Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1214 | Texas Tragedy: Facts, Heroism, & God’s Goodness

Starting point is 00:00:00 Massive floods have devastated much of the Texas Hill country. There are so many people still missing, many people that have died, including young girls that were at a camp called Camp Mystic in Currville, Texas. We've got their stories today. We will be debunking some myths about what caused this. We will even be getting into just slightly the conversation about weather modification. but most importantly, we are going to address the theological aspect of this, what Christians should be thinking, what we should be praying on, and what we should be doing in the midst of this awful tragedy. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Kexie cookies. I've tried these cookies. They are absolutely incredible. And you will not regret getting you

Starting point is 00:00:50 a box of Kexie cookies chipped right to your front door. They've got a new amazing flavor that's to buy chocolate flavor. All of it is so rich made from real ingredients. You can go to kexy.com. That's k-e-k-s-I-com for 15% off your first order by using code alley 15. That's kexie.com code alley 15. Hey guys, welcome to relatable. Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th, a wonderful weekend, as you can see and here. I am not in the studio today. I am recording remotely. So apologies if the quality is just a little different than how it typically is. So if you follow me on Instagram, you probably know you're anticipating what I'm going to talk about today. And that is the flooding in the state of Texas and the impact of that on the communities there. But also we are going to talk about the conversations, debates going on about who is to blame. What is to blame here? And then, of course, having a feel logical conversation about how we deal with tragedy, how we look at why awful things like this

Starting point is 00:02:11 happen, especially when helpless children are impacted, how we can know where children are going after they die, really tough questions that a lot of people are asking right now that I wanted to try with as much grace as I possibly can to give clarity on. So first, let's talk about what happened. I am from Texas, have many ties there, lots of community there, and so this is especially close to my heart, not that other tragedies throughout the country don't matter, but of course, when you have roots in a place, it just hits closer to home because the state is home. And so I have just been watching the story so closely and feeling so deeply for everyone who has been affected, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I feel

Starting point is 00:03:11 even more deeply for the parents who have lost children, little girls at this camp. Not that those matters, not that those lives matter more than anyone else's lives, but as a mom of little girls myself, as someone who grew up going to summer camps, It just doesn't take a whole lot to put myself in their shoes to imagine what they are feeling, the deep pain that these parents are feeling. And so I want to try to honor that as much as I possibly can, respecting the privacy of those who have asked for privacy and telling stories of heroism as well so that we see that God is already working through this tragedy.

Starting point is 00:03:55 But first, let's get into the sad and very disturbing details of every. that happened so we can have proper context for what is going on. In the very early morning hours of July 4th, heavy rain caused severe flash floods in central Texas, specifically in a town called Kerrville. This is in Kerr County where the Guadalupe River surged over 20 feet in just under two hours. Right now, as we are recording this, floods have tragically killed at least 82 people, but they are still uncovering bodies. They are still adding to that number. It seems hour by hour.

Starting point is 00:04:36 This includes right now 28 children left 10 girls and one counselor missing from a Christian girls camp called Camp Mystic. The camp is very close to this river. Some people are saying the cabins these girls were staying in or waterfront. That's not exactly true. They were close to the river, but not on the bank of the river. It just goes to show how quickly this river flooded. As of Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security reported that over 850 people have been rescued.

Starting point is 00:05:10 What I'm about to play you is a video from Friday that shows how quickly the water is rising within just 30 seconds a street is fully covered. Here's not one. The flooding was a lot worse than experience. They saw up to 15 inches of rain in just hours. So that is equal to about six months of rainfall in this area in just a few hours. This county was hit hardest. The National Weather Service in WS issued flash flood warnings. And so people got those notifications on their phone. But it all happened so fast. A lot of people are asking how in the world could this happen? Surely there was some negligence, some incompetence. People didn't get the warning, maybe their phone wasn't working, what is going on here? It doesn't seem like that's the case. It seemed like the National Weather Service did its job that people got the notification. But even those that took this warning seriously, they just weren't able to do what they needed to do to protect themselves and to protect their families because it happened so fast.

Starting point is 00:06:40 Also, if you think about it, you've probably gotten a flash flood warning. You've probably gotten a tornado warning on your phone. I grew up in Dallas. We got tornado warnings all the time. Flash flood warnings pretty regularly. And usually we didn't have to do anything about it. It was just, you know, they were being overly cautious, which is good. You want them to do that. They're trying to spare as many lives as possible, trying to get people off the road. But usually you're thinking, okay, if I'm in my home, I'm fine. So a lot of people, not stupidly, just based on their past experience, they get the notification on their phone. and they think, okay, I'm fine.

Starting point is 00:07:17 Maybe if they were out to eat or if they were driving, they thought, okay, I should get home. But when you're in your home, you feel safe. And I think there's a lot of unnecessary blame kind of being passed around even in people's minds of how could you not possibly, you know, drive away to safety. And they're not understanding, one, how quickly this happened, how quickly the waters rose. and then two, thinking about our own experiences and how so often we ignore these warnings. Because of the ongoing recovery right now, there is some variation in the reporting on the death toll. So, you know, the most recent figures that we've already talked about from CNN, 82 deaths, 10 campers, one counselor missing are used here. But there are other reports from people saying, no, it's actually this minimum.

Starting point is 00:08:11 and in the wake of tragedy, even though we're so used to getting really quick information, there's so much going on and so much chaos and so much ongoing reporting happening, both from individuals who are involved and from official institutions that it's really difficult to know. So now we are going to go through the fatalities and honor them and talk about the human cost here and go through some of their stories. These are all image bearers of God with souls that will live forever. These are people who woke up that morning and thought that they were going to have a normal 4th of July weekends. Maybe they were going to go to the lake. Maybe these girls had activities that they were looking forward to. As for the actual campers whose lives were lost,

Starting point is 00:09:06 All of those parents sent their kids to this camp thinking that they were going to have a wonderful week or weeks of making friends playing outside, a screen-free time where they could learn new skills, all of the reasons parents send their kids to summer camp, and they were already anticipating picking them up from camp. They could have never, ever imagined that they would never get to hear their child's laugh again, never get to hug their child again, never get to tell them or hear from them, I love you. And so I just, it's so difficult to talk about these names and these people knowing the absolute nightmare that they went through themselves and all of their families are going through. First, before we get into that, I do have to recognize one of my favorite organizations and they were kind enough to sponsor.

