United States [2001]

Author: Peter L. Bergen

LAST UPDATED: Sep 4, 2019 See Article History
Alternative Titles: 11/9 attacks, 9/11 terrorist attacks, September 11

September 11 attacks, also called 9/11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history. The attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C., caused extensive death and destruction and triggered an enormous U.S. effort to combat terrorism. Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed after the passengers attempted to retake the plane); all 19 terrorists died (see Researcher’s Note: September 11 attacks). Police and fire departments in New York were especially hard-hit: hundreds had rushed to the scene of the attacks, and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed.
​
The Plot
The September 11 attacks were precipitated in large part because Osama bin Laden, the leader of the militant Islamic organization al-Qaeda, held naive beliefs about the United States in the run-up to the attacks. Abu Walid al-Masri, an Egyptian who was a bin Laden associate in Afghanistan in the 1980s and ’90s, explained that, in the years prior to the attacks, bin Laden became increasingly convinced that America was weak. “He believed that the United States was much weaker than some of those around him thought,” Masri remembered, and “as evidence he referred to what happened to the United States in Beirut when the bombing of the Marines base led them to flee from Lebanon,” referring to the destruction of the marine barracks there in 1983 (see 1983 Beirut barracks bombings), which killed 241 American servicemen. Bin Laden believed that the United States was a “paper tiger,” a belief shaped not just by America’s departure from Lebanon following the marine barracks bombing but also by the withdrawal of American forces from Somalia in 1993, following the deaths of 18 U.S. servicemen in Mogadishu, and the American pullout from Vietnam in the 1970s.

The key operational planner of the September 11 attacks was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (often referred to simply as “KSM” in the later 9/11 Commission Report and in the media), who had spent his youth in Kuwait. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed became active in the Muslim Brotherhood, which he joined at age 16, and then he went to the United States to attend college, receiving a degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1986. Afterward he traveled to Pakistan and then Afghanistan to wage jihad against the Soviet Union, which had launched an invasion against Afghanistan in 1979.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. v. Moussaoui)

According to Yosri Fouda, a journalist at the Arabic-language cable television channel Al Jazeera who interviewed him in 2002, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed planned to blow up some dozen American planes in Asia during the mid-1990s, a plot (known as “Bojinka”) that failed, “but the dream of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed never faded. And I think by putting his hand in the hands of bin Laden, he realized that now he stood a chance of bringing about his long awaited dream.”

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In 1996 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed met bin Laden in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. The 9-11 Commission (formally the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States), set up in 2002 by Pres. George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress to investigate the attacks of 2001, explained that it was then that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed “presented a proposal for an operation that would involve training pilots who would crash planes into buildings in the United States.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed dreamed up the tactical innovation of using hijacked planes to attack the United States, al-Qaeda provided the personnel, money, and logistical support to execute the operation, and bin Laden wove the attacks on New York and Washington into a larger strategic framework of attacking the “far enemy”—the United States—in order to bring about regime change across the Middle East.

The September 11 plot demonstrated that al-Qaeda was an organization of global reach. The plot played out across the globe with planning meetings in Malaysia, operatives taking flight lessons in the United States, coordination by plot leaders based in Hamburg, Germany, money transfers from Dubai, and recruitment of suicide operatives from countries around the Middle East—all activities that were ultimately overseen by al-Qaeda’s leaders in Afghanistan.

Key parts of the September 11 plot took shape in Hamburg. Four of the key pilots and planners in the “Hamburg cell” who would take operational control of the September 11 attacks, including the lead hijacker Mohammed Atta, had a chance meeting on a train in Germany in 1999 with an Islamist militant who struck up a conversation with them about fighting jihad in the Russian republic of Chechnya. The militant put the Hamburg cell in touch with an al-Qaeda operative living in Germany who explained that it was difficult to get to Chechnya at that time because many travelers were being detained in Georgia. He recommended they go to Afghanistan instead.

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Although Afghanistan was critical to the rise of al-Qaeda, it was the experience that some of the plotters acquired in the West that made them simultaneously more zealous and better equipped to carry out the attacks. Three of the four plotters who would pilot the hijacked planes on September 11 and one of the key planners, Ramzi Binalshibh, became more radical while living in Hamburg. Some combination of perceived or real discrimination, alienation, and homesickness seems to have turned them all in a more militant direction. Increasingly cutting themselves off from the outside world, they gradually radicalized each other, and eventually the friends decided to wage battle in bin Laden’s global jihad, setting off for Afghanistan in 1999 in search of al-Qaeda.

Atta and the other members of the Hamburg group arrived in Afghanistan in 1999 right at the moment that the September 11 plot was beginning to take shape. Bin Laden and his military commander Muhammad Atef realized that Atta and his fellow Western-educated jihadists were far better suited to lead the attacks on Washington and New York than the men they had already recruited, leading bin Laden to appoint Atta to head the operation.

The hijackers, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia, established themselves in the United States, many well in advance of the attacks. They traveled in small groups, and some of them received commercial flight training.

Throughout his stay in the United States, Atta kept Binalshibh updated on the plot’s progress via e-mail. To cloak his activities, Atta wrote the messages as if he were writing to his girlfriend “Jenny,” using innocuous code to inform Binalshibh that they were almost complete in their training and readiness for the attacks. Atta wrote in one message, “The first semester commences in three weeks…Nineteen certificates for private education and four exams.” The referenced 19 “certificates” were code that identified the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers, while the four “exams” identified the targets of the attacks.

In the early morning of August 29, 2001, Atta called Binalshibh and said he had a riddle that he was trying to solve: “Two sticks, a dash and a cake with a stick down—what is it?” After considering the question, Binalshibh realized that Atta was telling him that the attacks would occur in two weeks—the two sticks being the number 11 and the cake with a stick down a 9. Putting it together, it meant that the attacks would occur on 11-9, or 11 September (in most countries the day precedes the month in numeric dates, but in the United States the month precedes the day; hence, it was 9-11 in the United States). On September 5 Binalshibh left Germany for Pakistan. Once there he sent a messenger to Afghanistan to inform bin Laden about both the day of the attack and its scope.

God’s Primary Purpose

Author: Anne Graham Lotz

"I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4, NIV).

Trusting God to accomplish His primary purpose through our pain was eloquently expressed by the widow of Todd Beamer. Todd was a passenger on the fateful United Flight 93 when it was hijacked by suicide bombers on September 11, 2001. He and other passengers overpowered the hijackers, thwarting their use of the plane as a flying missile apparently aimed at the very heart of Washington, D.C. But the passengers were unable to prevent the plane from a nosedive crash into a vacant field in Pennsylvania, so September 11, 2001, was the date of Todd Beamer’s entrance into heaven. Lisa Beamer gave us a snapshot of her faith that is being developed through suffering when she told an interviewer, “God says, ‘I knew on September 10, and I could have stopped it, but I have a plan for greater good than you can ever imagine.’ I don’t know God’s plan, and, honestly, right now I don’t like it very much. But I trust that He is true to His promise in Romans 8:28.”

Thank you, Lisa, for trusting God when you don’t understand why!

Blessings,

Anne Graham Lotz

Copyright © 2025 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am Your shield,[a]
    Your very great reward.[b]”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can You give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the Word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Footnotes

1. Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
2. Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
3. Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
4. Genesis 15:5 Or seed
5. Genesis 15:18 Or river

"Doctor, I think my wife is getting hard of hearing."

"I'll have my nurse make an appointment for her, but in the meantime, there's a simple, informal test you can run to give us an idea how bad the problem is. Here's what you do: start out about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone say something and see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he's in the living room. In a normal tone he asks, "Honey, what's for supper?"

No response.

So the husband moves to the other end of the room and repeats, "Honey, what's for supper?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room. "Honey, what's for supper?"

No response, so he walks up to the kitchen door. "Honey, what's for supper?"

Again there is no response, so he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for supper?"

"For the fifth time, Harry, CHICKEN!"

