This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.

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I Will Accomplish What I Intend

We’ve read about God’s higher thoughts, and that those thoughts translate into actions, His ways. But, do God’s ways always work out? Maybe Satan’s schemes or the evil in men will nullify those actions. Maybe God gives it His best shot, but somehow, with all the resistance from mankind and the devil, things just don’t seem to work out the way God intended.

I hope you’re thinking “Yeah, right,” because that’s the right response to the possibility of God being unsuccessful in His actions. God is all powerful, all wise, and He knows everything that was, that is, and that ever will be. There is nothing anywhere, anyplace or anytime that has even the slightest chance of making anything happen that is not the will of God.

“As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, . . . So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void” (Isaiah 55:10–11).

So, what does it mean that the Word of God won’t return void?

The word void means “empty.” The remainder of verse 11 explains what it means to “not return void,” saying that God’s Word “will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Rain and snow are part of the water process cycle. Precipitation comes on the earth, soaks into the land, and produces great benefit in the growth of crops, the refreshment of souls, and the sustaining of life. Rain and snow come from above and do not return back above without accomplishing their purpose. God compares His Word to the rain and snow because, like precipitation, God’s Word always fulfills His good purposes.

When God says that His Word will not return to Him void, we can know that He has an intention for His Word. God’s Word is from above. He “breathed out” His words to us, and they were recorded in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). Every word He gave humanity is purposeful and was given for a reason. Like the rain and snow, God’s words bring forth life (John 6:63) and produce good fruit in our lives. Through His Word, we know that God loves us and that Jesus died to free us from sin and death; we also learn how to live in light of those truths.

When God says that His Word won’t return to Him void, we are encouraged to abide in His Word, allowing it to flow into our lives, with us soaking it up as the ground soaks up the rain and snow. The truth won’t return void since our hearts are changed. God’s Word rebukes us and corrects us when we’re wrong, and it trains us in godly living (2 Timothy 3:16–17). His Word is a light guiding us in this dark world (Psalm 119:105). It is relevant to every pressing and practical problem. God’s Word will always accomplish what He desires, whether it is teaching, correcting, training, leading us to Him, revealing our sin, or some other good and profitable end.

When God says that His Word won’t return to Him void, we understand that God is Sovereign. The promise is that God’s Word will accomplish what He wants it to, not necessarily what we want it to. We may share the Word with the purpose of changing someone’s mind—and the person’s mind doesn’t change. Was God’s Word void? No, but our personal goals may have been different from God’s. Like the wind that “blows wherever it pleases,” the Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways (John 3:8). And God may use His Word in surprising ways, at surprising times, and in surprising people. We can’t predict exactly how God will use His Word any more than meteorologists can predict with certainty the rainfall and snowfall.

God’s Word won’t return void. It’s too powerful. When God said, “Let there be light,” the immediate result was that “there was light” (Genesis 1:3). When Jesus said, “Peace! Be still!” the wind ceased and the sea calmed (Mark 4:39). God’s Word will always prosper; God will succeed, and those who receive His Word will be overcomers as well (1 John 5:4).

*https://www.gotquestions.org/not-return-void.html

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On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

His Fraudulency

The situation is unchanged. His Fraudulency continues to infest the White House, we haven’t heard much from the person who should have been declared the victor, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.

One can hope that all is not as it seems.

I’d love to feast on that crow.

Justice Must Be Done.

The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.

Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns.
5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded.
5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Spot Prices

All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).

Last week:

Gold $1701.10
Silver $25.32
Platinum $1136.00
Palladium $2398.00
Rhodium $27,800.00

This week:

Gold $1728.90
Silver $26.03
Platinum $1207.00
Palladium $2426.00
Rhodium $22,000.00

Everything is up…except rhodium which dropped over $5,800. However, lately these prices have been bouncing round inside a range (gold has sometimes been under $1700), so this is deceptive; things are at the top of the range today, they were lower in the range last Friday.

I don’t know if there is such a thing as a rhodium futures market, but if so, I imagine anyone who trades in it needs tranquilizers.

