Not a pretense of better living through higher thoughts or actions.. Not a contrived morality or confidence in my own imagined righteousness.. But an admission of being lost!.. Of being sought out, found and forgiven!.. Not an escape from pain or hardship, but an awareness that God loves and believes in me more than I could ever believe in Him. That He has the power to keep me and accomplish His will for me in this life and the next. www.jackandcarlayoutube & www.morethanmanagement.life
As I said, "The best day of my life," was the day my wife finally called 911! Let me tell you why!
That was the dayI was awakened to seeMY PROBLEM.
Before that, my total focus was on others! I could only really see the shortcomings of the people around me. I thought they needed to change. I was asleep in the light and didn't want to see, "MY PROBLEM!"
(slowly click arrow x 2 to see video)
Today, I am So Grateful for our Savior Jesus! He saw my problem and gave himself for me. He opened my eyes so I could see my hidden forms of destructive anger!
But this didn't begin to happen until after I received a little motivationalhelp from the local police👮♂️👮😔👨⚖️and a judge.
Sadly, without this motivational opportunity I don't think my practice of citizenship or religiousness alone, would have ever motivated me to make the kind of changes that would change my life.
P.S. Experiencing this, "motivational 👮♂️👮😔👨⚖️opportunity," is behind my reasoning for opposing the decriminalizing of drugs; both gateway and the, "harder," varieties, as well as the decriminalizing of so many other crimes that ensnare perpetrators and bring harm victims.
For more on this topics of, "Misguided Inclusiveness," and the true, costs of. "Embracing Lawlessness." Click the blog link below.
When I finally stopped and allowed Jesus to change me. When I sought and accepted correction through His word and through those who followed it in my Celebrate Recovery support group, He empowered me to walk in a new way! A much better way for me and everyone around me! On the day to day level, this was more lifechanging than any of the classes I have ever taken, and even more successful than my back and hip replacement surgeries!
In time I was able to lead others and was asked to lead an anger management group at our church. There I shared what Jesus had done in my life and got opportunities to encourage and challenge others. Over time, I also compiled a manual for forming anger management accountability groups, and for convenience, I put the manual on line to be viewed on our cell phones.
I also have a you-tube channel, and created a (You-Tube Playlist) that auto-plays a series of inspirational talks about understanding and overcoming life challenges and making healthy connections with others. And mixed in, the most important connection, our connection with our one and only, "Higher Power."
And so in closing, May Your Life be Changed as you find the strength and comfort that comes with learning to accept reality.
May you experience genuine fellowship with God and his encouraging followers.
May you experience ever increasing freedom from all addictive behaviors.
And may He extinguish the destructive fires of past and present toxic emotions and replace them with His Peace.
In the Bible, John 14:27 states, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
In the unique satellite video above are portions that describe the Beautiful Blue E ring of Saturn that stands out from the other rings. Some have even described this ring as having,
"The Bluest Blue in the Universe."
This ring was created by the massive volume of steam and water being released from a very unique moon, Enceladus. A volcanic moon with waters above in the form of an ice shell, likely at or above our cumulus cloud level, high over the surface of the waters below.
This ice shell effectively traps most of the heat and moisture from the volcanic activities below the sea bed. Except for the many vents spouting hundreds of miles into space to create the deep blue trail that constantly replenishes the Blue of the E ring at Enceladus' orbit.
This moon has water covering it's inner surface similar to the description of earth as described in Genesis 1:2
... and the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters....
Perhaps the original ice that formed on Enceladus floated directly on her ocean surfaces like the ice sheets here on earth at our poles. But with the creation of a continuous shell that covered the whole sea surface, over time a spherical ice dome formed. This dome has a significant compression strength, much like the strength of a bird's egg or on the half scale, an igloo.
When we consider a spherical ice dome formed with it's compression strength, we realize that this rigid dome of frozen water could also, appear to float, as it remained in gravitational balance even as the buoyancy support from the water below is removed. Removed by the recession of the sea as the water supply below is being vaporized and expelled hundreds of miles into space to create the Beautiful Blue E Ring.
Describing earth, Genesis 1:7 states, "God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse...
If something like this occurred here on earth, the design would have created a global greenhouse effect across our entire planet. A greenhouse of lush plant and animal life that was not dependent on local climate conditions. Leaving a more uniform global biomass like the one we are discovering today, capable of producing vast amounts of methane, like the methane being released from our thawing tundra and glacial ice caps.