Dinner, a Show, and Lessons from Marc Cohn

Author: Chris Maxwell 

On a Tuesday night in Atlanta, Debbie and I sat at a table beside the stage. Dinner first, then Marc Cohn and his band. Up close. So close we could see his fingers on the keys, his hands on the guitar, his eyes closing when he leaned into a lyric. So close we could see the tremors of Parkinson’s—obvious, undeniable. But more obvious was the support. His band carrying him, his fans cheering him, all of us holding him up with our voices, our claps, our presence.
It was more than a concert. It was therapy. For him. For me. For us.
Marc’s music has been a soundtrack for my life. Songs carrying me through valleys, reminding me of joy, daring me to hope. Hearing them live with Debbie by my side reminded me that life is always lived at a table—sometimes a dinner table, sometimes a hospital table, sometimes a concert table. At those tables we eat and talk, we learn and listen, we weep and laugh. At those tables we find healing in meals, in words, in music.
Here are lessons from some of the songs:
“From the Station”
He opened with this. A beginning. A reminder that we all start somewhere. We’ve come from stations, from moments of departure, from places of waiting. My own station has been marked with health scares, scars, fears. But also with hope, with friends, with stories I still tell.
“Ghost Train”
What train are we on? Where is it taking us? I think of the tracks of my past—the mistakes, the regrets, the gifts, the grace. Ghosts remain, but the train keeps moving.
“Listening to Levon”
Some names and faces shape us. We become part of their story, and they become part of ours. I’ve had my Levons. So have you. We listen, we learn, we sometimes wonder why their song lingers in our heads.
“The Letter”
Covers tell their own stories. Marc chose to bring an old song to life again. Isn’t that what we do with our own letters, journals, sermons, prayers? We reread them. We retell them. They keep speaking.
“Perfect Love”
What is it, really? Not flawless romance. Not the absence of conflict. But love that stays. Love that forgives. Love that outlasts time and tears.
“Rest for the Weary”
I needed this song decades ago. I needed it this week. Maybe you need it right now. Rest is not a luxury. It is a necessity. A gift. A pause. It reminds me that weariness is not weakness—it is humanity. To admit we are weary is to open ourselves to healing. Rest doesn’t always come in a full night’s sleep or a quiet vacation. Sometimes it comes in a song sung on a Tuesday night in Atlanta, by a man whose tremors don’t silence his voice. That reminder—that rest is possible even in the struggle—was exactly what I needed.
“Silver Thunderbird”
He sang of childhood, of parents, of cars and memories. Songs like this remind me: life is fragile, family is complicated, death comes, yet there is something holy in remembering where we came from.
“Walking in Memphis”
Of course he sang it. His hit. His anthem. But he didn’t sing it alone. He invited us in. We all became part of it. One family, singing together. Isn’t that what church, community, music, and healing should feel like?
“True Companion”
Marriage. Vows. Endurance. The laughter and tears. The beauty and the pain. To sit with Debbie so close to the stage was a reminder that true companions walk through decades together, through uneven roads and surprising concerts.
“Things We’ve Handed Down”
I wrote a book with that title. Marc sang the song that inspired me. Things are always being handed down—memories, stories, songs, scars, traditions. I think of what I received from parents, friends, mentors, communities. Some things I treasure. Some things I wrestle with. And I think of what I want to hand down: faith, hope, love, honesty. Writing that book was my way of handing down lessons, stories, prayers. Hearing Marc sing those words reminded me that handing down is never just about genetics or traditions. It’s about soul. It’s about honesty. It’s about giving others the courage to live and tell their own stories.
“Walk Through the World”
Where have I been? Where am I going? How can I make a difference, wherever I am? I think of walking not just through places, but through relationships. Walking with people is always the greater journey. This song made me wonder about my own walk—the steps I take in airports, hospitals, sanctuaries, ballgames, classrooms. But also the steps of conversations, friendships, companionships. The world is wide, but true relationships narrow it down. When you walk through the world with people who love you, who challenge you, who forgive you, you never walk alone.
“One Safe Place”
What is mine? What is yours? For some, it’s a home. For others, it’s a memory. For many, it’s a song. That night, for me, it was sitting at a table near a stage with Debbie, with Marc, with his band, with strangers who felt like family. I thought about the longing so many carry to find safety, to find belonging, to find a place where they can finally breathe. Sometimes it comes in a church facility. Sometimes in a living room. Sometimes in the embrace of a spouse or the prayers of a friend. And sometimes, just sometimes, it comes in music—reminding us that no matter what storms rage inside or around us, there can still be one safe place.
I left the concert reminded that life is both fragile and beautiful. That tables matter. That songs matter. That companions matter. That safe places matter.
Marc Cohn gave us more than music that night. He handed down courage, honesty, endurance. And in the handing down, he invited us to hand something down too.
That’s part of my calling as a pastor and a writer—to hand down words, prayers, and stories. Through sermons, through books, through conversations at tables, I want to hand down reminders of faith, hope, and love. Marc hands down songs. I hand down words. And you, too, have something to hand down. May we all choose carefully what we pass along to the next generation, leaving behind more hope than hurt, more healing than harm, more grace than grief.
​
Copyright © Chris Maxwell 2025 | Designed by True Potential

