Full Moon Over the Applachian Mountains

Many years ago at a state prison just outside of Huntsville, Texas they were adding a new addition on to the prison.  This was back before the days before we had over one hundred prisons.  Matter of fact, Texas had just a handful at the time.

Things were very different then, but guarding prisoners was much the same as today.  At this particular prison they were constructing a new cell block.  It was on the west side of the main prison.  This particular prison had one nine foot high chain link fence with barbed wire on top.  There was an immaculate yard that was constantly groomed.  Located  on and around the yard were beautiful flower beds with every kind of flower imaginable.  These beds were perfectly maintained. Actually, all over the prison grounds were beautiful flower beds.  They lined the roads and were even around the employee houses.

Every so many yards along the giant link fence were towers or pickets as they were called in those days.   In the pickets there was a guard who was heavily armed.  His arsenal may consist of rifles, shotguns, pistols and even a machine gun.   There were also gates.  There was a front gate and a back gate in those days.  At the gates people were screened for entrance and to exit.  You would not want the wrong people going either way out of these gates, especially those dressed in white.  You would not want someone from inside escaping into the free world as the prisoners called it.

The guard quickly came out to see just what was so urgent that the man on the picket wanted to show him.  The guard on the picket pointed out the mud chimney way across the yard and the mockingbird.  He told him what the mockingbird’s peculiar behavior was and requested that he walk over and look down in the hole and  see what the bird was looking at.  The guard hesitated in disbelief at his request as if to say, “you have got to be kidding”, then preceeded with haste across the yard.

Upon arriving at the small mud chimney he knelt down and looked.  To his amazement he did not see the darkness that he fully expected.  What he saw was a light.  Yes, the men in white were tunneling out.  They had chiseled through several inches of concrete floor into the earth below.  They had set up lights and communications and all of the dirt had been carefully flushed down the commodes  in the cell block.  They were almost to the fence ………..just a few feet from freedom.

A mockingbird had given their secret away.  As these desperate men were just a few feet from the door to certain freedom I am reminded about true freedom.  About a door and a way to which was not designed  by human hands and was not constructed in secrecy.  It is a portal wide enough that all men, women and children can go through and it has a simple key.

Jesus said in Revelations 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”  He will show you not only to the door to freedom, but eternal life.

There are many people in the world that are trying to find the way  to freedom.  The next time you see someone trying to tunnel out,  show them the door………….to Jesus.

Steve

Many years ago, before the turn of the century, when I was an ambitious young pilot , I was offered a ride in a twin engine Beechcraft Barron.   The 58P Baron was the Cadillac of small light twins.  Although I was licensed to fly single engine aircraft, I had yet to make the step into a multi-engine airplane.   This was an opportunity I had dreamed of.  A local corporate pilot had offered to let me fly with him to Houston and back from the small town in East Texas where I lived.

The trip was non eventful.   He piloted the plane to Houston and back and I marveled at the complexity of the beautiful sleek craft.   We broke out of the clouds at some four thousand feet and the small town where I lived was brilliantly illuminated in the darkness.  At this point however, I began to realize something was amiss.  Out of a sea of brilliant lights I noticed the one group of lights that were missing were the airport and runway lights.

We circled overhead where the runway was supposed to be and could not find even the faintest light.  Because of the pilot’s long experience flying in and out of the airport  he knew where he thought the runway was located.  He decided to try a landing without the runway lights being turned on.   A definite error in judgment to say the least.   I began to make suggestions about calling the local weather station and having them contact the airport manager.   He did not like my suggestions but rather decided to line up on the local truck stop which he knew to be just off the center line of the North- South runway.

As we began our final descent, I voiced my opinion that  we were too far to the west to be lining up on the runway. As our brilliant landing lights illuminated the western edge of the runway the Old Captain realized he had made a serious error in judgment.   Now it would take his superior skill to correct his error.

I remember looking out the windshield and seeing nothing that looked right.   All I could see were trees and a taxiway.   Suddenly  the small aircraft banked sharply and landed on the runway.   Our normal landing roll should have been somewhere around three thousand feet, but on this firm landing we rolled only  three hundred feet before we were nearly stopped.

After we deplaned at the hanger that evening, the Old Captain who had often voiced to me his profound disbelief in God suddenly told me of his emphatic belief that God had saved both of us that evening.

I knew God’s divine hand had stepped in and that I had encountered His  perfect will in my life.

