The Absurd Claim

We can all understand how a man forgives offenses against himself. You tread on my toes and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of this conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if he was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offenses. This makes since only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivaled by any other character in history.

Yet, even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is ‘humble and meek’ and we believe Him; noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

IGR J17091

If you thought space was a peaceful vacuum, think again: scientists have discovered the fastest winds ever observed on a stellar-mass black hole, and they reach an incredible 20 million mph.

The winds, detected using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, are ten times faster than any detected at similar black holes in the past. While some bigger black holes feature winds that have hit similar speeds, this changes the way scientists think about smaller black holes for good. Ashley King, of the University of Michigan, said:

This is like the cosmic equivalent of winds from a Category 5 hurricane. We weren’t expecting to see such powerful winds from a black hole like this.

One upshot of the fierce winds is that this black hole, known as IGR J17091, is actually expelling almost as much mass as it’s ingesting. That goes against the common understanding of how black holes work, which usually suggests that they’re like giant cosmic Hoovers, sucking up any and all matter in sight.

Just proof that we don’t know it all and God will reveal to us what he wants, when he wants. Humble yourselves, we serve an incredible God.

He Made It All

Scale of the Universe 2

Grow In Humility

Grow in your daily humility and you will become more effective in winning the lost. There is a beautiful harmony here. When our lives are empty of self and pride, we are freed to be ourselves. We are not under an iron law of duty, but acting and thinking and feeling as we were meant to by our Creator. In the enjoyment of that wholeness, we become attractive to sinners.

- Jack Miller

A Good Infection

If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity