HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-08-23, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012.M-T wants county council size reduced
Reverend examines God’s role in disasters
Landowners could
be eligible for
water incentives
Continued from page 16
Kenya severe flooding caused flash
floods and landslides across the
country, killing 84 people and
displacing around 30,000.
Nationwide, over 280,000 people
have been affected. Widespread
destruction of property and
infrastructure has been reported, and
key activities such as farming and
education have been disrupted.
Meanwhile farmers in Canada are
facing severe losses and have been
fighting to deal with the situation.
This year’s dry, hot summer has
made everyone worried about food
production.
Where is God in all these? One
presumptuous school of prophecy in
the discussion of God’s involvement
in natural disasters says He is not
involved. They are quick to explain
the situation away so that no one in
our culture will think that God is the
least bit unfair. These people
however ignore the rebellious state
of sin and the ensuing condition of
sinful man. The nature of God’s
perfect holiness is such that He must
bring judgment upon those who have
revolted against Him and refused
His reconciling grace through
Christ. These who are eager to speak
for God say things like, “God would
not do this to these innocent people”
and “God would never do this
because He is a God of love.” First,
there is no such thing as innocent
people. We are all guilty of sin.
People are “sons of disobedience”
(Ephesians 2:2) and “children of
wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). We have all
turned away from God (Isaiah 53:6)
and our hearts are “deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked”
(Jeremiah 17:9).
Let us be honest, we are not
innocent and our actions condemn
us. We all deserve judgment and
destruction but God is rich in mercy
in that He gives us life. He has even
provided for us in His richness of
mercy the way to escape
condemnation by trusting in the
gracious work of Christ Jesus.
Second, God does love us. This love
however does not cancel out the
attribute of God’s justice. His
infinite love toward us extends Jesus
as the sacrifice for our sins and sets
Him forth on the cross to receive the
judgment that we deserve (Romans
3:25). But to receive the benefits of
God’s love we must receive it. All
who are in Christ by faith have
escaped God’s wrath but all who are
not in Christ stand on their own to
receive the wages of their sin
(Romans 6:23). Those people who
are quick in their attempts to defend
God’s fairness need to remember
that fair is a synonym for just.
Justice is what we deserve and it is
sometimes what God delivers
through natural disasters. “If
there is calamity in a city, will not
the LORD have done it?” (Amos
3:6).
Another school of prophecy seems
to be overly anxious to declare their
knowledge of God’s purposes in
natural disasters. They are quick to
declare that God sent this drought,
flood or earthquake or fire to get
people’s attention. While this many
times is the case, it is best not to be
presumptuous in speaking for God
regarding what He may or may not
be doing. This certainly must be
considered and not ignored but to
speak specifically about events and
their subsequent destruction must be
done very carefully with much
thought and prayer. The appropriate
question in these times of suffering
is not “did God do this?” but “how
does God want to use me in this?”
and “what is God teaching me
through this?” We know God is
sovereign and His ways are not our
ways and His thoughts are not our
thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). He is doing
things which are now more
wonderful for us to understand and
many times these gifts come through
suffering. For some, pain is the only
voice loud enough to cause them to
repent. For others, we must consider
the possibility of our need to repent
of some sin and then serve those
who are hurting with the love of
Christ.
Walton Bluevale Pastoral Charge
has been on vacation for the entire
July. During the vacation my
neighbors watered my vegetables
(hot and sweet peppers, sweet potato
leaves, egg plants, okra and
pumpkin) otherwise they would
have all perished in my absence.
When we resumed worship service
on Sunday Aug. 5 at 9:30 a.m.
everyone expressed concern over the
effects that the dry, hot summer
weather will have on farmers’ crops,
livestock and the economic recovery.
I’ve not taken statistics of hard hit
farms but as I drove by, the farms in
this area are relatively better than
those of our neighbours in the south.
They are the ones hardest hit.
Among other concerns we prayed
for was that Mother Nature sends
rain to sustain our crops. That was
just what happened. By the time the
service was over at 10:30 a.m. there
was pouring rain. Everyone said
God has heard our prayers.
Only God knows the end of the
world, not man. If man thinks he/she
can guess it then they have no faith
in God but only in men/women.
These signs are for those that do not
believe in God so that they may
repent and have salvation. God only
knows, and not humanity about the
fate of Earth. Jesus said that all those
natural disasters must happen before
the world ends.
Continued from page 21
drinking water systems. Fifteen of
the region’s 24 lower-tier
municipalities have no significant
drinking water threats. There are
nine municipalities in the region that
have threat activities that can be
significant around their wells. They
are: Bluewater, Huron East, Central
Huron, Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh, Huron-Kinloss, North
Huron, North Perth, Morris-
Turnberry and Minto.
Landowners closest to municipal
wells may be eligible now for
funding incentives for their projects
to protect drinking water, through
the Ontario Drinking Water
Stewardship Program of the Clean
Water Act, 2006. The stewardship
program offers grants for voluntary
projects by eligible landowners to
reduce threats to drinking water at
their homes, businesses, farms, or
other properties. Some funding is
available to eligible landowners in
the most vulnerable wellhead
protection areas for projects that
may include septic or well upgrades
or decommissioning, agricultural
best management practices, runoff
and erosion protection, fuel storage
(including home heating oil),
manure storage, or chemical storage
and containment. For more
information on stewardship financial
incentives please visit
www.sourceprotectionstewardship.
on.ca or call 519-335-3557 or e-mail
stewardship@sourcewaterinfo.on.ca
Current funding requires projects
to be done by mid-December, 2012
so eligible property owners are
encouraged to phone or e-mail now.
Morris Turnberry councillors wereunanimous at their Aug. 14 meetingin their opinion that Huron CountyCouncil should be reduced to onlynine councillors.Council passed a motionsupporting the cut from 16 to nine
members after receiving a request
for comments from the county
regarding its notice that it plans to
hold a vote at its Sept. 4 meeting on
a bylaw to set the size of council at15 members.But Mayor Paul Gowing toldcouncil that at the county level hehad voted against the proposal for 15members, feeling the council shouldfollow the recommendations of thereport of George B. Cuff andAssociates Ltd. into countyrestructuring.
“The motion did pass,” he said,
“but Huron County paid a great deal
of money to have the Cuff report
brought to us. That [the
recommendation for a nine-personcouncil] is the recommendation thatshould have come to the lower tiers.”A change in the composition ofcounty council must pass a triplemajority: a majority of countycouncil plus a majority of the lower-tier municipal councils that representa majority of the electors in the
county.
The recommendation from Cuff
was that there be only one
representative from each of the
municipalities. Under the proposedcounty bylaw, larger municipalitiessuch as Huron East, Central Huron,Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh,South Huron, Bluewater andGoderich would have tworepresentatives. Morris-Turnberryalong with North Huron and Howickwould have only one representative.Gowing told council some
councillors complained that
reducing the size of county council
to nine members would mean being
a county councillor became almost a
full-time job but he feels the otherrestructuring proposed by Cuffwould reduce the workload. He saidhe had chaired a meeting of thecommittee considering severancesunder the new rules which said itemswould only be discussed if someonebrought them up and he wassurprised at how quickly a hugeagenda had been dealt with.
“I truly believe that if we get
through restructuring that nine
members is more than enough,” he
said.
The CitizenBlyth
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Brussels
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