“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” [Luke 13:1-5].

In the context of modern disasters, some have appealed to these passages in order to make the point that God's ways are ‘past finding out’. The Bible provides certain cases where God directly tells us His purposes. For instance, 2 Chronicles 36:15-17 and 2 Kings 23:26-27 make it clear that the exile of Judah to Babylon took place because of the people's sins. But unless we have such a statement from God, we cannot see his purposes infallibly. If we presume to draw quick conclusions, we may find ourselves doing the same thing that Job's friends did. They thought that the disasters that fell on Job must have come on account of his sins. Yet the ending of the Book of Job indicates that the friends were wrong [Job 42:7-9].

God’s providential rule is mysterious, and we must realize that there are many purposes of which we cannot know. But there is something peculiar about the way in which some have appealed to Luke 13:1-5. Whether intended or not, they have used it in order to turn aside the idea that God's judgment was being manifested in any particular disaster. The practical effect of this argument is largely to assure their audience that the disaster was not after all a judgment, and that we can all be comforted and spiritually put at ease, knowing that the whole thing is just unaccountable; we need not fear that it has anything to do concerning God and his judgments and his wrath.

The peculiarity here is that Jesus' words in Luke 13:1-5 actually point in the opposite direction. Jesus does unsettle rather than comfort His audience. According to customary thinking of the time, the Galileans must have been terrible offenders to experience the judgment that fell on them. So the audience thinks that they can comfort themselves that at least they are not going to experience such a disaster. Jesus overthrows customary thinking by saying that the Galileans were not worse. That is already unsettling. But then He adds an ominous warning, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” He accuses them of being guilty and needing repentance, and counsels them that unless they turn to God they will perish.

The appeal to Luke 13:1-5 as a lesson only of comfort, and never of judgment is completely one-sided and hypocritical. It presents an over simplified and unbalanced view of how the Biblical principles apply to the present. We must be ready to speak of judgment and wrath as well as mercy and comfort. Why are we ashamed of the gospel? The gospel is the only power sufficient to deliver men from wrath and bring them into the riches of God’s mercy displayed in Christ.

In particular, every disaster is a forerunner of the Last Judgment. It should be used as an occasion to reflect on the transitory character of this life [1 Corinthians 7:31], on the fact that God gives us blessings that we do not deserve [Matthew 5:45], and that men who are rebels against God rightly deserve wrath.

McNair, who was married, was shot to death at his condo early Saturday by his 20-year-old girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, who then turned the gun on herself.

“Drop your stone the next time you write about Steve McNair. Drop your stone the next time you text somebody. Drop your stone the next time you twitter. Drop your stone, those of you in the barbershops, the beauty shops. Those of you walking the streets on the corner, drop your stone,” Bishop Joseph W. Walker III told thousands of people, among them family members, fans and more than 50 former teammates, gathered at Mount Zion Baptist Church.

“What I do know about this man was that he loved God though he was just like us: imperfect,” Walked said. “But he knew God.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-mcnairkilled&prov=ap&type=lgns

The New Covenant Church does not stone adulterers, but it does practice church discipline by exposing the sin for the purpose of repentance [1 Corinthians 5]. Does the pastor mean that the church is not to judge sin? In so doing he has defamed the church by allowing open sin to exist in the membership.

If McNair knew God, then he would have repented under discipline. Since the church did not exercise its duty, then they cannot know if he was a believer or not.

So, not only is the church not to judge sin, but men are no longer responsible for their sin. Is that the reason the church has left off discipline? God no longer judges sin because Christ has taken on the sins of all, even those who live in sin. Is that the message of the church? That is not the message of the New Testament…

Christians who dare speak of such things are seen as a plague on society. Thinking about the wrath of God may cause people to feel guilty, and that is not only unpleasant in itself, but bad for self esteem and mental health. The politics of tolerance condemns as uncivil anyone who proclaims the message of sin and judgment with Biblical authority…

“God…now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked… [Acts 17:30-32]

Those who dismiss the message of judgment are doing a service to mainstream culture by allowing it to avoid thoughts of accountability. They are also doing a service to themselves, by assuring the culture that they, the thoughtful and sensitive Christians, are tolerant and civil, not like those other mean-spirited Christians.

The real Jesus is of no interest to mainstream culture because He speaks of judgment and makes hard demands…

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" [Luke 14:25-27].

In fact the gospel is two-sided, containing attractions, promises, and benefits on the one hand and offenses, warnings, and serious obligations on the other. We cannot just choose the part we like and neglect the other without danger of compromising the Christian faith. Muting the message of judgment and wrath in an effort to match the cultural norms of tolerance and civility is foreign to the New Testament.

Biblical Christianity is deeply offensive to our lawless and idolatrous culture, and cannot be make palatable and remain effective. It is written of those who will preach the apostolic gospel…

"You will be hated by all for my name's sake" [Luke 21:17].

The purpose of the message is not to appease the sinner by avoiding all that is offensive, but to be used of the Spirit to convict of sin and righteousness and effectually call the elect. In this respect Arminianism has produced a weak and flabby Christianity, thinking that the unbeliever is in need of convincing rather than resurrection.