Rhenium

Rhenium is our next precious metal to be discussed. It lies to the left of the block of six “platinum group metals” so it’s something of an outlier in the group of nine precious metals (silver, gold, the six PGMs…and rhenium).

[A bit left of center in the table below, you’ll see it, #75, symbol Re. The PGMs are the 3×2 block to its right (44-46 and 76-78), silver and gold (47 and 79) are to the right of the PGMs.]

Rhenium was one of the last stable elements–i.e., one of the last you can find out there and own–to be discovered. (Just for instance the eighteen elements we know of past fermium (100), all discovered in the last 60 years or so, probably don’t even exist right now. Perhaps, though, someone is running an experiment and creating some of them right now, but if so, they’ll be gone within minutes of the experiment’s conclusion.)

In 1914, the period table was looking like it was filling up. What was missing was the blue squares in the diagram, plus #72. Also no one knew of anything past 92; such a thing hadn’t even been imagined.

Henry Moseley had validated the concept of atomic number the year before, so we now could assign numbers to elements and know they either were, or were not, adjacent to each other with no undiscovered element between them. We already could tell this, for the most part, with most elements but couldn’t be sure with the rare earths–and the discovery of the noble gases had revealed an entire column of the periodic table we had no notion of beforehand (the rightmost column in the table above). We really couldn’t know there weren’t more undiscovered columns, until Moseley did his work.

So there were six known holes in the table: elements 43, 61, 72, 75, 85, and 87. We expected 85 and 87 to be radioactive, and it probably wasn’t much of a surprise when they turned out to be hard to find because only a few trillion atoms of them existed all over the earth at any given time…and not the same trillion as there were yesterday. They were found around 1940, by a technique totally unimagined in the teens and twenties. But 43, 61, 72, and 75 should have been findable; they didn’t seem to have high enough numbers to be radioactive.

Really aggravating was the fact that 43 and 75 are in the same column of the periodic table, right below manganese. Those two elements should be chemically very similar to each other, and in fact element 73 (two columns to the left) had been discovered by poking through the ores of element 41, its upstairs neighbor. If we could find element 43, we’d probably find element 75, for the same reason, but we couldn’t fricking find element 43 either! With no element 43 ores, we couldn’t search those ores looking for element 75. A basic catch 22 (titanium).

[72 was indeed found in 1925 by looking through samples of element 40 (zirconium). It turned out to be so chemically similar that almost every sample of zirconium had anywhere up to 5 percent hafnium in it…and we had had no idea. Even today, they usually don’t bother removing the hafnium from zirconium, because it’s a cast iron pain in the ass to do so, and assays of zirconium will say something like “99 percent pure as long as you ignore the hafnium” (paraphrasing). But it turns out zirconium was great for sheathing nuclear fuel rods, because it didn’t absorb neutrons, and halfnium was great for control rods, because it absorbed neutrons like a sponge…so we had to learn how to separate the two elements for nuclear applications lest they degrade each other’s performance. It’s still a pain in the ass, but sometimes it’s gotta be done.]

In 1908, Masataka Ogawa claimed to have discovered element 43. We now know he really had discovered element 75, but back then he was simply disregarded. In 1922, however, another trio of researchers, Walter Noddack, Ida Noddack and Otto Berg discovered element 75, and realized it was element 75, and this time it stuck. In 1925 they reported that they had seen the element in platinum ore and a few other minerals. In 1928 they were able to extract a gram of it by processing 660 kilograms of molybdenite. (An ore of molybdenum, element 42, from the next column to the left.) And we still had no idea where in the bloody hell element 43 was!

They named their element 75 discovery rhenium, after the river Rhine.

Rhenium was considered ultra-rare back then (because there really aren’t any good ores of it) and is still pretty rare stuff. It is, however, used not for jewelry. It’s more like those workhorse elements like molybdenum, and vanadium, and niobium…the sorts of things that get put into steel so you can buy tools with funny names ending in “ium” on them at Home Depot. And indeed, it’s used in superalloys, the sorts of alloys that show up in jet engine turbine blades. In pure form rhenium can be heated and cooled, over and over again, and not show any stress from the process–untrue of other metals. It has been called the perfect metal for that reason, and has even found use in rocket motors, despite the fact that it is very, very heavy (which is hell on spacecraft design, as every ounce of additional weight means many pounds of extra fuel, which means bigger boosters).

