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Mid-Week Lenten Service - The Human Nature of Christ.

March 2, 2016, 4:15 pm
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Jesus' temptation reveals His human nature.
Afterwards, angels ministered to Him.


Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2016

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship


The Hymn # 195        Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bonds
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41
The Psalmody                   Psalm    14                 p. 124
The Lections                      The Passion History
                                           John 4 - The Woman at the Well

The Sermon Hymn # 347     Jesus Priceless Treasure

The Sermon –     Jesus, Son of Man - His Human Nature
 
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn # 558      All Praise To Thee

KJV John 4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

Jesus, Son of Man - His Human Nature

John 4:3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
The introduction to the Woman at the Well gives us a precise location of where this took place. We may overlook this as a detail that does not interest us, but it shows the precision of John in describing the geography in his narrative. This speaks of someone who was there. Any time someone knows the area so well and describes it as one who knows, we can expect an eye-witness. This may strike some as painfully obvious, but the Fourth Gospel is the one attacked most often for being written hundreds of years after the death and resurrection of Christ, influenced by all kinds of exotic sources. Why do the rationalists know this? They are convinced that no one thought Jesus to be the Son of God during His ministry so this must be later influence, much later.
To find Norma Boeckler's home in the dark, in Midland, we got her on the phone as she guided us to the right place. Everyone had an opinion but lacked the real knowledge that comes from living on that street. 
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

The Two Natures in Christ are a mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word. Often both natures are apparent in the same story, but not always. Some false teachers have denied His human nature, others His divine nature. The Two Natures never separated once the Word became Incarnate (the conception and the Virgin Birth)

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

To understand this story accurately, we have to see Jesus as the woman at the well did. She saw only the human nature of Christ, a man weary from His journey and thirsty. No one knows thirst better than desert people. The sun is not pleasant but burning, and effort dries up the body and threatens death easily. In the desert, people seek shade and water whenever possible. When I am with people in the desert or hot muggy days, I urge them to drink water all the time, so heat prostration does not make them delirious and send them into a dangerous cycle of not sweating and building up heat.

So this woman saw a man at the well as she approached to get water. 

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

She is only thinking of material things, heat, burdens, water, thirst, and here is a stranger asking for water. In Phoenix it was illegal to turn down anyone who asked for water. If a stranger came to the door, water had to be provided, even if it was only from the garden hose. For Mexicans, accepting a glass of water is part of being a gracious guest. Refusing water is considered rude.
The human nature of Christ is important for many reasons. He experienced our joys and sorrows. He is sympathetic about our temptations, because He was also tempted, serving as an example to us. Most importantly, His Atonement means He suffered terribly in every way to pay for our sins. 
Perhaps the most horrible punishment was the abandonment of the disciples (except John), the fickle crowd jeering the One who was hailed as Messiah, and the seeming rejection of God the Father. 
22 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
So when we pray to Christ or ask in His Name, we know He has experienced our difficulties - and far more than we can imagine. But we can see in the Word and experience in our souls that He is our comfort and Savior.

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
The woman was offended or shocked that a Jew would ask a hated Samaritan for a drink of water. Note the explanation. Jews and Samaritans avoided each other because of mutual suspicions.
Jesus responded as the Son of God, revealing His divine nature. He is no longer a weary traveler but the Savior showing Himself to her. He is speaking of spiritual things, but she only considers the material world at first. This kind of dialogue is common in John's Gospel, ironic in contrasting His power and the response of fallible humans, including the alleged First Pope, Peter.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
An unbeliever is blind to what Jesus says, so when unbelievers explain how ridiculous or offensive the Scriptures are, they only reveal their blindness and hardness, each sarcastic or caustic comment making matters worse for them.
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
This is just as miraculous as Moses drawing water from a solid rock. When we study this dialogue, it is obvious that Jesus converted the woman with His Word, not by proving the truth to her but by revealing the truth. He declared it - He did not defend it.
Jesus chose to convert through the spoken Word, and this is how He converted everyone. What worked for Him is also effective among us. The Word is like seed that is full of life and ready to grow. It only has to be cast about to grow and bear fruit.
Gardeners do not relate to the soil to make plants grow. They plant and sow, knowing God's creation has that abundant life. Gardeners do not try to work their friendly and winsome personalities on the soil. They realize the hard work is but a fraction of what God does with His creation. They trust the life within the seed, just we should trust the eternal life within the Word of the Gospel.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
The woman is not getting the message, so when she says, I have no husband, Jesus reveals His knowledge of woman who had never seen Him before. God knows our hearts, no matter what we say. 
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
The power of the Word was so great in Jesus that people experienced His divinity. At first she wanted to get involved in denominational comparisons. But Jesus had another answer for her.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The woman is ready to listen carefully, so she responded.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
This is a great moment and shows us how closely John relates his material to us, the Holy Spirit guiding him and his closeness to Jesus adding a personal touch to this Gospel.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
The woman left her waterpot. Jesus identified her problems with men, but He did not reject her as an open sinner. That is why people were drawn to Him. They were not credited with righteousness through the Law, so they longed for the righteousness of faith.


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Happy 83rd Birthday, Pastor Herman OttenP

March 3, 2016, 5:43 am
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Pastor Herman Otten turned 83 today.
Every so often I would calculate Pastor Otten's age - oh my. Now he's 83. We met about 30 years ago.

I was accused of leaking to Christian News during my first call in the 1970s. I ran a series of articles on bi-lingual parishes, in the Cleveland Lutheran tabloid. One photo ended up in CN and the pastor yelled, "Did you send that to Otten?" And the pastor was LCA! I only had a vague knowledge of the LCMS-Otten-Seminex battles, but I learned soon enough.

Jack Preus met with Otten often to get elected LCMS synod president, then disavowed him.

Ralph Bohlmann repeated this cycle to become LCMS president.

Al Barry worked through Paul McCain to do the same. I was in Paul McCain's office at the Purple Palace when Otten phoned him. McCain said, "If people found out I was in contact with Otten, I would be fired." McCain bragged about how he gave Barry's materials to Otten before anyone else, so Barry could get instant, fast, positive PR while running for SP. The McCain-Barry administration was quite nasty to the conservatives who installed them in the palace of power. Like RINOs, the LINOs kiss up to the opposition to keep their spoils. Bucky Hellwig (SpenerQuest) said to me, "At least the Bohlmann people were polite."

I went to a meeting or two of the conservatives with Barry. He was clearly antagonistic toward those who elected him in a close election. I saw how his administration used conservatives and tossed them to the curb. In fact, Paul McCain gloated about how they pulled the rug out from under Robert Preus, a few months before giving Robert Preus' widow an award for Preus' work.

At some point I spoke with Herman's son Tim about how the LCMS SPs-in-Waiting kept courting his father and then dumping him.

Let's pause for a Kieschnick interlude. I know he came to New Haven, Missouri to meet Otten. My intuition says his people arranged a division among the conservatives.



Then Matt the Fat came along and spent six hours in New Haven, courting Otten. His secretive campaign manager was Paul McCain, along with help from those who felt set aside or played the martyr role with great drama. The Issues guy turned his one-act play into a huge money-maker.

McCain's role was not clear until Harrison won and Paul was invited back to the Purple Palace for photos, where he reminded some of Adolph strutting around a captured Paris, smirking. Devoid of any academic standing or pastor experience, he settled into his Concordia Publishing House sinecure at royal salary and pumped out pretend blog posts from The Catholic Encyclopedia.

I smelled a rat - or rather a papist - when I read McCain's "scholarly" blog posts. That told me how little LCMS pastors study anything or write anything of merit. Each post obviously took a long time to research and write. And they matched up verbatim, with a few word changes (typical plagiarist) to The Catholic Encyclopedia and a few obscure blogs.

Nobody - but nobody - detected this pattern until I exposed it time after time. Suddenly - poof - the McCain blog rolled up faster than a runaway window shade. No apology from McCain. No apology from his CPH boss. No apology from Matt the Fat.

Perfect hair, perfect purple clothes, perfect pose
for the papists at the Purple Palace.

Some Words of Appreciation

Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure


Pastor Otten agreed to selling Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure through Christian News, and struck an agreement with Northwestern Publishing House. The book sold like wildfire. As I recall, McCain reviewed the book quite favorably.

Tim Otten helped especially with


NPH agreed to publish Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, and then backed out. The Church Growth fanatics who ran WELS did not want to see another book in print, but WELS ended up selling a lot of books (by the case) by ordering them through CN. Kurt Marquart gave a very positive review of CLP, and so did a Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, professor.

Just like the Church Growth clowns, the UOJ Stormtroopers must have their way by silencing anyone who disagrees with their Halle Pietism.

Nevertheless, Christian News has been a vast data source for anyone who cares to read a lot. Started the same year as Walmart, CN has retained the same editor the entire time, quite remarkable by itself.

Training UOJ seminarians at Mequon,
Mankato, St. Louis, ILT, and Ft. Wayne.
The justification by faith rebellion must be stopped,
lest it impede the 500th anniversary of the Reformation
in 2017.
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Alcoholism and UOJ

March 3, 2016, 7:45 am
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Good morning Pastor Jackson,

I believe that like a hunting dog you have found the scent and have followed the trail. There is a predisposition toward alcoholism in my immediate family. When I did some research about the long term effects of alcoholism, I discovered some familiar traits and bits of evidence. I will bet that the clinical treatment of alcoholism was the basis for many of the addiction models that are used today. 

Among these patterns are cover-ups, denials, and that behavior that snaps when the right buttons are pushed. UOJ is the enabler for this aberrant behavior. This is just a theory, as the puzzle pieces seem to fit.

WELS Layman

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GJ - Alcoholism battles against study and writing. Alcohol and drug addiction may hide behind hard work, but both are going to eliminate any careful study of Scriptures and erode any sense of right and wrong.

Eventually, addicts bottom out and engage in so much self-destruction that the obvious can no longer be hidden or disguised.

I am not against social drinking, but a lot of clergy get away with alcohol abuse because they can have so many jovial activities where others look the other way. Many can handle it well at first, but the physical addiction sets in and compounds the emotional addiction that develops at the same time.



Alcoholics protect one another, so being a drunk in WELS
is like being an earthworm in my garden - too many to count.
A good lawyer can get evidence thrown out,
but appearance bond money should be collected - so it is
not left in the public record - eh, Ski?
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Lutheran Seminary Student Count

March 3, 2016, 8:23 am
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CLC (sic) - I think one student graduated from their alleged seminary last year.

ELS - The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie - Grand total of six students in all three classes.

Mequon - Not too impressive. They put the grad and vicar assignments together on the same list for a total of 32 men in two classes - 16 per class. I was there with 60 per class.

LCMS - The incoming classes at St. Louis and Ft. Wayne are 40 and 30, for a total of 70. So St. Louis has fewer students entering now than were graduation from Mequon in 1987. And everyone has watered down the language requirements (but not the cost) let the boys be offended by studying.

ELCA - Everyone ELCA seminary is in trouble or already merging. Luther (a sea of red ink); Gettysburg and Philly are merging into one; Berkeley (merging with a college campus); Southern (merging with a college); Chicago (crime-ridden and short of funds);  Trinity in Columbus ((lots of new endowment and working with the Episcopalian Seminary nearby). Trinity was gayer than lavender hose in the 1990s, so one can only guess now.

Shooting the Messenger
It is about that time of the year that the new Concordia Seminary Journal from St. Louis has hit the shelves. Not the shelves of major supermarkets across our great nation, but the shelves of Lutheran Church Missouri Pastors libraries. However, this edition of Concordia Seminary Journal won’t make it to the shelf of this writer, but the shelf that holds the firewood in my fireplace. 

Why has this edition of Concordia Journal made it into my fireplace soon to be burned along with my capital campaign fund letter from the seminary in St. Louis? Because the article written by none other than Mr. Fund-Raiser himself Dale Meyer has caused great offense. When speaking of the great exodus of people leaving LCMS Churches, Dale Meyer states, People leave for many reasons, that is true, but one reason has been identified that is especially grievous, our conduct as pastors. Ask district presidents if congregations are troubled because of wrong teaching or from character flaws or personality quirks in the pastor, and they’ll tell you that very often the conduct of the pastor causes or exacerbates the church’s problems. 

So I ask this first, where are the results from this study that you quote from district presidents? I think we have a right to know which district presidents have made such allegations. Are these the same district presidents that promote the firing of pastors which your seminary trained? Are these the same district presidents who promote women readers, women elders and women helping distribute communion which your seminary trained? Are these the same district presidents that find no offense dressing up the choir to look like pastors wearing albs which your seminary trained? Are these the same district presidents that removed the altar and instead installed a stage and a drum set which your seminary trained?
Perhaps the pastors that face the most trouble in their congregations are the confessional pastors that try to right the ship when they inherit a pento-baptist-eposop-non-denominational acting Lutheran church because the previous pastor insisting on using teachings from Rick Warren and other non-Lutheran teachings which was promoted by your seminary in St. Louis. 

Secondly, the majority of the conflict that confronts pastors has been brought about from teachings from the seminary in St. Louis. This is a fact. Lay people have attended the speaker series in the fall at the seminary and listened to non-Lutherans promote their garbage which they take back to their churches. They confront their pastor and say, Well the seminary is promoting this so let’s do it here! or The seminary is promoting the new Rick Warren or Bill Hybels book, let’s have a bible study on the book Sunday mornings! Who needs the Bible! 

The confessional pastor stares with a blank face and says to himself, great, this is going to cause some conflict. Thanks Concordia Seminary. 

Thirdly, I wonder what it would be like to have a job where it is so secure that I could get away with making harsh statements against people that I see almost every day. I am talking about the statement that pastors are to blame for the conflict that is going on at the congregations. These pastors were students and many of them you have met at the seminary Dale Meyer. What an insult to know that after all that training I received at the seminary I am to blame for the conflict at the church. Just makes me want to promote the seminary on Sunday mornings during announcement time.
People leave for many reasons, that is true, but one reason has been identified that is especially grievous, our conduct as pastors. Ask district presidents if congregations are troubled because of wrong teaching or from character flaws or personality quirks in the pastor, and they’ll tell you that very often the conduct of the pastor causes or exacerbates the church’s problems, says Dale Meyer. What an idiotic statement that tears down the Office of the Holy Ministry. 

