As a child, Irwin Moon had an intense interest in science. That interest found an outlet in the science-based practical jokes played upon family and friends. The long-suffering victims of his pranks took it for granted he would never swerve from his dream of becoming a physicist. However, Moon turned down a full-ride scholarship to an Ivy League school to serve God as a pastor. Moon shelved his childhood love of science and rejected a Yale physics scholarship in order to attend Moody Bible Institute and pursue a career of Christian ministry. After completing his studies at BIOLA and Los Angeles Baptist seminary, he became pastor in 1929 of the Montecito Park Union Church on Avenue 43 in Highland Park.

In 1932, Irwin and Margaret Moons opened their home to newlywed Dawson and Lila Trotman. They combined households for a few months, an adventure both couples fondly recalled later.

Moon had proceeded Dawson at BIOLA, where Moon’s handstands on the flagpole staff were a legend. Now pastor of Montecito Park Church, Moon did research in astronomy as a hobby. Dawson helped him build his ten-inch telescope and helped him in ministry to the church young people. Moon’s salary in that Depression year was twelve to fourteen dollars a week. Carrots at a penny a bunch were often on the menu, and Thanksgiving dinner featured rabbits they had shot.

The experience of young Irwin Moon in responding to a call to the ministry rather than enter a career in science was characteristic of many talented Christian youth who felt it more important to 'go into full-time Christian work' than become a historian, an economist, or a scientist. Moon's later career change to establish the Moody Institute of Science was part of an evangelical mid-century move to re-enter the cultural main-stream.

As the pastor of a California church, Moon sought a practical, exciting way to communicate biblical principles to the young people of his congregation. He called upon his love of science for the answer. Moon was unable to suppress his youthful interest in the relation between science and his Christian faith. Over the next seven years he gradually developed a number of "gee-whiz" scientific presentations in order to demonstrate the harmony of science and the Bible.

In 1931 Moon began using science experiments to unfold a world of chemical, physical and biological wonders to his congregation. His theme demonstrated that the marvels of science provide the visible evidence of a Divine plan of creation. In his approach, the parable method of communicating truth became wedded with the technological advances of the day.

Moon began receiving requests from other churches to present these illustrated lectures, and in 1937 he resigned his pastorate to give full attention to his "SFS." With tremendous success, he devoted his full-time effort to his burgeoning evangelistic road show. He presented the programs in large civic auditoriums and on university campuses.

In 1938 Moon began traveling full-time as evangelist using his SFS under the auspices of Moody Bible Institute. The next year, with the help of businessmen from San Francisco, a SFS pavilion was built at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair (Golden Gate International Exhibition).

For nine months, Moon presented up to eight demonstrations each day, seven days a week. The crowds were so large that demonstrations began hours prior to the scheduled time because early arrivals had filled the auditorium while others waited outside. With more than two tons of equipment, most of it homemade, Moon performed such wonders as frying an egg on a cold stove, lighting a bulb on his bare fingers, and allowing a million volts of electricity to smash through his body. Following the presentation he asked, "Can you believe these miracles are the result of chance or accident? Or are they part of a divine pattern?"

When war broke out in 1941, Moon began working among servicemen on military bases. For five years he traveled from base to base ministering to young GIs before they left for combat assignments overseas. During those days he also saw the impact that military training films had on the soldiers. He determined that his effectiveness could be broader if he put the Sermons from Science concept to work through film. He filmed several of his platform demonstrations as well as other wonders of science too impractical for a stage presentation. Using his bathroom as a laboratory and his bedroom as the studio, Moon produced two films.

In 1945 the Moody Institute of Science was founded with a two-pronged approach to ministry, film presentations and live demonstrations. Operating on a shoestring budget, the Moody Institute of Science staff would remodel war surplus material, and invent and build the equipment needed to accomplish their goals. Time after time they would accomplish the impossible, not knowing that "professionals" considered it impossible.

In 1948, the SFS films were first made available to military chaplains. Today chaplains in all branches of the Armed Services use the films as a significant part of their ministry. With the current and classic works now on video, these films are available for home use. Many of the MIS films and videos have won national and international film awards.

Shortly after the Second World War, Moon and a scientist named F. Alton Everest established a film studio in Los Angeles to record Moon's Sermons from Science. Moon developed these presentations before the Second World War as scientific demonstrations of God's miraculous creativity. In the course of developing his scientific ministry, Moon met increasing numbers of college-aged young people who questioned the viability of Christian faith n an age of science. He became more and more concerned that the materialistic philosophy of collegiate courses was undermining the fiath of many Christian college students.

After the war Moon, Everest, and several figures at Moody Bible Institute hoped to use these productions to provide religious grounding for students preparing to go to college or simply confronting an increasingly secular world.

The non-profit Moody Science Institute films found great success and reached audiences at least equal in size of the most popular Hollywood productions. Shown in churches, schools and occasionally in cinemas for several decades, these films also captured one venue that is both remarkable and instructive. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States Air Force Chaplains' movement purchased copies of four of these films and screened them for hundreds of thousands of recruits as part of a new character Guidance programme.

