Who or What is Piloting Your Life?

An airline pilot’s main job is to get people from point A to point B safely. When you call West Jet to book a flight, one of the first things they will ask you is where are you going? And you might say, well its November, and I don’t like the cold so take me somewhere warm, like Cancun Mexico. Then they’ll take all your information down, charge your credit card a bazillion dollars and save you a seat on a flight to Cancun in November. They will pass that information onto the pilot who will then map out a route to Cancun and make sure him and the rest of his crew get you there safely and, (if weather permits) zero turbulence.

People have things piloting their life everyday. People may not be Boeing 747’s filled to the brim with passengers and luggage, but we all have things, like the air line pilot that guide us down a path to a certain destination. I hope to inspire you today by asking who or what is your pilot, and where is your pilot leading you?

For example, I heard a story the other day about a mother who was addicted to crack cocaine. She had no money, no steady job and would spend her nights seeking floor space in homeless shelters so her son wouldn’t freeze to death at night. Any money she had, she would use it to feed her drug addiction. At one point she got so desperate for money, she gave her son up for adoption in exchange for a weeks worth of drugs. By doing so, she gave him a better life, but now a mother has to live everyday with the guilt of treating her only child like a simple trading card.



This is an example of a bad pilot. In this story, the driving forces behind mom’s decisions were selfish. She cared more about scoring drugs and where to get her next high, and then she did about a life together with her son. As a result she’s now in a lonely depressive state, bearing a pain that no one should bear. Drugs were piloting her life and lead her down a dark, lonely path.

What about your pilot? Who or what is your pilot? Is it leading you down a dark path, or is your pilot directing you with purpose and vision like Rick Hoyt?

Piloting Rick’s life are his parents Dick and Judy Hoyt. Born in 1962 with cerebral palsy, doctor’s advised Dick and Judy to put their son in an institution. Against doctor’s advice, they kept Rick out of the hospitals vowing that he will live a full and happy life just like everyone else. And that’s whaRick did, entering public school in 1975 and graduating from university in 1993.

Graduating from university is great, but it’s not what Rick is known for. Rick Hoyt loves competing in marathons. He did his firs 5 mile road race in 1977 and loved it. He loves it so much that he has now competed in over 1000 marathons, including a few triathlons. All thanks to his pilot. His father and friend, Dick Hoyt.

Whether he’s pushing Ricks chair down the path, or swimming his son across the river in a small raft, Dick Hoyt guides his son from point A to point B as safe as he can. Dick and Judy Hoyt are piloting their son’s life, making choices that put a smile on Ricks face, and joy in their hearts.

I started by asking about you and your pilot. I’m also going to finish by asking about you and your pilot. Who or what is piloting your life? And where is it leading you? Is it an addiction, forcing you to make bad decisions leading you to a lonely and desperate place? Or is your pilot an adventurer guiding you down paths and across rivers of excitement? Who or what is piloting your life, and where is it leading you?

Bringing Faith to Life

The book of genesis tells us that in the beginning the earth was empty. A formless mass; devoid of anything but God and His spirit. And then He spoke.

Day one, “light.”  

Day two, “sky.”

On day 3, “I command the water to separate,” and this reveals the land. Then God speaks seed bearing plants and trees into existence

On Day four, God sets the stars in the skies. Spoken into existence, they are to be a difference maker. Stars and varying kinds of light are to keep night and day separate. Their second purpose is to mark a change in the seasons. Before standard time, people would look to the skies and determine whether it was time to plant crops or to harvest; to grill steaks outdoors or use their oven for the night’s meal. To toss a ball back and forth with your good buds wearing shorts or to light a fire and snuggle with your sweetheart as the snow falls on a chilly winter’s day. Whatever the activity God set the stars in the sky to help us determine the day’s activities.

The next day God said, “The waters need some life in them. I didn’t create them to be desolate and stagnant, but to teem with living creatures. So I shall fill them with fish and other waterfowl. I’ll set some in a random lake and let them reproduce. That way, they will fill the earth and I can enjoy watching them as they populate this planet.” After filling a lake with fish and watching them for a bit, God smiled. His fun continued as he filled the land with livestock and the sky with birds. Thinking about the next days work, day passed into night and soon day 6 began.

On Day 6, God’s creativity culminates with his greatest creation: mankind.

 Genesis 2 provides some detail on exactly how God did it. Genesis 2:7 paints a picture of God in a sandbox saying he took some dust and formed it into a shape of a man. But it didn’t end there. When God was finished shaping his sand-man, he was lifeless until God breathed life into this sand-man. “Now that this man has been brought to life, he needs a purpose. What shall I have him do?” thought God, “I’ll put him in charge of everything I have created! That way he – and those that come after him – won’t wander around aimlessly.” God’s time of creating ended on day 7 with a time of rest.

What captures my attention in this story is the importance of God breathing life into mankind. Prior to that, the inaugural human being had been just like the earth on day zero. Devoid! Or, if I can use a different word here, lifeless or even dead! Genesis says that God’s greatest creation was otherwise dead and lifeless until God breathed life into it. I wonder if the same could be said of a person’s faith. It is dead, lifeless and devoid until God breathes life into it. At least that’s what I find myself learning these days.

