Space, the final (commercial) frontier...

SpaceX "Dragon" capsule (artist's conception)

SpaceX, a private company which is based in Hawthorne, CA is preparing to launch its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on April 30th.

The unmanned capsule will be the first of a new fleet of commercial spacecraft being developed to deliver cargo to the station after the space shuttles were retired last year.

The capsule will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

If all goes as planned, it will fly to the ISS and then dock there on May 3, after doing some tests.

Far out, man...

The Resurrection

The Resurrection Mural is a 40' x 12' oil on canvas mural by Ron DiCianni. (Click on it for a larger view)

It depicts the moment that Jesus emerged from the tomb.


"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:1-6)

I recently read something by Ronald Reagan on the subject:

"I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where ... is the miracle I spoke of? Well, consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?"

Amen to that...

What's so good about THIS Friday?

Look at what they/we did to Jesus.

He didn't hurt anyone; quite the opposite, actually.

He only came to show us The Way..."The Way" being the original name for what is now known as Christianity.

As Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

In other words, accepting Jesus as your Savior is the only way to salvation.

It's quite simple at its core. He had to endure a very nasty death on the cross for us however, so that's what is so good about THIS Friday...it's good for believers.

Try to bear it in mind, and not just on this one day...