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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.”
Lovell: “Houston,
we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.”
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
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/188425.html
** http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-13-1.html
***Steve Higginbotham in MercEmail
http://www.glasgow-coc.org/mercemail.html
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