By Dan
(The newest member of On Fire Ministries)
God has spoken the truth is clear,
Jesus Christ the Messiah is here.
The Savior of the world has said "Follow Me,
I've given my life that you all may be free.
The Lord looked down with a loving smile,
His servants laboring all the while.
He fights the battle from high above,
Through willing vessels led by love.
We trust in Him to lead the way,
And see His power day by day.
We look to His hand as we war on our knees,
And His graces fall like rain on trees.
Though many laugh we choose to believe,
The gift of God we will receive.
We know the truth and we stand together,
For God has promised to be with us forever.
The war is long and the days are dark,
But throughout this world we make our mark.
For many fight to defend God's word,
And none shall rest till all have heard.
So seek the Lord with all your heart,
Because in this cause you have a part.
And soon our light shall be no more,
For we will dance before the Lord.
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Rev. Henry Ward Beecher received a letter with one word written on it. It said, "Fool." The next Sunday he read the letter from the pulpit and said, "I have received many letters from people who have forgotten to sign their names, but this is the first time I've received a letter from someone who signed his name but forgot to write the letter."
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ON BEING CANADIAN. . .
Submitted by Bonnie Atkinson
(Director - On Fire Ministries)
This was forwarded to me by an American friend and it really touched me and made me proud
to be a Canadian. Recall that this happened in communities all across our country..... Bonnie
Subject: Small NF (Newfoundland) town is rewarded.
Hi all! This is from a member of the crew of one of the jets that was forced down in Gander
during the crisis in the USA.. Lewisport is a small community north of Gander. Nazim,
the writer, is a Delta airline employee - one of the cockpit crew:
"We were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt flying over the North Atlantic and I was in my crew
rest seat taking my scheduled rest break. All of a sudden the curtains parted violently and I was
told to go to the cockpit, right now, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the
crew had one of those "All Business" looks on their faces. The captain handed me a printed
message. I quickly read the message and realized the importance of it. The message was from
Atlanta, addressed to our flight, and simply said, "All airways over the Continental US are
closed. Land ASAP at the nearest airport, advise your destination."
"Now, when a dispatcher tells you to land immediately without suggesting which airport, one can assume that the dispatcher has reluctantly given up control of the flight to the captain. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. It was quickly decided that the nearest airport was 400 miles away, behind our right shoulder, in Gander, on the island of Newfoundland.
"A quick request was made to the Canadian traffic controller and a right turn, directly to Gander, was approved immediately. We found out later why there was no hesitation by the Canadian controller approving our request. We, the in-flight crew, were told to get the airplane ready for an immediate landing. While this was going on another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area.
"We briefed the in-flight crew about going to Gander and we went about our business 'closing down' the airplane for a landing. A few minutes later I went back to the cockpit to find out that some airplanes had been hijacked and were being flown into buildings all over the US. We decided to make an announcement and LIE to the passengers for the time being. We told them that an instrument problem had arisen on the airplane and that we needed to land at Gander, to have it checked. We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There were many unhappy passengers but that is par for the course.
"We landed in Gander about 40 minutes after the start of this episode. There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world. After we parked on the ramp the captain made the following announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. But the reality is that we are here for a good reason." Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief . Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM (11:00 PM EST)
"Gander control told us to stay put. No one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near the aircrafts. Only a car from the airport police would come around once in a while, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so all the airways over the North Atlantic were vacated and Gander alone ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, out of which 27 were flying US flags.
-11-
"We were told that each and every plane was to be offloaded, one at a time, with the foreign
carriers given priority. We were No. 14 in the US category. We were further told that we would be given a tentative time to deplane at 6
PM. Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we
learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the
Pentagon in DC.
"People were trying to use their cell phones but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada. Some did get through but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the US were either blocked or jammed and to try again. Some time late in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash.
"Now the passengers were totally bewildered and emotionally exhausted but stayed calm as we kept reminding them to look around to see that we were not the only ones in this predicament. There were 52 other planes with people on them in the same situation. We also told them that the Canadian Government was in charge and we were at their mercy. True to their word, at 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would come at 11 AM, the next morning. That took the last wind out of the passengers and they simply resigned and accepted this news without much noise and really started to get into a mode of spending the night on the airplane.
"Gander had promised us any and all medical attention if needed; medicine, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word. Fortunately we had no medical situation during the night. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without any further complications on our airplanes despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th we were told to get ready to leave the aircraft. A convoy of school buses showed up at the side of the airplane, the stairway was hooked up and the passengers were taken to the terminal for "processing".