Fourthly, Dale Meyer, you need to put down the crystal filled glasses with bubbly and stop patting yourself on the back in helping to raise over 100 million dollars so that you and certain ones chosen can have lavish lifestyles. You need to take a hard look at yourself and ask, Why do you have so few students in the classroom today? Why aren’t more students enrolling in the seminary? It is because of comments that you have written and your views regarding the office of the ministry. You blame the graduates for church conflict. Shame on you. Take a glance in classrooms during the school year. Empty seats. Yes, too many empty seats. Perhaps the Board of Regents should finally recognize that it is you that is causing conflict.
JV Verne
(Christian News, March 7, 2016)

Brug, Bivens, Wendland.
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Another Failing ELCA Seminary - Really Two Failing Schools Three Women Who Have Grown in Office

March 3, 2016, 1:50 pm
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Louise Johnson is head of the failing Wartburg Seminary.
Her qualifications are minimal, which suggests
a role as the Judas goat leading everyone to the slaughter house.

Notice the patented lop-sided Mark Jeske smile,
suggesting ambivalence.
I forgot to mention Wartburg Seminary, the second one started by Loehe. Walther asked for Ft. Wayne to be turned over to him  (for free) by Loehe - and to keep sending money.

Wartburg was so broke a few years ago that tenured professors were fired. Normally that is done through merger!

My friend from Yale, Stanley Olson, was the previous president of Wartburg, supposedly a more conservative flavor of ELCA. Stan's wife bragged in the Yale Divinity magazine that their daughter married a woman. Of course, Ralph Bohlmann had the same bragging rights, but those facts had to be discovered on their own. Ralph's daughter became a UCC minister and married a woman.

Olson, when he worked for Mark Hanson, worked on the way to bring back in those lesbian and homosexual pastors suspended from ELCA. After the 2009 vote, ELCA cratered so fast that Stan's position was eliminated altogether.

So Wartburg is the most conservative seminary in ELCA? That is like asking,"Which beating was your favorite one?"



Like Louise, above, there is no mention of a husband, or a spouse
for Robin Steinke, now presiding at Luther Seminary.
I reviewed her installation service, which was incredibly
empty, a definitive response to starting a new trend at Luther.

All the feminist clergy grow in office.
And I mean really grow.
The first ELCiC female bishop
really grew in office.
She graduated from Jay Webber's favorite UOJ seminary -
not ILT - Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.

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More Details about Shrinking, Merging, Seminaries. Looks Like Freedom, But It Feels Like Death - It's Closing Time

March 3, 2016, 6:04 pm
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Finally an honest statue at a seminary.
This is Henry M. Muhlenberg, Halle Pietist.
Why have Luther when no one reads, understands,
or agrees with the Reformer.
Jay Webber came from this tradition.

LTSP/LTSG - becoming New School

Philadelphia and Gettysburg Seminaries Offer Tuition-Free Education


The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG) today announced a dramatic increase in the amount of financial aid each school is giving students, including making full-tuition scholarships available to all new full-time, ELCA rostered leader candidates studying in residence. “In partnership with the ELCA, our supporting Synods, and many faithful congregations and individuals, we decided the time is right to make seminary education far more affordable for our students,” declared Presidents Michael Cooper-White (LTSG) and David Lose (LTSP). In addition to this generous offer for new students, the schools also expect to increase scholarships for all current full-time enrollees.

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Claire Burkat is "the parent of a son"
and also worked for the dying Episcopal Diocese at the same time
she earned money from the ELCA synod.
Now she is a bishop of Mark Jeske global ecumenical
dimensions.
Oh, Claire! (not CLC sic)

Bishop Claire Burkat, of the Southeastern Pennsylvania synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) said in some ways the seminary’s mission, which is “to educate and form public leaders who are committed to developing and nurturing individual believers and communities of faith for engagement in the world” has not changed in 150 years.
“We are still teaching, equipping and preparing Church leaders to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in worship, word and action,” Burkat said. “That being said, the 21st century landscape has dramatically changed the time-honored way seminaries of every denomination have prepared professional leaders for work and service in the church and the world.”
Confessional - they all are.
Ecumenical to the max - ask Mark Jeske and his Thrivent paymasters.
While LTSP continues to maintain its Lutheran, confessional and Philadelphia traditions, it no longer just focuses on educating Lutherans. Burkat said students from 28 different denominations from around the world enroll at the seminary so they can work in churches, agencies and other ministry institutions to “accomplish God’s purpose to heal a broken world.




“Two ELCA Lutheran seminaries to close, reopen as one,” a report in the February 17, 2016 Christian Century, says:
.

“The decision came this week from the governing boards of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. The plan will cut the number of seminaries affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from eight to seven.

“David Lose, president of the Philadelphia seminary, said the move would create opportunities for redesigning everything from faculty and curriculum to calendars and relationships with donors.

“The board votes came quickly after a recommendation from a joint task force, which held its first and only meeting last month. Gettysburg was projecting yearly deficits above $200,000 and could not keep eliminating faculty positions by attrition, according to board chair James Lakso.

“‘We have too many people and too much physical capacity to be viable and sustainable in the long term,’ Lakso said.

“By combining into one institution distributed across two locations in Gettysburg and Philadelphia, the schools could solve the thorny problem of what to do with tenured faculty, whose salaries and benefits weigh heavily on each school’s budget.The logic: if a school ceases to exist, then it’s no longer obligated to retain faculty members, even if they had tenure. A new school has the flexibility to start over.”

“Since 2012, other Lutheran seminaries have found shelter inside universities. Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary merged with Lenoir-Rhyne University in Columbia, South Carolina; and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary became part of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.”

***

GJ - Fun fact. I was interviewed for the job of vicarage supervisor at the Philadelphia Seminary. It was an HEW interview. The candidate was already picked, but they interviewed nine others to make it look like a big search.

It was a fun trip. The area was very tony at the time. I ended up in a little restaurant and found out immediately it was one of those very expensive, exclusive places.

I learned from Neuhaus'Lutheran Forum Newsletter than five of the faculty were divorcing at the same time, including the academic dean. I later saw the academic dean at a Michigan Synod LCA meeting. I did not meet her at that so-called interview. She craned her neck as she caught my nametag. 
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Expanding the Maple Tree Rose Garden

March 3, 2016, 7:25 pm
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Note the blooms fading and losing petals in the foreground.
Pruning those blooms will create more root and plant growth -
and new roses.

We have three rose gardens.

The main one is being expanded with a memorial row, a plaque for each person.

The rose garden along the Wright fence may get some beneficial plant inserts.

The maple tree garden now has a second circle of roses. Mrs. Ichabod suggested the first row when I ordered 10 more bare root roses at $5 each. I thought, "Oh boy, digging among maple roots." It was very tough, with a long time spent for each hole. But we had 10  roses blooming around a tree that was an eyesore with weeds and maple suckers before.

To make a second circle, we connected two screw hooks to twine that was measured out to a given distance from the tree. So we had a second circle planted. Digging them up was not difficult because the heavily mulched and earthwormed soil was soft and damp with spring rain. We had four roses in the sunny garden and four in the backyard to move. We took two days to get that done and water the results.

I told our helper, "We are not watering early. I did that in the main garden and ended up working and sitting in wet mud."

In spite of what people think, clay is easy to dig at the right time. It is also the richest possible soil. To build some immediate compost we turned sod clumps upside-down and secured them around the new-old plants. Heavy watering washes soil into place and feeds the roots that need to form, stabilize the plant, and feed the future roses.

