 |
|
An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
|
Houston, We Have a Problem... John Swigert, Jr. and James Lovell who, with Fred Haise Jr., made up the crew of the U.S. Apollo 13 moon flight (almost) used the preceding phrase to report a major technical problem to their Houston base: Swigert: “Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.” Duke: “This
is Houston. Say again please.” James Lovell later wrote about the experience on Apollo 13. On the evening of April 13, 1970, Lovell recalls giving a benediction at the conclusion of a 49-minute TV broadcast showing how comfortably the astronauts lived and worked in weightlessness. He said, "This is the crew of Apollo 13 wishing everybody there a nice evening, and we're just about ready to close out our inspection of Aquarius (the LM) and get back for a pleasant evening in Odyssey (the CM). Good night." Lovell reports: “On the tapes I sound mellow and benign, or some might say fat, dumb, and happy. A pleasant evening, indeed! Nine minutes later the roof fell in; rather, oxygen tank No. 2 blew up, causing No. 1 tank also to fail. We came to the slow conclusion that our normal supply of electricity, light, and water was lost, and we were about 200,000 miles from Earth. We did not even have power to gimbal the engine so we could begin an immediate return to Earth.” “The message came in the form of a sharp bang and vibration. Jack Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang, and said, ‘Houston, we've had a problem here.’ I came on and told the ground that it was a main B bus undervolt. The time was 2108 hours on April 13.” ** On April 13, 2009 – the 39th anniversary of the incident -- Steve Higginbotham noted: “From the moment this problem was reported, priorities for the men at Houston as well as the astronauts were radically different. Instead of a Moon landing, all efforts were focused on just being able to bring these men home alive.” *** History records that the efforts of NASA and the Apollo 13 crew were successful; the crew made it home alive! Borrowing from Swigert and Lovell’s now famous line, we may identify another problem that is common to all: “World, we have a problem!” The problem is SIN ! Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and dooms us to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14; Romans 6:23). But the GOOD NEWS (the “Gospel”) is that Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross (Ephesians 1:7). And, if we will submit our lives to Him in faith (Acts 16:30-31), turning from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) in His name (Acts 2:38), then He will forgive us of our sins so that we can make it “home” to heaven! Yes, WE have a problem! Shouldn’t WE turn your focus to the Solution immediately? Won’t YOU? – David A. Sargent, Minister Church
of Christ at Creekwood * http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/188425.html To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|