How To Intentionally Solve Problems

This is the most important post I've ever written. It is long and I will be adding to each each day this week. Please feel free to mark this page, print off this post, and direct others to it.

(Remember, this is the conclusion of the two month look at "Thinking". In the previous post we realized: It all begins with us...whether we choose to think or not. It is an expression of our will. When we choose to think, then God does all the work and gets all the credit. If we don't choose to think, it is our fault...not God's.)

For years, I have helped people through crisis situations and solved problems. My method is always the same. It follows a four step process:

1. What is the objective? (What is the desired effect?)

I believe the biggest reason people make their problems worse is because they can't answer this first question. Their lack of an objective is actually a bigger problem than any crisis they could be facing because failure to handle this step well will lead to the problem getting worse...by the hand of the person having the problem. There are some subcategories of this step that are important:

-Is there more than one objective?
A lot of people get overwhelmed because they are actually trying to pursue more than one objective and they think it is only one objective. People also try to solve more than one objective at a time. I have stated this more than a hundred times to people in trouble: "I don't know about you, but I'm only able to handle one problem at a time." If there is more than one objective, determine which one is the most pressing and focus on that alone...a lot of times several of the other issues go away. If they don't then you work on the next most pressing issue. However, trying to stamp out each "fire" at the same time will only result in none of the "fires" going out. Stamp one out completely. The others may grow, but you have less "fires" to deal with and are better able to put out the other "fires".

People have this problem in their thought processes. They pursue two thoughts at once. We saw in the post on non-contradiction that this can cause people to need anti-anxiety medication. Basically they follow one thought and just before they come to a conclusion they jump to a contradictory thought. As they come to a conclusion to this second thought, they jump back to the first thought. If they don't recognize that they are actually dealing with two thoughts, they can quickly become frustrated, anxious, and end up in fear. We saw the way to overcome the contradictions in the competing thoughts was to define the terms. When it comes to a crisis situation, this means we need to define the problem in a fashion that is non-contradictory.

-Is the objective in your control?
Usually, these two sub-questions bring 99% of the focus to an issue. People tend to have several objectives they have been working on and when this question is answered, they realize that only one of them is in their control. If your objective has to do with the weather, the behavior of others, or "solutions" (money, feelings, etc) then you are only going to wear yourself out.

A lot of people pose a solution as an objective. For instance, when I was in the corporate world, people would say our objective was to get more resources. That is a solution to some issue...what is the issue? What is the Desired Effect? I would go to the front of the room and write down "More resources"...then I would draw a line above these words and write "ISSUE?". I would ask, "What is the issue?" The response would be something like "we aren't productive enough". I would write "Increase Productivity" as the objective (Desired Effect) and then ask, "How can we solve this issue?" THEN the answers would come pouring out. Now we have a list of twenty and one of them is "More resources".

I have talked with people who have made their objective to become someone's friend, date someone, or make them a Christian. Are these things in their control? No. The objective needs to be restated in a fashion that is in the control of the individual. This has to be things you can do are able to do. You can be available to explain your beliefs. You can ask someone on a date. You can do something nice for them.

-Is the objective IS or OUGHT?
Are we trying to determine the cause and solve it to perfection (OUGHT) or are we trying to deal with the symptoms and hope it goes away (IS)? IS solutions don't solve the problem...they just cover the appearance of the problem. The symptoms will come back, maybe in a different form, and there will continue to be more damage in other areas. Determining IS vs OUGHT helps increase the focus of effort on the identified objective.

I usually ask people: "If you had a magic wand, what would you make happen?" This gets to OUGHT. Some people think they are being humble when they state a goal that is less ambitious. We learned from Dr. Leaf's book that if they really want something more and intentionally set a lower goal, they are creating a stress within themselves. I like to ask someone: "So, you will be successful if all you achieved is this (lower goal)?" More often than not, the person laughs and says, "It's a start."

Goal setting is a process. You aren't stuck with the first thing that comes out of your mouth. Set big goals and scale them back by focusing them and determining what is in your control.

-How are the terms associated with the objective defined?
We are talking about the meaning of WORDS. We need to understand what all of the participants mean when they use specific words. Jumping over this step almost always results in a dilution of effort and an inability to achieve a solution. This isn't a "right or wrong" issue. This is an opportunity to improve the focus. It doesn't matter how you define the words...as long as the words are defined. If you don't define your terms upfront, you will end up coming back to this step when you hit a dead end or make a bigger mistake because of the lack of communication/focus.

When you think this step is done, take some time and let your imagination run wild. When I finish this step with someone, I like to come up with at least ten scenarios that stress the definitions. At this point, the objective OUGHT to be focused.


Once the objective is determined, the goal becomes to determine the cause of The Desired Effect.

2. What are your options?
Everything before this stage is preparation. This is REALLY the first step in trying to solve the problem. This step is trying to identify ALL the possible causes. This requires you to be completely comparative and uncomfortable in order to determine ALL possible options. As humans, we are limited in our knowledge. We can't possibly know ALL the possible options. Only God knows ALL the options. So in order to do this step COMPLETELY right, you HAVE to get revelation from God.

It is possible to cover all the options in a general way...the more general the better we can do this. For instance, CS Lewis would say Jesus was either: 1) a liar, 2) a crazy man, or 3) who He said He was (the Son of God). There are no other options...but notice, these options are general...we have a lot of arguments WITHIN each option.

This is also known as the "Divergent Phase". The beginning of every project OUGHT to have this brainstorming phase. Basically, every idea is invited. There are no bad ideas. In fact, we NEED bad ideas if we are going to solve the more complex problems!

We saw in an earlier post that the "aha moment" comes from an idea that is not obvious. The idea goes against conventional wisdom. What we are looking for is a "dumb idea".

The way I "help" people come up with dumb ideas is to ask a group for all the ideas they have and write them on a flip chart or white board. I do my best to try to get EVERY idea possible out of them. Then when they say they don't have any more ideas, I announce that we are going around the room one more time and everyone has to have an idea.

When the group protests, I say remind them there are no bad ideas. I also try to encourage them that the best ideas will come from this last round...and I challenge them to prove me wrong.

What typically happens is people say the STUPIDEST things you've ever heard and people laugh. However, it doesn't take long for someone to say something that causes someone else to say something stupid...and then someone asks a question about one of the ideas. Next thing you know, we are going down a road we didn't expect and we end up with a novel solution.

What have I done? I have caused people to be "stupid". I exhausted all the "smart" ideas. It is important to really push the group BEFORE announcing everyone has to come up with one more idea.

That way all that is left are "bad" ideas...that end up leading to solutions!



3. What do you know for SURE is NOT possible?
This step occurs ONLY after you have done the previous step. EVERYTHING is questioned. Now you need to actively try to prove each option wrong. In the CS Lewis example from above, Lewis then says someone may say Jesus was ONLY a great moral teacher. Lewis shows this is contradictory because Jesus said He was the Son of God and if THAT isn't true then Jesus lied and couldn't be a great moral teacher.

Going back to the project management model, there is actually a step before this...

Project Management Model: There are four steps to every project
1. Divergence - Come up with as many ideas as possible
2. Assimilation - Organize the ideas into categories
3. Convergence - Eliminate options in order to come to one option
4. Execution - Do the option

Divergence is the comparative/brainstorming phase we covered in the previous step. This step is the Convergence/contrastive step.

Before I begin eliminating options, I organize them in groups to see if we are missing anything. Making categories helps identify areas that we may have missed. When this happens, we can go back to the previous steps and come up with options to fill that category. Once we believe we have all the possible options, it is time to eliminate the options.

This Convergence step is what separates the cognition people from the meta-cognition people. In detective stories and medical dramas, this is the key step. Someone questions a piece of information that people assumed was true. This results in people getting very uncomfortable that someone would even consider something was not true...especially a deeply held belief.

This is probably my strongest point. People who know me say that I'm like the TV character "House". I see some of the similarities. He gets told by people that they have checked EVERYTHING. Then he'll question a piece of information and people think he is wrong. I have turned that scenario into a running joke. Whenever someone tells me that they have considered everything, what they are saying is, "There is no CAUSE to this observed EFFECT because I checked ALL the possible CAUSES and NONE of them would result in this EFFECT. I'm not trying to argue with you."

Then I laugh and say, "ACTUALLY I want you to be right. Do you realize how rich and famous we will become when we document the FIRST case where CAUSALITY failed? We have a documented case of a COMPLETELY random and CAUSELESS event. Even if it only occurs in that one location on earth, we need to buy the property and set up shop over the only place in the world where the principles of truth (or science) fail to work. I REALLY hope you are right!" Unfortunately, after spending over 20+ years in pursuit of thousands of examples where CAUSALITY seemed to cease, I have to report that NONE of them have been confirmed.

