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Day 1522 – A Frog’s Tale – Humor Unplugged

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Welcome to Day 1522 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

A Frog’s Tale – Humor Unplugged

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 1522 of our Trek, and time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. Something to cheer you and give a bit a levity in your life. We are told in Proverbs 15:30  A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health. We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled:

A Frog’s Tale

Mr. Frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patty Whack.

“Miss Whack, I’d like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday.”

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says, “my name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and it’s okay to borrow that amount of money because John Smith, the bank manager, and I are good friends.”

Patty explains, “Well, Mr. Frog, we will need to secure the loan with some collateral.”

Mr. Frog says, “Sure, I understand; I have this delicate, scarce tiny porcelain elephant, as you can see, is about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.”

Very confused, Patty explains, “I will have to consult with Mr. Smith, the bank manager,” and then she disappears into a back office.

She finds Mr. Smith and says, “There’s a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral.” She holds up the tiny pink elephant. “I mean, what in the world is this?”

Mr. Smith looks at the tiny elephant and hands it back to Patty, and says, “It’s a knick-knack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone.”

(Come on and admit it, you sang it, didn’t you? Yeah, I know you did.)

I hope that brought a smile to your face today. If it did pass your smile onto some else, we all could use a kind smile each day. Our Thursday thought is, “A knick-knack is a thing that sits on top of a whatnot.”

Here is our verse for today:

Matthew 6:19-20

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.

Just as you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please 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 our past 1521 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are all 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 each day.

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 for Futuristic Friday!

Day 1521 – The Unseen Realm: God and the Gods – Worldview Wednesday

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Welcome to Day 1521 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Unseen Realm: God and the gods – 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 1521 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, we will expand on the past course work as we continue reviewing the book from Dr. Michael S Heiser titled “Supernatural.” The book is an abbreviated version of his more comprehensive book, “The Unseen Realm.” I highly recommend one or both of these books. Creating a Biblical Worldview based on how the Old and New Testaments connect with God’s overall plan for humanity is essential. This book review will help us understand what the Bible teaches about the unseen world, and why it matters.

The Unseen Realm: God and the Gods

People are fascinated by the supernatural and the superhuman. Just think about the entertainment industry in recent years. Thousands of books, television shows, and movies have been about angels, aliens, monsters, demons, ghosts, witches, magic, vampires, werewolves, and superheroes in the past decade. Many of Hollywood’s blockbuster franchises feature the supernatural: the X-Men, the Avengers, the Harry Potter series, Superman, and the Twilight saga. Television shows like Fringe and, of course, Supernatural and X-Files have dedicated followings even long after filming new episodes end. Haven’t these things always been popular—in tales, in books, in art? Why?

One answer is that they’re an escape from the ordinary. They offer us a world that’s more interesting and exciting than our own. There’s something about good versus evil, magnified on a cosmic scale, that thrills us. The epic struggle by the heroes of Middle Earth (Gandalf, Frodo, and company) against the Dark Lord Sauron in The Lord of the Rings trilogy has captivated readers (and now movie-goers) for over a half-century now. The more otherworldly the villain, the more spectacular the triumph.

On another level, people are drawn to other worlds because, as the book of Ecclesiastes 3:11 puts it, Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.  There’s something about the human condition that longs for something beyond human experience—something divine. The apostle Paul wrote about this yearning too. He taught that it comes from just being alive in the world God has made. The creation bears witness to a creator, and therefore to a realm beyond our own (Roman 1:18–23). In verse 18, Paul said the impulse to know more about God was so powerful that the wicked willfully suppressed that knowledge.

Yet we don’t seem to think of the epic story of the Bible in the same way we think of our own tales of the supernatural in books, movies, and legend. There are reasons for that, and they go beyond the lack of special effects. For some, the Bible’s characters are too ordinary or grandfatherly. They don’t feel dynamic or heroic. After all, these are the same people and the same stories we’ve heard since Sunday school as kids. Then there’s the cultural barrier. It’s hard for us to identify with what seems like an endless parade of ancient shepherds and men wearing robes, like so many actors in your church’s nativity play.

I think an even more significant factor in why science fiction or supernatural fantasy captures our imagination more easily is how we’ve been taught to think about the unseen world of the Bible. What I’ve heard in church over the years doesn’t just miss the boat—it makes the supernatural boring. Even worse, the church’s teaching emasculates the unseen, supernatural world, rendering it powerless.

