Wearing Different Hats

How has your week been? Mine was very very busy. I was hit on all fronts — I had to wear several of my different hats: my technical hat, my artistic hat, my business hat, my counseling hat, my friendly hat, my not-so-friendly hat, my dog sitting hat, my diplomatic hat, my chef hat, my grandfather hat, hats … hats … hats. God has gifted all of us with so many “hats” and He challenges us to use the best one for specific situations. And, busy though I may have been, I find joy knowing that I have so many hats to choose from. Life is full and exciting.

This past holiday season I was looking for the movie “Chariots of Fire” but it was nowhere to be found (at least the FREE version). If you are not familiar, it’s the inspirational story of Eric Liddell and how he won an Olympic medal for an event he had never trained for.

I wonder about this a lot. I often find myself in strange situations that I feel untrained for and rely on prompting from within. And It doesn’t only happen in major events. It happens even when driving: “Feel the force, Luke Skywalker … move to the second lane” and that lane miraculously turns into the faster lane .. oooooh!

Truthfully, I play games with the “prompting” … especially when “I feel His presence.” Sure, it may be just a coincidence when the results are amazing, but it’s still a rejuvenating feeling … a true blessing. “More of Him, and less of me” — that’s what I like to say.

This is all I really want to say. I’m too tired to think of anything else. I hope you can relate.

TGIF people.

Raoul.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world ” — Anne Frank

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Dan of Glendale, CA

Original art by Raoul Pascual.

Parting Shots

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with this.

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Seen Any UFOs Lately?

Ever since I started studying AI, my research has veered me to the direction of UFOs. I believe they exist. Okay, you can move on to the joke section now. Raoul’s out of his mind. Go ahead. Just go. Go, go go!

Still here? Curious? Let me expound on this. Many former Top Secret evidence is finally released to the public and old ones are given their stamp of authenticity. Here are some observations and questions. See if you agree with me.

• Censorship and fake news has been going on for years. Our past Presidents must have known about it but (love him or hate him) it was Trump who made the official announcement. ie. Authorities decided long ago to filter out what the public can or cannot know. Why the secrecy? To prevent a panic? To let our enemies think we have the technology? Because we will lose hope? (I think they know who really killed JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. I think they’re still trying to protect some people.) I think we should be open to new ideas about ETs while still questioning and using our common sense. After all, the truth should set us free.
• Aliens have lived among us for decades, maybe centuries, maybe since forever. They must value humankind because, even with their advanced technology, they haven’t eliminated us yet. Are they here to protect us from ourselves? Are we a big experiment? Are they as curious of us as we are of them?
• Are they confined to time? Do they function within our 24 hour time frame? Does time also move forward for them? Can they slow it down? I see no solid evidence of time travel.
• It’s possible there are different races/species of them because there have been different recorded UFO shapes and sizes. They must be getting along fine because there has not been any record of them battling it out in the open … unless of course their battles are in a different dimension. I believe the latter.
• We can create rules and hierarchical systems for human society but these rules do not apply to them. Even the power-hungry world leaders and billionaires are subservient to them. Hey, you one percenters! You may choose to ignore they exist and you may be the boss of me but you ain’t the boss of them!
• Why do they still need to ride a vehicle to move about (and apparently they come in different sizes and models)? Can’t they call Scottie to teleport them? Our understanding of physics is primitive compared to theirs but they are still confined to the physics that God established in the universe.
• I wouldn’t be surprised if these aliens can control the weather. China, you can fly as many balloons as you want but you’ll never come close to their technology.
• They make mistakes too. They aren’t perfect. There have been crash sightings other than in the famous Roswell and Aurora.
• They may not be from outer space but from hidden earth. Notice how they appear often in less populated areas like deserts, frozen terrain and ocean deeps? Do they live in houses? After a long day, do the alien husbands hang their space helmets and announce “Honey, I’m home!”

Oh, the many things to speculate about these mysterious strangers.

CHALLENGED FAITH

How does this realization of technologically advanced other-worldly creatures affect my faith? Let’s start with the big question: Is God an alien? No. God created something when there was nothing … not even aliens. Aliens are part of His creation. Does the existence of aliens contradict the validity of the Bible? Of course not! Nothing in the Bible says they do not exist. On the contrary, in the 1st Chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet describes something that can very well be a UFO. Even the star that the wise men followed could have been a UFO.

Could they be angels or demons? Yup! I believe so. Regardless who they are, God is above all of this. He is in control of them just as He is in control of us.

Humans have always worshiped unexplainable, unattainable beings and even inanimate objects … yup! weirdos still worship quirky toasted bread for goodness sake! Even Biblical characters like Mary and John have tried to worship angels and they were told not to because they too were just created beings … they weren’t god. (How can you tell the good angel from the bad angel/demon? The demon asks you to worship him.)

