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Day 1442 – Spank Him Again – Humor Unplugged

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Welcome to Day 1442 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Spank Him Again – 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 1442 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:

Spank Him Again

John was out of town on a business trip, which he was due to return from in a couple of days. This was the last trip he was planning until after their soon to arrive 2nd child was born, which wasn’t due for at least another week. As fate would have it, the baby had not received the message and decided to arrive early. That night at about 3:00 A.M., John’s wife Heidi woke up with labor pains, and her water broke soon after that. If that wasn’t concern enough, as she was trying to figure out what to do, the power in the city went off. Heidi woke their 3-year-old daughter, Katelyn, and tried to explain that her new little brother was going to arrive soon, and that she needed her to help out in any manner possible. Knowing It was late at night, and being home was home only with Katelyn, Heidi decided to call 911. Due to a power outage in the city at the time, only one paramedic was able to respond to the call.

Heidi unlocked the front door and decided that she best stay in her bed after that, since the labor pains were very intense. When the paramedic arrived, she let herself in as the dispatch instructed him. The house was very, very dark, so the paramedic asked little Katelyn to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so she could see while she helped deliver the baby. Very diligently, Katelyn did as she was asked.

Heidi pushed and pushed, and after a little while, Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his feet, and spanked him on his bottom. Connor began to cry. The paramedic wrapped Connor snuggly in a blanket and handed him to Heidi.

The paramedic then thanked Katelyn for her help, and asked the wide-eyed 3-year-old Katelyn what she thought about what she had just witnessed.

Katelyn quickly responded, “He shouldn’t have crawled in there in the first place. Spank him again.”

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, “Parenthood is the scariest “hood” you will ever be in.”

Here is our verse for today:

Psalm 139:14

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

 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 1441 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 in 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 1441 – Objections –The Trinity and Idols are not God’s Divine Council – Worldview Wednesday

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Welcome to Day 1441 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Objections – The Trinity and Idols are not God’s Divine Council – 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 1441 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 with 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 the uniqueness of Yahweh. Within this study, we will apply insights to the New Testament texts and shows how the metaphor of being in God’s family informs our sense of identity and mission as believers.

Objections Part 1

·      Segment 5: Trinity

Impossibility of Elohim as Trinity in Psalm 82

Now, as we go through these questions, I think we’ll see that none of them are really very complicated, although some are easier to see the answer than others. Let’s take the question about the Trinity first. Are the plural elohim references of Psalm 82, for instance, references to the Trinity?

Well, if we are talking about Psalm 82 and its council, which, of course, is drawn on by Psalm 89 and other passages that we’ll see as we go on, Psalm 82 actually forbids the idea that this could be speaking of the Trinity. Let’s take a look at the psalm itself and just read through it. Verse 1:

God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods, he holds judgment:

“How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

nevertheless, like men you shall die,

and fall like any prince.”

Arise, O God, judge the earth;

for you shall inherit all the nations!

That’s the entire psalm, and what’s the point? Well, the plural elohim from verse 1 that God is addressing in this council are really getting a reprimand from God because they are wicked, and they are corrupt.

Divine Rebellion

We get a little sense of what the point is by the last line, “Arise O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” Now, it would take a whole other course to explain divine rebellion in the history of the Old Testament and Old Testament theology. Still, one of those rebellions has to do with what happened at the Tower of Babel.

 

The short version is that God was again displeased with humanity and decided, “I’m going to split you up into a bunch of nations.” And according to Deuteronomy 32:8-9, God assigned those nations, He divided them up, according to the number of the sons of God. So God assigns the nations that are not His own people because He is going to call Abraham right after the Tower of Babel incident and create for Himself a new nation; He assigns those other nations to other gods. He allots them to them. And here in Psalm 82, we find out that those other gods did not rule those nations according to the good laws, the good rules, the good nature, the good character of Yahweh. God still wants people treated well, even though they are not Israelites. So, God is giving these other gods, these “sons of the Most High” in verse 6, a reprimand. They are corrupt; they are wicked; they are evil.

And the psalmist in the last verse looks forward to the day when God would rise up and take back the nations—in other words, breaking the stronghold of these other gods, solving the wickedness problem for all the other nations as well.

Summary

That alone, that little set of facts about the psalm and its context, of course, it rules out the Trinity. God is never going to reprimand the other members of the Trinity for being corrupt. He is never going to look them in the eyes, so to speak, and say, “Well, you are gods, you are elohim, all of you; nevertheless, you are going to die like men.” He is never going to say that to the other members of the Trinity.

