It is only by His mercy and grace that we live anyway. He doesn't owe us life of anykind. Why do we always question the justice of God when we deserve death from the begining? I absolutely believe my mother-in law suffered from terminal aplastic anemia for 2 years(unimaginable pain and suffering to the point of begging to let her die), just so I could see with my own eyes, her miraculous healing overnight. With my salvation, He moved upon my wife, my daughter, my father-in-law, 2 nieces, 2 nephews, 1 neighbor's re-dedication, and probably others that escape my mind right now. Was even 1 salvation worth my mother-in-law's pain and misery? God's economy is not our economy. God does raise up enemies to punish His children. God absoloutly does kill people to make His point. We belong to Him, even the non-believers. He will do as He wishes with us to bring Himself Glory.
One of the missions of Jesus was to convey the wisdom that this life is not the life to be concerned with. This life is a nanosecond in the eternal scheme. I have trouble with Fallwell trying to sell me a retirement home, but I can't really see what he said wrong about God's judgement. People have a lifetime to repent, but a nation can be judged at anytime. God is not on His throne draped in an American flag. God doesn't need America to complete His will. We must learn, however, that we need Him. We have trouble accepting that because we can sin for decades upon decades,protected by His grace, but when judgement falls, we are in denial because He didn't do it sooner, so why now? While we try to figure out the mind of God, His plan is flawlessly executed, perfectly timed to His Will, on its way to complete fullfilment.
Perhaps it'd be helpful if I put it this way:
Here is what I think we cannot say with Biblical warrant:
"The calamity of 9/11 happened because of [list sins here], and if America doesn't repent, God will send worse calamities until it does, whereupon He will stop sending calamities and will instead bless us materially."Here is what I think we can and should say with Biblical warrant:
"America has been blessed with access to God's Word, and freedom to practice it, as no nation in history has been blessed; yet it has increasingly taken His blessings, and used them to disrespect and mock Him. The behaviors that grow out of this intentional back-turning invite God's judgment, and guarantee a bitter and harmful harvest. America must repent and turn to God in Jesus Christ, on the basis of His Word, or it can be assured of judgment from the God who will not be mocked."
Dan