Please read, what I consider to be the most sound words I've heard all week from any Christian about the tragedy:

In Christ's Image Weekly Message /   Personal letters from Francis Frangipane
September 13th & 22nd, 2001

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Dear Beloved Friends and Family,

The events of recent days have been staggering, like nothing else in most
of our lifetimes. We are in a new world, one that is significantly darker,
significantly more unstable; but we are not trapped in a world without
God. Indeed, the promise of the Lord remains true, though "darkness will
cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise
upon you, and His glory will appear upon you." The outcome of this
emergence of divine glory in the midst of terrible darkness, is that
"nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
rising" (Isaiah 60:1-3).

So, while we are called to pass through this valley of weeping, ahead of
us is the glory of God. Indeed, even now the glory of the Lord is rising.
There has never been more prayer ascending from Americans. Catholics and
Lutherans, Baptists and Pentecostals - millions are meeting in cathedrals,
churches, storefronts and homes turning to God in prayer.

Peter Jennings, anchor for ABC News, said "Prayer . . . is becoming the
fabric of life in America." Prayer vigils in hundreds of cities, in the
national Capitol, in streets and hospitals are purifying the soul of our
nation. Steve Case, president of AOL-Time Warner, wrote,
". . . while no country is perfect, our country is the beacon of freedom
and democracy and there is much to be proud of; and that while that
freedom includes freedom to practice many forms of religion -- and indeed
the freedom to practice no religion -- our founding fathers put their
trust in God, and perhaps we should as well. I hope people of all faiths
and all walks of life were comforted to see members of Congress on the
steps of the Capitol last night singing "God Bless America" and to see
both houses of Congress begin their sessions with prayer this morning."

Our president quoted the twenty-third psalm in his Tuesday night speech:
Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no
evil, for You are with us. For these things alone, let us be thankful.
Yet, God has been doing more. Even in the midst of trauma, many, many
miracles of grace are being documented. Virtue and character are being
forged and multitudes are closer to God and each other.

There are those who, undoubtedly, will see this as the wrath of God
released against our nation, going so far as to consider the destruction
of the World Trade Center as the "fall of Babylon."  While scriptural
images are indeed similar - "the smoke of her burning" and kings and
merchants "mourning" - let us not leap into presumption. Those Christians
who are old enough might recall the Chernobyl disaster in Russia.
Prophecies circuited throughout the body of Christ that said this was the
fulfillment of Rev 8, where a fallen star called "Wormwood" poisons a
third of the earth. Besides being false, instead of praying for the
Russian people, we stood back and analyzed what we thought would be the
effect.

I do not believe that what happened on September 11th is a fulfillment of
Revelation 17 and 18. In the opening and closing statements of these two
chapters, in the summary thoughts, Babylon is described as a "woman drunk
with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of
Jesus" (Rev 17:6). In the concluding thought, God promises to judge her
because, "In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all
who have been slain on the earth" (Rev 18:24).

Across the harbor from the world trade center is the Stature of Liberty:
the world symbol of freedom. America Christians have enjoyed unprecedented
liberty. No. This attack was not the judgment of God against America, but
the attack of the enemy because of our stand with Israel. Those who struck
America have been outspoken against this nation because of our loyalty and
defense of the Jews.

There will be those who ask, "What about God's promise, that those who
bless Israel would be blessed?" This event is not over, beloved. The Lord
also promises, "Your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before
you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you
seven ways" (Deut. 28:7). The Lord does not say we will not have enemies.
He doesn't say our enemies will not strike. His promise is that, when they
attack, they will be utterly routed and, in the place of the attack will
be a sevenfold blessing.

We are already seeing greater prayer and greater unity all across America.
Our allies show of support has been deeply touching. But another blessing
that will arise is, instead of this assault causing us to back off from
Israel, with our tears we are purchasing greater oneness with Israel. We
can pray with greater understanding, greater passion because we, too, have
experienced this demonic terrorism.

One more promise to claim is that, because of this very event, there be a
great exodus of souls from Islam. The despicableness of these events will
cause many moderate and reasonable Muslims to be deeply ashamed and they
will flee Islam. Thus, we need to pray for the Arab community, and reach
to them during this time. They will undoubtedly expect rejection and
receive persecution, but let us determine to reveal Christ to them. I am
standing in faith that, for every American who died in this assault,
100,000 Muslims will turn to Christ and be saved. My prayer is that they,
in turn, will eventually lead countless millions to the Lord .

Beloved, in this time of heartache and trial, let us comfort one another,
assured that God is causing all things to work for good.  Let us not think
that the Lord, who knew this was about to happen, was aloof from it. There
were tears in the eyes of God. Even now, His glory is rising on our land.
A great turning to the Almighty is occurring. Nations shall come to our
light and kings to the brightness of our rising.

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PRAYER ARMY ARISE!