Again in, Genesis 2:5... Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth,... but a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface...
Consider the effects of our earth's early biomass that we are just now discovering. A hidden biomass of unknown quantity that is beginning to decay with the changes we are currently seeing.
And below we have a bit more about Enceladus. On her ocean floor, we find water, heat and chemical reactions similar to some very unique places recently found, that support life here on earth. Consider this shorter but very detailed review of what was found on Saturn's Moon Enceladus from NASA.
Perhaps someday, if we send another expedition to this moon we could also search for missing evolutionary links. Like the ones that our scientist's so desperately seek here. Illusive lifeforms, that should greatly outnumber the, "clearly defined kinds," we see based on the logic of evolutionary progress. Intermediates that have eluded discovery for about a century now.
But the more likely outcome will be, either another lifeless environment, or a vast array of unique and amazing, fully formed, functioning creations. Creations that present amazing built in abilities for adaptation and change. Creatures easily grouped into categories that do not loose their original distinctions over time. Creatures organized much like the creatures we find around us on this planet.
Consider the amazing ability of the creatures below to both adapt and maintain their recognizable identities.
But until these suppositions are finally proven, we are stuck.
We can either say we don't know, and admit to our lack of pertinent critical knowledge and the limitations of testable methods needed to form a comprehensive understanding, or we can make professions of faith.
We can profess to a faith in the presuppositions of evolutionary theory ignoring these contradictions and the gaps in evidence. Or we can profess to a faith in a more intentional order like the order we see in the creation account.
And just one more thought about Enceladus...
If our universe is currently billions of years old. Why and how can massive amounts of water still be expelled from hundreds of vents each with plumes extending hundreds of miles into space?
Enough liquid to maintain the Beautiful Blue E Ring of Saturn?
And how long can it possibly continue?
I suppose only God knows.
Waters above and waters below and a dew that covered the whole earth, in the two most likely places for life to occur according to religion and science.
Just some ponderings, hope you enjoyed.🙂
And an update in closing, here are some more interesting discoveries about our Earth's Core, as ocean floor materials are found near it's center, and another video on what the Cassini Probe found and what is planned for expeditions in the near future.
Earth's Core Appears to Be Wrapped in an Unexpected, Ancient Structure
"Analyzing [thousands] of seismic recordings from Antarctica, our high-definition imaging method found thin anomalous zones of material at the CMB everywhere we probed," says geophysicist Edward Garnero from Arizona State University.
"The material's thickness varies from a few kilometers to [tens] of kilometers. This suggests we are seeing mountains on the core, in some places up to five times taller than Mt. Everest."
According to the researchers, these ULVZs are most likely oceanic crust buried over millions of years.
While the sunken crust isn't close to recognized subduction zones on the surface – zones where shifting tectonic plates push the rock down into Earth's interior – simulations reported in the study show how convection currents could have shifted the ancient ocean floor to its current resting place.
It's tricky to make assumptions about rock types and movement based on seismic wave movement, and the researchers aren't ruling out other options. However, the ocean floor hypothesis seems the most likely explanation for these ULVZs right now.
So in pondering...
Could the collapse of an orbiting extra-global ice shell cause portions, each unbelievably huge, possibly even larger than the Pangea Supercontinent to crash into the earth?
Could their crash into the ocean sea floor have enough force to push the skin of the earths crust down into the mantle and even pull the continents toward their current positions?
(Click arrow 2 X to play video)
Stretching/Pulling After Orbital
Ice Sheet Impacts into Ocean Floors
Amazing thought! Most attribute it to a collision that resulted in the creation of the moon.
But would an ice shell crashing event also cause unbelievable extremes in flooding and severe climate change like those described in Biblical accounts? And cooling as the ice melted and swelled the existing seas.
Wouldn't a global change in the earth's climate status from a uniform canopy climate to an open sky weather climate flash freeze and burry the vegetation and animal life in these newly exposed polar areas due to our earth's regional weather extremes, creating the ice caps and the extensive areas of frozen tundra over the once thriving vegetation?
And finally; if this unimaginable flooding event occurred, how could the massive volumes of water recede from the earth's flooded surface? Could it be absorbed into the earth and if so; Where did it go? Consider the model and videos below.
From across the globe there is a vast array of stories that describe a catastrophic flood event. Labeled myths, most describe local affects on specific leaders and losses experienced by specific people groups, or even accounts of specific god personalities and conflicts in their cultures. The following link provides many examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd6I1T9efNo
In contrast, the Biblical faiths, present a global catastrophic event affecting all living thing on the planet. This is reflected in the brief video below.
I hope that you have enjoyed pondering these questions with me.
Although I am not an expert on most of these topics, I take great joy in discovery, and am encourage with questioning, wonder and exploring possibilities. Although very conservative in my life and choices. I am rarely content with blindly accepting narratives or hard information without asking questions. And I encourage you to find delight in doing the same.
Driving in Ireland...
On our travels through Ireland, we set our Garmin to avoid the highways and drove the beautiful country sides. Along the way, we got a surprise! A big tractor on a very narrow road! It had stormed the night before, knocking down a tree, but that day, the weather was beautiful and our rental car was very small. What good fortune we had!
This event on the narrow road reminds me of Jesus’, “#Sermononthemount, where He states, “…NARROW is the road that leads to LIFE and FEW find it,“ even as few could have gotten past that tree and tractor.
In the text, Jesus is using the narrowness term to describe a life of liberty; one that He would make available to His disciples,(disciplined followers). But why use narrow, to describe a broad term like Liberty?
Did you know that this same sermon contains the foundational texts for AA’s #12steps and #CelebrateRecovery’s 8 principles? Over the years, millions of steppers worldwide, can attest to the grace and strength they found when they, “Realized that they are not God,” and surrendered their wills to a, “Higher Power,” who is genuinely trustworthy; whether religious in the traditional sense or not. Through their testimonies, I have heard repeatedly how these steppers appreciate experiencing the kind of freedom and liberty Jesus spoke about!
But have their lives actually become narrow? Have they lost freedom? How can liberty equate with a loss of freedom? I can’t help but think that many equate the term, narrow with, “#narrowminded.” And see them as being, narrow minded? Can realizing that I am not God make me a narrow minded dullard?
But the preceding verse also makes a claim. It states. “BROAD is the gate and WIDE is the ROAD that leads to destruction; and MANY go thereby. Here, I can’t help but think about how broad and wide and destructive that tractor could have been to our car.
So what about this promise? How can becoming narrow, or practicing narrowness broaden our horizons and bring #liberty? At the time, much of Jesus’ sermon challenged the religious people of His day, especially the religious leaders. Does this challenge continue? Why does He say, most people will not seek the liberty He offers? And if not, what will they be seeking?
On another occasion, at the Synagogue, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and He found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, to heal the broken hearted and bring recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord… and He ended with… Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-21)
Jesus declared an ongoing process that would include many positive events. But this would not negate His other claims for those that chose destruction. The liberty that He talks about is not a singular event; it is an ongoing process that transcends the process taking place in the world around us. The common denominator among the steppers that have found freedom is their willingness to see their bondage and desire to be set free. They discovered that their purpose was to be set free to share a message of liberation with others.
Jesus talked about a similar mission stating, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. But many of the listeners became enraged expressing pride in their heritage and traditions stating they had never been slaves to anyone! Still, Jesus continued, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34)
Our liberty comes through God changing our hearts and opening our minds to enable us to understand that we are in bondage. We have all submitted to bondages of vain pride, false power, deceptive lusts and addictive pleasures to name a few. He offers us freedom, but this freedom sets us at odds with what the world around us idolizes.
Before we can become effective in His kingdom we must be set free from our loyalties to His opponents. Where are you in this process?
Many years ago I wrote a workbook that explains some of this process. Originally it was a booklet, then a blog, you can find it at www.morethanmanagement.life
For more writings like this one you can go to, www.seekinghigherbeing.org
For social and political events consider www.thesubwaywalls.com
As you can see, I recently got an opportunity to go for a hot air balloon ride. It was really fun. But it was also surprising.
My expectation was for a few solid hours of casually flying very, very high above the desert terrain with no regard for anything. Not direction or regulations or any of the other practical realities of ballooning. Had we followed this plan to only fly high and fast, who knows where we would have landed or possibly crashed!
Fortunately our balloonist diligently prepared and tediously completed the many tasks of ballooning to give us a safe and enjoyable flight.
Recently while reading through the Bible, I read portions listing other tedious tasks and details listed in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Wow! Not only are there details. There are layers and layers and layers of them often addressing topics I don’t even understand.
Similarly, even though flying a balloon seems simple, the reality is, there are many tedious details. Balloons do not auto-pilot themselves and then self land. There are many steps based on careful attention to observation while simultaneously metering correct responses. I was surprised at how detailed and tedious the task of flying was, but our pilot was well prepared and appeared to enjoy it. He made it look fun.
So why, all of the lists of details in the bible? How do we benefit from understanding these ancient dictates, principles and values in the context of today? What do these ancient texts have to do with our modern lives? And how can they provide direction when our lives seem so different?
Answer: By empowering us to truly accept our present reality! In the same way that a balloonist is empowered to control his craft, when he observes and understands the dynamics of the changing wind currents and temperatures in the sea of air around him.
Empowerment is to become aware enough to competently deal with what is happening NOW in the context of the BIG PICTURE. It needs to happen on a moment by moment basis, and it is hindered by our preoccupations with illusions of control. In reality, we actually control very little. These illusions cause is to ignore our real priorities of spiritual growth and seek relief from minor discomforts like boredom. Illusions cause us to exchange seeking Gods Kingdom with the vain glory of controlling stuff.
The chasm between empowerment and our illusions of control is huge.
Although we have been created in the image of God, and may have even submitted to His Lordship to be empowered by Him to accomplish all that He has planned for us. We are not, “in control.” He is.
When we first boarded the balloon, my wife asked, “How do you control where the balloon will go?” Not liking his answers, she rephrased her question several more times before she realized that even though we were totally, “at the mercy of the wind,” and would only be able to go where the air currents would take us, the balloonist’s knowledge and experience with the air currents and his diligence with his craft gave him a valid confidence in his ability to have a safe and purposeful flight.
What he didn’t say was that he had no actual control over how the wind would direct our flight whatsoever. Although dynamic, the wind moves in mostly predictable patterns. A balloonist is wise to accept and appreciates this. He is also required to be very attentive to what he sees and to frequently bend his will to match the sea of air that directs him. It is his ability to understand and cooperate with these realities that empowers him to succeed.
Understanding this difference between vain imagining and reality is the key to benefiting from the writing of the text in these ancient books. Although we are not presently walking through a desert receiving a daily miraculous provision of food from God, or needing instructions in how to carry out a theocratic form of martial law, we are still dependent on this same God.
King David wrote about the difficulties we may create when our expectations do not match the realities of life around us.
In Psalm 78: 17-24 He wrote about the amazing good fortune provided by God to His people and their unwillingness to come closer and to be empowered by it. They were caught in the trap of rejecting anything out of their control, including the God that saved them.
“But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they ‘spoke against God: They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold He struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Can he give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?
Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; His anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and He rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.”
But the wind is impersonal and our God is not.
There is also a big difference between being, “at the mercy of ,” any overwhelming power source and being “empowered by it.” Empowerment is a form of, directive control.
This difference is greatly multiplied when the source of the empowerment comes through a relationship. The dynamic of this benefit is often multiplied to multiple generations and even cultures when it is relational. Consider the case of a father empowering a son or daughter to start a business, or a king commanding an army to come to the rescue of a city. Or of God bringing forth a nation through His promise made to their forefathers.
But why all the details in the bible?
It is very common to feel bogged down and discouraged when we face seemingly endless details. We may dread, and seek to avoid them. We may discount their importance and ignore them, or see them as too tedious and give up. We can become frustrated, especially when we don’t understand or feel there is a reason behind them. We may feel that they don’t relate to any of our interests, plans or goals and resent how they consume our days. Left to ourselves, unaided by an awareness of the bigger picture, we can easily become angry and resentful and reject this God that robs us of our time and our sense of control.
Saul, renamed Paul, the student of Rabbi Gamaliel wrote, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the Red Sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did and were bitten by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the end of the age is come.
The balloonist’s careful attention to the dynamics of the changing wind currents and temperature at different altitudes helped him direct his craft to its planned destination. In like manner, May we also become truly attentive to study and appreciate the processes that were used to demonstrate honor and order, respect and loving kindness, mercy and power and majesty in honor of our great and awesome God! And may we become empowered to both see and understand and do His will here on earth even as it is done in heaven.
Below is the hot air balloon ride we took!
Above and Beyond ! FINDING INSPIRATION in a Hot Air Balloon!
The following playlist is from the Church we attended in Arizona, a series of sermons on the Prophet Daniel. I found it very informative and very sobering. I would title it, "Even when it looks like God has left us... God is in full control. Hear it at;