Starting point is 00:10:05 this episode, and that is Concerned Women for America. From Congress to your children's schools, there is a culture war raging across America. For the moms watching, I don't have to tell you this. You already know this. You're living it. And so that's why I want to make you aware of this organization concerned women for America. It's the nation's largest public policy Christian women's organization. For 45 years, they've been leading the charge as your voice in all levels of public policy advocating for policy that is good for our communities, good for our children, good for their education and their safety. They've got seven core issues that they focus on the family, sanctity of life, religious liberty, parental choice and education,

Starting point is 00:10:52 fighting sexual exploitation, specifically of children, national sovereignty, and support for Israel. They've got this new book out, which is amazing. It was written by the CEO and president of this org, Penny Nance, called a Woman's Guide, Seven Rules for Success in Business and Life. This is an incredible gift for any young woman graduating or beginning her professional journey. You can go to concernedwomen.org slash alley for your copy today. That's concernedwomen. That's concernedwomen.org slash alley. According to Texas Tribune, Camp Mystic confirmed today, Monday, that it is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors. So these are young girls as young as eight years old and then you've got all the way up to the college age

Starting point is 00:11:45 girls and sometimes a little bit older and younger that were the counselors. Families have confirmed the identities of some deceased campers to the media, but there's no comprehensive official one list of all deceased individuals from Camp Mystic that has been released publicly. But here are some victims whose families have confirmed publicly and so it seems that they are okay with these names being honored publicly by the media since they have made their own public statements. And I'll read a few of their names. And I hope I'm pronouncing this last name correctly. It's Renee Smostrula. She's an eight-year-old camper. There's Janie Hunt, a nine-year-old camper from Dallas. She is actually the niece of the owner of the Kansas City

Starting point is 00:12:32 Chiefs Clark Hunt. Lila Bonner, a nine-year-old Eloise Peck, another. nine-year-old, Anna Margaret Bellows, an eight-year-olds, and then you also have Sarah Marsh an eight-year-old camper. And like I said, there are other campers whose names have not been officially confirmed by the family yet, and so we're not sharing those. Also, the longtime director and co-owner of Camp Mystic, Dick Eastland, he died while trying to save campers and will actually get into the details of his heroic story in just a few minutes. And then there was a director of another camp in the area who, thank the Lord, did not have any campers there at the moment. But her name was Jane Ragsdale. She was the longtime director and co-owner of another Christian camp called Heart of the

Starting point is 00:13:23 Hills Camp for Girls. And she lost her life trying to escape the flood. There were two other children, their names and their deaths being confirmed by their family and reported, by the media, two sisters named Blair Harbor and Brooke Harbor. There was some contradicting reporting about their ages, but it looks like Blair was 13, Brooke was 11. They weren't at Camp Mystic, but they were staying with their grandparents nearby. Their grandparents' cabin was along the Guadalupe River. And this is so, so tough to talk about. But, um, their bodies were found with their hands held together. And thankfully, their parents were unharmed, but their grandparents, Charlene and Mike Harbor, remain missing. And if you have any information

Starting point is 00:14:21 about any of the missing people that we talk about today, I will give you the phone number of who to call. There are a lot of people posting the personal phone numbers of the parents. And maybe the parents want that or family members. They're posting their own phone numbers, asking you to call them with information. I would probably not do that. Honestly, I would probably call the official lines of Kerr County and the official rescue missions just because, unfortunately, in times like this, people take advantage of a tragedy and there are prank calls, there is fraud. There are people trying to extort money. me by calling these personal numbers of people who are just trying to get information about their missing

Starting point is 00:15:09 child or missing family member. And I'm just so sensitive to that. So I just don't want to share those personal numbers here, although I understand as a parent why you would just want the quickest way to get information possible. I am going to share some of the names and the photos of some of the campers missing. I have really good family friends who are connected to some of the campers missing and their parents don't want their names or photos out there, which I also understand. So I won't be sharing all of the names and the pictures of the people missing. But we have one little girl, Hadley Hannah, Kellyanne Lytle. I think that's how you pronounce her last name. Gosh, these little girls are so, they're so little. We've got Virginia Hollis. We've got Greta Toronzo.

Starting point is 00:15:59 You have, sorry, this is so tough. Mary Grace Baker, Blakely McCory, you've got Molly DeWitt, and Margaret Sheedy, those are names of some campers that we have. Curville City Manager Dalton Rice noted other non-camp individuals may also be missing. He didn't provide specific names. There are two local residents, Jonathan and Brittany Rojas. They reported that a mother and a baby from their extended family are missing. their teenage son Leo survived after being caught in barbed wire. I posted about a family who was camping along the Guadalupe River. Their last name is Burgess and a mom and a dad and their little

Starting point is 00:16:48 kids, they were swept away. They are still missing. There are so many people that we didn't get to honor that we didn't get to name. The loss of life is huge. It is catastrophic. And while We will have a designated segment for the theological side to all of this. I just want to encourage you to pray. Even if we don't know all of their names, we don't know everything that needs to be done. I just really encourage you to pray that those who are alive would stay alive until they are rescued. Pray for the safety, for the energy, the strength, the effectiveness, the wisdom, the discernment, the clarity of mind for those who are operating. rescue missions. Pray for the families of little girls, of children, of people who are missing.

Starting point is 00:17:41 I can not, I can, but it's also difficult to imagine the anxiety that they have right now. And the only thing that we can ask God to do is to, yes, rescue their children and their loved ones, but to give them the peace that passes all understanding. the peace that transcends their current circumstance, they have every reason to be anxious. And yet God can do this miraculous thing in their hearts and their minds and their bodies to give them peace, to give them comfort and strength. And so pray for that. Pray that in the midst of this, God would be glorified somehow in this tragedy.

