Fear

You can tell that I'm really bored because I'm going to take time to do a serious post. It's only 10:30 and I've already eaten breakfast, cleaned the bathroom, worked out, straightened the dining room, and fiddled away an hour on a game. So now I will give you a quick look at a pet peeve of mine.

I get annoyed when I am reading/listening to anything put out by the church (or a Christian organization) that tells Christians to worry/be afraid of the latest thing that the Supreme Court/Congress/large anti-Christian group is about to do. I was riding with a nice couple who were telling me about this horrible anti-hate speech bill which Dr. Dobson said was going to make it illegal for people to preach against sin. Californian Christians are fighting tooth and nail to stall their Supreme Court's ruling about marriage. People are incensed about the latest curriculum in today's schools. It seems that everybody is getting a collective wedgie over the fact that homosexuals are doing what homosexuals have always done- trying to get the world to accept their perversion. And then when our secular government lets them have a little legal ground we are all shocked and outraged. We act as if we are some pathetic weakling and the big mean bully world is about to trash the snot out of us. I mean COME ON PEOPLE! it's not the end of the world.

First off: What power does the government really have anyway? I look at laws as merely an indication of the hearts of society. Who cares if abortion or homosexuality or whatever is legal? If we are doing a good enough job at influencing the world for good, nobody will even want to commit such atrocities (or they will cave to the fear of man and not do them because of social pressure). I see us trying to get the government to ban all this stuff and I personally take it as a cop-out for fulfilling the duties of the church. We have lost faith in Christ to keep His promises, and so we bow to the government in hopes that they will help out the "poor little suffering Christian." Bush has become god, and when he doesn't save us (surprise!) we get all disillusioned and afraid.
The problem is not the world trying to oppress us, it is us being lazy and stupid. If you don't like what the school is teaching you have two options~ you can teach your kids yourself, or you can actually take the time to talk to your kids about what they are learning and help them get an early start on critical thinking and comparing the teaching of the world to the truth of scripture. If books like the Di Vinci Code get you all worked up maybe you should go read some theology so if anybody challenges you on the deity of Christ or some other lame debate, you can call their bluff. (We fought that battle hundreds of years ago, if you want to run back to that battlefield you may as well concede the ground you've gained since then.) If you don't like the hate you see in the streets you can actually go out and show some love. (Kudos to the Van Keppels)

Which brings me to my second point: God is Sovereign Y'all. He controls what goes on in the government, and He has said that we will overcome the world. Why are we acting like an injured beast in the jaws of a predator, when we have a God like ours? We should laugh at their pathetic attempts to spread their lies, and then go out and dump some truth on it. Don't ask the government to do it for you. (News flash: The government is NOT Christian. It never was.) Don't ask the Church (leaders) to do it for you. YOU ARE THE CHURCH. IT IS UP TO YOU.

Do you want a personal example? People have asked me why I chose a profession that is known for it's drinking and lover in every city problems, and my response can only be this: If I don't infiltrate aviation with the gospel then who will? The pilots who have these problems are all seeking for satisfaction and happiness. I have Salvation and Joy. Maybe I can spread some around.

That is all. Bright out. Beam me up Scotty.

#89

Complaining will get you everywhere! So I just finished griping about not getting to fly a lot, when scheduling called me up to switch my reserve times for the next few days. (Which is a good sign , because I suspect they usually have a trip in mind when they do that.) Then they called me (on my day off of course) to give me a trip that started in the time slot that they just took me off of. Go Figure. (And yes Dad, I know that "of" is a preposition and that is not what you end a sentence with. It just fit there.) Anyway I wanted to fly, so I got to go to Huntsville AL this morning and then took some fellows over to South Bend for their ND 50th reunion. Haven't been in SB since I was holding up traffic in a warrior.


I get to stay on the thirteenth floor of probably the tallest building in South Bend (This hotel is indeed cool enough to get past the thirteenth floor superstition!) Here's a pic:


I always wondered what these monuments look like from above.

I was feeling a bit rusty

on my flows for my flight yesterday and I was wondering why stuff wasn't just coming to me like it should. Then I found out when I was looking up my flight time that I hadn't flown for nine days before hand. Good Grief! I think that is the suckiest part of being on reserve. I have to sit around here all day for a week and be pretty much sure that I won't be used, but I still have to be ready for that random chance. Oh well, at least I get paid for it. Here's some pictures of my new plane:

135- 37 passenger type

145- 50 passenger type

and 4 skybus planes that never moved an inch the whole last week I was in Columbus.

The Sunshine Boys.

Flew with a captain out to Pittsburgh (#88) today. We typically introduce ourselves before a flight and spend a couple minutes finding out what sort of personality we will be working with during our trip, and I found out that my captain lives on my street in Indy! How random is that? It was a short little flight, so we didn't talk much, but it was fun, and I got one of my better landing in Cincinnati, even though we had some pretty strong/gusty winds. I was debating flying back to Indy for my last day off in May, but I think I'll just hang out here till June. If anybody comes through give me a call and I'll probably be around.

Esther

Last Thursday I got to see the home schoolers put on their production of the musical Esther. And to tell the truth I was quite entranced by the quality of the show they put on. By far one of the best home-school plays I have even seen. It was well written and the acting was really great. Good times, good times.

I get done with this section of reserve at 12 tonight and then I get four days off!! Wow. I'll be spending most of it in Wisconsin for my friend's wedding. I got assigned reserve again next month and I didn't get the one day I asked for off, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some wrangling to get out of it again. My record of 0 for 3 on days requested off sure doesn't bode well for Calvin.

I just made a map

of all the places I've flown to in my life.
I found out that I've gone to 87 different cities in 9 types of aircraft!
here's the map (hope it works):

View Larger Map


P.S. Stacey called me last night yay!

I think the best part of leaving your credit card in your shorts pocket at home is:

You only get to spend the five bucks you have in cash on food, so you have a good excuse not to go to the $15 avg. price restaurants. It's a good thing I was only on a two day trip though, cause a foot long from Subway can only last so long. Got to fly to Scranton PA and then down to New Orleans last night. I haven't been there since my very first commercial plane ride about five years ago. I'm kinda bummed right now cause Stacey hasn't called me in FOREVER and I don't have her number anymore. I hope she's not mad at me or something. Scheduling hasn't put anything on my schedule for tomorrow so I might get to go to church Yay!! I sure hope they don't call because of that and I seem to have a slight cold and all the pressure changes of the last two days really are messing with my head. I'm going to go drink some vitamin C now.

here's something I wrote a couple days ago.

Birmingham Alabama. The city of weirdness. This is where I sleep tonight, after adding a couple more states to my list of places flown. Here is a smidgen of the weirdness I’ve found so far: I decided to compose a post, we parked at gate 2 when our planning paper listed only 4, 6, and 8 as possible locations, and the hotel charges 12 stinking dollars to get on the internet in my room (which appears to be free to guests and $3 to public in the lobby). Explain that one…. Also, at the Subways here, “No banana peppers” must mean “put on lots of banana peppers,” and I was quite amused to find that when I and the lady behind me asked for pepper jack cheese I got swiss and she got cheddar. The hotel here is cool though- aside from the stupid expensive internet, it is a really huge building with a well designed interior and a great waterfall outside. I don’t want to say that there aren’t any normal things here though, for example: I am saving this post in word and waiting till I get free internet tomorrow to post it. Good last Night Y’all.