​Charlie Kirk
American political activist and author

​Charles James Kirk was an American right-wing political activist, author, and media personality. He co-founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA in 2012 and was its executive director.

He was tragically assassinated by an expert rifleman at couple hundred yards distance. He will one day face All Mighty God Who wll hold him accountable for this deplorable deed.

Press Past Guilt and Shame

Author: Joyce Meyer

How do you feel about yourself? Do you waste time feeling guilty about things in the past that you can’t change? 

I used to live with a constant, underlying sense of guilt. Because I was sexually abused by my father during my childhood, I grew up feeling that something must be wrong with me for him to want to do the things he did to me. This damage in my soul caused me to become ashamed of myself.

Guilt and shame are dangerous. Because when you live this way, you aren’t just ashamed of something you’ve done or that’s been done to you, you’re ashamed of yourself. And it poisons everything else in your life.

But Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior]” (AMP). This means it is not God’s will for us to live with guilt and shame every day of our lives!

Giving up guilt and shame was not easy for me. I had a really hard time believing that God loved me and that He wanted me to love myself. I don’t mean that He wanted me to love myself in a selfish, self-centered, prideful way, but I had to accept God’s love for me and love myself in a healthy way before I could love others. 

I came to realize that most of the problems I had—the personality issues and unhealthy relationships—stemmed from the fact that I was ashamed of myself. The truth is, when you don’t like yourself, it’s very difficult to get along with anyone else.

It was a life-changing revelation when God showed me that it was religion—not relationship with Christ—that makes us believe that it’s right or good to feel bad about ourselves...to beat ourselves up for our mistakes and weaknesses.

God doesn’t want us to live under the burden of guilt and condemnation, because all this does is make us believe that we need to pay for our sin. And Jesus has already paid for it!

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (NIV). And verse 21 says that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

When we come to God and confess our sin, asking Him to forgive us, we become new creations in Him because of what Jesus has done (1 John 1:9). Jesus, Who was perfect and never sinned, took the punishment for our sin so we could be made right with God and have a personal relationship with Him.

So when we refuse to give up guilt and shame by believing in what He’s done for us, we’re essentially saying, “Jesus, I don’t think You did a good enough job, so I need to add my effort to try and make up for the mistakes I’ve made and get over this guilt.” Our way of “paying” is feeling miserable and guilty.

The tragedy is, as long as we live this way, we will never enjoy the freedom we can have in Christ of being forgiven of our sins, and enjoy the good life He came to give us (John 10:10).

The key to pressing past guilt and shame was discovering the power in God’s Word to overcome it. Eventually, as I spent time in prayer and Bible study, the truth renewed my mind and set me free (Romans 12:2; John 8:32).

I want to encourage you to read the scriptures I’ve shared in this teaching. Pray and ask God to help you agree with what He says more than how you feel or what you think about yourself based on your past. Study verses about His love for you, like John 3:16-17 and 1 John 4:8-16. Confess what God says about you: He loves you; He forgives you; He created you to be a unique, special, one-of-a-kind individual; and He has a wonderful plan for your life! (See Psalm 139:13-14; Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 2:8-10.)

If you will embrace who you are as a new creation in Christ and do your best each day to grow in your faith in God by studying His Word and seeking Him in prayer, you will make progress in becoming everything He made you to be. You will be free from guilt and shame...and have the life Jesus died to give you!

***********
For more on this topic, order Joyce’s three-part teaching resource Pressing In and Pressing On. You can also contact us to receive our free magazine, Enjoying Everyday Life, by calling (800) 727-9673 or visiting www.joycemeyer.org
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored more than 150 books, including BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND and OVERCOMING EVERY PROBLEM (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life program, which is broadcast to millions in over 110 languages. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org

Please note: The views and opinions expressed throughout this publication and/or website are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

Copyright © 2025 Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved www.joycemeyer.org.

