Tuscaloosa tornado caught on tape wreaking havoc

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you. May you be safe and reunited with family and friends soon. We are making donations thru goodwill and the redcross to assist in helping you. Wish we could do more. Mimi from Florida

Jesus!? Socialist!? Right! Jesus was Apolitical! The proof is in the story of when Peter was asked by the wily Pharisees if Jesus would pay the temple tax. Before consulting Jesus, Peter blurted out yes He would! That's how Peter was! When Jesus arrived, He did not want to make Peter look stupid, yet He was not going to pay the temple tax. He was a priest, He is the HIGH Priest!!! In the Jewish economy priests were exempt from paying the temple tax. If Jesus would have paid it, He would have been proving the Pharisees right; that He was not a Priest. If He would have not paid it, the Pharisees would have reported Him to the Romans as a tax evader. They were really wily! The problem was, the Pharisees not only didn't pay the temple tax, but they also exempted their family members from paying the tax as well. Jesus sought to expose this duplicity. He sent Peter to the river to catch a fish. The first fish that he caught, he was to find a denarii in the fishes' mouth. Upon bringing that Denarii back to Jesus, Jesus look at the denarii and asked Peter what was on the front, Peter replied, "Caesar." Jesus remarked, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God. Therefore the tax was paid but not by Jesus. In those days, the Jews were living under the Roman yoke and protection. The taxes that they paid to Rome paid for that military protection. God would no longer allow Israel to have a military because they were incessantly disobedient. This was now their lot. So Jesus bade them "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's." In other words, Pay your taxes to Caesar for the protection that it affords you but pay homage (your heart) to God who provides you your very being. Christians shouldn't even vote. This is because any crime that the elected official commits against Christians while in office will also be on the hands of the Christians who voted for that person. God tells us in Daniel that He raises up kings and brings them down.

Take a deep breath & open your Bibles to the book of Job or 1 Kings to the story of David and Bathsheba. Time we realize, God does not destroy He protects. In the case of Job, God "ALLOWED!" Get that? God "ALLOWED" Satan to attack Job. If U read the story slowly & carefully U will see that as soon as God allowed Satan to attack Job, he immediately (W/out haste) went back to Job & began destruction. Satan's claim was God was unfairly protecting Job so he could not prove Job did not serve God out of love but because God blessed him. So what happened when God removed His protection from Job? Satan was "allowed" to attack and attack he did! 2nd is the case of David. When David committed adultery w/Bathsheba & had her husband Uriah killed, God told David that He could no longer protect him otherwise His enemies (Satan & those who did not serve God) would say that God had a different set of rules for His "favorites." God removed His hand of protection & all hell broke lose on David & his family! Finally, after a day of healing & feeding people, we find Jesus & His disciples on a small boat. Out of nowhere comes a storm. The boat is filled w/water & the winds & lake are in an upheaval. Jesus, who is asleep at the time, is awakened by His disciples. He calms the waters & winds. Did Jesus calm His Father or did He calm the cause (Satan) of the storm? Answer. He calmed the “cause” of the storm, proving that He could even control the power that Satan thinks he has. So when earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, riots, murder, robbery, war, etc. occur, it is Satan & his minions throwing stones & hiding their hands so that untrained, non-reading & non-studying Christians as well as an unbelieving world can & do heap blame on the One who protects us. God’s hand of protection over earth is like a jar protecting a mouse from a hungry cat. When that jar is removed, the cat attacks! The Jar is the Hand of God, the mouse is humankind & the hungry cat is Satan! OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH!!!

