Dear Friends,

Watching the news reports that the Russian attempt to land a vehicle on the moon’s surface ended badly, it called to mind the Apollo 11 moon landing. Watching Apollo 11 blast off from Planet Earth to head to the Moon, everybody’s first thought was, “will they make it to the surface of the Moon?” A few days later the spaceship entered the Moon’s orbit and then out popped the Lunar Module with the two astronauts aboard. We watched with great anticipation as the Module made its way down to the surface of the Moon and heard those immortal words: “the Eagle has landed”! It would be several hours before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would step out of the Lunar Module onto the surface of the moon, earning the right to the best bragging rights ever.

Dear Friends,

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT

A recent media headline read: “Boston doctor charged with masturbating in front of teen girl on Hawaii flight”. Where would an educated medical doctor get such an impulse? Most likely from watching pornography. A few years back, pornographers fought for the right to use girls who “looked” like they were under 18. And that spawned a whole new teen Pornography industry.

Dear Friends,

Experience has taught me that if you “buy a lie” the truth will forever kick your butt. Take for example the alcoholic who despite evidence to the contrary decides to buy that lie that she can find a way to manage her drinking. She’ll tell herself that if she just exerts enough will-power she can control her drinking or if other people would just get off her back, she wouldn’t have drunk so much. However, if she accepts the truth that she can never safely drink alcohol, then she has a chance to recover and live a sober and sane life.

Dear Friends,

When he came into the temple area the chief priests and elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Matthew 21:23

Jesus was often asked this question. After all he had not been tutored under any of the great rabbis of his day. He was not from the high priestly clan, like his cousin John, nor was he in anyway linked to the official temple worship in Jerusalem. The only qualifications Jesus would claim were his works or signs and his relationship to the Father.