Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 3

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 896 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Divine Arrow – Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 896 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. God is omniscient, which means He knows everything before it takes place. There are several passages in the Bible, though, that describe God consulting with His heavenly court, referred to as His armies in today’s passage, and allowing their input in the means to a predetermined outcome. Today’s essay explores one such incident as we will focus on… The Divine Arrow To set the picture for today’s essay, I will read from 1 Kings 22:1-28. For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. Then during the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit King Ahab of Israel. During the visit, the king of Israel said to his officials, “Do you realize that the town of Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us? And yet we’ve done nothing to recapture it from the king of Aram!”  Then he turned to Jehoshaphat and asked, “Will you join me in battle to recover Ramoth-Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “Why, of course! You and I are as one. My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses.” Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.” So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-Gilead, or should I hold back?”...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 895 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Preparation for Success – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 895 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Joyce Brothers, and it is,&#8220;A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success.&#8221; Preparation for Success To be successful, you must prepare for success.  You must see yourself as successful in your mind before success will ever be achieved in any area of life.  An appropriate and balanced positive self-image, which includes loving yourself, is a requirement before any success can be achieved.  When you realize that you are made to be the bearer of God’s image, then you will realize that God desires you to be successful in all that you do. One admonition that must be considered is that what the world considers as successful, which is usually an abundance of wealth, is not what God considers as successful. Success in God’s eyes is our obedience to His precepts, which are found in His Word, the Bible. God shows us His pattern for success when He encourages in servant Joshua prior to entering The Promised Land in Joshua 1:7, &#8220;Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18648 aligncenter"...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 894 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Don&#8217;t Quit – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 894 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There are many people that are ready to give up because of trials and hardships. You may be one of them. Instead of giving up, let us put our energies into encouraging others. It is then we will have purpose and meaning in our own lives and will have the strength to “Keep Moving Forward.” In our Meditation Monday today, we will learn… Don’t Quit The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, &#8220;We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.&#8221; There are times when all of us feel overwhelmed by problems and feel like quitting. I&#8217;ve been there, but couldn&#8217;t find anything better than my Christian faith to quit to. Today I thank God for the courage to keep going, knowing that God was allowing trials to strengthen my faith and to help me grow. If you feel like giving up and quitting, perhaps the following poem will encourage you to hang in, hang on, but never hang up when the going gets tough. Don&#8217;t Quit...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 893 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Dont&#8217; Worry, Be Joyful &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 893 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’ goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. With the recent high-profile celebrity suicides and the fact that suicide rates are increasing in all cultural and age groups, it seems as if more people are losing hope in our world today. So the question today is: &#8220;Hey Gramps, How is it possible to maintain hope in our lives and accept that we are worthwhile and have a purpose that is greater than ourselves?” Don’t Worry, Be Joyful While I do not generally have an issue with depression and have never experienced bouts with feeling worthless, I do have family members and friends that do. There...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 892 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Allergic to Gravity – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 892 of our trek, and it is time for our 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 &#8211; something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny, which is titled&#8230; Allergic to Gravity Today I want to tell you a story about John and Sam. John’s story reminds me a lot about myself and the attitude that I try to have. There are also many similarities to my fall from a ladder last year with a chainsaw in my hand where I ended up with a fractured femur bone right below my hip socket. For many, John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He always seemed to be in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, &#8220;If I were any better, I would be twins!&#8221; He was a natural motivator. If a fellow associate was having a bad day, John was there telling them how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made Sam curious, so one day he went up and asked him, &#8220;I don&#8217;t get it! You can&#8217;t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?&#8221; John replied, &#8220;Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood, or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim, or I can choose to learn...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 891 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom When Giants Walked the Earth &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 891 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s Word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The Bible is full of rich imagery and stories that fill our minds with wonders and questions. Today’s essay explores one such incident as we will focus on… When Giants Walked the Earth If they haven’t read it, most people have at least heard the story of David and Goliath of Gath (&#8216;‘the Gittite”). The names of the hero and villain have iconic status. But how many people know anything about the giant Goliath, other than that he lost his head to a boy named David from Israel? This story can be found in, 2 Samuel [21:15]-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-8. The story tells us that there were other unusually tall warriors among the Philistines. The lists are not identical, but putting them together we read that there were four: Saph (also called Sippai), Lahmi, Ishbibenob, and an unnamed warrior. The descriptions are similar to that given Goliath, noting “great stature” and the dimensions of their weaponry. Unlike Goliath or any of the other named warriors, the unnamed giant is said to have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. This malformation, known as polydactylism, is only mentioned in the description of this giant. The Bible does not mention it when it discusses other giant clans. · Wait a minute—giant clans? There are several people groups described as giants or among whom giants lived in the Old Testament: There are...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 890 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Persistence + Effort = Success – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 890 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Elbert Hubbard, and it is, &#8220;A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.&#8221; Persistence + Effort = Success True and lasting success is never gained quickly nor through shortcuts. Success cannot be determined during the process while you are in the midst of the trials and tribulations of everyday life.  Sometimes success is not fully realized until long after a project or situation has ended.  In fact, there have been many times where a person has not been recognized as a success until long after they have died. Success cannot and should not be measured by monetary accumulation, but for the impact of transforming the lives of others positively. All of the truly great persons of history were willing to put in the time and the sacrifice to further God’s kingdom without the consideration of whether they were going to be successful. We should be willing to do the same. As we conclude, today we are reminded in Proverbs 13:11, <span

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 889 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Foolishness – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 889 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 reflecting and renewing your mind.  We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There are many foolish people and situations in our world today which we should not follow or become involved with. There is an exception to this, and in our Meditation Monday today we will learn about… Foolishness When Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected on the meaning of the cross, he concluded, “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.” After all, everything about Jesus’ life was counter to the kingdom that his contemporaries were expecting and the empire that Rome had established. Perhaps, therefore, it is not so unusual that the nature of his kingdom would be “strange” to modern-day sensibilities? Even easier to reject. Especially a kingdom where the king suffers in apparent foolish weakness. Brennan Manning said, “Jesus entered our world as the music man, but the world was disturbed by his song…” But did the nails silence the music? Could it be that, in those nails, God succeeded in putting into operation his new creation and plan for the world? Could it be that, in those nails, a new kind of music could be heard? Anyone who looks at the cross as a single screenshot on the monitor of their mind will think God is not loving or powerful but cruel and unfeeling. But when we see the cross as a part of the whole story, we will see it as a shining tile in the divine mosaic that is the story of God. That this tile reveals to us that God is not waiting for us on the other side of suffering. He understands its...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 888 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The State of the World, Communications &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 888 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.  As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week we will continue with part 3 of 3 for our question from last week which was… &#8220;Hey Gramps, listening to most news sources and even many preachers, it seems like the world is getting worse each year, but is that really the case?” The State of the World, Communications Nearly everyone in the western world, and even in many developing nations own a smartphone or at least a mobile phone.  One of the most prevalent areas where we have seen great advancements and improvements in our world is in the area of communication. Many of us take it for granted now, but in 2017, we had 3.8 billion people connected on Earth. That is ½ of the entire world’s population, including all children. In the next five years, we&#8217;ll see the deployment of the 5G global network...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 887 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Old Has Become Cool – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 887 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast provides a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life.  It is something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221;We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled&#8230; The Old Has Become Cool Gramps and his grandkids had been up in the attic together doing some cleaning and organizing. The kids uncovered an old manual typewriter and asked, &#8220;Hey Gramps&#8230;what&#8217;s this?&#8221; &#8220;Oh&#8230;that&#8217;s an old typewriter,&#8221; he answered, thinking that would satisfy their curiosity. &#8220;Well, what does it do?&#8221; they asked. &#8220;I&#8217;ll show you,&#8221; Gramps left the attic and returned with a blank piece of paper. He rolled the paper into the typewriter and began striking the keys, leaving black letters of print on the page. &#8220;WOW!&#8221; they exclaimed, &#8220;That&#8217;s really cool&#8230;but how does it work like that? Where do you plug it in?&#8221; &#8220;There is no plug,&#8221; Gramps answered. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t need a plug.&#8221; &#8220;Then where do you put the batteries?&#8221; they persisted. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t need batteries either,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Wow! This is so cool!&#8221; they exclaimed. &#8220;Someone should have invented this a long time ago!&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18537...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 886 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Righting the Wrong &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 886 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is important in order to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser.  He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Have you ever made a vow or a promise to God or a person and regretted it afterward? In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to explore one such vow made by Jephthah, one of the Judges of Israel. We will compare and contrast this vow to a New Testament story of Jarius where Jesus reversed this foolish vow. In Judges 10-11 we will focus on… Righting the Wrong The story of Jephthah and his tragic vow is paralleled by other stories—including a New Testament story that subverts it. · The Story After the brief judgeship of Jair (a man from Gilead), the people of Israel fell into idolatry by worshiping foreign gods. This account is found in Judges 10:6, &#8220;Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all.&#8221; As a result of this disobedience, God then allowed a foreign enemy to oppress the Israelites as punishment. This time it was the Ammonites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan in a place also known as Gilead. The Philistines and the Ammonites oppressed Israel for 18 years, and finally, the people called on God for deliverance. God had his fill of their disobedience, and in Judges 10:13-14, God tells them, &#8220;Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore.  Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 885 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Living Successfully – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 885 of our trek, and it is time for a 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. Living Successfully Today’s quote is from Mother Teresa, and it is her 10 steps for living successfully:    People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.  Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.  Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.  Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.  Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you invest years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.  Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have, and you&#8217;ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway. As we conclude, today we are reminded in  Titus 3:8, <span style="color:...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 884 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Through the Power of the Work in Us – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 884 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The three controlling forces which most people strive for are power, money, and sex. If you study groups of people for very long, such as politicians, business people, and unfortunately even ministers, you will soon realize that most are driven by one of these three motivators.  We may disguise it as something else and many times even convince ourselves that we do not fall prey to them, but when all the chaff is blown away, we see the real kernel of truth. As Christ followers this is most unfortunate. We have unmeasurable power and riches dwelling within us, and yet we do not accept it or plug into those resources that are so readily available. Our Meditation Monday today we will learn that we can do anything… Through the Power at Work in Us Jesus desires his disciples to praise the Father! Ponder Paul&#8217;s beautiful prayer in the verses below. He not only praises the Father, but he also asks for the Father&#8217;s help. In particular, this great church-planter and disciple-maker prays for the strengthening of the fellow Christ followers he loves. He does not pray for generic strength, but for the Holy Spirit&#8217;s empowered strength in Ephesians 3:16, &#8220;I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 883 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The State of the World, Technology &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 883 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can &#8220;Ask Gramps.&#8221; Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions so please submit your questions to [email protected], and Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week we will continue with part 2 of 3 for our question from last week which was: &#8220;Hey Gramps, listening to most news sources and even many preachers, it seems like the world is getting worse each year, but is that really the case?” The State of the World, Technology We take the technology and the empowerment we have today for granted. This week’s answer will focus on the advances in technology that we have experienced over the past several decades. Technology permeates our entire life now. Technology in and of itself is amoral. As with any advancement, it can be used for good or bad, but certainly a lot more good has resulted with these advancements than

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 882 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Reflections of Love – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 882 of our trek, and it is time for our 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 &#8211; something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled&#8230; Reflections of Love An older couple, Jim and Jonnie, were lying in bed one night. Jim was almost asleep when Jonnie started reflecting on all the love they had shared. As Jim was just drifting off to sleep, Jonnie nudges Jim and says, &#8220;Honey, do you remember how we used to hug?&#8221; Jim rouses and says, &#8220;Yes, dear,&#8221; and rolls over and gives Jonnie a big hug. He then rolls back over and was almost asleep again, when Jonnie nudges him again and says &#8220;Honey do you remember how we used to kiss?&#8221; &#8220;Yes, dear,&#8221; Jim says, and he rolls over and gives her a big kiss. Jim rolls back over and was almost asleep when Jonnie nudges him again and says, &#8220;Honey, do you remember how you used to nibble on my ear?&#8221; At that Jim throws off the covers, somewhat frustrated, sits up in bed, and gets up. Jonnie says, &#8220;What are you doing?&#8221; In an exasperated tone, Jim says, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to go get my teeth.&#8221; Make it a day full of cheer. As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday’s Thought&#8230;&#8220;Don’t take yourself so seriously, no one else is.&#8221; Job 8:21, &#8220;He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 881 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Most Horrific Bible Story &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 881 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is important in order to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order help us to all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. One factor that supports the authenticity of God’s Word is that it includes narrative of the good, the bad, and the ugly. In today’s essay, we will take a closer look at one of the stories that is both bad and ugly but also leads us to a truth that we need to understand. In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to explore Judges 19-20 where God’s Word presents a tale that is considered… The Most Horrific Bible Story &#8220;In those days, there was no king in Israel.&#8221; This line, repeated throughout Judges, frames the horrific tale of the Levite and his concubine. The grim details of this story showcase the anarchy and spiritual decay of the period, but this story is not just a cheap thriller. When reading this story, our attention fixates on the grim details of murder, rape, war, and abduction. But there are crucial, less repugnant elements that include tribal affiliations and the locations of events. The story was designed to prompt readers into favoring kingship, the people needed a Messiah, a savior. The book of Judges does not name its author: it was likely written after the time of David. All of these elements add up to not only a rationale for kingship—but a polemic for the superiority of a king from Judah (David), not Benjamin (Saul) or Ephraim. By the time Judges was being written, Saul had already failed God as a...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 880 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Attitude Affects Success – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 880 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 William James, and it is,&#8220;It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.&#8221; Attitude Affects Success Success in any endeavor is, in part, based on your attitude during the entirety of the task. A good attitude at the beginning of a difficult task is one of the most important elements in determining a successful outcome. If you are fearful or doubting when you begin a difficult task, then is it almost assured that the task or project will fail, at least in part. Attitude is probably the biggest single factor of success or failure in any aspect of life. The more difficult the tasks, the more important your attitude is. A good positive and practical attitude will pave the road to success. This is what God told Joshua when he was about to move into and conquer The Promised Land. Listen as I read Joshua 1:7, &#8220;Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.&#8221; That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 879 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom It&#8217;s a Jungle Out There – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 879 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Life is not always easy, but that should not stop us from moving forward for God will create a path for our trek. Our Meditation Monday today we will learn that with life&#8230; It&#8217;s a Jungle Out There The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, “Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?!” The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, “I am the path.” We ask the same questions, don’t we? We ask God, “Where are you taking me? Where is the path?” And he, like the guide, doesn’t tell us. Oh, he may give us a hint or two, but that’s all. If he did, would we understand? Would we comprehend our location? No, like the traveler, we are unacquainted with this jungle. So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself. Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick. Does he purge the predators? No, danger still lurks. Jesus doesn’t give hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. And he has promised to stay until the very end. Matthew 28:20 tells us, &#8220;Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.