More Rain! Hallelujah!

More Rain! Hallelujah!

The Lord has showered His blessed rain upon our unjust land according to His merciful grace yet again.  Earlier this past week we received about 1 1/2 inches and another 1/4 inch this morning.

The Lord promises that He sends His rain both upon the just and the unjust.  Thankfully, even this statement is one of pure grace, for no one is truly just except by the Lord's declared righteousness imputed to those who have been generated into His kingdom of righteousness through Baptism.

How wonderful this association is, that with this statement concerning His gracious outpouring of life giving water from the heavens to refresh the earth for both the just and the unjust, so also this reminds us of His gracious outpouring of life anew in His kingdom through Water and Spirit.  In Titus 3 St. Paul calls this a bath or washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  And for the soul that hungers for the Lord's righteousness, this is refreshment indeed!

Nevertheless, the rains are cause for immediate thanksgiving.  TB2G!

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TB2G! It’s Raining!

Thanks be to God!  It’s Raining!

We very much need the moisture.  The hot sun and winds have dried the landscape.  The rain is falling, very gently, but it is falling.  Thanks be to God!

Moreover, the temperature dropped into the 70s, upper 70s, but 70s nonetheless.  It is actually cooler than at 5:30 this morning.

When the sun shows itself again, it will surely become very muggy.  That’s OK with me.  The volume of rain will likely be slight, but it will be measurable.  Relief is wonderful, even when slight or brief.

TB2G!


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HOT!

Hot!  Scorching!  Roasting!

It has been over 100 degrees, several days of 105, 103, and the like.  Of course, working under the sun is considerably hotter still.

This is definitely weather requiring super hydration for anyone working outdoors.  I carry 3 gallons of water and it is usually mostly depleted by end of day.

Sweat.  Sweat.  Sweat.

It is amazing how much body energy is required for sweating.  It can be exhausting.

Work a few minutes and drink.  Work a few minutes and drink.  The weather is scorching, but with is pattern of working one can make it through the day without overheating, especially when one is accustomed to such working conditions.

Of course, those who work in air conditioned offices all day will need to be cautious when doing weekend duties in the sun.  The body needs to acclimate to the conditions over a period of time.  Shorter work periods for weekend duty warriors are advisable.  Work a few minutes, drink, rest, work a few minutes, drink, rest.  This is the cycle.

Most people are at least aware of this, but such things are often forgotten and neglected once the work begins.  “Gotta get done!”

Heat exhaustion or fatigue is serious and heat stroke can be fatal.

The old-timers remedied this quite successfully back home in Florida.  They would shower with the hottest water that a person could endure.  This opened the pores and drew out the heat from the body, allowing it to recover.

Anyway, it has been very hot.

Heigh ho!  Heigh ho!  It’s off to roast I go!


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Extrapolated Mayan Forecast

Origin unknown, but funny.

Wichita's Tornado Damage

Lots of Damage - No Deaths

Aerial photos of storm damage

NewsChopper 9 Flies Over Wichita Tornado Damage

Tornado Hits Wichita's South Side Hard

Part Of Wichita Deemed 'Crisis Area' After Tornado

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Rain! Rain!

Over the last week or so we have had several rains, but I did not check the rain gauge until today following last night’s rain. I was surprised!

Yesterday's High Temp

Yesterday's high outdoor temperature was 114 degrees Fahrenheit, at least at our house. That was simply too hot. I decided not to work outside and stayed home and took care of various other things.

As you may notice from our indoor thermometer, we keep our air conditioner set at 84 degrees. Still our electric bill is beyond belief. The government continues to press us into more and more debt, causing more and more inflation. The greater the debt, the less value the money has, which automatically drives prices higher.

So the weather is cooking us externally while the government, run by the international (central) bankers, cooks us financially. Yet the people keep electing the same political party puppets from the same two parties that are owned by the banksters. They have betrayed us for generations and yet the people keep voting them into positions of power where they can further betray us. The so-called conservative pundits continue to tell people not to vote for 3rd party candidates, who actually propose solutions to the terror. Who besides Ron Paul in the Republican Party proposes elimination of the Federal Reserve criminal banking system?

Even today, after all the noise that Ron Paul and third party candidates have made, still I find that at least 85% of Americans have no clue as to the fact that the Federal Reserve is a private corporation owned by international bankers who make obscene profits from our money, money that the US Constitution says should cost nothing as it should be controlled by Congress alone.

So, while the frog in the kettle analogy is untrue, as no frog will remain in the kettle as the temperature rises to unsafe levels, the scenario of the people in the kettle of central banking continues to be real. As the temperature continues to rise we cry out in agony but refuse to jump out of the kettle. Moreover, people continue to listen to the hoaxsters who tell them not to upset the two party system that is cooking them alive.

Now these hoaxsters are crying out that the debt deal between Obama and Congress is a betrayal. Oh thanks. People with their eyes open knew this all along. ANY raising of the debt ceiling makes all spending limitations or reductions and tax rate limits meaningless. Raising the debt ceiling GUARANTEES inflation.

By the way, if spending is truly curbed, why would the debt ceiling need to be raised? How is it that people do not see the fraudulence of this entire process? How is it that the people do not DEMAND that the government stop forcing them into deeper debt? Even those who blindly imagine that the "benefits" that they receive from the government through their "entitlements," how is it that they remain blind to the fact that their entitlements are becoming smaller on account of the artificially imposed inflation?

Well, I guess it makes as much sense as the way that people in the many churches continue to allow the pure Gospel and the pure administration of the Sacraments to be diluted and polluted until they have nothing left of God's grace, mercy, and peace. If people willingly permit themselves to be robbed of the most precious and necessary things in life, the everlasting blessings, why should anyone expect that they would be less foolish regarding the temporal things?

Yet as I look on I am nevertheless bewildered.

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Its Windy, but You’re Still in Kansas!

Kansas is a very windy state, especially now. Growing up in Florida, winds like we have in Kansas would have been counted as the coming of a terrible storm. But in Kansas, its just another windy day.

Yesterday the wind blew over our wooden fence, which I spent the evening erecting again. My mother-in-law’s car was smashed by a handicap sign that blew over onto it. Customers called regarding trees that were broken in half. Returning homeward after examining one of these shattered trees I saw a large billboard type sign that was blown over in a parking lot, smashing the little sports car that had been parked next to it.

But that’s Kansas and so far, we’re still here.

. . .

Weather Forecast Chuckles

Once again the ludicrous manner of the weather forecasters has made me chuckle.

A few moments ago I visited the forecast website to see what was being forecast, to see whether the weather forecast had changed. Several times last night and several more times this morning I checked, to find the same forecast.

Today: Showers, mainly before 1pm. High near 47. Windy, with a northwest wind between 30 and 37 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

It has been raining ALL morning. As this is hindering me from going out to work, I checked again a few moments ago to find an updated forecast:

Today: Showers, mainly before 1pm. High near 47. Windy, with a northwest wind between 30 and 37 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Apparently someone must have realized that it has been raining all morning and therefore adjusted the percentage of likelihood for precipitation from 60% to 90%.

Sadly, this is typical. Sad as it is, it still makes me chuckle when I observe it. I suppose it is the apparent attempt to save face by not going all the way to 100% that makes me laugh. It appears that the 90% is posted so as to attempt to maintain the facade that this was actually forecast and not merely a correction due to looking outside to see what is actually happening.

Oh, well. Yet it does frustrate me that these people promote themselves as honest scientists upon whom we can rely. Such farcical pretense is observed in government, in education, and even in the churches. Is it any wonder that people stop caring and believing?

. . .

Definition of an Expert

I cannot recall whether I have shared this before, but my father had a saying that always tickled me. He said:

An expert is someone who can tell you today exactly why what he said yesterday did not happen.

The weather forecasters cause me to think of this saying almost daily. Other “experts” likewise make me think of this.

In addition to my father’s saying, I have some other thoughts.

An expert is someone who is able to convince others to elevate him and his opinions above their own, and usually even to praise and pay him for sharing his elevated opinions.

For what it is worth.

Five Below

It was five degrees below zero this morning when I awakened. That is cold for Wichita. That is cold for a native Floridian! Even though I've lived farther north and have experienced much colder weather, five below is still very cold and harsh.

The coldest weather that I have experienced is forty below. I changed my mother-in-law's thermostat in her car that day. I thought that my hands would freeze solid.

Such weather does make me long for the Day of the Lord's coming to arrive. Even though I know that He is being patient for the sake of all who will be regenerated to believe the Gospel, still I become somewhat impatient on account of the pains of the cursed ground.

Growing up in Orlando, I was entirely unable to conceive of the day when I would speak of forty degrees as being warm. Before being driven out of the garden, mankind was free of such troubles. Sin has changed everything. Turmoil and trouble and wars and rumors of wars and riots and inflation and corrupt government leaders . . .

Yes, the Second Advent of the Lord will be a good day. Those who reject the Gospel and refuse to be ruled by the peace of God will be gathered up and sent to the place that has been reserved for all who prefer the deceptive leadership of the devil so that those who have been converted to trust and rely upon God and His grace will forevermore be free of all of these troubles.

Such freedom is beyond imagination except for the promises of God in His Holy Scriptures. No garbage about 70 virgins, as the Lord Himself declares that marriage and giving in marriage will no longer be the way for men and women. Our sexual desires will have served their double purpose of procreation and leading us to realize the greater marriage of God with mankind in Christ. Such anguish as the burning passions of sexual lust will no longer burden us. Neither will the freezing temperatures that often cause frostbite in relationships. No jabbing and piercing comments, no angry lashings out at one another, no selfish expectations and impositions upon one another, none of these things shall press upon us anymore.

Having called my next-door neighbor to be sure that he is OK, an elderly fellow of 90 years, I was informed that the weather channel report for the low last night was sixteen below, even colder than I realized. In addition to looking forward to the parousia, such announcements also make me very thankful for God’s gifts of house and home, shelter and clothing, furnaces and insulation. As the old gray cat walked carefully along the sidewalks that I shoveled yesterday and last night, I also was very thankful for the warm shelter of my house, as well as the warmth and comfort of all of God’s promises in Christ.