Sep

The Ghost Plane

Thu Sep 29th 2011 @ 8:15 pm

The Ghost Plane

Pirate lore is filled with stories about “Ghost Ships” sailing the oceans with no sign of a crew or passengers and no clue what had happened to them. Legend had it that these ships were sailed by the ghosts of dead pirates. Of course, those yarns were pure fiction. Not so, the following story:
In 1999, Payne Stewart, U.S Open champion and the world's eighth-ranked professional golfer, along with four of his friends, climbed aboard a twin engine Learjet headed from Florida to Dallas. The plane was manned by two experienced pilots. The take-off went smoothly and all seemed fine a few minutes later when they checked in with air traffic controllers. Their flight plan then called for them to turn west to Dallas: they didn’t turn. When they couldn’t be raised by air traffic controllers, two Air Force jets went up to investigate.

No one was at the controls. There was no movement in the cockpit, and the windows were fogged, suggesting that the cabin had depressurized and become chilled with stratospheric air. There was no sign of life but the plane, on auto-pilot, continued to fly. Eerie.

The news that there was a “Ghost Plane” flying across America hit the media and created an instant sensation. Most every radio and TV station pre-empted regular programming and started tracking this plane being flown by dead men. For nearly four hours, the whole country was mesmerized by the spectacle, praying for the men, speculating on where the plane would finally crash and whether there was any chance that any of the men could still be alive. I, too, watched in fascinated horror; hoping that someone would do something to save the doomed flight. No one did. No one could. Finally, when one of the two engines ran out of fuel, the plane slammed into a field in North Dakota.

One of the Air Force pilots said, “It was a helpless feeling to pull alongside that aircraft and realize the people inside the aircraft were incapacitated. And there was nothing I could physically do to help them…even though I was only fifty feet away.”

An air safety inspector said that airplane depressurization can be “very insidious; one of those things where you’re feeling good, you’re feeling happy, but you don’t really know what’s going on.” Which led Pastor Robert J. Morgan to this thought: “Picture humanity on a runaway airplane, on a collision course, with only moments of time remaining. Yet people are so caught up in their pleasures and pressures and pursuits that they don’t realize the urgency of their plight.”

Hmmm. People caught up in pleasure, pressure and pursuit of money, prestige, fame, power and all the toys those things can bring. Sound like anyone you might know? A couple of observations:

• While I had never thought of my life as a runaway airplane, looking back, that’s exactly what it was. I was flying high with wine, women and song…not realizing the urgency of my plight. I, too, was going to run out of fuel and come crashing down. And,

• When I look around today, I see our entire culture more than caught up with pleasure, pressure and pursuit of money, prestige, fame, and power; WE’RE OBSESSED with it! Once again, we are seemingly oblivious to what lies ahead.

When the inevitable happens and we all run out of fuel, will someone fly alongside us and save us…or we will that someone look at us and say, “There’s nothing I can do,” and then sadly watch as we crash and burn?

Epilogue
Just a few months before the plane crash, Payne Stewart had captured the U.S. Open. When he accepted the trophy, he surprised everyone by saying: "First of all, I have to give thanks to the Lord. If it weren't for the faith that I have in him, I wouldn't have been able to have the faith that I had in myself on the golf course." Later he added, "I'm proud of the fact that my faith in God is so much stronger, and I'm so much more at peace with myself than I've ever been in my life." Stewart was wearing a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet when he hoisted the U.S. Open winner's trophy. He was wearing it on the day of the plane crash. Although most of the jet was completely obliterated by the impact, a few items survived the crash. One of them was Payne's WWJD bracelet.

Thought for the Day
Yes, I'm a patriotic person. For these people who disgrace the American way and burn our flag and do all of these things... I say, don't live here and disgrace my country. Go live in the Middle East and see how you like it. Payne Stewart

He’s back in the saddle again!!
Ed Sossen is back in Christian radio.

Ed Sossen is your host for God & Ed’s Excellent Adventure on the Radio. Monday through Friday at 4pm on “The Word,” 98.5/99.3 FM,

Serious stuff, not-so-serious stuff and some downright fun stuff…it’s all gonna be there every day along with interesting guests and, of course, your phone calls.

That’s every Monday through Friday afternoon from 4 to 6pm on KLGO, “The Word,” 98.5 and 99.3 FM.
It’s all there for one reason: to be the place for Christians of all varieties to hang out and be loved, entertained and uplifted. All to the glory of God.
Yahoo?

A Pome?
I have a spilling checker,
It came with my PC;
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
I'm sure your please too no,
Its letter perfect in it’s weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A semi-interesting fact
The human heart squeezes out about 2.5 ounces of blood with every beat of the heart. Each day it pumps at least 2,500 gallons of blood.

