Jesus giving advice on Taxes and more...

Jesus giving advice on Taxes

Jesus once told some men who were trying to trip him up... that it was OK to pay taxes.  The men asked about paying taxes.  Jesus asked whose image was on the coin.  They said, "Caesar's"  and Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render to God that which is God's."  The wicked men were hoping Jesus would say that they should not pay taxes so they could accuse him of disloyalty to the Roman government. 

I know most people read into this that we should not mix the two, meaning God and money.  But the way I read it is that when Jesus said to render unto Caesar he may have also been referring to loyalty to your country.   A person who is willing to serve in the military makes many sacrifices.  They may be far from home and family but they are willing to make the sacrifice to serve their country.  So we should be willing to render unto Ceaser. . . if that means doing our part to support our country.  For example, taxes really do help support our country.   We should be willing to pay our taxes. .  . in an honest way.   That does not mean we should pay extra taxes but we should not cheat on our taxes to pay less.  Jesus also told Matthew and his friends to be honest in their collecting of taxes.

John the Baptist told the soldiers who had asked what they should do that they should do violence to no man, neither accuse anyone falsely, and to be content with their wages.   I am sure John knew that sometimes violence was necessary for a soldier, such as in war, so I think he meant do no unnecessary violence.   Remember that the Roman soldiers in the days of Jesus and John the Baptist were the national police force.  When they were dealing with violent robbers etc. they certainly had to use violence at times.  I think that John was saying to them ....for instance... that if they captured a criminal they did not need to abuse him etc.   Nor should the soldiers falsely accuse an innocent person nor do violence to people to entertain themselves.

So maybe those who are willing to serve their country by service in the military are being obedient to the Savior's admonition to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.And good soldiers follow the advice of John the Baptist too.  I met some of those soldiers many years ago and I tried to get into the military because I was so impressed with those quality, good soldiers I had met when I was 19.    I have great respect for those who are willing to sacrifice for their country.   My own father was in World War II.  His two best friends who enlisted with him died in that war.  Eventually, when I tried to join I found out that I did not qualify for the military.  I was excluded due to sleep walking. 

Scripture References:  Matthew 22:21,  Mark 12:17, and Luke 3:14. 

Therizinosaurus looking like a half plucked Turkey

Therizinosaurus browsing on a Cycad

Therozinosaurus was first discovered in 1948 and what was discovered first was the claws.  The claws were about a meter or just over a yard long.  Next they found the arm and thought this was  vicous predator.  Then when they eventually found the head in the 1970s they discovered a small head like a Sauropod or long neck herbivore.  However, it was not a Sauropod.  Therozinosaurus was an evolved Theropod.  Its ancestors were carnivores and eventually evolved into large herbivores.  

Instead of sharp curved teeth the Therozinosaurs had pencil like or peg like teeth for eating plants.  

This was such a weird animal.  It was large too.  It weighed around 5 tons and was around 33 feet or 10 meters long.   It is thought that it was feathered and had a big pot belly for fermenting and digesting its plant based food.  It probably was very gassy.   One paleontologists said it looked like a half plucked turkey.  . . .so a bad smelling half plucked giant turkey.    

The large claws may have been used to pull bushes to its mouth, and most certainly were used as defensive weapons if a carnivorous Theropod made trouble.  The arms behind those "try iple swords" were very large and clearly would have made it near impossible for a predator to get close. . . if the Therozinosaurus knew the predator was coming.   

There are a few other Therozinosaurs found in both the new world and the old world.  That means the western hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere.  .  .  which means the following if you don't know: 

Western Hemisphere = The New World = North and South America. . . and Central America

Eastern Hemisphere = The Old World = Europe, Asia and sometimes includes Africa.

The early Therozinosaurs had smaller claws.  They had already evolved the skinny neck and the small herbivore head, but the large sword-like claws had not yet evolved.  

Tyrannosaurus rex's Environment or the Environment of the Late Cretaceous Period

Tyrannosaurus rex ignoring a Volcano

(new drawing)

Tyrannosaurus rex lived in the late Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era.  This was a time of  increased volcanic activity.  Fossil evidence along the Red Deer River of Montana indicates that there were dinosaur species disappearing during this time.  In fact, it had gone from around 20 species in the area at around 70 million years ago to just about 5 species at 65 million years ago.  Paleontologists and geologists think that there was an upsurge of volcanic activity and this may have been poisoning the environment. . . leading to the die off and extinction of several species.  The T. rex and Triceratops were some of the last surviving species.  There Pteranodon or flying reptile or Pterosaur that you see in the drawing was also one of the last large reptiles of the period to survive. 

I figured that since there were so many volcanic eruptions going on, that if it did not include a pyroclastic cloud from a "blow off the top" explosive eruption . . . then a T. rex might very well ignore an eruption if it was not too close.   

You may wonder about the flowers.  It is thought that flowering plants first appeared in the Cretaceous...but newer data is showing that there may have been flowering plants dating back to just BEFORE the dinosaurs.   In either case the flowers were around it T. rex's time.  There are also grasses in this drawing.  This is also not a mistake.  It was once thought that grass did not occur til just at the very end of the Cretaceous, but new evidence from Hadrosaur coprolite shows otherwise.  Coprolite is fossilized animal droppings and Hadrosaurs are duck billed dinosaurs.  So. . . they found 5 different species of grass seed in Hadrosaur coprolite.  This indicates that the dinosaurs were feeding on grass AND the presence of 5 species indicates that grass had started to radiate. . . that is, evolve into different species.  

So when you look at my older drawings you may see little or no grass in the Cretaceous Period drawings.  But my more recent drawings of the Cretaceous have grass and flowers.

Triceratops

(Older drawing)

T. rex runs from the Pyroclastic Flow

Previously drawn but from only a few weeks ago.  This shows a feathered T. rex.  Some paleontologists strongly suspect that T. rex had feathers.  They saw it is only a matter of time before we find evidence of a feathered Tyrannosaurus rex.  

Kitty the Mermaid from Denver Aquarium

Kitty the Mermaid says Hello

We went to the Denver Aquarium last week.  Their restaurant has a mermaid show.  It was SOOO awesome!   This drawing is from a photo that my daughter took of her daughter and the mermaid.  We know this mermaids actual name.  She was in an online article of a Metropolitan State University of Denver student paper.  Kitty is her name.  She, and the other mermaids were so impressive.  They really looked real!   They swam so smoothly.  It was easy to suspend your disbelief and imagine that they were real mermaids.  They also know how to interact through the glass.  Our granddaughter was thrilled.   The rest of the aquarium was also impressive.  

Thank you Denver Aquarium for a great experience!!!  And thank you Kitty!  You are awesome all by yourself!  Thanks to the other mermaids too!  Including the one who posed on the edge of the tank with our granddaughter.   I don't know your name but you were great with her.   I hope both you mermaids like the drawings I did of you.   

By the way, there is a reef shark in the drawing and a jellyfish called a Portuguese Man o' War.  In reality, there WERE fish in the tank. . .  like I drew in the drawing, but there were no jellyfish and sharks. 

Remember that the printable version is found by clicking on the buttons at the top of the page.  New drawings like this are at the bottom of the list.  Click on the "Fantasy, Myths, and Circus" button or on the "All Printables" button. . . and scroll down to the bottom.  Just click on the title to get the printable version. 

Helix the Labradoodle

Helix the Labradoodle

Sorry about the the drawing not being posted.  The printable version was and still is 

available under the Animals Button at the top of the page though.  

We met helix, a female Labradoodle.  She is a sweet dog and since our Maltese doggy Ellie died over a year ago, I still miss having a dog.  We may yet adopt a new dog, but we have not done so yet.  Helix gave me lots of kisses and cuddles.  Her owner told us that she was the best dog she has ever had.  She is also a service dog for visiting patients in hospitals.  Maybe she was so loving because she seemed to notice my tracheotomy under my scarf I wear to cover it.  It was such a fun experience I got permission to take her photo and I drew her tonight.   Ya gotta love a nice doggy. 

Labradoodles are a designer breed that is half Labrador Retriever and half Poodle.  They are generally hypoallergenic like a poodle and a great pet. The poodle genes make a Labradoodle hypallerginic.  That is great for me.  I am allergic to some breeds of dogs,   Labs are still the most popular dog breed in the USA and Poodles are the 7th most popular breed.

Helix's owner told us that they were planning on getting a second dog and naming it "Double".    So they would have "Double Helix" . . . which is the organization of the atoms on a DNA molecule.   That is an interesting name for a designer breed.

Photo of Helix 

Crystal the Fairy hatching a Dragon Egg

While on vacation in Brigham City Utah we stayed at Crystal Inn.  One of the clerks at the front desk told me she was obsessed with fairies.  So I drew her as a fairy.  I am calling her Crystal. . . after the nice motel. 

Crystal the Fairy hatching a Dragon Egg

I imagined that like in the Harry Potter books, a dragon egg needs heat to hatch. . . but maybe they could also be hatched by Fairy Magic.  This fairy is standing on river rocks by a river.   Since I am a retired Science Teacher I will tell you that the action of the water on the rocks wear them smooth.   This is called physical weathering.   However, since rainwater that might end up in the river is slightly acidic. . . we could also saw that some chemical weathering is going on too,  Rain water, as it falls as raindrops, interacts with carbon dioxide in the air and makes a little bit of carbonic acid. 

Air Show

We went to an amazing Air Show today after Church.   It was held at Hill Air Force Base in Northern Utah.  The photos are from the show and the drawings were done previously.  These drawings are all found in printable form by clicking on the buttons at the top of the page and scrolling down.   The photos are all from the air show.   The photos are not in the printable sections of this blog. 

US Air Force Thunderbirds

F-16 Fighter Bomber

This is the type of plane the Thunderbirds fly.  

B-25 Mitchell Bomber

My father was a pilot of a B-24 Bomber in World War II.  The B-25 is a smaller but similar plane. 

B-24J Liberator 

My dad told us that he felt bad about having to pilot the bomber.  He LOVED flying. . . but he said that he should have been teaching the gospel to those people instead of dropping  bombs on them.   He came home from the war and became a doctor who delivered over 4,000 babies and saved many lives with his skill as a surgeon and small town family doctor.  

TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber
The TBF was the upgrade or replacement for the below TBD.  Both planes were carrier based.  

TBD Devastator Torpedo Bomber