Prayer 1: Prayer moves the hand of God

Now you see me ... now you don't

The CERN laboratory that traverses Switzerland and France, hosts the largest particle accelerator in the world: The Large Hadron Collider. A series of 5,000 powerful electro-magnets accelerate bunches of charged nuclear particles (protons) along a circular track, which has a 27km radius. The resulting collisions will generate heat many times the surface temperature of the sun.

Some feared that this multi-billion-dollar global participation project would lead to an earth-bound black hole or some other wild catastrophe. That was speculative given the vast power required to recreate a black hole, although the insides of the accelerator are like a bomb, although only with an equivalent yield of 160kg of TNT.

Over the edge

If you go out tonight and take the hand of your beloved to gaze up lovingly at the sky, it will be dark. That may seem like an obvious statement, but it is proof that the universe is limited – it has a boundary. It may be big but it is still finite.

For every doubling of distance between you and a light source, such as a star, the light intensity reaching you will decrease by four times. However, in the context of the universe, each doubling of distance will increase the volume of space between you and the light source, by eight times. That would enable more stars to occupy the same space, increasing the cumulative light intensity by a greater degree than is lost to distance.

Was the world created in seven days?

Was the earth formed in seven days? Was Genesis intended to be taken literally, as many scriptures indeed are, or is the language symbolic? Can we reconcile the Genesis account with what we know or presume to know about the universe?

Scientists claim to be able to see as far back as 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang started. That is a very small fraction of one second, but in astronomical terms it was an age in itself for about halfway through that first second God had time enough to create the four fundamental laws of all physics. He left an indelible imprint or signature, locked away for centuries to confirm that He stamped His authority and invested His divine nature on creation, from the outset. God rules the universe through the same laws that autonomously balance day and night and adjust weather patterns every day of our lives. The same laws also enable, as Jesus said, “the winds to blow where they want to”.

Recently I speculated around the dinosaurs and wondered how the same God, who made all things so beautiful, could have made such a bunch of violent and brainless uglies? Well I can only answer that, if we concede that the creation happened in discrete epochs, not in seven days – for a biblical day is as a thousand years.

All will be revealed

All the mysteries of God are hidden behind swirling mists, far beyond our reach, yet God has progressively revealed all to us. Ancient astronomers discovered much and stood aghast at what they found, but modern science has leapt into realms they could only dream about.

The scriptures imply that He is fully revealed in His creation and so I predict that all mysteries will be resolved in time - I just wonder if science will be able to handle the implications thereof.

What we know now has been confirmed in the scriptures, but what we will yet know will fulfill the scriptures, for though heaven and earth pass away, His world will remain - and His truth is marching on.

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He stands upon the circle of the heavens

When Job said, "He stands on the circle of the heavens", did He give us a vital and scientifically acceptable, but otherwise very elusive clue to where heaven is and how it fits into the grand design and order of the created universe? Can we determine where the throne of God is relative to us on earth and the greater expanse of our universe? I suggest we may indeed be able to do that.

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A God for all seasons

God is eternal. He also became a man. He transcended and transcends time and space to relate to us. The all seeing, all present God is not only able to become a relevant observer of the broad physical context of the universe, or the galaxies and systems within the universe. He is consistently the same, warm, loving, pure, unchanging God across all of the created universe and no creature will ever be able to step away from Him.

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Why is the universe bound to so many, rigid laws?

So many rules and laws. It seems that our world is as rule bound as the universe. Is God just a legalist, a law maker and judge, without any sense of flair and originality? Even the most beautiful of created things is effectively bound to rules and laws that hold constant across the universe. Is there no escaping it all? Will we ever overcome the disadvantages of gravity or light or time? If His will is to set us free, why does He still retain all the implied control and order of His many laws?

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Now you see me ... now you don't

The CERN laboratory that traverses Switzerland and France, hosts the largest particle accelerator in the world: The Large Hadron Collider. A series of 5,000 powerful electro-magnets accelerate bunches of charged nuclear particles (protons) along a circular track, which has a 27km radius. The resulting collisions will generate heat many times the surface temperature of the sun.

Some feared that this multi-billion-dollar global participation project would lead to an earth-bound black hole or some other wild catastrophe. That was somewhat speculative given the vast power required to recreate a black hole, even though conditions inside the accelerator represent a controlled bomb, with a magnitude of around 160kg of TNT. The complex assembly has been designed in order to contain the significant energy surges expected within the collider.