Happy 9/11

OnceDust

Let go and let God
Sep 6, 2003
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What would you say if one day, Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Ladin became Christains and tried to repent for the mass destruction they caused? Before you state that's impossible, let me tell you a story that you won't hear in the tabloids or media. It has never made the news, but I think it remains a great testimony to faith that anyone can apprecite and give hope too.

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie Pearl Harbor, which ends on the Doolittle Raid, a rather unsucessful response to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Here's the rest of that story....

After they were taken captive, the survivers of the Doolittle Raid were taken to a POW camp where they lived 40 months in torture and tribulation. Among them, Sgt. DeShazer, who vowed he would make the Japs suffer for thier attack that killed 2,300 Americans. Leading that attack, Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida was in charge of a squadran of 360 planes that knocked out the U.S. Pacific Fleet in one crushing blow, giving Japan the start of a series of conquests he was destined to lead in conquering Asia and the Pacific.

DeShazer’s confinement gave him time to ponder "what could cause such hatred among fellow humans." He'd spent little time learning the moral lessons taught to him in church as a youngster. Yearning to read its pages, he asked for a Bible. Half way into his incarceration, he got one and pored over pages of grace, mercy, redemtion. Eventually his hatred for his captors turned to love and pity. He prayed for thier forgiveness and vowed to share the Good news he learned of amid what seemed hopeless circumstance. 2 years later, on Aug. 20, 1945, DeShazer was released back to the US. He wrote a book on his expereinces and returned to Japan as a missionary.

Fuchida had contracted a serious illness and had to be medically discharged before the American victory at the Battle of Midway. He retuened to his life of farming after the war, much ashamed and lived an adulterous life to little comfort. He saw DeShazer handing out leaflets entitled "I Was a Prisoner of Japan". That caught his eye and he read a testimony he came to respect, having little interest in Christianity. But, on the advice of a friend, wanted a Bible. God provided that day, just before his train ride home, a man selling Japanese Bibles at the station. Fuchita bought one, and read on his ride
Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He later wote:

"I was impressed that I was certainly one of those for whom Jesus had prayed. The many men I had killed had been slaughtered in the name of patriotism, for I did not understand the love of Christ."

Fushita became a missionary to Asia after that for 30 years until his death in 1976. He came to the US to evangelize with DeShazer and to appologize for what he had done when he didn;t know what he was doing. He and DeShazer remained good friends, and God's power gave grace to hearts that knew nothing but grapes of wrath into a loving sevant sharing that joy to the world.

I hope for a similar tale to show God works where we cannot. On this day we observe another tragedy. Let us celebrate God's triumph over sin and the grace to see change in the lives we think are hopeless, tragic, and on which our loving eyes take pity. They are many just out our front door to those miles of ocean away. Pray the peace that passess all understanding will guide the hearts who don't understand, even ours, at times like this. We don't always know what we do. Thank God He does!

Blessings.
 
If Osama and Saddam truly did become Christians and convert, we fellow Christians would need to forgive them. This does not mean, however, that they should not still be punished. Romans chapter 13 speaks a little on the role of the government in providing discipline. The two would definitely need to stand trial and be punished with life sentences without parole at least, or the death penalty at most. It may sound strange to speak of forgiving them yet also punishing them, but when a child breaks a window their parent can forgive them but still punish them and we see no contradiction. God bless!
 
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