TELL ME ABOUT THE BEGINNING!

G'day L......,

So you want to know about the beginning, hey?
Fair enough. So who was there in the beginning?  Everybody!........as dust.
That means only God can tell us precisely what He did, which we find in Genesis 1, starting with:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

We are then told the 'earth' was without form, so this is just the hard stuff or 'matter'.

In other words, at the beginning of time God started with space and matter.
Guess what?...that's what Science says too!.....
The physical universe must have had a beginning and its basic elements are the space-matter-time continuum.

Hi P....,

Q. "How come people thought Jesus was bad and killed Him on the cross?"
The Jewish people mostly thought Jesus was wonderful because He healed them of anything, miraculously fed them well, no matter how many thousands of people turned up, and even raised some from the dead. What seemed to turn them against accepting Jesus as their Messiah or King was that instead of marching into Jerusalem with an army to defeat the Roman soldiers, He rode in on a donkey to again upset the money -making at the temple. In the end they accepted the Roman caesar as their king and begged Jesus be crucified on a cross meant for Barabbas, a murderer.
We are just like them....we want Jesus to fix our problems but not be Lord of our lives.

 

G'day C....,

Q. "Why don't some people believe in God?"
Do they not believe in God or are they just saying that? It is in our human nature to not want to recognise a supreme authority that we will one day have to answer to, but on the other hand, we all have a conscience and instinctively know that there is some sort of after-life. The Bible says: "God has put eternity in their hearts."
Actually us Christians are very responsible for not defending the Bible as God's Word so that so many people now like to think that 'science' has proved God doesn't exist, when in fact, there is a lot of science in the Bible and true observational science even supports what the Bible says.

G'day S....,

So you want me to tell you a fact about God, hey?
Tell me...could you do with a great friend?
How about having the Creator of the universe as your closest friend?  Pretty cool, huh!
The Bible says: "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." In other words, you have to cultivate friendships with people but having Jesus as your friend is the best - He will NEVER let you down.
Abraham found it hard to wait 25 years for God to fulfil His promise but he is called "the friend of God".
How come??
He believed God! Simple as that.
So....here's your fact: God ALWAYS keeps His promises - eventually, in His own good time.

Hi J...,
Q. "Why did God choose to make Earth?"
Isaiah tells us that God formed the Earth to be inhabited. Why? I know God is creative like us - we have been made in His image - and I believe He wants to enjoy our company. 
In the end we are told: "Look! the tabernacle (tent) of God is with men, and he shall tabernacle (camp) with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God...."
It seems to me that God has set up Earth to reveal Himself to people and test them, so as to know who He can live with for ever.  

Hi G....,

Q. "If God made everyone, would we all be related?"
God made the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve who is the mother of all living.
After the Great Flood 1,656 years later, 8 people came out of Noah's ark to re-populate the Earth: Noah and his wife, their 3 sons, and their 3 wives.
I understand geneticists say that all males on Earth today have the same 'Y chromosome Adam' from their father and everybody has one of 3 types of 'mitchondrial Eve' as the energy program in our body cells, from our mothers.
How many future mothers came out of the ark? Three!
In other words, we all have Adam, Eve, Noah, Noah's wife and at least one of Noah's sons, plus his wife, in our family ancestry.
Yes, we are all related. Science proves once again that the Bible tells the truth.  

 

Hi M...
Q. "What would happen if Adam and Eve hadn't disobeyed? Would we still be living like we are now?"
Adam and Eve were innocent, with no real concept of right or wrong - a bit like little children sometimes today (when they're good!). If they had not disobeyed, there would be no sin, no suffering, and no death. Also our diet would be different: Man was not permitted by God to eat meat until after the Great Flood.
Yes, things would be very different.
All is not lost though because God is greater than our weakness and Jesus has broken the power of sin and death by taking our penalty then rising from the grave. God will eventually establish a new heavens and new earth and will dwell with us.

"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Bring it on, hey!

 

 

 

 

WHY SUFFERING & DEATH?

