Excerpt from Chapter 2 of “When Faith Takes Flight”:

The plane nosed down into the ditch, and the propeller dug into the bank.
Scratch one airplane. Fortunately, he and the passengerwalked away unharmed.

Why did that happen? Here was a good pilot, well trained
and experienced. Now he has an accident on his record, and
the FAA will require him to do additional training. Insurance
adjusters and maybe attorneys will enter the picture. His
passenger friend may never want to fly again. All in all, it’s a disaster. It’s a bad thing that has happened to some people.

People often ask me, “Why do bad things happen to
good people?” It’s a fair question, but a tough one. There are several simple answers, and they are mostly wrong. When asked this question, I usually take a deep breath and respond slowly and carefully.

“First,” I say, “Let us agree that no answer I can give you
is going to be completely satisfactory to you. The library over at the theological seminary has a whole shelf of books on the topic of suffering, and none of them contains answers that would totally satisfy you. However, if you’re willing to accept a few partial answers, answers that are like small pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, answers that will let you see bits and pieces of a larger picture, then perhaps you can get some relief on this subject.”

The starting point is this: earth is a broken, fallen planet.
It’s a lousy, stinking, disease-ridden, war-rocked,  poverty infested, politically corrupt planet, but it’s the only planet
we have. Despite NASA’s wildest dreams, we truly have no
other place to go in our lifetime!

“There is a heaven, but this is not it,” I often tell my
congregation. “We are living on earth, and earth is no
paradise.” Once you accept this sad reality, once you really
chew on it and choke it down, the reality of life on earth will make a lot more sense to you.

While Chapter 2 tells us that we do, indeed, live on a “fallen planet”, we still have hope. We learn in Chapter 3 that God has a plan, and that plan is to rescue us from our fate.

You can read more excerpts from each chapter of Jim Walters’ book, “When Faith Takes Flight” right here on this blog; or, buy a copy of  “When Faith Takes Flight” and have it in your own hands in just a matter of days.

“When Faith Takes Flight” is a book about the Christian Life and Christian Growth, from the perspective of a flight instructor and pilot. You may not be sure if you’re a Christian, or even if you want to be one. Jim’s book will help you understand some things that may be elusive to you right now.  Whether you’re an aviation “buff”, or don’t know the first thing about airplanes, this insightful and fun-reading book will certainly provide you with a new view point.

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