September 11th, 2001 - "9/11" - TODAY is the Day of Salvation

SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001.

Everyone in the United States who is old enough to have memories from that day eight years ago will, of course, never forget where you were and what you felt on that morning. As a Staff here at Weigh Down, we not only will never forget running to our Conference Room, turning on the TV (REMEMBER that in 2001...while the Internet was up and running and growing in popularity and use, it wasn't the "first thing you ran to" for breaking news...YET), and witnessing with JAWS DROPPED as the SECOND plane hit the tower...then, the shock of seeing each tower COLLAPSE in SECONDS. Never before or since has something so IMPACTFUL (of an accident and/or disaster-type scenario) been witnessed, captured, and BROADCASTED LIVE, played out right before our eyes, in such a worldwide, public fashion.

You may be of the age of remembering the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, or the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, or the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan. These events, covered worldwide and incredibly impactful, DIDN'T though PHYSICALLY IMPACT so MANY people...right on the spot...in the most famous city in the world...with so much uncertainty as to WHAT was happening and WHY...and with such INSTANTANEOUS COVERAGE...as 9/11/2001 in New York City.

How have you changed since then? A radio DJ this morning in Nashville talked about witnessing "people being more kind" and "changing" for few days after that day...but the DJ's comments were SAD and TELLING as she went on to say that "like always," life moved on and people went back to their old ways. True...sad...and absolutely WRONG before GOD. He has spent SO MUCH TIME trying to lovingly, mercifully, gently teach us that HIS ways are better...that HIS boundaries fall in "pleasant places"...that SALVATION is a DAILY RELATIONSHIP where HE is the GOD and we are NOT...that we are NOT "once saved, always saved." Like the Apostle PAUL said in his letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2:12-13...

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

Continue...working...SALVATION...fear...trembling.

There was PLENTY of "fear and trembling" on that day and for a few days afterwards. Gwen wrote VOLUMES about that experience. In Weigh Down Advanced, written and filmed months BEFORE 9/11/2001, she WARNED that America needed to REPENT, change its ways, RETURN to GOD and His beautiful commands. She told anyone who would LISTEN that our sin was INCREASING and that throughout history, GOD had allowed other nations to invade and attack His people when they STRAYED from His commands, became COMPLACENT, and stopped loving Him FIRST. Then...9/11/2001...IT HAPPENED. Gwen has continued, tirelessly and with great URGENCY, to teach and share the GOOD NEWS that we CAN change! We CAN learn from such events to RUN to GOD! TODAY is the day of SALVATION. You CAN and MUST return to this beautiful combination of love and fear and trembling before GOD. It is a WONDERFUL, HUMBLE place to be...a RIGHT and HEALTHY and BLESSED state of mind, heart, and action. It is "working out your salvation" in the way Paul instructed us to do. Tomorrow is NOT guaranteed for ANY of us. Let's NOT fulfill those words spoken by the Nashville DJ (although she is RIGHT about the way most people are...) Let's INSTEAD listen and read and watch what Gwen is pouring out through this Ministry. THOSE WORDS are TRUE and can help you STAY CHANGED! 9/11/2009...Make TODAY and EVERY day...another day of pursuing this SALVATION with EVERYTHING you've GOT. We actually will talk about this TODAY on WDWB LIVE at 3:30pm CST in our weekly visit with TEDD ANGER. He actually was IN downtown Manhattan ON THAT DAY. It will be a time of introspection, memories, and a CHARGE to RUN FORWARD with this Message of change! We hope you'll join us.

HISTORY - The Decisions that Affect it & What We Remember Over Time

QUICK QUIZ - Think about some of the most MEMORABLE, MOMENTOUS, HISTORIC occasions and events, with nationwide or worldwide significance in your life...depending upon your AGE. Some will apply to you and others may not. Where were you when the news broke or "that" happened?.......

• The Space Shuttle CHALLENGER exploded in mid-air, killing all on board...
• The first bombings in the first Gulf War were announced...
• England's Princess Diana died in a car crash while fleeing pursuing paparazzi...
• President John F. Kennedy, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., Senator Robert Kennedy were assassinated (all within a six-year span)...
• Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital and soon after pronounced dead...
• Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson abruptly announced his retirement from the NBA'S Los Angeles Lakers (while still near the peak of his career), revealing that he was HIV positive...
• Basketball's NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets (and really many of the major networks TV schedules) were interrupted by news helicopters following OJ Simpson's white Ford Bronco down a California highway...
• 9/11/2001 - New York City...

