Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 07 February 2017

And a good, rainy morning to all.  Rain.  NOT snow and ice, not blizzards and such.  The weathercasters tell us that we may actually see a temperature of 57° today!  Great!  Followed on Thursday, two days hence, with a "high" of 26°  😝.

Dear Wife has made the trek across the back yard to "watch" the great--niece today.  She didn't sleep last night, not a bit.  She tried to get one of her long afternoon naps yesterday, but didn't get that either, and not much sleep the night before or the one before that.  She's scheduled to go in for a "sleep study" Thursday night, but I'm not sure she'll get much then either.  She completes her round of the heavy-duty antibiotics on Thursday, so the day or so after, she can -- hopefully -- go back on the Humira.  That latter, the "biologic" called Humira, does a great job of dealing with her several variants of arthritis and some  (not all) of the autoimmune conditions that plague her.  Her knees, feet, ankles, etc. are swollen and sore and she's in constant pain and discomfort.  It just never goes away.   Ever.  So inability to sleep is probably not surprising.

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Long break in action, running something over to her, getting some other things while there, coming back home to initiate two laundry loads, first is in dryer now, second in washer.  Deal with a cat issue.
and going back over in 15-20 minutes to bring her coffee and probably take dog for walk.
fun life, huh?

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 I watch the world continuing to spin  out of control.  Wars. rumors of war, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, pestilence and plague.  I see that legislators in the state of California wish to make an alteration to the driving licenses there, the ones generally used for identification purposes.  They want to add a 3rd gender.  Sound dumb?  It is.  But not the worst.  The social networking site FaceBook has provision (as of this morning) of 58 genders!!  58!  (might be more by nightfall, of course).

• Agender
• Androgyne
• Androgynous
• Bigender
• Cis
• Cisgender
• Cis Female
• Cis Male
• Cis Man
• Cis Woman
• Cisgender Female
• Cisgender Male
• Cisgender Man
• Cisgender Woman
• Female to Male
• FTM
• Gender Fluid
• Gender Nonconforming
• Gender Questioning
• Gender Variant
• Genderqueer
• Intersex
• Male to Female
• MTF
• Neither
• Neutrois
• Non-binary
• Other
• Pangender
• Trans
• Trans*
• Trans Female
• Trans* Female
• Trans Male
• Trans* Male
• Trans Man
• Trans* Man
• Trans Person
• Trans* Person
• Trans Woman
• Trans* Woman
• Transfeminine
• Transgender
• Transgender Female
• Transgender Male
• Transgender Man
• Transgender Person
• Transgender Woman
• Transmasculine
• Transsexual
• Transsexual Female
• Transsexual Male
• Transsexual Man
• Transsexual Person
• Transsexual Woman
• Two-Spirit

(list was shown on ABC news).
THIS is the biggest issue in some people's lives?  THIS?!?!?!?
And that does not include, of course, those who claim to "identify" as different age.  We've heard of a 40-some year old guy who "identifies" as a little girl. Diapers?? Dunno.
Or those who claim to "identify" as something other than human.  We hear of grown woman who "identifies" as a cat.  Litter box?  Who knows?   And there is a PROFESSOR at a college in New York state, who does "lobster porn".   I don't want to know, really I don't.
But all of them, probably, can sit on juries and vote in elections.  For that matter, they can run for office and might just win:  some of our fellow citizen voters are not a whole lot wiser.
Anything goes! right?
Wrong.

It would be nice if I could "identify" as a fabulously wealthy person, good looking at that, who is 25 or 30 years younger than I am.  Don't think the bank would agree.  Can I "identify" as an eagle, and expect to fly?  gravity can be so unforgiving!
No.  Reality is.  So is the bank balance, and the calendar.  And that eeeevil mirror!  It conflicts with that "identifcation".  Arrest it for "hateful imagery"!

Yes, people hate the truth.  It makes us uncomfortable.
So, speaking the truth is now to be shouted down as "Hate Speech", lest the truth be recognized.
This is how civilizations fail.

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and the 10 minute errand across the back yard to bring coffee and keep an eye on things (Little One) so Wife can take a break, turned into 2-1/2 hours as they both snoozed in the living room.  Only sleep Wife has had for about 30 hours, so can't refuse.  Ending with me taking their dog outside so that he may "do his business" .  I put him on a long (VERY long) leash so he can run a bit.  And then came home, carefully skirting the piles of his previous "business".  

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The day's reading in the Old Testament is chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Leviticus.  This is, primarily, directed at the Levites, the tribe of priests, and immediately focuses upon the specifics of the worship and sacrifice system that the Lord commanded.  Gets into some pretty fine detail.
Note that part of that detail involves things like washing the sacrifice.  Remember where they were?  Right.  In a DESERT!  Deserts are not famous for having lots of water available for non-essential matters.  Like washing animal parts.  But the Lord commanded it.  Where were they going to get the water?  Answer is obvious.  From Him!  He invented water, after all.  And deserts too, but the water, as well as everything else that they had (and that we have) came from His hand.  He knew what they would need, and He would supply it.  Which was, and still is, a good reminder, that the system of worship was both commanded and enabled by Him.  He made the animals, He created the water, He made them both available.  Still does.
Note as well that they entire system and methods were ordained.   I believe that He did so, in no small part, to differentiate their system from the systems employed, not only by the Egyptians they'd dwelt among for 430 years, but from those nations that would surround them.  Nations that employed such practices as infant sacrifices, as human sacrifices, as temple prostitutes, as temple homosexual sodomites, as a wide array of other abominations.  The Lord intended that they avoid such things, that they discriminate against them.  That His people be a "peculiar people", not like those around them.  No, "anything goes" does NOT go.  "Doing your own thing" is NOT what He commands.  And, no, there are NOT "many ways up the mountain".  He had expectations of a "reasonable act of service" and still does.

Leviticus 1

1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. 4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. 7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: 8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD. 10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. 11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. 12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD. 14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. 15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: 16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes: 17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD.

Leviticus 2

1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: 2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD: 3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. 4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. 6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering. 7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD. 10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. 11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. 12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savor. 13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. 14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. 15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. 16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Leviticus 3

1 And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. 2 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 3 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 5 And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD. 6 And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7 If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD. 8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. 9 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 10 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD. 12 And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. 13 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. 14 And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 15 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor: all the fat is the LORD's. 17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

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The day's passage in the New Testament is verses 23-39 from chapter 24 in the Gospel of Matthew.  Again, this is Jesus speaking in the last few days before the Crucifixion.  A very intense period.

When shall the Lord return?  As He said, no man knows. 
Wife and I have a shared memory on that.  We were married back in 2008, in September.  It was a relatively bare-bones thing, we paid for it all out of our own, very meager, resources.  So we didn't have an organist or anything else for the ceremony.  We'd arranged with an old friend of hers to sing "Oh Promise Me" or something like that as we'd walk the aisle.  Except that her friend, Brenda, was tied up with some Pentecostal cult group that was caught up in some guy's briefly-popular book who'd predicted that that very day, Jesus was coming back.  So rather than show up as promised, she stayed home to pack!  Don't laugh, that 's how the Jehovah Witnesses got started.  So Wife and I have a particular attitude towards all those who claim to have had a "new revelation", just send money for their book.  Jesus knew this would happen,  He was right, of course.

Matthew 24:23-39

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.