The First Broadcast from the Moon

 On this day, Christmas Eve, in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit our nearest neighbor, the moon. Astronauts Frank Borman (Commander)  Jim Lovell (Command Module Pilot), & William Anders (Lunar Module Pilot) undertook this historic journey to make their marks in history and pave the way for the actual landing on the moon by Apollo 11 the following year.  

Apollo 8 crew from left to right Lovell, Anders, Borman

On their ninth orbit, the crew began their second television broadcast from the cabin of the command module.  Each took a turn to describe what they were seeing and experiencing. Borman reportedly said it was ".. a vast, lonely, forbidding expanse of nothing". Once these comments were complete, Anders stated the crew had a message to share with the people of Earth. 

Each read a portion of the creation story in Genesis with the following transcript:

Bill Anders

We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.^[*]

Jim Lovell

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.^[*]

Frank Borman

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.^(*)

It is hard to imagine how fast and far we have fallen from the ability to give God credit publicly and in conjunction with a government agency like NASA while broadcasting to the entire world. To be an astronaut you had to be elite, an upper echelon in intellect and decision making. Not all were Christians, but it is clear here in this case at least, these 3 men were humbled by their mission. They realized the impact on humanity this program would have and thus used it as a platform to give God the glory. May we all learn from this and repeat it.

Merry Christmas

Apollo 8's reading of Genesis

(*) Woods, David; O'Brien, Frank (December 27, 2008), "Day 4: Lunar Orbits 7, 8 and 9:" The Apollo 8 Flight Journal  NASA History Division

How Powerful is the Omnipotent One?

 While doing some research on the scientific basis for the existence of God, I came across a document originally written by Peter W. Stoner some time ago (Science Speaks, Online Edition), and has been revised since it's original publication. In the article, Stoner explains the mathematical likelihood of the 13 events of Creation being correctly recorded in the right order and explains the importance of this sequence being in the correct order, and how it confirms what scientists have since discovered. (I find the latter rather humorous) 

He then goes on to explain the power that is in the suns of the universe and it really stopped me dead in my tracks to reconsider my opinion of God, and ask- "Just HOW powerful is He?"

All believers probably say much the same thing that He is all powerful, knowing, present etc. He knows the stars by name (Psalm 147:4) and the hairs on my head are numbered (Matthew 10:30).  These are concepts that we are familiar with and are not hard to appreciate, that is, until you start to try to appreciate just what these passages imply. Have we actually thought about how much power there must be in our God? 

But now, let me share what Stoner wrote about the power of a sun:

    "The sun is a great power plant. If you were to mark off one square yard on the sun you would find it is giving off 70,000 horsepower of energy continuously. There are 10,000 times the square yards of the Earth on the sun. (For comparison's sake, the sun releases the equivalent of 2,700 Little Boy atomic bombs of 15 kt of TNT every second.)

This is a tremendous amount of energy, and "there is still enough energy for the sun to continue to burn for another 5 billion years." Is that power? Indeed, but consider now, there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Multiply our impression of God by 100 billion. But how many is 100 billion? "If you were to count 250 stars a minute, day and night, it would only take you 1,000 years to reach this number." Now that's power.

Lest we forget, the Milky Way is but one of many galaxies. How many? Perhaps a trillion (1,000,000,000,000) galaxies to consider. And there will be a host of planets in each of those solar systems represented by a star, each with mass and velocity, traveling through space at fantastic speeds. All this motion and mass contains kinetic energy which had to be created and set in motion somehow.

I think this properly, or at least minimally, begins to put into perspective the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18 ".. all power is given unto me."

Lessons From Rahab's Faith

Reading Joshua this morning I was struck by a thought about the story of Rahab hiding the spies in her home in Joshua 2 and began contemplating what significance might be here.

The Holy Spirit quickly revealed to me some thoughts I would like to share.

1. Rahab, a prostitute, realized the source of the Israelite's success in leaving Egypt and the conquest of neighboring kingdoms. So well known was their success to the inhabitants of Jericho that their hearts  "melted" in fear. Why is it a prostitute could figure this out and no one else? I immediately saw a correlation between this story and Noah's ark where a handful of people were saved because of their faith.

2. She lied to her king. While we know lying is a sinful act, see here a new believer who lied to protect the spies she was hiding. It might also have been out of fear to protect her family from the king's wrath given her new walk, but I feel comfortable giving her the benefit of the doubt. Particularly when we realize why God was pleased with her act in that it must have been her heart was about fulfilling God's will.

