Where Were You?

Five years ago today, Amy and I were scheduled to have lunch at Skyline with a ministry friend, Aaron Burgess. While placing a morning call to confirm our appointment Aaron asked me if Amy and I had been watching the news. We turned on the television in time to see the second plane tear through the tower.

It was one of those surreal moments...like when the Challenger exploded, like when Columbine went down, like when Oklahoma City was bombed. You can't believe what you are witnessing.

I'll never forget opening the doors of the church that evening. We notified the community that we would be open for prayer and many came. Tearful, scared, concerned, numb we prayed for those families involved and those still trapped. It was a night I will be seared in my memory forever.

Then there was Jerry. Somehow deep in his spirit God was using the events of 9/11 to reveal his need for the divine. He came to pray or most likely he came to be prayed for. We had a great conversation that night. I'm thrilled to share that Jerry is now a Christian and has been actively involved in one of our sister churches near his home in Sunrise. For a lot of people, 9/11 served to awaken their spiritual void but they soon went back to life as usual...but not Jerry.

God always has a way of salvaging the worst of situations and using them for His glory. Yes, my heart aches today for the families who still find themselves grieving their loss, but my heart rejoices for all the Jerrys out there that can point to 9/11 as being the turning point in their new found faith.