Starting point is 00:18:21 And if you're not a Christian and maybe even if you are, that sounds really bizarre to you. but that is what God is in the business of doing. He makes beauty out of ashes. He brings redemption and goodness even to the darkest situations. Sometimes we can see that redemption up close. Sometimes it is happening on the other side of eternity. And we can't see everything that is happening. But we do know that when God is doing one thing, when it looks like he's doing one thing, he's actually doing a million things. And really, I see that some of these heroic stories, that are already coming out about those who sacrificed their lives on behalf of the people that they were tasked to protect. I think we see the character of Christ in some of these stories.

Starting point is 00:19:09 And I think we see that God works through really, really sad situations. And I want to tell the story of the director of Camp Mistake. His name is Dick Eastland. He was trying to save campers during the flood doing what he does take care of campers he has done this for decades he's been the director he uh for decades now and he inherited camp mystic um as a third generation director of this camp back in the 70s and so this was his life this is what he did he took care of these campers led them helped them and he did it until his dying breath he was actually rescued as he was saving the young girls during the flood, but reportedly he died in a helicopter while being transported to a hospital in Houston, according to Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly. The Kerrville Daily Times,

Starting point is 00:20:07 there was a guest columnist. Her name was Paige Sumner. She was a longtime camper at Camp Mystic and knew Dick Eastland well. She wrote, it doesn't surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers. And so our heart just goes out to his family. He had four boys, I believe. I read, and I'm sure that he is also a grandparent, and there are many, many young women and girls who have been impacted by his faith and his leadership. And their lives literally saved because he sacrificed his life on their behalf. We also have this amazing story of someone named Scott Ruskin. He is a 26-year-old U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer and Rescue Swimmer from New Jersey. He has, according to the New York Post,

Starting point is 00:21:01 saved 165 lives during the floods. And there's a picture of him. And he, I mean, he looks courageous. This was Ruskin's first ever rescue mission, where he served as the sole triage coordinator at Camp Mystic. He directed Army Blackhawk and Coast Guard MH-65 helicopters to survivors. He managed medical care. He comforted campers who were rescued. Here's a sweet excerpt from a report from the New York Times. At Camp Mystic on Friday, Mr. Ruskin shuttled campers to the helicopters that would lift them to safety, sometimes carrying two girls in one arm. As he took some of evacuees away, he assured the others that he would come back for them. Some asked if they could bring their stuffed animal with them.

Starting point is 00:21:45 Of course he told them. Oh, sweet man. There is another really tragic story, but again, just a meaningful story of sacrifice. This is according to the New York Post, a 27-year-old father by the name of Julian Ryan. He died saving his mom, his fiance, and his children. They were in their trailer, realized that water was rising. They weren't going to be able to get out. And so when he realized this, their door was jammed.

Starting point is 00:22:14 so he punched through a window to help his fiance and their two children aged six and 13 months and his mother escaped their flooded trailer home and they were able to get onto a mattress and to float to safety. But when he punched through the window, he severed an artery in his arm and he bled to death. And as he was bleeding out, he, according to his fiance, Christina Wilson, said, I'm sorry, I'm not going to make it. I love y'all. A go fund me was set up to support Ryan's family. It's already raised over $88,000 as I'm giving this report. And so we can link that if you're interested in supporting them. But my goodness, he did exactly what men are supposed to do and what fathers are supposed to do in that moment.

Starting point is 00:23:06 There are other heroic stories specifically from the Texas National Guard. And I'll get to that in just a second. let me go ahead and pause and tell you about our next sponsor for the day. And, you know, as I've said before, sometimes there's just not an easy way to transition into reading our advertisements. But it is necessary and we're always very grateful for our sponsors. It's how you are able to watch or listen to this show for free. They make the ability to give you this show possible. So even though it's hard and very serious reporting to transition into these commercial breaks, it's still needed. And so I'm very grateful to good ranchers for sponsoring this show.

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Starting point is 00:24:25 It's really a win all around. When you use my code Alley, you get $40 off your order. Go to Good Ranchers.com slash Alley Code Alley for that special. That's good ranchers.com slash alley code alley. Here is the Texas National Guard rescuing big groups of children from local camps. Okay, so I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful for everyone who is sacrificing their safety and convenience to try to help these people, especially these young people, trapped. H.EB is a privately held grocery store chain based in San Antonio, very well loved by a lot of Texans.

Starting point is 00:25:13 They also have a disaster relief program that provides aid to communities during crises like hurricanes floods, wildfires, pandemic. Its first major relief effort was actually all the way back in 1933 after a hurricane hit the Rio Grande Valley. And they have continued to help Texas communities whenever disaster strikes. And so here you see a caravan of H.EB trucks carrying supplies, much needed materials to the communities that were affected. Here's that three. That is awesome. I think that you see the best of humanity, and as we'll get to in a little bit, also the worst of humanity when tragedy like this strikes. But there is so much generosity and love and selflessness and sacrifice from Americans, specifically from Christians that really shines through in the darkness in these moments. And there's hope, too.

