What are you looking at?

My belief

I have a unique vantage point with my Job. I “cruise” for hours at a time at more than 5 miles off the surface of the planet with speeds over 600 miles an hour. Doing this, I get to see A WHOLE LOT of planet earth very often. It is amazing to me to see the beautiful changes in the scenery. Vast oceans, colorful mountains, green expanses of land, and the most amazing shades of light in the sky. Then I look at all the different people and animals and think to myself, this planet is incredibly complex. I wonder how anyone thinks all of this happened by chance or accident.

God’s handiwork is all around us. It is displayed in everything we see and experience. The vastness of beauty on this planet is more than anyone can see in a life time and yet, it is only a sliver of the majesty of God. I don’t know why our world puts blinders on to this? They want God to show up and stand in front of them before they will believe. Even then, I don’t think people will really believe. To know God is to have accountability and to realize that people are not the end all be all. You are not the zenith of life. To look at this world is to see evidence of God. If you can’t see God then it still should motivate you to look until you find the HOW and the WHY. If you are honest, both of these questions will only lead to one place!

Scripture

Romans 1:20 ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Application to Life

Our origin is critically important to what we do in life. Find information about the complexity of DNA or the human cell. Find information about the mathematical probability of all things happening without intelligent design. Ask yourself why science ends up proving the Bible to be accurate. Look at how all the history we know matches the Bible perfectly. If you can’t see God, then I wonder what you are looking at?

Smooth Air, Turbulent Trip

My Belief

I can’t think of a more “Rocky” industry than the airline industry. This industry is plagued by insecurity. Airlines are forever merging, failing, or locked in continual battle between the work groups and management. The statistics of the business are that a person is likely to be “laid-off” 3 times in the span of their career. The giants of the business like PANAM, Eastern, and TWA have all seen the sun set on their corporations. Many of today’s giants are former versions of their selves that are sickly and struggling not to go out of business themselves.

When I was new to this job I always wondered why those senior captains making great money with lots of time off where always so unhappy. This career is all about “Seniority”! The more you have the more money you make and better quality of life you have. The problem is, by the time you have Seniority you have been in this rocky business for a long time. The duration takes its toll on the employee and leaves a lot of battle scars from the stress of instability.

In my mind there is no business that needs the Security that Jesus offers more than this one. Jesus offers security that He will always provide and He will never forsake. No matter how bad it get Jesus does not forget to give us what we need for this life and gives us a Great Hope for what is to come in the next life. When you give Jesus control, you realize that all these things that seam so critical now will all pass away. They don’t matter as much as they once did.

Scripture

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Application for Life

No matter what business you are in and no matter how bad it seams, it is not that big a deal. If you really have Jesus in your life than you can rest because you have real security in your life. Pray and cast all your cares on him. He will give you solutions and at the end of this stressful life, He will take you home to a place with no more stress and no more pain.

The Hard Standard

My Belief

Airline pilots undergo rigorous training throughout there entire career. They are continually trained and tested to verify proficiency. Some of this training is progressive, trained to proficiency or held to a wide standard. Some of it however, is not. Some of it is very strict and must be adhered to perfectly. The most difficult of these test is to become a Captain at a major airline. Within the industry this evaluation is referred to as a “Type Ride”. The standards for this test are very narrow and any deviation by the candidate is met with a strict unsatisfactory completion. Candidates can not deviate from this narrow path or they do not posses what is necessary to be a Captain.

I feel the truth of Jesus Christ represented in the Bible is very similar to this. There is only one way to get to heaven and have eternal life with God. That is through the very narrow path of Jesus Christ. Any deviation from this standard will be met with strictly as unsatisfactory completion. There are a lot of things in the Bible that are unknown and can be left to a wide interpretation. This truth of Jesus Christ is not one of them. Jesus Christ is the “Type Ride” of the Bible. There can be no deviation from this narrow standard.

I tell you this because I so often hear things that are in direct contradiction to this. I hear things like, “it is Jesus plus baptism, Jesus plus good works, or God doesn't let good people go to hell”. The truth is that none of us are good people. We are all evil and in need of Jesus to cleanse us of our sins. To add or change this in any way is to take away from the hardest standard in the Bible. There can be no deviation from (Jesus Christ + nothing = salvation.)

Scripture

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Matt 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Application for Life

Always stand firm for the truth of Jesus Christ. If you allow anyone to add to what is necessary for salvation, it takes away from what Christ did for us on the cross. Anyone who tries to say different is outside the standard of Christ and will be considered unsatisfactory to God.

Captain Tail Number

My Belief

I used to “think” I was a pretty good pilot. There was definitely a streak of arrogant pride running right through me. Many situations presented themselves on the flight deck when I was still a new Captain. In the first year and a half of being a Captain I was successful in handling problems such as a pressurization failure at high altitude, total loss of my de-icing capability while flying through a blizzard, and several diversions for extremely severe weather. I had so many difficult situations happen while flying I use to joke with my wife that anything short of the wings coming off, I would bring the aircraft safely back to earth. I had two hands firmly on the “Steering Wheel” of my life and I was trusting my own ability instead of the Lord God who gives everything.

