ost people can tell you where they were and what they were doing September eleventh. We remember the date and other things because of the emotional and mental impact we felt that day. We were glued to televisions and radios transfixed by the accounts of those attempting to tell what their eyes couldn't believe. Veteran reporters were at a loss for words and so were we. The World Trade Center was not a military target. These were people just trying to go to work and do what they usually did on Monday morning.

Whatever innocence the United States of America had left in its cultural heart died that day. Every child from that day forward will be raised knowing that suspicion and readiness are skills to be learned and practiced for the sake of survival. They will also learn over and over that there really is pure evil in the world and that it will express its hatred when it can. Ruthlessness now has a face it is Mr. or Ms. Terrorist. We learned that world is not one in thought or deed but that there are on this planet fools so depraved that they see slaughter of the innocent as a means to please God.

Is it any wonder that the existence of God's love personified in Christ is indeed the ultimate stumbling block to those motivated by hate? Jesus life and sacrifice don't make sense to those who don't understand the real nature of Father God. It is also not surprising that the Bible is rejected as being God's final testament to creation. After all, it is about God's plan of redemption for mankind totally dependent upon the innocent blood of His Son, Jesus. God's Word makes it crystal clear that He hates the evil and sin in the world, but loves sinners enough to die for them, not kill them.

At Hillside we're big on forgiveness because Jesus was. Everybody needs it because we all sin. The other thing we're big on is how totally sufficient God's grace is to all those who accept and obey His Son, Jesus. In the ultimate scheme of things that's always been God's message to His created. The good news is and was that Jesus saves. Wasn't He the One who said, " Let the one without sin cast the first stone…"?