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Self-Sacrifice
Halifax
harbor in Nova Scotia, Canada, was filled with ships
whose schedules were dictated by the commerce of World
War I (WWI). On
Tuesday morning, December 6, 1917, a fully-loaded
French ammunition ship, the Mont
Blanc, was entering the harbor as a Belgian relief
ship, the Imo,
was exiting the Harbor to travel to New York to pick
up relief materials for Belgium. After a series confusing whistle blasts and misunderstood
signals, the ships collided in the narrows of the
Harbor.
The Imo’s
bow ripped a hole at least 10 feet into the hull of
the Mont Blanc. When the Imo
tried to pull back, sparks ignited some of the
munitions on board the Mont
Blanc. The
fire spread quickly and the crew abandoned ship.
Fleeing in two rowboats, the French-speaking
crew reached safety on the English-speaking Dartmouth
shore as the burning ship continued to drift toward
the Richmond Pier 6 on the Halifax shore.
Because of the language differences, the crew
was unable to warn the residents of the impending
disaster.
The Mont
Blanc exploded at 9:04 AM, making it one of the
worst maritime disasters in history.
It still ranks as one of the largest ever
non-nuclear, man-made explosions.
The ship was instantly fragmented, with much of
it vaporizing into a giant fireball that rose over a
mile into the air. The explosion also caused a 15-foot tidal wave wrecking other
ships in the Harbor and leveling anything in its path.
The disaster resulted in approximately 2,000
deaths, 9,000 injuries, and according to one
conservative estimate, roughly $30 million (1917
currency) in damage.
The
death toll could have been higher if not for the
heroic efforts of an Intercolonial Railway dispatcher,
P. Vincent (Vince) Coleman.
Sensing imminent danger and thinking of
passenger trains that were in route to the area,
Coleman refused to evacuate and went back into his
office to telegraph an urgent warning to incoming
trains.
” Stop trains. Munitions
ship on fire. Approaching
Pier 6. Goodbye.”
His
warning was heeded and around 700 lives were spared.
But Vince Coleman was killed at his post as the
explosion ripped through the city. *
The
Bible warns that each of US, due to our sins, is on a
fatal collision course.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God … and the wages of sin is death (Romans
3:23; 6:23). Yet
because of His great love for us (John 15:13) and in
fulfillment of His Father’s will (Acts 2:23), Jesus,
the Son of God, refused to “leave His post” and
died on the cross to save us from our sins (Ephesians
1:7). He
died for us so that we might live with Him forever (1
Thessalonians 5:10).
To
avoid this collision course with eternal death and
enjoy eternal life, we must accept Jesus’ offer on
His terms: believing
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sin
(Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27). Then we must continue to follow Him faithfully in order to
reach the heavenly shore (1 John 1:7).
Jesus
gave His life to save YOU. Don’t forfeit the
eternal benefit of His Self-Sacrifice. Accept
His offer of salvation TODAY!
David
A. Sargent,
Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
"Many
thanks to Gary Hampton, Director of East
Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions, for
sharing this story with us!"
*
Information gleaned from “Halifax Explosion” in
Wikipedia.com, “The Halifax Explosion” account by
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion),
and a report by James M. Hylko of the Weskem company (http://www.weskem.com/NEWS/6066%20-%20Final.pdf).
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