Hi C.......,

You asked: "Why does God make silly decisions?", then you explained that you meant the suffering and death we experience.
Yes my dear, suffering and death sucks!....and I'm very sorry you lost your uncle recently. 

Let's just take a step back and have a look at the big picture...
God created a fantastic universe with a wonderful place on Earth for us to live - it was "VERY GOOD!"
God 'handed over the keys', with only 1 rule: "Don't eat from that tree: if you do, you die."
Very soon that rule was broken and the first child murdered his brother, yet God put up with Man's wickedness for 1,536 years before telling Noah to build the ark, which possibly took 120 years to build, giving people plenty of opportunity to repent before the Great Flood.
Finally God had to come here Himself as Jesus the Son of God, who healed everybody who came to Him but had to suffer and die horribly to bear the penalty for our sins.
God loves us people so much that He joined with us in our suffering and death - to give us salvation and hope!...and yet we turn around and blame Him, or say He doesn't even exist!

Q. "Did God make us in our mum's tummy or did our parents make us?"

Yes - all of the above!
Our parents made us....with God's help, that's why we are all unique miracles :)

 

 

G'day Brad,

Q1 "Why did God want to create people? Why didn't He create something else?"
Didn't He? What about birds, insects, mammals, fish, marsupials, reptiles, amphibians, plants, trees, fruit, moss & lichen, fungi, bacteria.....all in 10's of thousands of varieties!

Q2 "I heard every animal does something good. What do sheep do?"

Sheep grow wool for us to make clothes, blankets, carpet and felt from. We eat lamb & mutton meat and use intestines for sausage casings. Sheep skins are used to make leather, suede, chamois, ugh boots, seat covers. Sheep produce milk from which we make cheese. Other products from sheep are: lanolin, glue, soap, fertilizer, cosmetics, and even catgut for tennis racquets. On our farm we also used sheep to protect us from bushfires by forcing them to eat all the grass around the sheds, back to bare dirt. Abel was the first to die and He sacrificed sheep for God, illustrating the death of Jesus, the 'Lamb of God'.   

Q3 "Was God responsible for the meteor that took out the dinosaurs?"

Are you absolutely sure that that is what happened, Brad?
It might be part of the reason but dinosaurs with their small nostrils may have lacked oxygen in a different atmosphere after the Great Flood, then big game hunters took out a lot, just like they kill rhinos and elephants today.

WHY DID GOD MAKE THE ZODIAC SYMBOLS?

Hi J....

Q.   "Why did God make the zodiac symbols?"

The 12 constellations (+1) of the Zodiac

We saw in class how God clearly recognises the Mazzaroth (Zodiac) from the way He turned up in a whirlwind and challenged Job about it but I'm going to have to leave you to think about the actual symbols: they are recognised in cultures all over the world.
Can you see any connection with the redemption story in the Bible, of Jesus coming to save us?
Keep in mind that the first book of the Bible was probably 'Job', written maybe 2,500 years after Creation, and it took about 1,600 years to write all of the Bible. It tells us that "God did not leave Himself without a witness...", so if the Bible hadn't even been written yet, let alone in your language, how would you possibly know the truth about God's plan of salvation?
Isn't the only way you could know, wherever you lived on Earth, without any modern technology, would be by reading it in the constellations?
Remember ancient people were very aware of astronomy - that is how they planted and harvested their crops and how they navigated across the deserts and oceans.

 

Hi K...,

Q.  "Why did people name the stars the way they are named?"
Lots of reasons. Stars recently discovered are labelled by the International Astronomical Union with a code showing what type of star and the co-ordinates of its location.
In ancient times stars were given Arabic, Latin or Greek names, often linked to the constellation the star is in.
To be honest, it's a bit confusing because the star Arcturus along with the constellation Orion, and the Pleaides (7 Sisters) cluster are recognised in the Bible, while mythology has also played a big part in the naming of the stars.
Here's an interesting one...
Vindemiatrix is a star beside the right elbow of Virgo and women knew it was time to go and pick the grapes by somehow watching that star!

