A note from Virginia Knowles
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
Like you, I have received lots and lots of e-mails
about the horrible national tragedy on Tuesday.
Many of you know people who have died, or
are missing, or who are serving as rescue
workers now. Our prayers are with you.
One reader reminded me that people in other
parts of the world suffer from terrorism every day.
Now that it has hit home, we here in America are
obviously taking it much more seriously.
I am so heartened to hear how Americans
have responded -- from survivors evacuating
calmly while helping others, to the long lines
of folks waiting to give blood, to the hundreds
of volunteer rescue workers serving in
rotation. I saw a report someone pasted from
the Washington Post that passengers on the
plane that went down in Pennsylvania purposely
stormed the cockpit and crashed it to divert it
from its intended target in Washington D.C.
Dear friends, if you were to find yourself on
a hijacked airplane or a burning skyscraper,
would you be ready to stand before God?
Do you know where you would spend
eternity? It is easy to point fingers across
the sea, and say that wickedness dwells
there, but Scripture says that every heart
is full of sin and deceit. There is no one
righteous, not even one. Our best efforts
at being good are like filthy rags to him.
Our only hope of salvation is to be washed
clean by the blood Jesus shed on the cross
for us.
"For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you,
now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of
salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2
Please don't wait any longer! I would be glad
to share with you how you can know God's
grace and salvation.
Now, for the rest of you, I would like to tell
a little story:
Many years ago in Maryland I lived down the
street from Ahmed and Maha and their two
sons. They were Muslims from Egypt who
had an arranged marriage. They did not
usually attend religious services. Shortly
after they moved in, Maha surprised me by
asking me to teach her the Bible. I ordered
an Arabic Bible and we studied the first few
chapters of the Gospel of John
for three months. After a crisis in her
family, we stopped meeting, she "lost"
her Bible, and she went back to Egypt
for several months. Everything had changed,
and our relationship was extremely awkward.
When I went back to visit my old
neighborhood a couple years after moving
away, she was extremely bitter at me
because she thought I had reported her
for a housing code violation. She yelled
at me and my children for 20 minutes through
her window. I was finally able to convince
her of my innocence and she invited me
inside for a calm conversation. We parted
cordially, but I haven't heard from her since
then. They moved away to who knows
where. Friends, I can't get this family out of
my mind. I pray fervently for them. It took a
huge cross-cultural stretch for me to relate to
her, and an even bigger stretch to reach
out to her when she faced family crisis and
when she reacted unkindly to me out of
misunderstanding and fear. But it was a
stretch I had to take. It is a stretch
that each of us needs to take, as we are
given the opportunity. I wish I could say there
was a happier ending to this story thus far,
but God does not promise that this side of eternity.
Yet we must be faithful to plant the seeds of
Good News, to water them with compassion,
to yank out the roots of bitterness, and
to wait patiently for the Lord of the Harvest to
bring forth abundant fruit. Though we may
not see an immediate direct result of each
seed we sow, the impact of what we do and
say can ripple far beyond our lifetimes and
our personal circle of acquaintances.
I am an American! Our red, white and
blue flag is flying proudly. I applaud our
President and Congress in their resolve to
punish those who committed this heinous
crime and to make the world safer for those
who love liberty and justice.
But even more, I am a citizen of God's
Kingdom. He calls us to set our hearts
and minds on things above. He calls
us to trust in him, no matter what is going
on around us. He calls us to love people
of other colors, other cultures, other creeds.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again:
Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever
is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy
--think about such things." Philippians 4:4-8
"We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our
God. May the LORD grant all your requests.
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven with the
saving power of his right hand. Some trust in
chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the
name of the LORD our God. They are brought to
their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm."
Psalm 20:5-8
~~~
That's enough for now!
Blessings and peace,
Virginia