"We dominate the Top Twenty list! And the others are college towns."

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/americas-20-drunkest-cities/21/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=26207595

Number 1 - Appleton, Wisconsin
Number 2 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Number 3 - Greenbay, Wisconsin
Number 4 - Madison, Wisconsin
Number 5 - Fargo, North Dakota
Number 6 - La Crosse, Onalaska, Wisconsin
Number 7 - Fon du Lac, Wisconsin
Number 8 - Ames, Iowa
Number 9 - Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Number 10 - Mankato, Minnesota - ELS hotspot, plus WELS
Number 11 - Wausau, Wisconsin
Number 12 - Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Number 13 - Missoula, Montana
Number 14 - Grand Forks, North Dakota
Number 15 - Racine, Wisconsin
Number 16 - Janesville-Beloit, Wisconsin
Number 17 - Milwaukee-Waukesha, W. Allis, Wisconsin
Number 18 - Lincoln, Nebraska
Number 19 - Iowa City, Iowa
Number 20 - Corvallis, Oregon

"One of you guys has to volunteer to come down and bring up our ratings. We are not even in the Top Twenty."

Obtaining pollinator plants is a new trend in gardening. These plants attract and feed bees, butterflies, beneficial insects, and hummingbirds as a bonus. In  large gardening book I have - misplaced at the moment - the plants that attract one of these groups are often listed for hosting some or most of the others as well.

Names are often disguised in blogs, so I call our neighbor Almost Eden, after his nursery business.

When I mentioned "plants for beneficial insects" to Almost Eden, he said, "That is a slippery slope." The category alone would be enough to landscape any garden. Some accomplish the goal by planting a beautiful perennial garden, as Norma Boeckler has. On a windless day, her flowers enjoy constant attention from insects that most people overlook, such as Hover Flies and Ichneumon Wasps.

Almost Eden has Yoda-like quips about my plant fixations. I told him I let Pokeweed grow, though most people consider it a weed. His answer was "One is often enough."

Poison Hemlock was simply crawling with baby Ladybugs, and I could see them at eye level swarming on a plant growing six feet tall. Almost Eden's solution to the legendary toxic qualities of the plant was - "Just don't eat it." Mr. Gardener was asking about the plant, too, and I did not have a credible excuse for growing something  toxic - with hundreds of seeds forming. Finally, I considered what the two Mrs. Jacksons would say about Poison Hemlock, so I cut it down.

In fact, Wild Parsnip (another member of the carrot family, like Poison Hemlock, Giant Hogweed, and Queen Anne's Lace) is the most toxic plant to have nearby.  Wild Parsnip is worthy of a separate post. The name Wild Parsnip gives no indication of how painful the rashes are from handling the plant, but the plant can put someone in the hospital.



Mountain Mint - Stoloniferous?
Many do not like planting exotic plants from another continent, because native plants attract and support native bees and other fauna. Giant Hogweed, another carrot family member, was imported to England and became a rich man's landscaping prize. Now people realize how obnoxious and invasive Giant Hogweed can be - although great for beneficial insects.

Mountain Mint has the distinction of being native to North America, easy to grow (like all mints), and The Plant for beneficial insects. What could go wrong? - websites are devoted to this question.

Many mints grow through their stolons, underground stems that create new plants everywhere. I learned a new term for this - stoloniferous - Latin in origin, for "cannot stop this plant." Our helper transplanted mint to his front yard and said yesterday, "My mint is out of control."

I said, "Mint is usually out of control. Cut it and use it for mulching your roses." The advantage of a plant that loves the sun and grows so well is its usefulness around flowers. The plants that offend can be recruited and cut to shade more desirable items at their base, holding in moisture and activating more soil creatures.

My first Bee Balm, with a red flower, is definitely stoloniferous. I nurtured one plant last year, finally seeing one red flower and a hummingbird working over the bloom. This year I have dozens of red Bee Balm flowers. Norma Boeckler had one variety that grew so invasively that she ripped it all out. Bee Balm is also called Horse Mint.

Bamboo can either be stoloniferous or clumping. I suggested that our helper avoid both types, since pruning them usually requires a chainsaw. I speak from experience. A plant's virtue can soon become a nightmare.

Mountain Mint
I wanted to grow Mountain Mint ever since I saw a halo of insects buzzing around it at a government garden in Washington DC, when LI was first studying Latin, about 35 years ago. I said, "Mountain Mint. I must grow it some day."

As the readers might have guessed, Mountain Mint has a small but dedicated following. I already have five plants growing. One was buried by mulch when our helper decided it was a weed in the main rose garden. We searched for the tiny thing without finding it, but the plant popped up through newspapers and mulch - good news but possibly a warning as well.

If I plant some around the perimeter of the rose garden, I need to get the clumping variety. Here are two types of Mountain Mint, the ones most often sold. The Latin name Pycnanthemum means "densely flowered," which happens to be the type of flower favored by so many small insects.

1. Pycnanthemum muticum (Michx.) Pers.– Short-toothed mountainmint - much of eastern US from east Texas to southern Maine.
2. Pycnanthemum virginianum

Plant Delights says - 

The mint family genus Pycnanthemum is fairly small, containing around 20 species, all of which are native to North America. All of the mountain mints have a strong mint scent and are commonly used to make tea (all except Pycnanthemum muticum, which although minty is also toxic).

In the wild, Pycnanthemum thrives in woodlands with partial shade in a wide variety of soil types. It likes to have consistent water early on in the growing season but, as summer progresses, Pycnanthemum will become more drought-tolerant. In the garden, pycnanthemum is much more attractive in part to full sun. While most pycnanthemum are quite stoloniferous, we have selected only those that play well with others by not spreading uncontrollably.

Pycnanthemum sap is a natural insect repellent (especially the aforementioned Pycnanthemum muticum) and can be rubbed on the skin or stuffed into a pocket. While butterflies ignore the repellent leaves, they love to visit the flowers as do an incredible array of amazing insects. Deer do not like to eat Pycnanthemum...apparently, mint is not their thing.

The Synodical Conference has rejected Luther's Biblical justification by faith in favor of Halle University's Universal Absolution without faith, which requires a decision - you know, like synergism.