Joke Du Jour
Three Pastors were having lunch. One said "Ya know, since summer started I've been having trouble with bats in my loft and attic at church. I've tried everything--noise, spray, cats--nothing seems to scare them away.

Another said "Yea, me too. I've got hundreds living in our attic, too. I've called in exterminators and had the place fumigated, and they still won't go away."

The third said, "I baptized all mine, made them members of the church and assigned them to a committee. Haven't seen one since!"

Cool Music
Cool songs you’ve never heard on radio. Check the player on the upper right, click and brighten your day.

Questions I ask myself
Why is the word “abbreviation” so long?

Really?? Actual News Stories:

Do not pass go. Go to jail or go to church for a year. That's the unique option being offered to non-violent offenders in a southern Alabama town. The city judge in Bay Minette will let misdemeanor offenders choose to work off their sentences in jail and pay a fine or go to church every Sunday for a year. If offenders select church, they'll be allowed to pick the place of worship but must check in weekly with the pastor and police. If the one-year church attendance program is completed, the offender's case will be dismissed. Bay Minette Police Chief Mike Rowland thinks that the program could change the lives of people heading down the wrong path. So far, 56 churches are participating.

A short story-

A 22-year-old college student from Illinois has been named the world's shortest woman. Bridgette Jordan, whose hobbies include dancing and cheerleading, stands just 27 inches tall, according to Guinness World Records. She and her 20-year-old brother, Brad, who is 38 inches tall, were also named the "shortest living siblings" by the record-keeper. The siblings, who attend Kaskasia College in central Illinois, were both born with primordial dwarfism.

Sticky subject. A Canadian woman claims chewing gum that stuck to her dentures sparked short-term depression and she's suing the manufacturer over the ordeal. The lawsuit filed by lawyers for Elsie Pawlow seeks $100,000 from Kraft Canada, the parent company of Cadbury Adams, the manufacturer of the gum. "Over a period of five minutes the gum falls apart into little pieces and sticks to the dentures," her claim says. "As a result, the plaintiff has suffered depression for approximately 10 minutes." Those depressing 10 minutes, she says, are worth $100,000. Asked why she didn’t simply pick the gum from her teeth, she says she finds the process of "digging out" small bits of gum to be "disgusting." Actually, “disgusting” is a good word for this lawsuit.

A bald baby penguin who was born without feathers and abandoned days after its birth and left to die by its parents, has blossomed into a furry little guy that's been reintroduced to his family. "Its parents kicked it out and left it on the icy ground to let it die," a keeper at the Aquarium in China, where the chick was born, said.

Keepers at the aquarium decided that the baby penguin’s lack of feathers and weak condition was due to difficulties digesting food and absorbing nutrition. A spokesperson said, “In the beginning we tried to send it back to the parents, hoping they would take care of it and help it grow stronger, but they kicked it out. We then decided to feed it by ourselves.” After the baby grew stronger and began to sprout tiny feathers, he was successfully reintroduced to his family.

Good Grief. A Florida company is giving away free AK-47s to new customers who sign up for its credit-card-processing service. New customers will get a voucher, to be used "towards the purchase of a firearm at any reputable gun shop where you must go through the proper background checks and waiting period that the law requires." Only businesses that open an account for 15 or more locations get the bonus of the assault rifle.

Gimme my sauce Kansas City, Missouri police said they arrested a man accused of threatening a Taco Bell employee with a shotgun because he did not receive hot sauce with his meal. Kansas City's Jeremy Combs went to Taco Bell, placed his order then drove home with his food before returning to Taco Bell. Jeremy pointed a loaded shotgun through the drive up window and threatened the clerk. The employee avoided harm, but Jeremy was unable to avoid arrest. He should have run for the border.

Put down the detergent and back away from the washer A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a home to do his laundry. Robert James Luther III, 23, faces charges of burglary after the owner of the home said he saw a man and a woman pry open the door to the laundry room and go inside. The owner said he thinks Luther may have been a friend of the previous tenants, but he didn't have permission to enter or use the laundry equipment. Luther has been charged with the theft of electricity and 30 gallons of water.

Point to Ponder
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other. John Adams (1735 - 1826)

Are you kidding me???
Every single minute at least fifty Bibles are sold, worldwide.

Snicker
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.

Forward…Mail!!
If you enjoy this weekly blog…and I hope you do… please let me know in the comment box below and then, forward it to all your email friends. I will really appreciate it. Remember, the web address is www.godanded.com.