There are things that I say I believe but when rubber meets road, living out what I believe becomes a real challenge. I trust God with my life. I am convinced that His plans for me are far better then mine. Yet His timing can frustrate me. Take for example this publishing contest. In May I discovered a free publishing contest for authors. Having written a book but not published it yet, I decided to take a chance and enter the contest.

As far as I know, the manuscript is still floating around their office climbing the ranks and etching its way ever closer to the finish line. But I find myself getting impatient and growing restless with not knowing what’s going on with my manuscript. Daily I fight the urge to pick up where I left off and continue towards self publishing. It’s so tempting and leads to frustration but I continue to wait. As my patience is being tried I find my confidence in God growing. The feeling of trust and confident assurance that comes when you trust a tangible person is welling up within me. As I think about unknown territory my fears and worries for the general future feel more secure. I’m becoming more optimistic. My pessimism is wading away. For this I am thankful.

Personal Challenge: Being A Bearer of Life

One of the gals I regularly have coffee with likes to tinker around doing odd jobs around the house. The tasks are minor things like cleaning and organizing stacks of paper, making grocery list or cleaning silverware. Whenever I visit her, she like to serve me coffee. Watching her grab the cup, lift the pot, and pour the drink, she squints. Arthritis grips her bones and makes simple movements like this a daily challenge. Seeing her struggle to serve me I offer to help and usually get shunned away and told to stay seated and relax.

Puttering around the house, inviting people over for coffee and tea allows her to keep busy and take her mind off the difficulty arthritis has made her daily life. Doing so lifts her spirits and keeps her mind from travelling down a dark road. No surrender is her attitude. No matter how bad things get, she’s got to keep a positive attitude. This is best accomplished by keeping busy and getting her mind off how bad things are.

I know a few people who are in the same situation. They end up facing some challenge but have given up and stopped fighting. Rather then embracing it, and attempting to cope with their newfound challenge they sit around sulking. Both their physical and mental health deteriorates. They eventually receive an intervention. If it’s not from family then the intervention is brought on by a medical professional.

One of the churches I’m currently attending has a value of invitational living. What this means is, as members we ought to invite people to become a part of our community and worship God together. Considering the story of the gal with arthritis and the depth of despair some of my neighbors have been facing, I am challenged. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give people life. Being a Christian I bear the name and message of Christ, not only did Christ commission me to be vocal about my relationship to God, but it’s also ingrained into the DNA of one of the churches I attend.

Seeing people get so down on themselves they need an intervention has me wondering if there’s something I’m missing. If there’s something more I can do to bring the message of hope and life that Christ brings. Do I need to step up my game and be more vocal about the one who brings me life in moments of despair? Either way I am challenged to be more bold about my Savior (in every sense of the word), Jesus Christ

Fug-ge-da-bo-dit

In his letter to the church at Philippi the Apostle Paul writes:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

Philippians 3:12-14

One thing that strikes me is what Paul’s realness in this confession. Paul “gets” something and strives toward one thing I often fall short of. Forgetting the past and moving on! I never claim to be a Curt Henning (that’s Mr. Perfect for those non wrestling fans out there.), I often will be the first one to admit that I have faults and screw up on things from time to time – you just don’t hear about them. I have a hard time forgetting about them.

Probably one of the hardest things to do after one stumbles in their relationship with God is to get back on the horse. Pick yourself up out of the muck and mire you’ve gotten yourself into, and keep on trucking. Sometimes this is easy for me to do. But there are other times I wallow for a day or two, throw myself a pity party and just sulk. It’s not that I don’t know that once God forgives me, my dirty past is now water under the bridge. It’s just one of those times I wish we had no memory.

With that said, I’m left wondering a few things. Why is it so hard to ask God to forgive you, then as a New Yorker might say – Fug-ge-da-bo-dit? Sunday afternoon, I attended an H2O session at Erik and Bonnie’s place. During the session Kyle, the guy on the video, mentioned how the church is supposed to be like a stream of clean water. Everyone is invited to come and drink from this stream. But because of its marred past, this pure stream has become polluted. I wonder if our ability to Fug-ge-da-bo-dit and keep on going, adds to the bad rep the church has built up over the years.

Thoughts comments or suggestions anyone?

leading with a limp

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

In a recent sermon by Chuck Swindoll, he shares one of the benefits about walking in the light. Walking in the light is not being afraid to let the truth of your struggles be known. Admitting your life has parts of failure and that you sometimes need help is a benefit of walking with the savior. If you take note of the people Jesus interacted with during his 3 years of ministry, you'll notice that he helped nearly everyone who asked it of him. This is because those who had needs and weaknesses drew attention to it.

They did so not by keeping it under wraps treating their need as a "cloak and dagger issue." instead they brought it out in to the open for all to see. Having one's weakness, ailment, or shortcoming unveiled in the presence of their Yeshua gave them a sense of hope! "Healing will come," they cry. "Surely my insecurities will not be a burden in the presence of the Savior!"

They proclaim with shouts of joy, "If anyone can make good of my dark past, surely it is Jesus the chosen one of Israel!" for He is the light of the world. Whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

This makes me think of my own journey with the Lord; as one who has obvious weaknesses and limitations in my own abilities. Why run from it? Why not embrace it and boast about it? The Apostle Paul did and God blessed him for it.

I'm curioous what you guys think... Am I on to something? Or am I blowing smoke up my own pipe?