How To Stay in Flight - Part 3

As I was preparing to post Part 3, I was reminded on this day, the tragic events of 9-11. It is my prayer that God would comfort the friends, families of those who suffered losses that day. It is also my prayer that many would come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ! 

The events that unfolded that day were not the result of pilot error...they were intentional by those who hijacked the planes. The purpose of this series is to help those who are facing storms in life, as in the case of 9-11, and how to stay in flight.

The Instrument Panel of the Believer

Six basic instruments in a light twin-engine airplane arranged in a "basic-T". From top left: airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, turn coordinator, heading indicator, and vertical speed indicator

We must be as a pilot who relies on his instruments when encountering dangerous conditions during a flight. We must not let our feelings and emotions guide us, because they will deceive us! (Jer 17:9) As you encounter storms and conditions that are beyond your imagination...the following gauges will provide invaluable, OBJECTIVE, wisdom and direction in your flight! In my own life....I can affirm to you the power of the Instrument Panel of the Christian Life!

1.     The Word of God

This is the first gauge that we need to look at when we encounter a storm. We live in a day as in the book of Judges when “every man did that which is right in his own eyes” (Judg 17:6;21:25) We must always re-adjust our ways and thinking to the Bible...we should never adjust or change the Bible to suit our ways and thoughts!

Is 55

6 ¶  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This Bible is so foreign to...

i.                    The philosophy of this world

ii.                   The teaching of the secular schools at all levels

iii.                  Hollywood and the Music industry

As believers we must not allow these influences to conform us, but we must take an active role in countering all these influences! Time we spend in the Word every day is crucial in countering this influence! The world today, has a course or a path that it follows. (Eph 2:2) Before we came to Christ, we were all caught up in this course or as I like to use the analogy, of the ‘current of a river’. If you sit in a boat and do nothing, this current will move you. Our inaction to make the right choices and decisions will cause us to be moved in the direction that the world is going. That is why the Bible gives us a negative command to...

Rom 12:2  “...be not conformed to this world: ....”

Let's make some right choices and decisions by relying on the gauge of the Word of God!

2.     The Spirit of God

This is the second gauge that God has given to us in our personal instrument panel. In the thirty eight years that I have been saved, I have seen the Holy Spirit blamed for many un-biblical decisions and choices! We must always remember, the Spirit of the Living God never contradicts the Word of God and He never leads contrary to the Word of God!

Jn 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

As you can see, the third person of the trinity is called the “Spirit of truth”. He always works in accordance with the Scriptures!

In John 16:8, the Bible also tells us that he will also “reprove the world of sin”. In our decision making process, a believer has to ignore the instrument panel gauge of the Word of God and the Spirit of God when making a wrong decision! Unfortunately, many of God’s people ignore the Instrument panel gauge of the Spirit of God...and many have...

• GRIEVED the Spirit of God – involving sins of commission

• QUENCHED the Spirit of God – involving sins of omission

...let’s not ignore the instrument panel gauge of the Spirit of God

3.     The Man of God

This is the third gauge that is important in the life of every believer. We live in a day of rebellion and disrespect to authority. Many don’t want anyone to tell them what to do. God has ordained authority in the...

• Home

• Government

• Workplace

• School

• Church

God has set the roles in each of these arenas. No one has a right to change God’s order or the role that God has set in each relationship. (1Cor 11:3) No one has absolute authority except for God. All authority comes from God. (Rom 13:1-6) When authority becomes corrupt and demands obedience contrary to the scriptures, then we “...ought to obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29) In most instances, this is the exception and not the rule!

