'God knows' about train wreck when we have no answers, Jeffress says
DALLAS (Christian Examiner) -- "There are no easy answers" when tragedy strikes like the one which claimed at least seven lives in the derailment of an Amtrak train last night in Philadelphia, Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress told Fox & Friends earlier today.
There is the knowledge that God knows about and "understands what is happening to those victims," Jeffress said, even when we do not.
God one day will "put an end to tragedies" -- Jeffress said -- like the fatal accident where a locomotive and all seven passenger cars of the train went off the tracks north of Philadelphia city center, according to The Wall Street Journal.
More than 200 were injured, and eight were in critical condition after multiple cars overturned injuring some and pinning others -- when an Amtrak train appears to have been traveling over 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve.
Jeffress, senior pastor of the 11,000 member First Baptist Church, in talking about the role faith plays, even in tragedy, spoke on Fox & Friends after a survivor of the accident, Paul Passamano earlier "thanked God" on the show according to anchor Steve Doocy.
"It's important to understand when a tragedy like this happens there are no easy answers," Jeffress said. There are however, truths.
"I think when we are caught in the tragedy of suffering like this train wreck there are some truths that we can lock on to," he told Fox.
The first truth, Jeffress said, is "God is love."
Second, "God is all powerful."
"Ultimately, perhaps the most hopeful thing, one day God is going to put an end to tragedies like this and that's what we all look forward to."
Jeffress also referenced the train wreck in a very brief comment about a recent survey showing a decline of Christianity, the show originally was to have addressed. He said the poll shows a "decline of cultural Christianity, not of genuine believers."
"You know the fact is the influence of Christianity has never been about numbers -- it's never been about the number of people -- but about the commitment of people," Jeffress said. "I think you are seeing genuine faith ... in an accident like this."
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