God's Wake-up Call To His Church
The Wake-Up Herald
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Romans 13:11-14
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Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher
September 10, 2011
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God’s Wake-Up Call to His Church
Reprint of September 2001 article on terrorist attack
By Robert McCurry
The 9:45 A.M. hour of September 11, 2001, is stamped indelibly upon everyone’s memory. We will always remember where we were and what we were doing when first hearing the news of two commercial jet aircraft crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, a third commercial jet aircraft crashing into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., a few minutes later, and the crash of a third commercial jet aircraft in Pennsylvania that we later learned was headed to Washington, D.C., presumably to crash either into the White House or the Capitol building.
We listened to radio reports or watched TV in stunned disbelief, alarm, horror, and dismay as the incredible events unfolded concerning three commercial airplanes crashing into these buildings causing massive destruction of property and the injury and death of thousands of people. Within minutes we learned that these four planes had been hijacked by suicide terrorists and were being used as weapons of war against America.
American Airlines Flight 11 plunged into Tower 1 just above the 96th floor at about 8:45 a.m. Workers were evacuating both buildings when United Airlines Flight 175 returned from a detour over south New Jersey and struck Tower 2 above the 80th floor about 18 minutes later. The Boeing 767s, both originally bound for California, each carried 13,900 gallons of fuel.
Suddenly, without warning, American was under terrorist attack.
Suddenly, we are told, “The enemy is not coming, the enemy is here.”
Suddenly, without warning, America is at war.
Suddenly, America is gripped by fear and panic. What’s next? No one has an answer.
President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the Congress, and other government leaders are whisked away to undisclosed locations of safety.
President Bush issues an executive order to ground all aircraft and for the military to shoot down any commercial or private plane that fails to communicate and land immediately.
Thousands of buildings are evacuated and businesses closed.
Many schools and colleges are closed.
Bridges and tunnels are closed.
Sports events are cancelled.
Theaters are closed.
Buses and trains ceased operation.
TV commercials are suspended as the stations give uninterrupted news coverage of this unfolding story of infamy.
America is at war.
Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up Christians! Wake-up, America!
The following is a sampling of comments from newscasters and others:
• “New York looks like a war zone.”
• Tom Brokaw NBC -- “Apparently terrorists have struck at the heart of our nation [The World Trade Center] and the symbol of our strength” [The Pentagon].
• Dan Rather -- “This is the World Terrorism War 2001.”
• One distraught woman, trying to escape the World Trade Center Plaza, told a camera crew for New York’s WABC-TV: “People were jumping out of windows. Everybody was wondering where to go; everything was blocked off by security; they told us to get out but there was nowhere to go. Then I heard that another plane hit. And if you go over, you can see people jumping out the window; they’re jumping out the window right now Oh, my God.”
• Tim Russert -- Special Report NBC -- “In Washington, D.C., is unprecedented anger…they do not know where to strike back. Some said, ‘Tim, you will never be the same. What’s more, your children will never be the same.’ America will never be the same after September 11, 2001.”
• “This was a well-financed, systematic act.”
• “This will change forever how Americans live!”
• “The problem is the intelligence restrictions. They must be loosened.”
• Gen. Norman Schwarzhopf -- “We have no human spies. Now we depend on electronic technology for spying.”
• Houston, Texas, Channel 13 -- “All around the country is a sense of anger, helplessness, and vulnerability.”
• “Big names on Wall Street were in the Twin Towers.”
• Channel 1, Houston, Texas -- “Paper from neat orderly lives was scattered everywhere.”
• “We have what looks like flying combat air patrol over the soil of the United States.”
• Peter Jennings -- “We are trying to get a handle on what . . . is going on here.”
• “These suicide Muslims believe this to be the way to Paradise or the way to redemption, and four kids that take a plane and crash it is very real.”
• Peter Jennings -- “We are looking at pictures of a country at war with angry and vicious people.”
• “What was in your mind?” Answer: “This couldn’t be real.”
• Dan Rather -- “It looked like some scenes of the end of the world. It was the end of the world for some.”
• “This was the financial center of the world.” “Oil and gold are traded here.”
• “The stock market is not opened.”
• “Europe is closed.”
• “There is a noise level of threats with varying degrees all over the world.”
• “We spend 25 billion each year for intelligence information.”
• Dan Rather – “Mark it, this is unprecedented. There has never been anything like this. This is unique.”
• Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) -- “America was attacked, because America was good.”
