"We shall individually be held responsible for doing one jot less than we have ability to do...But when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to cooperate with One who knows no failure." ~Messages to Young People, p. 309

Monday, January 31, 2011

First the Chimp, then the Chump: The Story of Ham

Ham is welcomed back by the captain of
the USS Donner
Fifty years ago today NASA launched and flew a chimp by the name of Ham.

Ham was originally from Africa, and bought by NASA to be trained along with other chimps at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. Officially known as "subject 65", Ham was nicknamed "Chang"--until NASA changed the name to "Ham" for the public.

As NASA and spaceflight in general  was in its early stages, the Agency wanted to send up a chimp before a man. This chimp flight would give data on how man might react in space, how he would feel, and if he could do intelligent tasks in weightlessness. This was the task that confronted NASA in late 1960 and early 1961.

Much preparation was done for the flight, named Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2). The capsule, very similar to the ones the real astronauts would inhabit, went through almost four months of tests and problems being ironed out. The capsule also had many new features, such as live retrorockets and a pneumatic landing bag, which helped with capsule stabilization once splashdown occurred.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Unmanned Russian Spacecraft Docks with ISS Yesterday



So....I really was going to watch this docking live on NASA TV, I just forgot about it! :P Anyway, an unmanned Russian spacecraft docked with the ISS yesterday at 9:39pm. Named "Progress 41", it restocked the Station with oxygen, water, and other spare parts.

To view the docking, please go to my actual blog. That's the only place videos will work, as they do not come into Facebook or e-mail in my posts. Learn more about this re-supply mission and others here.

~Photobug

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Who Am I? Clue: A Secret Disciple

Welcome to "Who Am I?"! "Who Am I?" is a brand-new column I will be publishing once a month on my blog, on the last Sabbath of each month. Each month, a different Bible character will come and tell about himself or herself and it will be your job to decipher what's their name! 


At the end of each post the Mystery Person's name will be disclosed.  The Bible references in parentheses give scriptural back up from what the Mystery Person says.  Try to guess the identity before the end of the article! Enjoy! :D


~Photobug 


Greetings! I am a Pharisee, a spiritual teacher of God's chosen nation, Israel. Besides teaching the law I am also a member of the Jewish ruling council. While I was a Pharisee a new teacher came and taught the people, a man by the name of Jesus. We knew he was from God, or he could not do the miracles that he was doing. [John 3:1-2]

The Pharisees as a whole are totally against Jesus. If anyone openly proclaims that he believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Pharisees will throw him out of the synagogue! [John 9:22] I however, do not totally go along with the popular opinion. While yes, I am still a Pharisee, I did one time defend Jesus before my fellow Pharisees. You can guess what they thought of that! [John 7:45-52]

I wanted to have an interview with Jesus, but I dared not as a Pharisee come to him in broad daylight. Finally I decided to come to Jesus by night, and that way almost no one could see me. In my interview with him, Jesus uttered what perhaps has become the most famous verse in your modern Bible: John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:1-21]

Thursday, January 27, 2011

In Rememberance of Those Who Paved the Way


It was just a test. Nobody expected anything extraordinary to happen on January 27, 1967. The Apollo 1 crew--Commander Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger Chaffee--were strapped into their seats high aboard their Saturn rocket. They were in a regular, routine test of the spacecraft, and nobody expected anything abnormal to happen....

Gus Grissom was qualified without a doubt to lead the first Apollo mission. He was a Mercury astronaut, the second American into space, and the commander of the first Gemini mission. Ed White was also very qualified. He was part of the second astronaut group, nicknamed, "The New Nine". He had been the pilot aboard Gemini 4, and thus the first American ever to "walk" in space. Roger Chaffee had never flown into space before--he had been chosen as part of astronaut group three in 1963. He must have been regarded highly--NASA had put him on the first Apollo flight, and his crewmates called him "a really great boy".

In their haste to put man on the moon before the end of the decade, North American (the builder of the Apollo CM, or Command Module) had taken unnecessary risks. There was a multitude of problems wrong with the Apollo 1 CM, but NASA, also with "go fever", accepted it. Gus Grissom was disgusted with his CM--but he told fellow astronaut John Young that if he complained any more to NASA, he would lose his job. Once when practicing in a simulator, Grissom hung a lemon on it to show his dissatisfaction.

Since the days of Mercury, and Gemini as well, an 100% oxygen mix in the cockpit had been used. And now the Apollo 1 cockpit was pressured at something like 16 pounds per square inch (psi)--it should have been much, much, less.

...Suddenly, the improbable become probable. A spark started from the uncovered wires, right below Grissom. Soon it spread into a fire. The entire crew radioed helplessly, "We've got a fire in the cockpit! Get us out!" Chaffee, like trained, stayed still and maintained communication with the ground. Grissom and White tried to open the hatch, but alas, it was too hard for them. Only the strongest of men, under ideal of circumstances, could open the hatch. And then it took a long time. Ed White was very athletic, and so if anyone could've opened it, he could have.

Soon the cries ceased. Grissom, White, and Chaffee were dead. A detailed, serious investigation board ensued to find the cause. Afterwards, many changes were made in NASA and its contractors who built Apollo.

This happened forty-four years ago today. As I look at their crew portrait, they seem so happy, and kind. While an extremely sad event, no doubt, this accident did help point out to NASA the problems they had. And if it hadn't been for Apollo 1--who knows? We may have lost more crews than we did. Today, let us remember and honor those who went before us, and though hard, paved the way to the Moon.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Thermometers vs. Thermostats

This devotional is based on material I heard in a sermon preached by Pastor Don Gettys. Read the entire sermon  here.

Last month I was in church and heard a really good sermon by Pastor Don Gettys. He was talking about kids, however, he used the illustration of thermometers and thermostats. I shall endeavor to explain and recap here what he said.

Thermostats are critical to have in the winter. Along with fireplaces, they are a main way to keep warm. Thermometers measure the temperature in a room. They don't change their surroundings like thermostats do; they merely announce their surroundings.

As I listened to Pastor Gettys' sermon, and as I've thought about this subject more, I've realized that there are several lessons we can learn from this analogy of thermometers and thermostats. It's easy to be a thermometer--you can find these kinds of people everywhere. They are swayed by their surroundings, and are often cold or lukewarm. These kinds of people are certainly not proactive, definitely not thermostats. They are just thermometers, announcing the temperature in the room or their lives.

One might think that thermostats are similar to thermometers. Hey, they have the same first couple letters! But thermostats are a far cry different from thermometers.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Reflecting the Son



Note: part of the spiritual application in this devotional I originally found from the devotional "Hiking with Jesus", by Jim Feldbush.

Almost four weeks ago I had the most awesome experience! I had learned a few days previous that there was going to be a total lunar eclipse on December 21, 2010. I had never seen a total lunar eclipse before, or a lunar eclipse, or any eclipse for that matter in real life, so I was really excited! Who cared that I had to get up early the next morning for a neurology appointment?? I was going to watch this eclipse!

I had gone to bed rather on the later side that night (of Dec. 20), but I set my alarm for 1:15 am to give me plenty of time to reach the computer and turn everything on in time. Where we lived it turned out to be cloudy, however, whatever our weather, I did not want to brave the cold and go outside. People may call me lazy, but I was simply going to turn on the computer and watch the eclipse online--with my heater right next to me!

A NASA website had said that the eclipse would start at 1:33am ET. So in plenty of time I found the website, but then it said the NASA camera was not working! Or at least it didn't come through for me. Fortunately, there was a list of links of other webcams that were broadcasting the event. I found one that was working and watched it.

Well 1:33am came and went and though I was able to see the moon online, no immediate, vast change could I see with only my naked eye and the webcam. So after a while I went back to bed and slept in till 2:28 am, a few minutes before the start of the actual eclipse. When I arrived at the computer again, the moon had changed some color, but still no abrupt or immediate change like I was hoping for. (Later I realized I was confusing solar and lunar eclipses.)

Then I went back to bed until mid-eclipse. At 3:17am, I was watching the moon, a moon that had turned tan.
While not everything I had hoped for, I still had grand fun watching the total lunar eclipse and seeing what it is. (I also enjoyed legally tramping through the house in the middle of the night! ;D)

I've been thinking about this lunar eclipse and just in general what the moon does. The moon has no special light of its own, yet we see the light it showers upon our earth most every night. If the moon doesn't create light, where does it get its light from? The moon gets its light from the sun. The sun is the light creator, that shines its light on the moon, and the moon will shine its light onto us.

That got me thinking some more. We can be like the Moon too! We do not produce our own light, but we receive it. Where do we get this light? From the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us ideas, thoughts, kind acts we can do towards others. Then we can do those things and shine our heavenly light on other people!

2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-changing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Then I've been thinking about this most recent total lunar eclipse. What exactly happened? The earth came right smack dab in the middle of the Sun and the Moon. At exactly mid-eclipse, no light from the Sun was reaching the Moon.

That thought got me thinking on some serious topics. What if I had a "total lunar eclipse" in my spiritual life?? What if the world--may it be friends, ideas, habits, etc.--get in the way of my receiving light from the Son?? Certainly this event would be a terrible tragedy, severing our connection from the One who supports and protects me. As I think about this more, I'm realizing that each and everyone of us may have more "total lunar eclipses" than we think we do. We may not even know we're having an eclipse!

Matthew 6:22, 23, NIV:

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your who body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

How do we avoid these spiritual "eclipses"? Keep a strong connection with God. Read His Word to us, the Bible. Pray to Him and tell him your thoughts, your ideas, your problems. God has never, will never initiate a "total lunar eclipse" with us. His earnest desire is for all to be saved!

Do you think you might be having a "total lunar eclipse" with God right now? That other friends, ideas, habits, or other things might be getting in the way of your connection with God and receiving His Sonlight?? Then pray to God right now and ask Him to help you see what is blocking your connection with Him, and to give you the willpower--with his strength--to overcome this problem and stop your "total lunar eclipse".God loves to stop eclipses!

Philippians 4:13, NIV:

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."


Dear Jesus, I've realized that I'm having a "total lunar eclipse" with You. I truly do want to re-establish my connection with You. Please show me what I need to remove from my life--whatever it may be--and help me to remove those things. I know that nothing is impossible with You. Amen.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Just Four Feet Away

 Once upon a time, tucked away in a corner of southeastern Tennessee, lived a teenager. One brisk, cold January morning he awoke to snow....lots of snow! Like, 8 inches of snow! In all the accumulation, even the driveway wasn't visible.
 For several days this teen and his family stayed put as much as they could, venturing out only when absolutely necessary. But on the Third Day of Snow, this teenager ventured out into his backyard--with his camera.
 Just like in the front yard, millions and trillions of tiny white snowflakes covered the backyard, and woods too. If he looked closely, he could see animal tracks in the snow...sure evidence of midnight visitors. (see below)
 Who was there?
 But the snow and midnight visitors weren't the only attraction outside. There were the birds!
 Sparrows, tufted titmice, goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and more frequently visited his family's bird feeding station.
 They were beautiful, stunningly gorgeous.
 Midnight visitors in the snow were forgotten now. Now all he tried was to capture the fleeting, winged beauty his eyes were constantly seeing. The teen's camera shutter started going click-a-de-clicking in the bird's direction.
 Immediately all the birds flew away, staring, watching this intruder from the safety of the trees. Whatever was that black box he was carrying, and why was it pointed in their direction?
 The titmice were the first to come back. But just for brief periods to get a seed or two. Then they'd fly away.
 When the teen would move his camera, all the birds would fly. But occasionally, he would catch a fairly good shot of his winged friends. Unlike the titmice, the chickadees were more wary of this intruder on their feast in the snow. When they came back, they kept more than a half eye open in his direction.
 But slowly, the birds realized that this stranger wasn't going to do any harm, and they came back and fed. Click-a-de-click-click went the teen's shutter.
 The titmice were to be found in all sorts of positions. Sometimes on a tree, but when at the feeding station they often weren't sitting up straight.
 The teen had grumbled before, but now he was happy his mother had made him stock up the suet feeder for the birds. The photos--and experience--were worth it.
 Who cared about the cold? The teen was dimly aware that it was cold; but the urge to be still, quiet, and capture good pictures strangely diminished his thoughts of how cold it was.
 Finally, the teen realized how cold he really was and that he had other things to do inside. But forever after, this teen would remember with fondness the day when he was just four feet away from the birds, capturing beautiful pictures.
"Just Four Feet Away"
A Story by Tennessee Photobug

P.S.--Guess what? I was actually the teen in this story, and these are my photographs I took this afternoon. I thought the birds were just soooooo lovely! We really do have this much snow right now. We got a ton this past Monday (about 8 inches), and much snow accumulation still remains. Hope you enjoyed the photos and story too. :)

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Almost

My family likes to tease me about my "almost" list. As our family has traveled the country there have been several places I've "almost" been too.

I've "almost" been to Canada when our family was visiting Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 2002. We were trying to visit the Soo Locks (on the American side.)
However, with serious road construction we almost missed our exit and were poised to cross the border!

I've also had my close calls with Mexico. In 2003, the year following our Soo Locks adventure, our family was vacationing in southern Texas. Once there we promptly got lost and were headed straight for Mexico! And I've seen Mexico several times as our family would drive through El Paso, Texas en route to California. (We made this particular trip through El Paso several times, including in 2006.) Right before we'd hit the city I could see across the Rio Grande pretty well!

Two-thousand Six was a very good year for my "almost" list. When driving through central Colorado, our family passed within minutes of Royal Gorge. I had read about this famous gorge before, but unfortunately we could not stop as we had to make time. Rack one up on the "almost" list!

Later that night we pulled into Amarillo, Texas for a good night's sleep. We slept just two blocks away from a quarter horse museum! I wanted so badly to visit that museum--my main interest at the time was of the equine kind. Perhaps our family would have visited that museum, but alas, it was closed to renovation.

As you can see from the stories that I've just related it's fun to remember the places that I've "almost" been too. But in the spiritual realm the word "almost" can be fatal. "Almost" did a kindness for a stranger that would've made their day. "Almost" said "I love you" to his family before he rushed to work--and they being killed in a car accident while he was gone. "Almost" gave her heart to the Lord at a Week of Prayer or sermon before----

None of us know how long we are to live on this earth. Sure, the Lord may not return for another 20 or 30 years, but that doesn't mean we'll be alive for that long! We could die tomorrow.

The Scriptures give several accounts of people who "almost" gave their heart to God. There's the rich young ruler, and Pilate. Then there's Felix, a governor in Paul's day who when Christianity was shown to him said, "That's enough for now! You (Paul) may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." See Acts 24:25, NIV.

Horror of horrors! Our merciful Heavenly Father had given this heathen ruler an opportunity to hear and accept Him. But what did Felix say? "When I find it convenient..." Felix missed Heaven by inches. I once ran across a quote in a magazine that I thought was very profound, and it went something like this: "To be almost saved is to be totally lost."

As each New Year rolls around people tend to think a bit more about where they've been, where they're going, and what they want to do. I highly encourage you to be proactive and cross off some items from your "almost" list. And I'm not talking about various geographical places on the planet. I'm talking about doing things that will truly matter in the end.

For example, open a door for a stranger! When asked how you're doing, say something different and more positive than "fine"! Let your family know how much you appreciate them! And--if you haven't yet--give your life to the Lord.

In Revelation 22:20, NIV, Jesus says, "Yes, I am coming soon."

And in 1 John 1:9, NIV, the apostle John reminds us that "If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

We may have messed up in the past, and not done what we should. But God is only too eager to answer and help us onto the right path. This year, let's give God some joy! Cross some things off your here-to-fore "almost" list and actually do them!

Monday, January 3, 2011

First Man for a New Year! (Armchair Astronaut, Jan. 2011)

First Man: The Life of Neil A. ArmstrongWelcome to this third edition of Armchair Astronaut!! This time we feature the complete, authorized biography of America's most famous astronaut, Neil Armstrong.

First Man is totally awesome. James Hansen, the author, starts telling Armstrong's story with his genealogy and history of his parents. Next, Hansen tells of Armstrong's boyhood of growing up in Ohio. The young Armstrong joined the Boy Scouts, and got his pilot's license before he learned how to drive. In fact, when he wanted to visit Purdue University for himself, he took out his plane and flew there from his home field. When he landed at the airport near Purdue, Armstrong asked an amazed person to re-fuel his plane. (The guy was amazed at Armstrong's young age.) While some of Armstrong's flight school classmates never left the safety of Wapakoneta airfield, it goes without saying that Armstrong ventured far away.

When the Navy beckoned, Armstrong heeded the call and learned to fly at the Navy air school at Pensacola, Florida. During this time he also learned a most difficult task--how to land a plane on an aircraft carrier! Soon Armstrong and his "Screaming Eagles" group of flyers were called to Korea (in 1950) and proceeded to carry out the most difficult of missions. Some of his colleagues never made it back to ship. Armstrong himself was almost in this group, as on one mission some anti-aircraft fire teared his jet to smithereens. Armstrong barely made it back to safety and ejected over land. All in all, Neil Armstrong flew 78 missions over Korea.

By 1956 Neil Armstrong was living in southern California and working at Edwards Air Force Base as a test pilot, taking the fastest and latest planes and seeing what they could or couldn't do. In the realm of Edwards, you didn't talk about miles per hour or even couple hundred knots. It was Mach--the speed of sound. Usually that meant almost 800 miles per hour! And Mach 1 (the speed of sound) wasn't as far as you went. Going Mach 2, 3, 4, or 5 was how fast Edwards test pilots would fly. It was a dangerous job, but the higher and faster you went, the more fun you had. Armstrong even was named as a pilot to the X-15, the revolutionary and ground-breaking plane that took Armstrong to the edge of space. Armstrong flew 7 times in the X-15, and on his highest flight he reached 207,500 feet! The X-15 went up to Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph).

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Never Faltering, Never Failing: That's Our God!

This past May our family took a day trip to Chickamauga Battlefield in northwest Georgia. Chickamauga is where one of the major battles of the Civil War took place, and was one of the first battlefields to be made a National Military Park.

Anyway. One of the easiest ways to see most of the Park to to drive the several mile loop, which is a great way to see the highlights of the Park. One of the stops along the loop is a really cool old tower, monument, something like that. (see picture at right.) At any rate, I think it is really cool and neat! Seriously, I suspect the tower is 5-6 stories high. If you look closely at the photo, you will see windows. I believe that there is one window per story.

I was thinking about this tower lately. See, this fall I've been reading through Proverbs and trying to memorize my favorites. Recently I ran across Proverbs 18:10:

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

Wow! Immediately after reading this verse my mind went back to the tower at Chickamauga. However strong, mighty, and invincible this tower may look, our mighty God is even stronger. Absolutely, he is the only constant and the only True Refuge in our lives.