I will never forget September 11, 2001. I was sitting in the office with my colleagues waiting for the stock market to open watching the news on the big screen TV. Around 8:45 am the news channel’s focus moved from stock to shock as it reported that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. We were glued to the TV not understanding what just happened. About fifteen minutes later we watched the second plane hit the South Tower. We sat stunned not knowing that at that moment the U.S. was under a terrorist attack on its own soil.
Never forget.
It is difficult to believe that those events happened 1o years ago. Where did the time go? The book of James (4:14b), after asking ‘what is life’, tells us that it is a mist that is but for a short time then disappears. The speed at which the last 10 years has gone certainly shows that life is a mist. It is a mist that will life on and not be forgotten in my lifetime. President George W. Bush recently said that Americans will remember September 11, 2001 on our calendars in the same manner as Pearl Harbor Day.
Never forget.
The events of that day effected American life whether each individual was directly effected or not. The lives lost numbered about 3,000 which tells us that many lives where directly impacted by this tragedy. The friends and family of those 3,000 souls were immediately effected and even today emotions run high and some lives are still shaken.
Never forget.
In the months immediately following America united in a way that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen in my life. I hope to see such uniting again though not under the influence of any kind of tragedy that takes human life. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives stood together under the red, white and blue. The strength of the Nation revealed itself to the watching world.
Never forget.
A big thank you goes out to all of the men and women who serve and has served in our Armed Forces to protect and defend this country. Thank you and your families for your sacrifices given, including those who have lost their lives, to serve America. My prayers go out to you. Thankfully, America has not had another terrorist attack on her soil since 9/11.
Never forget.
I will never forget that just a year prior, in July 2000, I spent two weeks in the South Tower training on the 62nd floor. I could have been in one of the towers that day. Thankfully, I was not present. Sadly, many others were in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the hijacked planes, etc.
Never forget.
I will remember the feeling boiling up inside after finding out that America was under attack that morning. Though shaken, I was comforted. I had an unexplainable comfort in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The possibility of terrorist targets in Metro-Atlanta, where I live, was not out of the question. Though emotionally shaken, by the grace of God my faith was sure. I continue to be comforted by God’s sovereign hand in all of the events above.
Never forget.
My prayer is that America will be united, not around the death of her fellow citizens at the hands of terrorists, but around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray that God blesses America by bringing the Nation to repent of their sins and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians must not confuse God’s Kingdom with the United States. God has given Christians a great opportunity to freely live, worship and share the gospel. We can stand united with our fellow citizens in the midst of tragedy, but we must bring the gospel or it is as if only our shadow stands offering no hope. Though we are thankful for the protection and freedom provided by Armies and governments, eternal hope does not ultimately abide in them. Only the gospel can offer eternal hope through which God has allowed us to share through those protections and freedoms.
Never forget the gospel.
tagged as 9/11, anniversary, September 11 in Culture,Gospel,morality,politics
About the author
Mark is a Christian, husband and father. He is a businessman attending seminary in the off hours working on his M.Div. preparing for vocational ministry.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello!
My name is Anders and I found your blog today.
You wrote: “by bringing the Nation to repent of their sins and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
I would like to comment about salvation and forgiveness in order to be helpful!! The comment is lengthy in order to make it understandable.
(To differentiate,)
This is what the Jewish Messiah must have taught about ‘salvation’ – if he was a legitimate prophet according to Deuteronomy 13:1-6:
As stipulated in Dt. 6:4-9,11:13-21 one is required to keep all of the directives of Torâh′ to one’s utmost—viz., “with all one’s heart, psyche and might [lit. "very"]“—”for the purpose of extending your days and the days of your children… like the days of the heavens above the earth” (i.e., eternal life). According to the Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel chapter 18 et.al, the Creator confer His atonement in His loving kindness to those and only those turning away from their Torah [Books of Moses]-transgressions and (re)turning to non-selectively observance of the commandments in the books of Moses. Everyone has transgressed the commandments in the books of Moses and it is possible to obtain forgiveness from the Creator in His loving kindness when living in the above way. The Creator has promised this in His Bible – which is in Hebrew – and He doesn’t lie.
Thus, the way of ‘salvation’ in NT, referred to in your post, contradicts the books of Moses and what the Jewish first century Messiah called Y’hoshua taught. I am a former Christian and understand that after having studied Torah in Hebrew according to etymology. The Creator wants to forgive, but ONLY as long as we do our best to keep His Will. “Accepting the Christian gospel” is not a commandment of Torah and is prohibited in Torah.
Doing your utmost to follow the directives of Torah – the books of Moses – will lead you into an immensely meaningful relationship with the Creator. I have been doing this for more than four years and it has led me into a great relationship with the Creator.
All the best!
Anders Branderud
“Doing your utmost to follow the directives of Torah – the books of Moses – will lead you into an immensely meaningful relationship with the Creator.”
Let me paraphrase a Jewish Lawyer:
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. The promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
All who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
The law, which came 430 years after the promise of God to Abraham [on the basis of faith], does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ… you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Paul, of Tarsus
Hi Anders, what Micah quoted (thanks, Micah) is how Christians understand the Messiah, Law and salvation.
In your view, who do you believe Jesus Christ was?
I believe everyone old enough remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that day. And yes, we do tend to remember September 11, 2001 in the same manner as we remember December 7, 1941. I wrote a post on 9/11 on my own blog with some similar themes. America woke up that morning, but sadly, political correctness is putting us back to sleep.