lectures on jurgen moltmann by barry ballard: January 2012

MY BRIEF TESTIMONY

BRIEF 5 min. PERSONAL TESTIMONY - BARRY BALLARD

On a warm summer day in Washington D.C., I sat in a small movie theater listening to a re-broadcast of a Billy graham crusade that had been previously given elsewhere. I was attending with a Christian group who ministered on the air force based where I was stationed, "Andrews Air Force Base". At the conclusion of the presentation, there was an invitation given to receive Christ and counselors were standing up front to pray with those who came forward. The house lights went up and I went forward and prayed to receive Jesus Christ into my life. This was not the moment of my true conversion, this was "preparation-of-heart", part one.

On a humid pitch-black night in 1969, my plane touched down on the Saigon airfield that was currently under rocket attack. Black-out conditions were in effect and we were rushed to trucks and then transported to our barracks and its inclusive bunker for protection. I was assigned an m16 rifle, two clips of ammo, and given a helmet and flack-vest. I spent my first night in Saigon standing in the bunker, wondering "why?" I was even here. I understood none of it, except that supposedly it had to do with communism and we were protecting democracy. But, I just felt abandoned to the most bizarre and remote assignment I could imagine. I worked "support", so I do not want to give the false impression that I was "combat"; but I did serve some time in the jungle. Only one man died in our group during the year I was there; and he told me beforehand that he wanted to die and never return home. He had received his divorce papers in the mail about a week before my arrival. He was shot down in a helicopter "one" day before he was to return home. My one year in Saigon was a lesson in the deterioration of the human spirit and soul. Eventually, I also learned to hate myself and "living" and could care less about what might lie ahead. I was returning to the states with a crushed human soul, devoid of all optimism. This was "preparation-of-heart", part two.

On a humid gray-dusk-like-evening, I found myself, in 1970, driving through the main gate of Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. I soon settled into my tasks of working in the 7th bomb wing headquarters, in support roles again as usual. I also served on the honor guard for special occasions for fallen veterans funerals, or award ceremonies. Even though my personal psyche was "wasted“; I was considered an admirable employee and respected for my abilities. My inner life however was an absolute disaster that I did not "share" with anyone. Strangely enough; I was visited by representatives of the "Navigators"; the same Christian organization that had approached me in Washington D.C. I began attending bible studies two nights a week and felt a little better about life by receiving this follow-up. I'll call this "preparation-of-heart", part three.

During my term of service at Carswell, I met my wife to be, Beverly, who invited me to her church in River Oaks, "Trinity Baptist Church". They had a young pastor, John Hatch, who was just finishing his doctorate at Southwestern and the atmosphere attracted me. It was in 1973, “4” years after that initial "preparation-of-heart"; that I made an honest commitment to Jesus Christ and immediately followed that with baptism.

From there, the road did not get any smoother, but my “soul” began a healing process that eventually went from healing to true "Wonder and Discovery". The first thing that was revealed to me was my spiritual gift, which is "Teaching". While at Trinity, I ended up writing three commentaries: James, Colossians, and Philippians. All three helped me grow in my commitment to Jesus Christ.

True conversion was preceded by three moments of "preparation-of-the-heart" in my case. Over a four year stretch of time, God never gave up on me. I think the strength of my testimony must be given to the strength of God's loving patience; to lead me along the final path that would secure my faith. Thank You.

Monday, January 30, 2012

LINNAS' 40HZ COGNITIVRE LOOP IN FULL DETAIL

ALL OF THE SPECIFIC STEPS in the lower ventral stream of Llinas' 40hz loop that constitutes consciousness. feed-forward and feedback aspects are all explicated. 30 minutes only. chart available, if I receive requests for it.

http://hulkshare.com/twvtltduzufq

Thursday, January 26, 2012

COUNTER-POINTS TO LLINAS' 40HZ ENSEMBLE "NCC"

are we more than neurons? do we posit the self in our historical episodic moments? and do we borrow from semantic models from hegel and moltmann stored in LTM??? voices from 2004 and 2005 speak up regarding llinas' 2001 theory. 20 min only.

http://hulkshare.com/xes9wof9s1jt

Monday, January 23, 2012

CAN NEURONS FEEL??? LLINAS SAYS "YES" THEY CAN

llinas again on evolution and motricity and the foundation for the workings of the brain. 30 min. only

http://hulkshare.com/p36e5ahwph27

LLINAS CHART FOR THIRD AND FINAL LECTURE ON" I OF THE VORTEX"

chart formatted to 8 x 10.5 for third lecture on "i of the vortex" by llinas

http://hulkshare.com/a9lebvyupf8o

Friday, January 20, 2012

THALAMUS PLUS CORTEX = "SELF" for LLINAS

darwinism lives on in llinas. the self is neuro-physiological "period".

http://hulkshare.com/rh9gzfg4u2m6

Thursday, January 19, 2012

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: llinas on darwinism

llinas : introduction lecture - only 20 min. evolutionist theory with regard to the brain

http://hulkshare.com/yyeyu3hl36gm

Friday, January 13, 2012

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: the wittlesea protest

Wittlesea protests the current cognitive model taught in textbooks and rejects categorical "semantic models" He defends "memory as processing-system" only and presents category function as "running summary". this is the criticism from the left. 30 min. only

http://hulkshare.com/9nnpr06i9xr6

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

cognitive psychology: constructing a categorical model

seven different psychologists offer insights in the determination of concepts and categories

http://hulkshare.com/v3mohqkrautx

Friday, January 6, 2012

hippocampus: sub-systems.

the hippocampus and its sub-systems and their relationships. to be used with the chart download. 30 min. total

http://hulkshare.com/bw1z47hletp5

HIPPOCAMPUS FLOW-CHART FOR NEXT LECTURE

detailed flow-chart depicting the hippocampal "system" and its interrelatedness. needed for next lecture.

ref: Mayes, Aggleton, Pearce

http://hulkshare.com/nadcmc4wvcm3

Monday, January 2, 2012

conway on episodic memory; burgess on hippocampus

Conway links episodic buffer to auto-bio long-term memory and Burgess gives us a great explanation of the workings of the Hippocampus and its contribution to cognition. 30 min only.

http://hulkshare.com/xrw5hs4xh5zo

lectures on jurgen moltmann by barry ballard

MY BRIEF TESTIMONY