Many Christians imagine what is true about the unseen world isn’t. Angels don’t have wings. (Cherubim don’t count because they are never called angels and are creaturely. Angels are always in human form.) Demons don’t sport horns and a tail, and they aren’t here to make us sin (we do that just fine on our own). While the Bible describes demonic possession in rightfully awful ways, intelligent evil has more sinister things to do than make sock puppets out of people. On top of that, angels and demons are minor players. Church never seems to get to the big boys and their agenda.

The Gods Are Real

I asked you last week if you really believe what the Bible says. Consider this a pop quiz. The Bible says God has a task force of divine beings who carry out his decisions. It’s referred to as God’s assembly, council, or court (Psalm 89:5–7; Daniel 7:10). One of the most explicit verses about it is Psalm 82:1. The Good News Translation puts it well: “God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods, he gives his decision.”

If you think about it, that’s a startling verse! It certainly made me ponder when I understood it. What the verse means is what it plainly and simply says. Like any verse, Psalm 82:1 has to be understood in the context of what else the Bible says. In this case, what it says about the gods and how that term should be defined.

The original Hebrew word translated “gods” is elohim. Many of us have thought of elohim for so long in just one single sense, as one of the names of God the Father. It may be hard for us to think of it in its broader meaning. The word refers to any inhabitant of the unseen spiritual world. That’s why you’ll find it used of God himself (Genesis 1:1), of demons (Deuteronomy 32:17), and the human dead in the afterlife (1 Samuel 28:13). Within the Bible, any disembodied being whose home address is the spirit world is an elohim.

The Hebrew term doesn’t refer to a specific set of abilities only God has. The Bible distinguishes God from all other gods in other ways, not by using the word elohim. For instance, the Bible commands the gods to worship the God of the Bible (Psalm 29:1). He is their creator and king (Psalm. 95:3; 148:1-5).

Psalm 89:6-7 says,

For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?

What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?

The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.

He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.

Other similar passages are 1 Kings 8:23; Psalm. 97:9; Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:2 . The Bible writers are pretty blunt about the God of Israel having no equal—he is the “God of gods.”

These beings in the “council of the holy ones” are real. Last week I quoted a passage in which God met with his heavenly host to decide how to get rid of King Ahab. In that passage, the members of this divine group were called spirits. Suppose we believe the spirit world is real and is inhabited by God and by spiritual beings he has created (such as angels). In that case, we have to admit that God’s supernatural task force, described in the verses I’ve quoted above and many others, is also real. Otherwise, we pay mere lip service to spiritual reality.

Since the Bible identifies these divine council members as spirits, we know the gods aren’t just idols of stone or wood. Statues don’t work for God in a heavenly council. People in the ancient world who worshipped the rival gods did indeed make idols. They knew the idols they made with their own hands weren’t the real powers. Those handcrafted idols were just objects their gods could inhabit to receive sacrifices and dispense knowledge to their followers, who performed rituals to solicit the gods to come to them and take up residence in the idol.

Council Structure and Business

Psalm 82:6 is very clear about the other heavenly inhabitants; I say, ‘You are gods;

you are all children of the Most High.’ The “sons of God” appear several times in the Bible, usually in God’s presence (Job 1:6; 2:1). Job 38:7 tells us they were around before God began to fashion the earth and create humanity.

That is very interesting. God calls these spiritual beings his sons. Since he created them, the “family” language makes sense, in the same way, you refer to your offspring as your son or daughter because you participated in their creation. Besides being their Father, God is also their king. In the ancient world, kings often ruled through their extended families. Kingship was passed on to heirs. Dominion was a family business. God is Lord of his council. His sons have the next highest rank by virtue of their relationship with him. As we’ll discuss throughout this book review, something happened—some of them became disloyal.

The sons of God are also decision-makers. We know from 1 Kings 22 (and many other passages) that God’s business involved interacting with human history. When God decided it was time for wicked Ahab to die, he left it up to his council to determine how that would happen.

The divine council meetings in Psalm 82 and 1 Kings 22 are not the only ones related to us in the Bible. A couple of them determined the fate of empires.

In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was punished by God with temporary insanity. That sentence was handed down by “the decree of the Most High” (Daniel 4:24) and “the decree of the watchers” (Daniel 4:17). Watchers was a term used for divine beings of God’s council. It referred to how they were ever watchful over the affairs of humanity; they never slept.

These biblical scenes of divine council sessions tell us God’s council members participate in God’s rule. In at least some cases, God decrees what he wants to be done but gives his supernatural agents the freedom to decide the means.

