Did He Say "nu-clee-ur" or "nu-cu-lur"?

Our old friend Pat Robertson recently went on a prayer retreat, during which the Lord revealed to him that there will be a major terrorist attack in the U.S. during 2007 that will cause "mass killing". (Link via several hippies) Robertson's death threat against Hugo Chavez got me going with public blogging a few years back, and even though I've tried to get out, Pat "keeps draggin' me back", and so I am.

With a true pastor's heart, Pat goes on to assure us, "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that".

I just love that last line - Pat presumes to read the situation better than God. Wow, I mean, wow - Robertson never disappoints. I imagine that looking at folks like Pat makes the Lord wish he could have a slight do-over with the Bible so He could include a specific warning about the dangers of hubris.

I was disappointed, however, that "The Lord didn't say 'nuclear'". I wish He (the Lord, not Robertson) would clear up the proper pronunciation of the word - does the middle syllable have a long "u" sound, like our President says it, or a long "e" sound, as those who live outside the states of the former Confederacy say it. Given the results of the recent elections and other Republican scandals, I 'd suspect that the Lord is saying it the second way these days.

I also spend an afternoon in prayer recently, and the Lord told me absolutely nothing about terrorist aims in 2007. He did tell me three interrelated things:

• Depend on Me more. No, really.
  
• That stuff about lilies and birds and focusing on today in the gospel of Matthew, I was serious about that.
• You have been preaching over the past year about how the power of the Spirit should lead us to extend the horizons of our expectations - it's time for you to start believing this yourself.

There you have it folks - sorry to disappoint. If the Lord tells me something really important, like whether Chelsea will catch ManU or if Beckham will be coming to the Galaxy, I'll let you know. Until then, that's all I've got.


PS: a nice bit of serendipity - just as I finish this post, iTunes serves up U2's "Grace".