Dr Paul Allen

In C. S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we meet “a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” While in Narnia, Eustace remarks, “In our world, a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” A mysterious character named Ramandu quips, “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.” That a black sky would reveal flickering pinheads of white light has been a source of wonder to everyone with a pulse. Big screen sagas like Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Ad Astra (to the stars), and Interstellar (between stars) tap into this shared sense of awe. There’s a reason we use the word “stars” to describe people whose talents and performances leave us awestruck. Stars hold a kind of promise of adventure and intrigue and exploration. Nearly three millennia ago, King David, looking up, said, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). Two and a half millennia ago, Plato asked, “[What] lead[s]

We are prone to make assumptions about God and his favor when life has us down due to sin, mistakes, or incomprehensible circumstances. Of all the Scripture passages we might turn to during these times, the bizarre vision that opens the book of Ezekiel would not register high on our list.  However, reading this passage with its original ancient context in mind reveals a powerful message for its original recipients and for every believer. The Babylonian context Ezekiel had his vision in Babylon as one of the captive exiles (Ezek 1:1–3). Comparing his vision to Babylonian iconography reveals that Ezekiel saw a divine “throne chariot” of the heavens—widely described in the ancient biblical world. Just as human kings had chariots, so did deities.  A deity would traverse the heavens in his chariot throne, inspecting his domain and exercising authority over it. In Ezekiel’s vision, this throne sits atop the “expanse” (רקיע, raqiaʾ, 1:26)—the same word used in Genesis 1:6–8 for the heavens (s

Astrology is a form of divination which attempts to forecast earthly events and categorize people’s personality traits according to the alignment of stars. It began during the Babylonian empire (c. 2000 BC) during a time of intense superstition. At that time, people had two misguided beliefs about the stars:  1. That the stars rotate around the Earth and change their position in regard to the Earth with the seasons. 2. That the stars exert a powerful force upon the Earth. These two foundational beliefs resulted in two corollary beliefs: A. The belief that the stars have a profound impact on world events and personal fortunes. B. The belief that the stars have a formative effect on the shaping of the personalities of newborn babies. Let me briefly examine each of these beliefs. Firstly, the two foundational beliefs. 1. The belief that the stars rotate around the Earth and change their position in regard to the Earth with the seasons. Obviously, this is not true. It is the Earth’s orbit

You have set your glory in the heavens. Psalm 8:1 In 2011, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrated thirty years of space research. In those three decades, shuttles carried more than 355 people into space and helped construct the International Space Station. After retiring five shuttles, NASA has now shifted its focus to deep-space exploration. The human race has invested massive amounts of time and money, with some astronauts even sacrificing their lives, to study the immensity of the universe. Yet the evidence of God’s majesty stretches far beyond what we can measure. When we consider the Sculptor and Sustainer of the universe who knows each star by name (Isaiah 40:26), we can understand why the psalmist David praises His greatness (Psalm 8:1). The Lord’s fingerprints are on “the moon and the stars, which [He] set in place” (v. 3). The Maker of the heavens and the earth reigns above all, yet He remains near all His beloved children, caring for each in

He . . . brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.— Isaiah 40:26 Some people look at the night sky and see nothing but nature. Others see a god as distant and cold as Jupiter . But the same God who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” also “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name” (Isa. 40:22, 26). He knows His creation intimately. It is this personal God who asked His people, “Why do you say, Israel , ‘My way is hidden from the  Lord ; my cause is disregarded by my God’?” Aching for them, God reminded them of the wisdom in seeking Him. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? . . . He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (vv. 27-29). We are easily tempted to forget God. Our problems won’t disappear with an evening stroll, but we can find rest and certainty that God is always working toward His good purposes. “I’m here,” He says. “I’ve got you.” —Tim Gustafson Thank Y

IS YOUR JESUS TOO SMALL? “Does He not see my ways, and count my every step?” (Job 31:4) God is surely the Great Mathematician. God even “Determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” ( Psalm 147:4). Astronomers estimate that at least 10 trillion, trillion stars exist in the heavens, and God has counted and identified each one! And that is not all: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered ,” Jesus said ( Matthew 10:30 ). From the most massive star to the tiniest hair, God has counted each component of His creation....AND HE KNOWS MY STEPS... Such countings are far beyond our capabilities, for “the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured” ( Jeremiah 33:22). But God has also created “an innumerable company of angels” ( Hebrews 12:22) and has promised that the followers of Christ will include “a great multitude, which no one could number” (Revelation 7:9). No wonder David exclaimed, “Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful wo

“Does He not see my ways, and count my every step?” ( Job 31:4 ) God is surely the Great Mathematician. All the intricacies of structure and process of His mighty cosmos are, at least in principle, capable of being described mathematically, and the goal of science is to do just that. This precise intelligibility of the universe clearly points to a marvelous intelligence as its Creator . God even “ He determines the number of the stars  and calls them each by name. ” ( Psalm 147:4 ). Astronomers estimate that at least 10 trillion, trillion stars exist in the heavens, and God has counted and identified each one! And that is not all: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered,” Jesus said ( Matthew 10:30 ). From the most massive star to the tiniest hair, God has counted each component of His creation. Such countings are far beyond human capabilities, for “the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured” ( Jeremiah 33:22 ). But God has also created

Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” ( Job 9:8-9 ) The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It is not surprising, therefore, that it contains a number of references to creation and the Flood, for these great events were still relatively fresh in the thinking of Job and his contemporaries. The first of these creation references in Job is our text above, and it is remarkable that it centers especially on the stars and their constellations. Still another constellation is mentioned in Job 26:13: “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.” Finally: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” ( Job 38:31-3

At the centre of our planetary system is our local star - the Sun - a typical G-type main sequence star that fuses hydrogen into helium in its core at temperatures of over 16,000,000 degrees Celsius. This image was taken on 10 October, 2015 by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. The dark area across the top of the Sun's disk is a coronal hole, a region where the magnetic field is open to interplanetary space, sending coronal material speeding out in a high-speed solar wind stream. Related: A psychedelic X-ray of our Sun Mercury INFOGRAPHIC:  Mercury taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft in  2011   (NASA/JPL/GSFC/Roscosmos) Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun, taking just 88 Earth days to orbit the star on an unusual elliptical path that sees it rotate on its axis three times for every two orbits it makes around the Sun. This image was taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft, which became the first probe to enter orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011.