Newsflash: New Blogs Added to the Gift of Flight Network.

I'm pretty sure you all have known about the three current GoFM blogs we have had running...

This blog, Faith Like Feathers (previously known as "the runway"),
truthfully speaking..,
And His Death Will Purge

But now the GoFM Network is expanding our blog base and adding two new blogs...

Out of the Ashes,
And Life like this is sweet

Now, I know it seems like all we're doing is blogging... And right now this is kind of true. But we also have a Facebook page that is about to start up more of it's full-functioning purposes with message boards and more!

Another piece of news, once I am able to get my computer all rigged up, I will be resuming a podcast that I started years ago called, the Highroad. I can't give you guys a date on it's return, but I'm hoping it will be soon.

Stay posted for more news and go check out all of the GoFM Network's blogs for devotionals, insight, and enlightenment!

God bless!

A New Chapter...

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death”

-Albert Einstein

This quote from one of the most brilliant minds in history should ring most true for those of us following Christ. This rings all the more true after we have been born again. I'm writing this entry today because many of us are reaching a new destination in our lives. This destination, however, is not one of an ending, but rather a beginning. A new chapter.

This ministry has become a great start to what I feel God has called me into and I've already begun to see it's fruit growing. It is one great part of my own new chapter. I recently have been able to move out of the home I grew up in and take my family to a home of their own. Another new chapter. But not all new chapters are written with success and glory as their theme. What may be a glorious chapter in one's book may be written in another's as tragedy. One person may be moving on to a higher paying job out of state, a great victory in their eyes, while their loved ones are left where they are in a bitter chapter of loss. I say all of this because almost everyone I know is scattering right now. And while it is God's will I know I will find myself rejoicing in their victory and crying over memories and loss. This IS God's will though. It is a theme seen countless times in the Holy Bible; epistles written to the church by the Apostles who went various ways to serve the body in ways that required they depart from friends, family, and all other loved ones. The Apostle Paul even writes of times of his tears while leaving those he was close to, primarily Timothy. Not all chapters are sweet. Some are bitter, some sweet, and some bittersweet. But I don't write this to be a discouragement, rather that it may encourage you to push forward and pursue your destiny. C.S. Lewis describes something he calls the Law of Undulation in his book titled "The Screwtape Letters."

"Humans are amphibians-half spirit and half animal (The Enemy’s determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.)…This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation-the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks."

Now this quote is from one devil to another devil so understand that Lewis was writing from the perspective of a demon named Screwtape, thus the "enemy" refers to God and "our father" to Satan.

The importance of this quote is the necessity of change. We go through trials and emerge from them. They make us who we are.

In one of my previous posts, titled The Need for Sorrow, I discussed this topic. I reviewed that we need what Lewis calls trough periods to appreciate the peaks. To be honest, I've been called a heretic for believing this. I have my doubts that my accusers had ever read the book of Job, an obvious proof of God's usage of trials to mold His child.

As I continue, I write this for those of you starting a new chapter. I pray that whether it is bringing sorrow or joy, you remain comforted that YOU control where this chapter takes you and how the next begins. I myself am starting a new chapter as well. Even this blog, a big part of this ministry so far, will be seeing some changes. Starting with it's name... I have never been satisfied with "the runway" as a title for this blog. Though it's significance was that of an aircraft runway, where planes take off, I feel it can be confused too easily with a modeling runway so as of now I will be changing the name to "Faith Like Feathers" which is the shortened version of Gift of Flight Ministries tagline, "faith is the feather to your flight." I also have made changes to the layout and have some plans to make each post more enjoyable for those with vision impairment; this.. I will explain at a later date.

In all of this I pray that each of you reading will take heed to this message. You write your story, make it one worth reading. Fill it with love and joy. Endure.

I love you all. God bless!

Pruning.

Pictured Below: the Chevy Cruze and a photo of my team who installs the decklid (otherwise know as the "trunk lid"), hood hinges, fender and headlight brackets. My apologies for the photo quality.

Over the past few weeks my pastor has been going over some great teachings on pruning, which you can look up and listen to here. They have really inspired the way I view my trials.

So as I sit here, starting this post on my lunch break, I realize the date. It is 8/9/11 and the one year anniversary of my hire at General Motors, Lordstown. There is only one problem, I haven't gained any seniority, benefits, or any other "rights" that most of my co-workers have. This is because even after a year of employment, I am still considered a temporary employee... Come September my status as a temp will expire and one of three things will happen. I'll get hired full time and receive the same benefits that all the other full time employees enjoy. I'll get an extension and continue my service as a temp for another period of time. Or, I'll be laid off.

Now, I could look at this scenario one of two ways, the first being how most of my fellow temps are seeing it. I could complain that they have used us to make themselves richer while we remain in stress that we aren't actually hired in. I could get all fired up and curse out the union and tell them they haven't done a thing to help us. These would both be valid complaints...

Or...
I could acknowledge my blessings.

I choose to rejoice because I have been blessed with a job for a year, while others struggle on little or no income, trying to feed their families. I rejoice because this past year, my job has blessed me with wages that double the minimum wage in Ohio. I will rejoice because even if God's will is NOT for me to be hired in, He will provide. General Motors is my employer... Jehovah Jirah is my provider! Whatever takes place, I will rejoice. His plans are to prosper me, even if to test me first. If this is God's way of pruning me, I pray that it will succeed in it's purpose...

