February 19, the kind of cold that kills.

He sends out his command to the earth.

His word runs swiftly.

Psalm 147.15.

Tonight, it will be 40 degrees warmer in our kitchen freezer than it is outside here in Minneapolis.

The high temperature tomorrow will be 5 degrees below 0 Fahrenheit.

We receive this from the Lord's hand.

He sends out his command to the earth.

His word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool.

He scatters frost like ashes.

He hurls down the crystals of ice like crumbs.

Who can stand before his cold?

He sends out his word and melts them. He makes his winds

blow and the waters flow. Psalm 147, 15 through 18. This is the kind of cold you do not play with.

It kills. When I came to Minnesota from South Carolina, I dressed

for it, but I did not prepare life-saving support in my car in case of a breakdown. One Sunday night,

on the way home from church in this kind of cold, my car died.

This was before cell phones.

I had a wife and two small children in the car.

There was no one on the road.

I suddenly realized, this is dangerous.

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