PLUS

I Peter 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against your soul.”

Hebrews 13:14 “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”

I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:  because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

II Corinthians 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:  we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

On July 24^th, 1969, the Apollo astronauts returned from their historic mission. After reentry into the earth’s atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, they were picked up by a U.S. Navy Sea King helicopter and airlifted to the USS Hornet aircraft carrier.  They had made it home … almost.  

In additional to the transit from the Pacific Ocean to the United States, the astronauts had to endure another portion of the mission before being released to see their families and begin their victory tour – they had to be quarantined.  

For the next 21 days, the astronauts’ home was the Mobile Quarantine Facility where they were carefully observed and studied to confirm that they didn’t bring back a lunar pathogen that could destroy the human race.  Though such a thing was calculated as highly improbable, its consequences were so severe that the quarantine practice was deemed necessary.  After all, the astronauts had walked through a land that was not their home, where they were strangers and pilgrims.  Their human bodies would be unprepared for the possible environmental factors that awaited the opportunity to war against their immune systems.  

Sometimes Christians feel that we are strangers in a foreign land.  In reality, we should because we are.  We are strangers and pilgrims.  We have no continuing city in this world.  Our human bodies face the scourge of sin that wars against our immune systems. We seek the completion of our mission and our return to our permanent home.

Yet, we are not to quarantine ourselves from the needy foreign land that surrounds us.  We are to step out onto the alien soil day-by-day and live as ambassadors representing our home and our king.  We are to live with a firm knowledge and confidence that greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A RESOLUTE SPIRIT TO STEP OUT INTO OUR NEEDY WORLD AND REPRESENT CHRIST.  We must never live in our version of a Mobile Quarantine Facility.  Instead, we are to regularly wipe the foreign dust off our shoes as we walk through this alien planet day-by-day.

Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

The mission to the moon of Apollo 11 was a risky proposition, far from being a sure thing.  In fact, President Nixon had a speech prepared in the case of a disaster:

“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations.

In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.”

Apollo 11 was a calculated risk, and one fraught with much danger.  Multiple unproven technologies had to work properly by themselves and together.  All of the assumptions had to prove true and each of the worst case probabilities had to be avoided.  It could be said that it was a miracle!

God doesn’t want us to take unnecessary risks in our lives, but He does want us to trust Him.  Miracles take place all around us every day, big and small, and we need to appreciate the times in our lives when things work properly, when our assumptions prove true, and when worst case probabilities are avoided.  

PLEASE PRAY WITH THANKFULNESS FOR GOD’S MIRACLES IN OUR LIVES, BIG AND SMALL.  Through God’s power and via His miracles, all things are possible.

Genesis 2:18a “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone”

Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:  for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Zephaniah 3:17 “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

On July 20^th, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong separated from the Columbia spacecraft to start their historic journey to the surface of the moon.  Yet, history was being made on the Columbia itself. Alone, Astronaut Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon during the nearly 24 hours of the moon landing mission.  During 48 minutes of each orbit on the backside of the moon, Collins was separated from all of humanity.  Collins commented: “If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the Moon, and one plus God-knows-what on this side.” It was said that “not since Adam has any human known such solitude.”  He was truly alone!

The truth is that it is not good to be alone.  God designed us for human contact – live human contact.  Electronic forms of interaction are poor substitutes for real social interaction.

Even in the midst of our busy lives, and even with people all around us and electronic devices in our hands, it is easy to sometimes feel alone, to be lonely.  Yet, even in these times God is with us.  He is with us wherever we go.  He is in the midst of our lives.  He loves us and is joyful when we interact with Him.  He wants us to fellowship with others.  He desires fellowship and yearns to stamp out any loneliness in our lives.  

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FULLY FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER.  It is not good for us to be alone.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

One of the most amazing things about mankind’s successful landing on the moon is its context.  It didn’t come in the midst of peace or prosperity … just the opposite.  It came during a profound period of turbulence in American history.  As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, turmoil was the defining characteristic of the American experience. 

In 1969, war raged in southeast Asia.  During that year, over 11,000 Americans died in combat during the Vietnam War. Meanwhile back at home, protests spread across college campuses.  Things seemed dark for our nation.  Yet, the singularly amazing event of Apollo 11 shed a bright light that provided a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.

Regardless of what we think about our current context, there is something we can do about it.  Even if we think that things seem dark for our nation, our testimonies can shed bright lights to provide a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.  By letting our light shine before men, those around us can see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

More importantly, we can share the ultimate source of light to those around us – our Lord and Savior. In Him is life; and that life is the light of men.  That light shineth in darkness.  He sheds a bright and overwhelming light that provides a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PROVIDE A STARK CONTRAST TO OUR SURROUNDING WORLD.  The world needs the light that shineth in the darkness.

ADMIN NOTE:  I will take a few weeks off from new PLUS posts, and will be back on August 3^rd.  Please continue to pray daily and fervently for our nation.

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.