Welcome to Day 1506 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

A Family of Imagers – Worldview Wednesday

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1506 of our Trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is essential to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical Worldview, you must have a proper understanding of God and His Word. This week, on our Worldview Wednesday episode, we will continue our study based on a course I recently completed taught by Dr. Michael Heiser. Our study is titled “Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny” Throughout this multi-week course, we will demonstrate that, in the Old Testament, “sons of God” and “holy ones” refers to supernatural beings whose Father is God and who work with God to carry out His will and that this divine family was present before humanity. By fully engaging with biblical texts such as Psalm 82; Psalm 89, and Deuteronomy 32:8–9, our study will show that this divine family functions as a template for God’s human family. God desires of humans, as His imagers, to participate in His council. This study addresses issues such as polytheism, the nature of the (little ‘g’) “gods,” and Yahweh’s uniqueness. This study will apply insights to the New Testament texts and show how the metaphor of being in God’s family informs our sense of identity and mission as believers.

A Family of Imagers

·      Segment 28: Believers as Family, Participants – 2

Introduction 1 John 3

1 John 3:1-2 is perhaps the key passage to tying these ideas together, and I’ve alluded to it several times already. John writes, See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 

Grafted Back into the Family

Now, in one sense, every human being is a child of God. Paul alludes to that in his sermon in Acts 17. God is our common creator. We understand that, but John is talking about something different here, especially post-fall.

Family Means Participation

We have to be grafted back into the family, and the family, of course, includes this idea of participation, being in concert with God’s will, and helping God carry out His will. It’s a different kind of relationship, but I think the kind of things we’ve been talking about here helps us understand John’s language instead of what Paul says in Acts 17 a little bit. Because unless you’re a believer, you’re not going to be able to be working in concert with God—again carrying out His will, participating in His program. That was the original intent. It wasn’t just to have humans there on earth back in Genesis 1. As soon as God created us, the idea was to be with Him. We were to be united with Him and His blended family. His divine family that already existed, and together with His earthly family to be in this place where heaven had come to earth. Heaven intersects with the earth in Eden to overspread even across the planet to be working as one, one unit, one business—whatever metaphor helps here—to be working together toward a common goal. 

Jesus Restores Relationships

That’s not possible when people are estranged from God, so Jesus brings us back into this relationship. We are, even in a greater sense, in the initially intended purpose, we are siblings; we are coworkers. John says this is what we are now. Those of us who are believers, but even more so, we will be even transcending that which we experience now.

Already/Not Yet

So we’re in this already/not yet sort of mode that many other things in biblical theology are when it comes to the believer. We get a foretaste of what things were intended to be and, ultimately, what they will be. Of course, in the ultimate sense, we are united to Christ. We will be living with Him back in a kingdom in a new earth, a new Eden, a global Eden. Everything will come full circle. So again, the Old Testament context helps us to grasp this a little bit.

Authority to Be Children of God

John also wrote in his Gospel, in John 1:12, But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. We have the authority to take this title. It’s more than, “Oh, I just exist. I’m a human being. God made me. So, therefore, I’m a child of God.” No, this is something different. This is being brought back into the family to accomplish the original mandate and work with Jesus side by side, as it were, to be His spiritual sibling, His co-laborer sibling, not just the fact that we exist. So this language, to be correctly understood, needs to be read in the context of Genesis 1. God’s original intention in creating human imagers to align with His non-human imagers in this place where heaven met earth.

Addressing Rebellion at Babel

In 2 Peter 1:4, Peter comments that believers share His divine nature: And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. We’re already in that category, according to Peter. But again, we’re progressively being transformed into the image of His Son, as Paul says. We’re becoming more like the ultimate imager, and ultimately, that process will reach its climax in glorification. In John 11:51-52, Caiaphas’s prophecy, his sort of accidental prophecy, was about Jesus. He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time, he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

Now, this is important, especially if you’re thinking like a Jew. This language would force you to go back to your Old Testament and do some thinking. If you were a Jew who had accepted Christ as the Messiah and as the savior, His work was not just for the nation of Israel only, but it was so that everyone, all who believe, regardless of where they are at, scattered among the nations, would be gathered into one as one family of the children of God.

