Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing where Neil Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin said, “Magnificent desolation.”

Buzz’s first action on the moon’s surface was to take Holy Communion. This is not well known because of some flack NASA took when the astronauts read Genesis 1 during Apollo 8. Buzz describes his actions in his recent book No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons from a Man Who Walked on the Moon, chapter 12. Here are some of his words.

Once we had landed safely on the Moon, our schedule included time to eat a meal and to rest. As a gesture of my thankfulness, I planned to participate in a personal spiritual experience by celebrating Holy Communion as one of my first actions on the lunar surface.

…So a few weeks before our launch date, I asked my friend and pastor Dean Woodruff, minister at Webster Presbyterian Church where I attended when I was home in Houston, to help me. Dean provided some Communion wafers and a tiny chalice that I could take with me to the Moon.

…Once Neil and I had shut down the engines and completed our checklist, from my position in the Eagle, now located on the Sea of Tranquility, I radioed Mission Control. “I would like to request a few moments of silence,” I said, “and invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way.” 

My way was with a symbolic wafer and thimbleful of wine that I had packed in my personal belongings pouch. We had little room for extras on board the Eagle, but the Communion elements didn’t take up much space, and this was something special that I wanted to do, not just for myself but as a symbolic act of gratefulness for all mankind. 

I pulled out a three-by-five card on which I had written the words of Jesus: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” During the few moments of silence, I read the words on the card quietly, to myself. Then I pulled out the Communion wafer and the sealed plastic container of wine and poured it into the chalice Dean had given to me from our church.

Although it was a spiritual moment, I was still a scientist, so I couldn’t help noticing that in the Moon’s gravity—only one-sixth of that on Earth—the wine curled ever so slowly and gracefully up the side of the chalice before finally settling after a few moments. I slipped the wafer into my mouth and then drank the wine. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, and Neil looked on respectfully and silently as well. I offered a silent prayer of thanks and for the work yet to be done. Neither NASA nor anyone else in the U.S. government ever let on what I had done during the moments of silence on the Moon.

That’s something to think about when we remember the moon landing!

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! (Psalm 139.7, 8, ESV)

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22.19, 20, ESV)

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11.23 – 26, ESV)

Today we remember the 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8.3, 4, ESV)

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As I wrote yesterday, with the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing coming up, we’ve been watching Chasing the Moon, a 3-part PBS documentary on American Experience. June and I were born in 1946 so we lived through the excitement of the early space age, beginning with the USSR’s launch of Sputnik in 1957.

In episode 2 of Chasing the Moon, in addition to the astronauts of Apollo 8 reading Genesis 1 while orbiting the moon, the tragic story was told of the on-the-ground deaths of the three Apollo 1 astronauts, January 27, 1967. I remember that event, too. It’s astounding in retrospect that only 2 1/2 years after that accident, Apollo 11 landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon and returned them to earth safely with the third astronaut, Michael Collins, just as President Kennedy had predicted.

Part of the reason for the program’s continuing had to be the fierce determination of the astronauts themselves and the willingness of Americans in those days to assume risk. In a day when safety seems to be predominant in the minds of many folks, Walter Cronkite, the legendary news anchor and huge enthusiast of the space program said:

This is a time for sadness for the loss of our friends and a time for national sadness. However, this is also a time for courage. And if you don’t like “courage,” then “guts.” This is a test program. There are risks in a test program. People die.

I wrote before that contrary to what’s on the back of some trucks, safety can’t be our goal. Thankfully, NASA has had very few tragedies in the history of spaceflight. But if safety were the goal, there wouldn’t be a space program.

The early believers didn’t play it safe from Stephen in Acts 7 on. Tradition has it that 10 of the 11 original apostles were martyred. Jim Elliot, the American missionary killed in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956, said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” And today, 2019, Christians are being killed or imprisoned for their faith. I’ll leave it to you to look up and determine the number.

The point is, God has never promised us safety, either from disease or persecution. Our job, as Walter Cronkite said, is to have courage. Or, as the Bible says, “Fear not!” (Some say this appears 365 times in the Bible, one for every day.)

While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21.10 – 13, ESV)

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41.10)

Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. (Acts 27.22 – 25, ESV)

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With the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing coming up, we’ve been watching Chasing the Moon, a 3-part PBS documentary on American Experience. June and I were born in 1946 so we lived through the excitement of the early space age, beginning with the USSR’s launch of Sputnik in 1957. I’ll be writing more about this as the July 20 anniversary approaches.