I guess k1234 has his own personal Jesus (note "my Jesus" in his comment down below)and he forbids responses when someone states Jesus is a socialist. Seems like k1234 feebly attempts to reduce everyone, but himself, to "christians" rather than christians, and forbids them from making comments because he believes Jesus serves only him. Of course people here care about what happened, however, most people are capable of thinking about two things at the same time. Did you vote for Obama, k1234? Or better yet, Are you a socialist? Maybe he is, and that is what got his knickers all up in a knot. Can't offer a response, so lashes out blindly, in true left wing/liberal/socialist/communist fashion. Will you answer my question or will you will you attempt to judge me from atop your mighty throne and lash out blindly again? Oh and Nilvarg, I think you said it great. NickG, if you have served, I appreciate your service. I do find it, however, highly irregular that a ten year Marine would attempt to use their service as part of a debate. And, of all things, to support socialism and communism, the very things the Marines fight against. It sounds like you have read the Bible, but your interpretation is very much on the weak side. Not one of your quotes even remotely lends support to your sad belief that Jesus was a socialist. Believing that these quotes lend support to your belief could only have come from someone who is hard left of center and cannot see the light. Jesus wanted people to give/help from their hearts. He did not advocate the theft of earned property to give to those that did not earn. That is the basic building block of socialism, my friend. Don't forget, almost 15 million people have been slaughtered while the communists and socialists tried to make socialism "pure" And no, I do not believe that God did this for some sort of punishment. It was a bad event that happened. My heart goes out to the people in those states, and I will contribute.

Seriously people, take your political stand somewhere else and please quit speculating about my Jesus and his views. He would not conern himself with such trivial things but instead, he was more concerned with the condition of a person's heart. I don't know what all of you "christians" on here bickering over Jesus being a socialist is even about. I can't fathom my Jesus ever being ok with that when so many are hurting right now! Those of you doing so may have valid concerns but take them somewhere else. Right now we should be coming together to pray and offer our assistance to help families who have lost loved ones and still don't have any idea where they are. I pray God has mercy on them and I would hope that this would be the end of the juvenile conversation over Jesus' political agenda.

Tornados of this magnitude do a good job to show us that we are not the masters over creation that we believe ourselves to be. It shows the sacredness of human life by showing how frail we are and how utterly powerless we ultimately. Jesus was too wise to make His kingdom one of politics. Rather, Jesus's kingdom is a kingdom of one's heart. Warning: Do not let pride or your own understanding of things stop you from embracing something bigger and more wonderous than yourselves...namely God's grace through Jesus.

Thanks for your prayers. I'll give Santa Claus your xmas list!

Wow, NickG. Using your military service for street-cred in an online argument where your service is completely irrelevant. That's pretty pathetic, and would point to the possibility that you aren't really a veteran. No veteran - especially a US Marine - would toss his service record around so trivially - especially after ten years. The fact is, Christ would not have been a Liberal or a Socialist. He would be what I call a "compassionate Conservative". Socialism and Communism advocate forced redistribution of wealth. Christ would have wanted us to use our God-given talents to make a living for ourselves, but to voluntarily be generous with our time and money and CHOOSE to give to those who are truly in need. Only an Atheist could believe that Christ would support a system as evil as Socialism or Communism where government-enforced theft and redistribution are the norm.

Nice. I don’t know your background, TrueAmerican, but I would bet that my resume as an American of 10 years service in the United States Marine Corps, and three Purple Hearts compares fairly favorably to yours. I read my Bible regularly. And when I hear Jesus say in Matt 20:16, "so the last will be first, and the first will be last," I cannot help but think of that as wealth redistribution or at least a reversal of a class system in the Kingdom of Heaven. Throughout the entire New Testament, Jesus not once advocated a darwinian survival of the fittest economic and governmental system leaving the lifeless corpses of the poor in its wake. The New Testament, in its entirety not only lays out the path to our salvation, but also chronicles the life of the Son of God who traveled the countryside helping the sick and the poor. His life is the perfect example we are to follow. John 13:35-36 (I’m not sure on the verses, I’m at work) “A new command I give to you. Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are mine, if you love one another.” Also, I'm also quite certain that socialism, in its purest form, has nothing to do with stealing or gulags. All I would ask is whether you believe that those of us in northern and central AL deserved this as a punishment from God or not, please show your love for your neighbors by helping when the time comes.

Thanks for your prayers. I'll give Santa Claus your xmas list!