This is sort of a rolling back not only of the Eden problem, the fall, the estrangement from God in general, but it’s also a rolling back of what had resulted because of the rebellion at Babel when the nations are divided and allotted to lesser sons of God. This Son of God, the “unique” Son of God, the monogenēs Son of God, because He became incarnate and died on the cross, part of that mission was to erase these distinctions, to bring the nations back into the fold. Jesus is the seed that Paul talked about, referencing Genesis 12, that through the seed of Abraham, all of the nations would be blessed.

Inheriting Eden

All these ideas are important; they are threads or part of a matrix of ideas with deep roots in the Old Testament. Romans 8:16-17, we read this: For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Our status isn’t just that we believe, and now we’re going to have eternal life. That’s true, but this inheritance language is essential. What are we inheriting? We’re inheriting what God originally intended for us: a global Eden, new earth. Read in the context of the Old Testament. This is just another example of where God looks at believers differently. We had been estranged because of rebellion, because of the fall. He looks at us now as family members. Everything has come full circle once more.

The passages that we reviewed today are the clear passages. There are a few other things that we read in the New Testament that make subtle connections between Jesus, believers, the supernatural family of God, this thing we’ve called the “divine council” within Psalm 82, and the rule of Eden, again, the original plan. We want to look at a few of the less apparent passages next week on our Worldview Wednesday episode.^[1]

That will finish our study for this week’s Worldview Wednesday. Next week we will cover part 2 of “Believers as Family, Participants.”  Tomorrow we will enjoy our 3-minute Humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer, which will help you to lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’If you would like to listen to any of our past 1505 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most of all, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you Tomorrow!

^[1] Heiser, M. S. (2019). Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Welcome to Day 1504 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Bible Study – Book Order and Hebrew Text – Meditation Monday

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1504 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind. 

We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our current insights are focusing on what the Bible is. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – Book Order and Hebrew Text

·      Insight Thirty-One: The Books in Your Bible Are Not in Chronological Order

Have you ever wondered how historians know when things in the ancient world happened? How can we say with great confidence that some event occurred 1,000 years before Christ (BC)? How- do we know with precision when the events of the life of Jesus and the early Church transpired?

Ancient chronology is a fascinating subject. It’s also amazingly complex since it deals with ancient lists of the reigns of kings that have survived from antiquity and with ancient astronomical observations and their recording. You don’t need to devote yourself to understanding how all these things are known to study the Bible. But it’s pretty important you know the when.

The books in your Bible were not chronologically arranged. Ezekiel was not written after Jeremiah. Paul’s epistles were not written in the order they’re listed in the New Testament. Even books like 1-2 Samuel can be chronologically misleading. Samuel was the last of Israel’s judges, right before the first king, Saul, came along.Consequently, 1-2 Samuel’s content overlaps Samuel’s life and a time that followed the Torah, Joshua, and Judges’ events. But the content of a book doesn’t tell us when a book was written. The fact that 1-2 Samuel never claims to have been written by Samuel adds to the chronological uncertainty.

Scholars have done their best to determine when the books of the Bible were written, but there’s a lot of disagreement. Yet the effort is worth it because knowing when a book was written is essential for developing theological ideas.

For example, what Paul says about faith and works in Galatians (perhaps his earliest epistle) sounds a bit different than it does in Romans. Paul’s comments are specific to events in Galatians, whereas Romans reflects a fuller treatment of the issue, one that benefits from years of preaching and addressing the issue in churches.

Another reason to know when a book was written is that it provides a glimpse of the writer’s world. Knowing that the Egyptians wrote about the invasion of the Sea Peoples (from whom the Philistines derive) along the Canaan coast helps us put certain references to the Philistines in the Old Testament in context.

