Where were you during the September 11th attacks?

Many people have, is, and will be reflecting on this "infamous" day. As I write this on Monday, March 6th 2002 (6 months since the attacks) watching "9/11 Remembered" telecast special on televsion, I still remembered how the 9/11/01 developed=>

I was getting off from work (Ravenwood Home-group home for disabled handicapped adults) after my early 6-9am shift. I had to get some groceries at the local Willies in Morris, MN. As I was walking around, I notice immediately the thick air of tension and sadness. When I got up to the cash registrar, I did my usual "Minnesota Friendly" greeting, "Good Morning", and the lady at the cash registrar said, "Oh, it's not really a good morning". I then look up to her with a confusion, and she told me "oh, you haven't heard...a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in N.Y." (paraphrasing). I immediately turned my radio in my blazer to MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) and heard the sad news. I arrived home around 9:15am and my roommate-Juan told me the news. I asked, "How did you know?". He told me Dan Specht (former roommate that lives now in Fargo, ND) called after he got up earlier because God told him to get on his knees and pray. Juan said, "I wasn't sure what to pray for, so I started to pray". In my heart and mind, I thought it was God intervening at this moment. Juan and I continued to listen to the live reports going on in the East coast of the U.S. (plane crashed in the World Trade Center, another crashed into the Pentagon, and a couple other crashes later on that morning). I couldn't stand hearing it on radio, which I wanted to see it with my own eyes on television. I then went over to my neighbors (3 apartment same level house) and asked if they got their television on. They told me they don't have t.v.,which I briefly shared the sad news to them. I went back to my house and ask Juan if he wanted to go with me to the Student Center T.V. Lounge to watch the live broadcast of all these events. We watched the events unfold at the UMM Campus: Student Center T.V. Lounge (basement) with many others (faculty, staff, students) as everybody's eyes were glued to the t.v. set with silence, despair, and pesimistic anticipation on what else might happen.

A friend from my local church came down to the t.v. lounge with already printed pamphlets about a prayer tonight at Living Waters (local community ministry center) and asked me if I could help with a last minute evangelism outreach ("Are you ready?") on the Campus Mall at noon. I was a little hesitant to not do it, but I wanted to help with the "End Harvest Evangelism" outreach (thinking eternal).

We stood in the middle of the campus passing out flyers with my boombox playing some praise & worship music (Skillet) in the background. My friend stood on a landscape stage preaching about "Are you ready?"

I had to work at the group home in town (3-10p), which I wasn't really up to working. However, it feels good to be with folks that I can call "family" as I've been working there about 2 years now during these times. The staff was a little down too, but we had to pick ourselves up and focus on our work. We talked together before the consumers/residents of the group home arrived. One of the consumers kept on mentioning "plane crash", which was obvious they knew what was currently going on. To focus on our work, we decided to shut the televsion off and really got together closely spending quality time.

I went home and talked more about the todays events with my roommates. I would later found out that over hundred people from the campus/community came for a prayer vigil at the Campus Mall that evening.

Final thoughts: It's really sad that events like these have to happen to get families or communities come together. I really value the relationships (family, friends, acquaintances from work/school/ etc...) I have now because you do not know when they will be taken away from your life like a "blink of an eye".

Prayer Unity Links:

Here are some links as a tribute to 9-11-01:

World Trade Center in N.Y.C

Below were some FAQ's about 9-11.01, here are some thoughtful answers to ponder about=>

Q: How could a "loving" God let something like this happen?"

"Finally, The Truth on National TV"

Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" And Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.

She said "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"

I know there's been a lot of emails going around in regards to 9/11/01, but this really makes you think. If you don't have time, at least skim through it, but the bottom line is something to think about...In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.

Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body was found recently) complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school...the Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.

Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide) And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said, OK.

Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued (There's big difference between disciplining and touching, beating, smacking,humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we said, OK.

Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, OK.

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, OK.

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said, OK.

And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the internet. And we said OK, they're entitled to their free speech.

And then the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity,violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.

I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

"Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl killed in her classroom?" Sincerely, Concerned Student... AND THE REPLY "Dear Concerned Student, I am not allowed in schools". Sincerely, God.

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.

Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan who, by the way, also "believes" in God.

Funny how we are quick to judge but not to be judged. Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them. Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Are you thinking?

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it....no one will know that you did. But, if you discard this thought process, then don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in!

Other E-mail Forwards on 9/11

$20 Bill Commemorative 9/11

Other Links:

STATE

NATION

What now?

What have you or are you going to do now after this event? Are you going to just continue living the life you were before this event? What can we learn from this event-individually, as a nation, and as citizens/Christians of this world?