Starting point is 00:26:30 Christ is our hope in life and in death, in good times, and in bad times. And these girl campers from Camp Mystic, this Christian camp in the heart of the Texas Hill country, many of them are already showing the world what it means to have hope in Jesus, to have hope in the gospel, to have hope in the eternal life and the joy that we find in him. There's this video that's going around of a bus full of. of Camp Mystic campers. They're being evacuated post-flood. And if you're just listening to this, you see that they're driving past this devastation. Someone is recording from their phone, everything that they are passing in this county. And as you see those visuals, you hear

Starting point is 00:27:19 these girls singing worship songs to God. Here's that four. So a little bit more about Camp Mystic. this hits hard for not just Texas, but also the surrounding states who have been sending their kids to this camp for a long time. This is a very prominent and well-known camp. We're talking like Laura Bush was a counselor there. LBJ sent his daughters there. It has been there for about a hundred years. And it has quite the legacy. And I know some people are asking, why would a Christian camp be called Camp Mystic? And it has nothing. to do with its mission. It does have Christian mission statements, Christian roots, and a Christian

Starting point is 00:28:37 core. They say that their mission is to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere where they can develop outstanding personal qualities, be a better person for being at Mystic, let Mystic bring out the best in them, and then of course grow spiritually, providing a Christian environment with opportunities for spiritual development through Sunday worship services, daily devotionals, Bible studies. And so you are probably going to see people paint. homage to Camp Mystic and these campers in a lot of places in Texas. And even in Highland Park, a place in Dallas, they're wrapping ribbons around trees to honor these girls. And so, I mean, this is a generational thing. You're talking about mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers

Starting point is 00:29:22 who all attended to Camp Mystic. And so if you're wondering, why are people talking about this so much? This has really been like a pillar of Texas. life for a lot of people for a very long time. There are a lot of other camps in the region, too. This is the heart of the Texas Hill country. It is very beautiful. And that is why you have so many summer camps. Now, not all summer camps at this time had campers there, but obviously Camp Mystic did. They have about 750 campers there. And so that is why you are seeing so much media attention, specifically focused on them. A little bit about this region for people who don't understand, how could this happen so quickly? How could the Guadalupe River rise so quickly? We're talking

Starting point is 00:30:15 feet in just a matter of minutes. Some people were saying it rose dozens of feet in just 45 minutes. So again, even if you're getting that flash flood warning, even if you are doing everything that you're supposed to do, they just didn't have time to get everyone out. Obviously, a lot of people were saved and they did what they could, but that is why you're seeing this devastation. So, you've got rolling limestone hills, you've got elevations of about 1,600 to 2,400 feet. You've got the Guadalupe Bay River. It's lined with cypress, oak, pecan trees. This creates an ideal setting for outdoor activities, according to, this is according to CBS. But, also the non-absorbit soil there and steep slopes contribute to rapid runoff and that is what increases

Starting point is 00:31:08 flood risks. There is a floodplain right there and some people are saying why would you have a camp in this region when you know it is prone to flooding. This is not the first time that this area has flooded. Actually, there was a devastating flood that affected summer camps back in 1987 and there was loss of life then too. But there has not been a flood like this. This is like every 500 years kind of thing. Obviously, Camp Mystic had been there for 100 years and hadn't gone through this kind of destruction before. And so it's not like it was an unwise place for people to be camping out.

Starting point is 00:31:45 It was a very popular place for people to be camping out. This kind of thing just could not have been adequately anticipated. And of course, in moments like this, people are going to politicize it. They're going to say this is Texas's fault. this is Republicans' fault. This is Trump's fault. There was some kind of policy or spending cut that caused the loss of life here. And that is simply not true. And so we're going to debunk some of that. But first, I'll talk about Greg Abbott's response. He's the governor of Texas and Trump's response as well. Everything that I saw, Governor Abbott responded to this as quickly, as seriously as he

Starting point is 00:32:24 possibly could, allocated every single resource that he possibly could to rescue efforts, to clean up efforts, to providing the resources that the state could in partnership with, you know, private companies like H.E.B, other disaster relief organizations to try to help as many people as possible. I also love, in addition to the tangible help that he channeled to the region, he declared Sunday, July 6th, as a day of prayer in Texas in response to the floods in the hill country. He says he invites Texas Texans to join me in prayer for the communities affected by this disaster. He says in this statement, he urges the people of Texas to pause and reflection in prayer for the lives lost for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those serving on the front lines. You know, I always see a lot of really cynical people in this time saying, well, this is not.

Starting point is 00:33:16 of time for thoughts and prayers. We have to do something as if your anger and your bitterness proves that you are more serious about helping people than those praying. I'm telling you that the people most likely to pray are also the people most likely to help. The people most likely to complain or the people least likely to help. Okay. So I don't want to hear, well, thoughts and prayers don't help. Actually, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working, prayer does something. How we square the sovereignty of God who exists outside of time and space and the actual power that prayer has is somewhat of a theological mystery. And yet we understand that God commands us to pray, that he ordained prayer as a vessel through which he chooses to work,

Starting point is 00:34:06 and that it actually does something. Now, thoughts and vibes, they don't do much. Maybe you should be thinking about this. Maybe you should be dwelling upon it. And so you understand what people are really going through. But that in it of itself, empathy in and of itself, doesn't do anything. The question is, what is it going to compel you to do? Praying is a great thing to do. Now, there are also other things that we should do. We've already talked about the rescue missions that are being put in place. I will give you the specific resources that you can call, that you can donate to, that you can be a part of at the end of this episode to make sure that we are pairing our prayer with action, but don't let anyone tell you that prayer means nothing. And wow, what a blessing it is to have politicians that take prayer seriously,

Starting point is 00:34:55 that will appeal to the power of God to try to help the people that they are leading in their state. Some people scoff at this kind of thing and act like, oh, Republicans are so vapid and hypocritical. They just use God to cover up their cruelty. It is a huge big, big, and wonderful deal to have politicians that actually believe in the transcendent power of God. So I'm just very grateful to governors like Governor Abbott for caring about prayer and for believing that prayer has the power that it does. President Trump also posted on Truth Social. This was on July 6. He said, I just signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, Texas to ensure that our brave first responders immediately have the resources they need. These families are

Starting point is 00:35:42 enduring an unimaginable tragedy with many lives lost, many still missing. The Trump admin continues to work closely with state and local leaders. Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Knoll, was on the ground yesterday with Governor Greg Abbott, who was working hard to help the people of his great state. Our incredible U.S. Coast Guard, with their state first responders, have saved more than 850 lives. Thank the Lord. We've got Representative Chip Roy from Texas. He was talking to Fox News. Again, so thankful for politicians who will genuinely praise the Lord as he is talking about a young girl who survived by floating on a mattress. Here's stop five.