Hi A.........,

You wrote: "I thought we were all monkeys before."
Well, my ancestors were definitely not monkeys; they were human beings made in the image of God.
Have you seen or heard of monkeys turning into human beings today?...in fact, is it genetically possible?
Also, I have a conscience that gives me an awareness of right and wrong, even of the need to clothe myself; I know the responsibility of marriage, and I am aware of eventual death, of an eternal destiny and of my answerability to a supreme authority - God.
Do monkeys have any sense of all this?  

SHIPWRECKED!...ON MALTA

Everyone was saved!

G'day L......,

So you would like to know another random fact, hey?
Okay...at the end of the book of Acts of the Apostles we find that the apostle Paul was being taken as prisoner to Rome in a grain ship from Alexandria, Egypt.
During a cyclone they shipwrecked on a reef outside a bay on the coast of Malta. They had cut loose 4 anchors that had been lowered into 15 fathoms (27 metres) of water and 2 more anchors were lost with the ship's skiff.
Guess what!? During the last 50 years, about 6 lead anchor stocks with ancient Egyptian inscriptians have been recovered by fishermen from St. Thomas Bay in Malta - 4 of these were in 15 fathoms, outside Muxnar Reef. It seems that they had lain there for nearly 2000 years, waiting to prove that this story in the Bible is factual.....(well of course!).

Hi J...,



The 12 constellations of the Zodiac (Mazzaroth)

Q "How does the birth symbols in the sky mean something important."
When God put the sun, moon and stars in the sky, He did say that they were for signs and seasons. People think it is important which month they were born in but horoscopes are out by a month anyway....and what does the Bible say?
The apostle Paul quoted King David saying: "Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." What words? The gospel about the Lord Jesus! How?....what line? God asked Job: "Can you bring out Mazzaroth (Zodiac) in its season?" 
The Zodiac is the line of 12 constellations that the sun passes along, seen all over the world....
Virgo                 Mary was a virgin - or 'virgo' in Latin Bibles.
Libra(scales)     God's justice demands blood must be shed.
Scorpio              ...bites Hercules' heel. Jesus was put to death....
Sagittarius         ...but His death will be avenged.
Capricornus      The goat dies but its fish tail is very alive.
Aquarius           Jesus gives living water of eternal life
Pisces(fish)       The 'catch' will be huge but so will the persecution 
Aries(ram)         Jesus is 'the Lamb of God' sacrificed
Taurus(bull)      Judgement is around the corner
Gemini(twins)   Jesus is both Saviour and Lord
Cancer(crab)    The stars in Cancer refer to donkeys safely home!
Leo(lion)           Jesus is 'the Lion of the Tribe of Judah' - the King of kings and the Lord of lords!
Can you see any link?


Hello H.....,
Q "Why should the animals be slaughtered to get rid of bad sin, when they are just doing another bad sin by killing them?"
People were not permitted by God to slaughter animals for food until after the Great Flood. When we eat meat it means that an animal will not have to die in agony of old age because it has been slaughtered quickly and humanly but also it should be a reminder to us of when God in judgment flooded the Earth because of its violence and wickedness.
This seems all very weird to our culture but the Bible tells us: "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."  By sacrificing my best animal I showed God that I am a sinner in need of His mercy while He deserves only the best.
Cultures all over the world understood this but it quickly became perverted with human sacrifice and false gods, which is why He ordered the extermination of some people.
The Bible tells us that Jesus "has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself"...."He was offered once to bear the sins of many"...."He offered one sacrifice for sins forever".
There is no more sacrifice of animals required for sin.

Hi there H.....,

Q "How can you tell that whatever people wrote in the Bible is true and not a theory or just fiction?"
Fair enough!...let's look at outside evidence to check against the Bible.
- Several other historic records confirm that Jesus was a real person alive at that time in history. e.g. Flavius Josephus' book.
- Despite what some people say, scientific research confirms what the Bible claims e.g. the water cycle, air has weight, oceans have currents, Earth is a sphere suspended on nothing, light can be separated, dinosaurs really existed, and lots more...
- The Jews have not only survived but their nation is back on the map, with oil & gas discovered under their territorial waters, just as Moses predicted before he died.
- Hundreds of archaeological finds have been found that match what the Bible claims e.g. the lost city of Ur where Abraham grew up.
- The ultimate test is history because nobody can change that.
Hundreds of Jewish prophecies in the Bible came true exactly! e.g. The Babylonian were defeated by the Persians who were defeated by the Greeks who were defeated by the Romans, whose empire would fragment then revive as the European Union in our lifetime.


