I had the privledge tonight of participating in an event hosted by Hope Plant, Salvation Army church. Our Senior band was asked to play at the event as Hope is Scarboroughs church plant.
This event was based around the special guest, Brian Clark, who is one of four who survived 9/11 from the floors above where the plane hit in the second tower.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, as all I knew was that we were playing for a 20 minute segment, and that the special guest was speaking. But by the end of the night I was really thankful to have had the opportunity to attend.
Brian Clark completely blew my mind. This man stated very plainly that he is not haunted by what happend, he can talk about it without getting upset, he falls asleep at night with no nightmares, and he feels no guilt that he was chosen to live, when so many lives were ended on that day. And then he said...that all of this is a miracle. That by God's grace he can live his life the way he is now, and that being able to continue on is a gift.
Brian told his story of what happend to him on 9/11. Its a long story, but an absolutly incredible one just bursting of God's miracles throughout it. I'm not going to type it all out here, but if anyones interested in hearing it all, just let me know and I'll tell it to you!
Anyways, through Brians story of how his life was spared, and how he saved the life of another...and how God gave them both the miracle of getting out of their building alive...I was so moved. Brians faith in God is absolutly astounding!! He said that if he had doubts about his faith before that day, they no longer exist. He has no doubts in his mind that God is creating miracles for him and taking care of his future.
Brian talked about how much he appreciates life now, and that he takes the time to cherish each and every single moment that passes by. And he no longer worries about the future, or tries to control or plan everything, because 9/11 showed him that some things are beyond any amount of planning that we can do. And something that he said that I really liked was:
"Everyday is a great day. Some are just better then others."
You might not like that as much as I do, but it really hit me. What optimisim! Some may think that anyone in Brians shoes who gets a second chance at life would have that outlook. But what strength and trust in God it would take just to be able to continue to live worshiping and praising your Father in heaven and having such incredible optimism at life!! He isn't worried about what pitfalls might be down the road, or what hardships will come his way...because everyday is a great day. Why? Because he has a relationship with God and he KNOWS he's taken care of.
Brian stated that he knows that 9/11 happend for a reason, and that through that God was working miracles, and continues to do so. It took this huge tramatic event for Brian to come to that realization. He needed a wake up call, and boy did God give him one!
What are you waiting for before you finally give everything to God? All your worries, all your fears...your future?? How big of a wake up call do you need before you finally start confessing that He is your Lord and Saviour?
I know that my heart has been challenged tonight by hearing this one man speak about the mysterious and incredible works of God in his life. I think that everyone else who heard him speak were equally as challenged, in one way or another.
I pray that you will be challenged and start living with the optimism that only one who has given their cares to the Lord can feel.
God Bless!
3 comments:
how did he get out of the building?!?!
Okay I'll try to keep the story as short as possible lol.
Brian was 6 floors i believe above where the plane hit. He was working away when he saw an explosion and just billows of flames outside his window. He assumed there was an explosion upstairs (it was actually the first plane hitting the first building) and he had fire marshall training, so he started to get people together on his floor and send them downstairs. As the floor was being evacuated and announcement came over the p.a system saying that their building was secure, and that there was no reason to leave, so everyone returned back to work. Brian then said that he was standing talking to a friend just as the second plane hit their building. And he can remember that this was the only moment he was truly terrified as the whole building shifted about 6/7 feet..and then slowly straightened again. so they started to evacuate again. he had a group of 5 people with him who were following him. and he said there were 3 stairways. anyone who went down stairway a and c were killed...but Brian felt something lead him to stairway B, and there they began to descend. when they had gotton down several flights of stairs, 2 people stopped them who were coming up and said that you can't go down. you have to go up and get some fresh air. as they were standing there taking brian heard something from just inside the door on that floor..he could make out something yelling for help. so he pried open then door, and him and one of his friends went in. the room was filled with smoke, and eventually his friend had to turn back because he couldn't breathe. but Brian said that it was as if there was a bubble of fresh air around him, as he could breathe as if there was no smoke there. He eventually saw the hand of the man who was trapped. when the man saw brian, the first thing he said was "do you believe in Jesus?" and brian was so stunned and all he could stamper out was "i go to church every sunday..." he was eventually able to get the man out. (it turns out that this man had returned to work after the first plane hit, and while on a phone call to a business associate, he looked out towards the statue of liberty and saw a plane heading striaght for his building. when he realized what was about to happen he grabbed his bible that was open on his desk and said "lord save me, i'm in your hands" and jumped under his desk. He was the only one who survived on his floor, and his desk was the only thing that wasn't wrecked when the plane hit on that floor) so Brian and this man got back out to the stairwell. the other people who were with them had gone back up stairs. Brian and the man he rescued then made their way down the stairs. they never encountered another person on the way down. they finally made it down to the bottom, and a security guard directed them out of the building. he said when the came out of the building they were in shock as everything was just covered in ash and debris. they were a few blocks away when they looked back at the building. the man who brian had rescued said "you know..i think that the buildings could fall down." and just as brian began to say "there is no way they would fall down..." the buildings began to colapse. Brian and the man watched as a wave of debris and white ask came soaring up the street and they dove into a nearby building. it wasn't until a few hours later when brian called home to let his wife know that he was okay did he find out exactly what happend. he said that interestingly enough..the only injury he got that day was a puncture wound on his left palm..and the man he rescued...he only got a puncture wound on his right palm.
the third person who survived from above where the plane hit was at the top of the building with a group of people, struggling to get fresh air, and just thought "i need to see my wife and kids.." and ran down stairwell b and survived. the fourth person who survived also took stairwell b but i can't remember what his situation was.
so Brian said that through that whole experience, he saw little miracles of God working. Him and the guy he rescued joke that they saved each other...but then they realize that God really saved the both of them.
that is totally and utterly amazing, hard to believe but AMAZING to believe! GOD is GREAT! woohoo!!! I remember watching the second plane hit the building on TV. It was 9.30pm on a tuesday evening in Perth, Western Australia, where I am.
The reporter was talking about how a plane had hit, and then as he was speaking, the second one hit. then we proceeded to watch the entirety of the rest of the events happen live. I was totally gob-smacked.
I love that God can use the courageous story of one man and the man he saved to bring messages of hope, and God's love to all :D "Coincidences: Miracles for which God wishes to remain anonamous"
God Bless you! tell all your friends that a girl from Australia says hi!!
Blessings,
kat (salvokat@hotmail.com)
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