While we are on the "House" analogy, there is another key similarity between me and House. House needs other people who are different than him in order to solve problems. From the outside, House appears cocky and arrogant because he solves so many problems and doesn't worry about being superficial and polite. However, from the inside, he actively pushes people to be different from him and prove him wrong. He sees the value in being wrong in the short-term. His focus is being right in the Long Term.

Almost every episode involves people telling him the causality has ceased to exist...and he says SOMETHING is wrong BECAUSE someone is ill.

Almost every episode involves people getting upset that his initial diagnosis is wrong...if the solution was obvious someone less excellent could solve this. House realizes the wrong initial diagnosis PROVES the case is complex.

Almost every episode involves people getting upset that House ran a wasted test because it wasn't right...and he is happy because he knows FOR SURE what it is not.

Almost every episode involves someone or something outside of House showing him where he is wrong...and he knows he wouldn't have solved this complex case without outside help.

Lately, almost every episode involves people being afraid of challenging him...and he has to become more obnoxious to get people to challenge him back because he knows he needs to be proven wrong in the short-term in order to be right in the Long Term.

How many pastors, teachers, bosses, parents, and other "leaders" do you personally know who ACTIVELY ask you to show them where they are wrong?

THIS is the REAL reason people are unable to solve complex problems.


4. WHY is the option NOT possible?
It's not enough to say something is wrong. You can think something is wrong and it isn't. You have to come up with the reason...you have to present the contradiction in terms of premises. Usually it is one of the premises that are faulty. THIS is the formula for every "mystery/detective" story: you are presented a series of premises that appear true AND don't give the expected EFFECT. Then the story works its way through the premises until you find the one (or more) that are incorrect. The hour long shows are built on secondary CAUSES. The first EFFECT is solved in the first half hour and everyone relaxes...then the problem comes back and we realize we didn't get to the primary CAUSE...just the EFFECT of the primary CAUSE.


IF ALL of the options are identified, then the option that can't be PROVEN wrong HAS to be the CAUSE of The Desired Effect.

If there is more than one option that can't be PROVEN wrong, then you need to determine the information necessary to PROVE one or more of the options wrong...and get that information.

If the problem doesn't resolve itself, then you didn't identify all the options...either because you were afraid to get uncomfortable or you didn't listen to God (GRACE).

Again, notice that the perfect way to do this process involves stating your will, revelation from God, and proving truth.



EXAMPLE
Several people have told me that specific examples help them. Here is an example to show more specifically how this works...

My example: I want to get a new job.

I need to ask myself if it is possible that there is more than one objective? Once I have flushed out my objective, I ask myself if this objective is in my control.

My example: I want more money and I want to have a nice boss.

Notice, I can set a minimum amount of money I need to make before I would accept a job. I do not have control over the “niceness” of a potential boss.

The next question to ask is the objective a cause or an effect? Am I trying to determine the cause and solve it to perfection or am I trying to deal with the symptoms and hope it goes away?

Focusing on effects doesn't solve the problem...they just cover the appearance of the problem. The symptoms will come back, maybe in a different form, and there will continue to be more damage in other areas.

My example: “more money” is an effect and “nice boss” is a cause out of my control.

Now I ask how are the terms associated with the objective defined?

We are talking about the meaning of WORDS. We need to understand what all of the participants mean when they use specific words. Jumping over this step almost always results in a dilution of effort and an inability to achieve a solution.

My example: What does “more money” mean? It means, I want to have more money than I currently do in order to pay all my bills. What does “nice boss” mean? I want to work for a true leader. Someone who is about helping me become all I was created to be. It has nothing to do with smiling and speaking softly and positively all the time. This would be a “nice” leader.

Once the objective is determined and understood, the goal becomes to determine the CAUSE of The Desired Effect.

What are my options? Everything before this stage is preparation. This is REALLY the first step in trying to solve the problem.

My example: “more money” is dependent on how much I make and how much I spend. I need to determine how much more I need. Then I can look at my budget and see how much I would need to cut back in order to be able to pay my bills. Then I could determine if this is possible. I could also determine how much more I would need to make…which would lead to me deciding if I need a new job or a part-time job in addition to my current job.

As for the “true leader”, I can determine if my current boss is able to become a true leader. I could also determine if there are other people in the company that are true leaders and see if I could work for them. If the answer is “no” to both, then I objectively know what I’m looking for when I interview for other jobs.

What do I know for SURE is NOT possible? This step occurs ONLY after I have done the previous step. EVERYTHING is questioned.

WHY is the option NOT possible? It's not enough to say something is wrong. I have to come up with the reason...I have to present the contradiction in terms of premises. Usually it is one of the premises that are faulty.

My example: I may find that a part-time job wouldn’t be able to help me attain my goal. I may also find that the portion of my expenses that are in my control are far less than the amount I’m trying to attain. Again, I not only know those two options, I know WHY they don’t work.

Then I could focus on a solution now instead of potentially wasting my time and energy looking for a job that wasn't going to solve my problems.


New Series: God's Will


Here are all the links in order covering the last two months:
Trees
Parables Are Models
Brain Overview
Walking Trees
Ever Learning
Damaging Your Brain
Behavior #1: Fellowship
Behavior #2: Causality
Behavior #3: Growth
Behavior #4: Non-Contradiction
Behavior #5: Contrastive Thinking
Luke 17:3
Luke 17:3 (Part II)
The Sixth Stimulus
Rehearsing
To Sleep, Perchance To...
The Seventh Stimulus
Being Still
Old Testament Heart
New Testament Heart
The Intellect of the Heart
Hearts and Minds
Keep Your Heart
Stress
Stress in the Bible
Handling Stress
The Cause of Fear
The Only Way to Remove Guilt
The Belly
The Digestive System
Back to the Digestive System
Cancer
Cancer and Carwashing
God's Glory
The Soil
The Breath
The Leaves
The Water
The Seed
How to Intentionally Solve Problems

The Seed

I've heard people say that the entire tree is in the seed. It is NOT!

We've seen the content of the tree comes from the atmosphere and water...from God's Breath and God's Word. The tree is actually outside the seed.

The seed has the ability to take in these materials, rightly divide them, use what is profitable for growth, and exhaust the rest to the atmosphere. All the seed is really able to do is reproduce itself.

The seed is knowledge and understanding!

Now look at the mentions of "seed" in the Bible and it takes on a deeper meaning...

"And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:12, ASV)

Remember, "good" means "to create". Seed can reproduce...it can create...it can be good.

We began this series looking at Jesus' parables with trees. In the parable of the sower, Jesus states the seed is the word of God. (Mark 4:14) In fact, I Peter 1:23 also says the word of God is seed. That is because it can bring knowledge and understanding.

We've seen in a previous post that the Devil used God's Word when he tempted Jesus and it didn't produce. So, using God's Word doesn't always produce. Something else must be added.

"For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard." (Hebrews 4:2, ASV)

Faith is based on understanding. The Word alone does not result in profit. It must be mixed with faith (understanding).

"And he saith unto them, Because of your little faith: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20, ASV)

Notice, faith is compared to a seed and we know faith is based on understanding.

Most importantly, Mary became pregnant with God's Seed...with the embodiment of God's knowledge and understanding.

Seeds come from fruit! In order to have seed you must produce fruit.

Recently a group of us were talking about how to tell if a person is producing fruit or not...that is, what is "fruit"? Obviously, fruit is something of value...something that is profitable. However, what we realized is the main proof that something is fruit is that it also includes the fruit of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, ASV)

Notice money, fame, wealth, etc. aren't listed as a fruit of the Spirit. When true fruit is produced it will be accompanied with some or all of these fruits.


TREE SUMMARY
We have seen that God uses the Tree Analogy from the beginning through the end of the Bible. This analogy clearly shows that God will provide all of the content if we are good seed...if we understand...if we think.

It all begins with us...whether we choose to think or not. It is an expression of our will. When we choose to think, then God does all the work and gets all the credit. If we don't choose to think, it is our fault...not God's.

Every explanation that begins with God IS making it God's fault when people go to Hell. It doesn't matter how complicated the explanation, if this process begins with God, then God is ultimately at fault. Every other explanation is really an attempt to help the individual flee their personal responsibility. Notice that when people are in crisis, the right answer ALWAYS requires thinking. We've seen from Dr. Leaf's book that God made our brains in such a way that choosing not to think actually damages the brain.

Realize, if this process begins with us, then it is not possible (that is, it is IMPOSSIBLE) for it to be God's fault. This is also different from "well it is possible for it to be God's fault but He makes sure it is not".

