God has been and always will be in Haiti in a MUCH BIGGER WAY than what you would see in any church in Canada or the USA. Why? Because of the suffering and poverty. Travel to any developing country where they don’t have all the “luxuries” we have and you will see churches that are truly alive because they don’t have all the STUFF. They sometimes have enough to get by, coupled with a FAITH that is deeper and more real than any big brained theologian could ever hope to realize. Haiti has a poverty rate of over 80%. Satanism and witchcraft are common BUT the Church of Jesus Christ is there too – if you followed CNN during the first few days after the quake, you would have seen hordes of believers marching through the streets singing praises to God.

The local Church in Haiti is an instrument in the hands of God and Compassion International is a small part of what God is doing to assist them. A map of the country that shows the churches who have partnered with Compassion is a beautiful sight to see. 230 churches with an army of thousands who volunteer are a very real and tangible proof of God’s love for the people of Haiti. This ministry began in 1968 and now there are over 65,000 children who benefit from what selfless people strive to do every day – break the bonds of poverty, put an end to the suffering and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to a broken nation. It all began with one man who had a God-given passion to make a difference.

Jesus was unable to perform any miracles in the towns where the people didn’t have any faith so he just passed on through. Most of the people in Haiti have few possessions but they have a faith that puts us to shame. Jesus feels right at home there – miracles are a regular occurrence.

Even God’s chosen people lived in slavery in Egypt for hundreds of years and God judged that nation in order to set them free. Many hope and pray that this disaster will be a tipping point to bring about justice and mercy in a nation that has suffered at the hands of a corrupt government for far too long. The church is rising to the occasion!

[...] there is a point at which an explanation becomes so comprehensive that it ceases to explain anything at all, because it has become a mere tautology. In the case of a pure determinism, this is always so. To assert that every finite contingency is solely and unambiguously the effect of a single will working all things – without any deeper mystery of created freedom – is to assert nothing but that the world is what it is, for any meaningful distinction between the will of God and the simple totality of cosmic eventuality has collapsed. [...]

But if the old has passed away [the 'olam hazeh in the crucifixion] and the new has come [the 'olam haba', in the resurrection], why do evil and death remain in the world? Paul’s letters are charged with the same tension between the “already” and “not yet” aspects of the kingdom of God that we have seen in Jesus’ own teachings, but with some differences in emphasis. For Paul, the kingdom is here already in that Jesus’ death brings an end to the old and his resurrectioinaugurates the new. The Spirit is described as a deposit (or down payment) on the coming kingdom (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14). A deposit is not merely an IOU or promise for the future; instead, it is a real payment given now as a guarantee that in the future the rest will be paid. The Spirit is also pictured as firstfruits, the first part of the harvest, ready to be enjoyed now, and tangible evidence that the remainder of the harvest will also come (Romans 8:23).

Yes, I know Job's friends are the "bad guys", but obviously my appeal to them was a rhetorical move as a critique of your view. Moreover, the book of Job itself is an anti-theodicy that complete deconstructs the notion that God is complicit in evil, either by ordaining it, allowing it, or "glorifying" it.

Of course, we are waiting for the eschatological fulfilment of God's promises – where the fruit of Jesus' death and resurrection will be fully realized; but that is not to say that we don't see an inbreaking of that future into the present. I am appealing to the already/not yet nature of God's kingdom; God's victory over sin and death was inauguarated with Jesus' resurrection and ascention, but we are we waiting for the full realization of that vicory upon Jesus' return. So, no, I am not delusional, just nuanced.

That is, sin will be judged, nature will be redeemed. hurt will be healed, and natural disasters will be no more. God only allows that which will in the end, work together for his own good and in turn, the good of all creation.

Last I checked, a huge earthquake just killed tens of thousands of people. Whereas yes, God has defeated them on the cross, only a delusion person would suggest that this current world is a complete and final reality of the kingdom of God. Or has Jesus already returned and we missed him??

I am quite confused…. You said: "The Holy Other who is the enemy of evil and suffering, conquering it not so that he may glorify himself, but so that it can no longer destroy his beloved creation." So, God is not glorified by rescuing his beloved creation? Your statement makes no sense.

You do know the friends of Job are the "bad guys" right?

I will stand alongside Job's friends in questioning this God, for it is not the God revealed in the Bible. He is the Trinitarian God whose "essence" is the relationships between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, truly Infinite because he is the one who stands beyond the finite and yet creates the conditions for the finite to exist. The Holy Other who is the enemy of evil and suffering, conquering it not so that he may glorify himself, but so that it can no longer destroy his beloved creation. All the hurt, the sin, the natural disasters, the suffering, will never come to fruition and glorify God because God has defeated them on the cross. Evil can never be part of God's glory – to claim otherwise is heresy.

What has God revealed in scripture? That nature is groaning to be redeemed. That God desires the love of Christ to be shown to all creation. That sin has separated us from the way it should be. God was willing to all but damn a blameless man named Job. God blesses the just, and the unjust.

Somehow, all the hurt, the sin, the natural disasters, the suffering, will somehow, and without any aid from our finite understanding, come to fruition and glorify God. This is our hope for creation, and is why we rush to aid those who are hurting, fight injustice, speak out against inhumanity, break down cultural egotism, and be a light for the world. For some reason, God has called his church to be an agent of his redemption. He does not even protect his own children from suffering (many of the Haitians who died knew him and loved him). It seems we must be content to live in the dim of our limited temporal existence, and trust the one who sees all to bring everything to his glory.

Writing of the 2004 tsunam, but equally applicable here, David Bentley Hart writes, “Considering the scope of the catastrophe, and of the agonies and sorrows it had visited on so many, we should probably have all remained silent for a while. The claim to discern some greater meaning—or, for that matter, meaninglessness—behind the contingencies of history and nature is both cruel and presumptuous at such times. Pious platitudes and words of comfort seem not only futile and banal, but almost blasphemous; metaphysical disputes come perilously close to mocking the dead. There are moments, simply said, when we probably ought not to speak. But, of course, we must speak.”
What do we speak – the approriate Christian resposne is lament and even outrage.

GOD IS NOWHERE – think about it – it's all in how you read it.

Writing of the tsunami in 2004, but equally applicable here, David Bentley Hart writes, “Considering the scope of the catastrophe, and of the agonies and sorrows it had visited on so many, we should probably have all remained silent for a while. The claim to discern some greater meaning—or, for that matter, meaninglessness—behind the contingencies of history and nature is both cruel and presumptuous at such times. Pious platitudes and words of comfort seem not only futile and banal, but almost blasphemous; metaphysical disputes come perilously close to mocking the dead. There are moments, simply said, when we probably ought not to speak. But, of course, we must speak.”
What do we speak? The appropriate Christian response is one of lament.

Anyway, before I can offer a more sustained response, let me say first of all that Pat Robertson and his ilk do not speak for me and I am ashamed to have any association with him in terms of our (supposedly) shared faith.

Also, I think Jon Stewart's opening monologue on the Daily Show on the 14th was spot on.

One question to obm – "good" and "bad" are moral categories. How can you have recourse to them if everything is simply a matter of natural occurance? In other words, what is to stop someone from going into your living room, taking a poop on the carpet, and calling such an action "good'? I mean, bowel movements are natural occurances, right? Whose to say whether such an action is good or bad? Maybe this scenario isn't the best, but I'm trying to pose the question with some levity (and I just watched an episode of the Office where such a scenario occurred).