Two more roses are going to the helper's home, and the whole family is participating in the move. They picked a place to put the roses and will help in digging and replanting. They also want to have fresh sweet corn at their home this year.

This is a great time to move roses, early in the growing cycle. We have couple more roses ordered and will probably add two rose-hip roses to the outer circle, for a total of 20 around the maple tree.

Falling in Love was our friend's
favorite rose as she planned her marriage.



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Scriptural Study Is Essential. If the Pastors and Laity Are Not Rooted in the Word, They Are Sterile

March 3, 2016, 8:18 pm
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Fuerbringer studied the Scriptures and Luther
all the time. He refused speaking engagements to stay home and study.

Does anyone selling UOJ, Church Growth, or the kind of pablum dispensed on Steadfast (sic),
SpenerQuest, ALPB, or synodical publications ever study the Word, doctrinal works, or church history.

If pastors and laity are not rooted in the Word, they are sterile. They may use the words and recite their favorite slogans, but they have nothing significant to say.

Laity have no weapons against false doctrine if they do not know the Word of God thoroughly. In the old days, the laity were so well trained that they could argue a position from the Word of God. That is what filled the pews during the Seminex crisis, the bad guys led in part by a former WELS professor, Richard Jungkuntz, UOJ Stormtrooper. When the LCMS laity heard what Seminex stood for, they said, "So long and thanks for all the booshwah."

But no one pressed on. They congratulated themselves for winning, like the guy who stopped running the long-distance race so he could celebrate a victory he never achieved.

Who bragged more - the LCMS? WELS? ELS? CLC (sic)? That is difficult to determine, because they all crowed about it while the Seminex crew slithered away and created ELCA. Why have only one gay seminary (Seminex) when the combined seminaries of the LCA and ALC could all be gayer than Shakespeare's sonnets?

Seminex could not make it, so the faculty went off to Chicago to dominate the LCA seminary there. Decades later, the ELCA seminaries with all their property and endowment are falling, one after another, like leaves from a diseased rose bush. The message from the beginning was - "We are creating a New Lutheran Church, not merging." And they were right. Seminex was the template and the radicals booted out the old liberals.

I am going to be reviewing the new version BibleWorks, a tool I have been using for many years in my writing projects. More will follow after I install the program.


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How To Do Research Using Thy Strong Word: The Efficacy of the Word in the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Verbatim Quotations with Citations

March 3, 2016, 8:58 pm
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Someone donated money for Thy Strong Word to be sent around to various people who might want their own printed copy.

I permanently dropped the price down to  the author's price on Lulu, so anyone can obtain the printed book at a low cost. They finished one sale (30% off for three or more books) and now there is a better sale -

"With this deal, everybody saves. Need one book?  The shipping is free. Need a few books? The shipping is free. Need a ton of books, the shipping is free.  Everybody saves with free shipping."

Enter code MARSHIP at checkout and get free mail shipping. Offer expires Sunday, March 6th at 23:59 PM. Don't forget, coupon codes are CASE-SENSITIVE."

The free PDF of Thy Strong Word is also posted on Lulu - here, so I am not profiteering.

The same free PDF of Thy Strong Word is always posted one or more places on this blog.

The PDF is very handy for research, and I use it all the time. I have at least 1,000 quotations arranged by topic. I decided to set them up so people could xerox a page or a few pages at a time, without the footnotes at the end of a chapter burying the citation.

I gave them J numbers so people could say, "Have you seen J-551?" or similar things. When Megatron was on my computer, those quotations made compiling new articles quite convenient. WELS was always having hissy-fits that I quoted and provided full citations.

How To Use the Free PDF
Long ago I learned to use control-f  to find material on web pages and mistakes in a book I was working on.

Recently I wanted my ecumenical list of making disciples quotations. I used control-f and put making disciples in the window. That gave me each quotation. All I had to do was highlight each one, control-c to copy what was highlighted, and control-v to paste it into the booklet Making Disciples: The Error of Modern Pietism. That gave me a long list of quotations with the citation for each, including many denominations, the Pentecostals, and various Lutheran nitwits.

Several readers wrote me just to talk about how WELS tumbled for all that Fuller nonsense about making disciples.

I can find notorious authors like Paul Kelm the same way. That often reminds me of who wrote the nonsense from years ago.

The control-f tool is great for this and should be used when verifying information.

That was true at the original Emmaus
but not at the latest Emmaus conference.


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Most Read Posts - Last Seven Days. Witte's Son-in-Law Call the Favorite New Post. Links Conveniently Embedded in Titles for Mequon Graduates

March 4, 2016, 2:47 am
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Women's ordination in WELS and LCMS?
Both recognized ELCA's ordained and rostered women
long ago, so get over it.

John Lawrenz gave a "sermon" long ago -
how everything had to change.
Like Stan Olson of the shrinking ELCA,
he got the change he was seeking.

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One Sample of the Power of BibleWorks

March 4, 2016, 4:35 am
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BibleWorks News



This is a sample of what BibleWorks can do. However, I am relying on another site until the program arrives.

When someone searches for a Biblical text on the Net, Bible Gateway usually comes up. The website is hosted by the New NIV - not exactly an honest outfit. For a long time they showed the old NIV as NIV84, so someone could look up passages in the old and the New NIV. But guess what, sports fans - the old NIV no longer exists, and publishers cannot use it.



When someone looks up a passage in the NIV, it is only the New NIV, a paraphrase so faulty that the Southern Babtists voted not to allow it in their bookstores. Southern Babtists do shunning a lot better than WELS and Missouri. WELS has made the New NIV official without quite saying it. Missouri considers translations a matter of indifference, an adiaphoron. But you better use the right brand of incense, the best shampoo and conditioner, the finest robes.

Tis funny how the NIV always fails to get the important passages right. The other paraphrases toddle along behind the NIV, which is doubtless the modern best seller, helped immensely by the LCMS and WELS.

By Faith of Jesus Christ - Three Instances Erased from the Nida Modern Bibles

People may argue with this thesis, but I am quite certain that the KJV and KJV21 readings of Romans 3:22 and Galatians 2:16 are much more precise than the modern Nida versions (dynamic equivalency, idiomatic, surfer dudish).

Paul did not leave his argumentation up in the air, without support, as the UOJ Stormtroopers do. Justification begins with the faith of Jesus Christ. This eliminates the Decision Theology that plagues the Babtists and the UOJists - either making a decision for Christ, or making a decision for world absolution without the Word or faith.

Jesus became the righteousness of God by His faith in His Father's will. Through that faith we have faith in Him, and receive His righteousness - not because of a decision, an intellectual conclusion, or an ounce of our merit. Romans 1:16-17 KJV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The righteousness of God is revealed from the faith of Jesus, creating and nurturing our faith in Him.
Two passages show how the KJV and KJV21 teach this, while the Nida creative writing exercises obscure this central teaching.


Romans 3:22

Greek - literally  - by (through, dia) faith of Jesus Christ

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: KJV

22 even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference, KJV21

--

22 even the righteousness of God, throughfaith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[a] who believe. For there is no difference; New KJV

22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, New NIV 
  1. Romans 3:22 Or through the faithfulness of

22 —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ,[a] to all who believe, since there is no distinction. Holman (WELS fallback position, but they are hotter than Georgia asphalt for the New NIV)
  1. Romans 3:22 Or through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ESV (favorite LCMS version, the RSV of the National Council of Communist Churches, edited by a Calvinist, J. I, Packer. Missouri loves them some Calvinists, like Woods translating Knapp. Scofield Bible and CPH both use the ESV, so it must be good - right? right?)