Hi A.......,
Q "Where did the cave man come from?"
1656 years after Adam and Eve were created there was a global flood that I understand would have caused an Ice Age on Earth. About 200 years later God decided to separate people at the Tower of Babel into 70 nations around the world and confuse their languages, which is very obvious today.

Not so primitive?

Imagine if your family suddenly found themselves in strange country, surrounded by wild animals and freezing weather, and possibly lacking building skills and materials - where would you make your home? 
A cave of course!
The Neanderthal Man has been found to be not as primitive as we first thought - living with basics just like we do on a holiday camp.    

The Name of JESUS

Hi Caitlin,

Q1. "Have you read the whole Bible?"
Yes, several times. Every time I open the Bible I learn something new, unlike any other book ever written.  Give it a go!
Q2. "What does 'Jesus' mean in all different countries?"
How do different languages say the name of Jesus?
The original name in Hebrew was Jehoshua or Joshua for short, but the Lord was called Iesous in Greek. Often Christians call Him:Yeshua. The name Jesus is used in most European languages like French, Spanish and German but in Italian it is Gesu. Commonly He is called Isa in Asian countries.
The name of 'Jesus' means: Jehovah saves. The Bible tells us that one day every knee will bow to that Name and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Hi Leilani,

Q1. "Why didn't God created us humans and animals perfect like Him?"
He did! After God finished creating everything, what did He say on Day 7?......"Very good!"
He didn't make us like puppets or robots - He gave Adam & Eve a free will but they chose to disobey God, which was the end of innocence and the start of sin, suffering and death.

Q2. "Why does God forgive us for our sins?"

God hates sin but loves us so much that He provided the sacrifice Himself to pay the penalty in blood - the precious blood of Jesus. If we accept that free offer, God forgives us in His mercy and blesses us in grace - His undeserved favour.  
"God loved the people of this world so much that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world. He sent Him to save them!"

3 matches : 1 flame : 1 true God




Hi Ruby, 3 hard questions, hey?

Q1 "Is God and Jesus the same thing?"
Do you remember the matches demo we did in class?....3 matches with 1 flame. Jesus is called the 'Son of God' to help us understand the humble place He took as a Man but the Bible tells us that "in Him dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily." i.e. Jesus is God in a human body. That's how close God has come to save us!

Q2 "How did God get His powers to create us and plants?"

Sorry, I don't know - I'm not God! All I know is that He is all-powerful or what we call 'omnipotent'.

Q3 "If Mary gave birth to God, how did Mary get born, then how did they get born?....etc"

Mary was a girl just like you, with a mum and dad (Heli). The Bible even gives her ancestry all the way back to Adam - and God! Yes, Mary did give birth to Jesus but it was very special because she was a virgin, just like the Bible predicted - 700 years before! God planned this all very carefully.

Hi girls,

You asked: "How did God create Himself when He wasn't even born? How was the world created when God wasn't alive?"
Oh dear, how do I answer that? Let's take a look at what the apostle Paul wrote to the people in Colosse:
"He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible....all things were created through Him and for Him."
This Man - Jesus born of a woman, is the image of God and everything was created by Him, through Him and for Him! Jesus is 'God with us' - He came to live with us, to save us because He loves us so much. 

Hi T......,

Q. "Is Jesus a living person that could be anyone we are talking to and seeing right now?"
Jesus was certainly a living person who you could talk to and see, if you lived in Judaea or Galilee (now Israel/West Bank) about 2000 years ago. Even the history books agree on that.
Jesus is now alive again - in heaven. He is not on Earth at the moment although He could appear to you or I if He chose to.