4. God uses us in His works for our benefit. I saw another reminder of how God uses us to further His Kingdom as Jesus did with the wedding miracle (John 2:1-12). I love this story because it is of no doubt that Jesus could easily have spoken the water to become wine but he used the servants in the miracle to further demonstrate his power and because of this the servants could share their story of the encounter. Coincidentally, that is what each of us is to do; share our story or testimony as a tool to witness to others.

3. The red cord placed in the window. The color red symbolizes a couple things in the Bible. First, scarlett represents sin ("The great harlot dressed in scarlet and purple (Revelation 17:1-6) and the need for atonement which of course is effected through a blood sacrifice. I was struck by the similarity of the scarlet cord in a window and the lamb's blood, also scarlet, spread over the door of the Jews' doors in Egypt to protect the occupants of the household therein from the angels' death touch. As in Genesis   we see Rahab's family protected by this simple act.

4. I saw a parallel between the angels sweeping down on the occupants of Egypt and the Israelites doing the same bringing death and destruction to those not in a protected household. Symbolic also of the coming judgment with the angels sounding the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8 & 9)

5. I see our faith perfectly illustrated here: First, the promise of the spies to Rahab in that if she were to complete one simple act of faith they would honor their agreement. The second being the promise of salvation which they gave her. Third, we see the fulfillment of that promise at the appropriate time which was unknown to the woman and her family, just as God's promise to us we will not know the hour of His return.

Lessons From Mary's Anointing of Jesus

Most everyone familiar with the Bible knows the story of John 12:3-8 in which Judas chastises Mary for using expensive oil to anoint Jesus' head. Reading that passage again this morning gave me new insight to a few things we might have missed in the past.

THE SCRIPTURE:

 3Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar12:3 Greek took 1 litra [327 grams]. of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5“That perfume was worth a year’s wages.12:5 Greek worth 300 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.  7Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”(NLT)

We all know of course Judas' motivation here because John explains he was a thief and his love of money is later exposed when he betrays Jesus for 30 silver pieces and we see Mary's pure love. What was revealed to me were just a couple simple thoughts:

1. Jesus knows our hearts and our true intentions, and He will reveal them to us or publicly as recognition or for correction.
2. Judas relied on worldly wisdom which would indeed seem to make sense of his comments but with true wisdom we see Jesus destroy the thought in 1 simple sentence. Simple as this verse is, "you will always have the poor, but you will not always have me" it is so profoundly deep in symbolism, prophecy, hope and truth.
3. This reinforces Luke 12:34 in which we are reminded where our treasures are, also is our heart. Be cautious of what you hold dear and pursue.
4. Mary's motivations were out of love and adoration so Jesus receives it and acknowledges her service and devotion. Judas, as Jesus knows, is all about how he can enrich himself riding on the coat tails of this upstart religious movement. For this reason, Jesus gently rebukes him in public and I suggest this shames him because he does not open his mouth again. Perhaps this pushed him to betray Jesus because he did not get to steal anything from the sale of the perfume. That could be an interesting topic of conversation. 

The lessons Jesus give us here spoke to me about Cain and Abel's offerings to the LORD in which Abel held back nothing and gave his best while Cain foolishly held back the best for himself. He then has the pride and audacity to be up set with his brother when he himself failed to be obedient. That's weird; just like his dad who failed to obey the LORD and protect his wife and to not eat of the tree. The nut does not fall far from the tree.

The takeaway should be for each of us to pray to the Lord to reveal what we hold dear in our heart and if it is not pure to please help me remove it. Just because we go to church does not mean we are a believer or are right with God any more than my hanging out in a garage makes me a mechanic. YOUR walk is between you and God. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

Is There Significance That 2 Men Were Crucified with Jesus?

When it comes to reading the Bible there are some things to bear in mind. First, if it is IN the Bible it is there for a reason. Second, sometimes what is NOT said or written is equally as important.

Recently our pastor delivered a profoundly deep message on the first Easter Sunday with Mary's encounter of the angels in the tomb and with a newly resurrected Jesus outside the tomb.  We have all heard sermons in which we receive a powerful message with an in-depth analysis of the word, or, the exigy of the Bible; That is, the extracting of information from the Bible.

The crucifixion then came to my mind and I wondered WHAT the significance was of there having been 3 men crucified on Calvary that Good Friday.
Certainly we all understand the import and seemingly innumerable instances in which the Word gives us a reference to 3, but I felt there was more to this than that.  I reached out to my friend a Baptist minister and in a few brief messages attempted to expound on what I felt was significance to get his insight. Failing miserably, I then turned to the Holy Spirit and the good book.

Jesus demonstrates perfect love
The greatest commandment is to love our Lord with our whole heart. IF we could do that then we would also love all his children as we love ourselves, but alas, our sinful nature leaves us short every time. We see a couple instances in the story of the crucifixion in which Jesus provides a model of how we are to love others.

First, John 19:11 we see Jesus telling Pilate the power He claims to have is from above (so he is NOT challenging an earthly position of power) but also tells him his sin is not as  egregious as Judas': “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” (NLT) In other words, you are being used by the Almighty- this is not on you.

The next instance is from Luke 23:28-31  28But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?

I take this as a word to the people- this? this is fleeting. My physical death will be over quickly but you are going to be left here to your own devices, relying on pastors not using the Gospel but rather a worldly spin on the Word.

Perhaps the most obvious and significant example is John 23:34  where Jesus is pleading for our mercy (the crowd jeering him) at the foot of the cross saying: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  Though I am not always successful, I try to remember this when I feel I have been "wronged" and hang on to anger or hurt feelings longer than I should.

He took my place on the cross
While many of us may have heard the analogy that Jesus took our place on the cross, there may not be a more obvious example other than his sentencing in front of Pilate and the crowd. Pilate, caught between his misgivings, a premonition from his wife and a precarious position between what he knows and the Roman emperor, is clearly looking for a way out. In fact, as we see in Luke 23:7, he gives Herod jurisdiction on this matter since Herod is over Galilee.

He is not convinced Jesus is what the Pharisees are portraying him to be and matter of factly proclaims "I have found no fault in this man." (Luke 23:14)  It was customary to release one of the accused during a feast for mercy's sake apparently, so again, Pilate attempting to extricate himself by admonishing Jesus and releasing him to his people, but the crowd demanded the release of Barabbas (a robber, not a thief so this is a really bad guy) and for Jesus to be crucified with the other criminals. As we now know the Pharisees got the crowd riled up to demand Jesus' blood instead.

Pilate asks a third time what wrong this man had done and then washes his hands of the situation, effectively and almost prophetically, putting the blood of Jesus on the Jewish people. So here is, what I believe, the first demonstration of Jesus laying down his life for our sins. If that is not enough to give you goosebumps or get you choked up a bit...

He preceded us in death
Then his time of the cross seems to be a bit of a conundrum. He was crucified in the auspices he was an enemy of the state. Romans were expert merchants of death and routinely used crucifixion as a warning to all non-Romans who broke the law, and in the case of insurgents would ensure their existence on the cross would not only last for days of indescribable agony, but then left the bodies on display. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this was the final disposition of Spartacus's revolt  and his fellow gladiators in France in 73 B.C. Once Crassus had defeated the revolting gladiator-slaves, he lined the road to Damascus with 6,000 crosses and put one of the insurgents on each cross. This was a grisly and clear reminder to all who travelled the road between Rome and Damascus what penalty they would face if they chose not to live under Roman rule.

So here we see an accused protagonist of the state hung on a cross to die an insurgent's death but he does not linger there like those who preceded him. It was almost as if the scourging he received inflicted enough harm to hasten his death. Centurions would routinely break the legs of the condemned if they were not enemies of the state. Again, we see a misstep in tradition of the Roman army when the guards approached Jesus' cross and found he was already dead and were instructed to thrust a spear into his thorax, rather than desecrate the body. If he were not already dead a hasty end was imminent.

However, as we know from the Gospels, He had already given his last breath and gave up the spirit.  The criminals on either side had not yet succumbed and consequently, had their tibias broken by an iron rod to speed their death.

Salvation is yours for the asking

During the crucifixion, we are given the details of a conversation between the 3 men on the cross when one thief challenges Jesus to rescue them all "If you are the Christ save Yourself and us." (Luke 23:39) while the other, with a repentant heart, asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his Kingdom. Jesus so lovingly and warmly consoles him with the assurance that "... today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43) This also shows the two human hearts: the repentant heart and the heart that is not truly repentant but instead is asking for grace to get out of his situation because he is only sorry he has been caught. But the real power of this example is nothing more needed be done on the thief's part!  Too often today we rationalize how salvation can't be that easy. It has to be. We are called "sheep" more than once and that is not because they are cute but because they are defenseless and rather dumb. Remember, we only had ONE rule in the Garden and we screwed that up. How is it we think, through our works, we can please a God who offered his only Son to forgive us?

Besides, if there is something on my end to do I could brag about, as Paul points out, it and it would be a direct contradiction with Jesus' last statement before death.

One will be taken, one will be left
As we read of Jesus' warnings of the future after He is gone, we realize He is talking about a time in the future in which the green wood (indicative of a living tree with water- Psalm 1:3 a tree planted by a river) dries up, what then? It seems to me He may be referring to the end times and how we will rely on our own knowledge from a worldly church. While the tree symbolizes a church, it is clear the "green wood" is one with the Living Water we can only get from Jesus, while the dry wood is one where we no longer get sustaining life-giving water from the LORD. I feel his example here, between the two criminals, one who received him as Lord and the other defiant in his sin to the end, are so powerfully symbolic of what Jesus shared in Matthew 24:40-42 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 

Being called may be risky and uncomfortable
Finally we close the scene with Joseph of Arimethea in the uncomfortable situation of having to jeopardize his position and approach Pilate for the body of a man executed for treason. As a Sanhedrin, he had spent his life building a reputation so the potentiality of him losing it all for a momentary calling out of his norm must have been daunting. Unlike the wealthy young man from Mark 10:17 Joseph undertakes the calling of the Lord and gets Jesus' body from the Roman authority for burial.

Time was of the essence since Jewish law stipulated a body be cared for before sundown and to not work on the Sabbath which commenced at sundown that evening. His request was granted, seemingly without much to-do and apparently some grace, thus setting the stage for the greatest come-back ever recorded.

Resurrection Sunday- A Lot More Happened Than You Might be Thinking

This past week our Pastor delivered a powerful message on the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb and what caught my attention and demanded I share it was how once again, the simple prose of the Bible is so heavily filled with deeper lying messages and insight.  We can read a verse many times and get different thoughts from time to time which is unlike any other book. Most you read, and that is it.

It also demands us to read it and know it because the stories contained therein are all so intertwined.

This message was a perfect example.  Following our celebration of Easter, we heard the story, again, of the resurrection, but as Pastor built the story, it is clear something extraordinary happened that Sunday morning, the 3rd day. Something so profound yet it is so simply described in this passage.

We will start with Mary's encounter at the tomb in the 20th Chapter of John, v 12:

When Mary arrived Sunday morning to care for Jesus' and body, she found the tomb open with the stone rolled back. Peering in (John 20: 12), she saw an angel at what would have been the head and another at the foot of where Jesus was laid.  This is symbolic of the Ark of the Covenant; an angel on either end with God in the middle.   

Wow- I had read this many times and never caught that.

As she turned to leave she saw another figure who, like the angels, asked her why she was crying.  Despite having traveled with Jesus for nearly 3 1/2 years, she did not recognize him, and thought him to be a gardener. (John 20: 14-15)

I remember thinking to myself many years ago when I first saw that word, "a gardener?"  That seemed odd but I never gave it much more thought. Until this message. So the fundamental question of course is why would she think the man was a gardener?

Plainly put, gardeners are usually dirty from working in dirt with their hands, often staining their clothing as well.  Though it was not clear yet, Mary was seeing Jesus for the first time, outside the tomb, arisen. But why did she not recognize him?

In the forgiveness of the sins of the people, the priest would sacrifice a lamb, who bore all the sins of the people and it's blood was shed for those sins. Jesus left his seat in Heaven to manifest himself as our lamb and take on all sin, both committed and future sins, to redeem us.

            Jesus had just left the tomb and was filthy, covered in sin; OUR sin. 

Still not recognizing him, Jesus called her by name "Mary" and she instantly cried out "Rabboni" or Teacher. She now saw her beloved teacher standing there before her so naturally she started to approach to touch him.

Jesus warned her to not touch him (he was unclean and per Jewish law, she would then be unclean) and said he had not yet ascended to the father. Rather, He directs her to find His brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father. (John 20:17)

Mary found the disciples and gave them His message and proclaimed "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20: 18)  

I find this verse extremely interesting because just a few moments earlier in v 16 she calls Jesus Rabboni.  Mary, it appears, was quick on the uptake and realized the truth Jesus had been telling His followers was now coming true.

The story goes on:

"That evening, the disciples were behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there with them saying "Peace be unto you." 

Showing them his wounds they were understandably joyful to see him again.

We get more detail from Luke 24:39:

"Look at my hands. Look at my feet. Touch me and be sure I am not a ghost because ghosts do not have a body as I do." 

Stepping back and analyzing these perspectives it is now very apparent a lot was going on that Sunday morning between His meeting with Mary around dawn that morning and that evening in the room with the disciples.  In fact, He even tells us when we more closely examine John 20:17 again:

"Don't cling (touch) to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them 'I am ascending' to my father and your father, to my God and your God."

Did you get it?  I have not yet ascended...(but) I AM ascending.  In other words, go round up my followers and when you see me again, this evening, I will be coming from the Father!

So we now see there was a lot more going on that Sunday morning, much more than most ever thought I daresay! Jesus, ascended to the Holiest Tabernacle to commune with the Father, carrying all our sins with Him, and offered His own blood to the Father to atone for our sins and remove our guilt so as to restore our relationship with God, once and for all.  Thus, as we have so many times before heard, He defeated death and the grave, forever and ever amen!

When we follow the story through the eyes of the disciples and weave in the reference from Hebrews we get a glimpse into the magnificent word God has given us, and providing one more bit of proof the Bible was not "written" by man but simply penned once God gave that penman HIS words.

Will you accept this free gift?

To hear this amazing story behind the story, please listen to this powerful sermon from Robert Morris:  http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/events/gateway-easter-services/session/2018/03/30/dominion

Why is God blamed for so much?

Sadly we have witnessed a pronounced rise in hatred and violence not only around the world but right here in the United States of America. We have witnessed a pronounced spike in wanton waste of life by shooting innocent people for incomprehensible reasons along with a rise in racial tension and strife not seen since MLK's march to Selma.

From the Columbine shootings in 1999 to the UCC shooting in my hometown of Roseburg, OR, to the Las Vegas shooting earlier this year, and most recently the church massacre in Sutherland, TX,
outside of San Antonio, certainly raised the same question we always seem to ask in the wake of a tragedy like a shooting or a child having cancer: IF there is a God, why did he allow this to happen?

It certainly seems a fair question given how much we believers tell everyone we worship a LOVING God who wants the best for us. So how can we reconcile that belief with the pain with a senseless shooting or a loss of a loved one, any time of year, but especially around the holidays?

Simply put, in my opinion, THIS is not the world God created. What God created for us in Eden was perfection, harmony and life in a balance with nature. He gave us but one rule, to not eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, we know we failed to follow that one rule and were thus banned from the garden and condemned to farm soil with rocks and thorns and women to suffer terrible birth pains.

First, I am personally tired of my God first being attacked then removed more and more from our society and then being blamed for the mess WE create in his absence. Sounds a lot like most people today when trying to coach or correct them, I have found most people are not comfortable handling blame in the workplace so it is not a surprise this trend transcends to the spiritual realm.

On that note, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest once wrote we are "Spritiual beings on a human journey". In other words, when God created us in their image, we were made into a human form for our time on Earth but will receive a new body in the coming Kingdom. As a spirit, we were not meant to die so for us this is a new and painful lesson each must learn to process on their own in their own way.

In that light, we realize a significant part of life is death. That is what makes life so valuable- it is fleeting and we never know the hour at which we will be called back to God.

Another consideration to keep in mind when someone leaves the Earth, assuming they are a believer, is they are then entered into God's presence. Many witnesses who have purportedly died and then come back to life tell a similar story in which they have felt such warmth and comfort they have not wanted to return. Colors so vibrant, sounds so pure, feelings and sensations which cannot be adequately explained in words await us once we leave this existence. That is a welcome promise of things to come and what we will be awaiting us.

Next, I submit this pain we feel, when considered in terms of infinity is akin to a scraped knee when I was a child riding a bike. My parents loved me, and protected me, but to experience life and LIVE, I was going to be hurt a few times. In the big picture, this temporary pain will subside and ultimately be completely removed, not in this life but in the next. WE just need to have the faith the LORD will see us through. 

 It has been my experience since I became a believer I am not afraid of death per se', but it has also created a sense of urgency for me since I believe in an after life of either Heaven or Hell, I feel a lot is at stake and too many people are comfortable where they are or listening to Satan that they are "a good person". The path of Righteousness is a narrow path, but the road to destruction is wide.

Lastly, I like to think when a loved one is taken suddenly or when a child succumbs to an illness, God is simply wanting that angel back with Him. Knowing we will again be united with that loved one gives us hope, something to be thankful for and to look forward to. For that and my salvation, I am thankful all I had to do is accept the gift Jesus gave me.  How about you?