Angels participate in God’s council as well. In the Bible’s original languages, the terms translated angel in the Old and New Testaments mean messenger. The word angel is a job description. Angels deliver messages to people. We’ll learn more about angels and their duties, ‌as well as the other responsibilities of God’s council members‌ in subsequent weeks.

Why This Matters

Your reaction to everything which we have reviewed in this book up to this point may be something like, “Fascinating stuff—I’ve never seen that in the Bible before.” “What implications does all this information have, if any at all, for our daily life and the way the church functions?” The answer is, the truths presented in this book review have everything to do with our understanding of who God is, and how we relate to him, and what our purpose is on earth. To help clarify that, I’ll conclude each week with a section like this one that unpacks the practical implications of that week’s truths.

This week, we’ve discussed how the Bible describes God’s cosmic administration and what insights those descriptions give us into God, and, ultimately, how God relates to us.

First, God’s heavenly family business is a template for how he relates to his earthly family. We’ll discuss that further in the next week, but here’s an example: You might have been wondering why God needs a council anyway. God shouldn’t need help doing anything, even in the spiritual world. He’s God! The Bible is clear that he uses lesser beings to get things done.

He doesn’t need a divine council, but he chooses to make use of one. God doesn’t need us either. If he decided, God could speak out loud to all the people who need the gospel, give everyone all the encouragement they need to turn to Him, and call it good. God could persuade people to love others by putting his voice into their heads. But he doesn’t. Instead, he uses people—you and me—to get the job done.

Second, God could predetermine events to make everything turn out the way he wants. But he doesn’t. In King Ahab’s story, God let his heavenly assistants decide how to carry out his will. In other words, he let them use their free will. That tells us that not everything is predetermined. That’s true not only in the unseen world; it’s also true in our world.

In the Bible, the unseen world has structure. God is the CEO. Those who work for him are his family. They share dominion. They participate in how the company runs.

Amazingly enough, the Bible talks the same way about humanity. From the very beginning in Eden, God created humanity to rule the earth with him. God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28; Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Adam and Eve were the children of God—God’s earthly family. God wanted to live with them and let them participate in making the whole world like Eden.

That’s a familiar concept to most readers. What isn’t so apparent is that Adam and Eve weren’t the only members of God’s family in Eden. His divine family was also there. Eden was where God lived—and where God lives, so does his family. We think of heaven as a place where we’ll live with God and his angels—his divine family. That’s the way it was originally intended to be, and the way it will be. It’s no coincidence that the Bible ends with heaven come back to earth in a new, global Eden (Revelations 21–22).

To understand our destiny, we need to go back to the time when God’s two families occupied the same space. We need to go back to the garden.[1]

That will finish our study for this week’s Worldview Wednesday. Join us again next week as we continue building our Biblical Worldview. 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 1520 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. (2015). Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters. (D. Lambert, Ed.) (pp. 21–25). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Day 1520 – No Darkness, Loneliness, or Abandonment – Wisdom Unplugged

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Welcome to Day 1520 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

No Darkness, Loneliness, or Abandonment – Wisdom Unplugged

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 1520 of our Trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little bit of additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from  Charles Kingsley, and it is:     It is not darkness you are going to, for God is light. It is not lonely, for Christ is with you. It is not an unknown country, for Christ is there.   

No Darkness, Loneliness, or Abandonment

During times like we face throughout the entire world with the pandemic, unrest, and polarization between people, we may feel that we are shrouded in darkness, in loneliness, and that the world is a bit unstable. From a purely humanistic perspective, there is some truth to this. As a Christ-follower, we have no reason to feel in this manner. First, we are part of God’s kingdom which will last forever. We do not need to depend on earthly government structures for our security. We are sojourners in this world, as citizens of an eternal dwelling. We do not need to feel lonely, because we are one with Christ who promises never to leave us or forsake us. We don’t need to be shrouded in this world’s darkness because God has created all the lights of heaven, illuminating our hearts.

James 1:17

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Hebrews 13:5

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:14

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 11,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, 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 our past 1519 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 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 each day.

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 for Worldview Wednesday!

