For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

We can all look back at the significant days and events in our lives. Maybe the day we got engaged or married or the day we graduated from high school and the list goes on. There are a number of significant days or events in my life, but one stands out whenever I think about it.

When I owned an airplane, I used to take it up at night just to shoot touch and goes at out of the ways airports and keep my skills proficient. One dark night I was doing that. My radio was tuned to the Unicom frequency used by smaller non-controlled airports. Suddenly, I heard a plaintive cry from a man saying he was lost, and his gauge had been on empty.

I called approach control and told them the situation. They gave me a discreet frequency and told me to tell the pilot to tune in and hold his mike key down for thirty seconds and go back to Unicom. They got his position and told me he was about five miles away. I asked them to vector me to the plane and they did. I flew up to him, blinked my landing lights and asked him if he could see me. He said yes. I could see the beacon of the nearest airport and I told him to follow me. I led him to the runway so he could land. His engine quit on final approach, and he had enough altitude to glide in for a dead-stick landing. His life was saved from a crash.

That night, as I pillowed my head, I relived the flight over and over and realized I had saved someone’s life. But then I thought that saving a physical life is great, but for the unsaved, it just extends the time until they go to Hell. Much more important than saving a physical life is saving an eternal one.

God sent His only Son to save the world, present and all future, from sin to those who believe in Him. Some day in the future, we will all land on the runway of eternity, as the flight of life on earth is over. Where will your landing runway be, heaven or hell, and will you lead others where you have given your life to go?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

What distracts you?

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In the “old tolerance,” various religions were free to believe that their beliefs were uniquely true and to share them with others. In the “new tolerance,” no beliefs are more valid than others, and sharing them is imposing our views on others. Voltaire exemplified the “old tolerance” with his famous maxim: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” I would add that the “new tolerance” illogically counters: “I consider what you say to be intolerant, so I will not tolerate your saying it.” Jim Denison

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

God will continue to remove the imperfections within us until He can look at us and see His reflection. Dan Shock

A river reaches places its source will never know. God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others. Oswald Chambers

Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Carl Sandberg was right: A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on. Carl Sandberg

Character is built alone with God. Brandon Hughes

Fill your life with stories to tell, not stuff to show. Joshua Becker

Develop your convictions before you have a moment of crisis. Ken Whitten

True Loyalty is ultimately about a relationship. It’s easier to build a relationship with someone than it is with something. Lisa Bradner

If we surrender each day to Christ as our Lord, our days will become our lives and our lives will write our legacy.

We could die today, but our legacy will outlive us. Remembering each fact helps us prepare for the other.

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