Psalm 1   This is the first Psalm I memorized in the 3rd grade. Mrs. Mary Livingston gave me 50 cents for memorizing this Psalm                                                                                                                                                                                                            Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 1:1 wicked
2. Psalm 1:2 ponders by talking to himself
3. Psalm 1:3 channels

​Love So Amazing

Author: Anne Graham Lotz

"He . . . did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32, NKJV).

In the Old Testament, Abraham’s faith was tested when God told him to take his son, his only son, the son he loved, and offer him as a sacrifice. And Abraham did. Abraham bound Isaac to the altar and raised his knife to slay him in strict obedience to God’s Word. Just before the gleaming knife plunged down, God leaned out of heaven and urgently commanded, “Abraham! Abraham! . . . Do not lay a hand on the boy,” and Isaac’s life was spared! Abraham looked around; caught in the thicket nearby was a ram. After cutting Isaac loose, Abraham took the ram and offered it on the altar.

As God’s Son, God’s only Son, the Son He loved, hung on the Cross, the knife of God’s fierce wrath against sin was lifted, and there was no one to stay the Father’s hand. Instead, “He . . . did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.” Jesus was God’s Lamb and our Substitute Who endured the full force of God’s wrath for your sins and mine when He was bound on the altar in our place.

“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul , my all!”

Blessings,

Anne Graham Lotz
Copyright © 2025 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

A retired man who volunteers to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals went to one local hospital in Brooklyn and took his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patients' bedsides.

When he finished he said, in farewell, "I hope you get better."

One elderly gentleman replied, "I hope you get better, too."

A Legacy of Hope: New Book from Siblings Carol and Albert Gray

IPHC has long been a supporter of the Bethany Children’s Health Center in Bethany, Oklahoma. The BCHC has seen many changes through the years, and in the last four decades, it has seen tremendous growth under the caring, influential hands of siblings Carol and Albert Gray. These two have written a tremendous book detailing the history of the Health Center from 1898 to where it is today.
​
Presiding Bishop A. D. Beacham, Jr. shares: “In A Legacy of Hope, Albert Gray and his sister Carol Gray describe the amazing story of Bethany Children’s Hospital in Bethany, Oklahoma. The story begins in 1898 with Mattie Mallory, an early member of one of the predecessors to the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church. In the 1970s, the IPHC became more directly involved in helping to preserve this special ministry to children. Albert and Carol describe how God intervened to use them and the IPHC to put the hospital on solid ground. What the Lord has done over the past forty-plus years is nothing more than miraculous. Today, a modern, state-of-the-art facility provides loving medical care to several hundred special needs children. I am personally thankful for Albert, Carol, and the dedicated personnel who serve these children and the role the IPHC continues to have in prayerful support and encouragement.”

Read the official Press Release for A Legacy of Hope below:
 
Longtime Leaders, Siblings and ‘Hope Rebels’ Punctuate Four-Decade Journey at Bethany Children’s Health Center in New Book
Carol and Albert Gray Share Powerful Stories of Faith, Resilience, Miracles Observed with a Mission of “Maximizing the Potential of Every Child.”

Bethany, Okla. (August 13, 2025) –  In their newly released book, A Legacy of Hope, longtime leaders and brother-sister duo Carol and Albert Gray share the remarkable journey of Bethany Children’s Health Center—from its humble beginnings as an orphanage in 1898, through its near closure in the mid-20th century, to its place today as one of the nation’s premier pediatric hospitals.

Rooted in the legacy of a young schoolteacher, Mattie Mallory, who answered God’s call to care for orphaned children, this story reveals how one small act of obedience blossomed into a mission spanning generations—built on faith, compassion, and the belief that every child deserves hope. An endorsement was provided by the late Don Pray, who served as executive director of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, and the foreword was provided by Mart Green, ministry investment officer of Hobby Lobby, together with his wife, Diana Green.