If you ask me, I ponder about-Why God might have let this happend? I feel our nation (capitalitic, greedy, self-centered) brought this event to ourselves. Yes, it sounds harsh, but we have to go back to history. Read the Old Testament! Many of them rebelled and disobeyed God and started to do selfish things that caused God to "let things happen". Also, I want the readers of this to reflect the ingnorant violence that was reported minimally throughout the nation. Many people of Arabic background or thought of were targeted with "hate crimes". I still remember the Asian Indian descent man shot at a gas station down south (I believe Arizona) because he was wearing a turbin on his head. I thought there was going to be a huge race riot in this country targeting any one that "looks like the enemy".

As Christians, I thought this was an "open door" to share the Gospel with anyone with Arabic/Muslim backgound. Instead of pointing our fingers at "them", we can pray for them and "reach out"!

I'm writing this on 9/11/02. I just got off work and I shared with an employee how today is just like a year ago. I was working this exact shift and would work a 3-10p the same day. As I was listening to the radio this morning and the different shows on the "rememberance of 9/11"; I decided to just listen and mourn that unforgettalbe tragedy. Also, I decided to just not forget the hope I have in Jesus that I can trust and depend on Him-no matter what the circumstances are.

I decided to search for more testimonies on how we can thank God. Here are some:

-over 700-800 (?) salvations was recorded at Jim Cymbala's Brooklyn Tabernacle(a church located in New York City) that day.

Here are websites on remebrance:

Flight 11 (WTC Crash)

Flight 93 (Pennsylvania "Heroic" diversion crash)

Other

Ironic 9/11 Links:

more....

My last minute reflections:

Continue to pray and not lose hope in God no matter what the circumstances are tomorrow. As God's promises are in the Bible: "Do not worry about tomorrow...(Matthew 6) and "...it's the Lord's battle" (2 Chronicles 20:15). As Christians, we battle with prayer and let God do it!

As I'm currently writing during a U.S. potential attack on Iraq. I encourage the readers of this to know that the real "enemy" is Satan, not the terrorist, Muslims, or any human being. The two forces here are "good" and "evil" (somewhat like in the popular movie last year "Lord of the Rings")God said we should "love our neighbors" (Matthew 22:37-39) and pray for our enemies (Matthew 5?). Sometimes the enemy is within man when we draw far from God through: anger, temptations, selfishness, greedy, and other acts of sinful nature (Galatians 5:19-21).

Want to do something about what's going on?

I sometimes feel like I need to do something to save the world. But, Jesus already did that when he defeated Satan on the cross. He died for our sins and we just need to acknowlege that with our lips (Romans 10:9); and continue to live in Christ through our lifestyle. Let others who don't know Him see His love through us and then they'll come to that hope and freedom in Christ. The media keeps interrogating the viewers that we need to "fight back" and "retaliate". Instead, we should fight back with prayer and worship (2 Chronicles 20:15-30) as Paul (formerly Saul) states in Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual fordes of evil in the heavenly realms." That's what Satan is trying to do-have God's creation turn against one another (eg. black vs white, rich vs. poor, muslim vs. christianity, etc..). The media tries to get us motivated by saying that "we shouldn't let these terrorist take our freedom away from us. Instead of highlighting "American Pride", we should highlight "Jesus" (who gets all the glory). As Christians, we should get out of our comfort zone and counterattack with prayer on the devils' schemes on taking our freedom in Christ for our eternal reward in a bigger home-Kingdom in Heaven!

"Live day by day"

This morning I woke-up to a dream that I still remember. In my dream I had a visual picture of my love ones (friends, family, etc..). I ask God why you showed this to me. I then remembered what I shared last night during the "Good News Radio Show" (Tuesday @8-10pm on the 10th of September 02'): I ended the show by encouraging listeners to not get up-tight and worried of current political events. Most of the news out there is depressing. Instead of getting influence by it, we should sometimes/most of the times avoid "negative/pessimistic" news. We should live each day to the fullest and thank God who He has blessed you with (friends, family, etc..) There is a movie called "Life is Beautiful" (an Academy Award winner: Best Foreign Film-French) several years ago that a Holocaust-Jewish father and son live the remaining days in prision with joy. That's what we should all do as we do not know what tomorrow brings-especially the times we live in! As I write this, I would've add in the show that we should read the Bible-a book of promises and hope by our Creator/Father! After you read this, please take a minute or more to reflect what are you thankful to God for. If you can write this every day for now on. Then spend sometime with your love ones and tell them how you appreciate them being in your life. Don't forget to talk to God/Father in Heaven and spend time with Him everyday-HE LOVES YOU! (afraid to die?)