There are times when a pastor sins and can become disqualified for the ministry. (1Tim 3:1-7;Titus 1:6-9) As with flights, there are thousands of successful one's each day. We never hear about them, we only hear about the ones that crash! Don't forget, for every one that falls, there are thousands that are still faithful to the Lord! Elijah was reminded by the Lord that he was not the only one serving Him... there were “...seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (1Kg 19:18)

When there is a failure in leadership, we must be careful with the decisions we make. I have see people discard God and the Bible, and use the sin of a pastor as an excuse for them to waste their own life in the “far country”. (Lk 15:13) How sad, to see this take place! We must never forget that... “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Rom 14:12)

In the church, God has established authority and order. If you have a Godly pastor, thank the Lord for him! Thank the Lord for a pastor who cares and feeds the “flock of God”! (1Pet 5:2) Sheep are prone to go astray and God has provided shepherds to lead them according to the Word of God. We live in a day when people will trust and listen to the advice of...

a.     A plumber, when they have a plumbing problem...

b.    An electrician, when they have an electrical problem...

c.     An auto mechanic, when they have a mechanical problem...

d.    A healthcare professional, when they have a health problem...

e.     A teacher, when their kids have an academic problem...

f.     A coach, when their kids have a problem on the team...

...but many fail to follow the advice of their God given pastor when it comes to the problems and storms they face in life! Let's take heed to the instrument panel gauge of the Man of God. And also, let’s not ignore the Word of God and the Spirit of God!

 

4.     The People of God

This third gauge is underestimated by many believers. The Lord likened the church to His body and every member is “necessary” (1Cor 12:22) It is imperative that every believer identify himself with a local church. People today are replacing church with...online preaching/teaching, DVD’s, TV preachers and evangelists, etc. In addition to just being disobedient to the Word of God (Heb 10:24,25), there are problems that come with this alternative that have replaced the “face to face” (2Jn :12), two way interaction, with other believers and a pastor. In choosing these alternatives, one can pick and choose what they watch and listen to. They can turn it off if they don’t like it, and as mentioned, you can’t interact with it! When one is faithful to the local church...he gets the ‘full meal deal’!

One of the problems with those who choose to stay out of church and choose those alternatives is the issue of accountability. Many do not want to make themselves accountable to anyone. Some claim that they don’t answer to anyone but God! But, in reality, we all answer to someone in addition to the Lord. Many, who remove themselves from other believers, loosen up on their standards of personal holiness. The Bible teaches us that we can learn from and help each other...

“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”  (Prov 27:17)

Being around other believers will help us to stay “sharp” spiritually. It will also help us to learn to get along with others who are different than us. It is of critical importance when making decisions and/or going through a storm that we seek the counsel of Godly people.

“ Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (Pr ov 11:14)

Many have crashed spiritually because they ignored the counsel of Godly believers or they never sought any counsel.

When encountering storms and problems in our life, it is of utmost importance that we keep a close watch on these gauges; trust and obey them in order to stay in flight.

           

How to Stay in Flight - Part 2

In our 1^st installment we looked at the challenges of weather and physiology in air flight. In this part we are going to look at the importance of being OBJECTIVE in our decision making process.

Pilots are thoroughly trained in instrumentation and must learn to trust their instruments and not themselves! Most crashes are a direct result of...numerous bad decisions made during a flight!

Prov 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

When Charles Lindberg  made his historical transatlantic flight in 1927 he chronicle the challenges of flying with limited instrumentation....

‘A pillar of clouds block out the stars ahead, spilling over on top like a huge mushroom in the sky ...in the seconds that intervene while I approach, I make the mental and physical preparation for blind flying. The body must be informed sternly that the mind will take complete control. The senses must be drafted and lined up in the strictest discipline, while logic replaces instinct as commander...The muscle’s must obey the mind’s decision no matter how wrong it seems to them. If the eyes imagine the flicker of a star below where they think the horizon ought to be, if the ears report the engine’s tempo too slow for level flight, if the nerves say the seat’s back pressure is increasing (as it does in a climb), the hand and the feet must still be loyal to the order of the mind. It is a terrific strain on the mind also when it turns from long-proven bodily instincts to the cold, mechanical impartiality of needles moving over dials.’ ¹

In his diary he continues to describe the sensations of vestibular and spatial disorientation...