&#8221; <img class="alignnone...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 878 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The State of the World, Life Span &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 878 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life, and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can Ask Gramps. Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, are unable to do so. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since this is a week of travel for Granny &amp; Gramps, today’s episode will be shorter and serve as the 1st part of my answer to today’s question. &#8220;Hey Gramps, listening to most news sources and even many preachers, it seems like the world is getting worse each year, but is that really the case?” The State of the World, Life Span While there are concerns about the moral and ethical direction of many cultures throughout the world today, there have been many times in ages past where it was much worse. One example is the Roman Empire, where immorality was widespread, slavery and servitude were rampant, people were massacred for sport, and there were wars and rumors of war all over the world. In comparison, the world today is pretty mild. The area that we will focus on today is the...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 877 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Keeping Your Commitments – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 877 of our trek, and it is 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 provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled&#8230; Keeping Your Commitments In the not so distant past, there was an old man named Jim who worked all his life and saved all his money. He was a miser, he lived like a pauper, he hardly had food, but he loved his money more than just about anything else in the world. Just before he died, he said to his wife, Martha, &#8220;When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I need my money in the afterlife. Can you promise me that you&#8217;ll do that?&#8221; His wife was faithful, so she promised Jim with all her heart that when he died, she would put all his money in the casket. When Jim died, Martha gave him a proper funeral. He was laid out in a beautiful casket, and his faithful wife was in the front row at the funeral parlor dressed in black, sitting beside her best friend, Sue. When the ceremony ended, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, Martha rose from her seat and said, &#8220;Wait just a minute!&#8221; With that, Martha placed an ornate box inside the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket and rolled it away. When Martha returned to her seat, Sue grabbed her by the arm and said, &#8220;Martha, I know you weren&#8217;t fool enough to put all that money in the casket with Jim, were you?&#8217; Martha said to Sue, &#8220;Listen, I am a Christian woman, and I can...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 876 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Is My Bible Accurate? &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 876 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical Worldview. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We hear a lot about “fake news” today, and it is getting to the point where it is difficult to trust any major media outlet. Certainly, the internet is also awash with all sorts of theories and opinions, many of which have little or no basis in truth. While I believe that God’s word is inspired in its original revelation, throughout the ages there are some subtle nuances in the various translations that do affect our understanding of certain passages. None of these differences impact the major doctrines or the overriding message of salvation through Jesus Christ. As I gain a better understanding of the Bible in the language and culture in which it was written, it helps me to gain a better understanding of how God is building up His kingdom throughout the world today. In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to look at Deuteronomy 32:8-9 where God divided up the human race of the world at that time… Is My Bible Accurate? After the great flood, everyone had one language. Humanity congregated in the region of Babylonia (“the land of Shinar”) and started building a tower that would reach into the heavens as told to us in Genesis 11:1-9.  God stopped the project by transforming the single...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 875 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Built Over Time – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 875 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Maria Razumich-Zec, and it is, &#8220;Your reputation and integrity are everything. Follow through on what you say you&#8217;re going to do. Your credibility can only be built over time, and it is built from the history of your words and actions.&#8221; Built Over Time Both your integrity and reputation can only be built over a long period of time where others are able to observe your actions and speech. You may be able to talk a good talk, but unless you walk a good walk, it will mean nothing. Although it takes years to build an example of pure integrity and good reputation, both can be destroyed in a matter of seconds if your walk and talk do not match. We only have to read the latest headlines to understand that in a moment the most well-known people in business, news media, acting, politics and, yes, even in the ministry can be destroyed. Their reputations and integrity crumble because of the revelation of past or recent practices and actions. What we have to understand and realize is that in nearly every case it was not just one action that brought the mighty to their knees but a progressive set of decisions and choices that were made over time that is the cause of their downfall. Yet it begins with that one choice to compromise your reputation and integrity that begins the snowball effect to start the downhill slide. Let us be careful of every decision and choice that we make because all subsequent choices and decisions are based on the previous one. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18401 aligncenter" src="https://wisdom-trek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Built-Over-Time-4-300x207.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="207" srcset="https://wisdom-trek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Built-Over-Time-4-300x207.jpg 300w,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 874 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Pray This Way – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 874 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. So often we try to live life on our own terms while God desires us to live on His terms. We can only know God’s way through His Word, including prayer. This is why Jesus’s disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. On our Meditation Monday, we will learn that Jesus teaches all of us to… Pray This Way Of all the things the disciples could have asked of Jesus, they asked to be taught how to pray. As we read Jesus’s words of how to pray, ask the Holy Spirit for fresh revelation, for how you can practically respond to His instruction. Worship is the Alpha and the Omega of prayer as is found in Matthew 6:9 &amp; 13, &#8220;Pray like this: &#8216;Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'&#8221; Jesus taught the disciples and us that in prayer we are to pay homage to the reality that this is His kingdom. God has control over everything, and He can and will answer our prayers. There is nothing impossible with God like Luke 1:37 reminds us, &#8220;For the word of God will never fail, For nothing is impossible with God.&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18391 aligncenter"...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 873 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Kick Junk Food and Eat Healthy &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 873 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can Ask Gramps. Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, this is not possible. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week we will continue our answer to last week’s question. Spring and summer gives us extra opportunities to get outside and exercise more, and there are many more opportunities to buy healthy locally grown produce. It is a great time to begin new habits of healthy eating and exercise. So our question for today is… &#8220;Hey Gramps, I have a difficult time avoiding junk food. Even though I know I should make better food choices, I so often fall back into the habit of gorging myself with the food that is unhealthy and causes me to gain weight.  How can I change?” Kick Junk Food and Eat Healthy This is a somewhat complex question, so I split my response into two parts. Last week we explored why we crave junk food, and this week we will explore how to change your eating habits. Check out...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 872 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Head Hog – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 872 of our trek, and it&#8217;s time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast provides a short and clean funny story to help you lighten and live a rich and satisfying life. Something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled&#8230; The Head Hog A church secretary, Margaret takes a call. The caller says, &#8220;This is Sam Smith from Tuscaloosa. Is the head hog at the trough there?&#8221; Margaret says, &#8220;Please, Mr. Smith, do not refer to our pastor as the &#8216;head hog at the trough.&#8217; That is very insulting.&#8221; Sam says, &#8220;Oh, I&#8217;m very sorry. I meant nothing by that. It&#8217;s just a local phrase we use in the part of the country I come from. The real reason I called was to donate $50,000 to your building fund.&#8221; Margaret says, &#8220;Hold on. I see the &#8216;Big Oinker&#8217; coming through the door right now.&#8221; As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday Thought, &#8220;I hope life isn&#8217;t a big joke because I don’t get it.&#8221; King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 8:15, &#8220;So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-18361 aligncenter"...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 871 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Love Potion: Numbers 5 &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 871 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical worldview. To establish a Biblical Worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of God’s word, we are investing the next several months on Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser which he has compiled into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since the beginning of human history, people have been searching for a love potion. There is little verifiable proof that there are any secret potions. There is an odd potion found in the Old Testament, though, that seems a bit strange. In today’s essay, we want to look at Numbers 5 where God gave Moses the recipe for what we will call… Love Potion: Numbers 5 When’s the last time you heard a sermon on Numbers [5:11]-31? One of the things that Dr. Heiser enjoys telling people in conversations about Bible study is that “If it&#8217;s weird, it&#8217;s probably important.” This passage certainly qualifies in both respects. The strangeness of the passage is easily detectable, but only careful Bible study makes its importance apparent. Numbers [5:11]-31 describes a water ritual to determine the guilt or innocence of a woman suspected of adultery. Let me read this passage so you will have a bit of understanding on this strange ritual. This section of Scripture is called… · Protecting Marital Faithfulness And the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.” Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 870 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Nothing to Hide – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 870 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Zig Ziglar, and it is,&#8220;With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide.&#8221; Nothing to Hide I find that so many people are fearful about life, relationships, poverty, decisions, and the future. When you live your life based on a bedrock of Biblically-based values, there is nothing to fear. We do not need to fear relationships because God is always with us. We do not need to fear decision making because God has promised us wisdom, all we need to do is ask for it. We do not need to fear poverty because God owns a cattle on a thousand hills and had promised to always take care of us. We do not even need to fear death because to be absent from this body is to be present with God. Have integrity in your life, but do not have fear. There is nothing hidden from God anyways, so live for Him! Let me leave you with two verses to ponder for today. Hebrews 4:13 &#8211; Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 869 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Great Helper – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 869 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We all need helpers in our life to come alongside us when we are weak and vulnerable. When Jesus took on humanity and lived among people, they came to rely on him. Since he was fully human, with a divine nature, his ability to help others was limited to his physical nature. There was no way Jesus could minister to all the people on earth. Because of this, when Jesus had completed his earthly ministry, he promised to send us a helper as his replacement. We will build on last Meditation Monday, and today the title of our meditation is…  The Great Helper Jesus’s ascension back to the Father was a wonderful blessing. The disciples would love to have His physical presence continuing with them – to see Him, minister, heal, cast out demons, teach, and preach. Jesus’s closest disciples were left behind as He ascended to the Father, so He told them not to believe that He was going to abandon them but instead send a helper for them. John 16:7 reads, &#8220;But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.&#8221; Without Jesus’s ascension, His departure, the Holy Spirit wouldn&#8217;t have come to their aid and the Helper wouldn&#8217;t be available to aid you. Jesus’s ascension meant that He would send the Holy Spirit to be His people&#8217;s Helper, your Helper, and Advocate. The Spirit helps His disciples, including us,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 868 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Why We Crave Junk Food &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 868 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can Ask Gramps. Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask our dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. While any time of year we can fall prey to eating junk food, we are no less tempted during summer cookouts and family gatherings. Spring and summer give us extra opportunities to get outside and exercise more, and there are many more opportunities to buy healthy locally grown produce. It is a great time to begin new habits of healthy eating and exercise. So our question for today is… &#8220;Hey Gramps, I have a difficult time avoiding junk food. Even though I know I should make better food choices, I so often fall back into the habit of gorging myself with the food that is unhealthy and causes me to gain weight. How can I change?” Why We Crave Junk Food This is a somewhat complex question, so I am going to split my response into two parts. This