Starting point is 00:36:19 One of the little girls from our school, thankfully, praise the Lord, was found. She floated on a mattress for three hours yesterday morning. And we just got the text notice that she survived and we've located her and that she's safe and sound. So we're hoping for stories like that. But obviously, we're deeply concerned about the remaining little girls that we've not found. A lot of people have asked me if there is any validity to the state. theories about cloud seeding or weather modification when it comes to this flood. And I don't know that we have time to get into all of the details because so much of what is being said or theorized right now

Starting point is 00:36:56 is speculative cloud seeding, which includes involving substances such as silver iodide to clouds to increase rainfall is something that does happen. These are regulated practices, but some say that these practices trying to change the weather, change the atmosphere, even if it is for the purported purpose of increasing rainfall in places that go through severe droughts in Texas actually can have a negative effect. And some people are speculating that that is what happened here, that cloud seeding weather modification played a role. We don't have any evidence of that right now. We've got Congress people like Candice Taylor, Representative Marjor. Representative Margini. Taylor Green saying that this is a problem. This could have caused what happened in Texas. Marjorie Taylor Green introduced a bill that prohibits the injection release or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere. We don't know if that had anything to do with what's going on. I would say probably not considering that this is an area that is very vulnerable to flooding. Yes, this flooding was really fast. Yes, this rainfall was almost unprecedented. But without more

Starting point is 00:38:19 substantive evidence, I just don't know that this is a direction we need to go right now. I'm not saying don't ask questions. I'm not saying there shouldn't be independent journalism and reporting an investigation into things like this. I don't think it's wrong necessarily for Congress people to wonder, hey, did this happen? And is there anything that we can do to, prevent it. But for those of you who are going through tragedy right now, who are trying to process the human cost of all of this, I would encourage you to not go down this rabbit hole right now, as I don't think it is going to have the best effect on you personally, spiritually, mentally, or your community or even the state of Texas right now. It's just a lot. And a lot of it

Starting point is 00:39:06 is conspiratorial. Not all of it, probably. Like I said, Cloud City. is a real thing that goes on. But a lot of people use moments like this to try to get followers, to try to get clicks, and to try to whip you up into some kind of panicked frenzy. And I just don't know that that is the healthiest response right now. And so more to come on that because people have asked me about weather modification and what is actually true and what is not. And I understand that things like that really matter. And so at a different time, we will get into this. Okay, there's been a response by the Democrats, by many people on the left to what happened. And the response has been not by all Democrats, not by all progressives, but by many prominent

Starting point is 00:39:54 people to blame Donald Trump. So we've got, for example, the Democratic Party, the official Democrats' acts account says, reminder, the staffing shortages at the National Weather services San Angelo and San Antonio offices doubled under the Trump administration. These jobs are meant to coordinate disaster response and save lives. Rosie O'Donnell blames Donald Trump. She says these are going to be the results we're going to start to see on a daily basis because he's put this country in so much danger by his horrible, horrible decisions and this ridiculously immoral bill that he's just signed into law as Republicans cheered. People will die as a result and they've started to already. Okay, Rosie,

Starting point is 00:40:38 O'Don, I'm just asking, you've got plenty of money. Have you donated to the cause at all? What are you doing? That time that you spent on TikTok wrongly blaming Donald Trump for a flood that happened in Texas, people dying as a result of that flood, you could have been logging onto the internet

Starting point is 00:40:54 and donating to a worthy cause that actually helps the people that are hurting there. But you chose not to. Again, the people most likely to complain in situations like this are the people least likely to help. The people most likely to prey in situations like this or also the people most likely to help. Just remember that. And then we've got a politician from Texas, Joaquin Castro, I think he tried to run for president in maybe

Starting point is 00:41:17 2020. He is spinning this narrative that there wasn't enough personnel because of cuts, thanks to Donald Trump, SOT 7. When you have flash flooding, you know, there's a risk that you won't have the personnel to make that, do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way. And it could lead to tragedy. Not having enough personnel is never helpful. All right. This is simply not true. I actually don't think it's wrong to say, hey, this policy caused this. I don't think that that's always wrong. There's a time and a place for that kind of conversation, whether it's wildfires in California or whether it is flooding hurricanes in Texas. However, in this case, it is just not true. It is deceitful. It is a lie. And we will get into that fact check in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause and tell you about. veteran ex-spons. That is fellowship home loans. Fellowship home loans does mortgages by the book. I'm talking about the Bible. Mike and Brian are the real deal. They are Christian men operating their business in a way that is honorable, that is hardworking. They put your needs first. They are trying to glorify God

Starting point is 00:42:26 and everything they do. And they do that by serving their clients, their customers. Well, There was someone who listens to my show who was trying to qualify for a home purchase, and he just wasn't able to find the service that he needed. And when he went to fellowship home loans, because he heard about it on this show, they helped them not only qualify, but also pay off the debts that he needed to pay. And so just an amazing company, they really, really care about helping you through these major purposes, like purchases, like purchasing a home. Go to fellowship homeloans.com slash alley to qualify for a $500 credit at closing. Fellowship home loans, mortgage loan, mortgage loan, DBA, Fellowship Home Loans, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS, number 81932. So here is the truth.

