No phone or internet for two days

[Lou Newton]

Just to let everyone know why I have not been posting; I have not had a working phone or internet for two days.

Has anyone else's phone or internet stopped working in this cold?

[glen smith]

Well, weather in Texas is beautiful. Worked outside in a T shirt all afternoon on Saturday.
I'm sore and achey tonight.
Up yonder you guys are really cold.
More snow on the way for the northeast.
Did you see the town in Mass. that flooded from the storm and then the flood waters froze?
Warming temperatures effect the path of the jet stream resulting in larger extremes in weather cycles.
The past few days Dallas was having night time lows in the teens and 76 hours below freezing. Now it is like springtime temperatures.
Texas weather cycles have become drought or floods. We are in a drought pattern currently.
The fact is when there is not excessive rain then there is drought.

[Steve Hollander]

-7 this morning at 7am. Currently 2 degrees. Wind chill was - 15 and man is it cold. Heat was running constantly. Fireplace is roaring. 2 wood stoves/furnace burning all day and night to keep the shop and office from freezing. I definitely don't want to live in Antarctica. But right now it's close.

[Lou Newton]

Well, weather in Texas is beautiful. Worked outside in a T shirt all afternoon on Saturday.
I'm sore and achey tonight.
Up yonder you guys are really cold.
More snow on the way for the northeast.
Did you see the town in Mass. that flooded from the storm and then the flood waters froze?
Warming temperatures effect the path of the jet stream resulting in larger extremes in weather cycles.
The past few days Dallas was having night time lows in the teens and 76 hours below freezing. Now it is like springtime temperatures.
Texas weather cycles have become drought or floods. We are in a drought pattern currently.
The fact is when there is not excessive rain then there is drought.

Glad to hear your weather is so pleasant Glen; hope you enjoy it. We had -10 last night and I do not know what is was with the chill factor. But really cold weather has it's good points, it kills the mosquitoes and we have far less of them next summer. The weather cycles are from God and He has a good purpose to everything He created.

That poor town is Mass that flooded, and then the flooded water froze; I have to say I am sure thankful I do not live there.

I have to wonder if California is under the judgement of The Lord though. Their government has been so ungodly and now they are having fires like they have never had before. One day they are threatening to secede from the union, and now they are begging for Trump to help them.

I had a very unusual experience Tuesday. I had been going to Physical Therapy and both of the therapists had first told me that with the complete tear I had with the top rotator cuff muscle, I would have to have surgery. But after couple of weeks they were both very puzzled that I could do some of the motions that I could do. The one ( who I think is a Christian ) mentioned the power of prayer, the other said scar tissue must have healed the tendon and muscle together again. So I was very hopeful The Lord had answered my prayers and healed it.

But when I went to a orthopedic surgeon Tuesday my bubble was burst. I was impressed that he did not accept my X-ray and MRI results that were sent to him, but took three pictures and read them himself. He came into the room and told me that he first thought the girl gave him the wrong pictures. He had seen I was 74 and so was not a candidate for surgery because I was too old. But then looked at the new pictures and said my muscles looked like a far younger man, and even then they were in extremely good condition. So he told me I could have surgery. But the bad news was that the muscle was separated from the tendon by about 1/2". I made the motion that baffled the therapists, and asked how I could do that. He said my other muscles are so strong that they can do that motion that almost no one can do with a torn rotator cuff. He pointed out that almost no one can pick a sledge hammer up by the end of the handle and swing it up, but really strong men can. That made me feel good, but I still had the bad news that it was not healed. I am thankful that The Lord gave me quick twitch muscles that are strong and also thankful His grace has inspired me to keep them in shape.

The unusual experience though was this: when I go to the Dr ( I do not go often) I feel I have so little time to tell them the facts that may help them see what is wrong with me. So I have pointed out before that I used to bench press 320# when I weighed 120#. I think they have always almost ignored my comment and change the subject, which made me think they did not believe me. But when I mentioned this to this Dr, his reaction was very revealing. By the expression on his face and then his several comments about it, I could see he really believed me. I can not tell you how good this made me feel. I figured out later that he had seen unusual pictures and then believed my unusual comment. He had evidence that the others did not have. He simply believed what he had seen in the pictures.

It is a really good experience to have someone believe you even when what you tell them is unusual. It is also a very bad experience to have people not believe something you tell them, even when you know it is the truth.

I can see why Jesus was a man of sorrows. He told so many the Truth and most did not believe Him because it was unusual.

Now I am praying for The Lord to reveal to me, if He wants me to have the surgery or not.