Martin Luther and Faith - Otten's Endless Essay
"Because of the redemption through Christ God no longer imputes sins to men (2 Corinthians 5:19); - 1 wrong - He does not charge their transgressions against them, but credits them with the merits of Christ. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”(2 Corinthians 5:21). For the sake of Christ’s complete satisfaction God justifies the ungodly” (Romans 4:5), i.e., they who by nature and by their own works were altogether ungodly, were because of the work of Christ declared and pronounced just and righteous.  - 2 wrong -God’s declaration of forgiveness calls for acceptance on the part of man  - 3 wrong -. But it is impossible to accept it by means of works; it can be accepted only by faith, for this righteousness is revealed “from faith to faith” (Romans 1: 17). Faith clings to the promise of forgiveness, and thereby man appropriates to himself personally what the promise offers to all men in general." - 4 wrong -


GJ - Explanations:

1. Imputation of forgiveness is ascribed to faith in Romans 4, where Abraham's example is applied to all those who believe in Him who raised Jesus from the dead. The 2 Corinthians passage is about the atonement, which is not the same as justification by faith.

Otten does not use Objective Justification in this issue, but uses the phrase justification by faith while really meaning the above, which is rationalistic Pietism from Halle University.

2. Acceptance is a poor word to use because Evangelicals employ the term for making a decision. JP Meyer, the WELS genius of UOJ, is especially clear about making a decision for UOJ.

3. This declaration of forgiveness is soft-pedaled by Otten to hide the hideousness of Halle quasi-demi-crypto-Universalism. The entire world is forgiven, without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Grace. The Brief Statement of 1932, now raised above the level of the Book of Concord and the Scriptures, is especially clear in its Universalism where Otten is vague, vacillating, and vapid.

4. Otten is left with the pathetic extra-Watheristicum, that faith like a withered hand grasping the universal absolution so popular at Halle then and in ELCA today.

The Calvinist Woods explained Knapp's Pietism in the same language as Walther, because Walther learned UOJ from Bishop Stephan, a Pietist and former student of Halle University. Stephan never earned a bachelor's degree anywhere but he did pick up an STD somewhere.

---

Lutheran seminary education is so pathetic today that Rambach's dogma is hailed as Luther's Biblical doctrine.

Let's be clear. This statement in the Book of Concord means:

1. Melanchthon's Apology of the Augsburg Confession teaches Justification by Faith as the Chief Article of Christianity.

2. Luther teaches Justification by Faith throughout his work, and considered himself a "theologian of the Augsburg Confession," expressed elsewhere.

3. The esteemed editors of the Formula and Book of Concord, 1580, including the great genius Martin Chemnitz (who was taught by Luther and Melanchthon) agree that Justification by Faith is indeed the Chief Article, the Master and Prince, the Judge of all other doctrines of Christianity.

Preus provided many statements from the Orthodox Lutheran scholars devastating to Universal Objective Justification. Reading comprehension in the Synodical Conference is almost zero.

Look at the butterflies on Mountain Mint on this link.


Eco-beneficial on Mountain Mints

Long ago, WELS kicked the congregation and pastor out of its infallible sect, but recently -  stole the property and endowment with the help of Jeske employees. This happened to prevent new members from getting involved and broadcasting services, just the opposite of the claims in this article. SP Mark Schroeder did nothing to stop the theft.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Sassy keeps track of all the children she knows, and they love her gentle spirit.

Sassy wanted to walk at 6 AM, so I got a late start. Better to walk first and make coffee second than to look at her puppy eyes damning me for making her wait. The early walk is our longest one now, and she loves exploring when the child of morning, rosey-fingered Dawn appears.

Last night she fooled me, as she often does. Sassy was supposed to walk the cul-de-sac with me and go inside again. Instead, she smiled and walked into the grassy acreage of Almost Eden. I thought, "OK, she wants something different." She looks at me and smiles for permission to go where she wants. She repeated this several times, getting closer and closer to the plants, but that was still a bit of a walk.

I headed us behind the earthen berms, where top soil had created a paradise for wild flowers, weeds, insects, and birds. I was trying to see if they had Poison Hemlock, as I did earlier. Once past the berm we were among the gardens, fruits, and bushes. I heard a sound - perhaps Little Almost Eden. Then I realized the game. Sassy can detect her friends from our front yard, goes on alert, and strives to meet them. This time she only heard them and worked her way into a reunion.

The dog Opie, Little Almost Eden, and Grampa walked into view. The dogs had a happy meet and greet, and the rest of us talked about dogs and gardening. I knew it was a former dairy farm, but I also learned our house was the area where they grew grapes. Sassy soon become warm and tired, so we said goodbye and walked home. She stretched out on the cool floor to get comfortable again.

Our Crepe Myrtle blooms look like pink Christmas trees.

Feeling the Mulch
I joined our helper at 6 AM yesterday in spreading as much mulch as possible in the main rose garden. We had a lot of fun kidding each other as we worked. This morning I felt the results in the back of my legs, but it is far more productive than the sterile exercise possible in a gym.

Unlike the rest of the neighborhood, I coddle our Crepe Myrtle bush. Before the rain I watered it slowly at the base to bring out the blooms, which are big, fluffy, and pink. Now that it is almost in full bloom, I built a new base of fertilizer for future health and beauty.

• Basement layer - the clippings, sticks and leaves from the maple tree.
• Ground floor - a bag of cow manure compost from Walmart.
• First floor - newspaper and brown paper to discourage grassy weeds.
• Top floor - a bag of cyprus mulch from Walmart.

Slime Mold looks like dog vomit, but it is following its own engineering and doing its job.

The Odd Couple will sign books, even though Jessica Pratt said she cannot stand Scott Barefoot's arrogance.

http://lutherdays.org/pdf/Luther_%20Days_Schedule.pdf

Should be fun-ny.

Sleepless in Silvis asks:

They are still going through with this?  I'm wondering how much synod dollars are going into this? 
They claim 50+ booths and displays?  Are they all paying?  Other than Thrivent who REALLY could be a valid sponsor?  A member's personal business?  An individual?  They should declare them by now.  Most conventions do especially when guests are traveling farther than intrastate.   

