"JESUS HELP ME"
The Faith of Todd Beamer
"I don't think we're going to get out of this thing. I'm
going to have to go out on faith."
It was the voice of Todd Beamer, the passenger -- and Wheaton
College graduate -- who said "Let's roll" as he led the charge against the
terrorists who had hijacked United Flight 93, the one, you will remember,
that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside.
The whole world knows how brave Beamer and his fellow passengers
were on
September 11. But this week we learned more fully what buttressed
that bravery:
Faith in Jesus Christ. Todd died as he lived, a faithful evangelical
believer.
In an article titled "The Real Story of Flight 93," Newsweek
reveals gripping new details from the actual transcripts of the now-recovered
cockpit voice recorder. "Todd had been afraid," Newsweek relates. "More
than once, he cried out for his Savior."
After passengers were herded to the back of the jet, Beamer
called the GTE Customer Center in Oakbrook, Illinois. He told supervisor
Lisa Jefferson about the hijacking. The passengers were planning to jump
the terrorists, he said. And then he asked her to pray with him. As Newsweek
relates, "Beamer kept a Lord's Prayer bookmark in his Tom Clancy novel, but
he didn't need any prompting. He began to recite the ancient litany, and
Jefferson joined him: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,"
As they finished, Beamer added, "Jesus, help me." And then, Beamer and his
fellow passengers prayed a prayer that has comforted millions down through
the centuries -- the prayer that David wrote in a time of great anguish:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want . .
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
And then the famous last words: "Are you guys ready? Let's
roll."
We now know from the cockpit voice recorder that Beamer and
other passengers wrestled with the hijackers and forced the plane to crash
into the ground, killing themselves but foiling what was believed to have
been the hijackers' plan to fly Flight 93 into the Capitol
or the White House.
As Christians, we know that God can bring good out of evil.
In Todd Beamer, the world witnesses a faith that held up in the extremity
of fear.
A faith that is even now comforting his widow and two young sons.
Lisa Beamer told NBC's Dateline, "You know, in the Lord's
Prayer, it asks us to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us." As Todd prayed this prayer in the last moments of his life,
in a way, Lisa said, "He was forgiving those people for what
they were doing, the most horrible thing you could ever do
to someone."
It wasn't Todd Beamer's job to fight terrorists. He was just
a passenger who along with several others did what he didn't have to do
but foiled a terrible evil that might have been done to his country.
As Flight 93 hurtled towards destruction, Todd Beamer could
not have known that his quiet prayers would ultimately be heard by millions
-- that the story of his last acts on earth would be a witness to the Lord
he loved and served and a lasting example of true herroism.
HOPE YOU WILL SHARE THIS INSPIRING STORY WITH YOUR E-MAIL FRIENDS
" - The Faith of Todd Beamer "I don't think we're going to get out of this
thing. I'm going
to have to go out on faith." It was the voice of Todd Beamer,
the passenger -- and Wheaton College graduate -- who said "Let's roll" as
he led the charge against
the terrorists who had hijacked United Flight 93, the one,
you will remember, that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside.
The whole world knows how brave Beamer and his fellow passengers
were on
September 11. But this week we learned more fully what buttressed
that bravery:
Faith in Jesus Christ. Todd died as he lived, a faithful evangelical
believer.
In an article titled "The Real Story of Flight 93," Newsweek
reveals gripping new details from the actual transcripts of the now-recovered
cockpit voice recorder. "Todd had been afraid," Newsweek relates.
"More than once, he cried out for his Savior." After passengers
were herded to the back of the jet, Beamer called the GTE Customer Center
in Oakbrook, Illinois. He told supervisor Lisa Jefferson about the hijacking.
The passengers were planning to
jump the terrorists, he said. And then he asked her to pray
with him.
As Newsweek relates, "Beamer kept a Lord's Prayer bookmark
in his Tom Clancy novel, but he didn't need any prompting. He began to recite
the ancient litany, and Jefferson joined him: Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name," As they finished, Beamer added, "Jesus,
help me." And then, Beamer and his fellow passengers prayed a prayer that
has comforted millions down through the centuries -- the prayer that David
wrote in a time of great anguish: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
. . Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil.
And then the famous last words:
"Are you guys ready? Let's roll."
We now know from the cockpit voice recorder that Beamer and
other passengers wrestled with the hijackers and forced the plane to crash
into the ground, killing themselves but foiling what was believed to have
been the hijackers' plan to fly Flight 93 into the Capitol
or the White House.
As Christians, we know that God can bring good out of evil.
In Todd Beamer, the world witnesses a faith that held up in the extremity
of fear. A faith that is even now comforting his widow and two
young sons.
Lisa Beamer told NBC's Dateline, "You know, in the Lord's
Prayer, it asks us to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us." As Todd prayed this prayer in the last moments of his life,
in a way, Lisa said, "He was forgiving those people for what
they were doing, the most horrible thing you could ever do
to someone."
It wasn't Todd Beamer's job to fight terrorists. He was just
a passenger who along with several others did what he didn't have
to do but foiled a terrible evil that might have been done to his country.
As Flight 93 hurtled towards destruction, Todd Beamer could
not have known that his quiet prayers would ultimately be heard by millions
-- that the story of his last acts on earth would be a witness to the Lord
he loved and served and a lasting example of true herroism.
ANON.
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