A friend of mine is a pilot. Shannon loves to fly. Why? Well, he loves airplanes! But he also sees flying as mission trips. Since he is in the cockpit with another pilot, he has a captive audience. Also, when he hops a ride back to his home city, he has another captive audience sitting next to him as well! He gets into the best conversations when he’s flying.
He wrote in to tell about the encounter he had with Khaled. Enjoy!
On my commute home, I sat beside a young man, Khaled. He was on his way home from Jordan after his father’s funeral. His father died here in the U.S. from cancer, but he wanted to be buried with his father in Jordan.
He told me that he is Muslim, but basically in name only. He is back in college and doesn’t have time for all of the prayers and fasting. He has lived in the U.S. most of his life and told me that some of his friends are Christians. He followed up by saying that these religions are the same, which I obviously disagreed with! I asked him about the means of salvation for Islam, and he started listing all the things that you have to do. I pointed out that the focus was on what he did, not on what God did; and that in Christianity we can’t do enough to earn salvation. I then proceeded to tell him the biblical gospel. When I told him that God Himself became man and paid the penalty that we deserved to pay, but can’t, he responded with, “I like that!†I then told him that as Christians, we do works not to earn salvation but to glorify God and point others to Him. Again, he responded with, “I like that!” And finally, I told him, “From what I understand about Islam, you can never know if you have done enough good works to go to heaven,†which he agreed with. I told him that with Christianity, tonight you can know if you’re going to heaven or not, to which he once again said, “l like that!”
I invited him to dinner and left him with a One Second After You… booklet and a Why Is There Death And Suffering booklet.
It was a fun conversation! I pray that he reads the material and then takes me up on the dinner offer!
In Christ!!
Shannon
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“I like that!†Pray for Shannon’s continual boldness and pray for Khaled to see who the real Jesus is and what He did for him. Good works will never take anyone to where they want to go.
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Shannon just sent me more of the backstory behind his encounter with Khaled:
Another part of the story is that I was pretty frustrated to be on this particular flight that Khaled was on in the first place. The reason why is because when I got done with my trip, I checked flights for going home, and there was one leaving 25 minutes after my arrival that showed it was leaving on time, but I still had to go through Customs. When I got through Customs, it was five minutes before departure for that flight, and it was still showing up as “on time.†It was still a few hours before the next flight home, so I casually made my way to the other gates (not hurrying). When I got there, I discovered that the original flight was delayed and had just finished boarding and closed up. Had I hurried, I would have made that flight and arrived home about three hours earlier. Needless to say, I was pretty aggravated for missing a flight that I could have easily made if it had initially showed up as “delayed.â€Â Later I thought, “I wonder what God has planned for this next flight,” but to be honest, it was only a halfhearted thought because I really wanted to be on my way home. Then when I got on the flight, I ended up sitting beside Khaled!
I am so glad God is teaching Shannon patience and not me!! Shannon is the real deal. Keep praying for his divine appointments and yours, as well!
Until the Nets Are Full,
P.S. We heard from Keith who, after reading a One Second After You… booklet, wanted to pick up a book to learn more about God, Jesus, and salvation:
P.P.S. Stories like these make you wonder how that booklet ended up at the laundromat in the first place. Did someone leave it behind on accidentally or on purpose? Were they flooding the businesses in their area with truth knowing that God can do amazing things with the seeds we plant? Since these booklets are still on special at 20% off, it’s easier to pick up copies so that you, your friends, and your church can do just that!
https://markcahill.org/product-category/booklets/