 

Hi Holly & Rosie,

Q. "Why did you not tell us about demons?...because we don't know if they're real."
Teaching about demons is not in the Scripture curriculum and anyway...I come into your classroom to give you hope, which really can only be found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He has the power to deliver people from demons or evil spirits, which are very real and dangerous.
Unfortunately I find that most of you girls and boys aren't sure if God even exists, whereas this is what James, the brother of Jesus tells us:

"You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble!"   

GOD STRETCHES OUT THE HEAVENS

G'day L.......




Orion nebula

So you want to know another random fact...about God this time.
Okay, take stars - last I heard, astronomers have found 76 x (10 to the power 21) stars...and counting, that's 76,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 - more than all the grains of sand on Earth!
So what. Psalm 147 says: "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name....His understanding is infinite."
When the Bible first mentions stars on Day 4 of Creation it just uses 5 words: "He made the stars also." Just like that.
Hang on....light travels at 300,000 km per sec and would take 100,000 years to cross our galaxy...
Ah! but we forget God tells us in the Bible that He "stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."...and we get told that about 10 times. There must have been a lot of stretching happening on Day 4, hey!
By the way, Edwin P. Hubble (Hubble telescope) proved in the 1920's that the universe is expanding uniformly.
So there's a random fact for you to remember when you put up your tent next time you go camping - under the stars!


Hi there H........

Q "If Adam and Eve were alive before 'The Evolution', how is it that we evolved from them and not from apes?"
First up, let me remind you that my job is to teach you what the Bible says - no more, no less. That means that I can only ask you questions in turn...
- What 'Evolution'? Are you sure it really happened or is it still just a theory?

- Where are all the 'transition' fossils?

- Are dead animals lying around today, waiting to be turned into fossils?

Wauchope fossils

- Are rocks used to date fossils and fossils used to date rocks?
 

- How did all the coal, oil and gas get into the ground?
 

- Are you a unique miracle or just an accident of nature?

 

Check everything my dear - check out the Bible, check out what people claim - is it the truth? Think about it. Does it make sense?

 

 

Hi J......
Q "If Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, where did the cavemen come from?"

First of all, don't forget there are still people today living in primitive conditions in jungles or bush country.

The original Mr. Neanderthal

The Great Flood took place 1656 years after Adam and Eve were created and about 200 years later God scattered people from Babel into the nations of the world when there was probably the Ice Age from the global upheaval of the flood.

If your family found themselves in strange country, in freezing conditions, with wild animals around, where would you make your temporary home? In a cave near food and water of course!

The Neanderthal Man has been found to have been not so primitive after all.
In fact their home was not too different to our bush camping today.

 

 

Hi J..........

Q1 "Why is the earth so big?"

Everything in the universe is relative - compared to our galaxy, Earth is just a speck and compared to the millions of galaxies we are virtually off the map!

An ant would see you and I as gigantic but even an ant is gigantic compared to the scale of minute quantum physics.

I understand human beings are more or less middle size in the complexity of the universe and this Earth is getting a bit small for 7 billion people who can't live peacefully together.

What an awesome Creator we have, hey!

Twins!!

Q2 "If we are all related, why doesn't it seem so?"

Well, you can be sure Noah's family didn't all look the same.

We have incredible perception in familiar face recognition so that we can pick the difference between identical twins or even spot our neighbour in a crowd overseas but we have trouble working out which country Asians have come from. There is a huge genetic variety among all people seen in very minor differences e.g. the amount of melanin skin pigment, the amount of fat in the eyelids, straight or curly hair, length of nose, colour of eyes, shape of lips.......

 

 

Hi K.......

Q1. "How did God create the Earth?"

The Bible tells us: "Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what can't be seen." Wow! Isn't God so awesome to have just spoken the Earth into existence - from nothing! Even Science has proved that the universe must have had a supernatural beginning.

Q2 . "What made God have the thought to create the Earth/world?"

Actually I'm not God so I don't know what He was thinking. What I do know is that He made us in His image i.e. we are meant to be like Him, which means that He is creative like us and He enjoys company just like we do. For me it means getting a hammer in my hand and building a house then filling it with my wife and kids and friends.