That I may bear much fruit.

The Need for Sorrow...

Why do bad things happen to good people? If God really is a good God, how can He let that happen? Is this really the "good news?"

Chances are, sometime in your life you have been asked these questions or maybe you have even asked them yourself. The truth is, there isn't any easy answer. At very least there isn't an answer we want to hear. I wish that I could tell you that after accepting Christ, life will be all flowers and rainbows, but I can't. I would be lying.


"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)


Christ Himself told us that strife and hardship would be part of our days, even while following Him, but He assures us He has overcome the world and it won't be this way forever. The Apostle Paul also says something similar.


"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28 NLT)


Everything? Really? Rape, adultery, murder, drunk drivers, physical ailment, divorce, and so on, and so forth... for the GOOD?


First off we have to realize we can't BLAME God for these things. Without free will, love cannot exist. Being that God gave us free will He cannot control our actions without revoking it and forcing us to love Him. This free will of ours also leads to free will of others... You make a decision to go to the store at late hours and a person in the same area makes a decision to rob you at gunpoint. You are not at fault, but neither is God.


I could write down countless examples of the truth in the Apostle Paul's statement, but this post would be longer than some books. I could tell you the story of a woman who's family grew a new addition out of a rape. The child was loved by the father like his own. I could tell you the story of how a double murder brought two families closer to each-other AND to God. I could tell you the story of how the tragic death of a sixteen year-old girl inspired the life changing events of another, but I'll let her tell you here. The problem is, all of this would be tragically missing the simplicity of it all...


Try to go one week without eating...

How grateful are you for food when you finally eat again?


See, when you go without you learn to be more appreciative of what you have. Nothing can be fully appreciated without first enduring it's opposite.


When I first moved in to my new home, there were several repairs that needed to take place. The most substantial of these was our gas. The pipes weren't up to safety standards and the gas company shut us off. You never know what you have until it's gone. For roughly two weeks we went without ability to use our stove or even take warm showers. We dreaded being the slightest bit dirty because it meant we had to freeze to get clean. Just this past week we got the necessary repairs done and got the gas back on. Believe me, I've never been more thankful for hot water. The first shower felt like a glimpse of heaven. But without that trial I would have never really appreciated what I have.


In this same sense we realize that if Adam and Eve had never sinned, we would have never been able to experience God's grace. Also, without Saul the Pharisee, there is no testimony for Paul the Apostle. If we weren't doomed to endure suffering in this age, we wouldn't appreciate triumph and glory in the age to come. Why do bad things happen to good people?


Because true, uncompromised, and fully appreciated joy can't exist without first experiencing sorrow.


That's the best answer I have found.

Contradictions in the Bible...

If you are a devout Christian, the above title may seem undoubtedly offensive, but please don't take offense to this article until you've read it entirely.

"In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:16)

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. (Matthew 7:1)

"It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. (1 Corinthians 5:12)

"God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12)

*all verses in the New Living Translation

These are a few texts directly from the Holy Bible. I posted them for their obvious "contradictions." First, I want to be very clear on why I chose to review this topic. These very verses that I quoted above made me question my own faith at one time and I don't want to see others stumble when I can shed a light on such a controversial topic.

So above we see Jesus telling people to do good deeds publicly and then telling them NOT to do good deeds publicly. We then see Jesus saying if we judge we will be judged, but the Apostle Paul states to judge those sinning in the church, and then James says that only God can judge.

Sooooo.... What is it? Do we hide our deeds, or show them? Do we judge, not judge, or judge a little, or judge sometimes, or judge on weekends and holidays? What is it? Do the writers of the Holy, Written Word of God not agree with each-other or even themselves?

The answer to all of these questions can be found in one simple word... context.

Let's start with the first example. Jesus plainly states to do good works publicly. Why, then, does he state in the next quoted verse in His SAME sermon, not to do good works publicly? The answer is in the wording. He doesn't. What Christ is speaking against is NOT the outward doing of good works, but rather the seeking of praise from men as stated by the context of His words, "to be admired by others." In this we find that these verses have no contradiction.

But judgement..? That was a blatant contradiction right? ... wrong.

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
"For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? "Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
(Matthew 7:1-3, 5)

Jesus is calling out hypocrisy, not judgement. He calls us to examine ourselves so we CAN deal with the speck in our friend's eye.

Paul the Apostle's quote is very clear and now we see it doesn't contradict the teaching of Christ. Don't judge the world, but judge those who claim Christianity and don't live up to it's guidelines. Remove the speck. But does this contradict James?

"Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
(James 4:11, 12)

Read that again... carefully. Don't speak evil against eachother. What is another word for speaking evil of someone? Slander? Gossip? Defamation? False Judgement? See what we need to keep in mind is that words like judge, judgment, conviction, and speaking evil all have multiple meanings and synonyms that can be associated with them. Upon first glance these all seemed to be as blatant of contradictions as any, but through use of context we see that Jesus is addressing hypocrisy, Paul was addressing handling sin within the church, and James was telling us not to slander eachother.

So can you find contradiction in the following statement? Don't be a hypocrite, don't claim Christianity while living in sin, and don't slander your neighbor.

I'd say no. There are no contradictions in the Bible itself...



.. just in the way many read it.