TESTIMONY OF ASTRONAUT CHARLES DUKE
Through the years, I’ve heard people say, "I wasn’t looking for God when He found me." Let me give you a modern example of this process.
Astronaut Charles Duke is one of only twelve men who have left footprints on the moon. He was the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 16 Mission. He now lives in New Braunfels, Texas. He wasn’t a Christian when he walked on the moon. Here’s his story:
"After walking on the moon, I was bored. Fame, fortune, a spot in the history books: I had it all. But if you had been a fly on the wall in my home, you would have seen that I wasn’t so hot. I was failing miserably as a husband and father. Though I had gone to church all my life, I had all of God I needed in that one hour every Sunday morning. Even the moon had not been a spiritual experience. I wasn’t looking for God. I only knew Jesus the way you know the U.S. Presidents--in name only. My business succeeded, and the money rolled in, but I was bored again.
"But Dottie wasn’t. She had changed. Her depression had lifted, and she demonstrated a new, believing faith. She turned to God--not me--for answers to her problems. One night I attended a Bible Study with her that focused on one penetrating question, 'Who was Jesus?' All my life I had said the words 'Son of God' but had never trusted Him. That night I came face-to-face with the opportunity to follow Him. I prayed with Dottie in the front seat of our car and gave my life over to Christ. I didn’t see angels. I didn’t hear music. No blinding lights. But I knew what I knew. It was real.
The next day I awoke with an insatiable desire to read the Bible. It cost the government $400 million for me to walk three days on the moon--and it’s over. But to walk with Jesus is free and it lasts forever!"
(From a sermon by David Dykes, Sell Out and Buy Up! 8/17/2012)