Lakewood Pastor Connects Faith with Flight
Lakewood Pastor Connects Faith with Flight A new book by a Colorado Baptist pastor connects lessons learned while piloting airplanes to lessons applied to walking in faith. When Faith Takes Flight by Bear Valley Church pastor Jim Walters is "the gospel according to a flight instructor." Jim learned to fly 40 years ago and has been teaching flying longer than he has been preaching. He says, "What makes me weep and pound the table is talking with young people every week who claim to be believers but cannot articulate even the basics of their own faith."
The book teaches ten important truths that every Christian should master, things like grace, faith, prayer, bible study, church, stewardship, and love. Each of the ten chapters contains flying stories from Jim's own experience, plus exposition of related Biblical truths, then "learning exercises," group discussion questions, and finally... a quiz. According to Jim, "When we teach flying to a new student, we don't just toss him the keys and wish him good luck. First we test him on a few important things to make sure he really does understand the teaching."
Bear Valley members are accustomed to "pop quizzes" even during sermons -- the questions appear on the video screen and the congregation calls out the answers. The book's website, www.whenfaithtakesflight.com contains a 100-question interactive Basic Bible Knowledge quiz that is offered free. In fact, Jim will give any church two on-line quizzes that have been thoroughly tested and de-bugged, that they can post on their own website. These quizzes are not trivial pursuits, rather, they cover many of the main points taught in the Old and New Testaments. According to Jim, when people prove to themselves that they really can answer questions about 100 of the main teachings of the Bible, their confidence goes up.
Although the book has just been released, it is finding a good reception among men's groups, military people, airplane people, and even non-believers. On November 21st, Saturday, Jim will be signing copies of the book at Mardel's Bookstore on S. Wadsworth from 10:00am to Noon; and at Bear Valley Church between 6:00pm and 8:00pm.
For More Info, Jim Walters cell 720 530 4195
