Start Flapping! - Take Flight: Part 2



          “For you were formerly darkness, but now you are the Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth,) trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful to even speak of the things which are done by them in secret.  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.  For this reason, it says, ‘Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.’”  Ephesians 5:8-14

          “I’M going to teach this bird how to fly.”  That is the first thought in my head.  Immediately after came this thought: “HOW?  I’m not a bird, for crying out loud!”  However, it’s my responsibility to teach this bird how to use those still developing wings sprouting out either side of it.  I can’t fly!  I can’t demonstrate!  None of the neighborhood birds ever came by to show my bird what their parents have taught them!  Yet, it’s all on me!
          As Ricky Ricardo once said, “Let me ‘splain!”  (If you caught that, your life is grand!  J) During my high school years, I was outside roaming around the woods around my family’s yard when I stumbled upon a nest that fell out of a tree.  A very young grackle was still inside the nest, loudly chirping!  While not the most favorable type of bird, I still felt bad for the little youngster and made the mistake of touching the youngling.  Anyone that knows ANYTHING about birds, once you touch a baby bird, that scent stays on it and the mother will abandon her baby for life.  Knowing that already, I knew that I had just take over the parental role for this scrawny, black bird.  I began daily feedings and (long story short) helping this little guy to grow.
          Back to my earlier dilemma.  The time came that I knew I had to get this bird to try out its wings.  Typically, you have the parent sitting in the nest with junior.  There is no “Are you ready to try?” prelude.  Whilst the young bird starts complaining how it “doesn’t wanna fly today” (that’s a teen for you), the parent kicks the bird right out of the nest.  “Better start flapping or prepare to kiss the ground…HARD!”  The youngling has no choice but to start waving those wings frantically, in hopes that they may arrest their downward momentum enough to land with just a soft thud!  The parent will get the baby, take it back to the nest and…. punt! kick the youngling out again!  Eventually through practice, the young bird starts getting the art of flying down.
          I had no nest to kick this little bird out of.  However, I noticed that the bird liked being right there with me, always.  Hmm!  I’ve got it!  I’ll for this little guy to fly to me, if he wants to stay with me!  So, I carried the bird over and sat it on the post to our mail box, then walked away.  The bird didn’t lunge straight for me, it waited.  After walking a few good yards away, I turned to the still waiting bird.  Obviously, I don’t speak Chirp.  However, the bird instinctively knew was I was doing.  It was time to start flapping those wings to get over to where I was standing.  Here’s the cool part:  this little guy didn’t just try to take the quickest, shortest flight path to me.  Nope!  It realized the importance of this task.  So, when it leapt into the air and began flapping, the bird faced a direction away from me, then took a wide arching flight path before frantically landing on my shoulder, heavily breathing after that little workout.  After giving a chance to catch its breath, we repeated the exercise, over and over.
          Instincts!  What a wonderful thing!  That is one area that we humans don’t give one another enough credit, especially as parents.  We often don’t take those moments to “push junior out of the nest” and have them try to work on learning something on their own.  At the very least, we don’t to an extent where they must learn it quick or face a rather unpleasant result.  Take learning to ride a bike, for example.  We adults can direct, instruct, and teach until we are blue in the face.  It is up to the kid to figure out how to balance, after falling and skinning up a leg a couple of times.  It will happen.  Inevitably, the child learns how NOT to fall, or we just let them toss the bike down and give up.  Likewise, adults tend to do that while learning how to live as Christ has shown us.
          Many times, we see people “give up and pout” because, spiritually, things are going their way.  They try a couple of times and give up, since no one gave them a step-by-step instruction list and lots of “easy” practice.  Jesus gave plenty of instruction to prepare us for the moments to test our spiritual wings.  Jesus looks to us and says, “Come to me.  I am the door.  I am the way.”  He continues to give us those Ready…Fly…Set! moments.  As we gain more spiritual stamina and endurance, He increases the distance that we are expected to fly.  However, He is always ready to pick us back up should we fall to the ground.

          At some point, after reading this, go outside and look around in the air for a bird gracefully floating on the wind.  Think about what it took for that bird to become strong enough to soar through the skies with such grace and ease.  Then, keep in mind that Jesus is like the parent that kicked that bird out of the nest, keeping a watchful eye while we learn to flap our spiritual wings that will one day carry us high above the ground.  Years after, those wings may be feeling a little tired or momentarily weakened.  The words of our Savior till always be available for us when we need those Spiritual Flight Refreshment Courses!