Galatians 2:16

Greek - literally  - by (through, dia) faith of Jesus Christ

16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. KJV

16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. KJV21

-- 

16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. New KJV

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. NIV and the rest
  1. Galatians 2:16 Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of
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The Wizard of Ooze Pretends To Know Business - The Church Is a Business! Men of His Word - Another Franchise iRun by the Jeske Crime Family

March 4, 2016, 5:25 pm
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Do you dare arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Ooze?




The entire speech is built upon the congregation as a business. And if you do not realize this, Jeske almost says, "I pity the fool."

He begins by asking the supposed businessmen for a definition of value proposition. It is something offered to attract the customer. He often says "value prop" after that - super cool.

Next is a lengthy, dreary, history of German movement into Wisconsin and WELS growth based on that influx. Running out of immigrants was a common theme in the LCA 35 years ago. "We can't depend on boats and babies any more."

Jeske also made that point with his family of four children being quite rare today, Congregation wives asked Mrs. Jeske,  "Did you let him knock you up again?"

This speech was so edifying.

Additional players are: David Valleskey, Forrest Bivens,
Ron Roth, Robert Hartman, Wally Oelhafen, Joel Gerlach,
Kudu Don Patterson, Fred Adrian, John Parlow,
Steve Witte.


Mark loves golfing at the country club, which fits Luther's portrait of the ministers who always want the wealth they cannot have. These covetous ministers hang around with wealthy people to have a taste of luxury.

If someone comes to his house (in the tony part of town) after 3 PM, he grabs a bottle of whiskey and cigars and has a sweet time with his friends. As I wrote before, confirmed by others, WELS is a synod full of alcoholics. If Jeske is not one, his habits and those of his Changer pals will lead there in time.

When Ski was on Jeske's staff and on the Church and Change board, he kept a keg of beer in his fridge all the time. If that was not a cry for help, when all the clergy knew it - I give up. Buchholz knew and laughed about it. So Ski and Glende started a bar ministry in Appleton, both of them veterans of Jeske's schmooze and booze circus, and got into all kinds of trouble.

When does one grow out of frat boy behavior and obscene pranks and grow up? Alcohol seems to extend adolescence while destroying one's health and mental acuity.

Diversity Training - ELCA started it.

Jeske's Heroic Efforts To Live Off Tax Money
"At St. Marcus if we don't change, we are going to die." That is what he said when he was assigned to St. Marcus, in the inner city, where he does not live.

He had so many shut-ins,  there was "no time for strategic planning or fund-raising."

The solution was to participate in the vouchers program, to use tax money to fund his school. If it failed, they would still have a quarter-million dollars, he said.

Nothing in his speech suggested anything to do with the Christian Faith, trusting in God, studying the Scriptures. Men of His Word -  doubtless means Mark's word.

Jeske's subliminal anger and condescending style reminds me Ed Stetzer, the Babtist hot-air merchant. Every revelation of Stetzer is spat out with contempt. This is what we have to do to make it work! WELS invited Stetzer to speak to them, so perhaps the Jeske lobby dragged their metal drinking cups across the prison bars to get this done. Stetzer made fun of Lutherans in announcing his speaking date, a fact I was pleased to copy and paste (kelm) into the blog. Eventually Stetzer was canceled in Missouri and WELS.

When the Jeske-Witte-Patterson Changers are not grabbing tax money, they are siphoning off all the synod and foundation money they can. Success for Jeske is not being self-supporting but being supported by everyone else.



At one time the major church leaders were famous for their eleemosynary work, their generosity toward others and gifts to world missions. Passavant was a Book of Concord traditionalist who did this for entire church bodies, for building seminaries, for financing a year of seminary study from three months of summer work from a student.

The Church and Changers have been looking down their noses at everyone for a long time. Join them or be subject to their ridicule, slander, and contempt. But what have they accomplished in WELS and Missouri?

  • Closing schools and colleges
  • Driving members away
  • Sparking lawsuits from their lawless behavior
  • Soaking up so much money that the ELS, WELS, and ELCA are driven into each other's arms. 


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Crossword Puzzle Plagiarism - Stealing Is a Problem But in WELS and the Missouri Synod

March 4, 2016, 7:08 pm
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A Plagiarism Scandal Is Unfolding In The Crossword World

By OLIVER ROEDER

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-plagiarism-scandal-is-unfolding-in-the-crossword-world/

Agroup of eagle-eyed puzzlers, using digital tools, has uncovered a pattern of copying in the professional crossword-puzzle world that has led to accusations of plagiarism and false identity.
Since 1999, Timothy Parker, editor of one of the nation’s most widely syndicated crosswords, has edited more than 60 individual puzzles that copy elements from New York Times puzzles, often with pseudonyms for bylines, a new database has helped reveal. The puzzles in question repeated themes, answers, grids and clues from Times puzzles published years earlier. Hundreds more of the puzzles edited by Parker are nearly verbatim copies of previous puzzles that Parker also edited. Most of those have been republished under fake author names.
Nearly all this replication was found in two crosswords series edited by Parker: the USA Today Crossword and the syndicated Universal Crossword. (The copyright to both puzzles is held by Universal Uclick, which grew out of the former Universal Press Syndicate and calls itself “the leading distributor of daily puzzle and word games.”) USA Today is one of the country’s highest-circulation newspapers, and the Universal Crossword is syndicated to hundreds of newspapers and websites.
On Friday, a publicity coordinator for Universal Uclick, Julie Halper, said the company declined to comment on the allegations. FiveThirtyEight reached out to USA Today for comment several times but received no response.

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WELS Remains a One-Commandment Sect

March 4, 2016, 7:15 pm
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Roses Indoors and Out - They Love To Be Watered and Pruned.Outdoors - Mulch Them Too

March 5, 2016, 4:23 am
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John Paul II -
he got an honorary degree at Notre Dame,
so we are alumni.


I picked up some groceries at Walmart and saw cut roses for $5. Daisies for $5 or roses? - Not a tough decision. I looked over the various roses and pulled out some that looked fairly good. Retail roses do not last long in the vase, so I wanted the ones that looked fresh. I had a plan.

Roses are considered a thorn bush, but I think of them as sponges. Cutting roses after a long rainstorm is difficult, if the shears are not sharp and scissor-like, (The anvil cutting shears tend to crush rather than cut. They are better for small branches and tough plastic packages.)

I brought the roses home, got out the shears, and cut inches of stem away. The stems draw up air rather than water when going through the trauma of retail, from packaging to bringing them home. Cutting a few inches off is a good start.

I also cleaned the vase, which reeked of rot and mildew. I hear various tips about cut flowers. Changing the water daily makes them last longer, but even then, the forces of decomposition fire up and slimy mildew forms inside the vase. Scrub, scrub, scrub, detergent, rinse, scrub, scrub, rinse, rinse.

I paid $5 each for two Paradise roses.
Roses around a maple trees are far more attractive
than weeds and maple tree suckers.