Fortunately, this sort of information is available in reference works and good commentaries. Taking time to get your chronological bearings helps interpretation.

·      Insight Thirty-Two: The Traditional Hebrew Text of The Old Testament Did Not Fall From Heaven

I’ve already talked a little about how God did not specially create Greek for the New Testament. That myth was popular before the late nineteenth century, and it remains influential to this day. A similar myth claims that the traditional Hebrew Old Testament (the Masoretic text) deserves special sacred status. It doesn’t, and being influenced by that idea can hinder your Bible study.

Several tools can help English readers with the original languages. Other tools guide English readers to what various manuscripts say that might diverge from something in their translation. Manuscript copies of the Hebrew Old Testament have slight variations, none of which affect central doctrines, and Bible translations will sometimes note these small wording changes. If you think the traditional Hebrew text is sacrosanct, these tools won’t help you.

The myth claims that the Hebrew text hasn’t changed since its original composition—that the ancient Jewish scribes, the Masoretes, didn’t change a letter. The Dead Sea scrolls are often rolled out to make this argument. But it’s a myth, and the scrolls themselves demonstrate that.

The problem with the myth is that the work of the Masoretes only began around AD 100, when the Jewish religious authorities standardized the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). There were various manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible in existence before that time. The most important one is the text from which the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was created. The Septuagint was very popular with early Christians and, naturally, with the writers of the New Testament. It was popular because it was a Greek translation. However, the Hebrew text from which the Septuagint was translated and the text known today as the Masoretic text differs in some ways.

The rabbis wanted a standardized text for their community. So in AD 100, they took the existing texts and used them to produce a single text that would be copied down from that point on. That’s the Masoretic text. The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve differences from other texts. Those other texts are where many of the marginal notes in your study Bible come from.

My point is this: don’t be afraid to seriously entertain an alternative textual reading in your Bible’s footnotes. You might be returning to the original reading.

Joshua 1:8

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

That is a wrap for today’s Meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’  If you would like to listen to any of the past 1503 daily treks or read the daily Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and Journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow!

Welcome to Day 1503 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. 

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Crafting A Futuristic Mindset – Ask Gramps

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1503 of our Trek, and our focus on Fridays is the future technological and societal advances, so we call it Futuristic Fridays. My personality is one that has always been very future-oriented. Since my childhood, I have yearned for the exploration and discovery of new technologies and advancements for the future. I grew up with the original Star Trek series, and even today, as I am now on my 65^th revolution around the sun, I still dream of traveling in space. Each week we will explore rapidly converging technologies and advancements, which will radically change our lives. At times, the topics may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but each area that we explore is already well on its way of becoming a reality over the next couple of decades.

To keep with our theme of “Ask Gramps,” I will put our weekly topics in the form of a question to get us on track. This week’s question is, Hey Gramps, how can I create and maintain a mindset that is future-oriented while staying focused on what is essential for today? 

Crafting a Futuristic Mindset

Last week we focused on turning Sick Care into Well Care. This week let us look at what it takes to be future-oriented while maintaining a focus on what is essential today. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”

While business and material success is not the most important determining factor of overall success, it is an indicator of a focused life. So let me ask you a question. What made Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk succeed? Was it their technology or their mindset?

Personally, I think mindset is an entrepreneur’s most critical asset. Yet few of us ever take the time to craft it — to purposefully select and sharpen the mindset(s) we desire.

Your mindset is the filter through which you see the world. It determines how you spend your time, what decisions you make, and where you invest your resources.

I’ve been asked whether I’ve always had an Abundance mindset and an Exponential mindset over the years. The answer is yes, and no. They are both mindsets that are part of my personality, but I’ve crafted and honed my mindset progressively over the past 40+ years.

So how do you craft and reinforce a mindset? Which mindsets are the most exciting for me? These are the questions we will explore today.

Let’s dive in…

HOW MINDSETS WORK…

Before choosing which mindset(s) to focus on, it helps to understand how mindsets work.