Ultimately, your only moral responsibility is TO THINK.

EVERYTHING else is an effect of that decision.

Tomorrow, we will conclude this topic with the most important post on this blog: How To Think.

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The Water

We've been looking at the Tree Analogy.
The Soil is the heart.
The source of the content of the tree is the Spirit (Breath).
The Leaves are the conscience.
Today we are going to look at the Water...


"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction; To discern the words of understanding; To receive instruction in wise dealing, In righteousness and justice and equity; To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion: That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels: To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings." (Proverbs 1:1-6, ASV)

Also, I have been sharing the observations of Wayne Swokowski. He knows the Bible better than anyone else I know. Wayne shared the following about the above passage:

Meditate: rehearse to yourself, think over and over, imagine deeply, speak to the soul, imprinting on the soul as to always have it available, write on the table of the heart.
Planted: transplanted by another party, deeply rooted, (an expression of the will), death to a top soil life and short term desires.

Later in Proverbs, we see:

"He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And rageth against all sound wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, But only that his heart may reveal itself. When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt, And with ignominy cometh reproach. The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook. To respect the person of the wicked is not good, Nor to turn aside the righteous in judgment. A fool's lips enter into contention, And his mouth calleth for stripes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts." (Proverbs 18:1-8, ASV)

In Psalms, there is a passage that deals with water and "wind":
"He sendeth out his commandment upon earth; His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: Who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow." (Psalm 147:15-18, ASV)

The Bible compares God's Word to Water. In fact, the most famous passage is:
"Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:22-27, ASV)

In the Sequel, we see that the Bible says husbands ought to give of themselves for the benefit of the wife just like Christ did for the church. For some reason, mainstream Christianity tells us the wife ought to be subservient to the husband and everything ought to be done for his best interests.

The interesting thing about "Word" is that it doesn't just apply to written word...it can apply to spoken word. We've called God's spoken Word into the individual "grace".

Let's look at the "equation" for growth when it comes to trees:

The leaves react energy from the sun, carbon dioxide, and water in order to create oxygen and sugar...which is necessary for growth.

When this applies to people, we can say it this way:
The individual chooses to be affected by God's energy and God's Spirit and God's Word in order to grow and give praise back to God.

Wayne also taught me more about grace being water when he studied the definition of a "pit". From Wayne Swokowski:

"There is one PIT. ( PIT: Hebrew: a well or cistern without water.) Every lost person is in the pit and dwells there. They make it home. They decorate it and plan all of life in the pit. They spend their time with other pit-dwellers. Only Jesus can get them out. A person cannot and will not be able to get out of the pit with their own abilities. There is no door in the pit. The sides are all closed in and the floor is impenetrable, but there is a view upward. As a pit-dweller responds to grace and expresses his or her will to God, they can be lifted out by the LORD. Psalm 40:1-3 says, "...I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."

Notice the definition of "pit" talks about what it is lacking: water. There are no doors on a pit. The only way out is through the top. If the pit was filled up with water (grace), then the person could get out of the pit. If the pit stays filled with water, it isn't a pit!

There's only one part of the analogy left. What is the seed?

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The Leaves

Leaves are complex structures. Leaves must allow carbon dioxide in and oxygen out...without letting water get out. The main purpose of leaves are to facilitate the process known as photosynthesis.

The actual chemical equation says that six molecules of water and six molecules of carbon dioxide make one molecule of sugar and six molecules of oxygen. However, this chemical reaction requires energy. This energy is absorbed by a chemical known as chlorophyll. Where does this energy come from?

The energy comes from "light".

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." (Genesis 1:1-4, ASV)

Light is energy. Visible light is actually only a very narrow band on the Energy Spectrum. Notice, it takes energy to create and we've seen that "good" means "to create". (One of my favorite questions is to ask people their definition of "good".) It makes sense why God is light (energy) and is able to create, while evil is darkness and only destroys.

(When you read your Bible, substitute the word "energy" in for light and you'll get a greater understanding of what God is teaching us. If you want to go further, look at "light" in the New Testament. Strong's #5457 is "phos" which comes from #5316 and #5346. "Phaino" is #5316 and it means "to show". "Phemi" is #5346 and it means "to show or make known one's thoughts"! We are back to the importance of thinking and knowing one's thoughts...both within the individual and between individuals! Reconciling is vital...)

Back to the tree...

Chlorophyll absorbs all the wavelengths (versions) of visible light except for green light...it reflects this wavelength. This is why the leaves (and grass) are green.

So, the leaves are able to receive energy from the Sun in order to facilitate the conversion of God's Breath to our tangible content. If the leaves aren't functioning, then we aren't able to allow God's Breath to help us grow. What are the leaves?

"But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth." (I Timothy 4:1-3, ASV)

We've looked this passage before when we covered the importance of doctrine and the dangers of hypocrisy.

The leaves are the conscience! If you sear over the conscience, the person can't grow in God...they can't take direction from God.

The leaves react energy from the sun, carbon dioxide, and water in order to create oxygen and sugar...which is necessary for growth.

Said another way, the individual chooses to be affected by God's energy and God's Spirit in order to grow and give praise back to God.

This accounts for everything except the water...

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The Breath

In Friday's e-mail we saw that PAHs cause cancer. PAHs are made up mostly of carbon. We saw that PAHs are an effect of combustion. When trees are burned, they create PAHs...because trees are mostly carbon. (There are some trees that have more of their weight from water than from carbon, however, on the whole, trees are mostly carbon.) Where does this carbon come from?

Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The tree keeps the carbon (C) and releases the O2...which is oxygen! One source says: One mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds every year and release enough oxygen back to support two people.

The question about the source of the tree's mass looks like a trick question! Carbon dioxide is a gas...yet the tree is a solid.

Now look at this from a spiritual perspective: our content is NOT ultimately from ourselves...it is ultimately from something that can't be seen.

Let's go back to the tree...where does the carbon dioxide come from?

It is a cycle. The trees take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen...and we take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide...and the trees take in...

The source of carbon dioxide is our breath!

Again, the person who helped me see this is Wayne Swokowski. For now, I'm going to share what he showed me in just this area. When we get to the end of this analogy I will post Wayne's powerful explanation for how all this pulls together...

"Spirit" in the Old Testament is Strong's #7307 "ruwach" - wind; by resemblance breath.

"Spirit" in the New Testament is Strong's #4151 "pneuma" - a current of air, i.e. breath.

"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7, ASV)

The breath of God (His Spirit) is what gives us (trees) the content of our lives....and our breath ought to give glory (thought) to God!

All of this happens through the leaves...what are the leaves of our trees?

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The Soil

We began this topic on August 1 with "Trees". (First Month)

We have seen that the Bible uses trees from beginning to end. The Bible compares people to trees. We've seen that our ability to think is dependent on the "dendrites" in our brain. These dendrites look like trees and come from the Greek word for tree. In fact, the word "man" comes from the Sanskrit word "manu" which means "to think".

As we learn more and more about how the brain gets damaged and repaired, I believe we will look back on this time as one of the darkest times in Christian history. People are being encouraged not to think...to embrace the mystery. We've seen this actually causes a stress between body and brain...which leads to illness. Nowhere in the Bible does it encourage us to grow by not thinking...

The Tree Analogy is very powerful when we look at the causes of the growth of a tree.

Since yesterday's post was so long, this will be a short post and cover one cause that we've already looked at: soil.

We've seen that the heart is the most fertile soil that exists. Everything that is planted in it will produce fruit: both good and bad. Here are the links to the posts that cover this:

Old Testament Heart
New Testament Heart
The Intellect of the Heart
Hearts and Minds
Keep Your Heart

The purpose of the soil is to provide nutrients to the seed, including water. Nutrients are like catalysts, they don't create the tree...the facilitate its growth.

More specifically, the mass of a tree does not come from the soil. Tomorrow we will cover the cause of the mass of the tree...that is, "Where does the majority of the weight of a tree come from?" (Take some time to think about this...and it is not "water".)

For now, realize that your heart pumps blood to your body in order to repair it...in order to give it life. Your heart does not give of itself to make up the mass of your body.

The heart is the soil...

Next Post

God's Glory

We began this topic on August 1. (First Month) It is now time to begin wrapping it up. In order to do this, I will be referencing information from Wayne Swokowski. As I've written before, Wayne knows the Bible better than anyone else I know. He got a degree in Bible with a minor in History from Bob Jones University over 30 years ago. He has experienced the entire spectrum of doctrine...from legalism to spiritual warfare. Half of Wayne's ARE is "knowledge" which brings resolution to people like me who have a Big Picture ARE ("vision").

