Something rather cool happened to me while on my flight from toronoto to Vancouver. I was having quite an emotional day...
I ended up sitting next to a pilot (Jake) on the plane who was headed to Vancouver for flight sim testing as he was on his 6 month review. WOW. i thought I'm sitting next to a pilot I just got to ask him if the plane diagram in the 4 Laws makes sense... Even though I was emotionally raw, I knew that this was a great opportunity to trust God again for nothing is greater than bringing someone into the kingdom of heaven. i thought..4.5 hours to go. I prayed, "Okay God open up the doors for communication so that I can have the opportunity to share the gospel."
We started with small talk, about his family, why he was a pilot, what he was interested in meanwhile he was craming for his exam and he would read and study then he would dose of for for 20mins intervals. This pattern kept on for 2 hours. I kept praying that I would think of something to say that would lead to the gospel...
Finally i asked him, do you ever thing about the faith people have in you as you fly these large passenger planes? He noted,"I try not to think about it..." I replied, "What do you have your faith in?" "Not much." He answered.
So I started out with sharing my personal story of where I find my faith--Christ Jesus despite: circumstances, an untold future, a foggy journey...
Spend the next 35 mins sharing about
A. God's love and plan: for Jake to have a relationship with him (john 17:3, John 3:16)
B. We are sinful and separated from God thus we can not know and experience God's love and wonderful plan for our lives. (Rm 3:23, Rm 6:23). Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. We try to establish a relationsihp with God thru philosphy, good deeds but we inevitably fails.
C. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (John 14:6)
D. We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. (Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him")
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.
JAKE was not ready at that moment to accept the gospel but he told me, "Wow that's a simple message, i've been attending church for a number of years but...wow..that's so simple!"
I didn't want to push too hard I had already been very forward. I will continue to take the initiative to share the gospel in the power of the holy spirit and leave the results to God.
Jake then did the most symbolic thing i've every seen:
Pilots have those cool hats...well under the cap there is a pocket where they usually keep flight plans and a few slips of paper.... well when we finished talking about the gospel he tucked the 4 laws in that small plastic pocket. Wow, not only was the gospel shared and he understood it, he now had the gospel on his head literally.. haha.. So I pray that it goes beyond just being on his mind but into his heart.
Praise God for intersting circumstances to trust that his will is better than mine!
Airbags have a funny smell...
I doesn't look that bad but the engine mounts broke therefore the engine fell to the ground. The Mechanic at the body shop where the car was being held during the adjustment told me that he would have to order in a new engine if he were assigned to repair the car.
And I just bought a block heater for that thing! 150 bux down the drain. BOO>
