SHOULDER TO SHOULDER SPECIAL EDITION #193 ---- 9/12/01 ---- "Hope In The Darkness of Evil's Enormity and Suffering's Tragedy"
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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #193 ---- SPECIAL ISSUE ---- 9/12/01
TITLE: "Hope In The Darkness of Evil's Enormity and Suffering's Tragedy"
My Dear Friend:
By now you are aware of the massive calloused and evil terrorist attack on the United States and its citizens. Jo Ann and I were watching live television when the first tower of the Trade Center was hit; then, as many others did, we saw the second plane hit the second tower and explode. It didn't take long for us to realize this was a concerted terrorist attack. A short time later we saw the Pentagon building on fire.
My mind has been flooded with thoughts about what it must have been like to have looked out a window to see a huge commercial jet just about to plunge into your office, or to have been on one of those planes and watching as you plummeted into a wall and your eminent death. I have become almost physically ill in contemplating what might go through a person's mind when they made the choice to jump to their death rather than burn to death. It is almost unthinkable.
Ten per cent of all office space in New York City was in those two towers, occupied by 155 companies and agencies and 50,000 workers. One major company occupied fifty one floors of one tower.
I have been stunned not only by the act itself, but also the way it has affected both this nation and the entire world. As far as I know there has never been a time in modern aviation history when the complete air transportation system of both the United States and Canada came to a grinding stop. Other countries such as Israel and Britain also altered air traffic. Bus services, train services, and the seaways in the northeastern U.S. were shut down. The tunnels between the U.S. and Canada border have been closed. The space shuttle program was halted. The off shore oil workers were evacuated from their platforms and rigs. The Ford Motor Company and General Motors closed and sent workers home. The IRS center in Washington closed. Most tourist attractions from coast to coast closed; all major museums and any other facilities that might be occupied by large numbers of citizens also closed.
I began writing this letter yesterday afternoon just a few hours after the terrorist attack, but could not think clearly enough to articulate what I was feeling in my heart.
WHAT GOD WAS SAYING TO ME:
Like me, you've probably received many e-mails filled with thoughts and high emotions. For that reason I've hesitated to write to you. However, I feel compelled to do so. Several thoughts have come to my mind ---- both questions and observations. We can ask "why" or we can answer "because" in many different ways. Some will say that the U.S. has asked for this and deserves what it got because of what it has done in the Balkans, Iraq, or some other place. Conversely, some might even arrogantly say that America deserves more respect than this.
However, that's far too simplistic and judgmental in both cases. Consider these observations instead:
1. Evil still exists in every form, and it is so strong that it can cloud the thinking of human beings to such an extent that they want to destroy each other . . . . . whether it be by terrorists' bombings, ethnic cleansing, infanticide, or hateful words. All it needs is an outlet. When it finds a willing participant, the consequences are devastating, no matter the media by which it is delivered. While our minds will not allow us to put hijacking planes and killing thousands in a building in the same category as abortion or vindictive speech, Jesus does.
2. The battle between good and evil is increasing, and is moving closer each day to becoming a religious issue. That reality may have escaped our attention, especially here in the U.S., but it is evident. Just look at Northern Ireland and the Balkans. I believe there is a direct inter-connection between evil and violence on the one hand and one's religious belief systems. The more I study scripture, the more convinced I am of that fact. When we have no god but ourselves, when we worship the god of materialism, when we follow a perverted view of the true God, or when we bow to the god of power and/or politics, we are automatically setting ourselves up for a battle between good and evil . . . . . between our false god and the One Jehovah God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
So, it should never be a surprise to us when we find ethnicity, power mongering, dictatorship, anarchy, or political motives linked to our concept of religion . . . . and positioned in direct opposition to the God of the universe. There is little doubt that what happened in Washington and New York City is the same as what happened in the Balkans, northern Ireland and other places . . . . . a perverted view of God causes man to act in evil ways. When there are other gods put before the true God, only evil will result. It can be no other way.
Why? Simply because the god of this world, Satan himself, is still bent on stealing, destroying, and killing (John 10:10a) while the Lord Jesus Christ is still offering "life, and more abundantly" (John 10:10b). Anything and everything that opposes the One True God can generate only evil.