Here’s an analogy: if you’ve been following Artificial Intelligence developments, you know that we can train neural nets to do image recognition. The challenge with these neural nets is that they’re only as good as the data you feed them.

For example, if you show the neural nets thousands of pictures of cats and show them a picture of a dog, the algorithm will tell you that the dog is actually a cat. It doesn’t know any better.

The same is true for our brains, which are also a type of neural net. If you continuously feed your mind with negative perspectives, your outlook will be negative. You won’t know any better. So my question to you is, how are you training your neural net?

Most of us don’t realize that we’re doing this training. It operates in the background. For example, you train your mind constantly through social media echo chambers or our daily news intake of CNN (Crisis News Network), Fox, or any of the mainstream media outlets.

Taking an active approach to understanding and crafting mindsets is crucial for me, and I’ve made it the fundamental underpinning of my daily life. So, what shapes your mindset? What are the things that have you trapped thinking the way you do? What would you need to change?

CRAFTING YOUR MINDSET…

The two key inputs that shape our mindsets are: the people we spend time with and the media we consume.

Your life is significantly impacted by those who you go through life with. There’s an old saying in business that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you want to be physically fit, hang out with friends who exercise.

If you want to think big and aspire to change the world, hang out with people who have a vision and a massively transformative purpose (MTP).

As it used to be said of computers, Garbage in, garbage out. Just as you are the average of the five people you spend most, the same is valid for ideas.

The news and media we consume are data that we allow to flow into our brains. That is to say, our neural nets. What is your news diet? What kind of movies or documentaries are you watching? What books, blogs, or podcasts are you consuming? Does your daily media intake consist of time studying God’s Word?

Do these inputs reinforce the mindsets you want? Or do they reinforce mindsets you’re trying to avoid?

As an independent thinker and an entrepreneur, answering these questions is a critical part of your journey to succeed during this exponential change era.

The next step on that journey is choosing the mindset(s) that works best for you.

 SELECTING YOUR MINDSET…

There are MANY mindsets you can choose from. Below there are six specific future-oriented mindsets that I find most powerful and essential to hone during this era of exponential growth.

1. Abundance Mindset: You have clarity, evidence, and conviction that technology is dematerializing, demonetizing, and democratizing products and services, creating increasing abundance on a global scale.
2. Exponential Mindset: You understand that computation and derivative technologies (AI, VR, 3D Printing, etc.) are growing exponentially. Thirty doublings drive a billion-fold improvement that the human (linear) mind finds difficult to grasp.
3. Longevity Mindset: You are focused on maximizing your health span, tracking the biotech breakthroughs able to add 20 to 30 healthy years onto your life, and making “100 years old the new 60.” You seek key insights and early access.
4. Moonshot Mindset: You understand that most people are focused on incremental (10%) growth, but you seek 10x Moonshot growth. You desire tools and techniques that enable you to select and implement your Moonshots.
5. Purpose/Passion-driven Mindset: You seek to find, refine, or update your massively transformative purpose (MTP), which allows you to live a passion-driven life. You seek tools and a community to amplify and support your MTP.
6. Gratitude Mindset: You recognize how providential blessed you are personally and professionally, and you take the time to acknowledge your blessings to God and others. With this in mind, you have created routines in your day that allow you to reflect on this. As a result of your gratitude, you share your abundance with those in your life in a way that brings you joy and uplifts those around you.

What mindsets do you choose? Can you imagine the benefits of having an Exponential and Abundance Mindset? Would it help flip the way you see things? Instead of seeing a problem, can you see an opportunity? Remember that the world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s most significant opportunities.

As Christ-followers, we must live in a manner that reflects a rich and satisfying life. We must minimize the harmful intake and maximize that, which is good. We must control our minds so that they are both future-oriented while staying focused on the positive impact that we can have on others today. Here are a couple of verses that will help you with your mindset.

Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

1 Peter 1:13

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday as we look at another exciting exponential technology area on our ‘Ask Gramps’ episode. Our next trek is Meditation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of the past 1502 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, but most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday!