THIS IS THE VICTORY ... Who: Capt. Jeffrey D. Lange, USMC
What: Pilot of the USMC F/A-18 Hornet
Where: Somewhere over the Middle East at 20,000 ft.'Nothing left standing,' I said to myself as I visually observed yesterday's bombing target. Before yesterday, it was an active enemy command and control center...Just then a familiar voice screamed over the 'mic.' "They're all over me!" The bravest man I knew had just turned into a scared little boy, flying for his life. That man was Tom 'The Bomb' Johnson and he was my closest friend. We had been together since flight school and stationed together onboard the JFK Super Carrier. I was the closest friendly aircraft in the area and seconds later I received permission to engage. I punched the afterburner to stage 5 and felt my seat kick me continually in the pants as I was accelerating to a velocity over twice the speed of sound. 'Hang on for just two more minutes,' I said to myself. I took a deep breath and let it out real slow. I melted into the controls of my F-18 Hornet; it became an extension of my being. 1 minute... I glanced at the radar and saw fourteen blips. Tom and his wingman make two friendlies... therefore, twelve enemy planes. I keyed the 'mic' and told Tom, 'They only have twelve; you better tell these jokers to call in reinforcements.' I didn't care how many enemy planes there were. I had the edge. The pilot will determine the outcome, not the plane. My F-18 and I are 'one' and no one will ever be able to take us down. The next 30 seconds is one for the history books...
I was on the wildest rollercoaster ride of my life... diving, climbing 100's of feet with gut busting turns... the air was filled with planes, missiles, and even nose cannon tracer fire... yet I weaved, juked, and jinked my way through the crowded sky. My F-18 and I were dominating the air. Sparrows and side winders were catapulting off my wing in groups of 2's.Each one finding their way without a target lock into an enemy plane. Explosions all around...hot metal fragments were all over the battle ground of the sky. When an unlucky enemy crossed my path, a short burst of my Hornet's nose cannon disintegrated fuselages before my face.
The battle was over in less time than an average T.V. commercial. In the end, Tom was credited with 2 kills and I had 8. Two planes collided when Tom and I criss-crossed at a range of 5 meters, canopy to canopy.That is what could have happened...
However, this is what really happened.Who: Jeffrey D. Lange
What: College student, 1 semester away from graduation.
Where: North Dakota State University
When: Mid-January, 1995I was in my last semester at NDSU, graduating with a BSME in early May, followed by a commission into the United States Marine Corps. I had a pilot position secured and my life's dream of flying jet airplanes was becoming a reality.
My life was just the way I wanted it. I was living the normal college life and to the average person, I had it all. However, something was missing inside me that no booze, woman, job, family or friends could fill. Could it have been the way I was living? Well sure, I knew the things I was doing were wrong, but hey! God is forgiving and I'm not perfect. I tried to stop and reform my life, but it only became worse. I was watching a certain T.V. evangelist once a week and at the end he would give an invitation to pray a prayer if I wanted Christ to come into my heart and change my life. I prayed that prayer for nearly a whole year and my life didn't change. I would still go out the next week and do the same things. I would cry myself to sleep sometimes, asking God why He seemed so far away and why I couldn't stop. I was getting desperate.I cleaned my desk drawer one day and found an invitation to a Bible study on campus. I looked at the brochure, Tuesdays, 7 p.m. FLC 319. I went to the Bible study and it was great. I actually learned something from the Bible. I met an individual who asked me if he could stop by sometime and share some Scripture. He came over once a week for the next month or so and showed me Scripture on salvation. I also visited the Fargo Baptist Church, where I was hearing directly from God's Word the TRUTH about salvation.
A modern day miracle occurred on Sunday, Feb. 26, 1995.
I was at the Fargo Baptist Church and heard the Word of God preached from a man of God. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and showed me I was not going to Heaven when I died. I was still carrying my debt of sin with me and never allowed Jesus Christ to pay for my sin. After the service, I met a counselor who showed me more Scripture about salvation. I came to the end of myself and saw myself as "lost" and there was no one to save me from Hell but Jesus Christ. At 11:45 a.m., I called upon the name of the Lord in repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ and asked Him to save me. I know I'm going to Heaven because He promised me in His Word and He cannot lie (Titus 1:2).My whole life changed. I love reading the Bible and I can understand it, now that I have the author living in me to explain it to me (I John 2:27). Just weeks before, I tried to read through the Book of Acts in my Bible, but I just could not understand it. Also, it was hard to read just a chapter a day consistently and I couldn't even do that... maybe every two or three days I would FORCE out a chapter. I love going to the Fargo Baptist Church where the Truth is preached in love (Ephesians 4:15). I love hanging out with other Christians.
