Thank you for your prayers for my family. Yes, please keep all persecuted Christians in your prayers, as well as praying for the peace of Israel. As the end times draw near, we see a significant increase in the persecution of Christians and Jews. In America, we now have an evil president that will not take the fight to the enemy, while the King of Jordan and Netanyahu are showing true courage.

Pray for me and my decisions

Paul's Epistle...

This column frequently talks about being alert to (and taking advantage of) opportunities to witness to others about Christ. Recently I came across the story below about such an opportunity that presented itself under truly urgent and unusual circumstances. How would you or I react in such a situation? Would we have the presence of mind and the boldness and willingness to do what the man in this true story did?

- Paul
___

"About To Die — And Live""
By Mark Ellis

After hijackers commandeered an Ethiopian Airlines flight in 1996 and it eventually ran out of fuel, one man stood to give passengers one last chance to hear a lifesaving message — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

About twenty minutes after Flight 961 took off from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, on a flight to Abidjan, three hijackers stormed the cabin and demanded to be flown to Australia.

"The stewardesses started looking scared and upset," British passenger Katherine Hayes told The Scottish Daily Record later. "Then this man came on the intercom. He said he had hijacked the plane and had a bomb."

Hayes says she was surprised that most people remained calm. The pilots knew, however, there was not enough jet fuel to get to Australia.

As the precious fuel drained away, Pilot Leul Abate spoke directly and firmly to the lead hijacker: "Guy, we have 30 minutes to live. Unless you allow me to land and refuel, we can not make it to Australia. The only option we have is to die in the sea," Captain Abate later told The History Channel. The hijackers didn't seem to care and refused his request to land at Moroni, capital of the Comoros Islands.

Then the inevitable happened. One of the engines sputtered and stopped.

Captain Abate came on the intercom and gave passengers the grim news: "We have no fuel," he said evenly. "We have lost the left engine and we are about to lose the right. Prepare for a crash landing. That's all I can say." People began yelling, screaming and crying and some became nauseous.

At 21,000 feet, the second engine failed. The 150-ton plane was still gliding, however, but descending at 2,000 feet per minute. They would hit the water in about 40 miles at that rate.

Andy Meakins, 43, from Beckenham, Kent [UK], who worked with the Christian charity Tear Fund in Addis Ababa, was on the flight, seated next to his wife. Franklin Graham had met Meakins in Ethiopia in the 1980s and described him as a gentle giant of the faith, an Englishman who loved Jesus Christ and served Him in Africa for many years. Graham recounted the next critical moments as later retold to him by a survivor.

With a courage and boldness supplied by the Holy Spirit, Meakins felt compelled to do the unexpected. "Andy's wife heard the snap of a seatbelt being unbuckled and turned to see her husband stand up," Graham reported. "Many of us might die in this crash," Andy called out loudly, "so there's something you need to know!"

Andy then began to explain the Gospel message with urgency but simplicity. He moved to each part of the cabin so that everyone would hear. "He invited people to place their trust in Jesus Christ in repentance and faith," Graham recounted.

A flight attendant heard Andy's words, bowed her head, and asked Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart. She watched many more respond and, along with another survivor, later told the story.

Descending to just above the water's surface, one engine hit a coral reef, which catapulted the doomed plane end over end and caused it to break up. Of the 175 people on board, 125 died, including Andy, who was still on his feet preaching the Gospel as the plane hit the water.

Every day tens of thousands of people slip from this world into eternity — the vast majority unprepared, "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1, NKJV). As Graham puts it, "We need to take every opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of the Gospel, the only message that will make a difference to a lost soul. Just like an airplane going down, time is running out!"
___

Originally published in Godreports.com, via ASSIST News; Used by permission of ASSIST News. Edited for space and clarity.

Comments on this? paul@thegospelgreats.com
(To ensure that we get your comments, please use that address and do not simply hit "reply" on your email program.)

A printable version of the Epistle above can be found in our archives:
http://www.thegospelgreats.com/ggnlarchive/epistle20150421.htm

When i was still working i witnessed to people one was dying i never had one accept christ that i know,I may have been a link in their chain to salvation.Pray for the right opportunity ..

Thank you Br. Gordon. I too read it with tears in my eyes.....

I have often witnessed in planes (esp. during bumpy flights), as then people are a lot more eager to hear how can they received everlasting life (than during a smooth flight).

Gordon, God sees how you have witnessed for Him, and we never know what a person says in their last minutes on earth. It could be that they have remembered what you witnessed to them, and have called upon The Name of The Lord with their last breath.....  Continue to plant the seeds, and God will make them grow.....

I'm glad you liked the post this may seem out of place but we just put our cat LuLu down.Me and my wife loved that cat and could use a prayer or two Thank's..

DDDear thinline, I have prayed for you. We had to put our last cat down a year ago. I cried my eyes out. It is  big loss.DPlease be relevant, helpful & nice!

Thank's Eddie i'm still crying at times and not ashamed:)

Pray for me , as I'm losing a girl I love who's leaving this summer, I'm heartbroken

Praying Johnny but i can remember when i was young we all went through it.It will mature and strengthen you one day there will come along the girl God has for you cheer up:)

Praying for you Johnny. Sometimes the Lord removes people in our lives, that He knows are not good for us, because He has somebody better for you in store. God works for the good of all His children, and also His thoughts are way above our thoughts. Most of the time, we have no idea why some things happens at the time, but when we look back at it years later, only then do we understand why God allowed something to happen when it happened.

Praying that the Lord will allow you to meet a wonderful, on fire for God, charismatic Christian girl, that will help you to grow closer to The Lord.

Did the girl that God is moving away, go to the same Church as you go to?

Or was she in the same Bible Study group you attend?

Did she help you grow closer to The Lord?

If you have to answer no to above questions, then you know why God is moving her away.

She attends the same church

Immwas talking to through_grace_alone.

?

I know her heart very well

Johnny, do you have a prayer partner? In times like these, when we ourselves feel "torn apart" and find it difficult to pray, a prayer partner is a great spiritual support. You need to be uplifted & spiritually supported right now. We (your online Brothers & Sisters in Christ Jesus) can lift you up before The Lord, but to have somebody physically standing next to you, and to be able to approach The Lord together in prayer, is really powerful. Ask your Pastor, he should know a mature spiritual prayer warrior who could help you right now.

Spend some extra time reading your Bible and in prayer. Ask The Lord to bless you with spiritual discernment, and for spiritual understanding of His Word. Below are some Bible verses to help you.

http://rachelwojo.com/12-bible-verses-for-when-you-feel-like-giving-up/

Will continue to lift you up in prayer Johnny. Keep your heart & mind focussed on God.

Thank you throgh_grace_alone

I think I have handeld the situation now and made it better

i will pray

This really puts things into perspective!  God deliver them with your might!