9 – 11 – WILL WE CONNECT THE DOTS?
by Flip Benham
“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed-without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1.
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic was given at least seven different warnings that large ice-burgs filled the North Atlantic Ocean through which she was traveling. Believing however that she was unsinkable, and desiring to make record time across the Atlantic, Captain Smith increased her speed. The warnings went unheeded.
In 1938, Neville Chamberlain proclaimed, “Peace in our time,” as he surrendered Czechoslovakia to appease the Nazi regime. Winston Churchill warned time and again that Hitler would not be appeased, but must be destroyed. His warnings went unheeded and the world was plunged into war.
America has been warned in horrific ways that if she continues on her path, she too will be destroyed without remedy. Will we heed the warnings?
9-11 was a strong warning (rebuke) from God to America. Unfortunately, how we remember and memorialize this tragedy will be left in the hands of the media. Will they ever get it right? They missed it the first time. Can we expect them to get it right now? Oh, they will come up with some moving documentaries, interviews, and pictures of that day coupled with soft music that will make us all cry. Not a hard thing to do considering the magnitude of this national catastrophe.
They will cover the ceremonies, songs, flag-waving speeches, and prayers that will turn our hearts back to an America of not so long ago. I’m sure we’ll sing one more agonizing stanza of “God Bless America.”Please! The stories of heroism will abound, and rightly so, for ordinary Americans did so many extraordinary things.
Of one thing we can be certain – the first anniversary of 9-11 will be left on a positive note. This is the ubiquitous “must” that will pervade every newscast, talk-show, speech, and prayer. We will not see again the body parts that filled the streets underneath the World Trade Center. We will not see the people waving sheets and flags from the windows and jumping from the buildings. No more human carnage. What we will see is a sanitized version of 9-11, with none of the graphic horror that filled the airwaves that day.
Why? So that we can, as quickly as possible, escape the traumatizing and graphic message God is sending and get back to normal as soon as possible. In so doing, however, we are ignoring the warning.
I am not just talking about the liberal media coverage (CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, etc.) with its blind, self-serving bias and visceral animus toward God. I am talking about the media as a whole, including conservative and Christian media coverage (FOX News, CBN, TBN, conservative talk radio, Christian talk radio, etc.). The utter failure to see, comprehend, and portray the obvious truth of what has happened to our nation is startling!
God Himself is judging our nation! Make no mistake about it! Let those who have eyes to see, see and those who have ears to hear, hear. The last thing we need is another “feel good” remembrance. America has been weighed in the scales and found wanting. We have expelled God from school, banished Him from the schoolyard, ripped His Ten Commandments from the walls, removed Him from the workplace, and told Him that He has no place in our government – separation of church and state, you know. And yet, we have the colossal gall to ask Him to bless America.” Do we think He has lost His mind?
We have made it abundantly clear that, at this point in our national history, we don’t need Him. He, however, is making it abundantly clear that we do!
Blood is coursing down the corridors of our schools, workplaces, and streets. We have sown bloodshed in the womb and we are reaping its horrible harvest in our streets. Over 45 million children have been killed by abortion in this nation and their blood is crying out to God for an accounting. The accounting has come. God has not been silent! Unfortunately, we have been very slow to hear His voice. “…Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.” Ezekiel 35:6b.
Yes, bloodshed will pursue us when we shed blood in the womb. Let’s connect the dots between the slaughter of over 45 million children and the incredible wave of violence that is sweeping across the landscape of America. God is graphically illustrating the fact that if a nation sows bloodshed in the womb, it will reap bloodshed in the streets.
Kids are killing kids in our nation’s schools without a whimper of conscience. When we teach our kids how to kill a child to solve the problem of an “unwanted pregnancy,” we should not be surprised when they apply that solution to other problems. If your girlfriend dumps you, or friends treat you badly, or you find yourself in a school where nobody likes you – kill them! Bloodshed is pursuing America.
We have so devalued life in the womb that murder has become the solution for almost every problem we face. Earth becoming overpopulated? Kill the children. Getting too old to live a quality life? Kill the old. Left a witness at the scene of the crime? Kill the witness. Don’t like your fellow worker? Kill him. Got a child with Down Syndrome? Kill the child. Bloodshed is pursuing America.
