By CAL Staff
September 11, 2018
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four commercial jetliners and turned them into flying bombs. Two of the hijacked planes slammed into the 110 story twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Americans watched their TV screens in horror as the two skyscrapers, among the tallest in the world, collapsed. Another plane hit the Pentagon, and the fourth jet crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including more than 400 firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services workers who had rushed to the World Trade Center to help survivors before the buildings fell.
Among the day’s heroes were passengers on board United Flight 93, which had left Newark International Airport for San Francisco but changed course toward Washington, D.C., after four terrorists seized control…Realizing their captors must be headed toward a high-profile target, a group of Flight 93 passengers resolved to stop them…Moments later, Flight 93 went down in rural Pennsylvania. All aboard were killed. The hijackers’ target was probably the U.S. Capitol building or the White House.
Congress and the President have designated September 11 as Patriot Day.
-Taken from The American Patriot’s Almanac by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb
Three days later, the late Dr. Billy Graham gave a memorial message at the National Cathedral in Washington. In his message, Graham brought hope and healing to a broken nation.
On this September 11th, his words are still powerful and relevant.
Graham said that 911 “reminds us of the mystery and reality of evil.”
“I have been asked hundreds of times why God allows tragedy and suffering,” said Graham, “I have to confess that I do not know the answer. I have to accept, by faith, that God is sovereign, and that He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering.”
Second Graham said that 911 is “a lesson about our need for each other.”
“What an example New York and Washington have been to the world these past few days! None of us will forget the pictures of our courageous firefighters and police or the hundreds of people standing patiently in line to donate blood,” said Graham.
Lastly, Graham said that 911 provides a platform for “a message of hope – hope for the present and hope for the future.”
Graham admonished,
“We desperately need a spiritual renewal in this country, and God has told us in His Word time after time that we need to repent of our sins and return to Him, and He will bless us in a new way.
“There also is hope for the future because of God’s promises. As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come. And many of those people who died this past week are in heaven now. And they wouldn’t want to come back. It’s so glorious and so wonderful. That is the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart.
“This event reminds us of the brevity and the uncertainty of life. We never know when we too will be called into eternity. I doubt if those people who got on those planes or who walked into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon on Tuesday thought that it would be the last day of their lives. And that’s why we each must face our own spiritual need and commit ourselves to God and His will.”
Will you surrender your life to Christ today? He died on the Cross to atone for your sins and purchase for you the free gift of eternal life. Will you make a conscious decision to trust him for forgiveness and give to you the free gift of eternal life?
By his life, death, and resurrection from the dead, Christ has done everything necessary to provide you with a right relationship to God. You need only to turn away from your sins and believe in Christ with your whole heart.
The Scriptures promise, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Perhaps this is your prayer:
Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. I have broken God’s laws, and I deserve to be condemned forever. But I believe that you died on the Cross to atone for my sins. Forgive me, come into my life as Lord and Savior, change me and help me live for God. I ask you to give me the free gift of eternal life.
The Scriptures also promise, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Romans 10:13). “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:12-13).