Imagine if..

Imagine the scene for a moment.  You and your friends have spent 3 years following the leadership of a spiritual man.  During that time, you saw and heard things that made you believe that he was everything he claimed to say about himself.  He was the Messiah, no doubt.  It was all true und you had witnessed it.  You yourself have actually done amazing things like the time he sent you and your friends out to do ministry.  While you were in the cities of Israel, you healed people, preached, raised people from the dead, and even cast out demons.  Your life would be forever different, wouldn’t it?

Imagine that you had just a couple of days before this spiritual leader was arrested, tried, and sentenced to die between two thieves.  You saw him hanging there.  You saw him hang his head and die.  You knew that some of your friends and acquaintances buried him in a tomb just before the Sabbath was to start.  Now it is two days later and some of these same friends have come to you with the news that this man’s tomb was now empty, the body was gone, and some of them even claimed to have seen him and talked with him.  Could it be true?

Imagine you are walking on a road with a friend as you together are going to a village outside of Jerusalem.  You and he cannot talk about anything but the last several days and 3 years.  You would say something then he would say something and the whole time you are absolutely astounded at the events in Jerusalem and how now, the death of this man has changed your life.  In the midst of the conversation, someone joins you on the road and innocently asks, “What are you talking about?”  You and your friend stop and look at him with sad looks and can’t believe this person has not heard of the events of the last days.  The whole city of Jerusalem is abuzz with the news, so how could this person not know.  Do they live in a cave? 

You briefly tell the story to the stranger to catch him up and it is obvious in your words and body language that you are devastated by what has happened.  To your surprise the fellow traveler begins to speak the story of God from Moses to all the prophets.  For about 5 miles or so he clearly speaks of the Messiah and you are moved by the man’s knowledge and understanding of the scripture.  You are so moved that you ask the man to stay with you in Emmaus since the day was late.

Imagine you are in a room and eating bread and the man takes the bread, blesses and breaks it, then hands some to you.  In that moment you see clearly, the stranger is Jesus and you have spent several hours of your day with him and did not even know it.  This you now know – Jesus is alive.

You turn to your friend and tell him how you felt during the time with Jesus.  While Jesus spoke of all the truths from Moses to the prophets, your heart burned and was alive as you came to a better realization that everything about Jesus was completely true and you were a witness.  You did not imagine it, for it was true.

How can one sleep after this, so you and your friend arise immediately, no longer tired and go the 7 miles back to Jerusalem and found the 11 Apostles and you tell them that you have encountered the risen Christ.

He is alive!!!!!

 

Mission Thoughts from Jesus

Several years ago as I was reading in Matthew 10 where Jesus sends out the disciples on their first short-term mission trip.  Here are his instructions to them and they are interesting:

1.  Preach that the kingdom of heaven is near (vs.7).

2.  Freely you receive, freely give (vs.8).

3.  Take only what you need (vs.9-10).

4.  Find a man of peace (vs.11-13).

5.  Not everyone will embrace their coming (vs.14-16).

6.  Be both shrewd and innocent (vs.16).

7.  What happens on his account to us...(vs.17-20).

a.  Attacked and bring charges against you by governers and kings

b.  Don't worry what to say because the Holy Spirit will speak through you.

c.  Families will be divided.

8.  Take the role of a servant (vs.24-25)

9.  Disclose all with no fear (vs. 26-30)

a.  Don't be afraid of what happens to body or soul, 'cause we are his

10.  God deeply knows who we are

a.  His eye is on the sparrow

b.  He knows the number of heads on our head

**Our life is known by him, every little part.**

11.  Don't be ashamed to acknowledge him (vs. 32-33)

12.  Gospel makes a real distinction and can divide relationships (vs.34-36)

13.  Love God more anything and crucify yourself so you can follow him (vs.37-39).

14.  Living as an extension of who he is (vs.40-42).

In other words, this is not an easy thing to take the gospel to our home country or a foreign one.  What is amazing, is that people for the last 2000 years have thought it worth their very lives to live in this way.  

It is worth it - no matter what we face, experience because he knows us and is with us. 

