September 11, 2001 was to be a day like most any other - or so we thought the day before. As it turned out it would be a day of shock and devastations, unannounced and swift moving, nothing like it except maybe the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

 Who would unleash such demonic devastation? Why? What could possibly be the purpose in all this? How could God allow this to happen to innocent people?

Let's look at some basic truths but first let's define truth. 1. The true or actual state of a matter. 2. Conformity with fact or reality. 3. Ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience. 4. A verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.

Truth. God exists whether we as a nation want to believe it or not. Truth. Satan exists as God’s enemy and desires to destroy every thing God loves. Truth. There will always be evil deeds by evil people, there will always be an underdog in the society of humanity due to the lack of mankind to willingly put forth an honest effort to resist evil and do good to his “human” brother or sister.  Truth. America is a Blessed nation. Truth. America believes she is righteous and good and therefore deserves the best life has to offer. Truth. America can be described in seven words: pride, greed, lust, gluttony, anger, laziness, and envy. Is it a coincidence that these seven words are also considered to be the “seven deadly sins”, or the sins that give birth to the death of a people who indulge or tolerate them?

America has turned her back on God; we are a prideful and arrogant people and see ourselves as the next best thing to sliced bread. God will not tolerate our insolence and disobedience much longer. As most parents give a warning prior to punishment, God has allowed (given) a warning. Our hands as a nation are dirty! Pride  (arrogance) has blinded our eyes and we don’t see the dirt that the world sees when it looks at us. In 2 Chronicles 7:19-22 Solomon is warned that if he turns away from God “…and forsake My statues and My commandments which I have set before you… as for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ And they will say, because they forsook the Lord…”

How do we rectify this, how do we become a righteous nation in the sight of our Creator and to the world? As stated in 2Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Now is the time for the “Christian” to stand up strong, forsaking the fear of what the world, friends, or family might say or think, humble our attitudes, our pride and sincerely pray for our nation, its leaders, and our neighbors – which includes those we don’t like or understand. Seek the face of God rather than His hand, put away with a conscious effort our evil ways and He has promised to hear and heal. If the people of God do nothing, if we continue to withhold our tithes, remain double minded, fear the unjust, have wrong desires, practice improper thinking & talking, practice unjust stewardship, loving money more than the gift of life, disregarding the poor, maintaining tradition for tradition’s sake, and not dealing with hidden sins, if all we do is just wait on the return of Christ we can look forward to more bombings, hijackings, murders, and situations we haven’t even imagined yet. Truth. The Oklahoma bombing was strike one, the hijackings of September 11^th and ensuing tragedies were strike two. Is America ready for strike three?