As I write this, these were the latest numbers of the devastation from the California wildfires. It will only get worse. Total emergency responses: 34,354. Total wildfires: 227. (You read that right.) Acres burned: 40,687. Fatalities: 28. Structures destroyed: 15,798.

Meanwhile, the total number of individuals charged for various alleged crimes during the fires sits at 21. Those numbers included various offenses such as felony arson, looting, and impersonation of a firefighter.

One arrested on arson charges boldly proclaimed she “enjoyed causing chaos and destruction.”

Then there was the chap who set fire to a tree saying  “he liked the smell of burning leaves.”

Wait. There’s more. LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, said two additional people were charged in arson cases. One set a fire to bushes, pallets, and a tractor-trailer in the city of Industry. That dude is looking at up to seven years in prison. Another pyromaniac was charged with setting a fire under a freeway underpass. He may get up to 14 years behind bars.

In terms of dollar value of destruction, who knows the true bottom line? Estimates I’ve seen put current damages and economic losses between a mind boggling $250 billion and $275 billion. And the winds continue to fan the flames.

Generalized reports on these horrific and destructive wild fires miss the many thousands of stories of personal loss. Expensive homes and personal loss have essentially robbed people of what they devoted their lives to pursuing. The shock of sudden loss is almost impossible to capture.

Like all disasters, the wildfires are no respecters of persons. The famous were not insulated. The list of those who lost their homes looks like the lineup from an awards show! Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, Tyra Banks, Neil Young, Joshua Jackson, Anna Faris, Billy Crystal, Cameron Mathison, Cary Elwes, Ricki Lake, Spencer Pratt, and Heidi Montag among many others.

And then there was Mel Gibson. His reaction to losing his $14.5 million Malibu mansion in the Palisades fire was a self described “purification.” A what?

Consider his words amidst his loss.

“It’s like, hey, look, God gives, God takes, we come in with nothing. That’s the same way we go out. And here’s the deal: You’ll always be okay if you seek first the kingdom of God.”

Gibson then quoted from Matthew 6:26-27.

Mel Gibson knows his next assignment. He recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and shared about the timing of the sequel to The Passion of the Christ. It’s titled, The Resurrection of the Christ—being released some two decades later.

Mel has been offered another assignment. President Donald Trump has announced that Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone will serve as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. The three men have been outspoken Trump supporters since 2016.

Returning to those LA fires, here’s quite a different perspective. Evangelist Franklin Graham was asked if the incendiary activity was perhaps sent from the Almighty—as in divine judgment. Graham answered,

“…when storms like this come, it’s not God’s judgment. I don’t believe that for a second. We know that God loves us. Could God be judging Hollywood? I don’t know, but I don’t think so.”

Personally, I prefer the portion of his answer that said, “I don’t know.” People have prayed for years that God would send a wake up call to an area most known in our United States for producing morally damaging material. Perhaps we should not underestimate the mind of God in such matters.

It is a spiritual reality that fire awaits the world in the final judgment. In Matthew 15:41, Jesus tells whose who are listening,

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (ESV)

And Revelation 21:8 warns,

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (ESV)

No one needs to face this daunting entrance into eternity. Faith in Christ is our only hope and rescue.

We are urged to call upon His name while time is on our side.