PLUS

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

This year, famous Air Force fighter pilot, test pilot, and Commander of Apollo 8, Frank Borman, passed into eternity. During such a year, 55 years after his famous Christmas Eve transmission, it is worth revisiting this PLUS post from 2014:

As humankind watched the liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16^th, 1969 they were mindful of the previous Apollo missions that had paved the way for this event through their own amazing accomplishments.  Apollo 8, the mission that closed out 1968, provided its own noteworthy firsts.  On that mission, astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to travel beyond low earth orbit and the first to orbit the moon.  They were humbled to be the first members of mankind to see the earth in its entirety. 

As they orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968, they participated in the most watched television broadcast at that point in history.  During that transmission they said the following: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send to you.”  They then went on to read Genesis 1:1-10 out of the King James Bible. 

Those three astronauts, with a vantage point unmatched at that point in human history, turned to the One whose vantage point is truly unmatched.  From a perspective unrivaled by previous humankind, they turned to the One whose perspective is ultimately unrivaled.  From a viewpoint that was breathtaking, they turned to the One who gave us breath.  From a point of view that marveled at the entirety of earthly creation, they turned to the Creator of the heaven and the earth. 

From our perch on this planet we may not have the perspective of the Apollo 8 astronauts, but we still have access to the One whose perspective is ultimately unrivaled.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TURN TO THE CREATOR OF THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH FOR TRUE PERSPECTIVE.  We need it to guide our lives so that we can properly send His message to all of humankind.

ADMIN: Please see the following for the original post about Frank Borman:

Perspective

I Samuel 14:6 “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.”

I Samuel 17:40 “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”

Judges 7:7 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his own place.”

John 6:9 “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”

Samuel Langley was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position largely considered as our nation’s chief scientist at the time. As it is today, the Smithsonian is a massive organization bankrolled by the U.S. Government. Langley, using the institutional resources at his disposal, was committed to winning the race to successfully create and operate the first heavier-than-air machine in powered flight, fully expecting to fly the first airplane in human history. He was right to think he would do so because his only apparent competition was a couple of newspaper printers turned bicycle tinkers from Dayton, Ohio known as the Wright Brothers.

While Langley was arrogantly spending money by leaping into the air and testing his concepts, the duo from Dayton were carefully and miserly considering various concepts for success as they marched through innovative concepts that would inform every component of powered flight.

The Wright Brothers were a savvy duo without deep pockets. Committed to their cause, they went about systematically considering the challenges set before them. They watched and studied birds, flew kites and gliders, and carefully explored creative concepts, such as wing warping, propeller design, airfoil optimization, and control system configuration. They even created a wind tunnel to methodically test and evaluate their novel ideas, filling volumes of notebooks with their findings.

In the end, Samuel Langley nearly died by throwing himself and his resources into his failed attempts at flight. On the other hand, the Wright Brothers succeeded in conducting four flights on a gusty day in Kittyhawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. In his failed pursuits, Langley was bankrolled with over $70,000 in investments (about two million dollars in today’s dollars), while the Wright Brothers only spent $1,000 (about $28,000 in today’s dollars).

The investment of Orville and Wilbur was less than two percent of that of Langley, yet it yielded a massive return. It also demonstrated an important example that the biggest budget does not always yield the best results. Even with their limited resources, they soared above the competition.

God’s economy is far different than our economy. He can work through even the least likely among us, and yield the biggest results from the most measly investments. Just because we are outnumbered, outspent, outgunned, and outmaneuvered in the ways of the world does not mean that God has yielded to the forces of evil. In fact, just the opposite. It is when things seem least likely from a human perspective that God’s power shines through the darkness in the most magnificent of ways.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO NEVER SEE OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS AS THE END OF THE STORY. Even through our frailty, God’s perfect plans will soar above the competition.

NOTE: The Wright Brothers were ready to complete their first flight on December 13^th, but it was a Sunday. In honor to the Lord, they didn’t work on Sundays and so they waited for the next good weather day to complete their record breaking flight.

ADMIN: The Langley vs. Wright Brothers story comes from my newly-published book “BOOM! Leadership that Breaks Barriers, Challenges Convention, and Ignites Innovation.” Please check it out!

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

This is a bit long and heady, but I found it a fitting way to consider our responsibility to the contingent promises of Genesis 12.

As we pass the two-month anniversary of the brutal and barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas that aligns with the beginning of the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah, it is appropriate to reflect on the past as a productive guide for the future. Through serendipity or divine providence, I recently read Charles Krauthammer’s book “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics.” Therein contains some stunning thoughts that should cause deep reflection on the subject at hand from a unique and powerful Jewish perspective. It should compel us to redouble our unwavering support for Israel and our unrelenting commitment to eliminate the anti-Jewish hate we see in our tumultuous world situation.

This thought-provoking book is a compilation of Krauthammer’s newspaper columns from 1983-2014. As a result, it provides an interesting perspective on modern history: cultural, political, and geopolitical. His thoughts on Israel, antisemitism, Hamas, and Iran stand out as telling, concerning, shocking, and prescient. They are worth quoting extensively with a parenthetical on the year he wrote them. Some things never change!

Krauthammer artfully expresses Israel’s gracious attempts to promote peace in the region that have been relentlessly used against them by their adversaries: “Land for peace. Remember? Well, during the past decade, Israel gave the land – evacuating South Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. What did it get? An intensification of belligerency, heavy militarization of the enemy side, multiple kidnappings, cross-border attacks and, from Gaza, years of unrelenting rocket attack.” (2010) He amplified these thoughts in a subsequent writing: “In 2005, Israel gave up land without peace in Gaza, and again was rewarded with war – and constant rocket attack from an openly genocidal Palestinian mini-state.” (2011)

Krauthammer rightfully expresses that the stakes are unbearably high and the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people are ruthlessly determined to succeed in their genocidal intents: “Land without peace is nothing but an invitation to national suicide.” (2011) He expresses these thoughts with more provocative amplification: “The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists – Iranian in particular – openly prepare a more final solution.” (2010)

Krauthammer’s provocative writings include the following thought-provoking gem: “In its vulnerability to extinction, Israel is not just any small country. It is the only small country – the only country, period – whose neighbors publicly declare its very existence an affront to law, morality and religion and make its extinction an explicit, paramount national goal … To destroy the Jewish people, Hitler needed to conquer the world. All that is needed today is to conquer a territory smaller than Vermont.” (1998)

Krauthammer brilliantly describes the twisted logic of the double standard by which Israel is held in spite of their nearly-unimaginably perilous position: “Why is it that of Israel a standard of behavior is demanded that is not just higher than its neighbors’, not just equal to that of the West, but in fact far higher than that of any Western country in similar circumstances?” (1990) He goes on to express the confounding logic of victimhood that is flipped upside down for the Jewish nation: “With Jews, that kind of reasoning is reversed: Jewish suffering does not entitle them to more leeway in trying to prevent a repetition of their tragedy, but to less. Their suffering requires them, uniquely among the world’s sufferers, to bend over backwards in dealing with their enemies. Sometimes it seems as if Jews are entitled to protection and equal moral consideration only insofar as they remain victims.” (1990) He continues with the following: “It is perverse to argue that because this particular nation-state is made up of people who have suffered the greatest crime in modern history, they, more than any other people on earth, have a special obligation to be delicate with those who would bring down on them yet another national catastrophe. That is a double standard. What does double standard mean? To call it a higher standard is simply a euphemism. That makes it sound like a compliment. In fact, it is a weapon.” (1990) Krauthammer punctuates this series of thoughts in this way: “The conscious deployment of a double standard directed at the Jewish state and at no other state in the world, the willingness to systematically condemn the Jewish state for things others are not condemned for – this is not a higher standard. It is a discriminatory standard. And discrimination against Jews has a name too. The word for it is antisemitism.” (1990)

Krauthammer also explains the rightful perspective that takes into consideration Israel’s unequaled environment: “Any moral judgment must take into account the alternative. Israel cannot stand alone, and if it is abandoned by its friends for not meeting Western standards of morality, it will die. What will replace it? The neighbors: Syria, Jordan, the PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Ahmed Jabril, Abu Nidal (if he is still around) or some combination of these – an outcome that will induce acute nostalgia for Israel’s human-rights record. Any moral judgment that refuses to consider the alternative is merely irresponsible. That is why Israel’s moral neighborhood is important. It is not just the neighborhood, it is the alternative and, if Israel perishes, the future. It is morally absurd, therefore, to reject Israel for failing to meet Western standards of human rights when the consequences of that rejection is to consign the region to neighbors with considerably less regard for human rights.” (1990)