Formerly known as the Children’s Convalescent Center, Carol began working as the Volunteer Coordinator in 1977, which, due to scarce resources, was starting a road to closure. And that process required a specific skillset – one her brother Albert held – with a Nursing Home Administrator’s license. However, against all odds, and like Mattie Mallory nearly a century before, the Grays felt the Lord calling them into a mission beyond themselves. Instead of the easy solution, they chose a tenacious path inspired by their parents work ethic. They began working together to continue the center’s legacy by finding ways to keep the facility open, which included re-establishing the referral pipeline, transforming traditional models of care for children with disabilities, and fundraising.

“A Legacy of Hope is more than a history—it’s our testimony of God’s faithfulness through seasons of challenge and change,” said Carol Gray. “We wanted to honor the people, past and present, who refused to give up on this mission, and to inspire the next generation to carry it forward with the same passion and hope.”

A Legacy of Hope captures the diligent work of the Gray siblings, among others, to turn a facility in danger of closing into one of the nation’s leading pediatric health centers. It’s a journey of perseverance and faith through financial hardship and organizational challenges. This book exchanges personal accounts from both Carol and Albert, outlining their distinct entrepreneurial, visionary and detail-oriented qualities as inspirational insights from “Two Kids From Lookeba,” and of course shares heartwarming insights and stories of community support.

“When we look back, it’s humbling to think God used two kids from Lookeba to show His goodness and faithfulness,” said Albert Gray. “A Legacy of Hope isn’t just our story, it’s a reminder that when faith, hard work, and community come together, extraordinary things can happen for children who need it most.”

Carol currently serves as the Senior Director of Mission and Culture, and Albert is the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. In recent years the Gray siblings have transitioned from Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer, respectively.

To support the book’s release, Carol and Albert Gray are available beginning August 18 for media interviews, speaking engagements, and book signings. A Legacy of Hope is available for purchase on Amazon, online donations through Bethany Children’s Health Center’s website, and on-site after pre-scheduled tours.

Link to photos here. For more information about Bethany Children’s Health Center please visit www.bethanychildrens.org.

About Bethany Children’s Health Center
Bethany Children’s Health Center is an innovative leader in the field of pediatric rehabilitation and 24-hour complex care. The private, non-profit hospital, accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), offers inpatient complex care and outpatient rehabilitation services for children and is the only inpatient pediatric rehabilitation facility in Oklahoma. The hospital is also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The multidisciplinary team works with patients and their families to maximize every child’s potential, and ensure the family has the training and resources needed for a smooth transition from hospital to home. Bethany Children’s provides a range of community support services for families nationwide, including the annual Cerebral Palsy Conference and adaptive recreation and sports experiences, and is currently campaigning for the next phase of outpatient services with the Landmark of Hope expansion project.

AI Overview
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth supports President Trump's decision to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War, emphasizing it will restore a "warrior ethos," project strength, and focus the military on decisively winning conflicts rather than being solely defensive. Hegseth stated that the new name signifies a shift to being on offense, prioritizing "maximum lethality," and fostering a commitment to "fight and win wars". 
Key Points from Secretary Hegseth:
Restoring the Warrior Ethos

​The Click of the Pruning Shears

Author: Anne Graham Lotz 

"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (John 15:8, NIV).

The firm “click” of the Gardener’s pruning shears can be heard in our lives when . . .

we are confined to a hospital room,

we are fired from a job,

we are moved to a new place, surrounded by strangers,

we are isolated in a new job, surrounded by unbelievers.

Your purpose, and mine, is to bring glory to God. Jesus reiterated this purpose as He concluded His challenge to the disciples to be fruitful in service: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

You will not bear much fruit unless and until you submit to the cutting and clipping of the Gardener. Therefore, when you resist His “gardening” in your life, what you are really doing is refusing to glorify God and therefore aborting the very purpose for your existence. Solemn thoughts, aren’t they?

Blessings,

Anne Graham Lotz 
Copyright © 2025 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

Isaiah 40:10    New International Version

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
    and He rules with a mighty arm.
See, His reward is with Him,
    and His recompense accompanies Him.
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The Message of 41:10.     What is the message of Isaiah 41:10?

Isaiah 41:10 reassures the Israelites during their exile in Babylon that their suffering is temporary and God will sustain them. By exploring the meaning of Isaiah 41:10 and its famous line, “Do not fear, for I am with you,” we see that it's a direct message to a people enduring a specific hardship.