A cubic centimeter of rhenium (like the cube shown in the photo above) weighs 21.02 grams. The same amount of water weighs one gram, in fact that’s how they originally defined the gram. Osmium, iridium and platinum come in higher than rhenium’s density. Nothing else does. It’s almost twice as heavy, volume for volume, as lead (11.9 grams per cubic centimeter), and is twice as heavy as silver (10.5).

I’ve had a hard time running down its spot price (an indication there probably really isn’t one), but it seems to cost about $1200 per kilogram. Yes, the price is quoted per kilogram, not per troy ounce. Which is roughly 35 dollars a troy ounce. Given how rare it is, that’s a low, low price.

But it has a very high melting point, which means it’s hard to find as bars. Not impossible, but hard. Once company, Luciteria, does make troy ounce square bars of the stuff but they charge well over $200 for them which seems steep to me.

In the fullness of time, it turned out that element 43 was hard to find because there isn’t any of it to speak of. All of its isotopes are radioactive, with half lives of two million years or so, so any that was on Earth when it was created is long gone, and unlike with something like radium, there’s nothing long lived that decays into it to keep renewing it. (The occasional uranium atom fissions and one of the pieces will turn out to be technetium, but that’s very rare in nature, and could never have been detected in 1922.) In fact, element 43 was discovered in 1937 when we inadvertently artificially created it from element 42, molybdenum, and it was named technetium as a result.

Masataka Ogawa got the last laugh, long after he died. His proposed name for his discovery was nipponium, symbol Np. Well Np as a symbol ended up going to neptunium–when we started creating elements artificially, neptunium was readily created from uranium. Decades later, when a Japanese team created element 113, it got the name nihonium, symbol Nh, and the team was very consciously honoring Ogawa, who had discovered rhenium without realizing it, with this choice.

(And as long as Neptune has slid into this sideways into this discussion of unrecognized finds, I’ll point out that Galileo did see Neptune back in the early 1600s. But he had no idea that it wasn’t just another star; we only know he saw it because he drew a diagram of some of the “stars” he saw and one dot on his diagram could only have been Neptune. Someone finally recognized Neptune for what it was in 1846, having been told where to look for it by analyzing unexpected perturbations in Uranus’s orbit.)

Obligatory PSAs and Reminders

China is Lower than Whale Shit

Remember Hong Kong!!!

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!

China is in the White House

Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden is Asshoe

China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.

But of course the much more important thing to realize:

Joe Biden Didn’t Win

乔*拜登没赢 !!!
Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!!
Joe Biden didn’t win !!!

Another Hopium Goal Posthole Goes By.

March 4th, the old inauguration day before it moved to January 20th. For some reason I cannot understand, a lot of people were sure that meant something.

It didn’t.

The goal posts have moved again; all we find now that we’re here is yet another empty post hole.

Few…well honestly, most likely no one who is addicted to this crap will learn the obvious lesson, though.

How many times will it take before y’all wake up and realize you’re being had, over and over and over again?

Some Anti Trumper (by which I mean both “Never Trumper” and “Leftist Asswipe”) is probably laughing his ass off at you: Suckered again!

In fact, I think there’s a good chance someone over there is making this stuff up to get you to waste your energy on it.

Indictments after the 2018 election. The Huber Report. The Memo. Declass. Indictments after we’re done dealing with so-and-so’s funeral. Indictments after the election but before Trump Leaves Office, which of course he won’t REALLY do.

Please: Wake up and smell what you’ve been shoveling.

It has been wrong.

Every.

Single.

Time.

“Gee, Steve, if you don’t want to see it, then scroll on by.”

That’s beside the point. What are you doing to yourselves believing in bullshit?