Need a Lift? – Take Flight: Part 1




But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”  Revelation 12:14

Living near several military installations (especially the Air Force installations) it is no surprise that I often see numerous military aircraft taking off or landing from the nearby Peterson AFB.  I especially love to see the large C-130 Hercules in use.  That is a pretty large tub to be flying around in the air.  Then, I was curious as to what the current largest aircraft the U.S. military uses.  If the information is correct, the winner is the C-5M Super Galaxy (The second largest aircraft in the world.  Again, if the research is correct.) 
Standing at a little over 5 stories tall (61.5 ft.) and a little over 247 ft. in length.  Now, an American football field is 360 ft. including the end zones.  That would mean that the C-5M would take up a little over HALF of the length of the field.  Also, with a wingspan of 222 ft. (WOW!) A single C-5M can carry SIX AH-64 Apache helicopters, OR a couple of M1 Abrams Tanks, OR even the fuselage of that C-130 that I mentioned earlier.  Still having a little trouble guessing just how large this big turkey is?  The Super Galaxy can carry 6 Greyhound buses, or about 100 model 113 Volkswagen Beetles (Hello, “Love Bug”!).  Apart from the flight crew, this floating behemoth can carry about 358 troops.  You get the picture?
How in the world can something that huge, carrying those sorts of payload ever get off the ground?  It is a modern wonder of technology, to say the least.  Without going into the specifications, it takes a lot of power to get this big boy off the ground and into the air.  Though, at first glance, it may appear to be next to impossible, it happens.
What does this have to do with Christianity?  I’m glad you asked!  The first part of this Take Flight series, I want to quickly focus on what it takes to “get off the ground” spiritually.  As the Super Galaxy needs a LOT of engine power to get off the ground, we need a lot of GOD POWER to lift ourselves up. 
Isn’t it easy to come up with excuses for not being able to get that spiritual payload off the ground?  “I’m too busy to read my Bible.”  “After a long day, I don’t want to go to the study group.”  “There is already plenty of help serving lunch to the elderly.”  Have you heard that before?  Have you said that before?  Sounds like a whiny kid, doesn’t it?  Nonetheless, haven’t we been guilty of those excuses, at some point?  We become as spectacular as that huge plane, sitting on the ground…a big, glorified paperweight!  No Bueno!  So, what can we do about it?  How can we get those engines up to full throttle?
For starters, James 4:10 tells us to humble ourselves before God and He will lift us up.  In other words, we need to admit that we are meek and lowly without God.  It is through Him only, that we have the necessary power to lift our spirits up to a level that we can conquer whatever challenges head our way.  Also, this shows a clear sign of respect to our Heavenly Father, at a level that no other being can receive.  We acknowledge God as our Supreme Creator.  Admitting that we need God to take control in our lives will enable us to further pursue God’s influence in our hearts and minds.
Also, those that are actively seeking God will also rise high.  Psalm 113:7 reminds us that the needy will be lifted up.  We need to keep a constant hunger for God’s word within us.  Granted, several of us may be able to quote biblical passages all day but, we should never cease to reread and study deeper in the knowledge that God has provided for us.  We should continue to long for the pure milk of God’s Word (1 Peter 2:2).  When we take time to read and study, we are allowing God to add the spiritual fuel that it will take to get us off the ground. 
Will power is another key component needed to take flight.  God instructs us to take a “go and do it” attitude.  God’s mission for us is to be teachers and servants, to pass on His message and be helpful.  Take a few moments to read Hebrews 6:10, Mark 10:45, Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19-20, and Acts 20:35, to list a few.  What are the two basic commands that God gives us in those passages?  Teach and serve.  In other words, get the lead out of your tail pipe and get moving!  That big aircraft is not going to get off the ground if it doesn’t fire up those engines.  Neither will our spirits gain new heights if we aren’t pushing ourselves to follow God’s plan for us.
We need to ensure that we make time, with our families, to talk to God and study together.  Hey, we are all guilty of it.  We just need to work at it and not let the excuses flow.  We need to find the willingness within ourselves to actively spread what we learn and to help others when they are in need. 

Father, may You help us find our humility in Your eyes, to know that we need You every hour of every day.  Help us to long for Your wisdom and knowledge, and give us the will to pass it on to others.  Give us what we need to get off the ground and to soar high for others to see and want to be part of.  In Your Son, Amen.

The Uncertain Knight



     "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9

     It's not easy trying to revive and ancient order of elite guardians brandishing swords of energy. Especially, when your own training was pretty much "learn-as-you-go" and still without all the answers. As was the case for Luke Skywalker.
     Now, there are plenty of Star Wars lovers/fans out there; but, the only ones that can surpass me must have read past the Children of The Jedi novel. I'm going to take one step back from that novel, to look's challenges he faced in the Jedi Academy Trilogy novels:
     Seven years after the events of Return of The Jedi, Luke is finally ready to begin a new Jedi Academy, searching for potential candidates to restore the Order. Even as he begins to train new Jedi potentials, he is uncertain and overly cautious; often he questions this wisdom of his own decisions. Why?
     Unlike the predecessors of Yoda, Kenobi, Qui-Gon, Windu, and the others; Luke became a Jedi Master, not through tests and evaluations, but mainly because he presently had the most knowledge and experience. Talk about the hot seat to be put in!
     If there was one thing he did not have, it was over-confidence. At times, the masters of the old Order tended to have just enough of this, that they became slightly arrogant in their positions. Not very much, granted.  Just enough that they began to lose focus in the Force, leading to their annihilation. Even caution caused problems with one or two of his students. There is never a foolproof way, no matter what.
     In many ways, we need that same route that Luke had, in becoming a new Jedi. We face the trial and error of Christianity, often in the "do or die" moments, with little more than a will (not skill) that allows us to overcome. As "knights" for God, we should always test ourselves, question ourselves. In this way, we are more prepared, we are more in tuned with "the Force" (in this case, the Bible), and don't allow ourselves to get too comfortable in a position that we begin to lose sight of purpose.


     May the Force (and God's love) be with you!