• Orlando Sentinel -- September 12, 2001, front page headline, “TODAY OUR NATION SAW EVIL”
• Bill Clinton -- “The U. S. has been lucky up to this point.”
• CNN - “This may be the day when America’s luck ran out.”
• President George Bush -- “War has been declared on America. We are at war.”
Government shortcomings fail to combat terrorism
Although sporadic acts of terrorism in America have taken place in the past, we have been assured that measures to combat terrorism are in place. However, we are now being told that measures to combat terrorism are woefully weak. The sobering headlines of a September 25, 2001, Atlanta Constitution article by Charles Seabrook says, “Congress was told of lapses in security. Watchdog found preparedness at lowest levels.” The article reports, “Over the past decade, the General Accounting Office -- the investigative arm of Congress -- has revealed several shortcomings to combat terrorism. The GAO has warned that terrorists could cause epidemics, poison food and water supplies, hijack airplanes, hack computer networks and bomb overseas embassies.”
The warnings by the GAO were evidently ignored because America was obviously unsuspecting and unprepared for this kind of terrorist air attack.
America is at war.
Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians! Wake-up, America!
Warnings of further impending terrorist attacks resound daily
America is at war. And the solemn, somber, and chilling warnings of further impending terrorist attacks on America continue to resound daily. CNS News reported on September 25, 2001:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned governments around the world to plan for possible biological or chemical weapons attacks by terrorist groups.
On Monday, WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland told a meeting of health ministers in Washington that the world must adequately plan for assaults on civilians.
“We must prepare for the possibility that people are deliberately harmed with biological or chemical agents. The right response is important,” she said.
Brundtland said that a heightened vigilance on the part of the WHO was a direct result of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
“During the last week we have upgraded our procedures for helping countries respond to suspected incidents of deliberate infection,” said Ms. Brundtland.
Fears of biological or chemical weapon attacks led to the grounding of all U.S. crop-dusting aircraft on Sunday, September 23. (By Mike Wendling, CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief).
In a September 24, 2001, C-Spanarticle entitled, “Gas Masks Become Hot Topic,” Susban Crabtree reports:
Even before the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York City, the Capitol was not wholly unprepared for a chemical or biological threat.
Protective masks for every House Member and floor staffer were placed in an area readily accessible to lawmakers in the Capitol roughly a year ago to guard against a chemical or germ warfare assault, according to senior House staffers.
“There were plenty of meetings where this was discussed and it was put in place,” a knowledgeable House GOP aide said.
Another House staffer added that masks are available in multiple places within the Capitol building.
“It’s more than just one or two places,” the source said. “There are masks all over the Capitol.”
After President Bush addressed a joint session of Congress Thursday night, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Administration Committee, acknowledged that the Capitol building has been stocked with protective masks, although he did not specify where they were located.
“We want everyone to be as safe as possible and we’re taking all the safeguards necessary to make sure they are,” Hoyer said. (C-Span Roll Call)
Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians! Wake-up, America!
God’s Wake-up call to His Church
Although the specifics concerning the when, where, and how of a national day of calamity have been unknown, I have been warning in my preaching and writing for many years that, “The enemy is not coming. The enemy is here” and “We are at war in America.” My appeals to, “Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians! Wake-up, America!” has resounded across America thousands of times for many years. Fortunately, those who have believed and heeded the warnings of God’s Word, were not caught off guard by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. Unfortunately, those who have not believed and heeded God’s Word of warning and have rather complained that such warnings are “negative preaching” are ill-prepared for what has happened and will remain unprepared for what may yet happen.
What God is saying to His Church
God has been speaking to His Church in thundering tones to this generation concerning His impending judgment. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17). God has extended to His Church His grace and mercy and provided a space for repentance, spiritual renewal, and restoration.
The Scriptures are clear. God’s blessing or His judgment on a nation will be determined and measured by His blessings or His judgment on His redeemed, covenant people -- His Church that He purchased with His blood. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14).
Remember. It was not the magnitude of evil and wickedness of sin that finally brought God’s destructive judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as serious as the sins of the people were; God’s destructive judgment came because of the absence of righteousness in those cities. “And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom . . . ten . . . righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes” (Gen 18:26, 32).
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34). The Lord did not entrust the truth of His Word to educators, scientists, politicians, or social engineers. He entrusted the truth of His Word to His Church. The Lord’s Church is the repository of God’s truth.
The Lord’s Church is to be the light of God’s truth in a world shrouded in darkness.