The Name Father

In our twentieth century Western culture, personal names are little more than labels to distinguish one person from another. Sometimes nicknames are chosen which tell something about a person, but even this is a poor reflection of the significance of names in the Bible.  Unfortunately, to many the names God or Lord convey little more than designations of a supreme being. It says little to them about God’s character, His ways, and what God means to each of us as human beings. But in Scripture, the names of God are like miniature portraits and promises. In Scripture, a person’s name identified them and stood for something specific. This is especially true of God. Naming carried special significance. It was a sign of authority and power. This is evident in the fact that God revealed His names to His people rather than allowing them to choose their names for Him. This is also seen in the fact that God often changed the names of His people: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel. Note also how this concept of authority and power is seen when Nebuchadnezzar changed the names of Daniel and his three friends.

There are a many places in scripture where just the name of God is used in reference to him.  For example:

• Abraham called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8; 13:4)
• The name of the Lord was not to be taken in vain (Leviticus 13:21; 22:2)
• To call on the name of the Lord was to worship Him as God (Genesis 21:23)

This general reference refers to his whole Character and is a summary for everything he actually is.  We see this is several places in the gospels as well. 

• Salvation is found in his name. (John 1:12)
• Believers are to gather in his name. (Matthew 18:20)
• The Christian who bears the name of Christ will be hated. (Matthew 10:22)

There are also many places where we can read about and see a specific name of God.  I would like to take one of today. I would like use the word Father today.  Father is a distinctive New Testament revelation that we learn about from Jesus.  Through faith in Christ, God becomes our personal Father. Father is used of God in the Old Testament only 15 times while it is used of God 245 times in the New Testament. It is Jesus who pushed this understanding for us and the other New Testament writers carried it further along.  It was a  brand new way of looking at how we relate to God.  As a name of God, it stresses God’s loving care, provision, discipline, and the way we are to address God in prayer.  These passages highlight several: (Matt. 7:11; Jam. 1:17; Heb. 12:5-11; John 15:16; 16:23; Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 1 Thess. 3:11).

For me personally, I think the best picture we can see is found in Luke 15 in the story of the Prodigal Son.  The story goes like this.  One day the younger of two Sons approached his Father and asked him if he could have his inheritance early before the Father died.  Knowing that he could withhold the money from the son, the Father decided to let the Son go and make his own decision.  A few days later the son takes off with his stuff and heads off to a distant land where he could live out his desire of wild living.  Not long after he arrived in this land, he found that he had spent the entire inheritance and to add more trouble to his life, a severe economic crisis happens and a famine enters the land.  In his desperation, he finds a job where he feeds pigs.  Yeah, feeds pigs.

His situation is so critical that he longs to actually eat what he is feeding the pigs.  It is in this desperation that his life takes a turn.  His situation triggers a memory of his Father.  There was something in the Father's face when the son left that must have said, “I love you and you can come back home.  He begins the long journey home and when he nears the home, the Father sees him and runs down the road and embraces the son all the while kissing the son and pouring his love over him. 

What a picture of who God is!!  In the midst of the mess of our life, if we will come back to the Father, we can receive forgiveness and love.  Do you know God in this way?  Do you know that he is a loving Father who waits upon us to return and be restored.  As you pray this week, I want to encourage us all to focus on God as our Father.  The more we know him as Father, I believe will lead us to feel more comfortable in approaching him.

 

Moving Forward

At the end of the Athens Olympics in 2004, some of the athletes participated in a special event in which they ran the same path from which the long distance race, “the Marathon”, got its name.  In 490 B.C., a man named Pheidippides ran 26 miles to warn of the impending attack of the Persians upon the country. His route began in the city of Marathon and ended in the city of Sparta.  Not long after he reached Sparta with the message, Pheidippides died.  Just the thought of running 26 miles makes me think about dying.  With that aside, let us think about Pheidippides feat.  No doubt it was an incredible physical accomplishment, but I want to explore some spiritual questions from his story as it relates to our lives.What motivated Pheidippides to run in this manner?  What obstacles did he find in his way?  Did he meet people along the way?  Did he drink anything?  Did he think about quitting?  There is much unknown about his trip as he did not live long enough to tell it.  We do know that he got the message to Sparta and was able to overcome all kinds of obstacles to accomplish something that had never happened before.  In Marathon, he saw a goal and he went for it with all of his might.  For those last hours of his life, he participated in something larger than himself and I believe that is what enabled him to get the message from Marathon to Sparta.  The message took hold of him and he literally, ran with it.  With that in mind, let’s now move our thoughts toward a specific scripture.     Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Have we been taken hold by something larger than us or do we only live in the story of our own lives?  Paul says that Christ had taken hold of him and he could help but move forward in the direction of the prize.  He simply could not do anything but go for the prize with his whole life.  That is how much embraced and lived the story of God's call on his life.  No matter the changes that pursuit brought, it never made him give up in his pursuit.  No wavering, no doubts, no regrets for him.  The pursuit brings powerful changes in our lives and they matter not in the greater pursuit of him.                                                                                                                                              

