Healing and Peace After the War on Terror - Purity 1144

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of sunrise from atop Waha Bald near Franklin, North Carolina comes to us from Fred Dimmock, who captured this scene of the golden rays of sunshine on the high peaks above a sea of clouds. With the naked treetops in the foreground of trees burned in wildfires of the, uh, of the unusual dry winter of 2016 on Saturday. It's Monday, September 11th, 2023, and as the sun rises on another work week, Fred's photo reminds us that life goes on and that the sun of a new day can reveal the beauty that endures through the— this journey of life. Even after the dry and disastrous seasons of life. While some of the people we encountered today may be mourning the loss of their favorite NFL team's misadventures yesterday, our nation will remember the terror attacks on that fateful day back in 2001 and all the people who died then and since then from the short and long-term effects of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and our country's war on terror that was launched as a response. After licking my wounds over my NFL team's, uh, not surprising loss, uh, yesterday, I decided to turn off the sports and watch Guy Ritchie's The Covenant, which reminded me of how the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan escalated in the days following 9/11 and how our involvement there left many of our allies in harm's way. As the promises we made to interpreters and their families weren't kept and all the US forces withdrew from Afghanistan 2 years ago. While The Covenant is a fictional movie that was extrapolated from a patchwork of actual events and experiences that happened during the Afghan— Afghani— Afghani— the Afghanistan War, and it was not a direct biography of any one person in particular, It does pay homage to the real-life people who served our military forces for a chance to be free, many of whom never made it out alive. The attacks on 9/11 are 22 years old, and the pullout of Afghanistan is 2 years old, but the wounds suffered in between and since these bookends, bookend events of the War on Terror, may not necessarily be healed. Some bodies, hearts, and minds are still affected by the pain of loss that happened during the War on Terror. Of just the American casualties, it has been estimated that over 10,000 military and civilian lives were lost. Over 56,000 military and civilians were wounded or injured during the War on Terror. With so much pain and death, one may wonder where we can find healing or peace. While I'm sure there are many strategies that are offered for coping with loss or living with pain, I have to encourage those who need healing and peace to go to the One who can heal broken hearts and minds and give an abiding sense of peace like no other: God and His Son, our Savior, the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus Christ. The trauma caused by this world has a solution. Faith in Jesus Christ and the application of biblical wisdom to one's life. Jesus settles our accounts and reconciles us with God, giving us forgiveness for our sins, freedom from God's wrath, and the promise of eternal life in his kingdom forever. The only way we can truly have peace is to have it given to us through our faith in Jesus. A kingdom worldview that includes belief in a sovereign God And the assurance of our acceptance, security, and significance that comes from our new identity in Christ comforts us and guides us to live in a world that is plagued by man's inhumanity to man and the natural consequences of sin and death. This world is not all there is. Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven to show us that that he is God, and to assure us that God loves us and has a plan for his creation. Jesus is coming back someday to reclaim the world and to make things right, and in the meantime, we are to live according to his ways to find healing, peace, and even joy in the midst of this broken world. One of the overriding principles of Scripture is forgiveness. While we are not worthy of forgiveness, Christ died on the cross so we can be forgiven, and when we receive it and the new life in Christ, we are to pay it forward by forgiving those who trespass against us. The pain over the things we have suffered at the hands of others or the circumstances of this life is healed when we forgive from the heart and surrender our concerns for justice to God. If we believe that God is good, and he is, We can trust that no one gets away with anything, that God will make things right one way or the other. Those who harm us will either surrender to the Lordship of Christ or face God's wrath. If they don't put their faith in Jesus, they will be eternally separated from the Lord and consigned to hell for all eternity. That's far worse than any punishment or revenge we can— we could ever imagine. If they put their faith in Jesus, they'll be forgiven and will repent of their ways of darkness, just like we have. And we should similarly rejoice for them like we did over ourselves when God saved a wretch like me. As for the grief over those we have lost to eternity, we thank the Lord for the love we knew while our loved ones lived. And trust that God will do what's right with their final destinies. If they love the Lord and put their faith in Jesus, we will see our loved ones again. If they didn't, they will not be forced to stay in God's presence. Closure comes from forgiveness and saying goodbye, or see you later, I suppose, when it comes to those who know the Lord. Our peace, healing, and joy comes from accepting God's forgiveness and new life, offering it to others through the Gospel, and accepting that God will make things right according to it. So while today and the contemplation of the pain and loss that has been suffered through our lives may cause us sadness, we should give thanks for receiving forgiveness and our new lives in Christ that gives us eternal hope and a future. Thank the Lord, for he is good and his mercies endure forever. Follow him into the pathways of peace and lead others to know him and the healing and peace he gives through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on anger, Comma Hot Temper. And today's verses are Proverbs 14:16-17 from the New Living Translation. The Word of God says, the wise are cautious and avoid danger. Fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence. Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated. Today's verses fall under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide resource section on anger. And that second point is: Be slow to become angry. Today's verses tell us that the wise are cautious and avoid danger, and the short-tempered people do foolish things. We are to be slow to anger because when we are quick to be angry, we are more likely to run into danger and do foolish things. Fatalities from road rage, arguments, jealousies, and fights all point to the extreme consequences of unbridled anger. One angry decision can have life-ending or life-altering consequences. So cool your jets and walk in the Spirit so you can develop your patience and self-control, so you can live a long life in service of God's kingdom and avoid the dangers that the enemy would tempt you to rush through— rush to through pride and anger. As always, we invite you to go to mt4christ.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Uh, today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, and today we continue sharing from chapter 23, The Spirit Witnessing, and today's topic is Errors in Subjective Witness. So you want to know what the errors are in subjective witness? Uh, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship where you follow the teachings of Jesus and the way you live your life. We recommend a daily spiritual practice where you can connect with the Lord through Bible study and prayer. And then just from walking and talking with God throughout your day to try to live and represent his kingdom. So we do that, and as I said, we do recommend Bible study, and we do that on our podcast and our blog by offering our, our weekly Bible study that comes from the pen of Arthur Sengkadi as he authors our study and we have a little program we call Bible Study with the Zinkatis, in which we discuss his outline and the implications of what the Word of God says about various topics. Yesterday's topic was barrenness, and we discussed the two different ways that barrenness are played out in Scripture, not just women being barren from having kids, but the barrenness that comes from wilderness or desert experiences in our walk through life.

And 9/11 certainly was a barren time in our country. And as we had a national mourning, as the loss of a life in a day, I'll never forget the day, you know, where I was on I was not on the day of the terrorist attacks. I was at work training to be an on-floor representative in the business office of Verizon, and people were getting all kinds of calls from people down in the city about terror attacks, and luckily I wasn't on the phones that day. We were held in training. It was our last day of training, and we were released early. To have lunch and, you know, basically call it a day.

And even though we went to lunch, all the televisions on the place where there was lunch was filled with the news of 9/11.

And I remember just rushing home after that to make sure I was, you know, make sure, you know, it felt like the whole world was going absolutely insane. Insane, and you didn't feel safe. And so, I rushed home to be with my ex and our children who were basically pretty young. My stepdaughter was young, and my daughter Haley was only a year old, basically. And I was just happy to get home and to be safe with my family. And, you know, the mourning continued for weeks after that. But those days are over, and I wish I had known the Lord then a little better than I do, you know. I could say I had nominal faith in Christianity, but I had no life-giving relationship with the Lord at the time. So I didn't know what to trust in. And unlike the people who rushed to the churches during— after 9/11, I didn't really rush to the churches to get solace. That's just the true story.

But I know what I would have done now.

I would have gathered with the body of Christ to mourn and to grieve the loss and to pray for the people who who lost their lives and their families.

And we pray for that today and for all the people who have been affected by the wars that our country has been in.

And, you know, the various struggles and trials are very personal, but point to the Savior as the way to healing and peace. This world doesn't really matter at the end of it. Basically, we all have to go before God and figure out where we're going to end up in eternity, and that's where Jesus comes in.

So we recommend that. And today we, we live free. We're not going to sit home and cry. We're going to go on with our lives and work and do what we normally do. And so this is my remembrance of 9/11. I probably won't think about it again.

To be quite honest.

So a full day of work ahead of me and those responsibilities and other responsibilities too that concern me. So I do pray for those who are suffering loss or grieving, whether it's 9/11 or something more recent or distant for that matter. You know, say goodbye to your loved ones. If they're— if they had a relationship with the Lord, you'll be seeing them again. And if not, you know, it's a great sadness, but it's something you can't change, and it's something you should accept.

And that, you know, quite frankly, we can't force people to go into God's kingdom. They reject the Lord and His offer of safety in Jesus, and we just have to let them go their own way.

So that's that. Anyway, like I said, I do have to work, so we should pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the life you've given us in Christ. We thank you for the forgiveness you've given us and the peace that comes from knowing that you are over and above all, all things, and that you will make things right one day. Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today. We pray for you to bless anyone's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and our walk of faith. Because Lord, we all need your help, we all need your truth, and we need to be reminded of it all the time. Um, so go before us today, Lord. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our steps in the things you would have us do.

Because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, to offer the peace, joy, and healing that comes from knowing Jesus.

Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.