We sat for an hour and a half, watching the TV screen with very little going on. We had views from the Orion space capsule and visualizations of what the capsule might look like in space. 

We followed the dialogue between the crew and Houston Control. But most of all we waited. 

Shuttle landings had ceased in 2011, but it had been fifty-four years since the last deep space flight. 1972. And there was a lot that could go wrong. Four astronauts in a capsule about the size of two minivans, hurtling through space and then needing to time and negotiate their re-entry perfectly in order not to burn up. They relied on their training and their trust in engineers and the Houston Control center.

There would be six minutes of no communication as the capsule re-entered the atmosphere. When the six minutes commenced, we all held our breath. We had seen Apollo 13. Most of us had lived through it as well. When the communication was re-established, we cheered then waited again for all the parachutes to open. Phew. Another success. 

The crew of the Artemis II mission was diverse. Two married, one a widower, one single. Male, female. Maryland, California, Michigan; Ontario, Canada. The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission were as different as they could be, but they had two things in common: They loved space and they were willing to risk their lives to follow their dreams and move space exploration forward. 

The family of God should be just such a team. People from every walk of life, from every corner of the world, different in so many ways, but united in two: Our love of God and our willingness to risk our lives to further his love, purpose, and glory.

​Just as the Artemis II crew clothed themselves in protective wear for their foray into the unknowns of space, so should each of us don our protective clothing for our battle with the spiritual elements of Satanic attack as delineated in Ephesians 6:10-17. Then let us venture forth with our love for and confidence in our God and reach new frontiers for Him.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

It was awful. Just awful.

As anyone who has suffered from food poisoning can attest, it is not a comfortable situation and can be quite dangerous. Fortunately, mine didn’t last but a few days after the initial onslaught, but it did cause me to review all that I had eaten and go through my freezer and jettison everything that was out of date or under suspicion.

Food poisoning can be so insidious. The offending object looks perfectly fine and, in fact, is good for you, until it is contaminated. Then watch out.

And that is the way of Satan, isn’t it?  Everything created started as good. God deemed it so in Genesis 1, but then Satan took hold of each little piece and contaminated it.

Relationships
Money
Beauty
Talent
Ambition
Work
Authority
Leadership
Sex
Truth
Contentment
Even worship and religion

Each one of these used in the way God intended is good and healthy and can bring us joy, but it doesn’t take much to taint it.

Forgiveness and selflessness have given way to unforgiveness and selfishness in relationships. 

God’s unique creation of each of one us has been undermined by a world’s ordained and distorted view of what constitutes beauty.

Instead of working for the glory of God, we must work to achieve personal recognition and wealth.

Even our source of contentment has been moved from trusting in God to trusting in ourselves to supply all our needs.

The cure for food poisoning is not fun and the body does it all on its own. It’s a purging of the bad, and we know it’s happening. It hurts. But in the end, it causes us to focus and reflect and evaluate on all we have eaten and make some changes. The freezer, refrigerator, and pantry are given a thorough cleaning and anything suspect is removed and destroyed.

So it is with our spiritual lives. Those impurities eventually catch up with us and cause us anxiety, discontent, despair, pride, confusion, and a hard heart. But we should be thankful that there are symptoms. Symptoms that cause us to take a good look at what it is we are “consuming” and then start to get rid of them. 

Once we have, we will be well again.

I had succumbed.

At least that’s how I initially viewed it. I saw it as a sign of weakness, of getting old, of giving in. But once I took the plunge, I realized I had only been deceiving myself through my own stubborn pride. 

Last week I bought an e-bike. Not the kind that zips you along without you doing anything at all, but the electric assist kind, that you have to peddle, and I am loving it.
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I have always enjoyed cycling, but as I got older, those hills and inclines just seemed to get higher and longer until I found myself not taking the bike out at all. And that realization brought back God’s view on pride and weakness.

So many times we try to do not only God’s work but any endeavor under our own power and strength, and as a result, we often get tired and discouraged until we stop trying at all. 

But God never intended us to do anything in our own strength. Yes, we have to take steps of faith. Yes, we have to do the necessary preparations that come with the job or activity and the hard work of practice, but the results are always in God’s hands. He honors our efforts but celebrates our weaknesses, for through our weaknesses, His glory is revealed..

“God chose the weak to shame the strong” I Corinthians 1:27?

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

One of my favorite devotionals is Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, the first edition printed in 1925. On April 2 (in Volume 1) she says, “All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance.”

No better verse sums up the entirety of relying on God’s power rather than our own than 2 Corinthians 12:10--“When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Let's not try to do anything on our own. Let's tap into the power of God.

Do you get as confused as I do? One day eggs aren't good for you and the next, they are. The same goes for coffee and dark chocolate and a host of other food items.

I know that more research will uncover more truths, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if the shifting opinions coming our way are the result of improved scientific techniques or greedy commercialism. The first will make us healthier, the other poorer in more ways than one. But even the results of the first could change as more information is discovered.


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That is why it is a relief and a comfort to know that God never changes . . .

Malachi 3:6a (NKJV): "For I am the LORD, I do not change. . .
Hebrews 13:8 (NIV): "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”.
Psalm 102:27 (ESV): "But you are the same, and your years have no end”.

​. . . and that his laws are eternal.

Psalm 119:160: "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal" (NIV).
Psalm 111:7-8: "The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness" (NIV).

New studies may or may not lead us to healthier lifestyles. They may last or they may be overturned in a year. Food pyramids rotate and flip and may disappear altogether. Changing with each new find can be costly as we empty the refrigerators and pantries of ingredients.

Therefore, it is a comfort to know that while the world strives to find its way to a better future that we have a two constants in our lives: a God who loves us; and his law, statutes, precepts, commands, and decrees that are perfect, refreshing, trustworthy, right, radiant, firm, and more precious than gold (Psalm 19).

Now that's a healthy change you can bank on.

This past week we were in Utah celebrating a seventh birthday. What was most notable was that there were four generations present: my mother, my sister, her daughter, and her granddaughter. When you see ninety-two years and four generations of family it gives you pause to think about all those who came before and those who will come after.

Every family has its share of famous and/or infamous characters in its lineage. One of our most notable was Elbridge Gerry: signer of the Declaration of Independence (yeah), Vice-President to James Madison (yeah), person accredited with creating gerrymandering (oops).

As I look at the youngest members of the family, I wonder what is in store for them? What mark will they make on their world or the world as a whole.

Since The Lost Generation was coined (those born between 1883-1900) each subsequent generation has been named and characterized by the world they would experience and influence: The Greatest Generation, The Silent Generation, The Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z, Generation Alpha, and now Generation Beta.

This latest group’s world will be characterized by AI, automation, and pervasive technology and many of this generation are expected to live into the 22nd century.

The Bible speaks a lot about generations too, but not in terms of the world and its effect, but of families and their effects. Generations are seen as “a continuum, emphasizing the transfer of faith, the enduring nature of God’s covenant across time, and generational accountability.”

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your might acts.” Psalm 145:4

“Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.” Psalm 102:18

“That the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children . . .” Psalm 78:6

It is fun to research which ancestors made a significant splash in the world’s pond and exciting to dream about what future descendants might achieve to better society, but the most important mark any family can make is to leave a lasting impression of God’s goodness and justice, be a living testimony of God’s grace and faithfulness, and teach the next generation of God’s love and commandments.