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 867 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom A Prepared Marriage – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 867 of our trek and time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will be a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up toward the end of each week &#8211; something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today, so let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled&#8230; A Prepared Marriage Two elderly women, Maggie and Sue, met for the first time since graduating from high school. Maggie asked Sue, &#8220;You were always so organized in school. Did you manage to live a well-planned life?&#8221; &#8220;Yes,&#8221; Sue said. &#8220;My first marriage was to a millionaire; after he died my second marriage was to an actor; unfortunately he died also, and my third marriage was to a preacher, and after his untimely death I am now married to an undertaker.&#8221; Maggie then asked Sue, &#8220;Oh my, with so much misfortune in your life, what do all those marriages have to do with a well-planned life?&#8221; Well, Sue said, &#8220;One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.&#8221; As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday’s Thought: Each day I try to enjoy something from each of the four food groups: the bonbon group, the salty-snack group, the caffeine group, and the...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 866 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom There&#8217;s a Devil in the Details &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 866 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical worldview. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of God’s word, we are investing the next several months on Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser which he has compiled into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There is an old idiom which says, “The devil is in the details,” which means “The details of a plan, while seeming insignificant, may contain hidden problems that threaten its overall feasibility.” In today’s essay, we want to look at an Old Testament Jewish Holy Day where literally… There’s a Devil in the Details Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement described in Leviticus 16, is a central element of the Jewish faith, even though it is not practiced today as it was in ancient times. Although many Christians have heard of the day, most would be startled to learn that a sinister figure lurks in the shadows of Leviticus 16. The Day of Atonement ritual required a ram, a bull, and two goats. The ram was for a burnt offering intended to please God. The bull was taken “from the herd and served as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest, and his family.” In this case, the sin offering restored the priest to ritual purity, allowing him to occupy sacred space and be near God&#8217;s presence, which we reviewed last week. Curiously though, two goats taken “from the congregation” were needed for the single sin offering for the people. Listen as I read Leviticus 16:3-5, “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 865 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom A Minor Lapse of Integrity – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 865 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Tom Peters, and it is,&#8220;There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.&#8221; A Minor Lapse of Integrity We are all prone to occasionally make decisions that, in hindsight, are not wise, or are lacking prudence.  There is a stark difference between those decisions and decisions made based on our core values. Our integrity is built on the bedrock of our values.  Our decisions, therefore, will always be in line with those bedrock values.  Decisions that result in Infidelity, theft, murder, lying, hate, and prejudice are all based on what we allow to harbor in your mind and heart. For instance, infidelity is never a minor lapse of integrity but is a result of thoughts which we have allowed to permeate into our thinking process and which have corrupted our bedrock values on which our integrity is rooted.  To have never changing integrity we must have a firm foundation of values from which all decision making is based. Instead of making excuses for a lack of integrity in your decision making, take responsibility for your decisions and actions and build a stronger moral foundation from which your integrity is based.  A life of integrity is a treasure that lasts through eternity.   Proverbs 2:7 reads, &#8220;He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18235 aligncenter"...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 864 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Let&#8217;s Stay Connected! – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 864 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We have just celebrated Mother’s Day in the United States. For most of us, the bond we have with our mother is one of the strongest that we will ever experience. The mother’s love is stronger than we will ever know. Usually, we will make contact with our mothers on this day set aside to honor them. We desire to remain connected with those we love. There is another relationship that may even be stronger than the one we have with our mother, but only if we stay connected. The title of our meditation today is&#8230; Let’s Stay Connected! Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Spirit. Jesus promised He would pour out the Spirit on people with faith in Him as they were baptized into Him. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He reiterated this promise over and over again as He talked to His closest disciples about the Spirit being their Helper when I was gone. This is found in John chapters 14-16. The Helper&#8217;s presence would be their assurance and seal that the Father, Son, and Spirit would abide in all who put their faith in Jesus. God will never leave or forsake you. In most of the world, a house can have many power outlets. However, the electric devices and appliances won&#8217;t be able to fulfill their purposes unless they are connected to the power source. The same is true for the work of the Spirit in your life. The Helper is Jesus’s power source for you. You need the Spirit&#8217;s presence and power in your life to fulfill your purpose as Jesus’s...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 863 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Parenting Is Not About Raising Well-Behaved Children &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 863 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected], and Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Granny and Gramps have had the privilege of raising 5 children to adults and now have 6 grandchildren with the 7th one on the way. Raising kids is not always easy, but if God blesses you with the opportunity and responsibility, then it is a sacred trust. So our question for today is… &#8220;Hey Gramps, Raising kids is really tough. How can we love them, care for them, and mentor them so that they are well-behaved as kids and become confident, well-adjusted, and responsible adults?&#8221; Parenting Is Not About Raising Well-Behaved Kids As I was contemplating this question, I came across a blog post by Todd Friel that I felt provided a very interesting perspective on balanced parenting. Here is how Todd explains it. If you view your kids as sinners who need salvation, you’ll see parenting as a rescue mission. Christian children are never naughty. Yes, you heard me correctly. Christian children are never naughty; Christian children commit sins. Labeling your child&#8217;s...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 862 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Coffee or the Cup – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 862 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. We are going to switch our Thursday podcast to a clean anecdotal or funny short story to help you lighten up towards the end of each week. It&#8217;ll be something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life. We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, &#8220;A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.&#8221; We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, &#8220;A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.