3. The United States deserved but didn't deserve this tragedy. Just because our earliest origins can clearly be traced back to the desire to carry out the Great Commission by establishing a country of religious freedom, human freedom, and prosperity, that does not mean we don't have to pay for our own sins of abandoning godly principles, becoming arrogant in our power and prosperity, and squandering much of our resources on selfish fulfillment while millions around the world go without. While I certainly do not believe God initiated this heinous act, I do believe He is using it to again try to get our attention and draw us back to that from whence we have strayed. Like any other country, we are to have no other gods before Him. And, also because we have been blessed and given so much, we have much more for which we are to be responsible.
Having said that, I must say that neither did we deserve that act, simply because no human being or society of people does. In New York City, for example, there are over 150 different ethnic groups and countries represented. It is almost a miniature "world". Those terrorists, whoever they are, most likely killed some of their own. But, of course, that didn't really matter to them.
And, for those of my friends in other countries, in spite of our many weaknesses and our many occasions to often operate on the basis of what benefits the U.S. the most (at least politically speaking), the United States still remains the most free, democratic, powerful, diverse and prosperous nation in the world. That in itself makes some people very jealous and resentful. What will make them even more angry is to discover the resilience and the will to overcome that will see us through this tragedy . . . . hopefully a better nation, a more determined nation, and . . . . . above all else, a more godly and compassionate nation. That characteristic is being seen at the moment; it is my prayer it will become a life style.
Interestingly, the United States in one way is exactly like every other nation and country on this globe. We're made up of human beings ---- people ---- people of diversity, ethnicity, education, and religion. And, believe it or not, we all have feet of clay. Sometimes we forget that man made nations is not the answer, and it is not going to be the subject of the final chapter of human history. It's bigger than people; it's bigger than nations; it's bigger than a world system. The final chapter is going to be about one subject ---- God. God, and His plan of redemption fulfilled.
As a folk song on the 1960's and 70's says, "Freedom isn't free." The greater the freedom, the greater the responsibility, . . . . and the greater the danger of attack, both from within and without.
4. Then my heart goes out to the families of the perpetrators of this horrible deed. Their religion tells them such acts are the way to heaven. When you don't know the truth that Jesus is the only way, and that His message is one of forgiveness, hope, and love, then I suppose you must resort to such acts. But, can you imagine what these men, apparently five of them, must be thinking now? They didn't end up where they thought. They're not in the presence of God, but now in the presence of the god who deceived them ---- suffering eternally for not only what they did, but for Whom they rejected as the answer to life. What a horrible thought! I would suspect that, if they could, they'd love to return not only to repent and turn to Christ, but also to rebuke their religious leaders, reject their religious heritage, and announce to all who follow that false god that they have all been deceived. Jesus is the Only way.
Hopefully we'll remember, too, that all men and women and children without Christ face the same future. That includes those who live in your neighborhood and mine.
5. In tragedies around the world, the Phoenix Bird has often risen out of the ashes. It will happen again. My only question is whether, after it rises, it will return as an eagle or as a vulture. Let's pray that the eagle rises, soars, and leads righteously.
6. Finally, each of us needs to remember that we are not of this world. With all its clamoring and enticing, it's easy to forget that.
Ironically, I preached this last Sunday morning from I Peter 2 .... "Here On Purpose". Peter takes the first several verses to remind us of our identity. He uses seven phrases in verses 9-11 ---- a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people after God's own possession (i.e. Who owns, holds, and cherishes us), aliens, and strangers. After describing our relationship with God in the first five, he then describes our relationship with this world . . . . aliens and strangers. Aliens are people who don't belong; strangers are people nobody knows. That's who we are, and sometime we forget how we should act and live as people who don't belong and nobody really knows or understands.
Then, he reminds us in 2:1-5 and 2:12-3:27 of how we should live: set aside revenge, deceit and duplicity, pretending, wishing you were like someone else, and talk that hurts others. Instead we are to be hungry for God's word, allow ourselves to be built into a spiritual temple inhabited by our great high priest Jesus Christ, submit properly to authority, use our freedom wisely, live in right relationships, and keep our behavior excellent.
Finally, he identifies our real purpose . . . . and it's Not to be wealthy or successful, strong and powerful, or arrogant and superior. It's quite simple, actually . . . . we're here for proclamation and demonstration. In verse 9 we see we are to proclaim God's excellencies in light of how He called us out of spiritual darkness into His marvelous light. Then in verses 21-25 he says, "For you have been called for this purpose", as demonstrated to us by Jesus Himself. Don't be led into willful sin. Never deceive. Don't abuse, vilify, criticize, or scold. Don't threaten and strike back when suffering.