Starting point is 00:43:24 The Trump administration's doge, the Department of Government efficiency, proposed significant cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. that's the NOAA cuts to their funding and staff in 2025. That did lead to over 500 job losses at the National Weather Service. But the larger budget cuts, potentially slashing NOAA's funding by 25 to 30 percent, have not happened yet. They're proposed to begin October 1st, 2025, the start of the next fiscal year, but are not even guaranteed until Congress approves. So the 500 job losses at the National Weather Service, did that actually have an impact on what happened in Texas? There is no evidence to that. In fact, the job cuts were proposed, the funding cuts were proposed

Starting point is 00:44:16 because of inefficiency, because of ineffectiveness. And so in order to make the leap that those 500 job cuts actually somehow led to the disaster or the response there in Texas, like you would have to give me some support for that. You would have to show me what those 500 jobs were, what those people were doing and how specifically they would have prevented this from happening. The truth is, Tom Fayy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Union, said that both the Austin-Santonio, located in New Bromfels and San Angelo, weather service offices, had adequate staffing and resources leading up to and during this disaster. Actually, the National Weather Service Office in New Bromfels said that they had extra staff working during

Starting point is 00:44:59 these storms and that normally the office only has two forecasters on during calm weather, but they had extra people there that night. Meteorologist John Morales said in an ex post that recent budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service did not stop accurate warnings. He says, I don't see any evidence that cuts to NOAA and WS cause any degradation in the anticipatory weather warnings ahead of this Texas tragedy. those local officials blaming NWS are wrong.

Starting point is 00:45:32 The NBC said the forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message. The Department of Homeland Security also responded to this claim that the National Weather Service didn't have adequate people to do their job. They said that is absolutely not true. And on X, and we can put it up on here, you can pause it and you can read it for yourself. It's long.

Starting point is 00:45:55 And so I don't want to spend the time entirely doing that. But the Department of Homeland Security went through the timeline showing exactly what the National Water Center and the National Weather Service did during that time to warn people, to rescue people to make sure that people had all the information that they needed. Now, a lot of people are also talking about climate change, that climate change caused this. The Washington Post published an article titled, How Extraordinary Rainfall Context is by Surprise. and they said that the flood occurred against the backdrop of rising global temperatures and surging fossil fuel emissions. We have no evidence whatsoever that that is what caused this. Just like I'm going to say, I have no idea of weather modification had anything to do with this. We have no evidence whatsoever that climate change had something to do with this. This is exploiting human tragedy to try to push policies that would give the government more control and you less freedom. Now, unfortunately, there's just a lot of hatefulness out there, too. Because Republicans are, yeah, because Republicans control Texas or Texas is a predominantly red state, people seize upon this. And they say, you know, this is what this state actually deserved. Because not only is this state Texas, but yes, because this camp is predominantly white, it served them right. I am not exaggerating. There was someone by the name a Texas pediatrician.

Starting point is 00:47:26 named Dr. Christina Probst. She is part of a pediatric center called Bluefish Pediatrics. She said that the state of Texas, that MAGA residents got what they voted for. So here is a post that she posted on Facebook. And first, this was just posted on X. And so I wanted to verify that it was actually this person who posted this. But indeed it is. She posted on Facebook. May all visitors, children, non-Maga voters, and pets be safe and dry. Kirk County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for?

Starting point is 00:48:08 Bless their hearts. So as children are dying, as people are losing their lives. The first thing in this Democrat's mind is, well, they get what they voted for because they voted for Donald Trump. Again, cuts to FEMA had nothing to do with this. Bluefish Pediatrics actually put out a statement in response to her hateful comment on Instagram, Instagram saying that we do not support or condone any statement that politicizes tragedy. Our practice exists for one purpose only to provide excellent, loving, and respectful care to all children and their families.

Starting point is 00:48:45 And reportedly, that pediatrician has been fired as she should. And she should never be able to get a job. She should never be able to see patient. again, this is one of those examples full of empathy and cruel as hell. I mean, full of empathy and just full of hate and full of anger. People who claim that they are so loving, they're so kind, they're so compassionate, they show that by voting Democrat are so often unbelievably inhumane and brutal to those that they consider the outgroup, those that they consider the oppressor, not realizing that they have actually become the oppressor themselves. This is certainly true.

Starting point is 00:49:24 of a former Houston City Board appointee who served on the Houston Food and Security Board named Sadie Perkins. She is also known as the market manager of Friedman's Town Farmers Market in Houston. She claimed on TikTok Live that this camp is whites only and she said that we just need to understand the context of what's going on. Basically, the underlying message here is that Camp Mystic because it served mostly white families it got what it deserved here's dot nine you have carved out in

Starting point is 00:49:58 all white whites only enclave in east Texas for your white children yeah I have a problem with that I have a big problem with that once again this is no shade to the girls I hope they all get found but once again y'all have to understand the climate that we're living

Starting point is 00:50:16 in they want you to have sympathy for these people they want you to get out of your bed and to come out of your home and to go find these people and then donate your money to go find these people. Meanwhile, they're deporting your family members. Meanwhile, they're setting up concentration camps and prisons for your family members, and I need y'all to keep that in mind before y'all get out there and put on your rain boots and go find these little girls. Okay. Critical race theory and social justice ideology is an infection of the mind that actually blinds you to reality and morality. Social justice

Starting point is 00:50:52 is an impediment to actual justice. When you see the world as black and brown oppressed and white oppressor, you are unable to execute justice. Anyone who believes anything close to this should never be in a position of power or influence or be able to hold the job. Really, because you are so unable to see things rightly. You can't judge judiciously. You have no discernment. And unfortunately, there are people in the church, people that you follow, who in 2020 basically pushed this kind of nonsense. Because of what happened to George Floyd, they treated black people one way, white people one way, a message of collective guilt and responsibility and condemnation of fragility to people who had less melanin and a message of no agency, no responsibility, no individuality to those who

Starting point is 00:51:46 had more melanin. That is a toxic mentality that is prevalent in our schools, that is prevalent in many churches, and that is prevalent in a lot of communities who have been told from a young age that everything that goes wrong in your life is because you are of a certain skin color. I just saw this video of Whoopi Goldberg going around saying that America in the United States is just as bad for black people today as Iran is for women today. Whoopi Goldberg, millionaire, actually believes that. Don't think, I mean, and this is, I've been told this for years that I should just latch on to or let go of my criticism of critical race theory, social justice ideology, race baiting ideology that I see so often even in the evangelical church. And I won't do it.