Day 1519 – Bible Study – Prayer and Plausible Interpretation – Meditation Monday

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Welcome to Day 1519 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Bible Study – Prayer and Plausible Interpretation – 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 1519 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 accurately interpreting the Bible. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – Prayer and Plausible Interpretation

·      Insight Thirty-Seven: Prayer Doesn’t Guarantee Your Interpretation Is Accurate

God is not a vending machine. He is not the genie of all genies, in covenant with his people to grant their every wish. No mature Christian, of course, would ever think of God in such terms. We know that God does not always give us what we ask for in prayer. We trust that God has good reasons for such denials. Paul asked the Lord to rid him of the mysterious “thorn in the flesh” three times, but the answer was no (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Even Jesus was refused when he asked God to deliver him from death on the cross if it was God’s will.

Upon reflection, this pill isn’t so hard to swallow. Perhaps the thing we so desperately want wouldn’t be good for us. Perhaps our motives aren’t entirely upright. Even if they are, maybe God has something better planned. These reasons are hard to fathom, though, when we ask God to illuminate our mind to understand Scripture. Why wouldn’t God want that?

Of course, God wants us to understand the Bible rightly. He desires our understanding as he expects us to kindly treat our spouse, tell someone the gospel, or meet someone’s emotional or financial need when it’s in our power to do so (Proverbs 3:27). But all of these spiritual endeavors depend in part upon our own will, discernment, and ability. Bible study is no exception.

This is transparently obvious when you think about it. We know from their writings that Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley prayed that they would adequately understand Scripture and believed God had answered that prayer. Yet these famous theologians came to dramatically different conclusions on many topics and in many passages. For example, John Calvin is renowned for his insistence that the salvation of individual believers was predestinated, an idea Wesley rejected. Luther’s judgment that James’s book didn’t belong in the New Testament would have drawn objections from the rest of these theologians. While it’s certainly appropriate to ask God to guide our study, it’s our responsibility to develop skill and experience in studying Scripture. Prayer is no cover for either meager effort or failure to address our own inadequacies as students. Most Bible students accept that until they’re in the heat of a theological joust or feel the urge to explain why their church is better than someone else’s. Resist the temptation to believe that you prayed yourself correct or to say to yourself, “but for answered prayer, I might be mistaken.” Hone your skills and ask God to help you do the best you can.

·      Insight Thirty-Eight: All Interpretations Are Not Equally Plausible

As a Hebrew Bible scholar with many years of in-depth study, Dr. Heiser shares this somewhat humorous story. “It’s time for a confession. I’m lethal to small group Bible studies. Honestly, I don’t try to be. I don’t sit there waiting to pounce on a defective interpretation. I pray for invisibility. Trust me; I’m not opposed to “normal folks” sharing their impressions about something they’ve read in the Bible. Scholars don’t own that space. It does my heart good to see people engaged over Scripture, even if I know their conclusions are wide of the mark. But sooner or later, somebody (usually my wife) notices I’m there and asks me what I think. Oh well. There’s always another small group.”

Dr. Heiser continues, “Offering my two cents is uncomfortable because I can’t bring myself to be dishonest about Scripture. As a biblical scholar, I realize that the scriptural standard for truthfulness doesn’t eliminate tact or compel exhaustive critique in this situation. But every effort at diplomacy seems to end in spilling the beans that not all interpretations are equally plausible. Whether others let on or not, I instinctively know that something I’ve said just consigned one or more viewpoints to the dustbin of defectiveness.”

We’re all wrong at some point in our understanding of Scripture. It’s unavoidable. Yet I’ve seen this indisputable truth produce disconcerting responses. For example, some people get defensive. They cherish their viewpoint so much that it distorts clear thinking. Some people presume that since no human knows everything, any idea that exists is possible. Not true. The word “possible” is necessarily held in check by the word “plausible.” They are not interchangeable. It strokes our ego to think we can do or be anything and that all our thoughts deserve careful consideration, but the truth is that we can’t, and they don’t. Yes. I suppose it’s “possible” that I could be an NFL quarterback next year. The year after that, it’s “possible” that I’ll win a Grammy for my debut rap album. But these possibilities are so absurd that they are not at all plausible.

Many people get discouraged if they’re mistaken. This is more common. Don’t let the inescapable reality of imperfection paralyze you from studying the Bible. As the saying goes (most often attributed to Voltaire), “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Good but imperfect Bible study is better than no Bible study. God doesn’t expect perfection in our study of Scripture. He expects perseverance.

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 1518 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!

Day 1518 – Crafting a Futuristic Exponential Mindset – Ask Gramps

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Welcome to Day 1518 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. 

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Crafting a Futuristic Exponential 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 1518 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 65th 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 to 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, another type of mindset you mentioned a couple of weeks ago is an exponential mindset. What is an exponential mindset, and how can I craft an exponential mindset? 