I fully acknowledge that this is a lot to unpack, but Krauthammer’s words from as far back as 1990 are a poignant expression of the consistency of verbal, moral, and physical attacks against Israel and the Jewish people over the course of modern history. Krauthammer does, though, provide an important piece of context for which Americans should be profoundly proud of our past and doggedly determined for our future: “No nation since Cyrus the Great’s Persia has done more for the Jews.” (2006) As our Jewish American neighbors struggle to celebrate Hannukah in the midst of rightful concern, persistent attack, and burning heartache, and our Israeli partners struggle in their righteous efforts against Hamas and its Persian benefactors, may we provide unwavering support that is befitting of a long-term friendship, an unbreakable bond, and a rightful moral commitment.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH POPULATION AROUND THE WORLD. Hanukkah Sameach!

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”

Matthew 10:32-33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”

II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

In recently reading Eric Metaxas’ book on stalwart Christian and slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce, “Amazing Grace,” I came across the interesting thought that described the errant counter-argument in this way:

“In the thick of the battle for abolition, one of its many dedicated opponents, Lord Melbourne, was outraged that Wilberforce dared inflict his Christian values about slavery and human equality on British society. ‘Things have come to a pretty pass,’ he famously thundered, ‘when one should permit one’s religion to invade public life.’ … how very glad we are that one man led us to that pretty pass, to that golden doorway, and then guided us through the mountains to a world we hadn’t known could exist.”

Shortly after reading that book and this quote, I read Charles Krauthammer’s book, “Things That Matter.” He shared related thoughts on abortion and other moral issues from 1990:

“It is particularly hypocritical for liberals to profess outrage at the involvement of the Catholic Church in this political issue, when only a few decades ago much of the civil rights and antiwar movements was run out of the churches. When Martin Luther King Jr. invoked scripture in support of his vision of racial equality and when the American Catholic Bishops invoked Augustine in their pastoral letter opposing nuclear deterrence, not a liberal in the land protested that this constituted a violation of the separation of church and state.”

The humanistic world around us would love to exclude moral and religious arguments from the public dialogue when they disagree with their conclusions. It is a trick from their old playbook, and we must not be swayed by their hypocritical logic. After all, moral and religious arguments ended slavery and secured civil rights. These same tools can free us from reckless and unmitigated secular stranglehold that is ruining our society today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO UTILIZE THE POWER OF SCRIPTURE TO ARGUE FOR RIGHT AND RIGHTEOUS POLICIES IN SOCIETY TODAY. We must not fall for the tricks of secular hypocrisy.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Matthew 16:24-26 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after men, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

As a perfect parlay to the thoughts of Police Lieutenant General Binag from last week’s PLUS post, please consider this thought from fiery eighteenth-century preacher Jonathan Edwards:

“In worldly concerns, men discern their opportunities, and are careful to improve them before they are past. The farmer is careful to plough his ground and sow his seed in the proper season. When the harvest is come, he will not sleep away the time, or the crop will soon be lost. How careful and eagle-eyed is the merchant to improve opportunities to enrich himself? How apt are men to be alarmed at the appearance of danger to their worldly estate! O how they stir themselves in such a case to avoid the threatened calamity! But if we consider how men generally conduct themselves in things on which their wellbeing infinitely more depends, how vast is the difference. In these things, how cold, lifeless, and negligent most are. How few among the multitudes are wise!”

In temporal and tangible things, we are almost always discerning, careful, alert, and eagle-eyed. In eternal and spiritual things, we are often cold, lifeless, and negligent. It is an insult to God and a horrid reflection of our prevailing worldliness even though our wellbeing infinitely more depends on the latter than the former. It must not be so!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FOCUS ON THE ETERNAL AND THE SPIRITUAL OVER THE TEMPORAL AND THE TANGIBLE. It is on the eternal and the spiritual that our wellbeing infinitely more depends.

ADMIN: The Jonathan Edwards quote came from “Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings” edited by Richard Rushing.