Two months ago, I shared the information from Dr. Leaf's book with Wayne. It sparked something in Wayne and he shared it with the rest of our group in an e-mail. This caused me to respond with an e-mail, only to have Wayne respond, etc. Each e-mail built and magnified the previous e-mail. Today's post is long, but I wanted to share the e-mails that Wayne and I wrote to the group...


THE GLORY (Wayne)

I am convinced that most Christians do not know how we have oneness with God or one another. Just ask one and you will find out. I have been reading slowly through the Gospel of John and was captured by what was in chapter 17. Jesus is praying to the Father:

John 17 : 20-23

vs 20 "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word:"

vs 21 "That they all may be one: as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us: they the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

vs 22 "And the Glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
We are one:"

vs 23 "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."

Verse 22 makes it clear that Jesus gave the disciples the same Glory that the Father had given Him,
and it was so that the disciples could be One, just as Jesus and the Father are One. Oneness comes
from the glory which is given to the believers that follow Christ.

I looked up Glory in Strong's concordance and found the following from John 17:22:

#1391 in the Greek section Glory means: dignity, honor, praise, worship
It comes from the base of #1380: it means " to think"

I believe we need oneness with the Father before we can have fellowship with one another. This means we will need the Glory, before the Fellowship we desire in the Fox Valley is ever possible. What prevents the believers from getting the glory which God wants us to have???? I am glad you asked.

When Satan was Lucifer before the fall, he worshiped God in the temple which was filled with the glory of God. The Glory was all around and in everyone in heaven at that time. What caused Lucifer to lose the glory of God? It's the same thing that keeps most of the churches in the Valley from receiving an outpouring of God's glory today.

PRIDE WAS THE SIN THAT CAUSED THE GLORY TO BE REMOVED FROM LUCIFER, AND IT'S THE SAME SIN THAT HOLDS BACK THE GLORY TODAY. AND THEREFORE THE ONENESS IS ABSENT. I BELIEVE THERE ARE SOME PROUD PASTORS INFLUENCING THE MAJORITY.

Also if the base of Glory is TO THINK, it makes sense why so may Pastors and Christians say we cannot understand God. They have become either beguiled or deceived by the Evil One. He knows if they think, then they will have access to the glory and then everything else God has to offer.

John! Please help me understand how all of this looks from a vision perspective.


LIGHTNESS (John)

“And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST: till we all attain unto the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; BUT SPEAKING TRUTH IN LOVE, we may GROW UP IN ALL THINGS INTO HIM, who is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and KNIT TOGETHER THROUGH THAT WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH, according to the working in due measure of each several part, MAKETH THE INCREASE OF THE BODY UNTO THE BUILDING UP OF ITSELF IN LOVE.” (Ephesians 4:11-16, ASV)

I could have capitalized the whole sentence, but I wanted to highlight the phrases that continue Wayne's point about glory and oneness...

Yesterday morning I believe God pointed out to me two very critical abilities the body needs in order to be profitable in the Long Term and achieve unity. I spent the day processing it and ended up sharing it when Wayne called me yesterday evening. As you've all seen, Wayne shared his revelation and I believe this is the corresponding step that syncs up with what Wayne wrote. I wasn't going to write the group about this. I was going to save it for the blog, however, I feel conviction to share this now in light of Wayne's revelation about "glory" being an effect of thinking.


1. Building...at whose expense?
God showed me there are three levels of maturity when it comes to building.

We all want to feel good about ourselves. We all want and need affirmation. This is not a sin. God made us to operate on this fuel which is ARE based...not HAVE or DO based. The question is HOW do we get this affirmation.

A. At the expense of others.
This is the least mature way to get built up. This is feeling good about yourself BECAUSE someone else is doing worse. This is comparative. This is the most common way...this is also the reason marriages and churches are unprofitable. Think about it. If a person can only feel good about themselves at the expense of others and the person they interact with the most is their spouse...the greatest source of affirmation available is to tear down the spouse. Ultimately, this mentality is driven by competition and denies uniqueness. In order for me to feel better about myself at your expense, I have to believe we value the same things and my good ability means you have bad ability in an area you value...because we all value the exact same things.

B. Not at the expense of others.
This is a much more mature way to get built up. This is feeling good about yourself BECAUSE you yourself are good at something and it doesn't involve anyone else. This method doesn't result in loss of profitability for others because it doesn't involve others. While this is much better than the first way, it is not God's Will for us.

C. Because others are getting built
This is the most mature way. This is what the Ephesians passage is telling us to do...especially the capitalized sections. This is feeling built up as an effect of recognizing someone else being built up. I saw an example of this Thursday night. Nathaniel called me to tell me he was handling his birthday party in an excellent fashion...that he was able to do it because he was built up BECAUSE of Simon's ability! He was stating that Simon taking the time to talk to him and sharing Simon's area that has been built up caused Nathaniel to be able to be profitable. Nathaniel was stating that he was built up BECAUSE Simon had been built up. Nathaniel even stated that now he gets how love works because he didn't think he could pay Simon back enough for what he did for him.

Reread the Ephesians passage...Simon spoke truth in love to Nathaniel and the result was Nathaniel was edified BECAUSE Simon was excellent...which resulted in Nathaniel loving Simon...maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.

2. "That's just Joel being Joel."
This is the most damaging thing a person can say...

From the Brain Overview post: Every cell in your body has a record of everything that has happened. However, you can choose whether your brain keeps a record or not. It is the only organ you can choose not to use. This is why the Bible seems contradictory on "thinking". Man's way of thinking is to choose not to have the record...this is unprofitable. God's way of thinking is to choose to have the record...this is profitable. Man's glory vs. God's glory.

Every day you make a choice to reconcile what your body knows with your brain. If you choose to think...to record the information in your brain...your body is reconciled and you are in tune.

If you choose not to think...to let the information disappear without your brain recording it...your body is not reconciled and you are out of tune. This opens your body up to disease.

We all like activity and the stimulation it brings...especially in this modern age. However, if you don't reconcile all the information, the result is stress within you...tension between your body and brain.

Look at people who live 100 years...they have lives that are easy to reconcile. Look at people who die young...they don't reconcile or aren't able to.

WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL: We need to focus on the ARE and reconcile everything we can. This is the value of fellowship. HAVE and DO limit the time to reconcile and add to the things needing to be reconciled.

Now go back to the Ephesians verse...we need to be reconciled one to another if we are going to achieve unity...if we are going to be profitable. Unity is "knit together THROUGH that (uniqueness) which every joint supplieth".

This means we all have to grow, get to know each other better, and help each other have the courage and strength to reconcile our lives on a regular basis.

What is the opposite of this?

"That's just Joel being Joel".

The minute I say that, I am doing three very damaging and unprofitable things.

A. I have stated my will that Joel is unable to grow in one area of his life. I'm saying that is the way he is in that area...and that is the way he will always be. I have limited his profitability.

B. I have rationalized why I don't need to get to know him better in one area of his life. Worse, I have rationalized why I don't need to confront him in this area of his life...it won't do any good. I have relieved myself of Matthew 18 and Luke 17:3. I am telling Jesus I don't have to confront this brother and be reconciled...it won't do any good. I am denying Jesus' words.

C. I have introduced a cancer into the body. It may look like I have only limited Joel's growth in one area, but the areas immediately adjacent to it and dependent on this ability have been limited. So over time I will see more areas of Joel's life that aren't going to change. Given enough time I can believe he will never change. (This is how racism occurs.)


Unity occurs because of uniqueness. Uniqueness leads to profitability. Profitability leads to growth. Unlimited growth is what makes eternity possible.

Fellowship is reconciliation...it is speaking the truth for the benefit of another (love).

Reconciliation within yourself and between others is not easy...it can only happen if you have God flowing through you...

If you choose to think then you will: love, not judge others (value the uniqueness of others), speak the truth, and have the courage and strength to confront other believers...this is the glory of God.

Not reconciling with others is the same as what happens within the individual. The people are out of tune with each other and the unreconciled material is like a weight. The more things are ignored, the more the weight grows and it will eventually sink the individual and the Fellowship.

If we reconcile, we have no weight. We have freedom and "lightness"...

...watch people interact and you can tell how profitable they are by their "lightness".


WHAT ELSE? (Wayne)

John referred to some phone conversations we had recently. As he shared with me his insights on oneness, he used the word reconciliation. I thought a lot about this word and will share some of my thoughts.

The context is in II Corinthians 5:17-21. Please read these verses as soon as you get a chance.I will do as usual and give the exact verses in which we find the word reconciliation, and then give word meanings.

II Corinthians 5:18 "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation."

II Corinthians 5:19 " To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

Reconciliation : means to change mutually, exchange, and restoration.
From: down or deep within, and else (make different from within).

ELSE: is the idea of one or individual. "Who else" usually meaning which other one. It was "something else" or it some other one thing. "What else" should we do? Meaning what other one thing should we do?

So reconciling is a willing change deep within one person toward God or another "ELSE" or person.

This change of the one deep within makes it possible to receive God's glory.

Matthew 5:24 "...First be reconciled to thy brother." In the context it is talking about bringing an offering to God. If you have a problem with a brother, God says get it fixed, or reconciled. He wants the deep oneness within restored, so our uniqueness can operate in grace. Only confession and repentance can change the else, or the person God reconciled.

Only God can do the changing by His grace, but we have been given the ministry and word of reconciliation. If we do not do our part or never learn what to do and why, there will be very little repair and very little oneness and fellowship.


FROM BAD TO GOOD THROUGH WORSE (John)

Wayne Swokowski wrote:
"Reconciliation : means to change mutually, exchange, and restoration.
From: down or deep within, and else ( make different from within).

ELSE: is the idea of one or individual. "Who else" usually meaning which other one. It was "something else" or it some other one thing. "What else" should we do? Meaning what other one thing should we do?

So reconciling is a willing change deep within one person toward God or another "ELSE" or person.

This change of the one deep within makes it possible to receive God's glory."


I'm realizing more and more the cause is choosing to think.

One of the most important effects of choosing to think is to evaluate your short-term memory and choose to put the information in your cortex so that your brain is reconciled with your body.

Watch people who are overly busy, forgetful, late, filled with excuses, topic jumpers, and defensive. All of this is an effect of avoiding searching their short-term memory...of avoiding reconciliation of themselves (cortex) with themselves (heart and the rest of the body).

They make themselves busy creating more short-term memories and chewing up the time they need to reconcile...

CS Lewis compared this type of morality to the soundness of a ship at sea. He then said there was a second morality which is between the ships at sea...between individuals. He said they go hand in hand. If a ship isn't internally sound, it will run into other ships. If a ship runs into others ships, it won't stay internally sound. So, the second part of Wayne's definition comes into place with "else".

Reconciling within the individual goes hand in hand with reconciling between individuals...within the individual and another ("else").

Likewise, the best way to be reconciled both ways is to pursue growth and have Fellowship.

Growth - Embrace short-term discomfort in order to achieve Long Term growth...and comfort. The new Batman movie repeatedly states a Biblical principle: We go from BAD to GOOD through WORSE. A seed needs to die in order to produce. A person needs surgery in order to get well. Tradition tries to sell us the concept of going from BAD to GOOD without anything getting WORSE...if it does then it must not be God because it doesn't feel GOOD.

Reconciling involves facing behavior (which is uncomfortable), evaluating behavior (even more uncomfortable), and then choosing to accept it or reject it...this last step is actually GOOD regardless of the choice. Even if you file away bad behavior in your Long Term memory with a rationalization, it is hundreds of times better than letting it slip away because the behavior is accessible and can be re-evaluated at a later date. Letting it slip away makes it harder to re-evaluate and you continue to live with the stress between your brain and your body.

Fellowship - This helps us embrace short-term discomfort. Remember, Fellowship begins with a statement of the will of the individual that another ("else") has permission to initiate speaking into their life AND that the individual will share completely.

Both halves of this perfectly matches up with the effects of reconciling the individual!!!!!!

In August I'm going to be writing about the brain and the effects on the blog. We are going to see that WHAT we have been doing for the past two years fits PERFECTLY with God's Word (reconciliation, love, fruit, faith, etc.) it could ONLY have been through the Holy Spirit!

Here's the "nugget" from Wayne to chew on:

"This change of the one deep within makes it possible to receive God's glory."

God's glory is God's way of thinking which leads to life, love, fruit, etc.

1. The only way to get to God's way of thinking is to have this change (reconciliation) deep within you. (This change within you actually makes you smarter! It "renews" your brain. It makes you more able to understand God's way of thinking. It makes you more able to put the flesh under and choose to hear God's voice.)

2. The only way to have this reconciliation is to make a good choice...to choose to think...to choose to reconcile. (You can't be reconciled if you don't first choose to do this deep within you...choose to face your short-term memory. If you don't do this, you are an antenna filled with static and are unable to hear God's quiet signal. A year ago, Wayne wrote about being still in order to hear God's voice.)

3. Choosing not to be reconciled actually makes you less intelligent...it makes you less likely to have the ability to make the decision needed to eventually become smarter. (It limits your antenna's ability to hear God's signal.)

Tradition is directly preventing peoples' ability to be reconciled early in life.

Tradition is indirectly preventing peoples' ability to be reconciled later in life because it has directly wrecked their ability to think which eventually prevents them from being able to make a good decision based on UNDERSTANDING.

I have seen the age of 30 as the tipping point for 95% of people. If we reach them before 30 the chances of reasoning with them is 20 times better than reasoning with them after the age of 30. So, Campus Crusade, Young Life, InterVarsity, etc. (The people who promise you can go from BAD to GOOD without going through WORSE.) are ACTUALLY working towards preventing the people who attend from being able to be approached through understanding later in life. This means there is only one way for people over the age of 30 to be reached...

EXPERIENCE - People over the age of 30, for the most part, have to have BAD experiences that go to WORSE in order for God to reach them...in order to be reconciled.

It is a GOOD thing that these people experience tremendous hardships otherwise they would not get reconciled and hear from God.

Wayne's conclusion is powerful...

"This change of the one deep within makes it possible to receive God's glory."

The choosing to think is first necessary in order to have the ability to think like God.

And the longer one puts off choosing to think, the less likely they will be able to be reconciled without going through tremendous hardships...

Next Post

Cancer and Carwashing

I won the Dow Chemical Central Research Inventor of the Year Award at the age of 27...without having a PhD. I have always found it interesting how the great discoveries come by "accident". I have had this discussion with numerous inventors. The consensus is that almost all of the inventors with "education" had to consciously disregard their education in order to invent!

I've mentioned this before: the first requirement for a patent is proof that the invention is "unexpected"...that is, that someone knowledgeable in the area couldn't have come up with it!

Education basically teaches us HOW things got to where they are today. The unspoken goal is that we will be able to continue the improvements if we know HOW we got to this point...we just do more of the same! It's as if creation is a line and all we need to do is continue going the same direction...that someone knowledgeable in the area could have created it!

The reality is creation (what I call "The AHA! Moment") occurs when we turn off the line toward another direction. Look at transportation...we had the cart...then the horse drawn cart...then we added two horses...then we added a team of horses...then we have a gas powered engine! Notice, there wasn't a stage where there was a horse that was partly powered by a combustion engine.

The AHA Moment is uncomfortable...it was not predictable from the way we saw things...it leaves the line...the world we all thought we knew. The history of science is filled with people who left the line...and were killed...only to be proven right long after their death. Have we really progressed beyond this medieval perspective? Or do we demand that only scientists can comment on science? Only theologians can preach, teach, and write about God and His Word?

"And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." (Daniel 1:3-4, ASV)

Daniel was one of these children of Israel. What were Daniel's credentials? "...skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science..."

Actually, there is great misunderstanding of the term "scientist". This is a relatively recent word. Prior to the 1700's, the term for people who studied science was "natural philosopher". This described a person who took in observations about nature and thought about them.

The big mystery facing the natural philosopher from the beginning of time was the solar system. These philosophers saw a regular pattern in the heavens and decided there must be a knowable cause...that, in fact, an intelligent Being caused this predictable observation and wanted us to understand the Creator more. It took thousands of years to come to the conclusion that we can utter in seconds: "The earth and nearest planets rotate on their axes and revolve around the sun in unique and concentric orbits, while the moon orbits around the earth."

Thousands of years (and numerous intelligent beings killed) all over that last sentence...

I believe the second great mystery is The Meaning of Life. Philosophers have been trying to determine this since the beginning. Why wouldn't a natural philosopher...a "scientist"...be the one to figure this out? Shouldn't a theologian figure this out? (I mean, if they truly knew who God is and how to interpret the Bible?)

This mystery was addressed by all types of people over the centuries. Look at their backgrounds. Even when they strayed into "religious" areas, people didn't demean them for their background. For example, CS Lewis is regularly referenced as one of the great Christian thinkers. What was his "background"? Medieval and Renaissance English?

I spent fourteen years studying the Bible and writing "Modeling God". All it has done is proven to me how little current theologians and pastors understand the Bible. I'm willing to meet with any of these "experts", especially in public, but since the writing of "Modeling God" these encounters have been almost non-existent.