As I reflect back on that evening, I remember a passage in God’s Word which has always been a comfort to me when circumstances seemed to be out of control in my life.    2 Kings Chapter 6:17 says, ” And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘ Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’  And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”   Elisha’s servant  stepped out of his tent and saw the enemy everywhere……they were surrounded.    He thought his life was over until God opened his eyes so he could see that God’s army was much larger than the one which had surround them.

As I look back over my life and remember things that have happened to me there is one thing which always stands out……….. God is always in control…….even when you are not….His army is always much larger than the one surrounding you.

God bless……..Steve

(C)2000
Steven A. Johnson

Several years ago I was in Hawaii on what is known as the Big Island.   On the west side of the the Island of Hawaii is an area known as Kona.  I met a man there while I was walking along the sidewalk and spoke to him.  Later I saw him again and said hello and still again we crossed paths, this time at a small restaurant.  While I was standing in a long line ordering lunch, I turned around and there he was.

After the initial greetings, I learned  he was from Canada.  He asked me if I was a Christian and  then showed me the cuts and bruises on his hands.  Cuts and bruises from practicing his trade.  He was a carpenter and he was there as a Christian volunteer building a seminary.  He was eighty-six years old.

 E.V. Hill once said, ” A man’s life is like a baseball game…….you have to get to first base…..you have to become a Christian…you have to be saved..   But after you get to first base you do not want to stop there.

You want to continue on down to second .  This is when you become a disciple of Christ…..this is the inward journey.   On your trip down to second, you learn God’s Word and develop a strong spiritual foundation.  You learn not only to walk with God, but to talk with Him as well.

After you arrive at second base you do not stop there….you continue on down to third.  This is where you begin the outward journey.   You disciple others.  You become a missionary.   You tell others about Christ and His plan of salvation..  Finally, after rounding third, you go home. 

What happens to so many is that instead of rounding the turn at first and proceeding on to second, they cut straight across the pitcher’s mound to third…….and because they have no foundation in God’s Word and no walk with God,  they get choked by the cares of the world.   Or …….after they get to first base they turn right and go straight  to the dug out to wait for the Rapture.”
I will always remember the day in Hawaii…. meeting a carpenter and his example to me as a servant of God ………still on his way to third base.   It always reminds me of another Carpenter…..the one from Nazareth and the day I met Him and confessed my sins and asked Him into my life.  God’s Word says in Philippians 2:5 …..”.let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” 

Are you experiencing the outward living of the inliving Christ today?         What base are you on? 

Steve

(C)2008 Steven A. Johnson    

Many years ago I flew an aircraft called a King Air.  It was a multi-million dollar turbo-prop aircraft that cruised about 320 miles per hour.  It was not a very fast airplane in relation to the jets of today but it could really climb especially at the lower altitudes.  Every day I would fly this turbo-prop or prop jet as it was known to various cities across the United States.  I would take off from Dallas and climb up to 18,000 feet, sometimes I would go higher. 

One thing that often determined how high I went was how smooth the air was.  If I was going to climb up to 21,000 feet and suddenly it got really rough and bumpy I would never go higher, but rather I would descend back down to 19,000 feet where the air  was smooth.

A big revelation happened when I started flying jets.  I learned about the giant river of air that flows above the earth called the Jet Stream.  The Jet Stream is literally a river of air that flows usually from west to east, but not always.   The air in it flows anywhere from fifty miles per hour to two hundred and fifty miles per hour.   Before you enter the Jet Stream, though, there is an area that is sometimes very turbulent below, above or beside it. 

When I flew the King Air I would get into this turbulent air and go back down.  But in a jet I enter the turbulent air and…….raise my nose …….and aim higher.  This does two things:  first, it slows the aircraft down where I am not going so fast which equals a smoother ride and secondly, it causes the aircraft to climb faster and I  enter into the core of the river of air where it is smooth.  I  pass through the boundary layer of turbulent air into the smooth racing river of wind.

 
As I apply this to my walk with the Lord I can see where oftentimes God was calling me to a closer walk with Him, but when things got difficult or the road of life got bumpy it was easier to stay where I was than to go higher.  I was satisfied and complacent with where I was spiritually.

God has called each of us higher.  If years ago I would have had known what I know now about the Jet Stream I would have gone higher and further than I had ever dreamed possible and I would have arrived at my destination hours earlier.  There would have been fewer stops I would have had to make if I would have just looked up and climbed a little higher and not been discouraged by the bumps.