Crafting a Futuristic Exponential Mindset

Last week I explored some data that will back up why we should have a Futuristic Abundance Mindset. This week we will look at how to have an exponential mindset. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”

Do you have an Exponential Mindset? What is an Exponential Mindset?

That’s our conversation today…

We’ll discuss the advantages of having an Exponential Mindset and how it can benefit your business and life.

Our brains, the 100 billion neurons, and 100 trillion synaptic connections that shape everything we think and do. God created us as His masterpiece. As we read in Psalm 139:14, Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

For all of civilization, we are primarily “local and linear.” That is to say, we think locally and linearly. We are linear thinkers.

So, here’s an experiment. I will ask you a question, and then you can try with your kids or grandkids.

Choose between the following:

Option #1: I give you $1 per day for the next 30 days;

Or

Option #2: I give you a penny on the first day, two cents on the second day, four cents on the third day, eight cents on the fourth day, and continue to double it each day for 30 days.

 Ok – within 10 seconds, choose.

Obviously, option #1 nets you $30… easy to predict, the definition of linear.

But option #2, where we are doubling – that is to say, growing exponentially, goes from deceptive to disruptive.

After the first five days (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 cents) net you just 31 cents — it’s deceptively dismal.

But after 30 doublings, the situation gets disruptive… now we’ve increased the payout that will quickly reach a billionfold…

So if you, your kids, or grandkids choose option #2, they would end up with a payout of $10,737,418.24 in 30 days and $171,798,691.84 in 34 days!

That’s the promise and power of exponential growth!

One of our biggest challenges as entrepreneurs is to train our brains to think exponentially.

This isn’t easy to do. But it’s necessary if we want to accomplish big and bold things, and empower ourselves with the tools required to have a massive impact on the world.

Let’s dive in …

An Exponential Mindset is 1 of the six critical Mindsets for a leader and entrepreneur to develop and firmly command actively.

So, what are the benefits of an Exponential Mindset? And how do you develop one?

Here is a summary of WHY you should desire and develop an Exponential Mindset:

5 BENEFITS OF AN EXPONENTIAL MINDSET…

(1) You understand the power of exponential growth. While our brains are linear, you understand that our technology’s power is doubling every 18 months. You know the power of exponential doublings:

  • 10 doublings = ~1,000x growth…
  • 20 doublings = ~1,000,000x growth…
  • 30 doublings = ~1,000,000,000x growth…

(2) You use the “6 Ds” as a “roadmap” to predict the future of your business. You seek to digitize your products & services:

  • Digitized: You digitize your product & services… make them into “1s and 0s.” Convert as much information as possible to electronic media.
  • Deceptive: You understand that in the beginning, the impact is deceptive… the doubling of small numbers (0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08…) doesn’t look impressive.
  • Disruptive: But 30 doublings can deliver a disruptive, nearly billion-fold increase!
  • Dematerialized: Exponential technology dematerializes physical “things” into digital apps (GPS, film, books, albums, etc. all become digital apps on our smartphones).
  • Demonetized: The cost of duplicating or transmitting a digital product or service demonetizes to effectively zero.
  • Democratized: Once products and services are digital, they go global and can become ubiquitous.

(3) You seek to reinvent your business model by leveraging exponential technologies such as AI, VR, 3D Printing, and Robotics. You understand that these technologies are converging, disrupting, and transforming business models and industries. Your small team can now compete effectively with large corporations.

(4) You understand the power of the crowd. Increasing connectivity allows you to crowdsource nearly everything you need as an entrepreneur to grow your company — capital, design, ideas, software, and so on. Your job is to know precisely what you want, your Massively Transformative Purpose (MTP). Once you know that, in many cases, the crowd will do the rest.

(5) You seek to become a data-driven, experimentalist company: You understand the importance of collecting data, rapid experimentation, and machine learning to rapidly iterate and create an exponential organization.

So let me ask you, how would your life change if you had an Exponential Mindset?

What would crafting, mastering, and implementing an Exponential Mindset mean for your business?

Next week, we will expand this thought when I show you what some see as shocking “Proof of Exponentials,”… what I call a refreshing breath of *data-driven optimism.*

As Christ-followers, the concept of an exponential mindset is clearly taught in the Bible in several places. One such lesson is in the parable of the three servants in Matthew 25:14-30. I would recommend reading that passage. Matthew 25:19-21 sums up the concept. “After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

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 1517 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 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!