On September 11, 2001, four commercial jumbo jets full of passengers were hijacked. One crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania; one into the Pentagon; one into the South tower of the World Trade Center building and one into the North tower of the World Trade Center building. The devastation was massive and the loss of life reaches over 6,000 people. In New York alone the disaster area covers almost 16 acres of damaged buildings, twisted steel, and massive chunks of concrete. I watched on television as the planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers. And then not too long after that I watched as the buildings, each over 100 stories tall, collapsed. It was terrible to see, knowing at that very moment thousands of people died. Before the buildings collapsed many were trapped and waiting to be rescued while others were frantically trying to get down crowded stairs. As the people fought their way out, firemen and rescue workers were climbing upward toward the fire. Tragically, over 200 specially trained firefighters and emergency workers lost their lives as they tried to save others.

The stories are all so tragic. On the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, a whole family died — a mother, father and their children. Many of those on the planes before they crashed and in the buildings as they were burning called their loved ones on cell phones to bid them farewell. One young man called his wife and told her that they were devising a plan to take over the hijackers. He told her he loved her and to take care of their little daughter. Then he hung up. The plane disintegrated into the ground at over 500 mph. There is story after story of wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters all waiting on their loved ones to come home. But sadly, the waiting is over. Those who are unaccounted for have perished. America has felt the evil hand of terrorism.

Why would God allow so many innocent lives to be destroyed? It is cause for the Christian to do some inner reflection. Since we know that all things go through the hands of God, why would He allow this? It is probably no specific judgment on those who perished. But maybe it is judgment on a country that continually kills so many by abortion. America aborts an estimated 1.3 million babies a year (that is 170 abortions an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year). Will God be mocked? Will God forever turn His head as the innocent blood of these babies cries out from the ground, just as Abel's did in Genesis 4:10? And can society have some of the same morals as Sodom and Gomorrah and be blessed? Of course we will be held accountable as a nation for these evil practices. But who among us knows which events are judgments and which are not? Who of us, unless we have had a revelation from God, can know that this specific event is a judgment from God? I think we need to be careful in that regard. I think of Job 13:9, "Will it be well when He searches you out?" Where is the nation that has not sinned terribly and its people carried out sin? All nations seem bent on doing evil. And maybe the question isn't so much about the government and rulers, but the question is for the Christians and the Church. Has the Church impacted the culture or has the culture impacted the Church? Where are the righteous in the land?