The Real Estimate of our LIves

Salvation Army Commissionar Samuel Logan Brengle in 1933 said, "The final estimate of men shows that history cares not for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart".  This is completely true in how our lives will be measured.  It is sad that we long for the rank, title, and office instead of living out our faith in Christ passionately.  Our passion for him impacts the world way more than our passion for seeing ourselves rise to the top of ministry.  Our passion for him leads us to serve others, but our passion to move up higher leads us to use, cast aside and not value the people around us.  Let us live a life of serving and loving others.  After all, that is the true measure of the depth of our character.

It Happened Today

     I knew that it would eventually happen.  It had to happen. It happened to me when I was a kid and I am sure it has happened to you.  It happened to my parents and to their parents. It happens to every parent who has ever lived, well at least in the modern era of radio, 8 tracks, CD's, and the greatness of the MP3.  It will happen to all of our children. Kids, I guess, never understand the greatness of the generations before them as they are so lost within their own.  If only they could be mature enough to really understand what they are missing.  What in the world am I talking about?  Well, I will tell you.  

     As the 4 oldest kids were looking at something on the computer today, I had my music going, and yes, the greatness of 70's music.  I have a file entitled "Doak's Alltime" and it contains all the greats from my generation.  The kids all turned and said, "Dad, you like boring music."  

       With those words, things changed.  I am definitely older and they are definitely older.  Do you remember when it happened to you?  For me, I got to a place as a kid where the Statler Brothers and Marty Robbins were no longer cool to listen to just because my dad liked them. There were better things in life to listen to like: Journey, Reo Speedwagon, James Taylor, Bread, Styx, Boston, Jackson Browne, and Billy Joel.  Who would not like those all time greats?  My kids that's who!

     Actually, I am okay with it totally.  It means that now, I will have to pay more attention to what they are listening to and stay in touch with this generation of music and I think that is alright, although it will stretch me some to fully embrace the likes of the Hairspray Soundtrack and the Jonas Brothers.  God willing, our kids get older and a sure sign that it happens is when our music becomes boring.

     Regardless of their sudden "stuck up" view of my music, I think I am staying with my bands. To many memories of then and still now flood my mind when I hear those songs.  Though they sound "kommisch" to the kids, they sound sweet in mine.

Visible or Invisible

Have this common proverb often in your mind:  The eye is not satisfied or pleased with seeing any material thing, nor the ear with hearing.  Study, therefore, to withdraw the love of your soul from all things that are visible, and to turn it to things that are invisible.

Thomas A Kempis - 1400's

Anchor in a godless Society

     It is no doubt that we live in a time where we would say that the societies in the West are godless. In an age where so much is being done to make the gospel relevant to this godless society, which I am actually for if done right, we must also at the same time remember that we are to operate in the world of truth. Paul addressed this in 2nd Timothy by instructing Timothy how to live and minister in such a society.  It is one of the most important passages for those of us who minister in the West. Chapters 3 and 4 should be read consistently by us.  Paul gives us clear directions in regard to how this will work in 2 Timothy 3:12-17.  Read below.

12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

     As things keep going from bad to worse and the deception continues, then here is what we must keep in mind during those days.  Paul says we must continue in what we have learned, which means we go with our historic understanding of the gospel.  The gospel has not changed so we must plow ahead in what we believe and we are convinced of, because it is reliable for we received it from all those who have come before us.  That is his point in vs 12-14.  

     Now Paul lists our Anchor in a godless society.  It is the scripture that is that for us.  The Scripture is God's breath and is helpful for teaching how to live, rebuking us when we choose poorly, correcting us when our way gets lost, and moving us further and further into God's righteousness.  It is the scripture, the scripture, and the scripture. It marks the church, guides the church, and is the very life of the church.

     Paul then says that we are most equipped for ministry when we know the scripture.  Look carefully at verse 17, "so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".  This is so against the conventional wisdom of missions and church ministry.  We strategize so much about how to do a good job, but Paul would say all we need to be equipped for ministry - is a deep knowledge of the scripture.

     Maybe we should rethink a few things.

