HOW COULD GOD LET THIS HAPPEN
If there really is a GOD, how could he allow this to happen?
Where was HE? How many of us have heard that question Where was your GOD
when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was attacked?
Well I know where my GOD was the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was
very busy! He was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights.
Those four flights together held over 1000 passengers and there were only
266 aboard.
He was on 4 commercial flights giving terrified passengers the ability to
stay calm. Not one of the family members who were called by a loved one on
one of the high-jacked planes said that passengers were screaming in the
background. On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to
try to overtake the highjackers.
He was busy trying to create obstacles for employees at the World Trade
Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first
jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers, this was a Miracle
in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the World Trade Center
told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.
He was holding up 2-110 story buildings so that 2/3 of the workers could
get out. I was so amazed that the top of the towers didn't topple when the
jets impacted. And when they did fall, they fell inward. GOD didn't allow
them to topple over, as many more lives would have been lost. And when the
buildings went down, my GOD picked up almost 6,000 of his children and
carried them home with him. Reassuring his frighten children that the
worst was over and the best was yet to come.
He sat down and cried that 19 (Terrorist Attackers) of his children could
have some much hate in their hearts. That they didn't choose him, but another
god that doesn't exist, and now they are lost forever.
He sent his children that are best trained for this disaster and had them
save the few that were still alive, but unable to help themselves. And then
sent many others to help in anyway they were needed.
He still isn't finished though, he held the love ones that were left behind
in his arms. He comforts them daily. His other children are given the strength
to reach out to them and help them in any way they can. And I believe he will
continue to help us in what is to come.
He will give the people in charge of this great nation the strength and the
wisdom to do the right thing. He would never leave us in our time of need.
So when anyone asks, Where was your GOD on September 11, you can say
everywhere! And yes, although this is without a doubt the worst thing I
have seen in my life, I see God's miracles in every bit of it. I keep
praying for those who don't believe in GOD, every chance I have. I can't
imagine going through such a difficult time and not believing in GOD.
Life would be hopeless.
HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE
I was walking down life's highway a long time ago. One day
I saw a sign that read, "HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE"
As I got a little closer the door came open wide, and when I
came to myself I was standing inside.
I saw a host of ANGELS. They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said, "My Child shop with care".
Everything a Christian needed was in that grocery store.
And all you couldn't carry, you could come back the next
day for more.
First, I got some PATIENCE. LOVE was in the same row.
Further down was UNDERSTANDING: you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH. I just
couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST, for it was all over the place.
I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help
me run this race. By then my basket was getting full, but I
remembered I needed some GRACE.
I didn't forget SALVATION, for SALVATION was free, so I
tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.
Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill, for I
thought I had everything to do the MASTER'S will.
As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER: and I just had to put
that in, for I knew when I stepped outside, I would run into sin.
PEACE AND JOY were plentiful; they were last on the shelf.
SONG and PRAISE were hanging near, so I just helped myself.
Then I said to the angel, "Now, how much do I owe?" He
smiled and said, "Just take them everywhere you go."
Again, I smiled and said, "How much do I really owe?" He
smiled again and said, "MY CHILD, JESUS PAID YOUR
BILL A LONG, LONG TIME AGO."
ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER YOU SHALL ASK IN
PRAYER, BELIEVING, YOU SHALL RECEIVE."
(MATTHEW 21:22)
GOD'S GREATEST GIFT
For GOD so loved the world, He gave
His Son to come to earth.
To such a town as Bethlehem,
To be born of humble birth.
'Twas Micah who foretold that He
Would come to such a place,
And on that starry night was born
The Gift of love and grace.
Isaiah, too, foretold that He
Would come to earth one day.
His name shall be called Wonderful,
He bears our sins away.
The Counselor, The Prince of Peace,
The Mighty GOD is He.
He causes sin's dread reign to cease,
He sets the captive free.
God's gift came down so quietly,
He lay in manger bed,
Was wrapped in humble, swaddling clothes,
The wrapping of the dead.
The lowly shepherds came and saw
GOD'S Son, as there He lay.
They bowed and worshipped GOD'S great gift,
On that first Christmas Day.