In episode 2 of Chasing the Moon, the profound experience of hearing Genesis 1 read by the first astronauts to orbit the moon, Christmas 1968, was shown. For those of us who are believers, it was quite moving, then and now. Therefore, it was a bit disappointing to hear one of the astronauts interviewed after the fact. He said something like:

They told us to do something appropriate, that hundreds of millions of people from around the world would be watching. We didn’t know what to do, but one of us asked his wife, and she talked with a friend who suggested we read Genesis 1. It was perfect. But we didn’t consider it a particularly religious exercise. After all, all religions teach that God created the heavens and the earth and that God is up there with a super-computer keeping track of our good deeds and bad…

So here is a very bright and courageous guy, physically and mentally fit, well-educated, the best of our country’s warriors, but he was ignorant of the basic message of the Bible. The Bible he actually held in his hand and read from while going around the moon.

I guess the lesson is that we can’t assume that the folks we talk with have rejected the gospel: they may not even know what it is!

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3.21 – 24, NLT, emphasis mine)

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2.8, 9, NLT)

“I come in the scroll of the book; it is written of me.” ( Psalm 40.7, ESV, with a change of the location of the semicolon. Jesus comes in the book. Read it. Get to know him. Don’t be an expert in everything except the most important thing!

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Yesterday I learned the difference between massage and therapeutic massage! Around Father’s Day when our youngest son, David, was visiting from Atlanta, our local oldest son, Mark, referred him to Mark’s massage therapist for David’s sciatica. The visit helped. A couple days ago, as I was getting over a cold with its accompanying aches, June said, “Why don’t you go see Mark’s massage therapist. You’ll feel better. She was wrong. It’s the next morning, and I’m still hurting.

Massage therapist Dave (not to be confused with my son of the same name!) doesn’t want you to feel better while he’s doing the massage. He wants you to be better. “Stick with me for four sessions, and I’ll fix these problems with your neck muscles. You can’t look over your shoulder, can you? Would you like to?” If yes, then be prepared for pain.

He worked on my neck for an hour, and none of it was pleasant! The second hour he worked on everything else. “I’m just going to work you; I’m not going to hurt you,” he said about the second hour. 15 minutes in I said, “If your objective is not to hurt me, you’re not succeeding.” He replied, “You think I’m a pain in the neck don’t you?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “Thank you.”

As I said, Dave wants you to be better. He’s into transformation. Now I have to do the neck exercises he’s given me, and we have the next appointment on the calendar, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

But I get it. I’m a Navigator. Old school Navigators were known for being somewhat hard on each other. They liked such verses as:

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. Proverbs 27.5 – 7, ESV)

The idea was that your friend will tell you what you need to hear. If you’re hungry to grow, then “bitter” words of constructive criticism will be sweet.

I didn’t even know there was anything wrong with my neck! But Dave is intent on fixing it because “That’s what I do.” 

About a year ago, a new friend opened our conversation with the complaint that his in-laws don’t respect him. He didn’t know that the problem was in his relationship with God. If he felt loved by God, it wouldn’t matter if someone respected him or not. So I helped him fix that because “That’s what I do.” 

Transformation hurts! I had my right knee replaced last year, and there are two phases to that drill. Phase 1: why did I let them do that to me? Phase 2: why didn’t I have that done sooner? I’m happily in phase 2 now, but there was a rough 4 weeks post surgery! There will be a minimum of a rough four sessions with Dave, but when it doesn’t hurt as much, I will have made progress! I’m looking forward to that.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12.11, ESV)

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I’m always encouraging you to keep up your daily time with God, not just to “click the box” but to grow in relationship with Him and experience his guidance. Since it’s always better to hear from a “satisfied customer” than a “trained professional,” I’m pleased to share a snippet from an article written by a friend of ours.

She had taken our Time with God course, maybe 18 months ago, and was faithfully practicing the discipline. In talking about going through a difficult time at work she wrote:

The word ‘trust’ appeared almost daily in my morning readings. I could not help but think of what Bob & June Ewell had taught us in the 5Rs course (Read, Reflect, Respond, Record & Retain). God was speaking to me. Trust in His perfect plan, His timing, not mine.

Her times with God sustained her that period of difficulty and uncertainty, and we’re grateful she had already formed the habit!

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. (Ephesians 1.17, The Passion Translation)

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I just learned the other day that the music of Kate Smith is banned in some places. Kate Smith, beloved singer of God Bless America, who had a 50-year singing career, passing away in 1986 at the age of 79, recorded a song in 1931 when she was 24, that affirmed, essentially, that black people’s “destiny” was to do grunt work. Actually, she wrote the song.

I’m not here to castigate or exonerate Kate Smith. I’ve already written about our unseemly rush to condemn people for things they did decades ago. (Mark E’s comment is worth the read, also.) What’s worth thinking about is how much am I a product of my time just as Kate was a product of her time?

By contrast, the musical South Pacific was written in the same era, 1949, and it contains the song, “You’ve got to be carefully taught,” which makes a strong case against racial prejudice. The lyrics are worth the read. What’s fascinating is that I’ve heard (and played) music from South Pacific my whole life, but I don’t remember hearing this song until I saw the stage play in its entirety just a few years ago.