[Lou Newton]

-7 this morning at 7am. Currently 2 degrees. Wind chill was - 15 and man is it cold. Heat was running constantly. Fireplace is roaring. 2 wood stoves/furnace burning all day and night to keep the shop and office from freezing. I definitely don't want to live in Antarctica. But right now it's close.

Thanks for the reply Steve. It is very cold here also. But we did not get the deep snow that you got there; we only have a few inches.

I think this really cold weather has good purpose from God. People are focusing on working to supply their wants; like boats, motorcycles, etc; things that we do not need, but want. This is not deeply satisfying to the person and they tend to be depressed after they get what they want, but do not need. This takes our whole society on a downward spiral.

When God brings really harsh conditions, like this really cold weather, we get to focus on our needs instead of our wants. It is deeply satisfying to keep your family alive by hard work. I think God is trying to show us that it is far more deeply satisfying to work for our needs than it is to work for our wants.

What do you think about this ?

[glen smith]

So I have pointed out before that I used to bench press 320# when I weighed 120#.

Wow! Lou – I recognized at men’s 120 lb. class for a bench press of 320 lbs. would be phenomenal because the most I ever bench pressed while weighing under160 lbs. was 210 lbs. (raw). So I looked it up the national record.

Yours is a lot more than the national record.
You should have been competing, but with your shoulder your lifting days are over.
The lightest weight class I found was the 130 lb. class.
The record raw open men 130 lb. class is 225.75 lbs.
The record open men 130 lb. class which allows bench shirt, elbow and wrist wraps, singlets, and belts is 391.25 lbs.

This might be of interest.
Gary Zeolla participates in regional and national weight lifting and is an excellent source for his literal interpretation of the Bible from original languages. His biblical interpretations or explanations are also excellent. He is a Denver Seminary graduate – therefore, reformed theology. He has had a near life ending health issue but has made a recovery.
His web site is Darkness to Light
http://www.dtl.org/index.html

[Lou Newton]

Wow! Lou – I recognized at men’s 120 lb. class for a bench press of 320 lbs. would be phenomenal because the most I ever bench pressed while weighing under160 lbs. was 210 lbs. (raw). So I looked it up the national record.

Yours is a lot more than the national record.
You should have been competing, but with your shoulder your lifting days are over.
The lightest weight class I found was the 130 lb. class.
The record raw open men 130 lb. class is 225.75 lbs.
The record open men 130 lb. class which allows bench shirt, elbow and wrist wraps, singlets, and belts is 391.25 lbs.

This might be of interest.
Gary Zeolla participates in regional and national weight lifting and is an excellent source for his literal interpretation of the Bible from original languages. His biblical interpretations or explanations are also excellent. He is a Denver Seminary graduate – therefore, reformed theology. He has had a near life ending health issue but has made a recovery.
His web site is Darkness to Light
http://www.dtl.org/index.html

The world record back in those days was held by a "freak" named Jim Smith if I remember correctly. But I do remember the weight he benched, it was 351#. He was in the 122# class. This was without any aids.

I had a serious auto accident shortly thereafter. I came out of the hospital weighing less than 100#. I had no fat to lose, so that was all muscle I lost. Did not lift again for years.

BTW, I joined the YMCA in town and lifted for the first time in many years Saturday. I used every upper body machine ( not free weights) they had except for the overhead press and the machine that exercised the deltoids straight out to the side. I did not do a lot of weight of course, but was fairly pleased with the results. I had no pain while lifting and none the next day. I did notice that I was using a normal amount of weight for some of the machines. ( maybe half of the stack for the back) I will take it very easy for some time and see what happens.

I now weigh 157# and look like a fat man when I run. I hope to get down to 140# again.

[glen smith]

Also of interest -
There is this Jewish guy in New Jersey who is a competitive weight lifter.
His daughter competed in the open women’s 90 lb. class.
She set national and, if I remember correctly, world records.
She shattered existing records.
She was 9-11 years old at the time.

[Steve Hollander]

Lou,
I agree with you that the wants of today outweigh the needs of living today for most people living in the west. Elsewhere in the world people are not so fortunate to be able to have that luxury. Mostly, we as a people tend to take it all for granted.
I think you could probably write a book about the remarkable achievements in your life. I am nothing like that. Compared to your experiences, my life sounds boring. I have no remarkable achievements to speak of. You have so many things to share about. I have forgotten some of them until you remind me. I play some of them in my mind like a movie. I find some of the occurrences in your life amazing. Blessings ..... Steve