‘If the senses get excited and out of control, the plane will follow them, and that can be fatal. If the senses break rank while everything is going right, it may be impossible, with the plane falling dizzily and the needles running wild, to bring them back into line, reinstruct them, and force them to gain control while everything is going wrong. It would be like rallying a panicked army while under fire of an advancing enemy. Like an army under fire, blind flying requires absolute discipline. This must be fully understood before it starts.’

The early airmail planes in the US had limited navigation equipment and weather information was often unavailable. Of the first forty aviators hired...thirty-one were killed when flying! ² That was a mortality rate of 77.5%. These were the best skilled pilots available at that time. One of the biggest challenges was that they did not fly with proper OBJECTIVE instruments...the thirty-one pilots who lost their lives relied upon SUBJECTIVE decision making. (Without instruments)

Instrument panel of the Spirit of St. Louis

• SUBJECTIVE - placing excessive emphasis on one's own moods, attitudes, opinions, feelings (sensory) etc.

• OBJECTIVE - not influenced by personal feelings (non-sensory), interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased:

Today, pilots are still faced with similar challenges, but with all the proper instrumentation! Studies have shown that pilots with less than fifty hours of instrument time account for 58% of all weather accidents and 47% of all fatal weather accidents. As pilots gain more experience, 51-100 hrs. of instrument time, the risk decreases to less than 9% of all air accidents! ³

In recent times, larger aircraft utilize a piece of equipment called the GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System...listen to this sample video with the warnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQsTH-NZyJw  ) ...when in the proximity of the surrounding terrain ....the system provides instructions: “Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up!”...along with a warning horn! This equipment has dramatically reduced the incidence of accidents when flying in unfamiliar territory or in close proximity to the ground!

God has given to us instruments or gauges to warn us of impending danger in our walk with God...the question is, ‘Do we listen to him?’ Do we follow the instruments that God has given us to make OBJECTIVE decisions?

Before God called me into the pastorate, I worked in a machine shop for 14 years in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In this shop, we made fittings for aerospace (NASA), atomic energy, oil industry, pulp and paper, etc. ...under the brand name of ‘Swagelok’ I was the Quality Assurance supervisor for manufacturing in Canada. One of my main responsibilities was the oversight of product inspection. Our department performed sample inspections on 2-3 million parts per year. The majority of these inspections were measurable (OBJECTIVE), but some of them were very SUBJECTIVE! Using measuring instruments, parts were either within or outside of specification. When it came to some of the attribute inspection, the decision making process was very SUBJECTIVE, which was subject to the personal feelings & preferences of the individual doing the inspections!

In the 51 years that I have been saved, I have noticed a trend amongst believers; many have turned from OBJECTIVITY to SUBJECTIVITY in their spiritual decision making!

Many will express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about matters rather than...”Thus saith the LORD...”. We are living in days similar to the period of the Judges, where “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) Many have attempted to make issues of personal separation, holiness, etc. a SUBJECTIVE one, even though the Bible is still clear and transcends time and culture and is very OBJECTIVE! The Bible tells us that every issue we face is a matter of the heart!

Prov 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Liberal scholarship has cast doubt upon the accuracy and preservation of the scriptures. The world constantly attacks the scriptures through the secular schools and universities, Hollywood, and the media! In spite of all of this...there is still an absolute standard of right and wrong, of good and evil...it is the Bible! Right is still right and wrong is still wrong! We have the standard to compare everything in life to!

We are living in a day much like the days of Jeremiah the prophet, where there is little or no blush over the sin and wickedness, and there is little or no shame in sin anymore!

Jer 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

As pilots have instruments to guide them when flying blind and/or in the worst of weather conditions, God has also provided believers with an instrument panel of gauges to help through the storms of life.

What instruments do we need to climb above the storms as an eagle?

What instruments do we need to have a successful flight and to keep from crashing?

In our next installment, we will look at the ‘Instrument Panel of the Believer’

To be continued...Part 3

1.     Charles Lindbergh, The Spirit of St. Louis (New York:Scribner & Sons, 1953); as cited in Lamar Underwood, The Greatest Flying Stories Ever Told (Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2002), 5.

2.     Guided Flight Discovery, 1 – 8

3.     Ibid., 1 - 12

How to Stay in Flight - Part 1

Is 40

27 ¶  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The eagle is the only bird that will fly directly into a thunderstorm while other birds will fly away seeking shelter. As the eagle flies directly into the thunderclouds, he utilizes turbulent winds to fly higher, to go above the storms. These updrafts also allow him to use less effort and fly faster. The Lord used the eagle to illustrate how we should deal with the storms of life when we encounter them.

There are many things one can say about eagles and there have been many a message preached about them. I would like to use the analogy of air flight of a pilot and compare it to our walk with the Lord. 

When you got saved, we began our flight or course. God provides all the tools and training we need if we want them, and if we fail or crash in this flight, it is never God’s fault!

2Pet 1: 3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

A pilot’s training includes in-class and experience or air-time. In order to be a good pilot, one must understand their own susceptibility to disorientation and human error. Every pilot must learn to face unpredictable and dangerous weather: icing, thunderstorms, wind shear, lightning, fog, etc.

A good pilot obtains the latest weather report, studies the atmosphere, and flies with extreme awareness and caution...and in spite of all that... a good pilot still faces storms, equipment failure, communication error and confusion!

It is always easier to fly in clear and calm conditions...but a good pilot is tested in the storms of life...who said it would be easy? In some cases, pilots can avoid storms by flying around them or even landing the plane beyond the thunderheads...sometimes storms are just unavoidable! A pilot must learn to stay in flight in spite of the difficulties. It is during these situations that a good pilot knows how to control his thoughts and emotions in order to take the right course of action.

Sometimes, good pilots don’t realize when they are in trouble – just like some believers...who don’t realize how far they really are from God! No normal flight plan expects to end in disaster, but some invariably some begin to lose altitude...and then some flights just end in tragedy. It is sad to hear about and see the aftermath of a plane tragedy! It is also just as sad when a believer or spiritual leader crashes during their flight! 

In the aftermath of the crash and tragedy...search and rescue, not search and destroy begins. Many times when believers crash...other believers begin to attack or seek to destroy them.

Gal 6: 1 ¶  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

God wants all believers to have a part in the restoration and recovery of the fallen!

1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

After the crash...the search for survivors begins...It is also during this time, the search for the infamous ‘black box’ takes place...

This is actually a reference to 2 instruments located in the tail of the plane...

•  Cockpit voice recorder –  a record of what was said

•  Flight data recorder – a record of what was done

...the purpose in this retrieval is to provide government agencies, plane manufacturers, and pilots with information as to what went wrong and what can be done to prevent another tragedy!

God is keeping a record also of everything we say and do...

Mt 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

It is essential that pilots learn through the outcomes of the investigations after a crash...

Ro 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Physiology of flight

The physical challenges of flight or ‘human factors’ account for over 80% of plane crashes. According to the FAA in the US... flying in poor conditions can ”result in sensations that are misleading to the body’s sensory system”

Textbooks in flying school typically address 3 of the body’s sensory systems:

• VISUAL – eyes

• Vestibular – ears

• POSTURAL – nerves

 As with any sensory systems...they are prone to error and failure. Pilots who tolerate disorientation WILL crash!

The pilot’s nerves and inner ears can send confusing signals...

• When the sense of balance is off...it is called VESTIBULAR DISORIENTATION

• When the nervous system becomes confused...it is called SPATIAL DISORIENTATION

When, in training...pilots are subjected to these sensations and are taught on how to properly react to them! Pilots can unintentionally get into a situation when...up seems down...right seems left...backward seems forward! The only answer to these situations is experience and leaning to use and trust the instrument panel!

To be continued...Part 2