Apples of Gold
Radio Script for September 11, 2008
“Where Were You When You Heard?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
School started at 8* so I dropped off my kids a little before that, then ran to the store.
I needed to pick up something in the electronics department before heading to the radio station.
While scanning the shelves, my cell phone rang.
“Where are you?”
“I’m standing in Wal-Mart.”
“Go look at the TVs. The World Trade Center is on fire.”
I looked up at a row of televisions and, oh my gosh, I was riveted. A skyscraper on fire, live on TV.
Then the unthinkable happened. As we all watched the fire in the north tower, a plane crashed into the south tower.
Fascination was replaced by dread as I realized it was no accident.
Our Christian stations became news stations that day, going wall-to-wall with live coverage as the events unfolded.
We had a TV in our studio, and my heart sank as the south tower collapsed.
That afternoon at a press conference, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked how many people were killed. He said, “I don’t think we want to speculate about that – more than any of us can bear.”
And isn’t that the way all tragedies are? I mean really, if we want to get by at all in this life, for the most part we just can’t think about them. They are more than any of us can bear.
For most of us, life has moved on since September 11th, 2001. Already there is a new crop of kids coming of age with no personal memories of it. It’s just another date to memorize for history class.
And that’s the problem with history. Its lessons are hard to pass on to even to the very next generation. If it didn’t happen to them personally, it’s just another distant tale.
So what are the lessons from September 11th?
And you know what? I don’t just want to know what people say, I want to know what God says.
So for that I turn back to the Bible.
See, today we can hear the news, but we don’t get God’s spin on it. But in the Bible we get the news, and we get God’s perspective.
So I flip back to the book of Lamentations which was written after a national tragedy, the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Lamentations 3:38 says, “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
Now I realize that goes against our grandpa theology, but there it is.
Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Now why on earth would God even allow a calamity?
Lamentations 3:33 says, “…He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
Now listen, I am not saying God caused terrorist attacks on September 11th. What I am saying is that we need to learn the lessons of history, and I’m going back to the history where I can see God’s part, and that is in the Bible.
And in the book of Lamentations the lesson is clear. Chapter one verse five says the Lord brought them grief because of their many sins.
Verse 14 indicates that God took their many sins, fashioned them into a yoke, and placed it on their necks.
Verse 12 says the Lord brought suffering on them in the day of His fierce anger.
And how did the Lord bring suffering on them? Through the hands of enemy warriors, the Babylonians.
Lamentations 2:3 says the Lord had “withdrawn His right hand.”
So the lesson we learn from Lamentations is that when people sin and do not repent, eventually God judges them. And in their case, judgment came through the violent acts of other people.
And God laid a lot of the blame at the feet of the prophets. Lamentations 2:14 says, “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin…”
The lesson here is that people who claim to speak for God – what good are they if they don’t expose sin and call for repentance?
Lamentations 1:9 says the people did not consider their future, and their fall was astounding.
The lesson to us is, we must consider our future. If our nation keeps moving in this direction, where are we headed?
The good news is, Lamentations 3:25 says the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the ones who seek Him.
Chapter 2 verse 19 says, “…pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.”
Chapter 3 verse 40 says, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”
Seven years ago many people did just that. They got the point. Churches filled up. People prayed. We sang, “God Bless America” and meant it.
But when there were no more attacks, and things settled down, church attendance dropped, and we went right back to life as usual.
On this anniversary, let us be sober. Let us consider our future. Let us examine our ways and test them. And let us return to the Lord.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
* This is central time. I lived in Illinois in 2001.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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