DON’T

 Freeway Collapse 1989 Earthquake



 On a Friday afternoon at 5:03:15 pm it was a normal trying to get home race. The week had ended and people had plans made for a refreshing weekend. There would be time to catch up with chores that needed to be attended to, barbeques, visiting friends and relatives.

On this day October 17, 1989, at 5:04:15 pm (PDT) a magnitude 6.9 (moment magnitude; surface-wave magnitude, 7.1) earthquake severely shook the San Francisco and Monterey Bay regions. The epicenter was located at 37.04° N. Latitude, 121.88° W. Longitude near Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, approximately 14 km (9 MI) northeast of Santa Cruz and 96 km (60 MI) south-southeast of San Francisco.

The earthquake occurred when the Crustal rocks comprising the Pacific and North American Plates abruptly slipped as much as 2 meters (7 ft) along their common boundary-the San Andreas Fault system. The rupture initiated at a depth of 18 km (11 MI) and extended 35 km (22 MI) along the fault, but it did not break the surface of the Earth.

My friend Tom Hansen had asked to get off an hour earlier as he had plans to go out that evening. He was in the middle of the Cypress Viaduct section of the freeway when the earthquake occurred and the upper level of the freeway collapsed onto the lower level killing many people, Tom being one of them. I was greatly saddened by the news of Tom’s death for I had known him for a number of years.

We quickly went into the “If only stage” where we said if he had not got off early or had went another way but the reality was what it was, and “Tom was gone” nothing could change that. He had no warning, no opportunity to escape.   Gone in the blink of an eye!

I thought about so many “If only” events I have escaped by heeding the warnings. From childhood so many times my parents told me to beware of perilous things and how heeding the warnings saved me. Beyond the warning there have been intuition moments where I have sensed danger, and have obeyed that inner feeling which led me to safety.

The biggest escape of my life was not to neglect my salvation, and to receive Christ as my savior. Unlike Tom’s misadventure I had a warning (Holy Ghost conviction) to which I responded. Putting it off could have proven to be spiritually fatal to me.

The normal experiences that new born Christians has is growing in the grace and admonition of the lord but within this process there is the opportunity to fall short.

Thankfully we have warnings not to do so and a given way of escape through obedience.

Some scriptures shake me much like the Loma Prieta earthquake of ’89 one of which is found in;
Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

While many scriptures are directed to the lost others have a dual purpose and apply both to the lost and saved.

image courtesy photobucket.com

Something that is imperative to avoid is doing despite to the HOLY SPIRIT. Some of the ways we can do this is

RESIST; Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

QUENCH: We can quench the Spirit; 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.

GRIEVE: We can grieve the Spirit;  Ephesians 4:30 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

INSULT: We can insult the by ignoring Him, and acting as if He didn’t exist.

BLASPHEME: We can blaspheme the Spirit; Matthew 12:31-32 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

These and many other warning have been given to us and we are expected to walk accordingly.

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV) Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? This truth just blows me away and causes me to abhor the things that are not of GOD for as I struggle against my imperfections I have to call upon the Spirit of grace to help my weaknesses and plead forgiveness for failure.

Rom 8:26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

To this I can only say, Amen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqkvIhs7Ijg

This post has been linked to  Joan’s Grace Café.