LEAD STORY: by Andy Butcher

'Don't Talk About Judgement,' Leader Urges Preachers

Message to grieving nation should 'carefully balance grace and truth'

With millions of anguished Americans turning to churches this weekend for answers to the terrorist tragedy, a charismatic leader has cautioned preachers to be careful about talking of God's judgment.

As secular news media outlets report how people are looking to religion for comfort and help, some Christian commentators have said that Tuesday's events could trigger a national revival.

But author and speaker Dutch Sheets warned that the way Christians respond and pray "could very well determine whether our nation turns toward God or away from God." He added: "Measured, accurate and biblical responses from those of us representing God are critical."

A leading figure in the prayer and intercession movement, Sheets said that the church's message should be "one of carefully balanced grace and truth," not avoiding talk of sin but lacing it with "hope and with God's merciful heart."

Sheets' appeal has been issued through Global Harvest Ministries, which coordinates international prayer and spiritual warfare initiatives. It comes a day after televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson came under fire for saying that liberal groups bore some responsibility for the attacks.

According to "The Washington Post," Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) "700 Club" host Robertson agreed yesterday when Falwell said: "God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies to give us probably what we deserve." Falwell also said that pro-abortionists, pagans, feminists, gays and civil liberties groups had "helped this happen."

"The Post" said that a White House official had called the remarks "inappropriate," while Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, said the comments were "absolutely inappropriate and irresponsible." The newspaper said that Falwell was later "unrepentant," and said that he had been making a theological, not a legal, statement.

In a statement issued by CBN, Robertson said the terrorist attacks had occurred because God had lifted His protection, reported the Associated Press. He cited abortion, Internet pornography and the limiting of prayer in schools. "We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?'"

Sheets, pastor of a charismatic church in Colorado Springs, Colo., wrote in "A Biblical Response to the Terrorist Attacks on America" that "great caution should be exercised in using the word 'judgment' to define these events...most biblical judgment is the inevitable, built-in consequence of sin, not the direct hand of God."

He advised against using the term "judgment" because "the world will probably not hear anything else we say." Some "immature leaders" had "brought forth only harshness and condemnation in their attempts to call the nation to repentance," while some pastors had "overemphasized mercy and grace, refusing to call individuals to biblical accountability."

He said: "Our message must call sinners to repentance - we cannot compromise truth - but God's heart of compassion, mercy and grace must fill the message with hope."

Francis Frangipane, another respected charismatic speaker and writer, said that while some would see the week's events as "the wrath of God released against our nation," he did not believe they were the judgment of God, but "the attack of the enemy because of our stand with Israel."


NEWS BRIEFS: BILLY GRAHAM: ATTACKS SET STAGE FOR REVIVAL
Billy Graham said today's observance of National Prayer and Remembrance should "reaffirm our conviction that God cares for us." The longtime evangelist gave a brief sermon during an interfaith service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., to mark Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the capital and New York City.

'The Bible says that He's the God of all comfort who comforts us in our troubles," Graham told the congregation, which included President Bush and former Presidents Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. "No matter how hard we try, words simply cannot express the horror, the shock and the repulsion of what took place in this nation on Tuesday morning. Today we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We've always needed God from the very beginning of. But today we need Him especially."

Graham noted that the tragedy "can give a message of hope to the present and future."
"Yes, there is hope for the present because I believe the stage has already been set for a new spirit in our nation," he said. "One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country. We need a spiritual revival in America. God has told us in His Word time after time that if we repent of our sins and we turn to Him, He will bless us in a new way."