Posted by
peripheral on Monday, July 20, 2009 7:01:07 AM
From My Perspective - - -
Forty years ago today, the world, more than 500 million people, was
mesmerized as the United States attempted a Lunar Landing. With all of
the planning for this journey to the Moon and a possible landing on its
surface, there were still split second decisions that had to be made in
terms of whether or not the mission should be aborted. However, the
descent to the surface of the Moon began and a world sat breathless –
and then the words were heard – The Eagle Was Landed! Then the infamous
words by Neil Armstrong as his feet touched the surface of the Moon:
“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” This
statement demonstrates that even a courageous Astronaut, in the
excitement and pressure of such a great venture, can be “Moonstruck”
momentarily. He had intended to say: “That’s one small step for “a”
man…” More meaning has been attached to the missing “a” than it
deserves,
There has always been interest and fascination with space.
Approximately 1500 BC, the Psalmist wrote about his ponderings in Psalm
8:3-4, “When I consider 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,
the son of man that you care for him?” In Luke 21:20-28 (NLT), Jesus is
addressing what will occur very near to the climax of the world and
creation: “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you
will know that the time of its destruction has arrived…And there will
be strange events in the skies – SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS.
And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the
roaring seas and strange tides. The courage of many people will falter
because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the
stability of the very heavens will be broken up.” There is ample
warning when the end is approaching as the lights begin to go out in
the universe: “Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of
the sun was struck, and ONE-THIRD OF THE MOON, and one-third of the stars, and they BECAME DARK. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.”
A recent E-mail shared this perspective for consideration: “Do you not
know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He Who
sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like
grasshoppers; Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads
them like a tent to dwell in; Who brings princes to nothing, and makes
the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted,
scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He
blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like
stubble. - Isaiah 40:21-24. Worried about world powers? World War 3?
Terrorists? Market crashes? Biological warfare? Understand this from
Isaiah : "[God] reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the
earth meaningless." What ever happened to Napoleon? Didn’t he die in
exile on an island somewhere? Or Alexander, the not-so Great? Hitler?
Or the maniac leaders of our generation ”Osama bin Laden or Saddam
Hussein? Their influence is hardly a blip on God’s monitor. They may
cause us to bite our nails and worry, but God isn’t pacing, or wringing
His hands; just as soon as He’s ready He will reduce those leaders to
nothing…Isaiah says in effect, 'Don’t you get it?' God doesn’t read the
New York Times. If He did, it wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing
stops God's unalterable purposes in this world!”
The E-mail
continues: “I can’t wait for that day in heaven when we get to hear
history’s real story when we read God’s script and realize all He was
doing behind the scenes. Just imagine the drama of God’s continuous
all-wise intervention in the sinful machinations of human armies and
governments. To think that not one of His purposes is ever delayed or
frustrated, not even for a moment. We will be amazed, stunned, and
captured by God’s awesome control of human affairs. Isaiah says of
world rulers, "Scarcely have they been planted. Scarcely have they been
sown. Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth. God just blows
on them and they’re gone.” Walter Cronkite would close his newscast:
“And That’s The Way It Is!” - that's how it is! Consider these things
with me!