Starting point is 00:52:40 I won't do it because it is evil. this person she got backlash someone said girl you brought this upon yourself because now she apparently is you know she's receiving consequences for what she did all the associations that she had in the past are being forced to make these statements saying yeah we want nothing to do with this person and she responded on ticot consequences for what maybe it was god's will to wash them little sea words away so like i said this is showing the best of humanity and the rescue efforts that we have and the courage that we've seen and the very worst of humanity who just cannot who cannot understand what it means for an image bearer of God to lose their life, that a tragedy is a tragedy, that it doesn't have to be about beating down your racial or your political enemies. Okay, here's how you can help. There are a few different ways. First, if you have any information about any missing people that we talked about today, that you're seeing on the news, call Kirk County Sherry's

Starting point is 00:53:46 Sheriff's Office. That is 83025811111.1. You can email flood recovery at co.cour.com.com. Officials do urge the public to contact these lines only with specific tips. That's what I was saying earlier. You can donate $50 to EveryLife.com. Buy for a Cause. EveryLife is a great company. They're a sponsor to this show, and they are donating wipes, diapers, other kinds of mom, baby supplies to the areas that have been affected. There's a ministry called Remnant Ministry. You can volunteer donate or you can offer a drop-off

Starting point is 00:54:24 site. You can contact John at 336-244-4-4-7-0. Southern Oaks Church is also a physical drop-off place or you can donate online. There are also places where you can donate online like Convoy of Hope, Salvation Army, Texas. Kirk County Flood. Relief Fund, Camp Mystic Flood Relief Fund, Healing for Camp Mystic Girls and Families, that is a GoFundMe. So there are a lot of ways that you can help, that you can donate, that you can pair your very powerful prayers with donations and with action and with help. All right.

Starting point is 00:55:04 Let's get into the theological response to all of this, how we should be thinking about this as Christians. First, let me tell you, our last sponsor. for the day. Our last sponsor is Freedom Project Academy. It's a fully accredited online school for children in kindergarten in high school. The curriculum centers around Christian values follows a classical Christian model, free from state or common core curricula. Pay attention what is happening right now in New York City. Where do you think that those voters learned that communism is a good idea, that the guy that they voted for in the mayoral primary that his policies would actually work. They learned that in

Starting point is 00:55:45 school, where in many of our major cities, kids are not becoming better thinkers. They are not becoming more grateful Americans, but they are actually becoming social justice activists who think that collectivism is the best system. They learned that because of the dereliction of duty of their parents and because of the hardcore left-wing indoctrination in schools. And if you want to combat against that, you need to raise kids who are critical thinkers, who are virtuous, who are kind, who know really about the foundation of our country, the truth about capitalism, and a great way to ensure that your child has that awesome education is by enrolling them in Freedom Project Academy. They really have perfected online learning. Go to FreedomforSchool.com. Say,

Starting point is 00:56:35 15% off all courses when you use code Alley 15. That's Alley 15 for 15% off at Freedom For School.com. Okay, so I'm going to be looking at my notes quite a lot in this segment just because I always want to make sure that I'm getting the scripture and everything, right? Oh, and quick pause. Maybe you saw the comment. Maybe you saw the note in the description of last Wednesday's episode about infant versus creedobaptism. But I misquoted a few times one passage and left a really important verse out of that passage in Acts 2, I believe. And I just wanted to apologize for that. That was completely unintentional. That was a mistake. It was just not copied correctly into the notes, and we did not realize it. And so I just wanted to say sorry for that. I really take seriously

Starting point is 00:57:24 the reading, the handling of God's word, and I would never intentionally misquote scripture. So making sure that we get all of these passages correct today. I want to answer and ask one difficult question, do kids go to heaven before they've made a profession of faith? We don't know if all of these children had made a profession of faith if they had been baptized. And so what does the Bible actually tell us about that? The truth is that the Bible doesn't explicitly say one way or another, but like so many things, we can look to the Bible, look to the character of God revealed in Scripture, and look to the principles that we see throughout Scripture to give us the best answer that we can come up with. What we know is that God is merciful. We know that God is

Starting point is 00:58:07 is gracious. We know that he is just. We know that everything he does is right and wise and good. And so we start there, that he is completely trustworthy. We can look at passages like Deuteronomy 139. As for your little ones who you said would become a prey and your children who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it and they shall possess it talking about the giving of the promised land to God's people. Obviously, we are not ancient Israel today, but we see there that God recognizes the state of helplessness of young children in Israel. That is a quote from for the gospel.com. That's Kosti Hens ministry and that God showed them grace and fulfilled a promise in them even before they had done anything right or wrong.

Starting point is 00:58:52 Second Samuel 1223, but now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. This is King David talking about his child. who died. And so he is saying, after I die, I will get to see him again. I will get to go to him, but there is no way for him to physically come back to life. And so it seems to me there that there is some hint of reunion with our children who die, those of us who go to heaven. Matthew 19, 13 through 15 just shows Jesus' deep love and care, countercultural care and attention that he paid to children. Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, let the little children come to me and

Starting point is 00:59:39 do not hinder them for to such belongs to the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and went away. At this time in this culture, children were seen almost as less than human, certainly in the pagan world. They were not seen as possessing the fullness of reason and rationale. So Jesus in this time, even against the protestation of his disciples, declared something, yes, about faith, yes, about the kingdom of heaven, but even about the value and the worth of children. And so while we don't have a hard and fast answer of what that actually looks like, again, we can look to the mercy of God. We can see the principles that are revealed to us throughout Scripture about children,

Starting point is 01:00:19 God's care for children. And I believe that we can hope for and believe in that through God's mercy, these children who have not yet had the fullness of the capacity. to be able to understand repentance. And I don't think that there is one age that we can say that is, but that God, through His grace, and yes, somehow through Jesus Christ, because he is the only way to heaven, that children, that babies who die in miscarriage, that children are able to go to heaven through Christ, maybe in a way that we don't fully understand. Now, here is another bigger question. Why do awful things like this happen?