 
Is there a place or plateau in your life where God continues to challenge you to ascend even higher?  A higher spiritual plane perhaps?    Has God called you higher?  Are you just bumping the bottom of the Jet Stream of your spiritual life? 

Perhaps the songwriter said it  best………”Lord lift me up and let me stand, on heaven’s table land.   A higher plain than I have found…..Lord plant my feet on higher ground.”  You know…..sometimes our attitude determines our altitude in life of not only how high we go but how far as well.   God says,  “Come up here”… As I am out flying this week ….in the Jet Steam ……I will be thinking about you and praying for you………..God bless.

Steve

(C) 2008 Steven A. Johnson

A few days ago I was flying from the West coast of the United States to a city in the midwest.   I was high above the  clouds at forty one thousand feet cruising in the smooth rarefied air.  When I came to the Rocky Mountains,  it started getting rough and bumpy.  I was in the jet stream,  but  because of the wind flowing over the mountains the air is being deflected up  it forms turbulence.  It can even form a giant wave of air.  To pilots this is commonly known as a mountain wave and one can often see the presence of it in the form a lens shaped cloud.

As I traveled east past the Rockies over the plains,  the air became smooth once again.  Now I was very comfortable.  I sat back and relaxed and poured myself a cup of coffee.   As  I looked out the window,  I could see small thunderstorms beginning to build out in front of me and to my right.   I was amazed at how quickly they grew.  They were explosive in their very nature as they formed.  What was very small one minute was a  fully developed storm the next,  progressing through the atmosphere at an alarming rate.  They would rise; a churning mass of  frozen water colliding with the tropopause and flattening out into an anvil shape.

As I  was high  in the smooth air racing with the wind,  I began to think of how God often protects me from these storms and from the storms of life.  So often we can be at total peace and a big storm can come up in our lives,  just as it did the day the disciples were out in the boat when they saw Jesus……..Suddenly the “Peace Speaker” spoke and the storm was stilled.

So often I fly around and through  bad weather…but I have learned that the same God who calms the storm also said ….fear not, for I am with you………yes….through the storm.   As a pilot I have as one of my favorite scriptures Psalms 23.   The Psalmist says that God leads me besides “still” waters.   Perhaps the most comfort comes from the Psalmist who said it best in Psalms 37: 23 & 24….The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled head-long;  Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.      Phillipians 4:11 says …….b for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Have you allowed God to get in your boat this week and “still the waters”?   He is there waiting…..an saying……..fear not!

Let the “Peace Speaker” …..speak to the storms in your life today, he speaks to mine every week in more ways than one.

Steve

(C) Steven A. Johnson 2008

Many years ago when I was listening to Christian radio I heard a song.  I cannot remember the title of it or just who wrote it but I will always remember what it was about. 

It told a story about  an auction and certain items that were being auctioned off.  One of the items being sold was a very old violin.  People had obviously been allowed to look at it and the consensus among those who were there, especially the auctioneer, was that it wasn’t worth very much.  As it was the last item placed upon the auction block, the bidding started at simply one dollar.  Then it rose to two and then finally three.  Suddenly, an old man came forward and to everyone’s amazement he picked up the old worn musical instrument and placed it beneath his chin.  With the bow in his hand he then played a beautiful melody like one that would be nothing less than angelic.  The auctioneer then turned and changed the bidding price to begin again at one thousand dollars, then it went to two and then it jumped to three………..!  The violin only became valuable after it was touched by the master’s hand. 

I can remember twenty-one years ago learning to fly an old DC-3.  It was a beautiful old airplane built in 1939 and was actually the only C-41A every built before it was reclassified as a DC-3.  This particular airplane had giant Pratt and Whitney engines with some twenty-seven hundred horses between the two of them and a ninety-six foot wingspan.  A DC-3 was no easy plane to learn to fly.  It was not near as sophisticated as aircraft of today, and it had terrible ground handling qualities.  During a takeoff or landing you really had to be on your toes.  It was unforgiving of any miscalculation of the wind direction or a pilot’s inability.  Coming from flying small Cessnas to something that placed my head sixteen feet above the ground while sitting in the pilot seat was a large change in itself, not to mention moving the large heavy control surfaces. 