This bloodshed and violence is the inevitable result of casting God behind our backs. It is the epitome of godlessness and selfishness. “It’s all about me! I kill others to make it better for me.” We, in America, have declared that there is no God, no standard, and no absolute truth apart from us. We have become a law unto ourselves. We have removed God from our society and are suffering the horrible consequences of our foolish arrogance. Bloodshed is pursuing America and we are powerless to stop it. Bloodshed is pursuing America and we are powerless to stop it.
This violence is the enemy destroying us from within, now we turn to an enemy bent on destroying us from without – Islam! Let’s connect the dots between the slaughter of over 55 million children in the womb and the fact that 19 men with box cutters brought this nation to its knees. Who could have imagined before 9-11 that 19 guys could have done such damage to our nation and our national psyche? It would have been considered unbelievable. It still is!
But God has not been silent about the slaughter of His unborn children. “”I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.”” Leviticus 26:17. Islam is that enemy God has allowed to be raised up to bring His rebuke to America. Bloodshed is pursuing us.
On 9-8-01, nineteen Christians were arrested on the sidewalk in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. They were there to appeal to President Bush for the lives of children frozen in petri dishes in medical labs throughout this nation. During the summer of 2001, the President had signed into law, governmental support and financing for “Embryonic Stem Cell Research.” Though he limited its scope and the number of stem cell lines to be used, he opened the door for research on the most defenseless, voiceless child of all – the child in the dish! God was not silent about this sin!
He brought His warning through the 19 gentle Christians who knelt on the sidewalk of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They prayed that God would bring repentance into the heart of our President. For the first time in our nation’s history, a “Christian” President legitimized the devil’s argument that human life is relative and not sacred. Mr. Clinton may have railed against the standard of the sanctity of life, but it was President Bush who legitimized the relative nature of human life: “You can experiment on these children, but you can’t experiment on those.” This was the last straw!
Before they were arrested, a District of Columbia policeman addressed the group and said, “This is your third and final warning.” Upon hearing the “third and final warning,” one of them, Bible in hand, stood and proclaimed, “No, America, this is your third and final warning!” He then read from Deuteronomy 32:25: “In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. Young men and young women will perish, infants and gray-haired men.”
For three days this prophetic witness was proclaimed from the noisy streets of our nation’s capital during the week preceding 9-11. Warning after prophetic warning was issued at various governmental gates by men of God. They were calling for congressmen, cabinet members, our President, and anyone who would listen to repent of the killing of children in the womb and in the dish, and turn to God. Many times the words were proclaimed, “We’ve sown bloodshed in the womb and we shall soon reap bloodshed in the streets. America, turn to Jesus!” The warning went unheeded.
The tragic fulfillment of this prophetic witness came three days later on 9-11. Airplanes filled with precious human lives crashed into buildings, also filled with precious human lives, because 19 men serving a false god did not value those lives. Islam believes that human life is valuable only inasmuch as it submits to Allah and his prophet Mohammed. Yes, according to Islam, the value of human life is relative. If it is not in submission to Allah, it can and should be killed. Sound familiar? We are reaping the horrible consequences of what we have sown. Bloodshed is pursuing America.
God has not been silent! But we have not listened to His voice and the media has done its best to cover it up. It is only because He loves us that we have not been totally annihilated. “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” Romans 2:4. He is calling us to return to Him – not to return to the days before 9-11. He is calling us to REPENT!
God’s message to America – REPENT! Not remember, not reflect, but REPENT!
God spoke through His prophet Isaiah to the nation of Israel, “…In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15.
Like America today, Israel did not believe that she was the one who needed to repent. She tried to fix her problems by building alliances and buying her way out of the consequences God had brought upon her. Of course these consequences had come because she had turned her back Him. He had more disaster, however, than her little government had relief. Israel was destroyed as a nation because she refused to heed His warnings and repent. God Himself had become her enemy (Isaiah 63:10).
History is a good teacher. We would do well to heed its lessons. It is an absurdity to ask God to bless America, when we have killed over 45 million of His children and are bent on killing even more. He is calling us to repent of this heinous slaughter.
There is no alliance that will rescue us from the enemies His wrath will bring. There is no amount of money that will buy His favor. There is no new technology that will remedy the calamities of His anger. There is only repentance!
The media cannot and will not connect the dots of God’s message to America on 9-11. It has neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear. It is up to us then, who do have eyes to see and ears to hear, to connect the dots.Let the connecting begin!
“…if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Flip Benham