"We, the crew, were taken to the same terminal but were told to go to a different section, where we were processed through Immigration and customs and then had to register with the Red Cross. After that we were isolated from our passengers and were taken in a caravan of vans to a very small hotel in the town of Gander. We had no idea where our passengers were going.
"The town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people. The Red Cross told us that they were going to process about 10,500 passengers from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander. We were told to just relax at the hotel and wait for a call to go back, but not to expect that call for a while. We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started. Meanwhile we enjoyed ourselves going around town discovering things and enjoying the hospitality. The people were so friendly and they just knew that we were the "Plane people". We all had a great time until we got that call, 2 days later, on the 14th at 7AM. We made it to the airport by 8:30 AM and left for Atlanta at 12:30 PM arriving in Atlanta at about 4:30PM. (Gander is 1 hour and 30 minutes ahead of EST, yes! 1 hour and 30 minutes.)
"But that's not what I wanted to tell you. What passengers told us was so uplifting and incredible and the timing couldn't have been better. We found out that Gander and the surrounding small communities, within a 75 Kilometer radius, had closed all the high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to a mass lodging area. Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up. ALL the high school students HAD to volunteer taking care of the "GUESTS".
"Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 Kilometers from Gander. There they were put in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were given no choice and were taken to private homes. Remember that young pregnant lady, she was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24 hour Urgent Care Type facility. There were Drs. on call and they had both male and female nurses available and stayed with the crowd for the duration. Phone calls and e-mails to US and Europe were available for every one once a day. During the days the passengers were given a choice of "Excursion" trips.
"Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went to see the local forests. Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests. Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the school for those who elected to stay put. Others were driven to the eatery of their choice and fed. They were given tokens to go to the local Laundromat to wash their clothes, since their luggage was still on the aircraft.
"In other words every single need was met for those unfortunate travelers. Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. After all that they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single one missing or late. All because the local Red Cross had all the information about the goings on back at Gander and knew which group needed to leave for the airport at what time. Absolutely incredible.
"When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everybody knew everybody else by their name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. It was mind boggling. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a party flight. We simply stayed out of their way. The passengers had totally bonded and they were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
"And then a strange thing happened. One of our business class passengers approached me and asked if he could speak over the PA to his fellow passengers. We never, never, allow that. But something told me to get out of his way. I said "of course." The gentlemen picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had received at the hands of total strangers. He further stated that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of the town of Lewisporte. He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number).
-12-
"The purpose of the trust fund is to provide a scholarship for high school student(s) of
Lewisporte to help them go to college. He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow
travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone
numbers and addresses, it totaled 14.5K or about 20K Canadian. The gentleman who started all
this turned out to be an MD from Virginia. He promised to match the donations and to start the
administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to
Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.
"Why all of this? Just because some people in far away places were kind to some strangers, who happened to literally drop in among them? WHY NOT?"
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THE WORD
By Dan Petersen
(volunteer)
Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
2 Timothy 3:16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We live in a country that is slowly rejecting the word of God. We teach our children that they are cosmic accidents living meaningless lives, destined to perish with the universe. Jesus can give them hope. Jesus says that He loves them and they were created to be united with God for eternity surrounded in love, joy and peace. They can try to take God out of the school system or the constitution but they can never take Him out of life. He will always be at work in our midst revealing His truth to everyone who will listen.
The world needs the positive influence of Christians. Christians who know the Bible - who know the answers to questions billions search for. Christians who, through perseverance, have learned the truths of the Bible first hand. Who have put the effort into developing a right relationship with the God that so many guess and speculate about, but we know. It takes sacrifice and courage to face the truth open heartedly. And the door is open to all, to experience God first hand, to be lead by Him, to hear His wisdom, and to know and understand the truth about why we exist. Things worth more than gold are waiting to be taken for free. And it's all recorded and explained for us in the Bible.
While Jesus walked the Earth He taught heavily on who God was. His character was revealed through Jesus and on Sept 11, we got a clear picture of why it was so important. Simply put, people died because the suicide bombers had devoted themselves to a wrong idea of who God is. He is our judge and He is severe with sin. But when we repent and surrender to Him it is clear to see that He is holy, loving and gentle. He is constant in His dealings with mankind and desires for us all to be saved to the extent that he suffered for us and is willing to help all who desire to change. But false religions distort these truths, bringing death and destruction.
Our job as Christians is to come against these destructive lies by living and spreading the wonderful truths of God and to know these truths can only come through spending time in fellowship with God every day. When Moses came down from the mountain after being alone with God his face was shining without him even knowing it (Exodus 34:29). When we spend time alone with God and in His word His glory shines from our lives naturally. And the knowledge of God's glory is the only thing that can help our troubled world.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS