Much of this blog was first published in 2004 in the chapter titled “Resurrecting the Command Module” in my book Visions of the Church (published with my book Visions of America).

In my book Visions of the Church (published with my book Visions of America), I use the flight of Apollo 13 to help describe 2,000 years of Church history in a mere 60 pages.

As you may recall, the Service Module of Apollo 13 blew up on the way to the Moon. The Church is always in trouble when its “Service Module” blows up.

To save the astronauts, they had to rely on the flimsy Lunar Module. To save the Church, we had to have faith that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness—as captured in the life and teachings of the Least of the Least: St. Francis of Assisi.

Against all odds, the astronauts circled the Moon and found ways to keep the spaceship on course for the safety of Earth. The grace of God turned our hearts back to him as St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John and Charles Wesley showed us ways to keep the Church on course.

As the astronauts neared earth, they had to resurrect the powerless Command Module with its heat shield and parachutes. Without them, the astronauts would burn up during the fiery trial of passing through the atmosphere or would crash into the ocean.

As the church neared the fiery trials of the 21st Century, the Church needed to regain the power of faith, hope and love. Why?

While Jesus walked amongst us, he assured us that, although there would be wars and rumors of wars, we should not be alarmed. The end is still to come.

Such problems are merely the beginning of birth pains for the new heaven and the new earth that will be born. (Matthew 24:6-8).

Nevertheless, the 20th Century witnessed horrors so daunting that Humanity seemed doomed.

The butchery of two world wars showed the depths to which humans would descend in seeking power. The cruelty of the Holocaust revealed the depths to which humans would descend in persecuting people of other races and religions. And now this “civilization” possessed enough nuclear weapons to make of the Earth a vision of Hell forever.

Furthermore, it seemed that the Church had lost its way. Once again, we were straying off course due to people’s unbridled lust for sex, lust for money, and lust for power—in addition to divisions between cultures, and to quarrels and rivalries that come from wanting to be “The Greatest.”

Small wonder that many people lost their faith, hope and love. (Matthew 24:9-13).

Fortunately, countless Unknown Christians kept faith, hope and love alive. Indeed, God’s power was made perfect in them because they experienced weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9; Revelation 3:8).

For example, the Church in the Soviet Union emerged triumphant from seventy years of persecution by the Communists. And the Church in China is growing today despite persecution by the Communist regime in power there.

We may never know the names of those unknown martyrs, missionaries, givers, and healers who have filled the underground Church with the power of faith, hope and love despite bitter persecution by Communists. However, we do know the names of three famous Christians who filled the Church with the power of faith, hope and love in such darks times for Humanity: Billy Graham (faith), Martin Luther King, Jr. (hope), and Mother Theresa (love).

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I am posting these passages from my books Visions of the Church and Visions of America about how he restored hope to the Church and gave a Vision to America that will make all Humanity great.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. faced a seemingly hopeless struggle. For centuries, African-Americans had been persecuted and exploited. Nevertheless, he was determined to help them.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. faced another seemingly hopeless struggle. For millennia, poor people had been despised and exploited. Nevertheless, he was determined to help them.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. faced a third seemingly hopeless struggle. For millennia, people had fought wars. Nevertheless, he was determined to help end wars and find peace.

There were many times in these seemingly hopeless struggles when he knew discouragement and defeat. Nevertheless, the night before he was killed, this Baptist preacher spoke words of hope and encouragement to all Humanity. The hope that his dreams of joy and peace bring is worth remembering again:

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

I think that—in the aftermath of his death the next day—these last words from Martin Luther King touched white America more than any of his previous speeches. Therefore, in his death he did more to set people free than he had ever done in his lifetime.

For example, in our white Baptist church, the pastor had never before spoken about the Civil Rights Movement. Yet on that Sunday after Martin Luther King was martyred because “[he] just want[ed] to do God’s will,” our pastor praised “Brother Martin”—a fellow Baptist preacher who was now in heaven, having seen the Promised Land and having seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord.

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To read a longer account of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, please read my book Visions of America (published with my book Visions of the Church), at pages 130-135 and 149.

To read about Moses climbing the mountain to see the Promised Land before dying without ever entering the Promised Land, please read the part titled “The LORD shows Moses the Whole Promised Land” in my book The Promised Land, at page 121.

To read my thoughts about how we can only build a civilization that is good—that is very good—by using faith, hope and love, please read my blog “How Do We Build a Civilization That Is Good—That Is Very Good?” and my book The Promised Land, at pages 19-26.

To read my thoughts about why we need inspiring visions of the future (such as Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream”), please read my blogs “We Need Inspiring Visions of the Future. Why?” and “Overcoming Divisions”, and my book Lighting the World, at pages 77-79.

To read more about St. Francis of Assisi, please read my blog “St. Francis of Assisi Made the Way of Jesus Great Again”, and the blogs and references to my books listed under READ MORE at the end of that blog.