Many are questioning whether or not the September 11th terrorist act
against America was actually a manifestation of the wrath of God or the
fury of Satan that struck our land? That we should even be confused seems
strange, considering that the Lord and Satan stand at opposite moral
extremes. However, Satan specializes in sowing confusion, and into
confusion, deception comes. Indeed, the devil typically authors some
heinous crime and then deceives people, causing them to blame God for the
destruction and heartache.

Beloved, there is nothing more crucial to our spiritual, physical and
emotional well-being than our concept of God. Everything in life springs
from truly knowing God and embracing His ways. Thus, whenever there is
confusion, we must return to basic truth, and nothing is more basic than
this: the Lord is good; the devil is bad. If we drift from this
foundation, we will inevitably present to the world around us a false,
angry image of the Almighty.

In the midst of calamity, it is God who "causes all things to work
together for good . . ." (Rom 8:28a). The very fact that God must enter
reality and cause something to work for good reveals that there are other
"causes" which have evil origins working in our world. Whether we consider
the Jewish Holocaust or even the crucifixion of Christ Himself, the evil
clearly came from Satan, but the good which came out of it came from God.
We must not get the two confused.

Consider the story of Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery and
assumed he died there. Yet, the Lord used the evil of Joseph's
circumstances to demonstrate that nothing can thwart His plan or His
sovereignty.  Joseph's analysis of his life is a clear picture of the life
conflict between good and evil.  He assured his brothers, "You meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20).  The Hebrew word
translated "meant" literally translated means "to weave" or "fabricate."
The Spirit of God descended into the injustice and used what was contrived
to destroy Joseph to perfect him. God did not author the evil, He redeemed
it and wove the treachery into a majestic plan for good.

Current Arguments

But one might debate, "But God is holy. America has sinned and needs to be
punished." I ask, what does "holy" mean, that God is cruel?"   Does
holiness mean severe? The Lord's holiness is the composite of all His
other attributes. He cannot be "holy" without simultaneously remaining the
universal source of unrelenting love, infinite goodness, unfathomable
wisdom and unfailing justice. Holiness is not something distinct from
God's other characteristics; it is the sum of them.

The argument continues, "The Almighty is a God of judgment."  Yes, He is.
Judgment means "justice" and speaks of God's verdict, His unbiased
analysis of every situation. Isaiah tells us that "when the earth
experiences Thy judgments the inhabitants of the world learn
righteousness" (Isa 26:9). We assume Isaiah means wrath, but he does not.
He is speaking of God's great wisdom and justice.

The Lord is fair, even when punishing for sin. He is not capricious or
indiscriminately violent, as were the pagan gods of the heathen nations.
The repeated pattern in the Scriptures is that, when the Lord does
exercise His wrath, He does not destroy the righteous with the wicked.
Consider Noah, Lot and Jeremiah, three godly men who serve as prime
examples of God's ways during times of wrath. All were rescued and
preserved. Or consider when Jesus warned His followers that, when they saw
Jerusalem surrounded by her enemies, to flee to the mountains (Luke
21:20-21). Over and over the Lord's heart seeks to preserve the righteous,
His beloved, during times of wrath. The Scripture states plainly that God
"has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation" (1 Thess 5).
Indeed, the very rapture itself tells us that God seeks to separate and
protect His own.

Forgive me for laboring, but to say that Jesus Christ strikes the
righteous with the wicked is a gross misrepresentation of His character.
In the parable of the wheat and tares, when asked if the tares should be
uprooted, Jesus replied, "No; lest while you are gathering up the tares,
you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the
harvest . . . " (Matt 13:29-30).  The Lord is willing to allow evil to
exist side by side with good rather than risk accidently uprooting the
good with the evil! This is God's heart. There were many Christians who
died in the Twin Towers, Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, thus I do not
believe God was acting out His wrath against America.  I'm not saying we
don't deserve it, but that this is not the wrath of the Almighty.  When
the righteous do die with the wicked, with very limited exceptions, it is
because there is another power at work, one that is either hellish,
manmade or geophysical.


Shall Not God Deal Justly?

Abraham understood the fairness of divine justice. As a result, when God
was about to destroy Sodom, Abraham boldly prayed, "Far be it from Thee to
do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the
righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not
the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" (Gen 18:25).  If we cannot say,
"Far be it from Thee . . . to slay the righteous with the wicked" then we
do not know God as Abraham knew Him. The Judge of the whole earth,
according to the Bible, deals justly. He will not slay the righteous with
the wicked.

When the Lord does release His anger, it is not indiscriminate, but
measured and just. He plainly says, "The person who sins will die. The son
will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the
father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of
the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will
be upon himself"  (Ezek 18:20).

