John Brennan, the White House’s chief counterterrorism adviser, laments that 10 years after the 9/11 attacks, many in Washington are still playing politics with the issue of terrorism.

"In the political environment, the thing I am most disappointed with is when politics comes into the issue of national security," Brennan told reporters at a breakfast Thursday, the Huffington Post reported. He said he is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, and stated that members of both parties "try to take advantage for political gain in the aftermath of failed attempts."

Politicians "are the first ones to point fingers at the other party and I don't think that is appropriate. That's one of the things that dismays counterterrorism professionals throughout the government,” Brennan said. more >>

The Tennessee pastor who welcomed an Islamic center to his block a year ago is now urging Christians everywhere to let go of fear and ignorance this Sept. 11 and love their Muslim neighbors.

On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Christians and Muslims will come together to hold a community blood drive in Cordova, Tenn.

Steve Stone, pastor of Heartsong Church in Cordova, said he was hesitant when he first learned in 2010 that the Memphis Islamic Center (MIC) would be moving across the street from the church. But after praying about it, Stone felt led to purchase and post a red lawn sign proclaiming, "Heartsong Church welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the Neighborhood." more >>

T.D. Jakes, pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, has called on Americans to put partisan bickering aside and to use the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks as momentum for unity.

"I will never forget the horrid images of American Airlines Flight 11 hurling into the World Trade Center," Jakes wrote in a Washington Post op-ed titled "9/11 in rear view (lessons in plain sight)."

The opinion piece from The Potter's House senior pastor comes just two days before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. According to Jakes, that day has forever stilled "innocent lives – collapsing one of our staunchest symbols of American ingenuity in its wake." more >>

This message was preached on September 13, 2001--two days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011. It is republished in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of those attacks. An extended reflection on these events from the perspective of 2011 will follow.

Preachers are expected to speak when no one else has any idea what to say. This is not an enviable position. Standing at the graveside, the dying bedside, the scene of the accident, the preacher is supposed to know what to say, when nothing seems right to say.

Sometimes, saying nothing is best. We can be too hasty to speak, too eager to explain, too superficial in our answer, or too arrogant in our presumption. At other times, silence would be mere cowardice and the abdication of calling and responsibility. To fail to speak in these moments is to deny one’s calling and to fail the supreme test of authentic ministry. more >>

Born and raised in New York City, Pastor Gregg Farah knew even before the tragedy of 9/11 that he would someday be leaving his job as a youth ministry leader at a Southern California megachurch to plant a church in his hometown.

Farah, along with his wife, just didn’t know when.

His stay in California was originally just about going to college, Farah said. However, he and his wife ended up attending and becoming leaders at Saddleback Church in Orange County. Farah became a youth ministry leader in 1999 and was under the guidance of the church’s well-known lead pastor, Rick Warren, and highly-regarded youth ministry pastor, Doug Fields. more >>

Family Research Council, the conservative family values group, joined forces with Democratic New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx) to present New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg with more than 62,000 signatures asking the mayor to allow clergy, prayer and first responders at the city's 9/11 memorial ceremony Sunday. The service will mark the 10th anniversary of the attack on the nation.

At a noon press conference, FRC Senior Legal Studies Fellow Cathy Ruse stood together with Councilman Cabrera to urge the city to include prayer at the Sunday ceremony.

Ruse appealed directly to the mayor saying, "Perhaps for Mayor Bloomberg, God and faith do not mean much, but it is exceedingly tone deaf not to recognize their importance to most Americans." more >>