The Spirit of God is not a son of God anyway, going back to the language of verse 6. So we don’t have the Trinity here by any stretch of the imagination in Psalm 82. That would be, frankly, terrible theology. So the question about a Trinity is arguably the easiest of these questions to answer. 

·      Segment 6: Idols Part 1

No Idols in Heaven

Now, we just saw that the plural elohim of Psalm 82:1 is not a reference to other members of the Trinity because the other members of the Trinity aren’t wicked and corrupt. But some would ask, “Well, are they idols? Are we talking about idols here? Because in the Old Testament, you do get a few passages where idol talk and talk about other gods are sort of mixed.”

Well, Psalm 89 and Job 1–2 rule this out. In Psalm 89, God’s council is in heaven; it’s “in the skies” in that language. Now, we don’t have idols in the heavens; idols are objects that are on earth. Job 1–2: the sons of God appear in God’s own presence, His throne room, so to speak. We don’t have idols in God’s throne room, either.

To be blunter, idols don’t work for God, and God doesn’t use idols to accomplish His will. We are not talking about idols here when we are talking about the divine council, these plural elohim, sons of God. Now, other divine council scenes will make this point pretty clear. Idols do not participate in God’s program.

Heavenly Host in 1 Kings 22:19–23

In 1 Kings 22:19–23, we read about an episode in Israel’s history where the Israelite King Ahab has invited the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to his palace because he wants to convince Jehoshaphat to align himself with his battle plans. Ahab wants to go up and attack a city called Ramoth-Gilead.

Jehoshaphat goes up there to meet with Ahab. Ahab brings out all his prophets, and they, of course, say, “Yeah, Ahab, you know what you are doing. Go up there, and you’re going to be successful.” But Jehoshaphat has a sense they are just telling him what he wants to hear. So, he asks, “Hey, isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh around here somewhere that we could ask him?”

I love Ahab’s answer in 1 Kings 22:8. He says, or it reads, “And the king of Israel [Ahab] said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.’ ” In other words, “He never tells me what I want to hear.”

So they bring Micaiah out, and Micaiah at first mocks Ahab’s prophets by repeating what they say, but Ahab is not a dumb guy. He knows what’s going on. He says in verse 16, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

And so, Micaiah says, “Alright. Do you want to hear what the Lord has to really say? I’ll tell you.” So, in verse 19, we read this,

Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

Now, this is a real telling scene in a number of respects, and we will get to some of those respects as we continue through our course. What I want you to notice here is that who is with the Lord in this meeting about Ahab? It’s the members of the heavenly host. They are spirits; they are not idols. Again, idols do not work for God. We’re going to see this kind of situation in other passages as well.

Who Carries Out God’s Decrees?

Now, what I want you to be thinking about is: Who participates with God in carrying out God’s will? Who is there for God to task in carrying out His decrees? We’ve ruled the Trinity out because of Psalm 82, and the members of the Trinity are not wicked. It’s not idols either because idols don’t work for God; they are hostile to God; they are, by definition, opposers. And 1 Kings 22 gives us the first glimpse of that. Next Worldview Wednesday, we ill take a look at some other passages.[1]

That will conclude our next two segments in our study, “Sons and Daughters of God: The Believers Identity, Calling, and Destiny.” Join us again next week. I believe you will find each Worldview Wednesday contains thought-provoking topics to consider as we build our Biblical Worldview.

Tomorrow we will continue with 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 1440 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 in 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.

Day 1440 – Overcoming Frustration – Wisdom Unplugged

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Welcome to Day 1440 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Overcoming Frustration – 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 1440 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  Unknown, and it is:   He overcomes the frustration of the times whose plans and purposes belong to God.     

Overcoming Frustration

Today’s highly charged and polarized political and societal daily events seem to be a mark of our modern times. If you listen to most of the news media or focus much time on social media, it is easy to become frustrated with the times we live in today. There seems to be a lack of love and compassion for anyone who does not align with our thoughts or beliefs. When we have this mindset, it is because we do not understand or accept God’s plans and purposes for our lives. God’s ways are so much better and higher than our thoughts and opinions. As Christ-followers, It is time for God’s church to rise above this frustration and show love and compassion even if we don’t agree with others. When we align our plans and purpose for life with God’s plan for continuing to build His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, then our frustrations will subside, and we will better understand our purpose. We must never lose sight that every human is created by God to be bearers of His image. We do realize that many choose not to allow God to shine through them, but we must show them love and compassion regardless, just as God does to each of us.  We will never understand God’s ways fully, but with Christ as our example and substitute, we can endeavor to be bearers of God’s image. Do so, and your frustrations will subside.

