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Wednesday, April 27, 2022

What would you do if you found yourself in a frightening free fall while flying on a commercial airliner. In 1979, Roger Peterson did and his life changed.

 



11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

God seems to grab our attention when life events happen that send us cascading toward death. 

In 1979, Roger Peterson, the founder of Stem ministries, a ministry that educates people on the value of short-term mission work, was on an American Airlines flight that suddenly lost altitude. 

What would you do if you found yourself cascading to almost certain death?  As you can imagine, the people flying on this TWA flight forgot their planned agenda for the day and began praying.  They weren't thinking about their bank accounts, their investment portfolios, or even their job interview in the city they were traveling to, but instead, they worried about where they would spend eternity.  For some, they wanted to make amends with God, the one they neglected thinking about because they thought they had more time in this life.

When I first met Roger in the mid-1980s, I sensed that God had touched his life in a very supernatural way.  As, I watched this CBS reports video, I know now that God not touch his life, but everyone else on that fateful flight.

As head of STEM ministries,  Roger Peterson led our group of young adults traveling to Haiti where we did missionary work with the poorest of the poor.  To this day, I will never forget the devotional he gave to us the first morning of our arrival when he challenged us to get rid of our American hearts but to see these Haitian people as people that God loves equally as much as he loves us.

God never promised any of us that we would see a ripe old age. Events happen that take the lives of people every day. Disease, heart attacks, car accidents, and on the rare occasion, airline accidents take the lives of people who were enjoying happily achieving goals. 

What about you. Are you someone who thinks they have another 30 years before you need to take seriously the things of God?  

You might and you might not, but wouldn't you like the assurance that if anything happened to you today that you would go to heaven? Here are some bible verses that teach about the assurance you would have if you accept Jesus as your Savior.  

1 John 5:12-13  "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. "

Then we have this verse, "John 5:24“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." 

Finally, there is this verse from Hebrews 7:25, "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them."



By saying this prayer and truly meaning it, you can have this assurance, "Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for saving me and for answering my prayer.

Remember, Jesus is more than an insurance policy. He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants you to come to him every day with all of your struggles and emotional grief pain. Like me, I know your decision will guide you for the rest of the days of your life.



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