In the Sequel, I address God's Will, Marriage, The Meaning of Life, Divorce, and Jesus' Divinity. This week I met with a pastor who has a national ministry related to Christian Marriage. I was disappointed to find he could not substantiate any of his positions with the Bible. Everything he taught was based on man-made tradition. At one point, when he was cornered by Jeremiah 3, he stated that it can be ignored because it is the Old Testament.

I'm beginning to believe that the reason I was able to write "Modeling God" was because I hadn't attended an institution of "higher learning" that teaches man-made doctrine (John Calvin) in place of God's Word.

"Modeling God" begins the explanation of the non-contradictory worldview. It is only the first of three books. "Modeling God" doesn't explain everything. The main point to remember is that the topics covered in "Modeling God" are not only non-contradictory, but every other explanation is contradictory in these same areas. It only takes three questions to show contradictions in explanations for faith, grace, God, love, life, truth, etc. Why do people continue to hold to these flawed definitions? Would they do this with other areas of their life?

I have been working in the carwash industry for the past 12 years. Part of what I have been working on is understanding why dirt sticks to cars. What I found has led to understanding in a lot of other areas. One of them is cancer...


CAUSE OF CANCER
For years, we have been told that Ultraviolet (UV) light causes cancer.
Cancer rates are actually lower in rural areas where they get more sunlight.
Cancer rates are actually higher in urban areas where they get less sunlight.
UV by itself DOES NOT CAUSE cancer.
The skin actually needs UV light to make Vitamin D which PREVENTS cancer.
Using sunscreen has correlated to an INCREASED occurrence of cancer!

The main cause of incorrect DNA is Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
PAHs are the result of combustion: vehicle exhaust, fires, manufacturing exhaust, etc.
PAHs are extremely oily and easily pass through the cell wall of the human body which is made up of an oil.
The cell wall of each cell in your body is made up of an oily molecule which acts as strong as iron when it is present as a single molecule.
PAHs are flat and fit into the DNA chain like a quarter...occupying a "rung" and throwing the replicated half of the DNA molecule off by one segment.
EVERY other group of organic chemicals are NOT flat.

PAHs in the atmosphere bond with a sulfur (S), Oxygen (O), or Nitrogen (N) when they absorb UV light.
That is why less UV light hits the ground in urban areas.
These PAHs with S, O, or N are the most carcinogenic and mutagenic chemicals known to man.
They are extremely oily and easily pass through the cell wall to disrupt DNA in acid environments.
That is why certain diets change the alkalinity of the cell and make it impossible to get cancer from PAHs because PAH-DNA adducts are acid catalyzed, they don't occur in alkaline environments.

The sunlight (UV) hits the PAHs that are on our skin, activating them AND then they pass through the cell to cause cancer. Cancer is caused by having activated PAHs with a S, O, or N get into our DNA. When we pray for people with cancer, we ought to pray that God repairs the DNA. This doesn't take away from God's power and magnificence...after all, we don't know HOW God does it. However, this information ought to build your faith to pray for people with cancer because you know the cause and can be specific about what you want God to do.

Cancer treatments have become more successful because it focuses on three areas:
-Chemistry
-Stress Reduction
-Diet

Chemistry - The cells with the incorrect reference DNA are shut down with drugs and radiation.
Stress Reduction - We've already covered the role of stress on the ability to repair.
Diet - Foods that result in the cell having an alkaline environment prevent this PAH-DNA bond from occurring. This doesn't mean the food is alkaline. The effect of metabolism of these foods results in the cells having an alkaline environment.

So, even though we pray for people with cancer, we need to make sure we are helping the individual with these other areas or the cancer is going to come back: thought-life and diet.

Notice, we have explained a specific cause of cancer: PAH-DNA adducts. How the PAH gets there is due to other factors. For example, stomach cancer correlates with woodworking. When wood is cut, PAHs are formed.

Remember, PAHs are the product of combustion: vehicle exhaust, forest fires, manufacturing exhaust...
Where are the biggest human interaction with PAHs?
Smoking is breathing in PAHs.
Rain brings PAHs out of the sky...look at the cancer statistics among people who work in the rain.
Carwashing...Cars are covered with PAHs and heavy metals.
Driveway washing combines the PAHs with surfactants and puts them into the ground near the house.
Indoor air quality (lung cancer) is affected by the immediate groundwater (within 7 feet of the house).
That is why some houses have issues right next to others that don't...driveway carwashing.

Bottomline when it comes to carwashing: don't write "Wash Me" or anything else on a dirty car. A filmy car is covered with PAHs...if you are a true daredevil, keep touching the vehicle with your exposed skin.

I ended up applying for two patents on how to wash cars. The PAHs and heavy metals end up on the vehicle after it rains. The sun causes these chemicals to bond and form larger more oily molecules that can't are difficult to remove. These bonds are eventually broken by the sun. In the patents, we would flash the cars with UV light in order to break the bonds and make the cars easier to wash.

Here are links to the patents that have been applied for:

UV Application
Other Application

Next week we will begin to wrap up this topic by looking at the importance of reconciling...

Next Post

Cancer

The final area we will cover from Dr. Leaf's book is cancer.

From Dr. Leaf's "Who Switched Off My Brain?" :

"Peptides do a very good job of ensuring that the immune system kills tumors (the fact is, we all have cancer cells floating through our bodies all the time). Any destabilizing of the psychosomatic network disrupts the peptide flow, which then reduces apoptosis (death of cancer cells driven by the immune system). This creates conditions under which cancer cells can accumulate and lead to the formation of a tumor.

The immune system usually produces natural killer cells to get rid of the cancer cells floating through all our bodies, a process called apoptosis. Stress and depression disrupt this process allowing the cancer cells to accumulate and tumors to develop. These emotions become carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) by damaging DNA and allowing cancer cells to replicate. Stress and depression also affect the immune system's ability to destroy or repair this damaged DNA, making it harder to destroy or eliminate abnormal tumor cells and virally infected cells."


When I tell people that "we all have cancer" they look alarmed. Let's take a moment and understand what cancer is...

Every cell in our body has a reference DNA. It is the DNA that each cell uses to repair and create more DNA.

Research shows that each strand of DNA is on average attacked or damaged once every 8.4 seconds...so each cell in our body is really busy repairing DNA...now we see why this is the definition of LIFE. We don't exist without the ability to repair.

When the DNA is not repaired, its toxicity is dependent on which part is off and whether it gets replicated. If the part of the DNA that is off is lethal, then the individual is going to develop cancer. Notice, a cell with a lethal reference DNA is going to reproduce this lethal DNA...and think it is doing a great job.

Why wouldn't the DNA get repaired?

Years before Dr. Leaf's book, I had read that over 50% of cancer cases could be traced back to a chemical signal from the brain...the brain "told" the cell to not repair the lethal DNA. With increased research techniques, that percentage has grown.

Basically, the idea was that the individual didn't believe they deserved to repair...so the brain told the cell not to repair. For years, the medical field thought that depression was an effect of cancer...cancer patients are depressed. It is only in the last ten years that science has realized that cancer is an effect of depression...people get depressed...they don't believe they deserve to live...their brain tells a cell to not repair.

Tomorrow I will share some findings I have discovered related to cancer...

Next Post

Back to the Digestive System

This week we have been looking at the interaction between our thought life and digestive system. Today, we will continue looking at what Dr. Leaf's book says about the digestive system and other disorders.

From Dr. Leaf's "Who Switched Off My Brain?" :

"Digestive disorders that can flow from the effects of toxic thoughts and emotions include:
-Constipation
-Diarrhea
-Nausea and vomiting (from excessive gastric activity)
-Cramping
-Ulcers
-Leaky gut syndrome - when nutrients leak out of the stomach and colon walls instead of absorbing into the cells
-Irritable bowl syndrome - also called a "spastic colon," happens when the intestines either squeeze too hard or not hard enough. This means food moves too slowly or too quickly through the intestines, reducing the possibility of optimum absorption of nutrients.

I wish I could say that I have told you about all of the damage that toxic thoughts and emotions can have on your health. The reality is the list goes on...and on and on. It includes:
-Fertility problems
-Stunted growth in children
-Muscular tension in the neck, throat and back
-The common cold
-Brittle bones

Dr. John Sarno, a professor of clinical rehabilitation medicine at New York University School of Medicine, has authored many excellent books including a groundbreaking one that proposes the theory that most back pain stems from psychological problems rather than physiological. Such theories lie at the heart of the body-mind connection. In this case, Sarno hones in on how thoughts can harm the body by causing debilitating back pain.

In his book, The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders, Sarno dissects the full spectrum of "psychosomatic disorders." An illness is deemed psychosomatic when the doctors can't find a physiological cause for it, sometimes dismissing it as "all in the mind." While their diagnosis is right, their reasoning is wrong. Thoughts do cause illness and should thus be studied and controlled. If they are powerful enough to make us sick, they are powerful enough to make us healthy as well.

Science clearly links your thoughts and emotions to your physical and mental well-being. The more you manage your thought life and emotions, the more you learn to listen to and follow your thoughts and direct and deal constructively with them, the more educated, balanced, coherent and life-giving your emotions will become. It goes without saying that making your thought life life-giving as opposed to life-threatening means your will be far less likely to suffer sickness and disease."

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The Digestive System

From Dr. Leaf's "Who Switched Off My Brain?" :

"No discussion of thoughts and their impact on your health would be complete without examining words. The words you speak are electromagnetic life forces that come from a thought inside your brain and are influenced by your five senses. They contain power and work hand-in-hand with your thought life, influencing the world around you and the circumstances of your life.

The five senses are the connection between external world and the internal world of your mind. Information is fed into your mind constantly from these senses, shaping your thought life. The words you speak feed back into the magic trees of your mind, reinforcing the memory they came from. When you make negative statements, you release negative chemicals. These lead to negative memories that grow stronger and become negative strongholds that control your attitude and life.

I am talking about much more than just positive thinking, because framing your world with words is not just about talking positively. Your words have to be backed up with honesty and integrity - what in psychological terms is called congruence. What you do and say on the outside must reflect what you think on the inside. A lack of congruence causes stress and affects the way information is processed and memory is built.

Remember, every time you utter a negative statement, you release negative peptides that affect the environment of the mind, and in turn put the body into the stress reaction. In effect, it is not positive thinking, but congruent thinking that creates necessary changes in the brain.

Your digestive system is a important as any other bodily systems and unfortunately just as susceptible to attack along the toxic pathway. Its normal function is to digest what you put into your mouth. Under normal conditions, it works hard to help you get as many nutrients as possible from everything you eat and drink, to fire up all your bodily processes and keep your organs in excellent health.

There is a lot of research available on how food affects mood. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were among the first to document it, but many others, including researchers at Harvard Medical School, have followed suit. One example is carbohydrates such as pasta, breads, cakes and cookies. These are called comfort foods because they boost a powerful brain chemical, serotonin, involved in good moods. The comfort doesn't last long, though. Within 20 minutes of eathing processed carbohydrates, all benefits dissipate.

There is evidence showing that your thoughts and emotions can render even the best of comfort foods toxic to your body, thanks to the undeniable link between your body and your mind. Dieticians and nutritionists tell you (or should tell you) never to eat when you are angry. It's almost as if the anger seeps into the food you eat as your body tries to digest it.

You are aware by now of all the stress chemicals your toxic thoughts and emotions release. When they are allowed to run riot in your digestive system, they create a poisonous cocktail that damages health, in body and mind.

Let's reframe "diet" in terms of your thought life. Eating is not as simple as it may seem. It is a highly emotional and metacognitive event. Your large and small intestines are densely lined with neuropeptides and receptors, all busily exchanging information laden with emotional content. this is why you experience what has been called a "gut feeling".

The pancreas releases at least 20 million different emotionally-laden peptides that regulate the assimilation and storage of nutrients, all carrying information about being full or hungry.

Do not ignore the information these peptides provide: don't eat when you are not hungry, when you are angry or when you are facing or trying to bury any other unpleasant emotion. This will make the food you eat or drink toxic because the emotions generated by toxic thoughts interfere with the proper workings of the digestive system. You won't assimilate the nutrients you need from the food optimally. The digestive process will either speed up or slow down. Either way, it creates more toxins for your body.

By tuning into your thoughts, you can hear the messages from your peptides and what they have to say about what, when and how your body needs to eat.

Carbohydrates, particularly in their refined versions and especially in excess, are not optimum foods for thinking. They anaesthetize the mind and dull the thinking processes by acting as a blanket that prevents you from listening to all the good news your peptides might be telling you.

You need to eat well to feed your brain properly. The brain's major food source is glucose (blood sugar) which is carried in the blood. Glucose supports the ability of neurons to store and secrete all the messenger chemicals - neuropeptides and neurotransmitters. Glucose also fuels the brain's glial cells.

Your body gets glucose from the carbohydrates that you eat. That may seem like a contradiction, as I have just said carbohydrates interfere with brain function.

However, you don't need glucose in quantity; you just need a steady supply of it. An excess of carbohydrates, whether refined or in their healthier, unrefined versions (brown rice, whole wheat brown bread and pasta), causes spikes in your blood sugar levels, which is not good news for your thinking processes or the rest of your health in body and mind.

A diet overloaded with carbohydrates (especially the refined, sweetened ones), and bad fats (particularly trans fats - the ones that are industrially created as a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils) will only add to your body's toxic load.

Stable blood sugar levels are proving to be the key to keeping weight stable. Proteins like meat, fish, chicken and eggs, do a very good job of stabilizing blood sugar levels. Eggs have had undeservedly bad press for too long. They are excellent brain food as is fish.

Many health experts also advise drinking lots of water for optimum function of all body systems. Water has been called "God's nectar," and at the risk of stating the obvious, you cannot live without it. Within three days of not drinking water, the membranes on your brain will be irreversibly affected, and within seven days of not drinking, you will be dead.

When you feel hungry, sip some hot or cold water to determine whether you are thirsty or hungry. If you are genuinely hungry, the water will prepare your body for digestion.

And remember: toxic thoughts give you toxic emotions which give you toxic bodies. It's a combination of the correct principles of eating, combined with the correct attitude to eating, that will allow you to move toward detoxing."

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The Belly

This month we have been looking at Dr. Leaf's "Who Switched Off My Brain?" as it relates to parts of the body other than the brain. The first week we looked at the heart. Last week we looked at stress. This week we will tie up the loose ends so that we can summarize the last two months on this blog.

Tomorrow we will look at what Dr. Leaf has to say about the digestive system. However, let's first look at what the Bible says about the belly:

"The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul; But the belly of the wicked shall want." (Proverbs 13:25, ASV)

The Bible contrasts the soul with the belly. Both are seen as our innermost parts, however, there have different desires. In the KJV, "belly" is used in the next verse where we see "innermost parts".

"The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts." (Proverbs 18:8, ASV)

The Bible doesn't use the word "gossip" or "gossipers". It refers to these people as "whisperers", "tale bearers", etc. Gossip serves our fleshly innermost parts...our belly. The next verse shows that words go into our belly. Good words can satisfy us in a godly fashion.

"A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied." (Proverbs 18:20, ASV)

During the heart discussion, we saw that Jesus made this point. He talked about what comes out of a person (words) can defile him because it is an effect of what is in the heart. Notice how Jesus sets up this point by showing the importance of understanding.

"And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This he said, making all meats clean." (Mark 7:18-19, ASV)

Again, in the KJV, the next verse uses "belly" in place of "from within".

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:38-39, ASV)

Jesus is showing that speaking good words from the heart fills the belly and the Holy Spirit will be directing the actions of the person instead of the flesh...grace!

We have covered the first verse in this next passage when we talked about the importance of following God's doctrine instead of man-made traditional doctrine...that is, doctrine that is in the Bible instead of doctrine that is not in the Bible. Notice, what Paul says is the effect of teaching man-made doctrine and what is the effect of teaching Biblical doctrine.

"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent." (Romans 16:17-18, ASV)

People who teach doctrine contrary to God's doctrine are not serving Jesus, they are serving their own belly, AND they are affecting the hearts of the innocent. When I write about doctrine contrary to God's doctrine this includes "popularly accepted Christian orthodoxy" that cannot contradicts the Bible.

" Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Philippians 3:17-19, ASV)

What would be the ultimate deception? Wouldn't it be people claiming to represent Jesus, but can't use the Bible to substantiate their doctrine because it contradicts what they teach?

In fact, we've already looked at the following verses:

"And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parables. And he said unto them, Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them." (Mark 4:10-12, ASV)

"And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." (Matthew 13:11, ASV)

"And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to the rest in parables; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand." (Luke 8:10, ASV)

If someone teaches you that we can't understand the mysteries of God, what are they confessing to you? Are they admitting they are a disciple of God or are they admitting they are "without"?

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The Only Way to Remove Guilt

(This post is months old and continues to get read through "google searches". I believe this post will plainly explain how to remove guilt and how to help others remove guilt. This is an important issue. Please feel free to contact me through the profile section of this blog with any further questions. This post is part of the Brain Series.)


CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE
The only way to remove guilt is through confession and repentance.

Confession is admitting the wrong. We now see this reconciles the brain and body. This reduces the internal stress caused by the body knowing the truth and the brain actively trying to ignore it. However, most people don't know how to confess...

A confession is an admission of what the individual did that was wrong. The perfect confession is made up of three parts:
1. I know WHAT I did (specfically identified) was wrong.
2. I know WHY (specific causes) I did it.
3. I don't want to do it again.

Adding anything more that takes the focus off the confessor makes the statement cease to be a confession.

For example, "I hit you" is a confession. However, "I hit you because you made me mad" is NOT a confession.

Take a moment and think about the result of both statements. Which one ends the matter? Which one continues the matter? Which one brings healing?

You can try to convince yourself the second one will heal you, but it won't. I've heard people say they have to share the reason with others. I always ask, "Why?". The answer is never for the benefit of another...it is always for the benefit of the person confessing.

Actually, the confessor OUGHT to say "I hit you" and move to repentance. It is up to the other person to ask why...or more importantly, confess what they did! What is our goal? If it is repair, we have to give the other person the opportunity to be excellent. This means we have to see the other person as excellent. Telling the other person WHY we sinned by blaming them is telling them we don't see them as excellent!

Here is how it OUGHT to go:
Confessor: "I hit you."
Receiver: "Yes you did. Why did you do that?"
Confessor: "I got mad when you took my cell phone without asking?"
Receiver: "You didn't hear me ask?"
Confessor: "No."
Receiver: "Oh...I took the phone without your permission. That is wrong."

I have some relationships that only end when I confess...even if I haven't actually done the wrong act! They tend to go one of two ways:

FIRST WAY
Other: "I did that because of you."
Me: "What can I do so that never happens again."

OR

SECOND WAY
Other: I did "something" because you did "this".
Me: I did "this" because you "that".
Other: I did "that" because you did "another thing".
Me: I did "another thing" and that is wrong.
Other: That's okay, don't worry about it.

These people are unable to admit they are wrong and the ONLY way to limit the damage is to confess...to choose to bear their pain.

Also, some people think that "causeless" sin is an acceptable way to end a disagreement. Basically, both people SAY they both did the wrong act AND neither act preceded (or caused) the other act. This is a lie. One of the two people actually set the damaging situation in motion and they will experience guilt until they confess it.

Recently, I have seen several examples of how a perfect confession ACTUALLY results in healing. For example, a man I know used to blow up when his wife would ask a difficult question. They got divorced. In the last year, they have been using information from "Modeling God's Wills" to repair their interactions. The man noticed she is unable to ask him some questions. After reading this post, he confessed to her it was wrong for him to blow up at her for asking difficult questions. That confession ALONE led to tremendous healing and they are really building something much more profitable than their marriage.

The reason is the woman consciously or subconsciously saw the man's blow ups as random AND intentional. She felt they were causeless. THAT made her think the blow ups could happen AT ANY TIME. She also started to believe he wanted to blow up at her.

When he perfectly confessed, it did two things. First, it made her realize the blow ups weren't causeless. He stated he recognized the cause: when she asked a difficult question. He knew WHY he did it. Second, he stated he recognized the behavior was wrong. This made her realize his actions weren't intentional.

It is incredible to realize that such a simple solution exists to remove years of damage, but perfectly confessing allows healing because it causes our brains to realize the act is NOT causeless (why) AND the act is NOT something the transgressor wants to do (wrong). Confession results in immediate healing. Whether the healing remains over the Long Term is another issue...

Once confession is completed, the second half of the process can be addressed: repentance. This is how we continue the healing process over the Long Term.

Repentance means to turn away. Notice, stopping the bad act isn't turning away...it is just ceasing from going in the same direction...for now. Confession is actually the ceasing of the bad act. Repentance/Repair makes up for the bad act.

To turn away means to go the opposite direction. If the direction was damaging, then the opposite way means to repair. True repentance involves an act of repair by the confessor. We covered this in the Luke 17:3 post.

Confession is a SAY.

Repentance is a DO.

A lot of national ministers teach that Repentance is a SAY. In March 2010, a pastor from Chicago (McDonald) preached on the radio Repentance is a NOT DO...as in, you feel so bad about what you did that if you had the chance to do it over again you would NOT DO it. This is wrong and DAMAGING to people.

Repetance is a DO and it results in REPAIR. (Now we see WHY apologies don't succeed in removing guilt.)

At the end of 2009 on this blog, we learned that having a gap in your SAY and your DO results in even more destructive behavior. This involves your Unaware Brain and your conscious brain. It can even result in physical illness. So, Repenting actually benefits the repenter because it closes the gap between the SAY and the DO within the Repenter.

Confession and repentance is admitting where you are wrong (SAY) and actively changing it (DO)...doing the opposite. This means repairing the wrong...giving a value equal to or greater than what was "taken". Guilt will never truly disappear until a person confesses AND repents.

The process of becoming more righteous is identifying where you are wrong and actively changing it.

God honors confession and repentance because the individual is choosing to become more like God...to let God direct their actions. We can see why people who can't truly confess and repent aren't going to remove their guilt or make it to Heaven...they haven't chosen to let God influence their actions. This is another reason Salvation can only come by grace.


STRESS
The Bible uses the word "distress" to discuss how stress negatively affects us and how to remove it. We ought to determine the cause of the stress...we ought to reconcile the brain and body. We ought to reconcile our SAY and DO. We ought to reconcile our Unaware Brain and conscious brain.

The Old Testament focused us on going to God to remove our stress...to have Fellowship with God. The New Testament tells us to choose to bear the injustice in order to receive Reward...

...but we can only do this if we have Fellowship with God.


MODELING GOD EXCERPTS
Remember, fear is an effect of pain...and pain is an effect of guilt. (Guilt leads to pain and pain leads to fear.)

The problem is guilt. If we don't remove guilt it will lead to pain. If the pain isn't removed it will lead to fear. "Modeling God" covered two man-made ways to remove guilt: apologies and ethics.

From "Modeling God":
"An apology is when people say they are sorry or feel bad. Most apologies don't consist of people admitting what they did. Most apologies don't involve promising they won't do it again."

"Listen to apologies closely. Most sound like this: "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt," or, "I'm sorry this bothered you." Some athletes have even given public apologies without stating what they were apologizing for or why! Apologies are focused on the short-term. If anything, apologies are an attempt to get forgiveness and insure justice will occur more quickly against the offender."

"What value is the apology from the individual who has sinned against you? If the person hasn't admitted his wrong action or worked on not doing it again, there's no Long Term value to you. Apologies don't help people become holier. Notice, there are no apologies in the Bible."

The reality is apologies don't remove guilt...the individual hasn't admitted the sin so there can be no repair in the brain. There can be no reconciling between the brain and the body.

The other man-made way is "ethics". From "Modeling God":

"We saw that people try to remove this guilt through apologies. This is done on an individual basis. Ethics is another way people have dealt with guilt. It is different from an apology in two ways. First, its focus is not on the individual, but on society. Secondly, it doesn't even acknowledge the guilt. It tries to completely avoid this need to remove guilt. Society simply declares the immoral action that caused guilt to be allowable. Ethics are a set of principles that result in actions that are accepted as correct by a specific society for a specific location and time in history. Even though the actions result in one person losing profitability through coercion, the society agrees there is not a need for justice to equal out this specific case."

"Ethics is man's way of removing guilt for not being moral. Basically, groups of people agree it is okay not to be moral as long as we act according to an accepted, special code of conduct. The best example of this is business. People who aren't moral in their business dealings rationalize the guilt by saying they are following "business ethics"; however, the guilt still remains."

"Notice, the difference in ethics and morals creates an opportunity for us to justly cause others to persecute us and give us value. This can be accomplished by doing something that is not immoral but is unethical."

I shared a personal example of this last paragraph in the "To Sleep, Perchance To..." post.

For the last three years, some people in Appleton have attacked me...they have made up things about me and told them to others. They have convinced themselves that they aren't guilty...they are being ethical. They have convinced themselves that they don't need to meet with me over any of this! They have even convinced themselves they must be right because I haven't:
1) Defended myself
2) Attacked them
3) Shared facts about the sources of their information that would result in the public humiliation of these sources

I believe I have been moral...I have acted how Jesus acted. (Jesus was moral AND unethical...He broke the traditions of His time which is what led to His death.)

Notice what these people in Appleton are REALLY saying: They are testifying against themselves that they believe for this time and place in history it is okay to make up information and attack someone and not meet with them...they believe there IS a reason to not behave like Jesus, while saying they are representing Jesus!


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