Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
I Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it is important to linger on this amazing human accomplishment. The journey to this monumental achievement began in May of 1961 when President Kennedy challenged Congress and the nation to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” It was an ambitious and bold move by a new president.
More than a year later, after a trip to NASA facilities in Houston in September 1962, President Kennedy addressed a large crowd at the Rice University football stadium. In part, this is what he said about the moon landing endeavor:
“But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon…We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”
President Kennedy’s speech appealed to human nature and to American instinct. We are willing to tackle things in part because they are hard, and love rising to the challenge. There is an innate appeal to compete, and to overcome, and to win. With the landing on the moon, we tackled something that was hard and rose to the challenge. We competed, overcame, and won!
Living a life of faith in a secular society isn’t easy. Overcoming evil is a challenge. It is a struggle to maintain our testimony and share the reason of our hope. Yet, none of these things should drain our passion or hinder our resolve.
As Christians, we must harness the same nature and instinct that Kennedy appealed to in 1962. We are to tackle the hard hurdles of this world. We are to rise to the challenges. The barriers are significant, but the stakes are eternal.
PLEASE PRAY FOR A RESOLUTE SPIRIT AMONG AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE CHRIST IN THIS LAND. Let us fight the struggles of this challenge not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.
