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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Cry out to God on September 11

By John Yeats By now you have heard the appeal from many Christian leaders for churches to carve out special time on Sunday, Sept. 11, to REMEMBER and CALL OUT TO GOD. Anyone who is 21 years of age or older probably remembers where they were on Sept. 11, 2001. Fifteen years ago on 9/11, terrorism struck our nation in a despicable, life-changing fashion. I was in the parking lot of the Baptist Building in Oklahoma City thinking, “Surely not! How can this be?” Where were you? A total of 2,996 people were killed in America on that day and more than 6,000 others were injured by the deadliest terrorist attack in world history. Since the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor 75 years ago, Dec. 7, 1941, this one attack was the worst on American soil. Who could allow this date to pass without remembering the pain, loss and utter shock? Who could forget those images of the jet liners flying into the World Trade Center in New York City? Who could forget the smoke billowing out of the tower and the subsequent collapse of the towers? Remember the dust-filled clouds of debris billowing down the streets of NYC and the faces of the survivors? How quickly we forgot! While prayer meetings formed quickly on the Capitol … [Read more...]

Maness recalls rescue of Texas state senator inside Pentagon on 9-11

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ARLINGTON, Va. – Sept. 11, 2001 started like many other days for Rob Maness. A major working in the Pentagon at the time, Maness was at his desk watching footage of an airplane crashing into two World Trade Center towers in New York City when he heard a noise. That’s when he realized this would be a moment that would forever change his life and others around the U.S. Terrorists already had flown a plane into the Twin Towers and another into a field off Interstate 395 south of the Pentagon. Now, confirmation came they had done the same with American Airlines Flight 77 into the nation’s military headquarters. According to the 9-11 Memorial, the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations. The most fatalities occurred at the Twin Towers, as 2,753 people died. Another 184 perished at the Pentagon and 40 were killed in a crash south of there. Like so many others, Maness was dumfounded and wondered what would happen next. After calling his wife to tell her he was okay and to leave the city with their children, Maness joined others at the Pentagon to do what they could to help those injured as well as those trying to flee the facility. After assisting in the rescue of … [Read more...]