The Lord’s Church is to be salt in a world dominated by the corrupting power and influence of sin.
The Lord’s Church is to “turn the world upside down” by proclaiming “that there is another king, one Jesus” (Acts 17:6-7).
The Lord’s Church is to provide guidance and participate in building a nation that protects the good and punishes evil. “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
The Lord’s Church is to proclaim to a world that knows not God how it must conduct its affairs according to God’s Word and orderly way and to warn and instruct the nation when it departs from God’s Word and orderly way. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it” (Micah 6:8-9).
The Lord’s Church is to command all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel or perish.
When the Lord’s Church fails to be and to do what the Lord has ordained His Church to be and to do, the Lord Jesus and His Word and His Church are dishonored and the Holy Spirit is grieved. As the Lord’s Church declines, the nation declines.
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America is first and foremost God’s wake-up call to His Church. These terrorist attacks on America would undoubtedly never have taken place if the Lord’s Church had been what the Lord has ordained His Church to be and to do in this generation, that is, the past forty years.
Blame shifting won’t work. From a September 14, 2001, AP story:
Jerry Falwell, a Baptist minister and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., said Thursday on Robertson’s religious program “The 700 Club” that he blames the attacks on pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People For the American Way.
“All of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen,”’ Falwell said.
Falwell later apologized for his remarks. “I singled out for blame certain groups of Americans . . . This was insensitive, uncalled for at the time, and unnecessary as part of the commentary on this destruction. The only label any of us needs in such a terrible time of crisis is that of ‘American.’ . . . My statements were understandably called divisive by some, including those whom I mentioned by name in the interview. This grieves me, as I had no intention of being divisive . . . I do not know if the horrific events of September 11 are the judgment of God, but if they are, that judgment is on all of America—including me and all fellow sinners—and not on any particular group . . . In conclusion, I blame no one but the hijackers and terrorists for the barbaric happenings of September 11.”
All of the groups cited by Falwell, their sins and wickedness notwithstanding are not the root cause of America’s debauchery. They are certainly responsible and accountable for their sins, but they are merely actors on the stage of sin and wickedness in America. They do what sinners do -- they sin.
The root cause of America’s spiritual and moral deterioration and Day of Judgment is silent pulpits.
Sleeping and silent pastors and Christians are responsible for America’s spiritual and moral deterioration.
Sleeping and silent pastors have failed to raise high the biblical standard of God’s holiness and cry aloud against the wickedness and abomination of legalized abortion. Every abortion clinic in America should have a sign over the front door that says:
“THIS CLINIC IS OPEN BY PERMISSION OF THE CHURCHES OF AMERICA.”
Sleeping and silent pastors have failed to lift the standard of God’s holiness and cry aloud against the abomination of sodomy.
Sleeping and silent pastors and Christians have stood by silently as the ACLU and ADL and the courts have stripped the Bible from every public arena.
Sleeping and silent pastors have failed to proclaim aloud God’s Word and orderly way regarding marriage, divorce, interracial marriage and reproduction, multiculturalism, materialism, secularism, and the infusion of a pagan religious worldview in America.
Sleeping and silent pastors and churches have sought comfort and acceptance by the world, traded persecution for popularity and have graduated from the arena of persecution to the grandstands of the spectator.
So where are we today? America’s spiritual and moral status has only worsened in the past ten years; the solemn, somber, and chilling warnings of further impending terrorist attacks on America continue to resound daily and have increased to staggering heightened increments, especially preceding the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
If God has now withdrawn His hand of protection from America as many are suggesting, it is not because of the pagans, abortionists, sodomites, feminists, the ACLU and the ADL as repugnant as they are, it is because the Lord’s Church has been “weighed in the balances and found wanting”; it is His people He is calling to repentance before He will restore the nation.
Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians! Wake-up, America!
The Lord’s message to His Church in this desperate hour is: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev 3:17-19).
It is time to weep and mourn and repent.
Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians!
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The Wake-Up Herald is published by Robert McCurry. The publication is designed to exalt the true God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ, and inform, inspire, and challenge its readers regarding biblical truth and real-life issues. The contents are the sole responsibility of Robert McCurry and do not represent or speak for or on behalf of any other person or group. There is no subscription charge. The publication is a ministry of faith dependent on the contributions of its readers. Contributions are not tax-deductible. Send all correspondence to: Robert McCurry,605 Moore Rd, Newnan, GA 30263 or herbap@aol.com Remove? Send reply with “remove” in Subject line.
