The Lord prepares humans for His service by giving us various gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill a particular area of ministry and service for God. You might say, “The Lord didn’t give me the ability to fly a plane or helicopter, I learned that on my own!” But it is God that gave you all the physical and mental abilities to learn how to fly, and without those God given abilities, you could never learn how or keep flying that airplane or helicopter.
The Body of Christ is made up of different types of members, each with different gifts, according to the grace God gives us (Romans 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:4-16). And if airplanes and helicopters had been invented when the apostle Paul was on this earth, he would have listed flying as a gift we should use to serve the Lord. Paul tells us that even though there are many different types of gifts and service, it is the same God working through all believers, and that each gift that God has given men and women should be used for the mutual edification and the good of all humanity (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
Service for the Lord doesn’t begin in some foreign land; it begins in your home, in your local church, in your local area.
The body of Christ is made up of many parts, each one being necessary and vitally important. And even those parts of the body that we don’t see are just as important as the ones we can see (1 Corinthians 12:14-27). None of us are complete in ourselves, Scripture says that no man lives unto himself (Romans 14:12). All Christians are important and necessary for the body to truly function and be effective. We all need each other in order to serve the Lord properly.
If God has given you the ability to fly a plane or helicopter, then you are to fly that plane or helicopter in a manner that pleases the Lord. You might say, “Hey, I’m just an ag-pilot, or I’m just a helicopter pilot that flies out to oil rigs in the ocean, or I’m just a fire-fighting pilot, or corporate pilot, and I don’t know a lot about the Bible or serving the Lord.” But think again, God has given all you professional and private pilots a special ability. How about using that special ability to serve the Lord?
A question for all of you ag-pilots, fire-fighting pilots, and helicopter pilots: “How many of your pastors have you taken for a ride in a plane or helicopter to show them the beautiful scenery you get to see almost every day?” The same goes for airline and corporate pilots: “How many of your pastors have you taken for a plane ride to show them the city and area that they serve the Lord in?” Many pastors never get the chance to fly in a corporate jet or helicopter. Paul says, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor” (Galatians 6:6).
Recently I learned about how Jeffrey Puckett is doing just that, sharing the blessings that God has given him with the pastors in the Denver area. It seems that the Lord had put buying a helicopter into his brain. So he asked a pastor friend if it was ok to pray for a helicopter. The pastor told him that we should pray about everything that we might want to do. God answered Jeff’s prayer with a Bell LongRanger L4.
Several months after Jeff bought the helicopter he called his pastor friend and asked him to go for a ride over the city. The pastor’s wife was ill, and the purpose of the flight was to give him a break, get him out of the house (and office), and get his mind off of things. The flight went well and the pastor came down refreshed and with a different perspective on his own current difficulties. Not that his problems were gone, but that he was lifted up and his vision for his own family and ministry expanded.
The next day the pastor called Jeff with the thought that other pastors might enjoy the same experience. They came up with calling the ministry Prayer One. The very next night Jeff and his wife went to dinner with another couple and it just so happened that the President of Promise Keepers was at the dinner. Jeff shared his vision for Prayer One with him and the next day he took some men from Promise Keepers for a ride. From that point on an employee of Promise Keepers has been handling all of the scheduling of pastors for their ride over Denver in Jeff’s (the Lord’s) helicopter.
Jeff has taken over 200 pastors up for a tour of Denver, and every Monday he takes up eight to ten more pastors. His original goal was to simply do something nice for pastors, giving them some time to unwind and do something that most have never experienced. He then decided to mix inner city and suburban pastors on each Monday. This introduced pastors that might not ever meet otherwise. This was helping to break down some unseen boundaries that seem to exist between churches. Proving that it’s about the Kingdom not just their turf.
These pastors sit in the back of the helicopter and pray out loud. They pray for the city, the government, schools, their churches, their families, business, and the non-believers below them. Sometimes Jeff has to extend the flight because they don’t want to stop praying. He said that these pastors are coming down refreshed and inspired with new visions for their city, churches and families. Jeff also mentioned how this was blessing him, which is not surprising. God always blesses those that bless other people. Paul wrote, “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its Blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:23).
Jeffrey Puckett’s email is jeffpuckett@mac.com