Key Step
I use the sink sprayer and sprayed the roses all over, stems, blossoms, leaves, I would toss a bunch in a tub of cold water if they looked like they needed it. They looked completely refreshed when I put them in fresh water in a clean vase. Mrs. Ichabod loved them. I will repeat the fresh water and the cold shower today and Sunday morning.

Outdoor Roses
Our helper and I transplanted 8 roses from the front and backyard. The next step after planing a group,  is to water them thoroughly and prune them. Watering washes the soil down among the roots to remove air spaces. It gives the roots a start, because the new root growth will stabilize the plant and feed it. Pruning makes the roots grow even faster, even when the established plant seems unharmed by digging and replanting.

By watering I mean spraying all the upper parts of the roses so they get a real shower for their branches, not just water for their roots. I will repeat that on the second and third days too. Our helper did the first watering while I did another chore. I said, "Do not spare the horses."

A FB friend and I were discussing  bare root roses versus potted ones. I like to order bare root ones because I can choose exactly which ones I want. But potted ones are just as good, in spite of what rose snobs say. The three steps to have great roses are:

  1. Prune
  2. Water
  3. Mulch.
Our 8 KnockOut roses became a neighborhood  wonder last year. They were all potted, dug into holes in the lawn, then mulched, watered, and pruned. Every time they reached 6 feet tall, they were pruned to 3 feet tall. We had dry spells so I gave them cold showers with the hose on the waterboarding setting. That dislodges dirt and loose flowers that need pruning anyway.

Veteran's Honor simply glows red
in the garden. The cut roses are splendid
and fragrant in the vase.


Bare Root Rain Soaker
We have added a memorial row for the main rose garden, with three more bushes planned, perhaps two more in the maple tree rose garden.

When the bare root roses come, I will soak them first in rainwater. I used to be skeptical about the soak, but I saw the value when I planted 20 at once last year. I had the rain barrels full of water and needed to open packages while planting and digging. I felt like the sorcerer's apprentice the rest of the afternoon, with dreams of every rose I wanted planted turning into a nightmare of digging, soaking, pruning, sorting, watering, measuring. 

The roses took off beautifully, better than I ever saw with previous efforts. 

If rainwater is not available, the other solution is gray-water (recycled in some homes from the wassh water) or tapwater left in the barrel at least one day. Chlorine evaporates out of city water, and chlorine is hard on plants. For the best results, use rainwater first, gray-water second, and soaker hose when there is no other way.

Mr. Lincoln has long, long legs,
magic beanstalk growth, fragrance,
and low cost.


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Mutatis Mutandis - WELS, LCMS ELS, CLC (sic) - Just the Same as Holy Mother Church of Rome. Excerpts from a Long Interview

March 5, 2016, 6:25 am
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Cardinal Dolan - "We're cool."
Mutatis mutandi, below are excerpts that could easily be about the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC (sic). The homosexual and incest scandals in Lutherdom are covered up so adroitly that few have a clue that could happen in their own Holy Mother Lutheran Synod.

EXCLUSIVE TELL-ALL INTERVIEW—NYC GAY PRIEST EMBEZZLEMENT SCANDAL


http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/exclusive-tell-all-interviewnyc-gay-priest-
embezzlement-scandal

Bob: Well, it's not secret among the clergy in the archdiocese of New York that Msgr. Mustaciuolo is in fact the protector of Peter Miqueli. That's a very well-known fact that has been established. The problem comes in that the clergy is afraid to come forward and speak about this truth out of fear of retaliation from the very people who are supposed to be protecting the clergy and protecting the Church, that is, the infrastructure of the Church itself.
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As long someone avoids teaching justification by faith,
he is right just fine with the SP.

Guilty of gay child porn swapping,
Hochmuth worked at the Love Shack until the FBI raid.
SP Schroeder immediately absolved him and
denied any knowledge of this going on in the same building.



Bob: Yes, absolutely so. It would be unfair to say that it's something that's recent or something that is part of the recent culture. This is something that goes back decades in the archdiocese of New York, and in fact is something that begins in formation, if you will, way back into the seminary. You know, it's safe to say that the next biggest scandal, if not probably the biggest scandal that our Church will face, is not the scandal of the sexual abuse of minors, but it is in fact the cover-ups that have taken place afterwards. The sexual abuse and the scandal itself had to be dealt with, and we have a new zero tolerance as a Church to deal with that and the involvement of the proper law enforcement officials, but I think that the financial scandals that are going to come forward in the future, the cover-ups of those financial scandals — so many people have gotten rich off of stealing money from Mother Church that it's really a shame. And these people rank all the way up to be members of the Magisterium.

---

Bob: ... I'm sure there are some people who are still naïve, who don't want to face the reality of what's happening in the archdiocese, but the truth of the matter is, I would say the majority of the clergy of the archdiocese of New York and even probably the majority of the laity who work within the infrastructure of the archdiocese of New York, including myself, would agree to that fact, that there is an acceptance and that it is okay for priests to be living double lives as long as it is a secret. And that double life, regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual relationships, it doesn't make a difference.

---

Michael: In reference to the case of Fr. Miqueli, he has — the story is, I'm asking your opinion here or what you know, the story is he has a protector in not only Greg Mustaciuolo but a former rector of the seminary who is now Cdl. Edwin O'Brien. There have been many instances, public instances, of Cardinal. O'Brien coming back from Rome to have confirmation Masses at whatever parish Fr. Miqueli was at, and many people inside the archdiocese tell us, yes, there is some sort of unique relationship there that is troubling.
Bob: Yes, that would be true also. I would have to say that this all began back in the seminary days. Cardinal O'Brien is someone who is not unknown in the archdiocese of New York.
Michael: He was rector of the seminary.
Bob: He was the rector of the seminary, and in fact these relationships of the people we've been talking about here, which would be Peter Miqueli, Sorgie, Mustaciuolo, Weber, and in fact Cdl. O'Brien, these were all relationships that were forged back in the 1980s at Dunwoodie in St. Joseph Seminary. In fact, it might be shocking to hear, but these men regularly had conversations that I was privy to where they jokingly and openly recollected masochistic activity and parties and things that they did back in the seminary.
---
Michael: ... Okay, it's been well testified to, it's proven, no doubt about it, Cardinal Dolan knew from the parishioners at [St. Frances] de Chantal almost two years before all this broke out, before they filed the lawsuit, a year, eight months, 10 months, whatever it was. He knew this was going on. He wrote letters to them, blowing them off or saying, “Yeah, we'll look into it.” They knew about this. The cardinal himself knew about this, and he continued to blow it off. It was only when those headlines hit the local New York papers, The Post, Daily News, of Fr. Miqueli and the whole sadomasochistic prostitute thing that all of a sudden, bam, he's gone. Does that disturb you that it took something in the secular press to get the archdiocese to respond?
Bob: Yes, it does disturb me, but it doesn't surprise me. I think that unfortunately it is a human reality that we don't do what needs to be done until we are forced oftentimes to do what needs to be done. And in that case, the archdiocese of New York, including its leaders, is guilty of that. And there must be accountability. What that accountability is, I don't know. Certainly there must be accountability. And I think that in due time, the Holy Father will know what to do. I go back to my opinion, and that is unless there is massive internal change in Mother Church where there is some sort of internal vigilance for holding people accountable regardless of your rank within the clergy —


Church and Change transvestite congregational picnic.

