July 15, 2016

The first mission to fly around the moon was Apollo 8 in 1968. …

As they successfully went into lunar orbit, astronaut William Anders snapped the famous Earthrise photo that was printed in Life Magazine.

As Apollo 8’s three man crew looked down on the earth from 250,000 miles away on Christmas Eve, 1968, Commander Frank Borman radioed back a message, quoting from the Book of Genesis: “We are now approaching Lunar sunrise. And for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. …

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” …

Later Frank Borman explained: “I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us – that there was a God, that there was indeed a beginning.”

The first mission to walk on the moon was Apollo 11, which blasted off July 16, 1969, from Cape Kennedy. President Richard Nixon stated in Proclamation 3919:

“Apollo 11 is on its way to the moon. It carries three brave astronauts; it also carries the hopes and prayers of hundreds of millions of people…That moment when man first sets foot on a body other than earth will stand through the centuries as one supreme in human experience…I call upon all of our people…to join in prayer for the successful conclusion of Apollo 11’s mission.” …

Addressing a joint session of Congress, September 16, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong stated: “To those of you who have advocated looking high we owe our sincere gratitude, for you have granted us the opportunity to see some of the grandest views of the Creator.” …

On Apollo 15’s mission, 1971, Astronaut James Irwin became the 8th person to walk on the moon. He spoke of leaving earth:

“As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God.”

Later becoming an evangelical minister, Astronaut James Irwin spoke of his experience walking on the moon: “I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before.”

• vwww.AmericanMinute.com

  CosmicTribune.com, God and NASA worked together naturally, In the 1960s