&#8221; Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s story which was sourced with permission on mikeysfunnies.com. Today’s short story is&#8230; The Coffee or the Cup A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups &#8211; porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite – he told them to help themselves to the coffee. After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: &#8220;If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. &#8220;Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it&#8217;s just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was a good coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups&#8230;and then began eyeing each other&#8217;s cups.&#8221;...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 861 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Sin Offering vs. Forgiveness &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 861 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical Worldview. To establish a Biblical Worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of God’s word, we are investing the next several months on Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser which he has compiled into a book titled “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.” We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. To be in a good relationship with others, we must be willing to forgive them when they wrong us or fall short of our expectations. Forgiveness is even essential to maintain a healthy mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual life. In today’s essay, we will explore the purpose of the Old Testament for the sin offering and if it actually provided forgiveness. Sin Offerings vs. Forgiveness Hebrews 10:4 proclaims, “For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”  Leviticus seems to tell a different story. Even casually reading the book, we notice that Israelites who bring proper sacrifices “will be forgiven.” One example of this is Leviticus 4:20, &#8220;Just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.&#8221; Have we reached an impasse or are there contradictions in God’s word? Rather than labeling this a contradiction, we might examine our own perceptions of Old Testament sacrifices—specifically, the sin...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 860 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Six Foundation Stones – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 860 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Zig Ziglar, and it is,&#8220;The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.&#8221; Six Foundation Stones For any structure to be solid and secure, it must be built on solid foundation stones.  It is also imperative that these foundation stones rest of solid bedrock and not shifting sands. Our lives are exactly the same. Our values are the bedrock from which we build a balanced life and the foundation stones that rest on that bedrock are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty. Unless we have the solid bedrock of values and each of these six foundation stones, then our lives will be out of balance and eventually begin to crumble which will impact all other areas of our lives. Jesus taught us this principle in Matthew 7:24-27, &#8220;Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.&#8221; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18097 aligncenter" src="https://wisdom-trek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Six-Foundation-Stones-2-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://wisdom-trek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Six-Foundation-Stones-2-300x225.jpg 300w,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 859 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom God&#8217;s Mission: Your Adoption – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 859 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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 broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The past two weeks we diverged from our regular daily podcast themes due to my schedule where I was away from my home office. We read through some of the parables of Jesus. Jesus was a master storyteller, weaving everyday experiences into his teachings. It certainly is a good model to follow as we share with others. It is my mission to emulate this style of storytelling as I share each day on our podcast. Today we want to explore a mission that is much more important as the title of our meditation today is… God’s Mission: Your Adoption When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us. Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. Here is how it happens. You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of his justice, he cannot dismiss your sin, but because of his love, he cannot dismiss you. So in an act that stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins. God&#8217;s justice and love are equally honored. And you, God&#8217;s creation, are forgiven. But the story doesn&#8217;t end with God&#8217;s forgiveness. We read in Romans 8:15-16, &#8220;So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 858 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Lost Son &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 858 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Due to my heavy travel schedule this week, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead I will be reading through the parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes that serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Luke [15:11]-31 and is about… The Lost Son To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story. “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.  About the time his money ran...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 857 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Lost Sheep and Coin – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 857 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule for this week, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term &#8220;parable;&#8221; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Luke 15:1-10 and are about&#8230; The Lost Sheep and Coin · Parable of the Lost Sheep Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story&#8230;If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 856 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Good Samaritan &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 856 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Due to a heavy travel schedule this week, I will be switching from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parable for today is taken from Luke [10:30]-37 and is about… The Good Samaritan Jesus replied with a story. “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance, a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 855 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Three Servants – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 855 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule this week, I will be switching from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the bestknown stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Matthew [25:14]-30 and is about&#8230; Three Servants Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.   The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 854 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Ten Bridesmaids – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 854 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Due to my heavy travel schedule this week, I will be switching from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world.  We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parable for today is taken from Matthew 25:1-13 and is about… Ten Bridesmaids Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight they were roused by the shout, &#8220;Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!&#8221; All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, &#8220;Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.&#8221; But the others replied, &#8220;We don’t have enough for all of us....