Starting point is 01:01:03 Why do terrible things happen? Why do children suffer? Let me tell you, as someone who has been a Christian for a long time, this is the most difficult question for me to wrestle with. And even though I know the biblical and apologetics answer to this, it is still tough. It is hard for me to understand why children, why babies have to suffer horrible abuse, horrible tragedy, why they have to be scared, why they have to hurt. I have a hard time seeing the goodness and the light in it. But all I can do, is trusting God's goodness and mercy and know that his ways are higher than mine, that his understanding is higher and better than mine, and that I may not get everything, but I can trust that according to his word, he is good and he is always up to something, both here and in heaven. I always think of Genesis 37, the story that starts in Genesis 37 of Joseph, who was thrown into the pit by his jealous brothers. And then they devised this grand scheme to take him out of the pit and to sell him into slavery. There was an Ishmaelite caravan that was going by. They were going to Egypt and his brothers sold him into slavery to this caravan that was passing by. And Joseph was brought to Egypt where he

Starting point is 01:02:17 providentially served as a servant in the home of a higher up in the Egyptian army. He served well there, but he was falsely accused by this Egyptian higher up named Potipher of trying to rape his wife, he was thrown into prison, but because God was with him, because of the favor of God was upon Joseph, he was then brought to Pharaoh. He interpreted dreams of Pharaoh. He served under Pharaoh. And then again, because of God's providence and favor, he was raised up to be a governor in Egypt. And because of his place of leadership in Egypt, he was in a position to give resources to give food not only to the Hebrew people during a famine, but specifically to his brothers who asked him for that favor and asked him for those resources for their people who were dying of hunger.

Starting point is 01:03:15 And the amazing part about all of this, and I encourage you to read that story and that if you have it, but the amazing part of that is that the caravan was already on its way before Joseph got thrown into the pit. So before his jealous brothers threw him into the pit and devised this scheme, the caravan had already begun, had already charted its path from where it had come from to Egypt. So God's plan was already in place. Before it had even come into the mind of his brothers before he was thrown into the pit. When God is doing one thing, he is doing a million things. We cannot understand his sovereignty. We can't understand his purpose. Does that negate evil? Does that negate responsibility for evil? Does that negate the pain of what happens to people? No. It just reminds us that God is always up to something. And it's not just earthly redemption that he's after, but eternal redemption and salvation. Because Joseph's story isn't just about God saving his people thin. It is a picture of how he is still saving people today through Jesus. Jesus, who was also rejected by his brothers, both his blood brothers, who according to John 7 didn't even believe his

Starting point is 01:04:28 words and his Jewish brothers and sisters whom he came to save. The demanded Pilate crucify him. They demanded the release of the thief as they demanded Jesus be killed. But actually, it wasn't just the Jewish people. It wasn't just his blood brothers. It was all of us. Because all of us, in our sin, are reflected in their scorn and their demands for his crucifixion. All of us, all of our sin demanded the price that was paid for it through Jesus' sacrifice. Those whom he died for, mocked him, and were his enemies. Yet he died for us. That's Romans 5.8. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Joseph was raised out of the pit of despair to be used as a vessel of salvation for his people. Jesus was raised out of the pit of death to be salvation for all people.

Starting point is 01:05:14 Romans 828, 38 through 39 says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose, for I'm sure that either death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's also verses 38 through 39. I always think of an analogy that I read several years ago. I think it was in Tim Keller's reason for God that if our gap of understanding between a parent and a child is big enough for a child not to understand why they have to go through something difficult, why they have to eat their

Starting point is 01:05:54 vegetables, why they have to have their broken arm set, even though it's painful. If our gap of understanding between two finite beings is that big, think about the gap of understanding between an infinite God and us finite human beings. It's huge. Even if he were to explain why we're going through something hard, why we're enduring such pain, such tragedy, we wouldn't be able to understand it and it probably wouldn't help in the same way trying to give a detailed explanation to a child of why they have to go through this temporary discomfort probably wouldn't help them in the moment depending on their age. God doesn't reveal everything to us all at once because he knows that we cannot handle it. And so that is where faith comes in. We have to trust in the

Starting point is 01:06:40 gospel. We have to trust in the hope that we have in Christ. We have to trust that God is never doing nothing, that his work doesn't always make headlines, that he is going to bring glory to himself. And one day in heaven, he will reveal the tapestry of everything that has happened, the intertwining testimonies, and how God used every event to claim ultimate victory, to win souls and to work all things out for the good of those who love him. There are a few verses that I think of, 2 Corinthians 416 through 18. So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away. our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all

Starting point is 01:07:20 comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. John 1633, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world. James 1, 2, 3. recount it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Pray, hope, comfort, be with those who mourn, do what you can,

Starting point is 01:07:58 be the hands and the feet of Jesus. And I just want to remind you in this crazy world that this is our father's world. Don't let me ever forget that though the wrong seems off so strong, he is the ruler yet. That is my favorite hymn. We remind each other of the lyrics of that song very often. We sing it, Acapella, 4,000 of us at share the arrows last year. It reminded us in a very turbulent time that God is always, always on his throne and up to something very good. And I want to invite you to share the arrows this year. If you are a Christian woman, if you are a woman who is seeking, come to share the arrows. I guarantee you it will be the best Christian conference that you've been to, not because of me, but because of the will.

Starting point is 01:08:42 the grace that God is given to the speakers that we have very carefully chosen for this event. If you're watching this, you can see the names of the speakers up. Elisa Childers is one of them. Ginger Duggervolo is another. Katie Faust, several others. Francesca Battistelli leading worship. I'm telling y'all, it is going to be amazing. We are, by the grace of God, going to have even more women than last year.

Starting point is 01:09:04 It's going to be incredible. It's outside of Dallas, Texas on October 11th. Go ahead. Come on. Sign up. make your plans you will not regret it someone messaged me last year and said i walked out of share the arrows with zero fear of man yes and amen that's exactly what we're going for go to share the arrows dot com you can get your tickets today all right that's all we've got time for we will be

Starting point is 01:09:26 back here wednesday

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1214 | Texas Tragedy: Facts, Heroism, & God’s Goodness

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