The list could go on and on...regarding events that, for the rest of your life, you'll ALWAYS "remember where you were." What is interesting to ponder and LEARN from about this list and any list you might make on your own is that such events can so OFTEN revolve around death, tragedy, the END of something...a life or many lives, an era, a WAY of life, a sense of innocence...So let's ponder some more...What DECISION(S) could have affected the outcomes of any of those events? What about in YOUR life? As you reflect upon momentous occasions in your life, what DECISION(S) led to that FOREVER-MEMORABLE (positive or negative) EVENT? Looking back on the NEGATIVE or TRAGIC, can you now see the point in time when you took the WRONG turn...the wrong FORK...in the road? For the POSITIVE and BLESSED memories, can you now see the point in time when you made the RIGHT, maybe even very DIFFICULT decision(s) that led to a FULFILLING, blessed, rewarding outcome that now lives in your HISTORY and your LEGACY? You'd do it ALL OVER AGAIN...even as TOUGH as it might have seemed at the time.

DECISIONS...even split-second ones...made in the heat of the moment, in the thick of battle, at the time when you choose between what is right and maybe difficult VERSUS what is wrong and maybe seemingly easier...change the course of HISTORY! We've talked about CONSEQUENCES and leaving a LEGACY in earlier Blogs. Think about HISTORY in Biblical accounts. Look at the difference between the REGRET of someone having to feel like, "Oh...if ONLY I had..." VERSUS the VICTORY and BLESSING of feeling like, "I'm so GLAD I...even as DIFFICULT as it was!..."

"I'm so GLAD I..."

• "I'm so GLAD I..." - Abraham with Isaac - He was willing to let go of his only son, by his own hand, at GOD'S request. He is remembered forever, HONORED by GOD, as the father of many nations, the "rock from which we are hewn" (those who DO GOD'S will).
• "I'm so GLAD I..." - David versus Goliath - Even the "cliche" lives on in ALL of society. An "underdog" standing up in RIGHTEOUSNESS versus a bigger, ill-bent enemy...is referenced as a "David versus Goliath" story. David confronted EVIL with the Hand and Strength and Blessing of GOD ALMIGHTY. He did NOT COWER like others around him did. VICTORY and BLESSING and HONOR was given by GOD...and GOD was glorified!
• "I'm so GLAD I..." - JESUS CHRIST - Innocent, falsely accused, abandoned by friends, KNOWING His destiny - "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." - Luke 22:42 - Jesus sits at the Right Hand of the ALMIGHTY GOD...with ALL authority in heaven and on earth...under GOD'S own authority...granted to Him...prayers answered by GOD in Jesus' Name.
• "I'm so GLAD I..." - Gwen Shamblin, at one time when challenged by others to CHANGE what she believed about the ESSENCE of GOD and His Son JESUS Christ, was told, "If you don't CHANGE your statement...your belief that GOD and Jesus are SEPARATE beings...your ministry will crumble!" (And by the way, you can read for yourself what she has written about this by clicking HERE...) Her response - "You think I've EVER done ANY of this for MONEY or for ANY other reason than to glorify and honor GOD? May this ministry CRUMBLE before I EVER will DENY that GOD is GOD...and Jesus is His One and Only SON!" We are SO glad she made THAT DECISION! For it has CONTINUED to change, improve, even SAVE lives to this very DAY at an unprecedented rate!

"OH...if ONLY I had..."

• "Oh...if ONLY I had..." - In the FIRST FAMILY, Cain had the opportunity to respond to GOD'S kind and clear direction - "Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." - Genesis 4:6-7...He later MURDERED his brother Abel. OH, if he ONLY had heeded GOD'S gentle words...
• "Oh...if ONLY I had..." - The Prophet Jeremiah, time and time again, WARNED King Zedekiah NOT to trust in his non-Spirit-led advisors who prophesied "peace" and "victory" for him and for Israel. Jeremiah TRIED to convince him that GOD had decreed disaster and a time of slavery for the Israelites at the hands of the Babylonians. Zedekiah COULD have averted MUCH MORE death and pain...even the death of his OWN SONS...all at ONE TIME! He IGNORED Jeremiah. He was blinded, taken into captivity, and Jeremiah was FREED by the conquering Babylonians.
• "Oh...if ONLY I had..." - The first-century church...right after Jesus ascended back into heaven. ANANIAS and his wife SAPPHIRA, part of that original group of Christians, sold a piece of land and LIED to the Apostles about how much they were giving. It was the GREED and attempted DECEPTION...that led to BOTH of them being struck down. If ONLY...

Even ONE decision can CHANGE the course of HISTORY.

UPDATE - TOMORROW (Wednesday, September 2nd 2009) on WDWB LIVE, we will reflect upon and discuss HISTORY...and how we can HOLD ONTO the "big picture perspective" in the middle of difficult tests. We'll discuss "counting the costs"...and doing what is RIGHT...rather that what would seem to be EASY. The BLESSINGS, as HISTORY tells us, can be ETERNAL! We hope you'll join us for that segment on WEDNESDAY at 3:30pm CST!

For TODAY (Tuesday, September 1st 2009), we will air an ENCORE presentation of WDWB LIVE...specifically our segment originally aired on Wednesday, August 19th 2009...a time of TESTIMONY and DISCUSSION with CHRIS ANCONA about the beautiful concept of "AUTHORITY." We hope you'll join us for that powerful and convicting presentation.