazing event to your town.

http://www.freedomexperience.com/

Katrina was the fourth most powerful hurricane ever observed

Louisiana Gov. Blanco declared Wednesday a day of prayer. “As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in need, as we comfort those in pain and as we begin the long task of rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort.

Katrina has inflicted more damage to Mississippi beach towns than did Hurricane Camille (1969), and its death toll is likely to be higher

Eighty percent of New Orleans is now flooded by the effect of Hurricane Katrina, with some parts of the New Orleans under 20 feet of water.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reportedly said Wednesday that the storm probably killed thousands of people in his city.

“We’re racing the clock in terms of possible injury,” said Michael Chertoff, the national homeland security secretary. “We’re racing the clock in terms of illness, and we’re racing the clock to get them food and water.”

Peter Teahen, the national spokesman for the American Red Cross, said: “We are looking now at a disaster above any magnitude that we’ve seen in the United States. We’ve been saying that the response is going to be the largest Red Cross response in the history of the organization.”

I’m reading about the hurricane devastation and seeing that phrase mentioned a lot. Is everything gone? Well, certainly people’s material possessions are gone. But how long were they really going to last anyway? Can we take them with us when we die? The folks that appear to be the big losers here are coming to a realization sooner than others - and that is: material possessions are temporary. Some folks will only come to that realization after they die, when it is too late to change their view of life. C. S. Lewis wrote,

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Is He shouting to a materialistic culture in this disaster? Have we become deaf to his whispers or calls? What can we learn from it? Can blessings come from what seems like a curse?

Matthew 6:19-20
Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or–worse!-stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars.

…and they’ll be safe from hurricanes too.

Thanks to CNN.com for posting this info…

The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists these organizations for those seeking to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina:

Related links:

New Orleans Governor asks residents to spend Wednesday in prayer

FEMA news

Recognizing my utter inability to maintain a righteous standard is precisely what is required before I can fully embrace my Christianity. In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “Thus, in one sense, the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder. But in another sense it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home. All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, ‘You must do this. I can’t'”
- Kelly Minter - from Water into Wine