BEGINNING WITH HIM
October, 2001 Edition
As is the continued tradition, the first E-Mail Ministry (EMM) message
of the month is my chance to talk to all of you about EMM and other
related items.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR TODAY’S MESSAGE:
[11-SEPT-01 — a commentary from doug]
[THE OBITUARY]
[TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN ]
[MILLENNIUM WOMEN NETWORK TRUTH & SPIRIT AWARD ]
[AUTHOR CORRECTION]
[SUPPORT E-MAIL MINISTRY]
[WHERE ARE YOU FROM?]
[USAGE OF E-MAIL MINISTRY MESSAGES]
[POLL QUESTIONS]
[LINKS PAGE]
* * *
11-SEPT-01 — A commentary from doug
I would imagine you would all agree with me when I say that September
was an exhausting month, physically, emotionally, spiritually. There
are many things about last month I do not know or understand, and maybe
never will. But there is one thing I do know and that is that God’s
love will sustain us through everything. He will never leave us or
forsake us and for that I give praise.
People have asked me, as they may have asked you, “Did you know someone
killed or missing in the attacks”. I have to answer, “I don’t know”. I
don’t know if any of the 20,000+ subscribers to E-Mail Ministry were on
the planes or in the buildings and I may never know, at least in this
life. And that makes me sad.
But I do know that I will eventually find out when we are all in our
Father’s house. In my grandmother’s eulogy I called Heaven the
“ultimate family reunion”. It is the place where I will find family
members I miss greatly and family members I have never met. I have been
asked “Why do bad things happen to good people”. My only response is,
“When you get to Heaven, you can ask God that question. But you have to
get to Heaven first”.
I want to thank all of you who sent in prayers, poems, writings, open
letters and notes of sympathy from abroad. This past month I received
twice the normal e-mails, mostly concerning the attacks. I wish I could
publish them all. But, I’m sorry to say, time and resources do not
allow. Such are the restrictions of this ministry’s all volunteer staff
of one.
People have said that this nation will never be the same and that life
will never be normal again. I wonder if life will return to normal all
too fast. I know I’ve seen a few flags come down. I, myself, have
found that I am returning to the world of meetings, deadlines and
getting too wrapped up in my Palm Pilot’s To-Do list. Then there are
the times when something catches my eye, or I hear a particular song and
I remember. And the feelings return. And I wonder “why?”.
And then I think, what am I suppose to do?
About three months ago I was asked to give the message at my church’s
contemporary service scheduled for 30-Sept. Of course I agreed (I rarely
turn down a chance to talk!). At that time I decided the subject of the
message would be on “Christian Action” and God had planted an outline in
my mind as to what to say. On 11-Sept, as a result of the attacks, God
adjusted the tone of the message.
Yesterday, I gave a message on Christian Action centered around this
idea: God will take the ultimate action on those involved and those
affected using His divine justice and mercy, and I have no control over
that. The United States government will take action on those involved
and those affected seeking justice and mercy, and I have no control over
that. However, what will I do? What action will I take? I have
control over that. Will I turn inward in fear or reach outward with
God’s love? Will I turn against the innocent who have a different faith
than I do? Who look different, dress different, talk different? Or
will I reach out with God’s love? Now is the time for Christian to
unite, stop the in-fighting and come together to reach out to the hurt,
the injured. Not just the hurt and injured from the attack, but the
hurt and injured from life. So, what will be your Christian Action in
this time of need?
* * *
“We need to be willing to be led into the dark as well as through green
pastures and by still waters. We do not need to be afraid of the dark,
because God is there. The future of this earth need not be in the hands
of the world’s “leaders.” The world is in God’s hands if we are led by
God. Let us be led by the Spirit.” — Gordon Matthews, 1987
* * *
THE OBITUARY
This piece was written for the Colfax, IL, weekly paper by Christi
Graham and published in the Obituary column:
“BROTHERS, SISTERS, MOMS, DADS, GRANDMAS & GRANDPAS, AUNTS, UNCLES,
COUSINS and FRIENDS
USA–A part of us died September 11, 2001 at 8:45 a.m., 9:05 a.m.,
9:39 a.m., and 10:10 a.m. Services will be held every day, all day long
and will be officiated be a Power Greater Than Our Own. Those who have
physically died will forever be remembered for the sacrifice they gave
even though the choice to do so had already been made for them. Burial
will be in our minds the rest of our lives and in the lives of our
future generations.
These people were from every walk of life, every color imaginable and
some were born in the United States and some were not. Many left loved
ones and unfortunately some were alone. Their feelings, thoughts, and
personalities have been forever buried but we need to remember their
souls will continue to surround us.
Survivors include every man, woman and child in the United States of
America, we are all brothers and sisters, if not by bloodlines by the
knowledge that we are all human beings. Other survivors include each and
every person in all the countries that make up our globe. We need to
remember they died for our freedoms.
They were preceded in death by all the casualties of past wars.
natural and man-made catastrophes, illness, starvation and prejudice.
Most were educated in our schools, universities and some were educated
from abroad. They were clerks, administrators, secretaries, janitors,
guards, firemen, laborers, rescue workers, farmers, doctors, nurses,
police, visitors, homeless…..the list could go on forever. Some had a
faith, some did not. Each and everyone will be missed terribly and
remembered for being a part of us.”
