Sharing our faith is both a command and a living dynamic:

This does not mean we have to be perfect before we can share our deepest thoughts with others. It does mean, however, that our heart is seeking for genuine consistency in our relationship with God. It means we recognise our need of him within us to make the Christian life possible. It means we turn back to Jesus quickly when we stray in our thought life or actions. It means being encouragers and supporters of others.

We are all going to be witnesses! The only question is whether we are going to be good or a bad witnesses - for the one who laid down his life to save us?

Sharing our faith means putting our faith on the line rather than challenging someone with a trite evangelical throw away line. For example: "may I pray for your sick child" rather than "are you saved?" Do you see the point? It is our faith we are sharing, our faith to pray for the sick child!

Faith in your Capacity as a Pilot

When you go to work, do you succumb to fears of human error? Do you have a controlling fear that your flight may end up like this...

Of course not. We recognise human error as a real risk, but we are trained professionals who go to work with belief that we know our job and can get the aircraft safely to the destination. In other words the risk of human error does not paralyse our faith in our capacity to get the job done well. We should think about our Christian faith in similar ways.

In reality your company invests millions of dollars in training to build safety systems to prevent accidents. You are committed to this training because you don't ever want to be in an accident.

Why then should we have any lesser commitment to our training to serve Jesus Christ on an integrated 24/7 basis?

Sin is human error. The risk is real but we strive to understand it and we train to avoid it. God has given us the Holy Spirit and the Blood of Jesus Christ to help us get on top of the dark side. Do you think God only meant for these resources to be used on Sunday? Are they not equally the weapons of our warfare in the cockpit and on our overnights?

Authority

In your employment you are answerable to a higher authority than the CEO of your company! You are answerable to God in how you use the gifts he has given you to his glory on a 24/7 basis!

Your company is also under God's authority. If this is not recognised by the management, they are in a state of spiritual rebellion. In either case you and your Christian colleagues have spiritual responsibility to pray for your managers and work colleagues.

Biblical Basis:

"Everything under heaven belongs to me" (Job 41:11).

"Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3).

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him" (Col 1:16).

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority" (Col 2:9-10).

Every "power and authority" of scripture encompasses your company. It's time to get moving with what God wants you to be doing where he has placed you on a daily basis.

Reality Check

Answer:

If you do not know who to contact for spiritual support or mentoring, you are invited to email the author.

Leadership

Aircrew and managers have a responsibility to extend spiritual leadership in their company and to set an example. Complacency or indifference are not acceptable excuses to our God.

The Rewards

What a joy and privilege to share in the process of leading one lost person to God. To have the experience of rejoicing with the angels over a lost sinner found. To have the inner satisfaction of having been used by God. To share in the deep satisfaction of seeing God's kingdom extended in our patch.

Other Gods

There are other Gods in our tracks. God's of promotion and materialism. God's of fitting in with the crowd. In Ansett we saw Christians turn aside from the call of God on their lives to follow the false draw cards of this world. For what? To reap the rewards of liquidation, to walk the streets looking for another job and in some cases to suffer broken marriages Come on now, let's get real.

Airborne Resources

Airborne averages around 70,000 hits a month with around half of these coming through our sub-web: "Flying the Line". Airborne is a great resource for Christian training and outreach...

Do you need on-line bible training? Here it is.

Do you want Christian airline stories? Here they are.

Is you marriage under stress? Here is encouragement.

Do you want to make contacts with other Christians when away from home base? Click right here.

Do you want a 'flying the line' bridge you can pass onto non-Christian colleagues that links back to our faith? Here it is.

Do you want prayer support? Click here.

Do you want to receive weekly bulletins to strengthen your faith? Sign on here.

Your contribution to help develop these resources is welcome. Click here to checkout the existing Airborne contents.

Aircrew Strategies

Here are some tried and true strategies for aircrew to do Kingdom work in the airlines...

Commit your trips to the Lord and seek his guidance in all your connections and conversations.

Be genuinely interested in the family and recreational life of your colleagues. Don't be aloof, judgmental or superior in any way. Seek out life-on-life friendship relationships.

Know and use the Airborne Christian resources (above). 

Recommend Airborne to your Christian colleagues.

Recommend "Flying the Line" to your non-Christian colleagues. Take time to learn what rich diversity of resources are available to aircrew on this site.

Form an email prayer list between a small network of aircrew in the same company for:
- mutual support and encouragement
- news and info about what God is doing out there
- prayer needs that can be shared.

Seek out a Christian mentor who can relate to your situation and encourage you in your faith.

On long haul flights that encompasses a Sunday layover, find an opportunity to advise the Cabin Manager and Cockpit crew that you will be going to Church if any crew would like to join you. This sets the scene for the trip. Even if no one comes along, it can immeasurably strengthen the hand of Christian cabin crew, especially if that are down the pecking order.

Be deliberate in networking Christian aircrew and friends in other locations so you can fellowship when away on trips (maintain the discipline of same sex fellowship, unless in a group).

Be transparent about your faith in front of other crew. You don't have to be pushy, just be relaxed and happy in who you are. We are seeking to establish a relationship out or which others may ask: "what makes you tick".

If you are in a conversation with a crew member of another faith, ask them to share something of their faith with you. They may very well ask you to do the same for them.

Contribute articles to "Flying the Line" to help make this a draw card for both Christian and non-Christians to browse the site and find faith in the process.

Get to know Christians at overnight ports such as FCAP in the States or Singapore and AAACF in London.

Use Touchdown to locate churches and missions you can visit through the week when away on trips.

Please email any other tips to Airborne.

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth".

 

 

Monday Church
Living out Church 7 days a week

Monday Church is based on the fact that the gospel of the kingdom is to influence every part of the sphere of influence, not just to rescue a few people who are going to hell so that they can go to heaven.  If you make anything like a thorough application of the following references by Jesus to the nature of the kingdom of God you will see how the idea of getting a few people saved seems pallid by comparison: