Reflections on 9-11 By Randy Neal Many of us have probably been listening to the radio lately and heard songs

that take us back to September 11, 2001: Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?, or Have You Forgotten? I cant imagine it has already been ten years, but this moment took a different twist the other day when our son, John, came home from school (upset to say the least) telling us about watching a documentary about the planes flying into the twin towers and a boy in his class (a Muslim who recently has been observing Ramadan) who laughed when he watched the video. John and his class were angry, and I am as well. What was I to say to him? How do I explain such hatred to a twelve year old? I dont know that I can understand it, but this is what I did tell him. The words of Jesus from Matthew 5:44 (the Sermon on the Mount) ring true just as much today as the day in which He spoke them. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. In just one verse, Jesus commands us to do two things to our enemies: love them and pray for them. Thats not always easy to do, but as I tried to explain to our children that people like this kid are doing things (hating others) out of ignorance theyve had this ingrained in their minds for some 1400 years. You cant expect people to change over-night. We remember that at one time the apostle Paul persecuted the church out of ignorance (Acts 8:1ff.). Yet he wrote years later to the young preacher, Timothy, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:12-14). We must have the same love and compassion for the lost that Jesus did for Paul (Saul) and others. Not that God excuses ignorance (Acts 17:31-31), but we must pray that, some way, that might come to a knowledge of salvation. I hope we will never forget 9-11, but even greater, I pray we will never forget John 3:16 Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world (even if there are those who do not realize or recognize the saving power of His blood).