After you get done being furious with me, please, please, ask yourself that. What can give you the confidence to continue breathlessly repeating this crap as if it’s God’s truth, when it has been wrong, every single time.

And if your answer in any way rests on hope being a virtue, I have to then wonder at the spectacle of someone who believes that even false hope is a virtue.

“How dare you tell me what to post?”

I haven’t told you what to post. I am begging you to think critically. and subject this stuff to a test. It’s been false every single time. Come to the logical conclusion. PLEASE. And no, you’re not critically thinking just because you disagree with the conventional wisdom about a few things.

It’s sad seeing such clearly intelligent people ensnare themselves in demonstrable falsehood again and again and again.

“Gee, Steve, you want us to quit fighting?”

No. NO!! I want you to start fighting. To the extent that you’re waiting on the next bullshit goalpost/deadline, you aren’t fighting, you’re waiting for someone to rescue you.

We’re not going to get rescued like that. We have to pull ourselves through this. Trump is continuing to fight; he’s not waiting for someone to miracle him back into the White House. And it should be pretty obvious by now he’s not providing the miracle himself. He has acknowledged that Biden is now the president, albeit not the rightful president.

It’s up to us, collectively and severally. Get off the hopium, sober up, accept that the current situation is exactly what it is, and figure out what to do about it. Because you aren’t going to do squat if you continue to delude yourself it will magically get fixed. If you think someone else is going to solve the problem, or that the problem is a bit of phony theater, you won’t, yourself, do anything to solve the problem.

And that is just what the Left wants you to do. And that’s why I am starting to suspect these wacky scenarios and deadlines are made up by the Left.

It’s a free Q tree. You can go on doing this. Really you can. But I really hope you’ll come to your senses someday.

That hope is my hopium, but I am realistic enough to realize how unlikely it is. Prove me wrong.

Justice Must Be Done.

The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.

Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns.
5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded.
5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Spot Prices.

All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).

Last week:

Gold $1735.60
Silver $26.80
Platinum $1191.00
Palladium $2379.00
Rhodium $26,000.00

This week:

Gold $1701.10
Silver $25.32
Platinum $1136.00
Palladium $2398.00
Rhodium $27,800.00

I talked a bit about rhodium last week (by the way, even though it’s higher than last Friday, it did drop a bit Friday.). I’m going to talk, this week, about platinum.

Platinum appears in some ancient Egyptian relics, but there’s no sign that the Egyptians themselves realized it was something different. It also shows up in some pre-Columbian artifacts produced in South America. I don’t know what they thought of it, whether they considered it different from gold and silver.

It first began to come to the attention of Westerners in 1557, when Julius Scaliger (who invented the Julian date used by astronomers, which is very different from the so-called “Julian date” used by some businesses which is simply the number of days since the prior new year). He noted it as an impurity in gold “which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy.”

Now the Spaniards weren’t at all happy to find this stuff, at least not at first. Having a density actually a bit higher than gold, it would remain in the pan when panning for gold. It then had to be painstakingly separated from the gold, flake by flake. Because it was basically caca blanca.

In addition to being dense, more so than gold, platinum is even more resistant to acids. Which means that it will pass most of the easy tests for gold. You can scratch a gold-plated platinum item and give it the literal acid test, and it will pass. Fortunately, since it couldn’t be melted by any method known at the time, it was hard to make jewelry out of it to plate it, or, really, any solid mass.

Useless!!! They named it Pinto Silver (from the name of a river), and the later name “platina” is basically just a derivative of “plata”–silver.

But then it turned out that if you dumped platinum into molten gold, it would dissolve, just like salt dissolves in water. Once people realized this, mint workers had a new way to steal gold. By holding back some and swapping it with an equal weight of platinum, they could adulterate the coinage and pocket the gold. Meanwhile, no average person, prepared to test gold coinage to ensure it wasn’t gold plated lead, could detect it.

The Spanish government got wind of this. And they banned the possession of platinum. You had to sell it to the Spanish government, which would take it away and store it somewhere, to ensure it didn’t end up in their coins. (Later on, of course, they’d eventually decide to debase their own money with the platinum.)

