Bovine

As a kid I can remember learning the word bovine as a synonym for cow. My grandmother used it in a word game we were playing, and it stuck with me. It isn't a word that I use in normal everyday conversation, but at least I know what it means if I ever need to pull it out of my bag of tricks. Today, I am delving into my bag of tricks. Let me explain why with a story.

On Monday evening while driving back from the airport, we picked up three FMS engineers (which is what they call mechanics in Botswana) who were hitch hiking their way home. Hitch hiking is a common practice here, and the sides of the road can be lined with people either waiting for a combi, which is a little van that drives a route much like a bus would do in the states, or trying to catch a ride from passing vehicles. Instead of a thumbs up signal here, hitch hikers hold their hand out in one of three positions - pointing down, to indicate that they aren't traveling far, only a few blocks perhaps; pointing straight out, to indicate that they are trying to get a medium distance; or pointing up, which means they are going a pretty good ways. So, we picked up these three FMS guys, and they all piled into the back seat, grateful for a ride. As we drove along, the guy I was riding with (who is also the guy who is letting me stay in his house - another pilot waiting on government approval to start flying) was asking the engineers about themselves and trying to get to know them a little bit outside of the work environment. One of the questions he asked was whether or not any of them were married. None of them were. Going into more detail, they began to explain the Botswana custom of paying a bride price to the family of the woman you are going to marry. The price required in exchange for the family's permission to marry their daughter is paid in cows. They told us that the number of cows varies based on the part of the country where the woman lives. Anywhere from 4-10 cows can be demanded of the husband-to-be as the bride price. These men could not afford the cows necessary to purchase a bride or pay the expenses of a wedding and the parties that must customarily accompany it. It was a very practical reason for being bachelors but one that seems foreign to the American mindset of the twenty-first century. 

It is an interesting custom, this paying of a bride price with bovines (now do you see where my post title came from?). It got me thinking about the bride price that Christ paid for His bride. Psalms 50:10 says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills" yet cows weren't the price that was paid for our redemption. To purchase our lives from the sin into which we were born God sent His own Son. We are His bride, and Jesus was the bride price. How humbling to realize that we were bought at a price, and that price was the sacrifice of a life and the shedding of blood. We are more valuable than any number of cows, and God proved that. So anytime Satan tries to lie to you and convince you that you are worthless, just remember and remind him that you were worth the cost of Jesus suffering and dying on your behalf. Remember that by His stripes we are healed. Remember that He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Give your life to Jesus because He gave His life for you!

"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." (I Corinthians 6:20 NKJV)

This is Africa

Nearly everyone knows what it means to have a deja vu moment, where it feels as if you are repeating a moment in time from the past by being in the same place or having the same experience that you did previously. Well today I experienced a different phenomenon that I'm going to call a surreal moment. 

It was around noon on a warm, sunny day. My mission was to drive from the house where I was staying to the Flying Mission Services hangar at the Gaborone airport. It was my first solo mission navigating around the capital city of Botswana, and without the map in the front console, it might have been a failure. However, armed with a map and my own memory, I climbed into the right seat of the car (or the wrong seat, depending on your perspective) and backed out into the street to begin my journey. What happened next, me making a few wrong turns and requiring the services of the map to determine my position in the city, isn't too important to the story, so we won't waste time on that. I had finally gotten my bearings and was on the right road. Things were looking up. Then it happened. The surreal moment struck.

I was driving the borrowed Toyota down the left side of the road from the right seat at about 60 kilometers per hour with the windows down and some African pop music coming through the radio when I had to brake for a herd of about a dozen goats that were crossing the road. BOOM! That's when the thought hit me. I'm in Africa! For the movie buffs, it was a "we're not in Texas anymore, Toto" moment. Sitting on the opposite side of the car, driving on the opposite side of the road, using the metric system for everything, listening to music in a language of which I could speak less than a dozen words, having animals roaming the streets, this was a whole new world. I had finally made it halfway around the globe to a completely different hemisphere, right where God had called me. I took a deep breath of African air, and pulled forward as the last little goat plodded off the side of the road.

God has brought me a long way, opened a lot of doors, and taught me many things in the last several years. From dreaming of attending the Air Force Academy, to planning a career in corporate jets, I had all sorts of plans in my own mind about what my future in aviation would be like. It wasn't until about halfway through college that I even began to imagine my future looking like what it is today. And what exactly is going on in my life right now? It's a valid question. Here is an update for those who haven't heard.

I left the good old U.S. of A. On September 3rd, flew across the pond to London, spent my 9 hour layover in London riding the tube (subway system) and seeing some sights, caught a 10+ hour flight to Johannesburg, barely made it to the gate for my connecting flight to Botswana on time, and ended up arriving in Gaborone right on schedule on September 5th. I was met by a group of Flying Mission Services personnel, many of whom were familiar faces from back at Liberty University. In the past week or so since my arrival, I have been given a tour of the city, an overview of Flying Mission's entire organization, a pile of documents to study in preparation for an exam, gotten to experience a number of restaurants in town and eat some authentic African food as well as some fast food, been invited to numerous BBQs (or braais as they're called here), attended a Baptist church service, gone for runs outside the city and inside it, met a lot of people, and more. Currently, I am in the process of buying a car and slowly learning a few more words and phrases in Setswana. Within the next week I will begin ground school for the Cessna 200 series fleet I will be training to fly in and then once the paperwork for my work permit, immigration, and license validations gets approved I will commence getting checked out to fly! I will continue living in the capital city until I start flying, and then I will move some 800 kilometers north to the city of Maun, where I will be based. 

More updates to follow as things move forward... Cheers!

Hopping across the pond

Westminster Abbey

Monkeys hanging around outside the FMS hangar

Faith

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

A bookmark that I have stuck in my journal has Hebrews 11:1 designed onto the front of it as a reminder to me as I sit here in the Bush Intercontinental Airport waiting for the first of my flights to Africa. I always say that I have faith in God, faith in His perfect will, faith in His guidance, and faith in His promises. What exactly does that entail in its entirety? Does that mean I never have doubts or worries? Does it mean I always obey God without fail or without qualms? I hardly think so. But I must admit, as I read this verse it seems almost contradictory in its word choice. In my interpretation of the sometimes confusing English language I think of "assurance" as being a word that means certainty or without doubt. Conversely, to "hope" for something means to want it to be true but to not be sure if it will actually be that way or not. So, is the verse saying that we are sure of uncertainties? That seems non-sequitur to me. After puzzling it through for a time, here is what I came to understand the verse to mean. 

All humans have things that they "hope for." All of us hope for the best, hope we live happy lives, or hope that we can accomplish certain goals. Christians hope that the Gospel is true, that the Bible is accurate, and that God really will protect, bless, and guide them. Here is where faith comes into play. As we believe God more and commit to truly trust Him in all things, we receive assurance of the things that we had always hoped were true. Having faith in God turns our hopes into beliefs, our probablys into absolutelys, and makes everything in God's word a certainty for us. 

A good example I thought of as I pondered this subject can be found in Mark chapter 9 verses 20-27. This is where Mark wrote of the boy who was possessed with demons that the disciples were unable to cast out. They tried unsuccessfully until Jesus came back down from the mountain where the transfiguration had taken place, and then He had to do it. The desperate father says to Jesus, "if [I nope] you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" to which Jesus answers that "all things are possible for one who believes [has faith]." The father of the boy cried out "I believe! Help my unbelief!" My paraphrase of that desperate plea would be "give me assurance of what I came here hoping would be true." The man wanted faith to trump the doubts that had formed in his mind since the disciples had not been able to cast out the demons. He hadn't seen any evidence that the reports of Jesus' power to heal demon possessed people were true, but he wanted to believe it was as he had heard. 

God can give us peace that passes understanding when He transforms our hopes into assurances. When we absolutely believe Him and stop listening to any doubts or worries that whisper in our spiritual ears, then we are exercising our faith.

I have faith that God is on my side, He is leading me to Africa, and that He will provide for and protect me as I obey Him. I don't just hope so - I know so. He has promised as much in the Bible, and He is God. He never lies. He never fails. He has all power and authority. I'm in good hands - no, I'm in the best hands.

The 777 that will take me on the first leg of my journey of faith.

Change

I don't like change. Do you want to know why? It's because it is always falling out of my pockets when I try to sit down. When it falls out of my pockets, dimes, nickels, and pennies roll across the floor or drop down into the couch cushions and get lost. I don't like that. Surely some of you can understand where I am coming from here. That's why credit cards have become so popular.

In all seriousness though, a different kind of change that we all have to deal with is the change that constantly occurs in life. It's unavoidable. Some of the changes we like, some we don't, and there are always those that we don't even care about or notice. My life is in the midst of some pretty big changes at the moment. Not only have I finally finished school after 18 years and no longer have classes, homework, or grades to worry or stress about, but I can also finally enter the "real world" with the prospect of 40-hour (or more) work weeks, bills to pay every month, no summer or spring breaks, and the countless other changes that accompany the switch from school to full-time career. That is the kind of change most people have to deal with and work through after school, but I decided that wasn't enough for me. I needed something more drastic than that. So, I decided to move to Africa. Well, that isn't quite how it went, but I am going to move around the world to Botswana as part of my post-school changes to life. It's a pretty big deal. 

What are the good parts about change that we can learn from and look forward to? There is more to it than just moving on in life and leaving the old things behind, whether good things or bad. Change brings with it a fresh start. We have a chance to start better routines, begin new habits, and set updated goals. In our relationships with God, we can begin to spend more time reading His Word, meeting with Him in prayer, and serving Him through our actions towards the world. In our physical routines, we can begin to eat healthier or exercise more regularly. In our work or school, we can become more dedicated to studying and learning the material both in and out of the actual classroom. We can change in all sorts of ways at anytime that we choose. But there is a catch. Sometimes we change when we don't want to, mean to, or even realize that it is happening. It isn't always a conscious choice but can often be a unnoticed slippage. We slip out of our good habits and new year's resolutions. We stop reading the Bible as much because we are getting so busy. Our healthy eating habits go out the window because it's the holidays and they only come once a year. Before you know it, you are no longer where you want to be in life. You need to reset your habits once again, start better routines once again, and refocus on your goals once again. Change can be a vicious cycle.

For me, the changes that I am in the midst of have been brought into my life by God's hand. I can see that quite clearly. I know that when He calls me to anything in this life He will equip me to accomplish it, lead me through it, and get the glory from it as long as I stay submitted and obedient to Him. Life will be full of change. I just want to always make the best of it.

Countdown

Today marks the one week countdown until I graduate from Aviation Maintenance Training School. It is incredible to think about just how fast the past year has gone. It seems like just the other day that I was buying books for school and dreading the 8 hour class days that I knew were on the horizon. Now, I can see how blessed I have been over the past year to get to go through this program, learn so much, meet so many great people, and spend another year in preparation for the future God has for me. 

1 week: AMTS Graduation

2 weeks: leave Lynchburg

4.5 weeks: leave America

A lot of change will be occurring in my life over the next few weeks and months. It's always comforting to know that God never changes and is always faithful through it all. Each day is a blessing, a new opportunity, and an adventure! I've got some serious blessings, opportunities, and adventures just around the corner!

Sent

John 20:21 says, "So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'"

This verse seems like one of those that is fairly short but can be dissected down deeply and would produce much more meat than might be initially expected. Here is my take on it. Feel free to add or argue with my views. When iron sharpens iron, there is friction, but the end result is a keen edge. I definitely don't mind alternate viewpoints being expressed to challenge my view and cause me to see things in a different light. So, feel free to disagree with any opinions I put out there (I just thought I would throw a little disclaimer in here). 

The first thing that gets my attention in this verse is that Jesus is bidding peace to be with them "again." Clearly, this isn't the first time He has told them to remain calm, don't be scared, and trust in Him. How often, I have to ask myself, does God teach me the same thing over and over again. Surely if He wasn't a perfect God then He would want to yell at us, "Don't you get it yet?! It's not rocket science! How many times do I have to tell you?" Fortunately for me, God has a lot of patience, mercy, and forgiveness. So He tells me again and again in His still, small voice, "Trust me." 

Why does Jesus say "Peace be with you"? In the context of the verse I believe it's because He probably scared the disciples a little bit when He suddenly appeared before them. It reminds me of what the Angel of The Lord usually says to people when he appears to them. Seeing an angel pop up right before your eyes is probably pretty startling, and I think it was the same way for the disciples in this instance when Jesus showed up again. But in the broader sense, God is always telling us to have peace in our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus because we have assurance that our lives are not our own, that He takes care of our every need, and that He knows the future and what is in store down the road. There is nothing that should make us fearful, cause us to question God, or make us worry about the future. He truly does have the whole world in His hands. His peace is with is.

"As the Father has sent me..." How did the Father send Him? It wasn't as a rich ruler or power-mongering leader. Jesus came down humbly as a little helpless baby. But, He was also sent purposefully. God sent Jesus to earth with a mission to accomplish - a mission that no one else could complete or fulfill. I believe God also has specific purposes and missions that He wants us to complete. He gave us life for a reason. "As the Father has sent me...I also send you" means that we are sent out to the world helplessly, relying completely on God and His power to be able to survive, let alone accomplish anything useful to His kingdom. Yet, we are sent with all of the power, ability, fortitude, resources, and knowledge that we need, if we just go to our provider for them. 

I am being sent. All of us who belong to Christ are sent to the world in some capacity. Jesus says so! I can have peace about going to Africa for a lot of different reasons. God is in control of my life, and He is absolutely trustworthy. Since He told me to go and He is the one who gives me all of the strength I need, then it is clear that it is all going to be okay. He has given me peace. We can all have peace in The Lord! 

Say the Words...

How many different people did you see today? Whether you saw a huge crowd gathered at some large event or whether you stayed at home and only saw one or two family members, chances are pretty good that you saw some other human beings besides yourself in the past 24 hours. Of the people you saw, how many of them are important to you? How many have been a part of your life or influenced the person that you are today? How many of them do you love? Perhaps an even better question now that you're thinking about it is this: how many of them have you told that they are special to you or that you love them? If you don't tell them, they may not know.

Here is the reasoning behind this post. I just watched a slideshow of old photos of my family and friends from the past 15 years - talk about nostalgia! It reminded me of the great times we have all had together. It brought to mind the things I have learned. It saddened me to think of the things I have missed in the lives of people who mean so much to me during my time away from home for school. I hate missing piano recitals, weddings, holiday dinners, family outings, and so much more that goes on in my absence. It is saddening to think of people who choose work over family and spend their lives traveling to cool places, making a big paycheck, or gaining notoriety and fame all at the expense of their family. I grieve for the children and the wives who have to learn to live on their own because of their workaholic father or husband. It breaks my heart to see people neglected, mistreated, or ignored by those that they love. I have made mistakes, wasted time, and missed many chances to be at important events, to say a kind word, or to simply spend time with someone that I care about to prove their importance to me. That is unfortunate, but the future isn't always dictated by the past. My failures should only motivate me to not fail in the same way again. As they say, live and learn.

Why are we here on this earth? It has to go beyond ourselves. There must be more to this life than meeting our fleshly desires, catering to our selfishness, and trying to be the person who ends up dying with the most toys. I believe that our purpose is ultimately to bring glory to our Creator, but I think that one of the most important ways to do that is to be a blessing to other people. God created man in his own image, and He cares deeply about all of us. How can we mistreat another human being, and then expect to live a life that glorifies God? It doesn't work that way. There's a song by The Afters that says, "this is what we're here for; to show the world how You love it." If we are to demonstrate the love of God to the world, what better place to start than with your family and friends? It should be fairly easy to love them compared to a complete stranger that you know nothing about and with whom you have never spent any time.

This, then, is my proposal. As my fortune cookie from a few weeks ago said, "Let someone know how special they are to you." I grew up listening to a song by Paul Overstreet that said, "What's going without saying should be said." We may think we've made something evident (like our love) to someone through our actions or hints over the years, but we shouldn't assume such things. It's too important to overlook because of assumptions. Tell your family and friends how much they mean to you. Tell a stranger how much they mean to Jesus. Our lives are full of people. We need to stop letting those people walk through our lives untouched by us. One kind word, one selfless deed and you could make a lifelong impact on somebody. Just do it.

"Say the words, say the words, say 'I love you.' Say the words I long to hear..." -DC Talk

Surrender

I am helpless. Seriously, what can I actually do in my own strength? My very life, breath, and ability to do anything at all comes from God. Without God I am nothing - quite literally. In the end, I can't fight hard enough to win the battle. I can't work hard enough to achieve salvation, to accomplish goals, or to fulfill a calling. I can't think hard enough to come up with all of the answers. Yes, I can still do my best at fighting, working, and thinking but it all eventually comes down to God choosing to make my efforts actually be successful, my circumstances to actually work out, or my brain to actually decipher an acceptable answer. I can do nothing on my own simply because God is in control of everything. I rely wholly on His strength.

Have you ever been worried, scared, or stressed? We all have. Was there anything you could actually do to take away your feelings at that moment and attain peace? For me, whenever I find myself worrying or stressing about something, it is much more effective to simply quit. Quit worrying. Don't give in to fear. Let go of the doubts that are plaguing you and taking you captive. In the words of Jesus to His disciples in the midst of a storm on the Lake of Galilee, "Where is your faith?" I can, should, and must trust God with my life - both the seemingly small details and the overwhelmingly massive situations. He is big and strong. He's got it all under control. As my pastor said in church today, "We worry because we are not resting in the sovereignty and providence of God." We simply need to cease striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). 

At the current moment in my life a lot of unknowns exist. I don't know what I'm going to do about this, that, and the other problem that is popping up in front of me. Daily issues and future questions both seem to stare me in the face all of the time and demand answers that I can't give. The who, what, why, and where of life often confuse and baffle our finite minds, but we don't have to worry about them. God is in control. He is the good shepherd and will take care of His sheep. There's a good analogy - sheep. Can a flock of sheep control the food they have around them to eat, the weather they have over their heads, or the animals that try to attack them? No. Will worrying about it help? Again, the answer is clearly no. The shepherd controls what food they have by leading them to green pastures. The shepherd protects them from bad weather by building a place of shelter for them. It is the shepherd who also protects them from the beasts of prey that would love to devour the helpless sheep if they just had a chance. What then is the job of the sheep themselves? Surely they have to do something. The role of the sheep is to seek out the shepherd and learn to hear and recognize his voice. It is to follow and obey the shepherd's lead. It is to trust that the loving shepherd knows what is best for his flock and to surrender any worry, fear, or stress in exchange for trust and faith. 

As the old hymn says so well, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." I choose to lay my burdens at the foot of Jesus. I choose to wait for God to answer my questions in His own time. I choose to surrender my will to the King of kings and The Lord of lords, because I can trust Him. There's no better way to win the battle than to surrender.

"Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." - 2 Chronicles 20:15

Overhaul

Sometimes our hearts need an overhaul. Like the compressor section on this turbine engine, we need to be taken apart piece by piece and examined carefully for defects, inconsistencies, missing parts, and overall condition. It takes a lot of time and work to remove the outer protective layer that often shields us from deep introspection that can threaten our security. We like who we are enough to be comfortable not digging down deep and looking for the root causes of problems or the motives behind what we're doing in and with our lives. 

Axial Flow Compressor

Sometimes when we initially look at our hearts we think the same sort of things that might have crossed your mind looking at this picture. Questions like How does all of this work? What are all of these little pieces here for and do they really make a difference? What is this supposed to look like when it's in perfect condition? What we have been taught to do in school to answer our questions is look in the manufacturer's manual. In it we can find a description of proper operation, pictures of how it should look, and ways to fix problems that we see during the inspection process. If we keep developing the analogy, the manual we read to find out about our hearts is the Bible. God is our maker, and He knows how we work, how we should be, and what we need to fix our problems. It's all in His book! 

Just like this axial compressor, we were each created on purpose for a purpose. We will each need different components in our makeup to accomplish what it is that God has for us. No heart is quite the same, but that is how it should be. The compressor is only one part of the engine. Each one of us is just a single part of the church as a whole. We are meant to complement each other with our differences and all work together for the greater good and glory of the kingdom of Christ. 

The internal workings of our hearts are what drive us, guide us, and allow us to fulfill our purpose. It's important to keep them in good working order. Is it time for an overhaul?


"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." - Proverbs 4:23

Safe and Easy

Music is a powerful medium. Whether it's the catchy beat or the perfect harmony of a song that gets your attention, nearly everyone likes to hear some good music. It's just enjoyable. Personally, I love songs that are musically catchy but still have powerful lyrics that speak truth. There's a time for songs that worship God by proclaiming His goodness and glory. There's a time for songs that remind us about what's important in life and how much hurt there is in the world. And, there's even a time for songs that are simply for enjoyment and our listening pleasure. Whatever songs we listen to, however, they absolutely do have an effect on us by changing our attitudes, influencing our beliefs, or flooding us with certain emotions.

A song that I heard for the first time a few days ago that really prompted me to think is called "It's Good (Love's Not Safe)" by the Christian music group Sidewalk Prophets. It starts off talking about the fact that love isn't always safe and easy but that it's still good regardless. The bridge says,

     "Anything good in life's gonna take a sacrifice,
     Don't let up when it's tough, don't ever give up the fight,
     Everything you need in life was given by His sacrifice,
     I will give it all to You, I will give it all to Christ"

Then it ends by changing the word love to He, since God is love, and it ends by proclaiming that "He's not safe" and "He's not easy, but He's good." It struck me as odd at first that they would say that God isn't safe or easy. It's so common and popular today to talk about God's goodness and grace that we sometimes forget about the hardships, trials, and persecution that Jesus said would accompany His followers through their lives. Following Christ isn't safe. We have to be completely vulnerable and open before Him. Following Christ isn't easy. We have to die to our selves, take up our crosses, and resist the world and the devil constantly.

In C.S. Lewis's great series, The Chronicles of Narnia, the lion Aslan is used to symbolize God. At one point in the first book of the series one of the characters says this about Aslan the lion: "'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." Obviously, we can see how an actual lion wouldn't be considered safe. They are wild at heart and innate killers. While I don't think classifying God as wild is appropriate, He is ferociously against sin by His very nature. It's not safe to be an unrepentant sinner, because God hates sin. His good side comes out, though, when He extends His grace and mercy to us and offers us salvation and forgiveness from our sins. He is kind and forgiving, but He is also just and holy in a perfectly balanced way.

What I believe about all of this, then, is that while it does take sacrifice to follow Jesus and it does take us out of our comfort zone to be Christians, the alternative is much less safe. True, we might have an easier time on earth in some ways if we follow the ways of the world, but that wide path is not safe when it comes to eternity. It's much easier to go through a few storms and a little persecution from man while we're on earth than to spend eternity separated from God and suffering the consequences for our sin. The true safety and security that we have comes from our faith in God's ultimate goodness towards those who have become His children and have received salvation. We're not safe only in the sense that we have to surrender control, and as control freaks, that makes us feel insecure. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, so we are ultimately safe in Christ.

This whole concept applies to human-to-human love as well, not just between us and God. It's not safe for us to love another person. Think about it. If you really love someone, there is a personal attachment to them on at least the most basic of levels. You can love little African children and then be filled with extreme sorrow when you see them hungry, sick, and alone. You can love a close friend enough to open up to them and share who you are as a person, only to have your trust betrayed and to be left with deep hurt from the betrayal. There are different levels to what we generically call love, and the deeper the level of love, the less safe it is. It isn't always easy to love either. When we think of the part of love that involves sacrifice, commitment, and making hard, selfless choices, it's evident that love isn't an easy thing to do in those instances. In the end, though, love is good. It is good to risk for love. It is good to be hurt because you love. It is good to do difficult things out of love. All of this can make the love that much deeper, stronger, and more meaningful. Ultimately, living a safe and easy life is selfish. We were called to more than that. Follow the example of Christ. Love God and love others. It's not easy, but it's good.