***

GJ - Answer. I am told WELS has funded this debacle, after Pratt met with Mark Schroeder. That would help explain how this became a showcase for Church and Changers with a side-helping of sodomy.

Otherwise, there is no chance this could work, and there are still big, gaping holes in the logistics, according to my safe sources.

"Safe!"

Another set of comments -

Objective of event


WELS Training Camp Rock Climbing Wall  ("Got" Liability Insurance?  Oops---forgot Luther was a big Rock Climbing guy)
Taste of Germany - Food Court ("Got" Liability Insurance and State Food Licenses?)
Holy Hen House- Social Gathering for WomenEither they have enough Luther subject matters or make the sessions longer.  The rest of the things (Pakistan, etc could be put in a booklet)

The one that bothers me the most is "Everyone who Calls on the Name of the Lord will be Saved".  Topic is on Romans 10:13 versus Matthew 7:21-23?

You could stand in line for 6 hours (assuming their will be huge masses of people with no parking) just for book signings.  When Luther is there to sign a real book, I'll go. 


Is this Luther Days or WELS days based on the topics?  A lot of pats on the back are scheduled.

The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not in ELDONUTS, But in Our Synods, That We Are Underlings. Apologies to the Earl of Oxford (aka Shakespeare)

Brutus asked another pastor about the effect of having bishops. The response, from someone with long experience in world missions, was that bishops were the main problem in Africa.

I contend that the Biblical concept of bishops is entirely missing from today's Lutheran bodies: large, small, and microscopic. The Biblical word literally means "look over" and therefore "supervisor," a Latin form of the same concept.

What we have today is the residue from the Western Roman Empire, centered in Rome, falling apart with the empire's officials leaving their posts in a hurry. The Church officials stepped in and took over dual roles in many places, the local bishop serving as mayor. That is a simplification, of course, but the bishops took on secular power, and the Bishop of Rome asserted authority and precedence over all other bishops, as he does today.

The Pope reigned as pope-king in many eras and ordered lesser kings around. One dodged the dogma of infallibility but Pope Pius IX had it established as official dogma, adding he did not need the decree because he had already declared the Immaculate Conception of May on his own.

Burnside seems squiffed here, and trying so hard to look sober.The law caught up with him, too, when he drunkenly ran down a woman and drove away,just like Bishop Cook and the Roman bishop O'Brien in Phoenix. OBrien

Coming to America
The LCA and ALC adopted the title of bishop, which the Rome-leaning liberals really wanted. The synods announced that nothing would change except the title. Wrong! Soon the former local presidents took on greater dictatorial power and began modeling the Episcopal robes they adored from the C. H. Ahmy catalogand creative designers.

The ELCiC bishop is keen on asserting her power,but did not worry about the CLC'/ELCA/WELS Gutschebeing one of her pastors.

One Episcopal bishop is on the far left; the drunk driving bishop/killer is in the middle, the Presiding Bishop, Schori, is on the far Left - always.

The WELS has a system most like The Episcopal Church. The WELS District President supposedly serves a church as a pastor, but he also has a full-time, paid by the synod, assistant to do his parish work.

A WELS DP poses as a pastor. but definitely is "first among equals," as the Bishop of Rome claims, able to step in and violate the divine call by firing someone he does not like, or stepping in and protecting a Church and Change pastor mired in deep yogurt. He flourishes his infallibility by issuing declarations, like Engelbrecht supporting and praising plagiarism.

The LCMS District Presidents have deluxe office buildings and big staffs. The Missouri DPs like to wear neckties to go full-Walther, but they are no different from WELS DPs. Both styles of bishop assert their authority, power, and sanctity while refusing to supervise doctrine as they should. They are more concerned with covering up crimes and promoting synod worship.

The LCMS and WELS DP have winter conferences in the sunny Carib. Who pays for those extravagances?

Authority is not taken but given, according to one Lutheran sociologist from the 19th century. I still believe that insight is valid. We are only underlings if we act like underlings. If we let bishops bully, manipulate, and lie, then the fault is not in their titles but in ourselves.

Why did so many LCMS Ft Wayne graduates, who read Thy Strong Word in AD 2000, take 13 years to discover the Chief Article of the Christian Faith?

Why were the ELDONUTS in bed with the UOJ Rolf Synod for a long, long time?

Nothing says safety like a fire truck at the front door.

I was doing my routine work outside when our neighbor apologized for his son starting a bonfire in the backyard with scrap wood. I told him about our concern for safety with such a large fire and a stiff breeze blowing - three boys having a merry time. The nearby wooden storage buildings could have become fuel, too. We had a friendly and detailed conversation, which is enough to say for now.

We always emphasized safety first as LI was growing up. So many bad things begin with a casual disregard for consequences. One was a decision by two of them to chop with an axe and a hatchet, taking alternate swings. I said to LI, "No, that's how my brother came home with a hatchet wound. When he saw it bleeding, he shook his hand and decorated the kitchen. When we painted the kitchen ceiling years later, the spots were still there."

We often talked about making safety first. "If it is second, it might as well be last." That prompted a comment, often made, when I pointed out unsafe practices,  "That is making safety a distant last."

Now I am old enough to think, "How badly could I get hurt if this goes wrong?"

I was very young, alone in the car, when I found a way to get the car moving, without the engine on. The car began rolling down a gentle sloping drive. I still remember a neighbor rushing up, opening the door, and stopping the car.

Medicare Nurse
We had routine interviews by the Medicare nurse last year and this year. Three safety ideas were good:

• A smoke detector.
• A handle on the bathtub for getting in and out.
• A shower chair.

This is our car in the driveway, but the Google car photographed a front yard with the Crepe Myrtle neglected, the maple needing trimming, and no roses. The azaleas are in bloom next door. The sunny garden, on the left side of the house, is just sun-baked lawn.

I will get a similar view of the front yard as it looks now, once the sun comes up. Rain is expected early and late today. I distributed all my stored rainwater yesterday, planted some day lilies donated by Almost Eden, and pulled up maple trees with our helper.

