Phil Eagling Newsletter September 2001

Volume 2, Issue 6 September 2001

We are praying for you, and our prayers are with you! Greetings in the name of Jesus. As I said above Sharon and I are praying for you all as you have faced this terrible tradgedy as a nation.

As we found out about what had taken place we began to pray and respond in many different ways. Our first thought was about those who we had spent four years with at Johnson Bible College. And how this may have taken its toll on any of our friends.

We thought about the many countless lives that were most probably lost, and we cried. We asked God to comfort those who had lost a family member. We asked people to pray here in the church for America.

We prayed that God would give wisdom to your President. We prayed that your leaders would seek God also in prayer. We felt that the only answer to all of this has to come in people all across America and the Christian world to pray.

Something that really stood out for Sharon and I was when someone said, "We need to turn back to God for the answers." While I was at a local fast food take away, that I have been trying to draw the owners to Christ, I was was asked the question what do I as a minister think of what has happened on Tuesday? I said to them that God was not in the life of those who perpetrated this terrible crime. I said that if God is not in the life of people there is no telling what they are capable of. Then they said what do we do about this, I said that we pray. We turn to God!

I know that in Australia and most probably all over the world there are people who are very seriously thinking about their future and what life is all about. This is a time when the church needs to be a place of healing and a place where people can find answers to their uncertainty. Because you and I know that we are in a world that is full of people who are uncertain. Jesus Christ brings certainty to a world that is confused. Jesus Christ brings life when all that is assumed is eternal nothingness.

Sharon and I also wanted to let you all know that we are truly affected by what has happened as well because God allowed us to have Savannah in Knoxville after many years of trying. She is an American citizen, so we are also reminded of that fact.

I am reminded of what it says in Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in the time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way..." Then at the end of the Psalm it says, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." What a promise!

Once again Sharon and I wanted to let you all know we are praying for God to give comfort to those who have lost a family member, and give direction for the future.

In James chapter 5 it says in verse 13a, "If any one of you is in trouble? He should pray." God hears the anguish and knows the heart of all, and I know that He will answer your prayers.

God bless, your Aussie mate in Christ,

Phil Eagling.

• Franklin Christian Church
• Franklin Christian Church Missions
• Philip Eagling in Australia Missions
• The Mission field: Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia

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