Seven years ago today, our country experienced probably the most heart-wrenching event in our history. At 8:46 am American flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03, United flight 175 hit the South Tower. Shortly thereafter, American flight 77 hit the Pentagon, and United flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, PA.
There were 2,975 fatalities, excluding the 19 hijackers: 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,603 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. An additional 24 people remain listed as missing. All of the fatalities in the attacks were civilians except for 55 military personnel killed at the Pentagon. More than 90 countries lost citizens in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
All across our country, people are remembering those who lost their lives as victims, and those who gave their lives in the rescue effort. Won't you take a few minutes to stop and pray today:
Pray for God's peace on the families who today will again remember those that were lost. The husbands and wives who will never again return from work. The son's and daughters that will never again call mom or dad, sister or brother.
Pray that God would protect our country from attacks by those who have hate in their hearts.
Pray that we as a nation could find it in our hearts to forgive.
Pray for an outpouring of God's love and mercy upon those who would seek to kill and destroy. The only hope for peace is the gospel message of peace.
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" Rom 10:15
So Hanna is on her way towards us. Better stop by the store this afternoon, before the crowds, and get some water and batteries, and make sure that generator works!
Here at CCW, we are watching the storm tracker closely, and changing things as needed (we will not be holding our cookout this Sunday, bummer!). As well, we’ll be notifying our men to be ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in the body that has a need.
Storms come and go here in the coastal Carolina’s. Some are worst than others, but afterwards we pick up the pieces, clear the debris, patch the roof, and we move on with life. The storms become a distant memory.
But storms can come into our personal life as well. Death, division, financial stress, marital conflict; and we should be prepared for those as well. Instead of batteries and water, our preparation is prayer, the word of God, and FAITH.
In Mark 4, the disciples encountered a storm while at sea (the worst place to be!):
And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Mark 4:39-40
What is Jesus telling us? That storms come into our lives, sometimes unannounced (there is no radar tracking!). When they come, what we can do is turn to Jesus! We need not be fearful, because our Lord is with us, right there in the boat, and He has complete command over the storms of life.
He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Ps 107:29
There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him. (Oswald Chambers)