---
Bob: I think that that goes hand in hand with justice. That's accountability. Certainly the chancellor, Gregory Mustaciuolo, needs to be removed. Without a doubt. That's something that shocks me why it hasn't happened yet. I just can't understand how the cardinal can continue to have this man as his vicar general, knowing that before anything gets to the cardinal, it has to get through this man. And this man had to act in the best interest of Mother Church and the best interest of the cardinal, if you will. And he failed to do that. He had his reasons for failing to do that. He had his motives for failing to do that. But he failed to do that nonetheless. Motives aside, he failed to do the primary job that he was appointed to do.
Michael: Let me ask you: The cardinal hasn't gotten rid of him. There is no indication that the cardinal is going to get rid of Monsignor Mustaciuolo?
Bob: Not as of yet.
Michael: As of yet, none. Not a whisper, not a word, nothing. Not even chatting. Nothing. So if the cardinal doesn't get rid of him, does the cardinal need to be gotten rid of?
Bob: It's a good question, fair question. And I would have to answer truthfully and say yes. If the cardinal fails to act again, then what is the reason behind that?
Michael: What is the reason behind that?
Bob: You know, what is the reason behind that is a very, very good question. His failure to act will only make him more culpable.


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Butler's Pantry in the Great Room

March 5, 2016, 9:31 am
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Zoning or facing the shelves will make them
far more useful.

When we move I hoped to make use of the old library shelves, which lined the library of our home in Phoenix.

We made the winter a time of giving away anything useful and hauling away the rest. The last of the books were just mailed a short time ago. The Michigander said, "Throw away anything still in a box after one year." We gave away items, even a large table, all greatly appreciated.

The back wall of the Great Room (formerly - garage) was already lined with matching shelves. We just had to fix a few and clean them up.

These shelves are are now the Butler's Pantry. Tools and miscellany are banned from this area. Those items belong in the last third of the Great Room, near the Festival Door (garage door).

When we enter the Great Room, the Butler's Pantry is on the left, well lit from a new LED light donated by our gracious landlord.

The laundry area is on the right. Part of our renovation included adding framed photos where we had space.

The idea of the pantry holds food and supplies ahead so we do not run out of frequently used items.
In a small kitchen, extra supplies clog the cupboards so much that the space becomes useless.

We got used to drinking Sam's Club water, so I have four cases ahead. Thanks to the relative cool of the Great Room floor, they are always cool. If we have a big storm, fresh water is handy. Besides that, anyone working here gets water, and everyone loves free access to it. When our helper's children worked in the yard (for wages) they happily took home their water bottles.

We promote the idea of pure water being the best and most refreshing drink. Colas and juices create their own habits, so we end up buying more and drinking more - and paying more. When I worked at Walmart I was always stunned by the families hauling away cases of Gatorade. The plastic casing for Gatorade is made to sling the bottles on the shopping cart. I told my co-workers the mere thought of it gave me acid reflux. The labels of all the flavors made me laugh. And we had variations on the same, such as flavored carbonated water with fakey sucralose, in another area. Or - flavored and carbonated with no sweetener in a third area, fairly good but way overpriced.

When I buy things we need--since I am the main buyer--I put extras in the Butler's Pantry each time. Also, we now know how much we have ahead in some areas. For a time I was getting paper towels each time, thinking maybe we needed more. We had 3 cases at one point. Now the paper area is in one place and easily audited before the next trip.

When we shop together, we use separate carts. The cashiers are often confused. "Are you together?" 46 years - Mrs. Ichabod says. "Please don't complain in public," I respond. Sometimes we double up on the same thing, so that goes in the pantry.

I have a post in mind about cleaning tips. I was the store's self-appointing cleaning expert. That was as much fun as working in baking supplies and condiments.


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Appleton Call Gets As Many Views in a Few Days as McCain Channeling His Inner Lucifer

March 5, 2016, 2:13 pm
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Publishing News - Moving Lulu Titles to Create Space - Kindle - Amazon. Reclaim Luther and Justification by Faith

March 5, 2016, 7:07 pm
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"Reclaiming Walther?
Why not reclaim Martin Luther,
who started the Reformation instead
of Walther covering up for a syphilitic bishop.
Why not reclaim justification by faith?"

A gift made it possible to order a lot of my Lulu books, at the author's discount and another discount, to send free to various pastors and laity -

The ordering also made it clear that Create Space has much better author prices (without those cute little Lulu codes) for such titles. 

Another gift--today--allows me to start moving Lulu books to Create Space. That means some additional proofing and editing. Fortunately I have a great closer, Janie Sullivan, who is very efficient and gifted in handling the transfer and all aspects of digital publishing. She also fixes typos on her own, bless her heart.

Janie has begun work on The Story of Jesus in Pictures, illustrated by Norma Boeckler.

Future conversions will include the three books listed above, and some others as well.

Yes, the free PDFs will continue. I plan to create a very simple website just to link all the free PDFs in one place, a little more orderly than a blog.

The advantage will be having all the titles in one place and being able to send multiple copies for a low price. The Faith of Jesus and Making Disciples are $3 and $2 in black and white. In contrast, Liberalism is $10 at the author's discount from Lulu.

Kindle is a great way to have a library on a digital device. I resisted it for a long time, but I now use it for a lot of theology books and also for all gardening books. I like the ability to quote and have the citation built into the copy and paste. That cannot be called kelming, because Paul Calvin Kelm never gave anyone credit for all the Fuller stuff he stole from them.

I use quotation marks and citations, which is why Kelm lives in a mansion and I live in a van down by the river.



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Luther's Sermon for Laetare - The Fourth Sunday in Lent.

March 6, 2016, 3:19 am
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The Feeding of the Multitude, by Norma Boeckler



Luther's Sermon for LAETARE. FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. John 6:1-15

German text: Erlangen edition 11:137; Walch 11:765; St. Louis 11:560.

TEXT:

John 6:1-15. After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they beheld the signs which he did on them that were sick. And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Now the passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude cometh unto him, saith unto Philip, Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred shillings worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, who hath five barley loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many? Jesus said, Make the people sit down.

Now there was much grass in the place: So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down; likewise also of the fishes as much as they would. And when they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost. So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which remained over unto them that had eaten. When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world.

Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.

CONTENTS:

THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND.
I. THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND.

1. How Christ here teaches us faith

2. How an example of love Is presented to us here 2.

3. This miracle proves that there is nothing too small among believers that God cannot change it into an abundance

* How Christ teaches us here to be frugal 4.

II. THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND.

A. IN General 5.

B. In Detail. The Spiritual Meaning: 1. Of there being much grass where the five thousand were fed 6.

2. That those who were fed sat on the grass

3. Of the five loaves, with which the people were fed 8.

4. Of the two fishes 9.

5. Of the twelve baskets, filled with broken pieces of bread

6. That Philip gave counsel, and yet doubted his own counsel

7. That Andrew pointed to the lad and the loaves, and yet he doubts more than Philip

* In what the poverty of the Christian consists, and in what it does not consist 18.

I. THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND.

1. In today’s Gospel Christ gives us another lesson in faith, that we should not be over-anxious about our daily bread and our temporal existence, and stirs us up by means of a miracle; as though to say by his act what he says by his words in Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” For here we see, since the people followed Christ for the sake of God’s Word and the signs, and thus sought the Kingdom of God, he did not forsake them but richly fed them. He hereby also shows that, rather than those who seek the Kingdom of God should suffer need, the grass in the desert would become wheat, or a crumb of bread would be turned into a thousand loaves; or a morsel of bread would feed as many people and just as satisfactorily as a thousand loaves; in order that the words in Matthew 4:4 might stand firm, that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” And to confirm these words Christ is the first to be concerned about the people, as to what they should eat, and asks Philip, before they complain or ask him; so that we may indeed let him care for us, remembering that he cares more and sooner for us than we do for ourselves.

2. Secondly, he gives an example of great love, and he does this in many ways. First, in that he lets not only the pious, who followed him because of the signs and the Word, enjoy the food; but also the slaves of appetite, who only eat and drink, and seek in him temporal honor; as follows later when they disputed with him at Capernaum about the food, and he said to them in John 6:26: “Ye seek me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves,” etc., also because they desired to make him king; thus here also he lets his sun shine on the evil and the good, Matthew 5:45.

Secondly, in that he bears with the rudeness and weak faith of his disciples in such a friendly manner. For that he tests Philip, who thus comes with his reason, and Andrew speaks so childishly on the subject, all is done to bring to light the imperfections of the disciples, and on the contrary to set forth his love and dealings with them in a more beautiful and loving light, to encourage us to believe in him, and to give us an example to do likewise; as the members of our body and all God’s creatures in their relation to one another teach us. For these are full of love, so that one bears with the other, helps and preserves what God has created.

3. That he now takes the five loaves and gives thanks etc., teaches that nothing is too small and insignificant for him to do for his followers, and he can indeed so bless their pittance that they have an abundance, whereas even the rich have not enough with all their riches; as Psalm 34:11 says: “They that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing; but the rich must suffer hunger.” And Mary in her song of praise says: “The hungry he hath filled with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” Luke 1:53.

4. Again, that he tells them so faithfully to gather up the fragments, teaches us to be frugal and to preserve and use his gifts, in order that we may not tempt God. For just as it is God’s will that we should believe when we have nothing and be assured that he will provide; so he does not desire to be tempted, nor to allow the blessings he has bestowed to be despised, or lie unused and spoil, while we expect other blessings from heaven by means of miracles. Whatever he gives, we should receive and use, and what he does not give, we should believe and expect he will bestow.

II. THE ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION.

5. That Christ by the miraculous feeding of the five thousand has encouraged us to partake of a spiritual food, and taught that we should seek and expect from him nourishment for the soul, is clearly proved by the whole sixth chapter of John, in which he calls himself the bread from heaven and the true food, and says: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you.” John 6:26-27. In harmony with these words we will, explain also this evangelical history in its spiritual meaning and significance.

6. First, there was much hay or grass in the place. The Evangelist could not fail to mention that, although it appears to be unnecessary; however it signifies the Jewish people, who flourished and blossomed like the grass through their outward holiness, wisdom, honor, riches etc., as Isaiah 40:6-7, says: “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.” From the Jewish people the Word of God went forth and the true food was given to us; for salvation is of the Jews, John 4:22. Now, as grass is not food for man, but for cattle; so is all the holiness of the outward Jewish righteousness nothing but food for animals, for fleshly hearts, who know and possess nothing of the Spirit.

7. The very same is taught by the people sitting on the grass; for the true saints despise outward holiness, as Paul does in Philippians 3:8, in that he counted his former righteousness to be filth and even a hindrance. Only common and hungry people receive the Word of God and are nourished by it. For here you see that neither Caiaphas nor Anna, neither the Pharisees nor the Scribes follow Christ and see Christ’s Signs; but they disregard them, they are grass and feed on grass. This miracle was also performed near the festive time of the Jewish passover; for the true Easter festival, when Christ should be offered as a sacrifice, was near, when he began to feed them with the Word of God.

8. The five loaves signify the outward, natural word formed by the voice and understood by man’s senses; for the number five signifies outward things pertaining to the five senses of man by which he lives; as also the five and five virgins illustrate in Matthew 25:1. These loaves are in the basket, that is, locked up in the Scriptures. And a lad carries them, that means the servant class and the priesthood among the Jews, who possessed the sayings of God, which were placed in their charge and entrusted to them, Romans 3:2, although they did not enjoy them. But that Christ took these into his own hands, and they were thereby blessed and increased, signifies that by Christ’s works and deeds, and not by our deeds or reason, are the Scriptures explained, rightly understood and preached.

This he gives to his disciples, and the disciples to the people. For Christ takes the Word out of the Scriptures; so all teachers receive it from Christ and give it to the people, by which is confirmed what Matthew 23:10 says: “For one is your master, even the Christ,” who sits in heaven, and he teaches all only through the mouth and the word of preachers by his: Spirit, that is, against false teachers, who teach their own wisdom.

9. The two fishes are the example and witness of the patriarchs and prophets, who are also in the basket; for by them the Apostles confirm and strengthen their doctrine and the believers like St. Paul does in Romans 4:2-6, where he cites Abraham and David etc. But there are two, because the examples of the saints are full of love, which cannot be alone, as faith can, but must go out in exercise to its neighbor. Furthermore the fishes were prepared and cooked; for such examples are indeed put to death by many sufferings and martyrdoms, so that we find nothing carnal in them, and they comfort none by a false faith in his own works, but always point to faith and put to death works and their assurance.

10. The twelve baskets of fragments are all the writings and books the Apostles and Evangelists bequeathed to us; therefore they are twelve, like the Apostles, and these books are nothing but that which remains from and has been developed out of the Old Testament. The fishes are also signified by the number five (Moses’ books); as John 21:25 says: “Even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written” concerning Christ, all which nevertheless was written and proclaimed before in the Old Testament concerning Christ.

11. That Philip gives counsel as how to feed the people with his few shillings, and yet doubts, signifies human teachers, who would gladly aid the soul with their teachings; but their conscience feels it helps nothing. For the discussion Christ here holds with his disciples takes place in order that we may see and understand that it is naturally impossible to feed so many people through our own counsel, and that this sign might be the more public. Thus he lets us also disgrace ourselves and labor with human doctrines, that we may see and understand how necessary and precious God’s Word is and how doctrines do not help the least without God’s Word.

12. That Andrew pointed out the lad and the loaves, and yet doubted still more than Philip, signifies the teachers who wish to make the people pious and to quiet them with God’s laws; but their conscience has no satisfaction or peace in them; but only becomes continually worse, until Christ comes with his Word of grace. He is the one, and he alone, who makes satisfaction, delivers from sin and death, gives peace and fullness of joy, and does it all of his own free will, gratuitously, against and above all hope and presumption, that we may know that the Gospel is devised and bestowed, not through our own merit, but out of pure grace.

13. Finally, you see in this Gospel that Christ, though he held Gospel poverty in the highest esteem and was not anxious about the morrow, as he teaches in Matthew 6:34, had still some provisions, as the two hundred shillings, the five loaves and the two fishes; in order that we may learn how such poverty and freedom from care consist not in having nothing at all, as the barefooted fanatics and monks profess, and yet they themselves do not hold to it; but it consists in a free heart and a poor spirit. For even Abraham and Isaac had great possessions, and yet they lived without worry and in poverty, like the best Christians do.
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