GJ: "I thought you pulled all of these maple trees up." We laughed.
Helper: "I did. Where are they all coming from? Two in the back have to be dug out now."

We often talk about how much has been accomplished. Our helper dug the first eight holes for the TV roses. We mulched that area with newspapers and shredded wood material. We also mulched along the fence perimeter, and two areas for gardening in the back.

Mrs. I is part of the gardening team, offering great suggestions for placing the roses and eliminating the front lawn. Right now her favorite calladiums are popping up for the first time, red and green ones contrasting with whites.

Another job has been trimming all the trees, pruning and mulching the Crepe Myrtle bush. Trees have offered up a mountain of trash to haul away. The branches in the backyard were hanging down to shoulder level when we arrived.

Now pruned branches are often used in landscaping. One branch had a nice framework for a spider web, at eye level, and I saw a delicate web there, right in the high traffic area for flying insects - fresh food flown in for our helper.

Best Sermon Books
Lenker's edition of Luther's Sermons - These are the only sermon books needed, and they should be the primary reading material of every Lutheran layman, teacher, and pastor. The larger set, with the Postils, can be obtained with the Lenker edition, used, for a reasonable amount of money. That set is relative difficult to obtain, but it is out there in the used market.



Best Systematic Theology
Martin Chemnitz - Examination of the Council of Trent. This work is far more enjoyable than Melanchthon's Loci, so I suggest this set for studying systematic theology. Besides, this is an excellent survey of Roman Catholic errors.



Best Essay on Justification by Faith
Melanchthon's section on Justification in the Augsburg Confession's Apology is worth reading over and over, especially to fumigate one's brain after being exposed to Halle's Universal Objective Justification, regurgitated - world without end - by ELCA, WELS, LCMS, the Little Sect, and the CLC (sic).


Best Book on Justification by Faith
Luther's Galatians Commentary. John Bunyan called this his most read book, apart from the Bible. Someone offered the fact that he saw this in a pastor's library. But was it read, studied, inwardly digested?



Best New Testament Commentaries
Lenski is the only one I would advise getting. Anything by Luther is great, but I question weighing down the shelves with unread volumes of Luther. Better to read Luther's Galatians over and over than to have the complete Luther set.



Best of the Neglected and Forgotten Authors

• Henry Eyster Jacobs has a wonderful study book on Lutheran doctrine.
• Krauth's Conservative Reformation should be studied at least once.
• Schmauk has great insights in his Confessional Principle.
• The King James Version of the Bible, aka the English version of Luther's Bible.

This is photographic proof that dogs are smarter than most Lutherans.

I did some random searching on Google this morning, wondering about some classmates from the distant past. Several of them should be retired, I thought, but they are active in two synodical posts (ELCiC) and in a newly endowed position at a Roman Catholic seminary. The first two were in my Canadian seminary class, the other classmate a priest from Notre Dame. The priest told me, the last time we wrote, "I still have your Luther set that you gave me. I read it every year."

I gave the same set to Jay Webber, because it was out of print and he coveted it. Probably Father Ken has read his set more than Jay has. One cannot detect any impact of Luther's works on Webber's highly-subsidized writings.

Searching led me into various scandals, one in ELCA that was never explained. Googling took me to the same person on Facebook and LinkedIn, but the conflicting dates (ELCA vs. the bishop) and utter silence left me baffled. I often post updates - where are they now? - which Natalie Pratt enjoyed. But how does one update a mystery unsolved?



The Big Scandal
The pratfalls of various church officials are common enough to made them daily fodder, and those are the ones that escape the sanitizing and deceptive actions of their Damage Control Committee.

But the biggest scandal of all is the enormous amount of money scarfed up from members, foundations, gift annuities, and Thrivent and spent to promote false doctrine.

Denominations can be defined by a phrase or a reputation:

• Episcopalians are broadminded, so the clergy can easily include Billy Graham Evangelicals and almost-in-Rome priests.
• Methodists are "conservative but irenic." 
• Liberal Baptists are social activists and devotees of Walter Rauschenbusch.
• Southern Babtists practice repeated immersions as a substitute for Holy Communion.
• Roman Catholics provide the Mass, the ultimate being their public Papal Masses, designed to make Protestants weep that they lack this unique form of entertainment.

Luther said, "It takes seven lies to cover up one lie," so WELS has about 60 essays in their precious repository - all teaching against Justification by Faith, two of them explicitly using the phrase Chief Article while promoting their cowardly Universalism - Mark Zarlng and F. Bivens plagiarizing Zarling.

The LCMS, ELS, WELS, and CLC (sic) are united with ELCA in teaching that grace means everyone in the world is already righteous (Objective Justification) and that one only needs to make a decision for UOJ to be really, truly, absolutely, positively forgiven. That almost sounds like the Roman Catholic fides formata, faith formed by love, works required forgiveness - "Yes, you are forgiven, but there is one more thing you must do." Yes but = No.


Books and professors are selected to make sure that Universalism triumphs. This erosion has taken place slowly over time, lest the narcotic effect of a manufactured peace be disturbed.

One pastor wrote me:

Paul McCain called himself the Andreae of the LCMS. No, he is more like the Gollum of Lutherdom. Andreae taught justification by faith - McCain and his Godfather, SP Harris, teach against the Chief Article.

Luther's First Gospel Sermon for the SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Mark 8:1-9


This sermon appeared in pamphlet form in seven separate editions during the year 1523; also in the collections of “Ten Useful Sermons” of 1523 and of twenty-seven sermons of 1523.

Text. Mark 8:1-9. In those days, when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and ,if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way; and some of them are come from far. And his disciples answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them. And they ate, and were filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets. And they were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

CONTENTS:

CONCERNING FAITH AND LOVE.
I. CONCERNING FAITH.

1. What is the true picture which faith must have of Christ.

1. The picture of fear and grace.

2. Faith In regard to temporal possessions. a. Where this faith is not, there can be no faith in regard to spiritual and eternal possessions. 3-4. It is rare that you find a true Christian. b. The true nature and manner of this faith. c. This faith harmonizes in no way with reason. 7f. d. How to distinguish this faith from unbelief. 8-10.

