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Today’s post is Part 2, the conclusion of Separated from The Sweetheart. You can read Part 1 here. Today? Separated at 30,000 ft. Part 2!

This flight actually took place first, from the Mediterranean island of Malta to Frankfurt, Germany where we were staying overnight. We had about 18 hours total to see Frankfurt…no worries we have had much less on long layovers. We once only had eight hours in Copenhagen and we sure didn’t spend it in the airport! We hopped a taxi and headed for the river, took a cruise to see as much as we could, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, saw the Tivoli and even shopped for souvenirs. It can be done!

So in Frankfurt, we had secured a room at a brand new Holiday Inn right downtown (for a steal!!) and were looking forward to seeing a little bit of the city, even though the sun wasn’t cooperating. Here are a few pictures of Römerberg, the historic heart of the city: (The church in the second picture dates back to the 13th century!)

So we have boarded our flight and this time The Sweetheart was BEHIND me. (Yes, I know, I need to start booking these flights myself) I had the aisle again and he did too so he was continually reaching up and bugging me, flipping my hair or asking me questions.

A few minutes later, a young man gave the customary “Excuse me.” He had the window seat and as the plane filled up we were both delighted to discover the seat between us would remain empty.  Hooray for the little things.

 

I say “young” because I thought he was the age of my boys, 28-30 or so. After about an hour of conversation he told me he was 46!! Seven years younger than me! I wasn’t about to tell him that and have him gasp as I had, only for the opposite reason.

I noticed right away he was getting a lot of attention from the Lufthansa flight attendants. They came around passing out little bags of pretzels. I received one little bag but my friend received two! They were chatting in German so naturally I couldn’t understand them. When they came back a couple of minutes later with soft drinks they poured mine out of the can into the small plastic cup and handed it to me. His? He got the full cup AND the rest of the can! Laughing, joking, bantering back and forth and in the process one of the flight attendants opened another can and it spewed all over her. Being the ever-ready-and-prepared traveler, I reached into my bag for a giant wet wipe and handed it to one of the attendants who handed it to the one who had made the mess. She immediately looked at my friend and thanked HIM! I interrupted then, in English, and said, “No, no, no…” pointing to me. He was laughing hard by then and telling them in German. Right, this nice looking, single guy carries giant Wet Ones with him. Seriously.

So when they left I couldn’t resist asking, “So, do you know the flight attendants personally?”

“No.”

“You are receiving quite a bit of extra attention, extra snacks, extra drinks and tons of smiles!”

He laughed, winked and said, “Just me.”

He asked what we had been doing in Malta and I was delighted to tell him that we had been staying with resident missionaries while doing leadership training and teaching in the church. He had been sent there by his job to brush up on his English. We talked about life, families and just general things until we were almost ready to land. We had been talking a little about the world state of affairs when he said this:

“Oh, we will never have another world war again. Never happen. We have all learned our lesson and we don’t have to worry about that any longer.”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” Edmund Burke

Of course we all wish my newfound friend was right. As Christians, we know things are rapidly pointing to the coming of the Lord and that things in this life, as we have always known it, cannot continue forever.

Evil abounds and we are in the middle of a war against humanity. We see it every day on television and social media that ISIS is slowly, but surely, taking over city after city and eventually, country after country as they attempt to take over the world. Yes, the world! That is their goal and they have not kept it a secret.

How should we live? As my friend with his head in the sand oblivious to what is going on around him? It is easy to do that…we aren’t under imminent threat here yet, but we will be. We cannot shy away from that! ISIS is not becoming weaker but continues to take over city after city, week after week. We only see a small portion of what is actually taking place in the Middle East, it is much worse than we can possibly imagine.

So should we run through town with placards that state, “THE END IS NEAR”?

Yes. And No. We do have to sound the warning but at the same time we have the Good News! The purpose of the Church of the Living God is to reach out to the lost.

I have always thought the focus on endtime events, though very important and not to be ignored, should be more on what Jesus has done on the Cross, why He came, why He died and what He has done in our own lives. We should be praying for miracles, signs and wonders to be done in our midst again, that is what drew people in the time of the disciples and it will do the same today. People want to know that God is real and even if you don’t have a testimony of a blind eye being opened or a deaf ear unstopped you DO have a story of God’s keeping power, His deliverance, His “I will never leave you nor forsake you” promises.

The Church should be bringing the world the Good News of Hope in Jesus Christ.

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It isn’t all doom and gloom. There is Hope and His name is Jesus. Even as we work to spread the Gospel, the Good News is that Jesus, not Mohammed, is the One, True God who came in the flesh and gave His very life so that we could have eternal life. We serve a LIVING GOD!

Does that mean we will not suffer? Obviously that is not a promise; the Bible says we WILL suffer persecution for His name. We have seen that down through the centuries, we know the apostles and hundreds of thousands of Christians laid down their lives for the Name of Jesus. And we see it again today as we read bulletin after bulletin of Christians being beheaded because they would not denounce their faith.

So, you might ask, what is the point? Why did they do it? Why didn’t they just SAY they denied Jesus to save their lives?

Because He first loved them. And us. Because greater love has NO MAN than this than that He would lay down His life for His friends. Because He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us and will give us eternal life in His presence, eternal paradise, if we hold steadfast to the end.

God doesn’t want anyone to be lost and that should be our heart’s cry as well. He loves the sinner no matter what they have done, what they look like or even what they smell like. Would He have shied away from PigPen and his wife? I think not. I pray I have learned a lesson from these two travel partners. Sometimes we might have to get dirty, get uncomfortable, go where no man has gone before…we might have to stretch ourselves even when we don’t feel like it.

He reached for us, may we fulfill His purpose by reaching for those around us and giving them Hope.

 

The Daniel Fast Devotional is still going strong! This week I was privileged to be a part of a podcast interview on the Apostolic Informer with Host Rob Barrow. He allowed me to talk about the book, how it came to be, what is a Daniel Fast, etc. and even give away a book or two. Folks, I don’t do well listening to my own voice, yikes. But Rob is doing a great job getting information on district happenings within the UPCI for Indiana and beyond. Take a listen here and get your copy of The Daniel Fast, A Devotional, today!