God will not share His Glory with another and he quickly humbled me and taught me one of the biggest lessons I have had to this point in life. I was riding high and felt bullet proof to just about anything as I began a great trip a few years ago. The trip was worth a lot of money, had good overnights, and had a great start and finish time. Everything was perfect about this trip except the last day. The last day had an early start, a lot of work, and a very short overnight the night before. We were onboard the airplane that morning before 4:00AM. Myself and my crew were all sleepy and none of us realized that the agents at the airport had gotten the wrong airplane ready for us to fly out that morning. We took the wrong airplane flying that morning and it was my fault. The tail number was only one digit different between that airplane and the one we were suppose to have. I had a lot of explaining to do to my company, chief pilots, and peers. It was a simple mistake, but potentially a huge one. I could not believe that I had been so careless. God did not need to flex his muscles to bring me to my knees, He used the simplest thing possible. Thankfully God protected me, but he sent me a real warning. He told me that he is God alone and I am a man. I have no right to boast in anything but Him. He gave all to me and He can take everything away from me. Either way I will praise the Lord.

Scripture

Isaiah 42:8 I am Jehovah, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Application for Life

What do you do that your AWESOME at? What is your strength. It does not matter what your gift is because all gifts are from God. We are to use all of them to promote God’s Glory not our own. In life or death, in victor or defeat, in success or failure give thanks to the Lord always.

Don’t be Sharp, Just willing!

My Belief

So many Christians tell me, “Well…I don’t know how to talk about Jesus or I’m not ready”… This is SILLY! Christians don’t want to talk about Christ because they are (OF) this world instead of being (IN) this world. I feel I present a very convincing argument for the evidence of Intelligent design (GOD) and the accuracy of the Bible, but I DON’T NEED TOO! The more I share Christ's gift of love and salvation with people the more I realize that NO argument in the world convinces anyone. Only the HOLY SPIRIT changes a persons heart. We are called to simply “toss” seed around on all the ground. God changes the condition of the soil it lands on. You are only asked to give an account of the Hope that you have in Christ Jesus. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Self, do I have eternal hope in Jesus?'” If the answer is yes, than share it. When people say there is NO stability in the market, this job, or my investments; tell them where the security and the hope is. The only solid ground is Jesus. You don’t have to be convincing, just be willing to share and pray with them.

Scripture

Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

1Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

Application for Life

Do you have hope in Christ? Do you know that all the bills, situations, and problems of this world are frivolous? If so then pray for God to give you opportunity to share that hope with all you meet. Be like Paul and say, “my hands are clean because I told everyone I met about Christ”. You don’t have to debate or convince, just tell them. Jesus said that his sheep will hear his voice and follow, so let Jesus speak through you.

 

I’m Sorry Again…

My Belief

Do you ever struggle with the same sin over and over and over again? I do! Some times I think I have all of my sinful self completely under control and I feel close to God. Other times, it is like I let my guard slip and I don’t know how I can ever be close to God. There are times when I am tired have not been in the Word and I let my mind and actions wonder toward those things of Anger, Lust, and Gluttony. I give in somewhat to the evil desires of my flesh. I have done this most of my life and I figure I will for pretty much the rest of it too. I pray and pray that God will forgive me and give me the strength to overcome my sin. He does, EVERY TIME. Paul described this same problem in Romans. All though he is in Christ he is also a sinful man. Though his heart is for God, he is prone to all the sinfulness in the human condition. The beautiful thing is, is that God always forgives us that are in Christ Jesus. He loves us and restores us to start a new day every time.

Scripture

Romans 7:24-26 - ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
      So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

1 John 1:9 - ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

Application for Life

Don’t think that you will ever beat your sin, ONLY JESUS COULD! He was the only perfect one that could fix this problem. Instead, embrace the fact that you are a wicked sinful person who NEEDS Jesus to survive. Don’t let the devil lie to you and let you think that God will not forgive you again. You are one of his children and He will always pick you up and dust you off again.

The End is Near!

My Belief

There are a lot of myths and thoughts about when the world will end. People look at the Bible and current events trying to determine if the end is near all the time. They see things in the news that seam to fit with end of days Biblical prophecy and the return of Christ. Some think the time is now and some think it is far from now. Let me assure you, time is very short! I don't know if the hour of Jesus return is upon us, but I do know your world is going to end very soon! Most of us are, or soon will be in our second half of life. Forty years will go by in a flash and then your time here will be expired. A friend that I grew up with was recently killed. He was only 30 years old and left behind a beautiful family. He didn’t do anything wrong, but his time was cut short when another motorist slammed into his motorcycle. He was a great guy with a lot of life in front of him, but unexpectedly his time came to an end. Knowing that we have such a limited amount of time remaining, what will you do with it? Will you build a wonderful "nest" of stuff? At the end of your life, will you look back your big house, cars, and money and have comfort? Or, will you look back and realize you made real connections with people? Will you look back and see the lives that you touched for Christ? Will you look back and see that God was able to use you for his Glory and to spread his word to his people? During your last breaths will you be able to look forward with excitement and anticipation? 

SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Application for Life
Our time is finite. Weather or not the world ends soon, YOURS surely will. How much can you get done with the time remaining? How many people in your office or place of work can you be a real friend to now? How many of those friendships can result in another dirty soul being saved by Christ? Will you take anything with you at the end of your days?