 

Reality of Circumstances

     Life brings changes that are completely out of our control.  When new circumstances come, it is how we respond that makes all the difference.  A key to responding in a way that makes the biggest difference, is to remember that life is not about our comfort, staying in the same job with the same organization or living in the same city.  This perspective comes when we know that the only constant in life is Christ and He does not change during the shifting world of our lives.  This is how Paul saw it.  Look at what he says in Philippians 4.

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

What Paul writes in verse 11 is the absolute key in this process - "I have learned to be content..".  You learn contentedness.  Well, how can you learn it?  The only way to learn it is  to go through the changing of circumstances that alter our plans.  If our life only goes according to our plans and is never dramatically shaken, we will not learn to be content in both the times of plenty and less.  I am going through that right now.  I hope I learn it because one response that I could have is restlessness instead of contentedness.  I must embrace the change and allow God to mold me into the image of Jesus.  The question comes:  What do I want more?  Jesus or things to go according to my plans.  I often want my plan, but his is definitely better.

     That is how you learn it, but how can we see it take root deep in us?  Verse 13 is the key - "I can do anything through him who gives me strength".  It is in relationship to Jesus that this becomes possible and it is His power that helps me accept, not necessarily like, whatever is coming my way.  Life is about relationship with Jesus, not having all things go my way.  These 2 are in the mix that leads to contentedness.

He Called Her Over…

I do not exactly how your relationship with God works, but since you are human like me (you are human right?), you more than likely do some of the things that I do.  I came across a familiar story this morning, but as I read it, it was seen with fresh eyes.  It forms the basis for the devotion this week.  Let’s read the scripture to get the full picture.

 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years.  She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”  And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.  Luke 13:10-14

           This day was not unlike other days in Jesus ministry.  He was at church with a bunch of other people worshiping and focusing on God.  One of the things we can forget about, is that when we come to church there are people all around us who, like us, have secret things that no one knows, they have pain and sickness in their bodies, some are disillusioned, and others have been in a certain condition for years without relief.  We sometimes come to a bible study or church and our focus in entirely on us.  Will I like the music?  Will the sermon be good?  What am I doing after church?  Where will go eat later?  Who is playing soccer today?  It is amazing how we come to worship for the sole purpose of honoring God and spend our time focusing on the things that have to do with our lives – all in a place where we have come to focus solely on God and others.  When we focus so much on us, we forget that there are so many other people around us who need a friend, an encouraging word, someone to sit by them, or just a friendly smile or handshake.   

In our story, there was a woman who for 18 years was stricken by something that caused her to be bent over and not be able to straighten herself.  Can you imagine that?  18 years of a body that could not get straight.  Could that describe you and I in some area of our lives?  Most likely all of us have issues that are so heavey they cause to not walk straight emotionally and spiritually, but the weight of them causes us to be “bent”.  No matter how much we try, the issue just seems to remain.  After a long time, it feels defeating and we may even wonder if we can ever find relief.   

We do not know if she had gone to many doctors for help and we do not even know if she came to church on this day knowing that Jesus would be there.  We simply do not know.  For me personally, here is where the story gets unique.  The text indicates that she was not near Jesus, she was not coming to him,  it simply says that she was there in the synagogue.  Too often I am afraid, I find myself coming seeking out God for what I desire him to do in me, for my family, or in Germany.  Of course we should come to him and say what is on our hearts, we just need to make sure the request lines up with His will.  She may have had no idea that her hope was going to be at church that day.  She most likely did not come expecting God to move in her and bring his healing.  But God, is different than you and I.     

What is interesting in the story are these words, “When Jesus saw her, he called her over.”  Jesus sought her out in the worship service.  He saw her need and he called her to come to him.  Think about that for a moment.  She did not come seeking him, but she found that he was seeking after her.  She was not looking at him, but he was looking at her.  We forget that Jesus is a seeking God and deeply desires to bring his healing into our lives in moments when we may least expect it. 

 She did not come looking for an encounter with Jesus, but she got one because Jesus is a God who seeks encounters with us.

The bible her says , “He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”  And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.

She comes, Jesus touches, and the crooked part of her life is immediately made straight.  Is it really any wonder that she glorified God?  Jesus can and will come at times when we least expect it, and what a moment that is when we taste and experience his presence.  

What is the Phinehas Life?

Good question.  The title of the blog comes from my favorite Old Testament story found in the great book of Numbers 25.  In this story, we see God say something about a man that is not said about any other person in Scripture.  Read the story below and note the highlighted words for they are the ones that God says of Phinehas.  It is my passion that my love for his glory would rise to the level of Phinehas'.  Enjoy!!

