Rain, Rain!

For Friday, September 18, 2026:

Genesis 7:12 CEV: “The water under the earth started gushing out everywhere, the sky opened like windows, and rain poured down for 40 days and nights.”

Let’s call this Noah’s rain. The world had become an evil place, and this was God’s sentence, God’s punishment. Noah’s friends poked fun at him for building an ark. But when the water came, they no longer laughed. Noah’s family and pairs of every animal were safe on the ark. Nothing else survived. This was God’s do-over, a fresh start for mankind. Hopefully we’ll do better this time!

It’s supposed to rain here today. I hope it rains where you are. Our state, our country and our continent are suffering a drought. In fact, a shortage of freshwater rain is a worldwide problem.

It works like this. Rivers carry all the gunk, muck and sewage into the oceans. The bad stuff stays there while water evaporates and forms clouds. Wind blows these clouds over land where it can rain purified water onto us. Simple system – ingenious design!

In Noah’s case, water gushed up from below while rain fell from the sky. There was no escaping it! God promised that we’ll never again see a complete flooding of the planet like that! The rainbow is our perpetual sign of God’s covenant with man, a sign of reconciliation, peace and a new beginning.

While the Bible says to not worry about today, prudent care of our planet would be advisable. Our provider, Jehovah-jireh, will make sure we have everything that we need. Jesus loves us, and so does his Father in heaven! After all, believers have been adopted into God’s Holy Family!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Noah's Flood!

For Sunday, October 9, 2022:

Genesis 7:4 NLT, God speaking: “Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”

The flood of Noah was a unique time on earth. The problem was that evil and corruption had taken over the earth, and God decided it was time for a cleansing. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. I believe God was saddened by taking the life of every living thing he had created, except for those on the ark, and he promised to never do such a thing again. He hung a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of his promise.

While visiting friends in Arizona last year, I commented on the landscape of the desert, and was informed that in the past it was all under water. Noah’s flood! If you’ve ever wondered that the ocean floor looks like, visit a desert! I grew up in western South Dakota and we would visit an area known as the ‘Badlands.’ I was told that it was previously a sea. Noah’s flood! Fossils of sea creatures have been found in most deserts, proving the great flood. The springs on the earth opened and rain poured from heaven. There was no escaping Noah’s flood. The Bible says the earth flooded about 4,500 years ago.

The study of geology makes more sense when you know about Noah’s flood!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406