In the mid 1700s chemists began to notice this stuff. The first chemist to look at it and decide it was a new element was Antonio de Ulloa, in the mid 1700s.

But a use for platinum did finally turn up, once someone figured out how to work it. By dissolving it in aqua regia (an acid that attacks gold as well as platinum), then precipitating it out of solution, one gets a powder; by compressing and heating it, you could, at least form it into shapes even though this was basically “sponge” platinum. People began to make crucibles out of it, it being handy for crucibles to withstand any amount of heat one could throw at it.

Another use was boilers for sulfuric acid. Take a flat sheet of platinum, bend it around into a cylinder. Solder the seam with gold (and begrudge every tiny bit of gold you have to use for the seam). Also weld on circular ends. You now have a pressure vessel, you can pour dilute sulfuric acid into it, boil off some of the water and concentrate it. Otherwise, you’d have to use a glass vat, and having a brittle glass vat explode with sulfuric acid inside…well, you don’t want to be around; if the glass doesn’t lacerate you, the acid will burn you. And if the glass does lacerate you, the acid will still burn you.

By the early 1800s platinum was, ounce for ounce, about six times as expensive as silver (and gold was about 15 times as expensive). And more deposits had been found in Russia.

Three things to say about the Russian platinum deposits. First, nuggets were found, and some of the locals would use them as birdshot!!! Imagine blowing platinum out of your shotgun!

Second, work was done on this platinum in England. A couple of chemists dissolved platinum with aqua regia, and there was some stuff in there that wouldn’t dissolve. Eventually Tennant and Wollaston concluded there were new metals there: rhodium, palladium, osmium and iridium. Because these metals (and a fourth, ruthenium, discovered in 1844) are always found together in minerals, they became known as the “platinum group metals.”

Finally, someone in Russia came up with the bright idea of minting coins out of platinum, and this was done from 1828 to 1845. The coins were the same sizes as the quarter, half and ruble (silver coins), but weighed twice as much, so their face values were 12 times as much.

When I said a couple of weeks ago there was no such thing as junk platinum because there were no platinum coins (with one exception) ever made for circulation, these were indeed the coins I was thinking of, but the problem is these coins are very valuable, especially the 6 and 12 ruble pieces. They’re worth far more as coins than they are as metal, which means they’re not “junk” in the way that “junk silver” is. So you won’t be finding this for “dirt cheap” or “just above melt.”

These coins were also made out of sponge. Pure platinum is about 21.45 times as dense as water; these coins tend to be about 20.5 times as dense. About five percent of these things is air! They’re also not especially pure; some effort was made to remove impurities (such as other platinum group metals), but much remained, and there’s also some small amount of iron in them.

Finally in the mid 1800s someone invented a furnace that could melt platinum, so we now had solid platinum to work with (and in fact, people make fakes of the Russian platinum coinage out of real platinum, but they never go through the trouble of making sponge out of the platinum. So the fakes tend to look better than the real ones, sponge platinum having a kind of ugly appearance to it.

Later on, platinum’s use as a catalyst gave it real value and most of those coins got scrapped and sold to Johnson Matthey, which is still today a major refiner of the platinum group metals.

Eventually platinum’s price exceeded that of gold, and then, people decided it would make good jewelry in its own right.

And so, when I was a kid, platinum was always more expensive than gold. It was in the 400s when gold was in the 300s, and when gold spiked to $850 an ounce one day late in the Carter administration, platinum was over a thousand bucks. I don’t recall when its price slid to below that of gold, but that situation has persisted for quite some time. It feels “wrong” to me.

Obligatory PSAs and Reminders

China is Lower than Whale Shit

To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!

Remember Hong Kong!!!

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!

China is in the White House

Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden is Asshoe

China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.

But of course the much more important thing to realize:

Joe Biden Didn’t Win

乔*拜登没赢 !!!
Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!!
Joe Biden didn’t win !!!

This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.

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The Storm is upon us.
Please remember to Pray for our President.

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And,

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My Thoughts Are Higher . . .

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) “. . . my word that goes out from my mouth . . . will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

A while ago we read about a very few top-level details concerning possible clandestine contingency operations carried out simultaneously against enemy assets located inside this country, and against enemy actions that take place outside the borders of the US. These operations are completely unfathomable to us without a lot more detail . . . and a few more synapses in our craniums would probably be necessary, too.

We also look around and see the corruption, violence, child trafficking, perversions, and general air of hatred that appears to be growing in our country and it’s bewildering that God allows this to happen.

Now, compare us trying to understand these clandestine operational plans, and understanding why our country is deteriorating with trying to understand the plans and purposes of the Person who spoke the universe into being. The whole difficulty for us is that we’re finite beings, trying to understand God, the Infinite.

So, what does God really mean when He says, ‘my thoughts are higher than your thoughts’?

In Isaiah 55, the Lord invites Israel to return to an abundant life in Him. God reminds them that only He can supply what they need. He then says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . . As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (verses 8–9).

A loving parent does things for a child that the child doesn’t understand. Likewise, the Lord loves, guides, protects, and provides for us in ways we don’t understand. His thoughts are higher than ours. As an infinite Being with infinite wisdom, God knows and understands things we cannot comprehend. We are wise when we bow to that knowledge rather than demand that He do things our way.

We live in a material world, so our natural focus is primarily on our physical needs. But when our thoughts are centered on mundane matters, we miss what God wants to show us. He is beyond time and space. His thoughts are always on the big picture. Our thoughts are earthly; His are heavenly. Our thoughts are limited; His are unlimited and unsearchable.

When God promises that “all things work together for the good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), His definition of good may not match ours. We may not see our struggles as leading to anything good because we can’t see into the future. We cannot know how God’s work in our lives will impact ourselves and countless others. He sees the whole picture; we see only the frame. Lost in our lowly thoughts, we cannot fathom the higher plan of God. That’s why we have to trust Him when we don’t understand.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God expresses some of His higher thoughts toward Israel: “For I know the plans I have for you, . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” In this verse, God promised that the Israelites, exiled in Babylon, would one day return to their homeland. He encouraged them not to give up or think that the Lord had abandoned them. His thoughts toward them were higher than they could imagine, and they had to put their faith in His promises, even while enduring His discipline (2 Kings 21:14; Jeremiah 29:14). God was reminding His children that He can see around corners and into a future that they could not see. As God’s children today, this verse also applies to us, knowing that God’s thoughts toward each of us are on a higher plane than our own.

When God allows sorrow and pain to enter the lives of His beloved children, it’s because His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He intends to use our difficulties to produce the character of Christ in us (Romans 8:29). He comforts us in our troubles so that we can learn to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4).

His goals for us are higher than our goals for ourselves because His thoughts always have an eternal dimension. Our experiences are small pieces in a giant puzzle that stretches across human history from beginning to end. We may not understand our part in the puzzle, but we can trust that God does. As we surrender to His plan, we set aside our earth-bound thoughts and allow His higher thoughts to direct our paths (see Proverbs 3:5–6).

*https://www.gotquestions.org/my-thoughts-are-higher-than-your-thoughts.html

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.

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The Storm is upon us.
Please remember to Pray for our President.

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And,

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All Things Work Together For Good . . .

Many things are happening now in this country and around the world that would tend to make some people doubt if the end result will be “good”. In God’s plan, not everything will end up in a situation that someone might define as good, but God knows why He is doing things this way and we have just got to believe that. Why? Because the end result will be very good, indeed!

Most of us, if not all, won’t be able to see how, for example, the persecution and deaths of vast numbers of Christians in the last 2,000 years could possibly be good. However, God is in control and He has permitted that persecution and those deaths to happen as part of His perfect plan. And God knows that the persecutions and deaths will all work together with other events so the big picture end result is good. We just can’t see it from our earthly perspective.

