TandJ61574
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2002
Hello All,
Just received this email from someone who attends a Christian Mens group with hubby called Promise Keepers http://www.promisekeepers.org/
I thought it was worth posting
September 2003
Its 3:06 a.m., but I just couldnt sleep until I put my heart on paper. I saw this picture again yesterday and it has captured my mind once more . . . a broken piece of steel sitting atop the broken wreckage of a broken day in history that this nation will never completely forget.
Second anniversary of
American heroism.
A cross.
These brave firemen.
A picture of victory.
3,031 people who were tragically killed.
One Man who died for us all.
343 brave firemen who gave their lives to save thousands trapped in a fiery furnace.
One brave Man who gave His all to save a world trapped in sin.
September 11, 2001 was a snapshot of the amazing parody of salvation. In our nations brokenness we were united. In the tragedy of firefighters being swallowed up in flames, firefighters everywhere were elevated.
In rubble there grew resolve.
A tattered flag resulted in a re-woven nation.
The picture is bigger . . . so much bigger.
Yet, some have almost forgotten. Many have returned to the way they were before. Many again harbor hatreds. But there are those of us who will never forget. Three thousand thirty-one deaths will not go into oblivion.
Because the picture is so much bigger than New York City on a day of infamy. It is a picture for all people, of all cities, of all times. It is a picture of redemption. . . a picture from the very heart of God.
On the greatest day in the history of mankind, God humbled Himself to the point of being stripped, beaten, ripped to shreds and crucified on a hill called The Skull, dying on the most humiliating of all symbols of death, a Roman cross. That day, Satan was dealt a fatal blow that signaled his ultimate demise . . . and our ultimate victory. The paradox of all paradoxes.
In being rejected, He drew all men unto Himself.
In humbling Himself, He was exalted.
In dying, He was resurrected.
In receiving the curse, He joined Himself to all mankind.
And so it is with us. The reason crucifixion day will influence and affect every single day we live is the same reason well never forget September 11, 2001.
In being last, we are first.
In admitting our sin, we are forgiven.
In getting on our knees, we stand to our tallest stature.
In saying, Im sorry our sorrow is quenched.
In saying, I forgive you to our adversaries we draw our adversaries to the cross.
In saying I need a Savior with every breath we take, we fill our every need.
Appropriately, Psalm 9-11 (91:1) sums up this message--and this never-to-be-forgotten day:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Today, in the shadow of 9/11 and in the shadow of the cross, I am again reminded to bury my pride, bury my guilt, bury my differences, bury my shame, bury my purposelessness, bury my prejudice, bury my defeat in a deep grave, and erect a cross atop the rubble of it all! In doing so, by the grace of God, I will dwell in the shelter of the Most High.
Will you join me today? Will you get out a shovel and dig with me? Will you pour your self-defeat into that same ol six-foot pit? Will you erect a cross over that grave? Will we humble ourselves before an Almighty God--before our wives, our kids, our fellow workers--and live the victory of the paradox?
Yes. Yes. Yes! By the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, yes we will! 9/11 will be today. 9/11 will be tomorrow. 9/11 will be every day. We will dwell in the shelter of the Most High because the Most High has built a shelter in our hearts.
In Christ, I love you dearly,
Joe White
Just received this email from someone who attends a Christian Mens group with hubby called Promise Keepers http://www.promisekeepers.org/
I thought it was worth posting
September 2003
Its 3:06 a.m., but I just couldnt sleep until I put my heart on paper. I saw this picture again yesterday and it has captured my mind once more . . . a broken piece of steel sitting atop the broken wreckage of a broken day in history that this nation will never completely forget.
Second anniversary of
American heroism.
A cross.
These brave firemen.
A picture of victory.
3,031 people who were tragically killed.
One Man who died for us all.
343 brave firemen who gave their lives to save thousands trapped in a fiery furnace.
One brave Man who gave His all to save a world trapped in sin.
September 11, 2001 was a snapshot of the amazing parody of salvation. In our nations brokenness we were united. In the tragedy of firefighters being swallowed up in flames, firefighters everywhere were elevated.
In rubble there grew resolve.
A tattered flag resulted in a re-woven nation.
The picture is bigger . . . so much bigger.
Yet, some have almost forgotten. Many have returned to the way they were before. Many again harbor hatreds. But there are those of us who will never forget. Three thousand thirty-one deaths will not go into oblivion.
Because the picture is so much bigger than New York City on a day of infamy. It is a picture for all people, of all cities, of all times. It is a picture of redemption. . . a picture from the very heart of God.
On the greatest day in the history of mankind, God humbled Himself to the point of being stripped, beaten, ripped to shreds and crucified on a hill called The Skull, dying on the most humiliating of all symbols of death, a Roman cross. That day, Satan was dealt a fatal blow that signaled his ultimate demise . . . and our ultimate victory. The paradox of all paradoxes.
In being rejected, He drew all men unto Himself.
In humbling Himself, He was exalted.
In dying, He was resurrected.
In receiving the curse, He joined Himself to all mankind.
And so it is with us. The reason crucifixion day will influence and affect every single day we live is the same reason well never forget September 11, 2001.
In being last, we are first.
In admitting our sin, we are forgiven.
In getting on our knees, we stand to our tallest stature.
In saying, Im sorry our sorrow is quenched.
In saying, I forgive you to our adversaries we draw our adversaries to the cross.
In saying I need a Savior with every breath we take, we fill our every need.
Appropriately, Psalm 9-11 (91:1) sums up this message--and this never-to-be-forgotten day:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Today, in the shadow of 9/11 and in the shadow of the cross, I am again reminded to bury my pride, bury my guilt, bury my differences, bury my shame, bury my purposelessness, bury my prejudice, bury my defeat in a deep grave, and erect a cross atop the rubble of it all! In doing so, by the grace of God, I will dwell in the shelter of the Most High.
Will you join me today? Will you get out a shovel and dig with me? Will you pour your self-defeat into that same ol six-foot pit? Will you erect a cross over that grave? Will we humble ourselves before an Almighty God--before our wives, our kids, our fellow workers--and live the victory of the paradox?
Yes. Yes. Yes! By the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, yes we will! 9/11 will be today. 9/11 will be tomorrow. 9/11 will be every day. We will dwell in the shelter of the Most High because the Most High has built a shelter in our hearts.
In Christ, I love you dearly,
Joe White
Poignant it is.