So . . . . in this situation, and in all others, we are here for one simple purpose . . . . . . to exalt, lift up, worship, and declare the Lord Jesus Christ as the answer to all human needs, both by proclamation and by demonstration.
Isn't it tragic that this road, seldom taken, was rejected.
A BRIGHT LIGHT IN THE CLOUDS:
Another ironic experience Jo Ann and I have had this week is to, while all this satanic hatred was unleashed upon our country, far away from the targeted buildings in a small Midwestern town near us, participate with a small Christian university as they conducted their annual Missions Week, trying to recruit young men and women to go across the United States and into other countries with the love, compassion, and good news of Jesus Christ . . . . . a far cry from the religion that drove these suicidal men.
This ministries leadership of this small university will send students to the Balkans in eastern Europe to minister to refugees, orphans, and believers in a region predominantly Muslim. Teams will go to the inner cities of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Houston while another goes to northwestern Oklahoma to work with Native Americans through children and youth programs, community survey work, and service projects. Another team will go to an undisclosed country in east Asia and minister through language and cultural exchange.
A team will go to Guatemala to work in an orphanage and help rebuild the lives of abandoned and abused children. Still another will go to the Himilayas, a very dangerous and risky trip, to lead mapping research and literature distribution in remote mountain villages, using mountain bikes as their means of transportation. Along with the eastern Europe team, Jo Ann and I will lead another to Kiev in Ukraine to work with village churches, orphanages, and the St. James Bible College training young people from former CIS states to prepare for the Gospel ministry. Both of us will be teaching classes five hours a day, five days a week, for two weeks.
Then there a team is going to Kyrgyzstan where they will build relationships, assist in community service projects, help manage an internet cafe', and disciple new believers. Another will go to London to minister to "10/40 Window" people groups from Turkey, Israel, Kosovo, and south Asia who are living in the area. Another team will go to Nepal to evangelize and disciple people there while yet another will travel to Peru to minister to the marginal urban population of a major city. Finally, a team will minister to the Warao tribe, an indigenous people group of northeastern Venezuela.
Did you count the number of teams? Fourteen teams scattering across the globe . . . . . not to bomb buildings and take human lives, but simply to share the love of God as found in Jesus Christ. This small university with fewer than 2,000 resident students, though not a perfect school, would like to send 500 young men and women around the world with the message that God loves, God saves, God restores, God heals. Pray with me that they will be able to do that.
So last night, after watching a brief televised speech by President Bush, many of these young people met together crying out to God for healing and hope, and for harvesters to go. The theme of this Missions Week thrust is simple ---- "Until He Comes, . . . . Go!"
Following a time of praise and worship, the university's ministries director, at a loss for words over the day's events, read from Psalm 46.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
"Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. 'Be still (cease striving) and know that I am God; I will be exalted among than nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold."
Following that came more times of praise and worship and several intense times of intercession . . . . for those who have suffered in New York and Washington, for all their friends and family, for the families of the terrorists, for the school, for the lost world, and finally for the young men and women who would be responding today to the call to join one of these mission teams.
Then, after every planned part of the service had concluded, a young man was called to the front of the group where he picked up a guitar and began leading the students in song:
"When peace, like a river, attends my soul; or sorrow like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul'.
"Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.
"My sin ---- O the bliss of this glorious tho't ---- my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
"And, Lord, hast the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll: the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, 'Even so' ---- it is well with my soul.
"It Is Well . . . . with my soul. It is well, ---- it is well with my soul!"
FINALLY:
So, friend, in the wake of the most horrific terrorist act on American soil since Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, I just had to write these words of encouragement. Let's be reminded that . . . .
1. It will get worse before it gets better,
2. Evil will ultimately fail in its attempt to rule,
3. While all human efforts and agencies will be insufficient, Jesus will prevail,
4. God will have the final word, and
5. Jesus will conquer it all and reign victorious.
For that reason, we can say, "It is well with my soul", and, . . . . if we will, . . . . we can answer the call to radical global ministry and evangelism . . . . . from home to the uttermost.
In His Bond and for His Namesake,
Bob Tolliver -- Rom 1:11-12
Copyright September, 2001
Life Unlimited Ministries
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