Post 9/11 More....

Lindh, who came to Americans' attention in late 2001 as a long-haired, bearded battlefield captive in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty last July to supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during commission of a felony. Each count carries a 10-year sentence.

"Acknowledging that (a.k.a. "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh)-Lindh had sought forgiveness, Ellis said, "Forgiveness is separate from punishment."" (from ABCNews.com on 10/6/02)

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NewsSPORTS News 9/11 Spurred War in Iraq, U.S. Says
6:27 am PST, 10 July 2003

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday the U.S. did not go to war against Iraq because of new weapons of mass destruction programs, but because of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass murder," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "We acted because we saw the existing evidence in a new light, through the prism of our experience on September 11th."

In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr. Rumsfeld defended the war and the U.S. intelligence that led to it, the Washington Times reported.

"The objective in the global war on terror is to prevent another attack like September 11th, or a biological, nuclear or chemical attack that would be worse, before it happens. We can say with confidence that the world is a better place today because the United States led a coalition of forces into action in Iraq," said the defense secretary.

Democrats and other critics on Capitol Hill have claimed the administration overstated the intelligence on Iraq in order to justify going to war.

On Wednesday, a recently retired State Department intelligence official accused the administration of acting on "faith-based intelligence" that "fostered a fundamentally flawed view of reality" and said Iraq had not posed any immediate threat before the war, the paper said.

"The administration did not provide an accurate picture to the American people," said Greg Thielmann, a 25-year Foreign Service professional who retired in the fall. "Iraq posed no immediate threat."

Mr. Rumsfeld, however, defended the intelligence.

"As we've gone through this period, I think the intelligence has been quite good, and I don't think that the fact that there is an instance where something was inaccurate ought to in any way paint a broad brush on the intelligence that we get and suggest that that's a pattern or something; it's just not," he said.

Who are the Terrorists?

As I'm watching President Bush's State of the Union Speech (Tuesday, January 20th 2004), he reports about the terrorist. Nothing against Bush-I don't complain, but pray for Him and our elected leaders! I would like to reexamine who are the terrorist? Instead of pointing our fingers to people outside of our country. We should look ourselves in the mirror. Look at our history (e.g. taking Native American Indians from their land; Civil Rights Movement: Using fire hose on African American protestors; School Shootings; Capital Punishment, etc..). Jesus said...

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." -John 8:7

There is no perfect nation as their is no perfect person, but our nation should work on being a better model to these nations before pointing our fingers at them.

5 Years Later....

I decided to forward an e-mail I got from CBN "Remember 9/11" (above) and added my link as a personal reflections to friends...

Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 19:42:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Sal Monteagudo"
Subject: Sal-Fwd: Remembering 9/11
To: saldapal@yahoo.com
" Hi, Shalom, Kamustaka, Hola, salaam malakim, etc...
I just wanted to share this site...
"Many people have, is, and will be reflecting on this "infamous" day. As I write this on Monday, March 6th 2002 (6 months since the attacks) watching "9/11 Remembered" telecast special on televsion, I still remembered how the 9/11/01 developed=> https://www.angelfire.com/mn/saldapal/9-11-01.html

...with you all as a rememberance of 9/11 as tomorrow will be 5 years later. We cannot just live our life as this day never happened (e.g. what have we learned from this?), but to continue to live for the day as tomorrow is never promised. We need to love & forgive our "neighbors" and "enemies" who do us wrong as Jesus taught us!
Brother in Christ in prayer w/love and God bless, Sal:)

DREAMS

Dear Mom & Dad...,
" I wanted to share with you a dream I had last night. It was the morning of September 11th, 2006, the five-year anniversary of 9/11 that has been much anticipated. I had a satelite view of Western Europe and I saw trains blowing up across the continent in several cities; I think the cities were in Germany, France and Italy. It was surreal as watched several trains explode, car by car from the back of the train to the front. There was also a city in Europe from which no news was coming as if it had been completely destroyed.
Then I saw the leaders of the United States making decisions that would protect the nation from similar strikes which were expected around the globe as the dawn of September 11th traveled across the earth. I had the sense that the president's life was in danger and I also had the sense that the tactics that were used in Europe were planned in such a way as to force the United States into a certain response that left the nation exposed to strikes of a completely different nature. It was as if there was a weakness in our response plan that caused us to expose some part of the nation as we sought to protect other parts.
And then my dream ended. I remembered it this morning when someone mentioned the 5-year anniversary tomorrow. The dream reminded me of the dream I had 2 1/2 years ago in which I saw the nation of Libya be reconciled with the United States, a process which began happening later that week.
So we shall see what comes.
Love,
--David
Tributes: