Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Really appreciate you joining me and giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you Very, very grateful for that. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you Very grateful for your prayers.

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, and your Son, jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins, for all your many, many blessings, father. Forgive us our greed, selfishness, pride, our lack of gratitude. Forgive us when we turn to other things and try and go our own way, when we make gods out of sports or entertainment or trust politicians and policy more than you. Help us to turn back to you as individuals and as a nation.

Be with those who are listening to the podcast, those who share it. Be with them and their families. God bless them, surround them with your angels, protect them from evil of any kind. Thank you for those who have gone before us, who have sacrificed so much so that we might enjoy Liberty, might be able to enjoy reading your word, who have sacrificed so much so that we might enjoy liberty, might be able to enjoy reading your word without fear of persecution. Guide our steps, father, same with those who are alone, those who are hurting, those who are suffering for the name of your son, jesus Christ. Help us to give whatever comfort we may to them. Be with our military, law enforcement, firefighters, ems. Keep them safe, protect them, give them wisdom, courage and a strong faith. Bring them home safely to their families and God. My words here Father, please, in your son's name, we pray Amen.

Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray to? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to him, to listen to him? And, if you're married, have you made time for your spouse? Do they know that they are your top priority each day, second only to God and Jesus Christ? Or do they know that they're not folks. Do they know that you don't care? So, on 9-11, over the last couple years, I think we have gone back and read through Billy Graham's prayer slash remarks that he gave at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on Friday September 14th in 2001. And so that's what we will do again today.

We come together today to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be. The Bible says that he is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. No matter how hard we try, words simply cannot express the horror, the shock and the revulsion we all feel over what took place in this nation on Tuesday morning, september 11th. We'll go down in our history as a day to remember. Today we say to those who mastermind this cruel plot and to those who carried it out that the spirit of this nation will not be defeated by their twisted and diabolical schemes. Someday, those responsible will be brought to justice, but today we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We've always needed God, from the very beginning of this nation, but today we him especially. We're involved in a new kind of warfare and we need the help of the Spirit of God. The Bible says God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.

But how do we understand something like this? Why does God allow evil like this to take place? Perhaps that is what you are asking. You may even be angry at God. I want to assure you that God understands these feelings that you may have. We've seen so much that brings tears to our eyes and makes us all feel a sense of anger, but God can be trusted even when life seems at its darkest.

What are some of the lessons we can learn? First, we are reminded of the mystery and reality of evil. I have been asked hundreds of times why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I do not know the answer. I have to accept by faith that God is sovereign and that he is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering. The Bible says God is not the author of evil. In 2 Thessalonians 2.7, the Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah said the lesson of this event is not only about the mystery of iniquity and evil. But second, it's a lesson about our need for each other. What an example New York and Washington have been to the world these past few days. None of us will forget the pictures of our courageous firefighters and police, or the hundreds of people standing patiently in line to donate blood. A tragedy like this could have torn our country apart, but instead it has united us. So those perpetrators who took this on to tear us apart, it has worked the other way it has backlashed. We are more united than ever before. I think this was exemplified in a very moving way when the members of our Congress stood shoulder to shoulder and sang God Bless America.

Finally, difficult as it may be for us to see right now, this event can give a message of hope Hope for the present and hope for the future. Yes, there is hope. There is hope for the present because the stage, I believe, has already been set for a new spirit in our nation. We desperately need a spiritual renewal in this country, and God has told us in his word time after time, that we need to repent of our sins and return to him, and he will bless us in a new way. There also is hope for the future because of God's promises. As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come, and many of those people who died this past week are now in heaven, and they wouldn't want to come back. It's so glorious and so wonderful. That is the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart.

This event reminds us of the brevity and the uncertainty of life. We never know when we too will be called into eternity. I doubt if those people who got on those planes or who walked into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon on Tuesday thought that it would be the last day of their lives, and that's why we each must face our own spiritual need and commit ourselves to God and his will. Here in the majestic National Cathedral, we see all around us the symbol of the cross. For the Christian, the cross tells us that God understands our sin and our suffering, for he took them upon himself in the person of Jesus Christ. From the cross, god declares I love you. I know the heartaches and sorrows and the pain that you feel, but I love you. The story does not end with the cross, for Easter points us beyond the tragedy of the cross to the empty tomb. It tells us that there is hope for eternal life for God, for Christ has conquered evil and death and hell. Yes, there is hope. I've become an old man now and I've preached all over the world, and the older I get, the more I cling to that hope that I started with many years ago.

Several years ago, at the National Prayer Breakfast here in Washington, ambassador Andrew Young closed his talk with a quotation from the old hymn how Firm a Foundation. This week we watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers, built on solid foundations, were examples of prosperity and creativity. When damaged, those buildings plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet underneath the debris is a foundation that was not destroyed. Therein lies the truth of that hymn how firm a foundation. Yes, our nation has been attacked, buildings destroyed, lives lost, but now we have a choice whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation, or to choose to become stronger through all of this struggle to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe that we are starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God, and in that faith we have the strength to endure something as difficult and as horrendous as what we have experienced this week. This has been a terrible week, with many tears, but it also has been a week of great faith.

In that hymn, how firm a foundation. The words say Fear not, I am with thee, o be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand. My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us and that, as we trust in him, we will know in our hearts that he will never forsake us. We know also that God will give wisdom and courage and strength to the president and those around him, and this will be a day that we will remember as a day of victory. May God bless you all.

So a few little tidbits to wrap up today. One is a vignette that I heard from the Navy SEAL who eventually shot bin Laden, and he said that when they were gearing up for this mission to go in years later, they were all 100% convinced that none of them were coming back from the mission. They knew for sure that it was a one-way trip. And another team member asked him, said well, hey, I'm going, I'm not backing out. I got no problems with that, you know. I'm just asking if we know that we're going to die, why are we still going? Asking, if we know that we're going to die, why are we still going? And the Navy SEAL said that you know, that's a valid question. You know, if you're going to die, you ought to understand why. And so he said. I told him the story of this mother on 9-11 who jumped out of the Twin Towers and in her last act of human decency, as she jumped out, she held her skirt down so that her skirt wouldn't blow up indecently as she was falling to her death, because that was better than the whatever degree fire was still raging inside the building. And he said she's why we're going.

The second little piece of this puzzle, if you will, that I'm going to leave with you, is that it is an important fact to remember that the very first war that we ever fought in this nation after our war for independence was with the Barbary pirates, was against Muslims, and that 9-11, whatever else you might say about it was committed again by Muslims and that October, the 7th in Israel and so many tragedies that are still going on today now are committed by Muslims and that, when you look back at the 20th century, it's no mistake that Islam consistently works hand in hand with socialism, communism, leftism, nazism, fascism, passion, passion. The next little piece of this puzzle is Mr Graham's comment that some of those people that died that day woke up in heaven, and that was a great thing. But you have to understand that some of those people woke up after they died and they weren't in heaven, they were in hell, and there was no recourse, there was no second chance, they were never going to leave for all of eternity. And that sounds cruel maybe to say, but it would be crueler not to.

For those of y'all listening that haven't decided for Jesus Christ. He is my only hope, folks. He's the only way to heaven and eternal life. There is no other way. You can't get there just because you're a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox or a Baptist or Methodist or Church of Christ, that's not going to open the door. You can't get there.

If you're a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Hindu, that's not going to open the door. You can't get there if you're a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Hindu. That's not going to open the door. You can't get there because you just lived a good life and you were a decent guy or decent gal. That's not going to open the door.

Jesus Christ is the only one that's going to open the door.

He's the only hope I have.

I have no other hope.

There is no other hope.

There's no other path for me besides putting all of my trust, and including my doubts and my fears, in Jesus Christ and we do as Christians.

I have a hope, folks, because I choose to put my faith in Jesus Christ, to put my faith in Jesus Christ. I have a hope that one day, after I die, I'm going to wake up and I'm going to be with God and Jesus Christ in heaven for all of eternity, and there's not going to be any more tears or sorrow or sadness or fear or brokenness or heartache for me, for me. And so I can't do anything more than recommend that choice for you and tell you what a great hope that is to know, despite all of my doubts, mess-ups and I have many that Jesus Christ has it all covered and he can cover it for you too. No matter what doubts or fears or mess-ups or screw-ups you have in your life, he can cover it. God bless you all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world listening, don't ever forget 9-11.