Remembering

Today I met several of the preacher and elders in the area. The Sanford Church of Christ hosts a leaders' luncheon every other month. I met the preacher from the Plymouth congregation (both the retired one, now an elder, and the new one), from the Concord Ave. congregation in Orlando, and from the Delanto congregation. One of the preachers knew Mark Niehls . They served on a board together for the Christian schools in our brotherhood. This is what impressed me about the students at Pepperdine who were from the churches of Christ. At lunch time they would sit and talk and within five minutes knew 10 people between them yet they were from different states. Now that's me. I love it! I'm a social animal. I love talking, socializing, and finding out who knows the people I know.

I remember sitting in my car listening to the radio waiting for my buddy, Bob Weber. We were meeting at the Princeton church building for our usual study time. I heard the report that a plane had flown into one of the twin towers. I thought maybe someone flying a small Cessna had a heart attack and the plane just flew into the tower. Then I found out a second plane had hit and I knew that it was no fluke. This was on purpose. At home I remember feeling uneasy about what would be happening later on that day as we discovered the purpose for the attack. Soon however, my faith kicked in and I knew that God would take care of us and lead us regardless of what might happen.

Over time we heard stories from various members about friends or family they knew were in New York or affected by it in some way. A preacher friend washed windows at the twin towers part time (inside not outside). He was scheduled to go in that morning but decided to take the day off. Others did not make such a decision. Now five years later we can still remember the heroism and the stories but I'm grateful that no other attacks on our soil have taken place. I'm waiting for that day when peace will reign and there will be no more weapons of war.

Yes we should remember these attacks. The purpose of remembering is to keep the passion alive so that we will encourage our president, Congress, and military to do what is necessary to keep us safe. This is the purpose of a government (Romans 13:1-8). God has ordained that governments not only keep order in the nation but keep the people safe from outsiders.

God's religion is based on remembering. The Israelites remembered the Passover. Christians remember the crucifixion. We remember so that we will serve.