America Remembers Sept.11, 2001

The United States of America
as a nation,
personifies more than ever before,
a strong faith in Our Creator.

We thank and remember, with honor and love,
the heroes that gave their lives for us,
September 11, 2001,
and we pray for their families
with appreciation and love.

"JESUS HELP ME"

The Faith of Todd Beamer

"I don't think we're going to get out of this thing.
I'm going to have to go out on faith."

It was the voice of Todd Beamer, the passenger ...
and Wheaton College graduate ... who said,
"Let's roll!"
as he led the charge against the terrorists
who had hijacked United Flight 93,
the one, you will remember, that crashed
in the Pennsylvania countryside.

The whole world knows how brave Beamer
and his fellow passengers were
on September 11th.
But this week, we learned more fully
what buttressed that bravery:

FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.

Todd died as he lived: a faithful evangelical believer.

In an article entitled,
"The Real Story of Flight 93,"
Newsweek reveals gripping new details
from the actual transcripts of
the now-recovered cockpit voice recorder.
"Todd had been afraid," Newsweek relates.
"More than once, he cried out for his Savior."

After passengers were herded to the back of the jet,
Beamer called the GTE Customer Center in Oakbrook, Illinois .
He told supervisor Lisa Jefferson about the hijacking.
The passengers were planning to jump the terrorists, he said.
And then he asked her to pray with him.

As Newsweek relates:
"Beamer kept a Lord's Prayer bookmark
in his Tom Clancy novel,
but he didn't need any prompting.
He began to recite the ancient litany,
and Jefferson joined him:
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name."
As they finished, Beamer added,

"Jesus, help me."

And then, Beamer and his fellow passengers
prayed a prayer that has comforted millions
down through the centuries.
The prayer that David wrote
in a time of great anguish:

..."The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ...
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil"...

And then the famous last words:
"Are you guys ready? Let's roll!"

We now know from the cockpit voice recorder
that Beamer and other passengers
wrestled with the hijackers
and forced the plane to crash into the ground,
killing themselves but foiling
what was believed to have been
the hijackers' plan to fly Flight 93
into the Capitol or the White House.

As Christians, we know
that God can bring good out of evil.
In Todd Beamer, the world witnessed a faith
that held up in the extremity of fear.
A faith that is even now comforting
his widow Lisa,and two young sons.

Lisa Beamer told NBC's Dateline,
"You know, in the Lord's Prayer,
it asks us to forgive our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
As Todd prayed this prayer
in the last moments of his life,
in a way," Lisa said,
"He was forgiving those people
for what they were doing,
the most horrible thing
you could ever do to someone."

It wasn't Todd Beamer's job to fight terrorists.
He was just a passenger,
who along with several others, did what he didn't have to do
but foiled a terrible evil
that might have been done to his country.

As Flight 93 hurtled towards destruction,
Todd Beamer could not have known
that his quiet prayers
would ultimately be heard by millions ...
that the story of his last acts on earth
would be a witness to the Lord he loved and served
and a lasting example of true heroism.

PRAY
* * *

"The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures you let me graze;
to safe waters You lead me;
you restore my strength.

You guide me along the right path
for the sake of Your name.

Even when I walk through a dark valley,
I fear no harm for You are at my side;
Your rod and staff give me courage.

You set a table before me
as my enemies watch;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and love will pursue me
all the days of my life;
I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for years to come."

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Updated 9/2004

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