LONDON — A huge ball of brightly burning gas drifting through a neighboring galaxy may be the heaviest star ever discovered — hundreds of times more massive than the sun, scientists said Wednesday after working out its weight for the first time.

Those behind the find say the star, called R136a1, may once have weighed as much as 320 solar masses. Astrophysicist Paul Crowther said the obese star — twice as heavy as any previously discovered — has already slimmed down considerably over its lifetime. In fact, it’s burning itself off with such intensity that it shines at nearly 10 million times the luminosity of the sun.

The heavens …

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Have you ever considered the connection between living with a focused, Kingdom-centered life and a robust understanding of the future? The Apostle John makes this connection when he writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. I John 3:2-3

John makes a striking connection between how we view the future with how we seek purpose and purity in our lives here and now. My question for you to consider is why does John do this? Why make this …

 

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On Sunday, in the first part I taught on the responsibilities (see the teaching guide) that Christians have in contributing to God’s ecosystem, the Church. I made the following points:

People “Go Green” when they take personal responsibility to:

A. Actively listening and applying God’s Word to your life.

B. Commit to being personally accountable to someone for their spiritual development.

C. Have an active ministry among those in our Fellowship.

D. Express accountability in church membership.

E. Regularly communicate the Gospel to yourself and to others in our Fellowship.

In speaking to these responsibilities, I mentioned certain ideas on how to begin to implement them.

In reference to point “A” I commended to you the Word …

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A.W.Tozer once said, “God always works where His people meet His conditions, but only when and as they do. Any spiritual visitation will be limited or extensive depending how well and how widely conditions are met.”

If this statement is true, then it is important for us to consider what some of these conditions are. So, what does make a church ripe for a “spiritual visitation?” In other words, what are the responsibilities of the people who attend our Church? That is what we will think about today. Thanks for being with us and we hope our time together will help you in your spiritual journey. MP3 download.

 

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What is the fundamental, common DNA of every person who says they are a Christian? Today we look at that very issue in 2 Corinthians 5 and see that the answer is “the Gospel”. It is fundamental to an individual being a Christian and essential to the life of a church. MP3 download.

Music video by Kenny Chesney with The Wailers performing Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven. (C) 2008 Sony Music Entertainment

 

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Is that statement true? That is the question that rattled around in my head when I heard a well-meaning, very zealous individual who was driven to turn fellow-Christians away from the pursuit of materialism. However, this sentiment needs to be taken on and the merits of his case weighed more fully. There is nothing essentially virtuous about being passionate about something and then citing the name “Jesus” in the same breath. Bottom line? Does the argument have merit? If, when held up to the scrutiny of the Bible, this is true then we need to sift the priorities of our lives through the prism of being a follower of Jesus Christ. However, I need …

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In a previous blog regarding the fact that Pope John Paul II used to whip himself and mother Teresa used a cilice to inflict pain throughout the day in order to grow in their dedication (i.e. being spiritual) to God. The point was raised that we as protestants also believe in disciplining ourselves (fasting, praying, bible reading, etc.) so don’t we do the same thing just at a different level? Aren’t we supposed to discipline ourselves in the little things of life like to saying “no” to that extra helping of food or in those not so little areas like that desire to sleep in and miss church? I mean to be a Christian is to be …

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In Christianity Today article, it is reported that Pope John Paul II would regularly whip himself in an effort to promote personal humility and self-mortification. The article also points out that Mother Teresa actually wore a cilice, a strap secured around the thigh that inflicts pain with inward-pointing spikes.

While the need for humility and self denial are true in the life of those who follow Jesus Christ, there is a strange disconnect with the Bible in the use of self-punishment as a method for growing close to God. The writer of Hebrews makes this clear when he says,

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus

…

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Tim Challies overviews a review of the best selling book, The Shack.

In the book, Burning Down The Shack, James De Young gives a startling revelation regarding the theological moorings of Paul Young, author of The Shack.

In April of 2004 De Young attended a Christian think tank and there Young presented a 103-page paper which presented a defense of universal reconciliation, a Christian form of universalism—the view that at some point every person will come to a right relationship with God. If they do not do this before they die, God will use the fires of hell to purge away any unbelief (notice the issue is not our personal sin but our unbelief). Eventually even …

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