Today’s Illustration: Demolition Experts

“Gravity is everywhere.
It’s free to everyone.
It’s an awesome power that’s available out there
if you know how to control it” [1]

Who: John D. “Jack” Liozeaux / The Loizeaux Family

Born May 1, 2015, in Towson, Md
His father was a “farmer who liked to transplant orchard trees with the help of a little dynamite.” [3]
After college, Jack began removing tree stumps with dynamite, then rocks, smokestacks, chimneys, and then his first building in Washington, DC.
“the job that put him on the map was the destruction of the 600-room Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1972, then the biggest building ever razed with explosives.” [3]
“Loizeaux saw his work as a science and an art whose success hinged on two things: gravity and the Lord. Anything standing vertically wants to fall,” Loizeaux once told an interviewer. “The Lord made gravity, and if you knock out something’s supports, it’s got only one way to go–down.” [3]
“At demolition sites, Loizeaux shunned the spotlight, letting the mayor or other official push a phony plunger while he stood off to the side. ” [3]
Jack always “would say a prayer before the button was pushed.” [3]
” From the countdown of 10-9-8-7 … to the pushing of the plunger, which sets off the explosion, it takes an average of nine seconds for a building to be brought down. ‘He was a magician when it came to demolition and he put on the greatest free show on Earth,’ said Herbert T. Duane Jr., a demolition consultant and owner of Duane Corp in Boston.” [6]
Jack retired in 1980
Jack died in November 2000 – age 85

When: Three generations beginning in 1947

What: “CDI” — Controlled Demolition Inc.

The Loizeaux family has been focused on taking down large superstructures since 1947.
The 1st building demolition began in 1947. [1]
“CDI has demolished thousands of structures across six continents using explosives.” [2]
World Records:
The world’s largest structure (by volume)… demolished with explosives.
The tallest man-made structure… demolished with explosives.
The world’s largest building (by square footage)… demolished with explosives. [1]
Took down the “Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building” after the terrorism explosion.
Took down the remaining building at Surfside, Florida, following the tragic collapse.
“Loizeaux would study a building’s innards, comparing the blueprints (which often lied) with the actual structure. Then he would conceive a plan that would use the building’s weight against itself, employing timed charges at strategic points to weaken a structure so its own mass would be its downfall. He strove to use as few explosives as possible.” [3]
Worked on various demolition scenes involving such films as — “Lethal Weapon 3,” “Enemy of the State,” and “The Dark Knight.”

Key Illustrative Thoughts:

prayer
power
destruction
judgement
creation
omnipotence
unity
power of sin
the Gospel — the power of God
blowing up families / homes, marriages
fake power

Sermonic Example:

(include whatever details you find useful)

. . . . Jack says that he did this when blowing up a building . . . . He prayed before the actual detonation button was pushed, and he was also known for setting up a dummy — a phony detonation button that a mayor, owner, or an official could push. The person pushing the dummy button thought they were setting off the blast which took down the mammoth building, but actually, behind the scenes, it was one of the members of the demolition crew that set off the first of many charges that did all the work.

Many probably never knew it wasn’t them or that button. They may have felt the feelings of being the one to take it all down, but there was no reality behind any of their feelings.

Gideon was one of those individuals who thought the battle was by his strength and might. But Gideon’s army was only the phony button that the Lord used to defeat the enemy. It was the Lord who brought down the enemy.

. . . Jack then says this . . .

“Gravity is everywhere.
It’s free to everyone.
It’s an awesome power that’s available out there
if you know how to control it“

Other Information & Links:

1. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-11-30-0011300327-story.html

2. https://www.controlled-demolition.com/about-us-explosives-controlled-demolition-implosion/history/

3. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-07-me-62373-story.html

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Demolition%2C_Inc.

5. https://brooktamos.wordpress.com/2021/01/17/they-blow-stuff-up/

6. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-12-01-0011301407-story.html

Video:

— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TARNVwF7Yg

— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mOQTyh1sG0