September 11, 2006 - Remembering Five Years Ago

Today is the fifth anniversary of a day that changed forever the way many Americans look at the world. It also showed us quite clearly that our enemy is not an individual or individuals, but an ideology based on a religion of submission, conversion by force, and death.

There was an awakening on September 11th in a lot of people’s lives to the reality of their own mortality and many turned to their local churches looking for answers, seeking comfort, and searching desperately for some semblance of normality in the face of the horror of 9/11.

Our church, like many others, saw an increase in attendance by some who hadn’t visited a church in years. There were numerous people who got saved during that period of time as a direct result of their reaction to that fateful day. I remember one young man saying that as he watched the television video clip of a man leaping to his death from one of the flaming twin towers, he suddenly realized that if that had been he that day, he would have continued falling right into the pits of hell. He came to the Lord, repented of his sin, and put his trust in Christ for his salvation.

There were good things that came out of the death and destruction of that day. For a brief time, our country was once again unified – every race, creed, color and political party joined together to condemn this heinous act and to stand behind the President in his determination to begin the long battle against terrorism that needed and still needs to be waged.

Unfortunately, in this age of fast food and quick fixes, the awakening did not last. Most churches eventually saw their numbers fall back to normal, and many of those that had sought answers from God returned to their pre-9/11 lifestyles, and even forgot the short lived unity that was born out of that day.

Religious leaders caught a lot of flack from the media when it was dared to be spoken that God had temporarily lifted His hand of protection off of this nation – because of our moral decline and our removing God from the public arena. The truth is, though the words they chose to voice their belief were maybe not the words I would have used, the basic gist of what they said was true. God did lift His hand of protection. And He could very well do so again. But just as I said in a post several months ago, it is not the atheists, the homosexuals,the liberals, Hollywood, or any other group or individual that is the ultimate cause of God’s removal of protection. It is the Christian community itself that has the obligation to cry out to God, ask Him to forgive us for abandoning Him all too quickly and allowing immorality to run rampant in this country. We Christians are ultimately responsible for the future of this nation.

God help us to be strong.

God please bless America again.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14