NASA

After over 40 years service with the Liverpool City Mission it was my privilege in May 1991 to pick up Colonel James Irwin from Manchester Airport.  It was in July 1971 that Jim was one of three astronauts on Apollo 15 that made a successful visit to the Moon.  In May 1991 he spoke at two crowded meetings in Liverpool to over 2000 people.

For Jim Irwin the Apollo Mission was a journey from a nearly dead Christian faith to one that was dynamic.  As he waited on top of the 363 foot high Saturn V Rocket he heard the thrilling words, “We have lift off…”  that he had longed to hear during 5 years of intensive training.  Later he wrote, “Oh, what a moment!  What power!  What thrust!  What acceleration!  It was glorious!”  After the Mission Jim toured the world proclaiming the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ for 20 years until his ‘lift off to Heaven’ came in August 1991.

Jim knew that the word for forgiveness in the Bible means to lift off.  Meaning that when Jesus died on the cross, all who turn from their sins and trust Him to save them, will be forgiven.  Jim loved to describe that moment when he yielded his life to Christ.  He would cry out, “Oh what power!  What thrust!  What acceleration!  It was glorious!”  He described how the downward pull of his sin was overcome by the resurrection power of Christ.  He was released from the gravitational drag of guilt into the weightless orbit of a Christ-centred life.

I want to conclude with the word NASA (National Aeronautical Space Administration).  It was only a few months ago I discovered In the Bible the English word forgive means to lift off the weight of sin.  But the English spelling of the word in Hebrew is NASA.  How interesting!