Guest Blog: "Ten Years After 9/11: Consider It Joy"

Below is a special guest blog written by my friend and colleague Jason McNair (pictured here with his family) sharing his thoughts ten years after the tragedy of 9/11. Jason served for five years as our minister to students, before going to work with the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention. -- Bob Rogers.

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4 (HCSB)

This week, people all across America are preparing for a time of remembrance as the tenth anniversary of the attacks on September 11 draws near. As I hear stories of where people were when they first heard the news, it got me thinking: What was the most common question asked that fateful week in 2001? The question was “Why?” In the heat of the moment, when we face trials or difficulties, it is so easy to default to asking the question why. It’s only natural. We all want to know the reason behind the challenges we face.

As I look back at my life, I can see markers of “life lessons learned the hard way”. It seems that every test or trial that I have faced throughout my life has taught me a spiritual lesson. It’s unfortunate that we can’t always see these lessons until we endure them to the end. I guess that is why they say “hindsight is 20/20”.

If you look at James 1:2-4, it is not referring to hindsight. That is the challenge that I struggle with. James is preparing believers to consider it great joy WHEN you experience various trials. When implies that trials WILL come; it is not a matter of IF. Second, we are supposed to count it JOY in the midst of the trial, not afterwards when we have had time to think about it. That is very hard to do. Our first inclination is to put up our defenses and begin questioning God as to why He let this happen in the first place.

In James’ day, the early followers of Christ were faced with uncompromising persecution from various sides. The problems that I spend so much time complaining about seem small and petty in comparison to what the early Christian church experienced. I need to gain a little perspective and thank God that I can count what I am going through as a source of great joy in my life. I need to spend more time appreciating my trials as the means God has chosen to mold me more into His character, and less into what I want for myself.

In looking back at these life lessons learned, I need to use them to encourage those around me who are facing similar trials. God does nothing haphazard or random. The “Why?” that we are so eager to answer during our trials is producing endurance in the life of every believer. We are to use the maturity that results to encourage those around us in similar circumstances. If God brings you through a trial, use that experience to better relate to others who don’t have the benefit of hindsight. God is calling all of us to be a part of his plan and part of that plan is impacting the lives of people we come in contact with.

Everyone has a story. This next week, take time to listen to someone else’s story of a trial they may be going through. Resist the temptation to speak or give advice until they have had the opportunity to share what is on their heart. It could be that you will have an open opportunity to interject how God carried you through a similar situation and you will be used by Him to bring a portion of peace and joy to someone else’s life.

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Jason McNair and his wife, Brittany, serve on staff with the Utah Idaho Southern Baptist Convention. He is the Religious Education and Collegiate Consultant working to strengthen the discipleship and Sunday school/small group ministries of 150 churches and missions. He has been with UISBC since 2009, after serving five years at First Baptist Chuch in Rincon, GA and nine years at First Southern Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, UT. He also contributes regularly to the blog, www.SundaySchoolLeader.com, where he oversees social media for the site. This blog is a partnership with the state Sunday school departments of all 42 SBC State Conventions.

Hearbreak over death of pastor

This is a picture of Dr. Fred Winters, the late pastor of First Baptist Church, Maryville, Illinois, his wife Cindy and their daughters, taken from their church website.
Winters was shot to death this morning by a gunman at his church.
My heart breaks for this family in this time of loss. What a senseless tragedy. Winters served the church for over 20 years and saw it grow from 32 to over 1,200 in attendance. Pray for strength for the Winters family, the church family in Maryville, and for God to be glorified through this faithful pastor's death as he was through his life.
It is part of the Christian gospel message that God is able to take death and bring life and forgiveness from it. May our nation turn to the only real hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Posts worth reading around the blogosphere

John Piper, famous author and pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, reflects on the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Joe McKeever in New Orleans tells it like it is to a church leader who wants to get rid of the pastor because the leader has lost control.

World magazine reports and World magazine readers discuss the news that teenagers in the church are more sexually immoral than those outside the church.

Blogger Kevin Bussey, who runs a blog called "Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee," is having a contest kind of like the Regional NCAA Basketball playoffs, only he is having bloggers vote for their favorite Baptist blogger in regions of the country, which he names the "Billy Graham Region," "Paige Patterson Region," "Adrian Rogers Region," and "Lottie Moon Region."

"Get Religion" discusses how the American news media (which doesn't get religion) has failed to report on the story of the Korean Christian missionaries taken captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

How to pray for Virginia Tech

After the tragedy at Virginia Tech, I looked up the email address of the Baptist campus minister, Darrell Cook, and contacted him to let him know I was praying for him as he sought to minister in this crisis.

Today he replied with these prayer requests:

- Pray for the students now that names have been released and the reality of connections and relationships bring the grief to another level. Pray for grace and healing for them in the deep hurt. [Bob's note: See the Virginia Tech Memorium site for a list of the names of victims and information.]
- Pray for the family of Brian, a grad student in our ministry who was killed Monday. Pray for our alumni and students that were close to Brian as well.
- Praise for a gathering of 300 plus students at our BCM Center Monday night to pray and begin to walk through the grief process. We have had our “normal” student-led events on Tuesday and Wednesday and our leaders have seemed mature beyond their years in showing concern for others right now.
- Pray for wisdom for our staff (Susan, Mark, Leah, Laura, and myself) and student leaders in all the opportunities that will come through relationships on campus in the weeks to come.

Darrell Cook
Baptist Collegiate Ministries at VT
Virginia Baptist Mission Board

Article in Baptist Press about Baptist students killed, Brian Bluhm and Rachael Hill.

Article in Baptist Press about a third Baptist student killed, Nicole White.

NOTE TO FIRST BAPTIST RINCON READERS: Our college & career department has made a maroon poster with an orange ribbon (Virginia Tech's colors) with a picture of Brian Bluhm, a Baptist student mentioned above who was killed. They will have it on display at the church for people to sign messages, and then we will mail it to the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at VT.