3. Concerning faith in its relation to eternal possessions. a. Its nature. b. How this faith is painted here in a visible living form. 12-13. The power and working of unbelief. 14.

II. CONCERNING LOVE.

1. How we can learn love from the example of Christ. 15-16.

2. This love Is not found among the priests, monks and nuns.

3. God insists upon this love throughout his Word. 17-18.

4. This love should be united with faith. 19.

SUMMARY OF THIS GOSPEL:

1. Here we have a clear, plain passage of Scripture against the temptation in securing our daily bread. To this the last part of the sixth chapter of Mathew refers.

2. When we read of the unbelief and distrust of the saints, it should minister strong consolation to us that we despair not, although we are also still weak in our faith.

3. God the Lord, nourishes us still today contrary to all comprehension of reason, if we only view it rightly. Ah, God will never forsake you, who perhaps have yet only a few days to live, for this God has so richly nourished you until the present through thirty, forty, or fifty years.

4. Every creature of God is good, if we receive and enjoy it with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer, as St.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:4.

JESUS FEEDS THE FOUR THOUSAND WITH SEVEN LOAVES AND A FEW SMALL FISHES.

PART. I. CONCERNING FAITH.

1. Beloved friends, I hope you thoroughly understand this Gospel; for you are now sufficiently established in the truth to know what we should expect in the Gospel and what is presented to us there, namely, the true nature and life of faith. Because of this Christ is pictured and represented so lovingly in all the Gospel lessons. Although his history and works are ever changing, yet the plain, simple faith remains ever the same. To-day’s Gospel paints to us the Lord in a way that we may fully know how we should esteem him, namely, that he is merciful, meek and loving; that he gladly helps everybody and freely associates and deals with all people. And such a picture as this faith really craves.

2. Therefore the Scriptures present to us a double picture; one is that of fear or the overpowering picture of the severe wrath of God, before which no one can stand; but must despair unless he has faith. In contrast with this the picture of grace is presented to us in order that faith may behold it and obtain for itself an agreeable and comforting refuge in God, with the hope that man cannot expect so much from God, that there is not still much more to be had from him.

3. You have often heard that there are also two kinds of possessions, spiritual and temporal. To-day’s Gospel treats of the temporal and bodily blessings, teaches us the faith of the child, and it is a picture for the weak, in that they should look to God for everything good, and that they might thus later learn to trust God and depend upon him for spiritual blessings.

For if we are instructed in the Gospel, how Christ feeds our stomachs, we can then conclude that he will also feed and clothe our souls. For if I cannot trust him to sustain my body, much less can I trust him to sustain my soul forever. For example, if I cannot trust a person that he will give me one dollar, how can I trust him that he will give me ten? If I cannot expect from a person that he will give me a piece of bread; much less could I have any hope, that he would give me a house and yard, and the whole earth.

4. Now, he who cannot, like the babe on its mother’s breast, have a child faith, will hardly hope that God will forgive him his sins and save his soul forever; for the soul is inexpressibly more than the stomach, for which also Christ has compassion as the Gospel to-day proves. Therefore St. Peter said correctly in 1 Peter 2:1-3: “Beloved brethren: Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, anal hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto Salvation; if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” For it is not enough that a babe should imbibe milk, but it must also grow large and strong, that it may learn later to eat bread and hard food.

5. But “to feed on milk” means, to taste the favor and the kind grace of God. “To taste the goodness of God” means, to experience it in one’s life.

For should I preach a hundred years of God, how kind, sweet and good he is, that he condescends to help man, and I have not yet myself tasted it through experience; thus all is still in vain and no one is in this way taught to trust God rightly. From this you can conclude what a rare person a true Christian is. For there are many who say they trust in God for their daily bread; but that floats only upon the tongue and hangs in the ears; it never enters the heart where it belongs.

6. Now let us observe in this example, what the life and nature of faith are.

The apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews 11:1, writes thus: “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” That is as much as to say, faith is the means by which one trusts in possessions he does not see, namely, that I should expect temporal things which I can neither see nor hear, but I must only hope for them; as is the case in today’s Gospel. There were many people together, about four thousand, who with their wives and children had had nothing to eat for the space of three days (I judge that can be called fasting), but were extremely hungry, far from home, without any provisions on which the body lives. Now the apostle says, faith is that through which I hope for things I cannot see.

Such a faith the great multitude of people here has; they see no food and yet they hope that God will nourish them.

7. Now, what does Christ do in this case? What attitude does he take to this transaction? He must not have had much tact, for he goes to the disciples and asks, how shall one feed all these? They reply, Oh, who will be able to feed such a great multitude of people with bread in the wilderness? But here you see how little human thoughts and faith harmonize; here you see, the wiser reason is, the less it accomplishes in the works of God. Therefore Christ asked his disciples that everyone might learn to know by experience what reason is, and acknowledge how reason and faith in no way agree. Here we learn to blindfold reason, when we begin to believe, and then give reason a permanent furlough.

8. Take an example: If I were a man who had a wife and children, and had nothing for them and no one gave me anything; then I should believe and hope that God would sustain me. But if I see that it amounts to nothing and I am not helped with food and clothing, what takes place? Then, as an unbelieving fool, I begin to doubt, and go and take whatever is at hand, steal, deceive, cheat the people and make my way the best I can and may.

See this is what shameless unbelief does. But if I am a believer then I close my eyes and say: O God, I am thy creature and thy handiwork and thou hast from the beginning created me. I will depend entirely upon you who cares more for me, how I shall be sustained, than I do myself; thou wilt indeed nourish me, feed, clothe and help me, where and when you know best.

9. Thus faith is a sure foundation, through which I expect that which I see not. Therefore faith must always have sufficient, for before it should fail the angels would have to come from heaven and dig bread out of the earth in order that believing persons should be fed. Yes, the heavens and the earth would have to pass away before God would let his believers lack clothing and the other necessaries of life. The comforting and powerful Word of the divine promise requires and demands this. David boasts of this in Psalm 37:25: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” And in the verses just preceding in Psalm 37:18-19 he says: “Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”

10. But when one inquires of reason for counsel it soon says: It is not possible. Yes, you must wait a long time until roasted ducks fly into your mouth, for reason sees nothing, grasps nothing, and nothing is present. Just so the apostles do also here who thought: Yes, who will provide food for so many, no one is able to do that; but had they seen a great pile of money and in addition tables laden with bread and meat, they would soon have discovered good counsel and been able to give good consolation; that would. have gone according to their thinking very reasonably. However, since they saw nothing they could find no counsel, but held it to be impossible that one should thus feed so many people, and especially since no provisions were at hand.

11. We have said enough concerning faith through which we entrust the stomach to God for his care, and believe that he will not allow us to come to distress because of the lack of temporal things. Now concerning spiritual blessings, when we are about to die, I wish also to say: then we will find and see before our eyes very death, and yet we would gladly wish to live; then we will see before us very hell, and yet we would gladly wish to possess heaven; then we will see God’s judgment, and yet we would gladly see his grace. In brief, we will not see a single one of the things we would like to have. No created thing can help us in the presence of death, hell and the judgment of God; and if I believe, I will say: Yes, faith is the fundamental principle by which I secure what I do not see; hence, if I believe, nothing can harm me. Although I see nothing now but death, hell and the judgment of God before my eyes, yet I must not look at them; but fully trust that God, by virtue of the power of his promise, not because of my worthiness, will give me life, salvation and grace. That is cleaving to God by faith in the right way.

12. This is here beautifully painted in the visible picture of the four thousand men who hang on God alone through the faith that says: yes, God will indeed feed us. Had they judged according to reason, they would have said’ Oh, we are so many, we are here in the desert, we have empty and hungry stomachs; nothing can help our condition. There was nothing of which they could speak; but they had a good refuge without any human disputing with God, they commended themselves to him and freely laid all their need upon him. Then Christ comes, before they have any care and before they ask him to come, and takes all more to heart than they do themselves, and says to his disciples: “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away fasting to their homes, they will faint on the way.”

13. Behold, what a sympathetic Christ we have, who even provides food for our poor stomachs. Here new hope is awakened and man is comforted through the words of Christ; as he says: They lie there and wait for me until the third day. I must give them also what they need. Here you see that all who thus faithfully cling to the Word of God will be fed by God himself; for that is the nature and the power of faith, which flows alone out of the Word of God.

14. Therefore, beloved friends, let us once make a beginning to believe; for unbelief is the cause of all sin and vice, which now have taken the upper hand in all stations of life. How does it come to pass that everywhere there are so many foolish women and rogues, so many rank imposters, thieves, robbers, usurers, murderers and sellers of indulgences? It all comes from unbelief. For such men judge alone according to human reason, and the reason judges only according to that which it sees; but what it does not see, it does not wish to lay hold of. Therefore, if it does not place its confidence in God through faith, then it must despair in itself and develop rogues and rascals. Observe, thus it comes to pass wherever men permit their reason to govern them, and are not ruled by faith.

PART 2. CONCERNING LOVE.

15. Now just as you have learned faith, so should we learn love; for Christ wishes to set before us a twofold picture, namely, a picture of faith, that we should not be over-anxious; also a picture of love, that, as he does to us, is anxious about our welfare, feeds us and gives us to drink and clothes us, only out of free love, not for the sake of his own advantage or because of our worthiness; so should we also do good unto our neighbor, freely and gratuitously, out of pure love, by which, as he is a Christ to you, you should thus also be a Christ to your neighbor.

16. Therefore you see that all the works of the priests, monks and nuns are vain and cursed; for they are not directed to the end to serve their neighbors; but only that they may merit much before God through their works. For true Christian works must be directed entirely and freely to the end that they be done for the good of our neighbor, only freely given and scattered broadcast among the masses; as Christ also did who cast his good deeds away freely for the people to scramble after, and gave his doctrine, word and life for the Church. Blessed are they who accept this giving with thanksgiving.

17. I say this only for the reason that you may see how all parts of the Gospel lessons tend in the direction and will have nothing more, and God also requires nothing more from us, than that we surrender ourselves to the service of our neighbor, and accordingly sustain him in the name of God and in the place of God, do him good and show him a service; for God does not need our good works, as Psalm 50:7-13 says: “Bear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; and thy burntofferings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?”

18. Just so he says to us also; behold, Israel, that is thou believing one, I am thy God and thou art not my God; I will give to you and not you to me.

Hear, Israel, I will not be angry with thee that thou dost not offer me any sacrifices; for what thou hast in thy barn, house and yard, that was all mine before it was thine; for I have stored it away there, Here he spoke very pointedly to the Jews who prided themselves highly on their sacrifices.

Now, since he rejects our offering, what will he then have? The Psalmist in the verses immediately following says: “Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” That means, I wish to have thy heart, rest thou in me and believe me to be a kind and gracious God, that I am thy God: then you will have enough.

Therefore he says also in the following Psalm 51:14-19: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it: thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

19. In this confidence and hope let thy faith run its course, to acknowledge God as thy friend, to cleave to him and in the greatest need to flee to him, and to one else. Believe it and expect it, then he will help thee, this thou shouldst not doubt; therefore in harmony with this, thou shouldst serve thy neighbor freely and gratuitously. These two thoughts are presented to us in this Gospel.

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The Feeding of the Multitude, by Norma Boeckler

Luther's Second Sermon for the  SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. MARK 8:1-9.


KJV Mark 8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.


CONTENTS:

AN ADMONITION, A CONSOLATION AND DOCTRINES.

PART 1. THE ADMONITION AND THE CONSOLATION.

The difference between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of the world. 1.

I. WHAT MOVED CHRIST TO GIVE THIS ADMONITION AND CONSOLATION.

The office of the ministry and the church.

1. Poverty and riches have at all times done great harm to the church and the preaching office. 4f.

2. The attitude of the world to the preaching office.

3. The punishment that visits those who despise the office of preaching. 6-8.

4. How and why the civil authorities should see to It that the office of preaching be well provided for and maintained. 9-12.

II. THE ADMONITION AND CONSOLATION IN THEMSELVES.

A. The admonition. 13.

B. The consolation.

1. The nature of this consolation.

2. The ground of this consolation. 15-16. The daily miracles of God. a. They are not inferior to other miracles. b. How and why the world does not esteem these daily miracles. c. What moved God to perform the extraordinary miracles in addition to those of every day. 18-20.

3. An objection, raised here, and its answer. 21-22.

4. How and why we should rightly lay hold of this consolation. 23-24.

PART 2. THE DOCTRINES.

I. THE PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES ARE:

1. Christ sincerely means all for the best with his followers. 25-26f.

Why Christ asks his disciples for counsel to feed the people, 27-28.

2. That nature and reason are found to be most miserable and helpless. 28-30. The foundation and cause of unbelief.

3. That we human creatures are sunk in very great unbelief. 31-32.

How and why we should be the enemies of unbelief.

4. That Christ is able to do and does do more than we can understand or believe. 33-34. The benefit of faith and the harm of unbelief.

5. That it is good and wholesome, when Christ tests us.

35. How a Christian should do In the time of need. 36.

II. OTHER DOCTRINES ARE:

1. That we should receive the gifts of God with thanks and let the blessing of God connected with them comfort us. 37f.

The miserable condition of the rich and of the miserly. 38.

The blessed state of persons who allow themselves to be satisfied with the gifts of God. 39-40.

A Christian should let the least God gives be dearer to him than all the treasures of misers. 40.

Why there is no blessing connected with all the scratching and raking together of the wealth of the world.

2. That Christ communicates his work and gifts through the means and service of human agencies.

3. Our possessions do not decrease by giving some of them to the poor.

43. The punishment of avarice and robbery.

4. That we should not waste God’s gifts.

45. Concerning wastefulness. a. It Is a shameful evil. b. The fruits and workings of this evil. 47-48.

PART 1. THE ADMONITION AND CONSOLATION.

1. To-day’s Gospel presents to us again both the doctrine and the consolation against the temptation in caring for the necessaries of this life, or the temporal support and maintenance of the Church upon the earth.

And faith belongs here since Christ came not for the purpose of establishing a government that may be called a political or a domestic kingdom, which were long ago established by God and given for the purpose of meeting our bodily needs. And reason itself here teaches how and from what source we can bring it to pass that everyone in his station may enjoy a livelihood, peace and protection, so that one may see before his eyes and have in his hands all the necessaries of life that he needs to maintain the temporal government. Therefore this did not claim the attention of Christ since it was not a part of his calling and office; but as his kingdom was to be a different government, in which all persons in all callings and offices, high and low, as sinners condemned before God to everlasting death, should be helped to the divine, eternal kingdom and life; the spiritual kingdom had to engage his attention while he passed by the other two, the civil, and the domestic.

2. Therefore it had to follow that his disciples, preachers and servants would have to suffer poverty because they could not outside of their service and office seek their livelihood as the rest of the world does, nor hope to become rich from their calling; in addition, that they, aside from this, would be persecuted by the world, which would oppose their preaching because it would not be in harmony with their understanding and prejudices. And thus the Christians in the world could not depend upon any sure guarantee for their peaceful life and protection; but had to live continually in uncertainty because of the world, and felt in danger and as restless as the waves of the sea because of that which they already had or might have. But should they have enough to eat and to drink and a place and a room where to live, they could not expect it from any other one than alone from Christ.

3. Now Christ knows this very well, therefore he arms and comforts his disciples with these and like examples and sayings in order that they might not despair. Although his kingdom has nothing to do with eating and drinking, building and caring for the needs of the body; yet they should not die from hunger. And this he again confirms in the passage of Matthew 6:33. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” For by to-day’s Gospel he proves that they, who followed him to hear his preaching, and followed him so faithfully that they continued with him three days in the desert, could not now very well return out of the desert without fainting and coming to poverty, need and distress on account of his Word. Yet since they sought first the kingdom of God and Christ had previously preached, prayed and accomplished that which pertains to the righteousness of God, there must follow also that which pertains to the body in order that they may learn to believe that they would not come to want and that they should expect from him all his Church needs for the maintenance of her bodily or external existence upon the earth.

4. It is true that in all ages of the Church two things have done and are doing great harm, namely, poverty and riches. For in the first place, we see the apostles and true bishops and preachers in such straightened circumstances, that no one gave them anything and they themselves were not able to acquire anything; hence everybody felt shy of such an office and no one wished to enter it. In the second place, when the church became extremely wealthy through great endowments and stipends and sat in all luxury, the ministers themselves neglected the office of preaching and the care of souls, and themselves became lords.

5. Just so it is also at present: Where true pastors and preachers are so poorly supported that no one donates anything to them, and moreover what they have is snatched out of their mouths by a shameless and unthankful world, by princes, noblemen, townsmen and farmers, so that they with their poor wives and children must suffer need, and when they die leave behind them pitiable, rejected widows and orphans. By this very many good-hearted and very clever people are more and more discouraged from becoming pastors and preachers. For all arts, trades and callings in life serve to the end that we may through them fortify ourselves against hunger and poverty; but with the office of the ministry the contrary is the case, whoever will per, form its duties faithfully, must expose himself to danger and poverty.

6. From this then will follow the ruin of the Church, in that the parishes will stand vacant, the pulpits be neglected and again preachers arrive who seek not faithfully God’s Word nor the kingdom of Christ; but who think, as they preach, what the people will gladly hear, so that they may continue in that direction and again become rich; and in this manner things will again go to ruin. Therefore also at present the great and powerful, especially the nobility, plan to keep their pastors and preachers under their feet in order that they may not again become rich, and lord it over them as they formerly experienced and are now overcautious. But they will not be able to bring it about as they plan.

7. How shall we now act in this matter and from what source shall we obtain preachers and pastors in order that the kingdom of Christ may be perpetuated? For neither poverty nor riches is good for the Church; mere poverty, hunger and anxiety the preachers cannot suffer; great possessions and riches they cannot stand. Poverty hinders the development of their personality; riches are in the way of them performing the duties of their work and office. But wherever it thus happens that support is not given, and the pulpit and the office of the pastor are left vacant, then will the world also see what it will have to enjoy because of such action.