1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them.4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.10 The LORD said to Moses, 11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."

His desire for the honor of God's name rose to the same level of God's desire for the honor of his name.  That is what I want more than anything else.

Building a Theology of the City

It is interesting to note that 3x in the Gospels, it is recorded how Jesus felt about the city of Jerusalem.  I am currently in the process of writing out what a Theology of the City is, according to the model of Jesus.  I will share just a few thoughts here today. Jesus loved Jerusalem.  Can you imagine what it must have been like for him to walk the streets of the Holy City he had chosen before all eternity?  The emotions and thoughts must have been overwhelming for him to see its inhabitants and worship his Father in the temple.  Luke records this simple, yet profound verse in 19:41 - "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it".  It is one of those verses we have a tendency to skip over and get to the better parts.  Don't do that here.  Those 13 Words highlight how we can have impact in our city.  Here they are:  Draw Near, See the City, and Weep.  We should intimately know our city and you do that by walking the streets, knowing your neighbors, and talking to people.  There is no way around that truth!!  We also have to see and PERCEIVE the truth of our city.  Do we see the reality its lostness?  Does it move us?  It did with Jesus.  He walked the streets and saw the oppression and captivity that people lived with and it all led him to weep.  Could it be that we do not really know our city if we never weep of its condition.  When you do not know anyone or really ever look into the faces of those in the Strassenbahn, how can you truly see how desolate and broken the city is.  Knowing lost people will naturally lead to our being broken over their condition.  It happened to me today - the brokenness and lostness of Duesseldorf led me to cry.  It was totally unexpected, but real. That is the best kind of experience though isn't it?  Where we have not conjured the emotion up, but we are simply being "carried along by the Holy Spirit".  My prayer is that would happen more often in our lives.  We need it, or at least I do.    

Worship

Here we stand, as an innumerable company before us have stood, at the last outpost of human endeavour, seeking God.  We have done our utmost in the world, failing or succeeding, and now we stand within the sanctuary, before the Eternal, and what we have done or not done is swallowed up in mystery.  We have worked, laying our wills against the world; now we worship, that God may lay his will against us.  We have entered into the making of the world, but that is not enough; we desire God to enter into the making of our life.

Samuel H. Miller - The Life of the Church

Getting Somewhere

The public transportation in our city went on strike today.  The only way you could get somewhere today was on foot or car.  That seems logical and sensible except when half the city takes the public transportation, it throws a few things off.  It took me 1 and 1/2 hours to come back home today from taking Holden, which is normally just a 30 minute drive.  The strike forced more cars on the streets and highways and clogged up the whole region.  Life can be that way as well.  It seems that when something major we depend on or take for granted is taken away, it throws our life into chaos.  We want the normal routine, but life is never really that way.  We get sick, someone dies, a car breaks down, we lose our keys, or something with a child happens.  Life is constant and it is uncertain.  That is why we need a Redeemer, a Father, and a Shepherd.  There is only one place, one person, and one relationship that brings certainty in a world of uncertainty - JESUS.  I am learning better what Paul learned and wrote for our benefit in Philippians 4.  Read them carefully, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Getting somewhere is really being found in him.  It is the only vehicle in which we can do life and get somewhere.  Life changes, Jesus does not.  So, that's why I am going with him, wherever he goes.

2 Things to Avoid

PROVERBS 30                                                                            7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

He, as well as we, know that nothing good can come from lies and falsehood.  That is the first danger he fears, for it is truth that sets us free. Not only does he see the danger of untruth, but he also knows that having too much riches or too little will also lead to our downfall.  He needs help.  We need help. His motivation to avoid both of them is a fear that he would dishonor the name of God. What a desire.  He is driven so much in this pursuit that he asks God to give him these things before he dies.  He knows the danger of having to much where he could easily turn inward and say, "I have accumulated this all by my hand!"  Or if he was poor, he might steal and therefore that would also lead to the dishonoring of God.  

What is the answer?  It is found being grateful for today's bread, today's gifts, and at the same time acknowledging that it has all come from God.  It is knowing that Christ alone is the treasure of treasures and he is enough for today.

Drizzeldorf

It is for us Official.  We have given our city an official new name - Drizzledorf.  Oh how too much rain can be too much rain. It is always great when the forecasters about today (4 different I have read) say sunny, rainy, partly cloudy, and rain.  Does anyone know what they are doing?