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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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The day was April 21, 1918. It occurred during World War I. Baron Manfred von Richthofen led his flight of triplanes to search for British observation aircraft. An engagement ensued between a flight of Sopwith Camels led by Canadian Royal Air Force pilot Capt. Arthur Roy Brown. Brown’s friend Lt. Wilfred May was a rookie on his first offensive patrol. May had been ordered to keep out of combat, but couldn’t resist. He jammed his guns and, defenseless, headed away from the battle. Richthofen spotted the lone plane and chose it for kill number 81. Brown observed the scene below him and dove to help his fellow airman, knowing that May was no match for Richthofen. Read
what happens next: “It was then, with Brown closing
from behind, that Richthofen, usually a meticulous and
disciplined fighter pilot, made a mistake and broke
one of his own rules by following May
too long, too far, and too low into enemy
territory. Two miles behind the Allied lines, as Brown
caught up with Richthofen and fired, the chase passed
over the machine-gun nests of Australian Field
Artillery.” The debate continues over who fired the
fatal shot that passed through Richthofen’s torso.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter— whether hit from the
air or the ground....... Richthofen
was good. Probably over-confident. But he “broke one
of his own rules.” Maybe in his mind he was just
stretching the rule a bit. Or he was distracted by
something that appeared too good to be true. Whatever
the case, he compromised his own standards, which led
to his demise. For the Red Baron, the temptation of
number 81 was too much. * The
temptation always exists for you and for me to focus
on the WRONG things.
It is easy to be distracted by “the number$”
or something else.
Then we find ourselves flying too
long, too far, and too low into enemy territory,
into the bondage of sin, and ultimately to our own
destruction (Romans 6:23; Mat 7:13-14). The
RIGHT thing to do is to “fix our eyes on Jesus”
(Heb 12:1) and follow Him, for He will lead us to
eternal life in heaven.
He has made this possible by dying STOP flying too long, too far, and too low into enemy territory – only misery and destruction await you there! Fix
your eyes on Jesus and receive eternal life through
your trusting obedience. Won’t YOU? -- David A. Sargent, Minister Church
of Christ at Creekwood * From Bible.org: Sermon Illustrations. See also: “This Day in History: 4/21.” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=439 To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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