Ten Years Gone: Remembering September 11, 2001

I spent a good portion of this morning reliving our countries worst nightmare. In a few days is the tenth anniversary of the most horrific recent event on American soil; an event that changed American history forever. The average American lost their innocents and belief in their own security on September eleventh two thousand one. The fact that WE are hated by others went from being an idea to reality in seconds. Americans were burst straight out of our bubble into the same reality Israel has endured since its reestablishment in 1948. That is WE have enemies and they want us dead. I am sure at this point you are expecting me to start a rant against fundamental Islam; I am not. The war we are in is much bigger than that the “War on Terror” former President George Bush declared ten years ago. This scope is much bigger, the scope is biblical.

Paul tells is in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. Before you can fight a war you need to know your enemy. We are not fighting Islam. We are not fighting terrorism. We are not fighting against people at all. Right now the armies of the United States and its allies are in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting Al Qaida.  In Israel it is Hamas. In Somalia there are warlords and pirates killing innocent people who have been starving after years of civil war. In the Balkans July 1995 Slobodan Milosevic ordered the mass murder of over 7000 Muslim men. Adolf Hitler attempted to exterminate the Jews in the Holocaust during WWII. Prior to that there was the colonial slave trade of African Nationals perpetrated by the British and the Dutch and finally ended in the United States by the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. In 1520 after some of Cortes’ men massacred Aztecs in their temple and after fleeing for his life Cortes left behind the bodies of dead crewmen whom died of small pox. Millions of Native Americans died due to this action. Evil and evil plans can be followed all the way back to the beginning of man. Man was tempted by evil in the garden by our true enemy, Satan. He is the enemy of our souls and the same enemy who will rise up one evil puppet after another until the last days when “the Anti-Christ” comes to power.

Now that we know who we fight let’s talk about how we fight. We fight in the spirit in prayer. We fight by being light in the dark. We tell the world about Jesus. We follow Jesus’ “Great Commission Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt 28 19, 20. Our battle field is our neighborhood reaching neighbors, friends and family for Christ. Our purpose is to spread the gospel for the glory of God. Our weapons are truth, the word of God and prayer. Our tactics are evangelism, discipleship, giving to foreign missions or participating in missions, fellowship in our local church, caring for the needy and prayer. Jesus ordered us to watch and pray. Jesus ordered us to “fear not”. Jesus promised to be with us. Jesus has already giving us the victory when he died on the cross taking all our sins and then defeated death and sin when he proved that he is God rising from the dead three days later. We can be confident even as the world becomes darker and darker that Jesus will return in victory:

Revelations 19:11-21. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Take heart my friends because this is how the war ends. Peace and Love. Amen

Remember in your prayers:

The families of the World Trade Center victims

The families of the fallen heroes from NYPD and FDNY

The family of the victims in the pentagon

The family of the passengers and crew of American Airline flight 11

The family of the passengers and crew of American Airline flight 77

The family of the passengers and crew United Airline flight 93

The family of the passengers and crew United Airline flight 175

Great is Your Faithfulness

Ok the family is back into its routine. Mom and Dad are back to work, Makayla is living the kindergarten life and Daniel is back on his nap schedule. Tomorrow we will all go to our church for worship and see our friends there. Makayla will be in her regular children’s ministry and Daniel will be in a familiar nursery. Last week we were out of town at my brother’s house on Castle Rock Lake for our annual family reunion. This year my sister Jean could not make the trip and she was greatly missed. Despite the absentees we had a great time. My family arrived late Friday night. It was just my eldest brother and his wife there. On Saturday my other brother, his wife and in-laws, my eldest sister, then later her eldest daughter, boyfriend and his kids showed up.  On Sunday my third sister came with her family. We had a great time Saturday. My wife and I took the kids paddling on the lake in kayaks. Makayla caught her first fish that evening right off the peer. Her secret is a “Barbie” fishing pole, night crawlers and it doesn’t hurt fishing on my brother’s home turf with him knowing exactly where to put the line. We put Daniel to bed and when it got good and dark the rest of us went outside by the fire. We were reminiscing about being a kid in our family. That conversation turned real dark real quick. So the subject changed and we all talked about being juvenile delinquents. In the mist of all this I started looking at the stars. The sky was clear and I was thinking about God who created all things great and small. It was midnight and Makayla had eaten too many s’mores and we had to carry her to bed.

Sunday morning the alarm on my phone is rang at 6am. I shut off the alarm and for the first Sunday in a long time I was debating if we were going to church or not. I knew the voice in my head telling me it’s ok, your on vacation go back to bed, was not God. Then the Holy Spirit started bringing things to my recollection. First he reminded me that it was God’s Faithfulness that brought me out from my backsliding. My wife and I were looking for a church. Then one day my daughter had woken up from a dream. She told my wife, “Mommy I saw Jesus coming in the clouds.” This caught me by surprise because although we prayed with her and read to her from the children’s bible she had no way of knowing this piece of scripture. This dream had to come from God. A few weeks later God really started to work on my heart. He was letting me know he has a purpose for my life and I needed to live the life he has set before me and to stop running away from his will. Later he showed me a vision of what he had done for me. I was there at Mount Calvary and it was me hammer in one hand and a spike in the other driving the nail through where his palm met his wrist. For me, he showed me that he did it for me. I felt my hard heart ripped from my chest and replaced with a heart of flesh filled with love. That day I cried out to God and I promised if he made a way for me to go to church, with his help, I will be faithful to go with my family. A week later I had Sunday mornings off from work and that day my family made plans to go to Des Plaines Bible Church. To our surprise it was now “The Bridge” and we felt the love of God as soon as we walked through the doors.

By 7am everyone was showered or bathed and we were heading to Mauston for Church. God is good. We had time to pick up some breakfast, feed the kids, and get to the church. Along the way we thought we made a wrong turn and were going to turn around. What do you know? The driveway we were going to turn around in was the Church. We had ten minutes to spare. I liked this church, it wasn’t “The Bridge” but the worship was genuine, the message was convicting and the church was alive with the spirit of Christ. I did take with me one pearl of wisdom from the service. The Pastor had a great illustration I’m going to hold onto for a while. He said,

“When a vessel is full and it is upset whatever the vessel is full of will pour out. You have a jug full of liquid and when you tip it you see water pour out you know that it was full of water. You have a wet sponge and when you squeeze it water comes out you know it was wet with water. Now ask yourself the last time you were upset, tipped, or squeezed what came out? Was it blessings or curses? Was it good or evil? When you were tipped what poured out? Did you forgive the person who tipped you? Did you bless them? Did you pray for them? Or did you get angry, curse them out or push them back? When you are tipped and the things of God pour out you show you are filled with the Holy Spirit but if things that are not of God pour out…?”

After hearing this I thought of the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:18 “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

We went back to my brother’s after service and everyone was up and moving around and by this time my sister had arrived with her husband and two boys. I was in a great mood; I was ready to hear all the jokes and all the teasing about going to church today. It didn’t happen and I was surprised. I think now, compared to all my saved life, I wasn’t hiding my light under a basket in front of my family. I wasn’t just going along to get along. Jesus is the first love of my life and for the first time I don’t think my family is questioning it anymore. I remember seeing what my sister Jean has gone through when she professed her faith and I guess she may have paved the way for me. Instead of reticule I received questions. I was asked genuine questions about the church I went to, the service I was at, and other things. The door closed quickly when I went from answering question to witnessing but I’m happy with baby steps. They still see me as the little brother. I’ll keep praying for the salvation of my family and friends.

I know God is faithful.