9-11 Reflections

I joined the Marine Corps after 9-11-01 to kill fanatical Muslims who wanted to die for a faith that professes to "love death more than we love life." Well, as the Marines would often say, "It is up to God to forgive and up to the Marines to arrange the meeting." That resonated deeply within me and gave me an outlet for the rage that consumed me in those days after nearly 3,000 people were killed. So off I went to the recruiter's office. How times have changed for me.

Many would say that my change was due to the resultant "mellowing" of one's nature as the years elapsed. I must disagree with that statement. Truthfully, I was adrift at the age of 19 with a religion that left me hopeless and seething. Anyone of a religion that is their own making will eventually come to such a conclusion. But now I have Jesus and He changes everything. It is written of Him:

"Remember that you were at that time se
parated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."

I have since become a man more in touch with sorrow and grief for those who are perishing. As for God, it is my desire that "no man should perish, but that all should reach repentance" so, though I was again full of anger for the wickedness of the terrorists of ISIS, I was directed towards an approach of life-giving instead of life-taking. Don't get me wrong, their actions are deserving of death, but I began praying for the brutal men who found their sense of purpose in the slaughter of innocents. After all, was I not the same brutal man whose sin spilled precious Jesus' innocent blood on that cross? But God had mercy on me and gave me life. I must now do the same for God's enemies if I am to proclaim myself to be a friend of Jesus.

Praise The Lord, for He rejoices over you with singing!

C.S. Lewis (from Reflections on the Psalms) provides an amazing perspective on why we should desire to praise Jesus, the Lover of our souls:

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed."

It is written in Zephaniah 3:17 that,

"The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing."

He expresses His love and enjoyment for you by rejoicing over you with singing! How will you express your praise for Jesus today?

Don't be so open-minded that your brain falls out.

A tolerant, open-minded, non-judgmental attitude is publicly presented as the creme de la creme of progressive secular humanism and group think. It is often represented by those bumper stickers that leave a tickle of annoyance to squirm through the back of your mind: "COEXIST" and "TOLERANCE" being the main examples wherein the letters are scrawled out as major religious symbols (i.e. the "t" is a cross, the "c" is the star and crescent). While thinking about this, I ran across a quote attributed to G.K. Chesterton: "When a Man stops believing in God he doesn't then believe in nothing, he believes anything."

...And believing in "anything" can get you killed because having true wisdom tends to shut one's mind to foolish, man-made ideologies that have no capability to save or enrich (Consider this passage from Proverbs 1). Wisdom brings life but a belief in "anything" breeds foolishness. The image below conveys the fallacy of open-mindedness and tolerance between competing and wholly different ideologies and philosophies.


I have seen quotes from Muslims and atheists that fall along the lines of "We love death more than you love life." Such people will lord their authority over those who are not willing to sacrifice their life to protect what is good and holy. Where can we find such a person? I thank God that through Jesus Christ we have such an advocate and defender. Only Jesus has the strength to save us from our enemies in this life and our final enemy which is death. All those who put their trust in Him will by no means be put to shame.

Dying to save the dead

A person will die for one they love. Will a person give their life for an enemy, or someone unknown? It seems to be a rhetorical question and yet there is a remarkable answer which involves the only possible means by which the heart can learn to love unconditionally. Meditating on this concept, a friend of mine reminded me that most of Jesus' apostles died to follow Jesus. They did not die for the idea of a crucified man, but for the living reality of a resurrected Savior who loved them in spite of their sins and denials. Their lives embodied the scripture in Colossians 3:23 that states "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

All of us, at times, look at our faith as work or actions that we must do or must refrain from. For example, as a positive work, many believe that we must tithe to the church to be faithful. Others believe in negative actions of righteousness such as avoiding alcohol. However, the radical truth of the gospel is that Christianity is not at all about what you do or don't do. It is about the works that have been done on the sinner's behalf. The apostles did not live or die for Jesus because they had to. They lived and died for him because they loved every aspect of His existence and unconditional love.



Christ does not ask us to go through anything that He Himself has not already been through. His followers were willing to give up their lives for Him who is worthy of all glory and honor. After all, He gave up His own life as God in the flesh to save their depraved and dishonorable lives. Their works were the result of a heart change that was manifested outwardly. In other words, they produced good works because what they gave honor to changed. They esteemed works in life that brought honor to God instead of self-seeking works. This is the means by which we have faith in God's kindness that leads us to repentance in order to produce works worthy of repentance!


The process of producing good works is a result of getting to know the man, Jesus Christ. Everything He undertook during His life was meant to highlight the perfect and humble love of His Father. By contrast, the people whom He confronted through His words and works often revealed the depth-less depravity of the human heart. All of His works culminated in His death on a cross where the penalty for the depravity of His faithless apostles and every sinning child of God was paid for. Christ gave His life for His enemies and those who did not desire to know Him so that they would have a change of heart that produced an unconditional love for all people. Anything that comes from such a heart is worthy of honor.

What does your religion teach? Does your life mirror this radical love? Do your works bring glory to yourself or to Jesus? To answer these questions, consider that in order to know what you want in life you must first look at what you have or how you live.