Isaiah 55:9

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

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 1439 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to caWisdom-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 in 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 1439 – The Goals of Bible Study – Meditation Monday

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Welcome to Day 1439 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Goals of Bible Study – 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 1439 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 a new series this week on Meditation Monday, which will focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our first few insights will focus on study habits to build a strong foundation. Today let us meditate on:

The Goal of Bible Study

·      Insight Five: Insist on Being a Slave to the Text – Let it be Your Master

Dr. Heiser has been in academia for almost thirty years, both as a graduate student and a professor. He has spent time in both Christian and secular institutions. His Christian experience taught him the fundamentally important lesson of having a high view of Scripture. Treat it as God’s Word. Dr. Heiser’s secular years taught him a lesson just as valuable, and one that he didn’t find consistently in a Christian context: be a slave to the text.

In his secular experience, being a slave to the text meant that you shouldn’t bring prior commitments to the biblical text you’re studying. Theological ideas about how the text came about or how it might be understood to achieve a theological outcome should be left behind. The text is all that matters. Theological commitments are irrelevant and, in fact, impediments to understanding.

This is, of course, what one would expect in a secular institution. They aren’t seminaries. However, there’s a bit of a flaw in this understanding. Objectivity is a myth. No one can jettison all preconceptions about something, no matter what the context. The secular scholar has presupposition of his or her own that crouch in the mind, ready to influence interpretation. We all should be aware of that, so take that part with a grain of salt. But don’t lose the lesson here. The text is all that matters, so we must let the text take us wherever it leads.

Ironically, despite the pervading belief in inspiration, I don’t see this principle consistently practiced in Christian academia. True, any given seminary has, and needs to have, certain theological commitments, but those theological commitments should not be the basis of judging scholarship or handing out grades. Rather, professors should be forthright. They should have well- informed exegetical arguments for their positions (presumably those of the school) but should be honest with the text. They should admit that, given other interpretations about the Hebrew or Greek grammar and word usage here and there, the conclusions drawn from a passage could be different. To hide those possibilities or manipulate the text to your “obvious” conclusions is dishonest.

So it should be with personal Bible study. The text is what is inspired, and nothing else. Loyalty to God’s Word means letting it be your master. By definition, your interpretation or belief cannot be biblical if it does not derive from the text.

·      Insight Six: The Goal of Bible Study Should Not Be a Spiritual Buzz

Every earnest believer wants their study of Scripture to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. I’m not suggesting it should be expected or will always happen, but productive and meaningful Bible study should move you emotionally from time to time.

I realize that the last sentence is contrary to what many of you have been taught or perhaps read. What do I mean “from time to time?’ Shouldn’t we always be emotionally touched by Bible study? My answer is that if you’re doing Bible study to feel a particular way, or get some spiritual high, your Bible study is self-focused. To be blunt, that’s the antithesis of Bible study.

Bible study is not about you. It’s about gaining knowledge of God and his plan through the means he gave you for that end: the Bible. This doesn’t mean that we don’t learn about God in any other way. Yet God prompted people to write long ago so that those of us living today would know certain things about him, his plan for humanity, Jesus Christ, and how to be in the right relationship to him through Jesus. Nowhere are we taught in the Bible to “search the Scriptures to feel a certain way.”

The perspective of Bible study against which I’m arguing has, to my mind, reduced the role of the Spirit to tingling our emotions. As a result of that outlook, weak-minded believers are tossed about by the elasticity of their feelings and circumstances, and fall easy prey to clever articulations of bad theology—even within the church.Real Bible study ought to produce careful thinkers about truth. As we expose ourselves to Scripture and submit to what it teaches us on its own terms, the Spirit will illumine our minds and use that understanding to move us emotionally, whether that be to a profound sense of peace, satisfaction, guilt, or repentance.

Too often we read or study Scripture with an unconscious demand: “Lord, I’m reading this now, give me that feeling I really need to get through my day.” Bible study is not a narcotic. You can’t have a true sense of knowing God—and the emotional impact that brings—without the discipline of being in the Word of God. God knows what you need. He will honor your loyalty.

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 1438 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 1438 – Augmented Reality – Hardware and Apps – Ask Gramps

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Welcome to Day 1438 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Augmented Reality – Hardware and Apps – 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 1438 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, while I am on my 64th 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. So this week’s question is: Hey Gramps, last week you shared how Augmented Reality will impact our world. What are some of the hardware and apps which will allow AR to become a reality in everyday life?