God’s Word says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

For our good . . . let’s see . . . we, the wicked, sinful, totally undeserving are chosen by God to get resurrected bodies that are spiritual and imperishable, raised in glory and power. And, after that, we get to live for eternity (get that? for eternity), living with Jesus and God, where Jesus has prepared places for us . . . in a place encrusted by gems with gates made from giant pearls, and streets of transparent gold lighted by God’s glory. A river of the water of life, clear as crystal, comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street and on either side of the river is the tree of life. There will be no more tears, pain, crying, sorrow or death, but, I believe, God’s peace, perfect joy, thanksgiving, praise and worship, and many other things that are totally beyond our imagination.

Yes, I would most assuredly say that things will have worked together for our good no matter the result of specific events leading up to the final conclusion.

What about all the things that cause us to say “oh, woe is me”? Is there much of a comparison between those things and what God has planned for us in the future for eternity? Thinking of that, shouldn’t it be a bit easier to follow Paul’s advice and rejoice in Christ? I mean a really deep-down, heartfelt Rejoice!

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Now, taking a closer look at “all things work together for good” . . .

When Christians say all things work together for good, we are referring to a portion of one of the most quoted verses in the New Testament, Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Or, as the KJV translates it, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

God works all things together for good—both His good and our good. As God is glorified, His people benefit.

In Romans 8, Paul contrasts a life lived in selfish pursuits (the flesh) and one lived in league with, or in accordance with, God (the Spirit). He impresses upon readers that our sovereign God is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful.

We who love God can trust His goodness, His power, and His will to work out all things for our good. We journey together with Him.

The promise that God works all things together for good does not mean that all things, taken by themselves, are good. Some things and events are decidedly bad. But God is able to work them together for good. He sees the big picture; He has a master plan.

Neither does the promise that God works all things together for good mean we will get all that we want or desire. Romans 8:28 is about God’s goodness and our confidence that His plan will work out as He sees fit. Since His plan is always good, Christians can take confidence that, no matter our circumstances or environments, God is active and will conclude things according to His good and wise design. With this knowledge we can learn to be content (see Philippians 4:11).

The fact that God works all things together for good means God’s plan will not be thwarted. In fact, we are part of His plan, having been “called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). When we trust God and His way, we can be sure that He is active and powerful on our behalf (see Ephesians 3:20).

God knows the future, and His desires will be accomplished. “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please’” (Isaiah 46:10). Even when things seem chaotic and out of control, God is still in charge. We sometimes worry about what’s happening to us because we do not know what is best for us. But God does.

The principle of God working all things together for good is well illustrated in the Old Testament account of Joseph’s life. Early in Joseph’s life, Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery. In Egypt, Joseph rises to a position of responsibility. Then, he is unjustly imprisoned and forgotten about by his friends. God gifts him the ability to interpret dreams, and through that ability Joseph is once again raised to a place of honor and power. When drought forces Joseph’s brothers to seek food elsewhere, they travel to Egypt and encounter Joseph, who eventually saves them from starvation and grants them a livelihood in his new land.

Throughout his life, Joseph trusted God no matter his good or bad circumstances. Joseph experienced plenty of bad things: kidnapping, slavery, false accusations, wrongful imprisonment, rejection, and famine. But in the end God brought things to a wonderful, life-affirming conclusion. God blessed Joseph’s entire family through those painful circumstances and through Joseph’s faith.

Paul’s life is another testament to how God works all things together for good. Paul suffered shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, murder attempts, temporary blindness, and more—all within God’s plan to spread the gospel (see Acts 9:16 and 2 Corinthians 11:24–27). Through it all, God was steadfastly working to bring about good and glorious results.

After promising that God works all things together for our good, Romans 8 concludes with the wonderful fact that God trumps everything that comes against Him and those who belong to Him. Christians are assured that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39). God’s love is everlasting, and His wisdom is infinite. It doesn’t matter who or what attempts to thwart God’s plan; no one and nothing can. God will work all things together for the good of those who love Him. Our decision to align our will with God’s and to always trust Him will be rewarded.

*https://www.gotquestions.org/all-things-work-together-for-good.html

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Maranatha!