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Nebula Forming
I am a part of a new hot trio playing classic rock-pop-R&B-blues music.( Go ahead and check out our site and tunes - www.nebulaforming.com ) If you've ever been in a similar situation, you know that one of the hardest things to do is not to sing, play and perform music, but rather to find a great name for the band! (That is...assumed you already possess God-given musical talent!)
This little grace note is for those who have heard of us and may be curious as to the meaning of our strange name. Or maybe you just saw the name in the title and it brought you here, at any rate, welcome! Since it was me who thought up the name, it probably should be me who also can explain it a little.
First of all a definition is needed:
Nebula - literally means cloud, or more specific, a cloud of gas in space. That is the most basic definition of a nebula, sometimes spelled "nebulae". This gas consists of many elements, but usually the most abundant ones are Hydrogen and Helium, which also happen to be the most abundant elements in the universe. Trying to spare to a boring science lecture.....let me say that these nebula are both the stellar nurseries and graveyards of stars. Our own precious sun was once a huge cloud of gas and just a floating nebula in space, along with everything we know of including all the moons, planets, the earth and everything in it, even you and me. (I believe in a very personal creator God and do not believe in macro-evolution- but if God abided by the very laws of physics that he designed, then we cannot disregard the ever growing established evidence of an evolving cosmos of galaxies, stars and planets )
So how does a huge floating nebula cloud of gas become a star with planets, moons, and in our case - people? I do not believe in chance! God created every element and caused it to group into a nebula. God also then guided the process by which a nebula becomes a star with possible planets. This outside, strange force which interacts with a nebula is not something strange at all (thanks to Einstein), it's called gravity. As the nebula continues to become more and more squeezed and compressed by the force of gravity, it starts to get hotter! It eventually reaches the ignition point of fusing two atoms of hydrogen together to form one atom of helium. Then, if all the conditions are right, the nuclear furnace continues and the nebula spins into a new star (to make a long story much shorter).
As it spins in its birthing process, a lot of dust can be found in the outside edges. This dust, consisting of other elements like, Iron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and others, then gets pushed out and it begins to spin on its own and form into planets and/or moons. Hey, that's where we come in! Once again, although much of earth's life may have evolved within a micro-evolution, and under God's guidance. It was God who created it all, and I believe when it comes to humans, who are made in Gods image, there was no long evolving at all but rather God creating something new and putting his own image in it. You may disagree, and that is perfectly fine for now. Although I have studied both the Bible and science and read on this topic from many others much more qualified as well, these are my conclusions at this point but I am still open to being proven wrong (which happens often!)
After a nebula becomes a star, its lifespan depends directly upon the size and mass of each star. But it really is just the opposite than what you probably would think! The fact is the bigger the star, the shorter its life is! Some huge stars many times bigger than our sun only last for millions of years. Our medium sized sun has a life span of about ten billion years, right now it is middle aged. (We’ll have to wait a few more billion years before our sun starts becoming forgetful and calling all of us “Sonny”) Other smaller stars shine for trillions of years! Each type also burns out and dies differently as well. Our sun is not large enough to become a supernova, but will eventually burn up its fuel and become very bloated, swallowing the inner planets (probably including earth) and then remain a floating burned out corpse of a star known as a white dwarf. But the very large stars, the ones with relatively short life spans, burn out into a huge fireball called supernova. When this massive explosion occurs, all the remaining elements, as well as new ones formed in the farewell furnace, get spewed forth into space and become nebula once again to form other stars! So when astronomers see a beautiful nebula, they can either say, “what a cute, beautiful little baby star being born". Or they can say, "What an ugly floating mass of a dead star corpse"! They are both one and the same and a correct observation.
So what does all this mean?! Why is there a band called "Nebula Forming"?
First of all, all three of us within the band happen to be Christ-followers. We are not a "Christian band", but three guys who all happen to follow Christ and live, work, and play old fashioned rock and roll in a real world. But that still hasn't answered the question of what connection there is between Nebula and following Christ. Are we all like the band Queen? Which consisted of guys who were physics, astronomy and science whiz majors? Yes we are! (Just kidding)
The Connection
OK, let me start off with looking to scriptures that reflect insight into an analogy, but we have to look closely.
Jesus
1. He is the Bright and morning star, (Rev 22:16) 2. He is the light of the world. (John 8:12) 3. He was transfigured into his glorious state which glowed in bright light. (Luke 9:29) 4. Saul encountered Jesus on the Damascus road and was literally blinded by the intense light. (Acts 9:3)
Christ Followers
1. We are called "children of the light". (Eph 5:8) 2. We are called "sons of light" (I Thes 5:5) 3. We are commanded to let our light shine. (Mt 5:16) 4. We shine as lights in the world. (Phil 2:15) 5. All of us flowing in service to God have the promise that we will shine like stars forever. (Dan 12:3)
Hopefully by now you are connecting the dots and seeing where I am going here!
Simply stated, all true believers, known as Christ followers, are similar to being a nebula. We are not stars yet! (Although there are many who think of themselves otherwise) But we are in the process of becoming one in this life as we learn to trust God and walk by faith day by day in our personal journey.
So far you may be with me, but I anticipate the question; "OK, but if that is true, what is the spiritual analogy to gravity which pressures each nebula and causes the transformation?"
For that answer I will let have to give a key verse:
In speaking of us as having a treasure within jars of clay in this life, Paul goes on and says:
"......we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed...(II Cor 4:7)
In the same breath he goes on a few verses later saying;
"...even though our outer man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day" (II Cor 4:16)
The powerful force of gravity which presses in on nebula can be compared to the trials and tribulations that Paul is speaking of here that press in on every Christ follower. Some more, some less, but all of us will at one time or another sense the pressure of tribulations in this life which come to shape us, mold us, and form us into faithful, deep followers of Christ, or in our analogy - stars!
Is this a bit of a stretch? I think not! I challenge you to do a quick and simple word study on the word "tribulation" as found in the New Testament Bible. (I already did and this will confirm your findings) The word “tribulation" is "Thilipsis" in the original Greek. The most basic meaning of "Thilipsis" is - pressure!
The next time you read about tribulations, try substituting the word "pressure". For instance in Romans 5:3 we would read, "We rejoice in pressure, knowing that pressure produces perseverance, character and hope.
Personally I don't like tribulations or pressure by any name! I don't invite it or welcome them, but I also know that they will come and how I react and respond as a Christ follower is very important.
We are all nebula forming if we are true believers on this journey called life on earth. But we are forming, and changing into something far more glorious!
"....we are all going to be changed...everything perishable taken off the shelves, this mortal replaced by the immortal." I Corinthians 15 The Message
“The ways of right -living people glow with light, the longer they live, the brighter they shine.” Proverbs 4:18 The Message
“You get a hint of the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies, not only on earth but in the skies, the sun, moon, stars, all these varieties of beauty and brightness." I Corinthians 15 The Message
Thanks for taking the time to read, now come out and hear us rock! Grace and peace to you! John Boda
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