Augmented Reality – Hardware And Apps

Last week on Futuristic Friday, we explored how Augmented Reality (AR) will impact our world. Today we will drill down and look at the hardware and apps which may drive this impact. Our world is in a disruptive mode, which will speed up the exponential technology that is changing our world today. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”

Today, adults in the U.S. spend over nine hours a day looking at screens. That counts for more than a third of our livelihoods. We may be allocating even more screen time during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yet even though they serve as a portal to 90 percent of our media consumption, screens continue to define and constrain how and where we consume content, and displays, as we think of them today, may very soon become obsolete.

Riding new advancements in hardware and connectivity, augmented reality (AR) is set to replace these 2D interfaces and allow us to see through a digital information layer. Ultimately, AR headsets will immerse us in compelling stories, learn-everywhere education, and even gamified work tasks. As an example,

If you want to play AR Star Wars, you could be battling the Empire on your way to work, in your cubicle, cafeteria, bathroom, and beyond.

We got our first taste of AR’s real-world gamification in 2016 when Nintendo released Pokemon Go. Thus began the greatest cartoon character turkey shoot in history. With 5 million daily users, 65 million monthly users, and over $2 billion in revenue, the virtual-overlaid experience remains one for the books.

In the years since, similar AR apps have exploded. Once thick and bulky, AR glasses are becoming increasingly lightweight, stylish, and unobtrusive. And over the next 15 years, AR portals will become almost unnoticeable, as hardware rapidly dematerializes.

Companies like Mojo Vision are even rumored to be developing AR contact lenses, slated to offer us heads-up display capabilities — no glasses required.

In this second installation of our five-part AR episode series, we are doing a deep dive into the various apps, headsets, and lenses on the market today, along with projected growth. Let’s take a look…

·      Mobile AR

We have already begun to sample AR’s extraordinary functions through mobile (smartphone) apps. And the growth of the market is only accelerating.

Snap recently announced it had raised $1 billion in short-term debt to invest in media content, acquisitions, and AR features. Both Apple and Google are racing to deploy phones with requisite infrastructure to support hyper-realistic AR. In the iOS space, developers use ARKit in iPhone software, from the SE to the latest-generation X, to bring high-definition AR experiences to life. Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly emphasized his belief that AR will “change the way we use technology forever.”

While recent rumors reveal the company’s AR glasses project has been discontinued, Apple’s foray in AR is far from over. Last year the tech giant published many job postings for AR and VR experts. Although somewhat speculative, Apple is likely waiting for the consumer market to mature before releasing its first-generation AR glasses or pivoting towards an entirely new AR hardware product.

For now, Apple seems to be promoting the extensive hardware advancements showcased by its A12 bionic chip, not to mention the variety of apps available in its App Store. Here are some examples.

  • In the productivity realm: IKEA placeallows users to try out furniture in the home, experimenting with styles and sizing before ordering online. Or take Vuforia Chalk, a novel AR tool that helps customers fix appliances with real-time virtual assistance. As users direct their smartphone cameras towards troublesome appliances, remote tech support workers can draw on consumers’ screens to guide them through repair steps.
  • As to the AR playground, Monster Parkbrings Jurassic Park dinosaurs into any landscape you desire, immersing you in a modern-day Mesozoic Era. Meanwhile, Dance Reality can guide you through detailed steps and timing of countless dance styles.
  • In virtually immersive learning, BBC’s Civilisationslets you hold, spin, and view x-rays of ancient artifacts while listening to historical narrations.
  • WWF’s Free Riverstransforms your tabletop into natural landscapes, from the Himalayas to the African Sahara, allowing you to digitally manipulate entire ecosystems to understand better how water flow affects habitats.
  • Or even create your own DIY AR worlds and objects using Thyng.

Yet for Android users, options are just as varied, based on the Android software-compatible ARCore used by developers. While the recently announced Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 aims to capture enterprise clients, Android smartphone hardware provides remarkable AR experiences for everyday consumers.

  • For sheer doodling, DoodleLensbrings your doodles to life, transforming paper drawings into 3D animated figures that you can place and manipulate in your physical environment. And even more directly, Just a Line allows anyone to create a 3D drawing within their physical surroundings, making space itself an endless canvas.
  • Learn as you travel: Google Translatecan now take an image of any foreign street sign, menu, or label and provide instantaneous translation in real-time. And beyond Earth-bound adventures, the now open-sourced Sky Map guides you through constellations across the night sky.
  • Even alter your own body with Inkhunter, which allows users to preview any potential tattoo design on their skin. Or, as is familiar to most younger folks, change your look with Snapchat’s computer vision-derived filters, which have already reached 90 percentof 12-to 24-year-olds in the U.S.

·      Leading Headsets

Although the number of AR headsets breaking into the market may seem overwhelming, a few of the top contenders are now pushing the envelope in everything from wide Field Of Vision immersion to applications in enterprise companies.

(1) Highest Resolution

DreamGlass: Connected to a PC or Android-based smartphone, DreamWorld’s headset offers 2.5K resolution in each lens, beating out Full HD resolution screens, but in AR. Now flooded by investment, resolution improvements minimize pixel size, reducing the “screen door effect,” whereby pixel boundaries disrupt the image like a screen’s mesh. Offering unprecedented levels of hand- and head-tracking precision, the headset even features 6 degrees of freedom (i.e. axes of directional rotation).

With a flexible software development kit (SDK), supported by Unity and Android, the device is highly accessible to developers, making it a ready candidate for countless immersive experiences. Already at $619, the DreamGlass and comparable technology are rapidly falling in price while at the same time improving in capability.

(2) Best for Enterprise

Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2: In just four years (since Google released the last iteration), the Google Glass has gotten a significant upgrade, now geared with an 8-megapixel camera, detachable lens, vastly increased battery life, faster connection, and ultra-high-performance Snapdragon XR1 CPU. Already, the Glass has been sold to over 100 businesses, including GE, agricultural machinery manufacturer AGCO, and health record company Dignity Health.

Perhaps most remarkable is the money AR can make for a business. Using the Glass, GE has increased productivity by 25 percent, and DHL improved its supply chain efficiency by 15 percent. While only (currently) available for businesses, the new-and-improved AR glasses stand at $999 and will continue to ride plummeting production costs.

(3) Democratized AR

Vuzix Blade: Resembling chunky Oakley sunglasses, these smart glasses are extraordinarily portable, with a built-in Android OS as well as both WiFi and Bluetooth connection. Designed for everyday consumer use (at a price point of $700), the Vuzix Blade is slowly chipping away at smartphone functionalities. For easy control of an intuitive interface, a touchpad on the device’s temples allows consumers to display everything from social media platforms and user messages to “light AR” experiences. Meanwhile, an 8MP HD camera makes your phone camera null and void, allowing users to remain immersed in their experience while digitally capturing it at the same time. All the while, built-in Alexa capabilities, and vibration alerts extend users’ experience beyond pure visual stimulation.

(4) Widest Field of View (FOV)

Microsoft HoloLens 2: This newly announced headset leads the industry with a 43° x 29° FOV, more than double its (2016-released) predecessor’s capability. This drastic increase in visual immersiveness is far from the only device improvement. For improved long-use comfort, the headset’s center of gravity now rests on the top of the head, moving away from typical front-loaded headsets.

An even more novel functionality, tiny cameras on the nose bridge verify a user’s identity by scanning the wearer’s eyes and customizing the display based on the distance between pupils. Once accompanied by emotion-deducing AIs (now under development), this tracking technology could even evolve to intuitively predict a user’s desires and emotional feedback in future models. Geared with a Qualcomm 850 mobile processor and Microsoft’s own AI engine built-in, Hololens’ potential is limitless.

(5) Class A Comfort

Magic Leap One: Weighing less than 0.8 pounds, this headset provides one of the most lightweight experiences available today with a 40° x 30° FOV, just barely eclipsed by that of Microsoft’s HoloLens 2. En route to dematerialization, Magic Leap merely requires a small “Lightpack” attachment in the wearer’s pocket, connected via cable to the goggles. A handheld controller additionally contains a touchpad, haptic feedback, and six degrees of freedom motion sensing. Meanwhile, light sensors make the digital renderings even more realistic, as they reflect physical light into the viewer’s space.

Teasing AR’s future convergence with AI, Magic Leap even features a virtual human called “Mica,” which responds to a user’s emotions (detected through eye-tracking) by returning a smile or offering a friendly gesture.

Final Thoughts

As headsets plummet in price and size, AR will rapidly permeate households over the next decade. Once we have mastered headsets and smart glasses, AR-enabled contact lenses will make our virtually enhanced world second nature.

Ultimately, BCIs will directly interface with our neural signals to provide an instantaneous, seamlessly intuitive connection, merging our minds with limitless troves of knowledge, rich human connection, and never-before-possible experiences.

While only approaching the knee of the curve, these pioneering mobile apps and novel headset technologies explored above will soon give rise to one of the most revolutionary industries yet to be seen— one that will fundamentally transform our lives.

Over the next few ‘Futuristic Fridays,’ we will continue to learn the ins and outs of AR technology before it initiates a revolutionary shift across every known industry, not to mention countless new ones.

Being able to gain wisdom and knowledge about future technologies will help us as we continue to build God’s kingdom here on earth.

Proverbs 24:14

In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.

That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday for another interesting question about our future 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 1437 daily treks or read the associated journals, 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 of all, 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!