Why were Rodgers and Hammerstein sensitive to an issue to the point of irritating a lot of people and perhaps dooming the show when many others were oblivious to it? And again, what might I be missing?

The Pharisees were well-respected in their day and thought they were pleasing God. Then Jesus came along.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (Matthew 23.1 – 7, ESV)

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3.4 – 7, ESV)

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It’s worth resuming the Unsung Heroes series to tell this story. 

From 2006 – 2008, I was privileged to teach a 2-week course in discipleship to pastors in training in a seminary in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, the second-largest city in Haiti, located on its northern coast. One of my students was Vilmer Paul, now pastor of Heavenly Brightness Church. 

Vilmer continues to implement my discipleship teaching summarized as:

• 2 Timothy 2.2 has Paul telling Timothy, a pastor, to invest in faithful men who will teach others also. I would ask them, “What part of 2 Timothy 2.2 does not apply to you?
• I know you’re busy. Can you meet with one guy for one hour, once/week?
• I hope your church is “successful” and that you preach to thousands on Sunday. However, on Monday, you should be investing in men.  
  

I’m still in touch with Vilmer, who has gone on to earn a master’s and doctorate from seminaries in the US. In addition to the church, he’s the administrator of the church’s Heavenly Brightness School since he is a firm believer that educating children is a key to Haiti’s future well-being.

I’m also spending telephone time with Josh Good, who lives in Pennsylvania and serves with the international ministry Christian Endeavor. Josh recently told me that he is going to Port au Prince, Haiti, later this summer, and he hoped to have the materials translated into Haitian Creole and French (but he had no plan for how to do that). So I wrote to Vilmer to see if he or someone he knew could handle that for Josh. To make a long story short, Vilmer connected with Josh, and in just a few days, Vilmer himself completed the translation! I was amazed that he took the time.

But here’s the good part of the story. I was concerned that Vilmer be paid for his work, and I even told him that if Josh didn’t pay him enough (because Josh is in ministry, too!), I would make up the difference. When Josh proposed an amount, here’s what Vilmer said:

Hello Josh, I praise the Lord that I could have helped in this.  I have no objection on what you said, whatever you think to do just do it. My interest was not, is not and will never be money, but the Kingdom. Even if you hadn’t anything I would have been proud to do it. Blessings, Vilmer Paul

In a day when some ministries are fee for service, where every good idea is available to you for a price, it’s refreshing to see Vilmer’s attitude. A man in a very poor country who could put to good use any money that comes his way. Yet he is content to serve someone else’s ministry, someone he doesn’t know who won’t even be coming to his area. May his tribe increase!

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (1 Thessalonians 2.9, ESV)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10.45, ESV)

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I’ve said before, I frequently get useful ministry ideas from marketer Seth Godin. Here’s a useful word from July 7 when he wrote:

When people compete on the same metrics (how many followers, how much income, how many points scored) the focus gets very tight. With a simple metric, there’s no confusion at all about how to earn more status. The irony is that the simpler the metric, the less useful the effort is. Big ideas, generous work, important breakthroughs–to pursue these goals is to abandon the metric of the moment in favor of a more useful sort of contribution.

Pastors use a single simple metric: Sunday attendance, with the result that comparisons are unavoidable. How can I become the biggest church in town? Or be among the largest churches in my denomination? Unfortunately, that’s not what Jesus asked them (and us!) to do: “Make disciples…” was his clear directive in Matthew 28. The word for church leaders is also clear:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, NIV) 

Unfortunately, such work is harder to measure in the near term, and if there’s pressure just to be bigger (from the denomination, the church lay leadership, from other pastors), often the slower, under-the-radar disciple-making objective is relegated to an optional “program.”

Seth counsels us to “abandon the metric of the moment in favor of a more useful sort of contribution.” One pastor said, “We’re pretty good at measuring how many people come. Maybe we should count how many people go!” I couldn’t agree more.

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. (1 Thessalonians 1.5 – 8, NKJV, emphasis mine)

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Yesterday I shared the story of believers in their 70s whose focus in life seems to be travel and golf. The key word from their letter was “bored.”
By contrast, here’s something from another friend. Just snippets:

• Grateful for scripture buddies who read the New Testament together every morning this year….
• It also gives me a head start in preparing Sunday school lessons…
• The best days of my week are Mondays and Tuesdays when I get to share light and love with girls in jail…
• Actually, I love every day…

The word “boring” did not appear in this letter. The difference? Purpose!
My Navigator hero Skip Gray used to say that there are a bunch of happy folks “roaring around out there who seem to be doing just fine, except, they have no purpose.” 

We pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. (2 Thessalonians 1.11, MSG)

We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me. (Colossians 1.28, 29, MSG)

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way… (Philippians 3.13 – 15, ESV)