GOD gave His gift to all mankind,
And all who will believe
On JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S greatest gift,
Salvation will receive.
GOD loved the world so much that He
Heaven's dearest One sent down
To live and suffer for mankind
To wear a thorny crown.
If you today receive that gift
GOD gave so long ago,
You'll know the peace He came to give,
His love to you will flow.
He'll bid your long fought warfare cease,
In Him you'll surely find
That wondrous, lasting, perfect peace
He came to bring mankind.
By William F. Sherbert
RATIONALIZATION
I received this FOOD FOR THOUGHT from a good friend of mine, and not from Cathedral Press.
When I read this article, I thought it might be worth passing on...
Philip Hunt
Kitwe Zambia
SECOND-HAND STEAM
Joel Belz, WORLD, August 23/30, 1997 p.5
Why Do We Tolerate Simulation When The Real Thing's Not Allowed?
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE AMONG THE MOST STARTLING of invitations you've ever
received. You've lived next door to your neighbors for half a dozen years,
and you thought you knew them fairly well They are fine, upstanding folks
in the community, active in school activities and little league. They're
members of a different church from yours, but you know they're faithful
there and that they take their Christian faith seriously. You've had some
fun times with them, but also some serious backyard discussions about
politics, kids' behavior, and music styles.
So you're not quite prepared for his invitation tonight. He drops by just
before you sit down to dinner with your own family, pulls you aside, and
calmly suggests: Later tonight, my wife and I will be heading for bed-and
my guess is we'll be-ah-well, you know, probably doing some of the things
married people do. I thought maybe you and your wife would like to come by
and watch"
You are aghast. The idea is so grotesque you can't imagine how to
mention it to your wife-although when you do, it will certainly not be in
the "shall we?" but more in the "how could he?" category of
discussion. The images in your mind are repulsive.
Your neighbor is sensitive, and sees your uncomfortable surprise. "I'm
not suggesting any hankey panky" he assures you. "Our marriage is terrific.
I know yours is too. I'm just talking about watching." Then, sensing that
your reluctance is real, he suggests an alternative: "Maybe this would be
better. I have the phone number of a couple who would come over-a couple
neither of us knows personally that way, all four of us could just sit and
watch them.
You know he meant it as a solution. Some solution.
IF ALL THIS SEEMS LIKE A BAD DREAM, WITH LITTLE OR no place in WORLD,
try this: Every evening this week, hundreds of thousands of evangelical
Christian people will sit down and settle for "the solution.' Not in
person, of course, but on video. Not X rated videos, but on regular evening
television and in the standard fare at your neighborhood movie theater.
Author Doug Wilson first suggested this outlandish hypocrisy in his
excellent book Reforming Marriage. He points out that too many people in
the evangelical community have come to justify watching on the screen
various activities we wouldnÕt think of viewing in the flesh. Things that
would embarrass us all if they were real, embarrass us not at all because
they are only simulated. The outlandish invitation described in my first
paragraph is regularly extended and regularly accepted, with just a few
video adjustments.
The rationalization no longer works.
The phony distinction first hit me with force a couple of years ago
when the movie Braveheart took all kinds of awards and became a favorite of
thousands of Christians. WORLD itself gave Braveheart a good review-noting
especially its commitment to a story of principled courage in the face of
anti-Christian mayhem. And the most memorable love scenes in Braveheart
are supposedly set in the context of marriage. So bare flesh-as long as
it's within marriage-gets our stamp of approval.
Yet to produce that love scene, two people who weren't married to
each other pressed their undressed bodies to each other while millions of
the rest of us watched and gave our sentimental assent. What we'd never do
with our next-door neighbor we paid money to do with someone else's
neighbor....
To suppose that people, watching together, can witness unending
intimacies, bedding, and coupling, and then not think it normal for those
same people to imitate all that behavior while everyone is still
watching-is to engage in wishful thinking.
But by the same token, for Christians to think they can consume such
a visual entertainment diet and not be affected is to think of ourselves
much more highly than we ought to think. What makes it right to gaze with
fascination at simulated "public displays affection" when we wouldn't
tolerate a glance at the real thing? Its a rationalization too many of us
have passed on unthinkingly to our sons and daughters. Its also a
rationalization it's time to reject.
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