People have said, "God is judging America for its sins, for the flood of
pornography, drug abuse, violence and abortion coming from this nation."
This argument amazes me. I doubt that there was one pornographer that died
at the World Trade Center. There were no abortion clinics there. Indeed,
many who died in the attacks were Christians. It is as though people are
saying, "To teach pornographers, abortionists and adulterers a lesson, God
killed and wounded business people, tourists and rescuers in New York."
How can we believe that God, while justly angry with pornographers in LA,
would strike soldiers and airline passengers at the Pentagon?  Not only is
such thinking fundamentally skewed, it actually describes the mind of the
terrorists, who will destroy people who are unrelated to the issues which
inflame them.

So, if you are confused by the myriad of prophecies that the terrorist act
was actually God's judgment upon modern Babylon, then you need to return
to basics: the Lord is good, the devil is bad. God did not cause,
authorize or condone these terrorist acts. I am not saying the Lord will
never deal with America's sin in His anger, only that when God judges
Babylon He will not hire a terrorist to do it. This devastation was an
attack from the devil, whom Jesus said, "comes to steal, kill and destroy"
(John 8). If God allowed it (or foresaw it but didn't stop it), such is
the cost of guaranteeing man a free will. Yes, the Lord watched the
terrorist attack.  However, not only were there tears in His eyes, there
was a promise in His heart. Out of this wounding is coming a great revival
in America.

The Emerging Goodness

So, what is God working?  Consider the two hijacked planes: United and
American. Taking what Satan designed to crush us, God has produced unity,
or "United American[s]." We have asked God for revival, and today churches
are uniting in brokenness, humility and prayer. David Bryant tells us that
there were 10,000 prayer groups meeting in New York before the terrorist
attack; today that number is swelling. News anchors and political analysts
are marveling at the flood of people returning to church and God, some are
even predicting that America is at the threshold of a great spiritual
awakening. Repentance must and will come, but remember, it is "the
kindness of God [that] leads you to repentance" (Rom 2:4).

Yes, in the midst of all our diversity and bickering, a United America is
rising from the rubble and confusion. Though tears may still be in our
eyes, black and white, Baptist and Pentecostal, our arms are around one
another. We are in this together with God.

Many have warned that this attack has awakened a "sleeping giant."   I say
it has awakened a praying giant. When the prayer army in America (and
around the world) stood to intercede during the Gulf War, many were
predicting our military action would lead to Armageddon, one famous pastor
even had a full page ad in USA Today warning the Gulf War would lead to
Armageddon. Instead of the "end of the world," God answered our prayers.
We suffered minimal casualties and the war was over within 100 hours.
Additionally, by some counts, over 100,000 American soldiers gave their
lives to Christ!

Again, we were warned that many American lives would be lost in Kosovo.
Prayer arose and instead NOT ONE American life was lost! Or consider when
the Oklahoma City bombing occurred: prayer instantly rose across this
nation. Remember, as now, we did not know initially who our enemy was, but
we knew Who are God was! Across America we prayed. Incredibly, within
hours of the explosion, McVey was apprehended for a traffic violation.
While the world searched for the perpetrator of this crime, God already
had him arrested and waiting in jail!

So, I say to you: Do not fear the terror that stalks by night, O praying
House of the Lord! This is your hour. Stand with the sword of the Holy
Spirit and pray for America! Throw off your oppression and know that God
is among us to bring great good from this. Your President and national
leaders are praying; your church leaders are seeking God. Do not just
pray, but
BELIEVE IN THE GOODNESS AND POWER OF OUR REDEEMER KING!
Take faith: the Spirit has witnessed that God has set His heart to break
the stronghold of Islam and release many of its captives. It is time to
trust the commission and words of the Son of God. "This gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the
nations, and then the end shall come" (Matt 24:14). The Arab world and
those trapped in Islam shall have a genuine  chance to hear the gospel of
Christ.


One Last Thing

The Revelation of John tells of a great spiritual war in the end times:
"Michael and his angels waging war against the dragon . . . (Rev 12). You
will remember that, in Daniel's time, Michael was revealed as the great
archangel who subdued the "prince [read "principality"] over Persia" (see
Dan 10). This ancient Persian empire extended from the Danube to India.
Today, it is this area in particular that sponsors much of the terrorist
activity we see in the world. Listen well, the first person to be
identified as a fatality at the WTC was Father Mychal Judge, a Catholic
priest. (Mychal is "Michael").  There is an insight in his name, and even
a direction we should take in spiritual warfare: "Father, [send] Michael
[to] Judge [Your enemies]."

Lord, we ask that You descend into this battle and bring great goodness
out of it -- let the world see you as exalted and mighty, as good and
merciful. We also ask that You use this to bring repentance and a national
awakening to our land. Send Michael, the chief prince of the people of
Israel and the archangel who leads Your heavenly hosts into battle; yes,
send him against our foes and Yours. We are helpless without You, but
come, O Lord, and reveal Your goodness and power to the nations. In Jesus'
name.
S

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"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 heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14