Apollo 11's 40th

Wednesday morning just before two o’clock, the huge quarter moon rose above the tree tops. Through the binoculars it was so bright that for a moment I thought it might hurt my eyes. What a beautiful sight!

Along the moons’ horizon, the lit mountain ridges appeared like tongues of fire shooting into the dark side. The Apollo astronauts must have been awestruck as they approached that glowing orb, knowing they would actually stand on it.

Today marks 40 years since the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned landing. At the time of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s walk on the moon, I remembered something from nine years previous.

My ninth grade language arts teacher had challenged the students to speak on whether or not mankind would reach the moon. I argued No, and I based it entirely on Psalm 115:16: “The heavens, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” (Prayer was not yet kicked out of schools, and the Bible was not yet frowned upon.) You might smile at a ninth-grader’s opinion, but remember, there are still adults around who claim the moon walk never happened!

The moon landing did not disprove the Bible; it disproved my interpretation. Psalm 115:16 doesn’t preclude space travel. In fact, when the LORD God scattered the people from Babel, he said, “Now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Genesis 11:6).

While people may do whatever they set out to do, they will never undo God’s decrees. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).

Listen to the crew of Apollo 8 reading scripture from space. It brought tears to my eyes.

Also, read the contributions creationists made to the Apollo missions.