Liberal secularists are attacking national Christian leader Tony Perkins for trying to make sense of the Louisiana floods from a biblical perspective, after Perkins and 80 percent of his Louisiana church members lost their homes to those floods.

Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council and the Council for National Policy. He’s also an ordained minister in Louisiana who is serving as interim pastor of Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, where most members have suffered the same loss as Perkins, his wife, and their five children. (He had to escape his flooded house by canoe.)

Knowing that his church members are struggling with profound loss, Perkins has been preaching 2,000-year-old biblical doctrine on the sovereignty of God in every area of life, including weather disasters. The Left is responding to his preaching with headlines like, “Louisiana floods destroy home of Christian leader who says God sends natural disasters to punish gay people.”

Calling those claims deceptive, Perkins replies in a statement that, “as a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe the Bible, which makes clear that God is sovereign over the elements of nature, and can and does use them for His purposes.”

In the context of natural disasters, Perkins adds that God “allows those same [natural] element to be used as a means of testing our faith and devotion to Him.”

In response to critics accusing him of saying that Louisiana’s floods were a punishment from God for some in America adopting the LGBT agenda, Perkins responds:

Is this a test of our faith or a chastisement from God? I don’t’ have that answer. Regardless of what’s behind natural disasters, our response should be the same—we are to be on our faces before God, giving thanks in everything, and placing ourselves in total dependence on Him.

Speaking more generally, Perkins continued:

We know that in walking in obedience to Him, God will never leave nor forsake those who search for Him and walk with Him. As we cry out to God, we must also reach out to our fellow citizens who are hurting and need help. We can do this with hope and confidence because God’s Word also tells us that, “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Perkins adds that the flood “has brought together this community as never before, as we are learning to depend more on each other and on God.”

He thanks the many volunteers who have come to Louisiana to help, especially Samaritan’s Purse, which is the compassion ministry of Rev. Franklin Graham.

Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Pence were also in Louisiana, distributing relief supplies to Louisianans in need.

“Please join us in prayer that God would use the church to minister to this community in a powerful way,” Perkins concludes.

Ken Klukowski is senior legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.