Skydiving the Frontiers

It had been a little over a year since my last jump from two and half miles above the earth out of a perfectly good airplane. Through a series of unbelievable Holy Spirit inspired events, I was invited to an exclusive skydiving event of the "who’s who" in the Asian skydiving world, hosted by the Indonesian military.

On my 392nd Skydive I found myself in the back of C-130 Hercules climbing to altitude for an exhibition jump into Prambanan Temple, a 10th century UNESCO world heritage site. My mind raced through a strange sequence of thoughts. Within the previous eight months, my family had sold our home and everything else we owned and followed the leading of the Lord to Southeast Asia.

As we reached altitude, the cargo door of the military aircraft opened 10,000 feet above the temple. As it did, a quote from C.H. Spurgeon raced through my mind, “To risk all with Jesus is to end all risk.” Seconds later the exit bell pierced the wind blasted cabin and the jump-light glowed green. It was time to jump. Unlike my hundreds of jumps before, this one would be into frontiers of Christ’s commission.

After landing safely in the temple, I reflected on the recent and radical relocation of my family. I was reminded that following Jesus is not safe and is almost always an adventure!

To obey Jesus' commands, we must take risks. There is not a single command in the New Testament to preserve our lives. On the contrary, the Scriptures lead us to lay down our lives, giving them away for the glory of His name and the good of the Gospel in the nations. Jesus said it this way, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" - Mark 8:35.

Perhaps faith is risk, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 11:6). Spurgeon said it best, "To risk all with Jesus is to end all risk!"