The Moody films were recruited for the Air Force (and to some extent in the other military services) because the United States military establishment and American politicians at the time shared the same troubled view of American youth that alarmed members of the Moody Bible Institute. Truman consequently appointed an advisory Committee on Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces in 1948. They were charged with designing a programme to fulfil what the Secretary of the Army called the obligation 'to the parents of the youthful soldier to continue insofar as possible under the conditions of military service, the wholesome influences of the home, the family, and the community'.

The report concluded that religion was the essential ingredient in this simulated home environment. Consequently, the military chaplains were asked to promote this 'greatest home mission', to guide thousands of young men who had never 'been in a house of worship' and to bring them into the church 'if they so desire'. The Moody Science films became a major element in this endeavor. They were appropriate because of their scientific content -- to appeal to a young generation impressed by technological progress -- and for their call for spiritual regeneration.

Harvey Marks, a pioneer Christian film producer, remarked that Irwin Moon was a pioneer in the area of scientific Christian film production. Moon had a high standard of quality. He controlled the production and everything through the processing. Moody has their own processing and they would do it themselves to control the quality.

As a fellow film producer, Marks remembers Moon as a very gracious man who was willing to talk. The first time Marks met Moon at Moody Church, Moon talked as if they were old friends. Moon wasn’t the high and mighty kind. He didn’t seek recognition on his own.

In 1946, George Speake, a former navy pilot and mechanical engineer, took over the live platform demonstrations, freeing Moon to concentrate on the film ministry. For 29 years Speake challenged audiences with their need for Christ. He was especially effective with military audiences and SFS contributed significantly to the spiritual awareness of military installations.

More than 6 million people have seen SFS since statistics started being kept in 1949. In addition to the San Francisco World's fair in 1939, SFS and Moody Institute of Science have been involved in evangelistic outreaches at the Seattle World's Fair (1962), New York World's Fair (1964-65), Montreal World's Fair (1967), Munich Olympics (1972), Spokane World's Fair (1974), Montreal Olympics (1976) and Atlanta Olympics (1996).

Dean Ortner assumed the role of SFS emcee in 1976. In addition to ministering in military and civilian settings, Ortner continues to design, build, and update the SFS equipment. Today he employs such contemporary devices as computers and lasers while retaining some of the classic wonders such as the trademark million-volt demonstration.

Since June 1st, 1973 to 2003

* 1/2 Billion volts total so far taking the million volt ride

* 1/4 Billion total TV viewers worldwide of the WOS Million Volt presentation

Volt demo on "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" for their premiere show

* 7 Million attendees to date at a live science presentation

As apart of an overall downsizing operation, Moody Bible dropped sponsorship of Sermons for Science in 1999 and gave the ministry to Ortner. Now called, "Wonders of Science". Ortner seeks to wed Christian principle with modern technology. That’s clearly evident in the million-volt demonstration. Ortner typically takes the million-volt ride once a week when he’s on the road. But during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he did it 16 times in 15 days. And in one day, working with a photographer, he took the ride 20 times.

"I really don’t want to overdo it," he said. "You get a little warm afterwards. It’s not debilitating. It’s just something I don’t look forward to."

When it happens, I feel a little buzzing in my joints and sometimes my fingers get burnt from escaping energy. The sound of electricity ripping through the air, however, is very scary."

Once he was thrown against a wall and broke his wrist when a short-circuit in the system threw him from the coil. And grounding himself at any point in the demonstration would be fatal.

These live demonstrations, he said, are meant to examine natural laws that govern the world, and give insight into the Creator who fashioned it all. "I believe in the existence of an intelligent Creator who reveals himself in creation. The design is so intricate that mathematicians tell us it precludes a random chance event. Science, I believe, can be used as a tool to give authority to the scriptures."

Ortner tours around the country in his Chevy Saburban doing four day workshops for schools, outreaches for churches, and ministry to troops. When not traveling, Ortner teaches here at Whittier Christian School in California. He has a wife and three children.

Let me close with a couple paragraphs on the human brain by Dr. Irwin Moon:

"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

Psalm 139:14,15

Of all the wonders of the world, the human brain is probably the most amazing -- and the most mystifying. Men have ignored it, abused it, accomplished magnificent feats with it. Medical researchers have dissected it and psychiatrists have psychoanalyzed it. Still no one really understands what makes it tick.

However, experts tell us that no man has ever used more than 0.2 per cent of his full mental capacity. If men like Shakespeare, Beethoven and Einstein have used only 0.2 per cent of their mental capacities we ordinary folk must use such a minute part of our brains it's hardly noticeable! And yet we are told that there are more electrical circuits and more electronic equivalent in a single brain than in all radio and television stations of the whole world put together! That's a lot of wires and machinery.

Here is another comparison which may give you a better idea of the staggering proportions of the human brain. If a man could build the electronic equivalent of the human brain, it would require a building three times the size of the Empire State building to house it, all the power generated by Niagara Falls to run it and all the water of Niagara Falls to cool it. Only God could have put that much equipment into such a small space as the human head.

God has a claim on our lives through the undeniable right of creation. But He has an even stronger claim through the right of purchase. God says, "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price" ( Cor. 6:19,20). God has bought us; not to enslave us, but to free us from our slavery to sin. The purchase price? The life of His own Son, freely given that we might live. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

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