* * *
TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN
Two thousand one, Nine Eleven
Six thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying,
“Lets sit, lets chat”
They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
“I have a dream!” and once he did
The newcomer said, “You died not in vain.”
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green they say
“We’re from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine”
The Newcomers said, “You died not in vain.”
>From a man on sticks one could hear
“The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, “We know the rest,
trust us sir, we’ve passed that test.”
“Courage doesn’t hide in caves
You can’t bury freedom, in a grave,”
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores
A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts
of the five thousand plus that day
“Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we’re not”
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, “don’t talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me”
Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just ’cause they must
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell
But not alone
“Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!”
So said Martin, as he watched the scene
“Even from nightmares, can be born a dream.”
Down below three fireman raise
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in ’44
The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
“I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow – but I don’t see fear,”
“You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You’re not really gone.
All of those people, even those who’ve never met you
All of their lives, they’ll never forget you
Don’t you see what has happened?
Don’t you see what you’ve done?
You’ve brought them together, together as one.
With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
“Take my hand,” and from there he led
Six thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine one eleven
— Author Unknown
* * *
MILLENNIUM WOMEN NETWORK TRUTH & SPIRIT AWARD
“Hello Doug – name is Phyllis Du’Gas and I am the Founder and Executive
Director of the Millennium Women Network http://www.millenniumwomen.net,
a non-profit cyberspace women’s network raising awareness through Truth
& Spirit.
After reading your “Terror” article and your friends response – I HAD TO
DO SOMETHING! We have decided to feature that letter, article, etc. on
our World News Page: www.millenniumwomen.net/world_news.htm
We also want to award you with the Millennium Women Network Truth &
Spirit Award.
Please continue to enlighten and inform in his name. God Bless -Phyllis”
* * *
AUTHOR CORRECTION
Well, this month was a first. I have an ‘author correction’:
* The author of the 28-Sept-01 message “One” was mistakenly credited to
Rev. Dr. Jim Gill. The author actually is Cheryl Sawyer.
* The 10-Sept-01 message “Cast Out The Net” may be by God’s Daily Word
(devotions@provider.gdwm.org). However, EMM is not sure if they are the
original author or not.
* * *
SUPPORT E-MAIL MINISTRY and SUPPORT THE 11-SEPT VICTIMS
God calls each of us to tithe our earnings and I believe that to be true
of businesses and non-profit organizations as well. Therefore, E-Mail
Ministry is donating 10% of its donations to the American Red Cross and
the United Way to help those who were impacted by terrorist attacks.
I would like to thank all of you who have sent in donations. If you have
been blessed by this ministry, please ask God what He would have you
do. You may make donations by credit card at:
https://www.emailministry.org/ccbill/index.htm Credit card donations can
be made as a one-time donation or as a monthly recurring donation.
You can also make a donation by check. Checks can be sent to:
E-Mail Ministry, Inc.
P.O. Box 944
Garden City, MI 48136-0944
E-Mail Ministry is exclusively supported by its subscribers. I do not
accept any compensation for my efforts with this ministry. Donations
are solely used to offset the growing costs of this ministry. It is my
prayer that, like God’s grace, EMM always remains free.
* * *
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
If you are from a country other than the United States, please let me
know by sending an e-mail to: emailministry@emailministry.org
E-Mail Ministry has a mission to reach “all nations” and needs your help
to accomplish this calling! Currently, EMM is in 67 countries but there
are many more to reach! To see the list of countries and the world map,
go to: https://www.emailministry.org/subscribe/index.htm#SubscriberMap
Countries added this month: Ireland, Malawi, Martinique, and Nepal.
I would like to thank the subscribers from South Africa and Papua New
Guinea. EMM must be popular there as I receive many e-mails from new
subscribers from these two countries. Hello from America!
* * *
USAGE OF E-MAIL MINISTRY MESSAGES
As always, feel free to send these messages on to others as the Lord
leads you. I respectfully request that when you forward the messages
on, please leave the ‘header’ and ‘footer’ information in place so that
others may know about this ministry and how to subscribe.
Also, feel free to use these messages in your church bulletins, sermons,
bible studies, etc. If you do use the messages, please put “Message
distributed by E-Mail Ministry (https://www.emailministry.org)” at the
bottom of any material you use. That way more people will become aware
of this ministry.
* * *
POLL QUESTIONS
The results of the June/July poll question can viewed at
https://www.emailministry.org/pollresults.htm. Here is the August poll
question (Go the web site at: https://www.emailministry.org/#Polls
register your vote!! Please do NOT send me an e-mail with your vote!)
Q: Did you know someone who died or is missing in the terrorist attack?
* * *
LINKS PAGE
Thanks to all of you who submitted a link to be added to the EMM Links
Page. To recommend a Christian site, please use the ‘Add a Link’ form
at: https://www.emailministry.org/links/index.htm#AddALink
You can add a link from your web site to EMM. Simply copy the following
html code into your web page using your html editor:
* * *
I pray this message finds you growing in the understanding of how much
God loves you.
— doug
Founder, Editor, Webmaster & ‘Chief Bottle Washer’ of E-Mail Ministry