 I can remember one gusty, windy day landing at Addison airport in Dallas, Texas.  Everything on the approach to landing was normal until just before touchdown.  The strong crosswind began to move the nose of the airplane off my course straight down the runway.  I under corrected…… and what was bad ……just got worse.  The view out the co-pilot’s cockpit window now was not that of a long runway but of wide open spaces and cotton fields.  Just as quickly as I had made a bad thing worse the old captain with some sixteen thousand hours under his belt instantly took the controls from me and in a blink of an eye total control was restored.  I continued on to make a successful landing.     

In life I have the opportunity every day to choose and either try and control my life or let go and let God.  Jeremiah the prophet said in Jeremiah 29:11-13,  ”For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord,  “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me,  when you search for Me with all your heart.”    Has your life been “touched by the Master’s hand?”    Is God at the controls of your life?          Then let go!

Steven A. Johnson

(C)2008

I can remember when I got my first flying job many years ago.  It was flying a DC-3.  There are some things that you always remember.   Where you were when Kennedy was shot, when your first child was born.  For me it was this day, flying an old DC-3. 

I will always remember taking off out of Huntsville, Texas.  The giant old Pratt and Whitney engines roaring to life as the airplane slipped out of the earth’s gravity and lumbered into the sky.  I still remember the old, gray-haired pilot I was sitting next to when he said something was wrong with the left engine.   We were four thousand feet at the time.  A very low altitude compared to the altitudes I fly today. 

We were between Huntsville and Dallas flying along at a mere one hundred and sixty knots.  At first I was not really concerned until I asked the old captain if we were going to be “ok.”   He turned and said, ” I hope so” as he pointed out the ever-increasing temperature on the left engine.  The captain reiterated there was something wrong with the left engine, but beyond the increased temperature on the cylinder head temperature gauge I could not tell.  He then said, “Can you hear that noise?”  I could not.  I listened ever so intently and yet could not hear what he was hearing.  He would say, “Don’t you hear that?” and I could not hear anything except the roar of some twenty-seven hundred horses thundering outside my window. 

I sat with my adrenaline running, watching and listening for what the old man was hearing.  Suddenly he slid open the large left side window.  The wind noise was deafening and dust was a swirl in the cockpit.  He said, “Can’t you hear that?”  Then suddenly, even with all the noise of the rushing wind and that giant engine outside the open window along with the three silver propellers cutting the wind, I could hear it.  It was just a soft whisper, but unbelievably I could hear it.  It was a “chew, chew, chew” sound.  The sound of a hole in the top of the cylinder on the left engine, usually known as the number one engine.  There was raw fire coming out of the hole licking the cowling that surrounds and protects the engine. We had an emergency and we had to shut the engine down.  We continued on to Dallas where fortunately we landed safely.

(C) 2008

There is nothing like the thrill I receive and the adrenaline rush I get when I advance three throttles up to their stops and feel eleven thousand pounds of raw thrust propel my craft down the runway that leads me into the sky.   The earth falls away, like cut from a string, and the once setting sun rises again as if to give me a second chance to see a beautiful sunset.  From under my breath I murmur “Elvis has left the building!”

As I raced heavenward on this crystal clear evening  I gazed out my window  into the heavens and watched the sky,  looking for meteors or shooting stars.  Upon reaching my cruise altitude of thirty-nine thousand feet, I looked up and saw a brilliant heavenly object racing across the heavens.  My first inclination was to think, “Boy that guy is way up there”.    Suddenly it dawned on me that I was already “way up there.”  Obviously too high to be another aircraft and much too large to be a simple satellite, I realized this object was something  new.  It didn’t take but  a moment to conclude this new heavenly body had to be the new orbiting space station making its way around the earth.  So brilliant was its reflection in the night, I realized I was not alone at the edge of space.

Watching the space station race across the night sky and disappear, I became aware that when life has its troubling moments I look up to see God’s creation and peace settles upon my life.  I was reminded of an earlier chapter in my life when I had lost a loved one and prayed repeatedly for some sign from God that all was well.  At that time I was flying an old Douglas DC-3.   After praying that prayer, I looked up and there in the northern night sky was a bright display of light I had never witnessed before.  The Northern Lights were making a rare appearance in the skies over East Texas.   God’s peace flooded my soul.

Today there are signs and wonders in the heavens a thinking Christian cannot ignore.  God’s Word tells us that in the last days there will be signs and wonders in the heavens.  Joel 2:30 says, “And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth.”
Isaiah 34: vs 4a  says,  Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not.”

When I am discouraged……I remember …………… to look up.
  
 

Steven A. Johnson (C) 2000