I love singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord. I love speaking to the Lord in prayer and spending personal time with just Him. One of the greatest aspects of being a child of God - victory over sin. Before I was saved, I couldn't stop doing those sinful things as I previously mentioned and the harder I tried to stop, the worse it became. I couldn't change myself; but God could. I still sin, but the desire to do those things are gone and I'm free from the bonds of SIN.I would like to share with you what I heard that changed my life forever... If you are a professing Christian, please read carefully and "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith..." II Corinthians 13:5. There is a difference between professing and possessing salvation. After all, I was a professing Christian for 23 years before I became a child of God (John 1:12). This pamphlet can be the most important message you will ever read... for what you decide now may make a difference between an eternity in Heaven or Hell.
Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
If you were to drop dead after reading this pamphlet, are you 100% sure you would go to Heaven? If you answered yes, are you prepared to show me from the Bible ...Why?
I. SIN DEBT - God hates sin but loves the sinner. A. EVERYONE HAS SINNED.
Romans 3:10 "...There is none righteous, no, not one:"
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God [Heaven];"
Everyone has sinned... you have God's Word on it.B. YOUR SIN SEPARATES YOU AND GOD.
Isaiah 59:2 "your iniquities [sin] have separated between you and your God,"
No wonder unsaved people think God is so far away or doesn't exist at all. They are separated from God.C. YOUR SIN WILL TAKE YOU TO HELL.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."
You have a debt of sin that must be paid by you in Hell...
Heaven cannot be earned. We cannot work our way to Heaven, not by being a good person, not by doing enough good things, not by being baptized, not by joining a church and not by obeying the Ten Commandments.Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us"
Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Matthew 18:11 "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."You just read that Jesus only saves the lost. Lost means that you realize that you're a sinner. Your sin will take you to Hell and the only hope you have to escape Hell is by turning to the only one who can take your debt for you. Only Jesus Christ can save you (not church, baptism, confirmation, etc.).
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved..."
Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."Have you ever seen yourself as a lost, hell bound sinner?
Once you realize that you are lost, you can be saved by...Acts 20:21 "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
II. REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD.
Repentance means more than a sorrowful, guilty feeling.
II Corinthians 7:10 "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation..."
Biblical repentance is a change of mind about sin, toward God, that results in a change of direction.
Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted..."
Biblical repentance produces a conversion in your life.
II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."Has there been a conversion? A new creature will have:
1.) New Eyes - no longer will you want to look at the opposite sex with lust, nor watch T.V. programs or movies you shouldn't be watching. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Romans 13:14.2.) New Ears - no longer will you want to listen to your old music, hang out with cussers, and hear dirty jokes. "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Galatians 5:24.
3.) New Mouth - no longer will you want to use profanities, take God's name in vain, and tell dirty jokes. "And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long." Psalm 35:28.
4.) New Mind - no longer will you want to think dirty thoughts or vain imaginations, but now "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" II Corinthians 10:5.
5.) New Heart - no longer will you want to go your own way, do what you want to, and follow after the world. But you will desire God's will for your life, fellowship with other Christians and go to a Bible preaching church. Your new heart will be saying "...cause me to know the way wherein I should walk... Teach me to do thy will" Psalm 143:8,10.
Has there been a change of direction in your life? A saved person desires to read his or her Bible and go to a Bible preaching church like the Fargo Baptist Church and loves to be with other Christians. Is there any fruit? Does your life bear any resemblance of a saved person?
Luke 13:3 Repent or perish (TURN or BURN)
Matthew 9:13 "...for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."III. FAITH TOWARD JESUS CHRIST
Not only does it take repentance toward God but faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible uses the words faith, trust, and believe interchangeably. Webster's dictionary tells us that faith and believe mean to TRUST. Trusting someone or something is done with the heart.John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Romans 10:9,10 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."You must trust in Jesus Christ 100%, plus nothing, minus nothing. You must repent of trusting in your good works, baptism, church membership and all that other junk that turns your eyes away from the Saviour and toward yourself.
Finally, I will leave you one thought: Matthew 7:21-23.
Jesus tells of a future event where pastors, people who have cast out demons, and people who did many wonderful works stand before Christ Himself. Sadly, Jesus tells these people, "I never knew you" and sends them to Hell (vs 23). These people were never saved because Jesus said, I never knew you. Never means never. How do you know you are not going to be one of those people? Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:13,14 that everyone is on one of two roads... We are born on one road that is broad and leads to Hell, which MOST people are on. The second road is narrow and leads to Heaven, which FEW people are on.Which road are you on? Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to read my
testimony. I would appreciate hearing from you if you have
any questions or comments.[JEFFREY D. LANGE
LIBERIA] [Home] Phone: [011-66-53-426-757]
[Cell: 011-66-7-193-7157]
