mind-blowing graphic of the day

In a recent study for Nature, a team of scientists mapped thousands of galaxies in our immediate vicinity, and discovered that the Milky Way is part of a massive "supercluster" of galaxies named Laniakea.

This structure is much bigger than astronomers had previously realized. Laniakea contains more than 100,000 galaxies, stretches 500 million light years across, and looks something like this.


"When I look at the heavens, the work of Your hands, the moon and stars which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8


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alma mater

A great shot from above the campus of my alma mater - Concordia University, Irvine CA.

the gospel

Who is Jesus?  What does He ask of His followers? What does it mean to be a Christian?

These are the kinds of questions people were asking in the 1st century. They are the questions people continue to ask today.

This is precisely why Mark wrote his Gospel – to answer these questions and to help second generation Christians being persecuted know how their faith began, know the truth of what they believed, and find comfort and strength in the midst of their sufferings.

Mark writes his Gospel to remind his fellow Christians that it's all true. It really happened, just as God planned, just as Jesus said, just as you have been taught. And it's not only true, it's true for you, and it's something worth living, suffering, and even dying for.

Up until the time the Gospels were written and the New Testament was completed, Christians came together to gather and worship without a complete Bible. They did not yet have the entire written Word. They relied on the oral tradition, on sermons, teachings, and stories told them by other believers to learn about Jesus.

That’s where Mark’s Gospel comes in. Mark writes his Gospel to chronicle the origin of the Christian faith. Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark was written somewhere around 60 AD, which puts it at about thirty years after Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Mark was not an eyewitness to Jesus, so he writes himself as a second generation Christian. But ancient sources tell us that Mark based his story on the recollections of the apostle Peter. Mark was Peter’s personal assistant, so he was familiar with the sermons and stories Peter told. And Peter was an eyewitness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Mark begins with these words - "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

In other words, this is what its all about. This is what's important, the foundation, the standard, the primary stuff of the gospel. And its not just the first sentence, or the first chapter, but really the entire book of Mark can be seen as the "beginning of the Gospel".  For this book is only the beginning of the gospel. There is much more still to come. The end has not yet here. The story continues ... and goes on and on as the good news of Jesus is proclaimed to all nations.

"The kingdom of God is here - repent and believe the good news."

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concordia seminary at twilight

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baptism site

Pictured above is the section of the Jordan River where nearly all tourists of the Holy Land go to visit. You can see why by the picture - it's beautiful, green, lush - a lovely section of the Jordan River. It's also touted as the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Well ... not so much. While it is indeed a wonderful place to visit, it is definitely not the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

The reason? This area is in the northern part of the country just south of the Sea of Galilee, whereas the actual section of the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized would have been in the southern part of the country just north of the Dead Sea. Below is a picture of the more likely site that hardly anyone visits today. (The river used to be wider, of course, but the water upstream has been diverted over the years for irrigation and agriculture.)

So why are there two dueling sites for the Baptism of Jesus? Tourism dollars. The above site is in Israel - and the site below is in Jordan.

And now you know the rest of the story.

andromeda

A tiny version of Hubble’s panorama image of the Andromeda galaxy, two million light years away.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaims His handiwork" - Psalm 19

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hs-2015-02-a-hires_jpg.jpg

the work of christmas begins

"when the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the king and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of christmas begins:
to find the lost, to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nation, to bring peace to the people,
to make music in the heart."

- howard thurman