Just because we don’t understand doesn’t make them gods so let’s not return to the practice of human sacrifices to appease these guys — it’s a waste of life and I doubt they crave human meat anyway. Remember: The blood sacrifice you save today may be the Elon Musk of tomorrow!

CONCLUSION

I have been concerned about the evil that has engulfed the world today. Corruption, idiotic lies, perversion and insane judicial proceedings. I was fearful of China’s dominance in the world and the weak free nations bowing to its whims. But the recent floods that swept whole towns incapacitating China slapped me into the reality that, clever though they may be, China is no match to nature. God gave Ezekiel that angelic vision to remind him that the Babylonian kingdom was powerless against the creator of the universe. To me, these UFOs are a reminder not to lose hope because these powerful evil men are mere pawns in God’s overall plan.

The bottom line is we are not alone. Death still has its consequences. The unfulfilled prophecies in Revelation are still on schedule. What do you think? I think it’s time for the jokes now.

Of course this is just me. TGIF People!

“ I am discounting reports of UFOs. Why would they appear only to cranks and weirdos?”
— Stephen Hawking, the famous atheist and physicist/scientist

“UFOs: The reliable cases are uninteresting and the interesting cases are unreliable.”
– Carl Sagan, the famous atheist and astronomer

“… an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings.”
– Ezekiel Chapter 1:4

“Mission Control, please be informed, there is a Santa Claus.”
– James Lovell

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, California

Parting Shots

Thanks to Maling of New Manila. Philippines

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre. CA

Thanks to Garie of Paranaque, Philippines

Thanks to Bob of Placencia, California

I found these

The Traveling Boy

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

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Raoul’s Two Cents: May 28, 2021

Out of This World

News flash! Aliens are real!

Yup!  Those nerds wearing aluminum foil hats have finally been vindicated. The presence of the elephant in the room of the US Defense Department has been officially recognized.  If you are not convinced that UFOs are real, you’re way behind in the news. This is one news story that all the media outlets seem to agree on. 60 Minutes had an interview with a pilot who claimed UFO sightings was an everyday occurrence for a year. That pilot is just one among many. And this has been going on for years. This is a pretty wild admission of the limitation of 21st century science.

Garie, a good friend of mine who heads a satelite operation in the Philippines told me that they get messages from the US military surveillance all the time. “I’m really impressed. If anything is going on in the earth atmosphere, they know about it. They tell when there are near misses like ICBMs (Intercontinental Balastic Missiles) or falling space debris.”  They know if something originates from Russia or China. So if the US Department of Defense say they do not know who these guys are … that doesn’t seem comforting at all.

Men in Black, here we come. We don’t know who you are, why you exist or why you expose yourself — I mean, what happened to your “cloak of invisibility?” Did you run out of “invisibility batteries?” Are you having fun at our expense? We know your technology can cause unimaginable destruction if you wanted to so we think you’re here to observe … at least for now. (Boy, I’d love to see your “selfies.” ) You can defy gravity and other physical laws. Why do you need to ride a vehicle in different models? — disk, round, triangular, silvery, greenish, quiet, loud, big, small, etc. there are many of you. Is one for cruising to pick up chicks — literally — as in “beam me up Scotty?” We’re even open to the possibility that you walk among us. (Spielberg, Elon … are you one of them? Well, for Zuckerberg … we’ve always known he is one of them.) Sometimes I look in our dog’s eyes and wonder if he is one of you.

What implications does the existence of UFOs have on Christianity? Could Jesus have been a UFO? Does God (a supreme being) really exist? If He does, is He the same God of Abraham? Is time travel possible? There’s a smorgasbord of uncomfortable possibilities. The rules of the game of life have suddenly changed. The rule book I followed didn’t say that our worlds would collide like this.

A quick internet research tells me that very few people in the church have dared speak about this authoritatively. (You can’t blame them for their ignorance.) But just because we can’t explain it … just because they are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible … it doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Most scholars believe that they are spiritual beings. And scripture tells us there is an ongoing spiritual battle. If you never believed in angels and demons, now is a good time to start.

So where should the Christian faith stand in all of this?  One of the more sensitive contemporary Christian songwriters, Sara Groves, shares my sentiments with her song “What do I know?” In her attempt to console an old widow whose husband had just passed away, Sara is at a loss for words because she has no answers for the woman’s misfortune. But what she does know is enough to strengthen her faith:

Well, I don’t know that there are harps in heaven,
Or the process for earning your wings.
And, I don’t know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels,
Or any of those things.

But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good.
Oh, I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be very good.

Share your thoughts.  Have you seen them? Write me … especially if YOU are one of them.

TGIF people! Have a great Memorial day weekend.

Raoul

“Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.”
— Anonymous

Thanks to Peter Paul of South Pasadena, CA for this joke.

Original Art by Raoul Pascual

Video of the Week

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. Reagan should have been a stand up comedian.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Dean of Vancouver, B.C.

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