What do you know?...the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, tells us that in the end, God produces a magnificent heavenly city for us to live with Him in. I hope I will see you there!

 

 

Hi M..........

Q. "When was Jesus born?"

Ah!...this is one that people love to argue about - many say it was the first Christmas day, 25th December.

The only problem is that the Bible says: "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night." Bethlehem is very cold in the winter - it can snow there - so the shepherds would not have been camping out with their sheep in December.

I don't want to start World War III so I'd better leave you to decide for yourself. By the way, the Romans celebrated 'Saturnalia' at the end of December with a lot of drunken orgies. 

If you meant "which year?" nobody really knows for sure but I suspect it was probably 1 or 2 BC. It just shows how obscure the wonderful coming of the Son of God was.

 

 

Hi M.........

Q. "Why do you have to say 'amen' at the end of a prayer?"

Well actually you don't have to, but it shows that you agree with what has been prayed.

Where did 'amen' come from?

Amen is a Hebrew word and it means: 'sure' or 'so let it be'.

  

 

Hi N.......

Q. "Why can God see us but we can't see Him?"

Do you remember the woman who met Jesus at the well? He told her that 'God is a spirit'...but who was it really who was talking to her?

Jesus had a friend called John who tells us in the Bible: "No-one has seen God at any time."...but he went on to say: "If we love one another, God abides in us..."

When you meet a true Christian who has been given God's Holy Spirit it should be like seeing God, just like that woman saw Jesus all those years ago.

Here's another verse: "He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being." Yep!...that close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOMETHING 'RANDOM' ABOUT JESUS

G'day L........

So you want to know something random about Jesus?
Fair enough - how about this...
Jesus borrowed:
- a feed trough for a cradle
- water to make into wine
- a bucket for a drink of water
- a boat for a speakers platform
- a coin from a fish's mouth to pay temple tax (!)
- 5 loaves & 2 fish to feed 5000 people
- 7 loaves to feed 4000 people
- a donkey for entering Jerusalem
- a room for the Last Supper with His friends
- a cross from a robber called Barabbas
- a tomb from a rich man
In the end they even pinched His clothes.

Who was He? The Creator of the universe!

 

Hi C........

Q1. "Why is God our ruler?"

God is our Creator. The universe is His because He made it, so He gets to set the rules - not you or me!

By the way, when Jesus was presented to the Jewish people as their King they shouted out: "Away with him! We have no king but Caesar!" The Bible tells us that soon, every knee will bow to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Q2. "Why does everyone say that Jesus is God's Son when actually He is really Mary & Joseph's son?"

Mary became pregnant with the 'Son of God' only because 'the Holy Spirit came upon her', which meant she had the privilege of giving birth to Jesus, while Joseph was not the biological father. Being the firstborn in Mary & Joseph's family meant Jesus was doubly qualified to inherit the throne because both Mary & Joseph came from the royal family of the kings of Judah. Of course this was foretold in the Bible hundreds of years before it happened!

 

Hi there H.........

Q. "Why should the animals be slaughtered for us?"

They don't have to be slaughtered for us anymore, now that Jesus has "offered one sacrifice for sins forever" - by sacrificing Himself.

Why did they have to be slaughtered before then?....because it was the only way we had any chance of approaching God, by showing Him we admit to being sinners, and very sorry for what we have done.

 

G'day M.......

Q. "How do you say a prayer?"

What do you know!...that's exactly what the disciples of Jesus asked Him all those years ago - "Lord, teach us to pray". Jesus then taught them 'the Lord's Prayer' beginning with: "Our Father in heaven...hallowed be Your Name..." (in other words, Your Name is very special)

Of course if we just pretend to pray to a God who we don't even believe in, just to get ourselves out of a fix, that would be nothing but an insult to God. The Bible tells us: "...he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

It's all about believing in faith and being humble.

I have a friend who was so desperate to give up smoking that one day he cried out: "Holy Spirit, you're ........ going to have to help me!!"

He has never smoked another cigarette since that moment. Simple, huh!

The next post:

http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/god-stretches-out-heavens.html