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 853 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Great Feast &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 853 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Due to my heavy travel schedule for two weeks, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the Parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread. A man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night. Or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Matthew 22:1-14 and are about… The Great Feast Jesus also told them other parables. He said, &#8220;The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!&#8221; So he sent other servants to tell them, &#8220;The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!&#8221; But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 852 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Evil Farmers – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 852 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule for the next two weeks, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the Parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread. A man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night. Or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Matthew [21:33]-46 and are about&#8230; Evil Farmers Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.  Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, &#8220;Surely they will respect my son.&#8221; But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 851 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Hidden Treasures &#8211; Wisdom Wednesday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 851 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Due to a heavy travel schedule for the next two weeks, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the Parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread. A man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night. Or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our Parable for today is taken from Matthew [13:44]-58 and is about… Hidden Treasures · Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl &#8220;The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.&#8221; &#8220;Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!&#8221; · Parable of the Fishing Net “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore,...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 850 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Wheat, Weeds, Seeds, and Yeast – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 850 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule for the next two weeks, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the Parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread. A man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night. Or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Matthew [13:24]-43 and are about&#8230; Wheat, Weeds, Seeds, and Yeast · Parable of the Wheat and Weeds Here is another story Jesus told: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer’s workers went to him and said, &#8220;Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?&#8221; &#8220;An enemy has done this!&#8221; the farmer exclaimed. &#8220;Should we pull out the weeds?&#8221; they asked....

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 849 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Farmer Scattering Seeds – Meditation Monday Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 849 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Due to a heavy travel schedule for the next two weeks, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the Parables of Jesus. Jesus&#8217;s parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world. Many of Jesus&#8217;s parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread. A man knocking on his neighbor&#8217;s door at night. Or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love. In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world.  We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parable for today is taken from Matthew 13:1-23 and is about… The Farmer Scattering Seeds Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake. A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore.  He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.  As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.  Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.  But the plants soon...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 848 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom How Much Is Enough? &#8211; Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 848 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can Ask Gramps. Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason you are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any other areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It seems like no matter how much we earn or how many “things” we have, we always desire more. We work ourselves sick to accumulate wealth, only to use that wealth to get better. It all becomes a vicious cycle. Instead of grasping for more, we need to learn to enjoy what we have now. So our question for today is: &#8220;Hey Gramps, How can I gain a proper perspective and balance between striving for more and being satisfied with what I have today?” How Much Is Enough? To answer the question for today I am going to tell a story, or parable, that was recently posted in a blog from a friend of mine. Listen to see if it makes sense to you. An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 847 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Personal Integrity – Wisdom Unplugged Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 847 of our trek, and it is time for a 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 Michael Josephson, and it is, &#8220;Personal integrity is important, not because it gets us what we want, but because it helps us be what we want.&#8221; Personal Integrity In nearly every situation in life and with most people, our decisions and choices are made because there is some inherent benefit for us. We subconsciously think, “What’s in it for me?” It takes genuine personal integrity and love for others to realize it’s not as important to get what we want as it is to make decisions so that we can become what we should be. Personal integrity may require temporary sacrifices on our part, in order to mature and grow into a selfless person. A selfless person does not think less of himself but seeks to think of himself less as he helps others to become all that God intended them to be. Personal integrity is about becoming more instead of gaining more. Personal integrity will never push someone else down in order to climb higher, but help others climb to heights they never thought possible. A person with personal integrity will practice what we read in Ephesians 4:15-16, &#8220;Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and