Tag: 9/11

Can We Simply Let 9/11 Pass By?

As on 9/11—We are in a war. Can we not see the urgency?

Can we simply let 9/11 pass by? And live life back to normal?

We are not “back to normal” today. We must open our eyes and acknowledge, we are in a war. Do we need more evidence of heat, flame, and fires in families, public schools, city streets, and lands?

I share my 9/11 hero story.

Alfred J. Braca went to work on September 11, 2001, in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, on the 100th floor, as any other workday.

I knew Al Braca, from our church in New Jersey. Our sons enjoyed Boy Scouts together back then.

His life stirs in me the courage to make a difference this day. With all the confusion about what love is, Al Braca exemplified true love on the dreadful day of 9/11.

Do I, you, have the courage to love as he did?

A dedicated dad, husband, granddaddy, and loyal bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, Al set out to live a “Godly lifestyle” as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. He turned down invites to go out for drinks and carousing and often shared how Jesus changed his life. Consistently, a target of jeers by his colleagues, they referred to him as the “Rev.”

Aware of the marriage troubles, affairs, addictions, brokenness, and pain in his colleagues’ lives, Al often prayed with his wife, Jeanie, that they would come to faith in Jesus.

This day, in a moment, at 8:46 a.m., great confusion exploded all around them as a Boeing 767 flew into the building between floors 93-99.

No warning. Just bang!

Everyone ran to the windows to see what happened. Fire, smoke, chaos, confusion.

Heat rose from below them.

No information. No exit. Then, another explosion. The second tower was hit and caught fire. No one understood what happened.

Men and women on those upper floors discovered there was no way down. Desperation. Fear. Panic ensued.

The story is told, Al went up to one of the big conference rooms on the 104th top floor and told everyone to come to the room.

“I’m going to heaven. Who’s going with me?”

Approximately fifty of his co-workers came into the conference room.

Al wasn’t worried about offending anyone. He had hope.

Al stood up on a conference table and gave them the invitation for life—eternal life.

He was going to heaven. Al shared the Way with those who knew no way.

Al laid it all out as he stood on the table. They had to know. Without receiving Jesus in their lives, there was no hope for heaven. Only death and an eternity separated from God.

 Perhaps he shared,

 For God so loves you, He gave His Son Jesus to die that you might live.

He suffered and bled on the cross to cleanse all your sins.

Believe in Him right now. Accept Jesus in your life and you will be saved.” (John 3:16, John 6:35.)

Al was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He knew it was the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Acts 16:31).

There wasn’t time to trust in bank accounts, jobs—nothing.

Al shared Jesus. He knew He was their only hope.

He loved them enough to give them the truth.

“Who wants to receive Jesus and live?” he probably asked. We don’t know his exact words, but we know he prayed for them, right then.

How do we know?

Many of the men and women that met in that conference room that morning, made phone calls to their families.

They said, “Goodbye, I love you,” but they also said, “I will see you again. I just received Jesus. The “Rev” prayed with me to receive Jesus in my life.”

Others said, “Al stood on the conference table and told us how to be saved. I’m going to heaven. I have Jesus now. I’ll be waiting for you there. I love you. ”

These were Al’s comrades. They made fun of him in the past, but no one was jeering now.  He gave them an invitation to receive the Lord and He had prayed for them.

Al laid out the truth. The only way to heaven. Jesus. They received the invitation and were saved from death. They had eternal life.

Maybe Al comforted himself and the others in those desperate moments with scriptures he had hidden in his heart:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:1,2). Fear not; for I am with you, (Isaiah 41:10).

 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Al Braca lives today in my life. I hope in yours as well. He didn’t want his colleagues to be separated from God for all eternity.

He had faith and courage to witness to them. The Holy Spirit moved him to tell the people the truth about Jesus, so they might receive His amazing grace, forgiveness, love, and eternal life.

Thank you Alfred J. Braca.

At the World Trade Center Memorial, look for this name: Alfred J. Braca.

Take notice of the names surrounding his name. These were his colleagues. Many joined him on that day to go to heaven.

Tragedy came unexpected: “I’m Going to Heaven. Who’s Going with Me?”

 Will we live our day, ready to love others into the kingdom of heaven?

People in this day need hope. They need truth. They need to know the way.

There is no time for debate. Time is short. Will we tell others what Jesus said:

 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) —before it’s too late?

-tonirypkema.com

(To read Jean Braca’s story, look for Christmas Beeler’s book, Beauty from Ashes. Walking in New Life with God After Loss. The Journey of 9/11 Widow Jean Braca.)

Picture: Courtesy of Calvary Chapel Magazine. (Leading Souls to Christ as the Towers Burned.)

Sometimes an old speech for the nation needs to be heard again:

This man was flown in to speak words to a nation of broken and bleeding hearts, Sept 14, 2001. In light of terror in a Florida High School, Feb. 14, 2018, and many other tragedies since that event in 2001—in honor of Billy Graham, in remembrance of his simple, yet courageous messages, I pray his words bring comfort and hope.
I am comforted, and am thankful for they words of the hymn he encouraged us with: Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

After our nation was attacked with horrific terror, with many innocent lives lost, the choice was made to have Rev. Billy Graham speak on Sept. 14, 2001.
Allowance was made that a sole aircraft fly that day.

Today, I look back at the words Billy Graham had to say, in that, still today, hearts continue to be shattered with news of terror and loss. How do we continue? How do we find a way?

Billy Graham stood before the nation,
“We come together today to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be. The Bible says that He is ‘the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.’
No matter how hard we try, words cannot express the horror, the shock and the revulsion we all feel over what took place in this nation on Tuesday  morning . . .
But today we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially. We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.

The Bible says, ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and mountains fall into the heart of the sea.’
But how do we understand something like this? Why does God allow evil like this to take place? Perhaps that is what you are asking. You may even be angry at God. I want to assure you that God understands these feelings that you may have.

We’ve seen so much that brings tears to our eyes and makes us feel a sense of anger. But God can be trusted, even when life seems at its darkest.
What are the lessons we can learn?
First, we are reminded of the mystery and reality of evil. I have been asked hundreds of times why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I do not know the answer.  I have to accept, by faith, that God is sovereign, and that He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering.
The Bible says God is not the Author of evil. In 1 Thessalonians 2:7 the Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity. the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah said, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.’

The lesson of this even is not only about the mystery of iniquity and evil, but second, it’s about our need for each other.
What an example New York and Washington have been to the world these past few days! None of us will forget the pictures of our courageous firefighters and police, or the hundreds of people standing patiently in line to donate blood . . .
Finally, difficult as it may be for us to see right now, this event can give a message of hope—hope for the present and hope for the future.
Yes, there is hope. There is hope for the present because the stage, I believe, has already been set for a new spirit in our nation.

We desperately need a spiritual renewal in this country, and God has told us in His Word, time and time that we need to repent of our sins and return to Him, and He will bless us in a new way.
There also is hope for the future because of God’s promises. As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come. And many of those people who died this past week are in heaven now. And they wouldn’t want to come back. It’s so glorious and so wonderful. That is the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart.

This event reminds us of the brevity and uncertainty of life. We never know when we too will be called into eternity. I doubt if those people who got on those planes or who walked into the world Trace Center or the Pentagon on Tuesday thought that it would be the last day of their lives. And that’s why we each must face our own spiritual need and commit ourselves to God and His will.

Here in this majestic National Cathedral we see all around us the symbol of the cross. For the Christian, the cross tells us that God understands our sin and our suffering, for He took them upon Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. From the cross God declares, ‘I love you. I know the heartaches and the sorrows and the pain that you feel. But I love you.’

The story does not end with the cross, for Easter points us beyond the tragedy of the cross to the empty tomb. It tells us that there is hope for eternal life, for Christ conquered evil and death and hell. Yes, there is hope.
I’ve become an old man now, and I’ve preached all over the world. And the older I get, the more I cling to that hope that I started with many years ago.
Several years ago at the National Prayer Breakfast here in Washington, Ambassador Andrew Young closed his talk with a quotation from the old hymn, ‘How Firm a Foundation.’

This week we watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass and the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers, built on solid foundations, were examples of prosperity and creativity. When damaged, those building plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet, underneath the debris, is a foundation that was not destroyed. Therein lies the truth of that hymn, ‘How Firm a Foundation.’

Yes, our nation has been attacked, buildings destroyed, lives lost. But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation; or to choose to become stronger through all of this struggle, to rebuild a solid foundation.

And I believe that we are starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God. And in that faith, we have the strength to endure something as difficult and horrendous as what we have experienced this week. This has been a terrible week with many tears.

But it also has been a week of great faith. In that hymn, ‘How Firm a Foundation,’ the words say, ‘Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.’

My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us and that as we trust in Him we will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us.
We know also that God will give wisdom and courage and strength to the President and those around him. And this will be a day that we will remember as a day of Victory.
May God bless you all.”

(2 Cor. 1:3-4, Ps. 46: 1-2, Jeremiah 17:9)
This man was flown in to speak words to a nation of broken and bleeding hearts, Sept 14, 2001. In light of terror in a Florida High School, Feb. 14, 2018, and many other tragedies since that event in 2001—in honor of Billy Graham, in remembrance of his simple, yet courageous messages, I pray his words bring comfort and hope.
I am comforted, and am thankful for they words of the hymn he encouraged us with: Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
He’s got a hold on us. In Him, we must trust. Amen.