For if each will consider the welfare only of his own house and seek how he may maintain himself and no one inquires how the Word of God and the office of the ministry are to be perpetuated, then will God also say as he said in the prophecy of Haggai 1:4-11, where the people also left the house of the Lord desolate, neglected God’s Word and the service of the temple, so that the priests and servants of the temple had to resort to work as farmers and learn to do other things, by which they could support themselves because nothing was given for their office and service.

Therefore he speaks thus: “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste? Now therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:

Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah.

Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house. Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.”

8. Behold, this is the punishment for despising the office of the ministry, when such punishment was the most gracious as it has been still in our day, and I would to God, that it might continue so. But when we esteem the Word of God so lightly and the ministers and preachers are so poorly supported that they are compelled to forsake their office and seek their bread through other occupations, and thereby also discourage others from entering this office, who otherwise are gifted for it and inclined to it; God not only sends famine and other great national calamities as now appear before our eyes, in order that no one’s purse may retain anything and no blessing and no provisions remain. But he takes the Word and the true doctrine entirely away, and in their stead permits fanatical spirits and false teachers to enter among them, by whom they are led astray and deceived before they are aware of it both as to their souls and property, and for their neglect they must contribute richly and most bountifully.

9. Therefore the world should be advised, if it will take advice, that the lords, the princes, the countries, the cities and all in general make efforts to provide a little for the necessaries of the house of God and the kingdom of God, as they must do for other offices and arts, in order that they may give their whole attention to them and obtain their daily bread from them, which are needed much more than other offices and arts. While one officer or judge is sufficient, likewise one jurist or physician can meet the needs of one city or more, and for a time of the entire country; we must have thousands of preachers for the various countries since the parishes and districts are so many; for children are daily born who must be baptized and educated, learn God’s Word and become Christians. From what source can ministers be had, if they are not reared and educated? Then the churches must either stand vacant and the people scatter and go astray, or the people receive and suffer from coarse mulelike characters and corrupters of the Word.

10. But woe unto all who contributed to bring about such a state or have not tried to prevent it, that God’s house had to become desolate; much more, however, those who have discouraged and hindered others from entering the ministry, or continuing in it; for such characters are worse than the Jews or Turks. However they are not to be excused because they allowed themselves to be discouraged from entering the ministry on account of poverty, for their greatest lack was in faith that Christ would notwithstanding give them their daily bread or nourishment for their bodies, which, although at times may be scanty and bitter, yet, you are to remember on the other hand how very much greater treasure it is that one receives a piece of bread into his hands in an exceptional way and through the special blessing of God, than all the riches and fullness of the world.

11. Therefore the civil government should especially try to do something here and to be helpful to our children and posterity, and not withdraw its hand and by its example hinder and deter others, and do Christendom an irreparable damage. How will you give an answer to God if you through your cursed avarice retard or hinder a single soul in its salvation; I will say nothing about hindering a whole city or country by your example, so that they may no longer possess the Word of God and the preaching of it? And he must indeed be a cruel, unmerciful and cursed person who does not help his own children in this way, much more if he hinders it. For if we wish to be Christians we should positively know that we are called to do this, and it is the command of God that we all do it with both our hands and with all our powers, that the house of God may not become desolate nor the pulpits stand vacant and his kingdom cease, and that both we ourselves and the young people be not robbed of their salvation.

12. To be sure, in the Old Testament it was obligatory on everybody, and commanded by Moses, that the tenth part or the tithe be given for this purpose from all their income, Leviticus 27:30f. How much more should we Christians do for this cause, which is the most necessary, and without which no one upon the earth gives and does anything that Christ’s kingdom may continue built up, so that we allow his servants to eat with us in order that we may remain in the same kingdom of God, and give such grace and salvation to our children as an inheritance. If we do not do this then he will as a reward of our ingratitude put an end to our avarice and devouring spirit, so that we ourselves will soon perish; because such great possessions and provisions we have not, but that God can permit rust to enter among them through famine, Turkish war and other national plagues and everything be consumed, ravished or otherwise destroyed in a single year.

13. Thus will Christ warn us first of all here through his own example that everyone is required to help the kingdom of God and his Word with temporal provisions for the body; in case he himself cannot or will not beck)me a minister of the Gospel.

14. Following this he also comforts those who are in the ministerial office, that they become not distressed or alarmed through their present want or poverty; but that they may know that Christ cares for them and will nourish them even in their poverty and will never permit them to suffer need and want, but will finally provide the richer bounty for them; yea, he has already thought of all things before and provided for them before they thought from what source they should obtain what they need.

15. For he shows indeed forcibly in this example that he is a rich and powerful lord and provider; yea, he is a rich miller and baker, better than any other upon the earth that has learned his trade perfectly. Yes, he does indeed very much work instantly and aside from and without any human help. He plows, harvests, threshes, grinds and bakes in a twinkling of the eye. For it is indeed a miracle and beyond the comprehension of reason that so many thousand men, not counting the women and children, were fed with seven loaves, that they all were satisfied, and yet some were left over; but he did it so quickly by one word, when he only touched the bread and gave to his disciples to distribute; there is at once ground to flour, baked and everything prepared for so many thousand persons and even more. He must be a fine king (as the five thousand said whom he also fed in a like manner, John 6:14), him we would also wish to have as our king, who should lead a multitude of people to the field and care for them, so that one could at all times reach into the basket or into the pocket, and richly feed and pay a whole multitude.

16. Now he can do that and in him we have such a king. Where he reaches there all is full, and where he gives there all must be sufficient and overflowing. Thus in Matthew 17:27 he told Peter to go and take a shekel out of the mouth of a fish. Who prepared or minted the silver there or who would seek there in the water and even in the mouth of the fish for money? But he can create it and take it when and where and as he wishes; yea, can also bring bread and water out of the rock with which to feed the whole world; for we see everywhere he does so daily and everything that the world has comes about only by such miracles which are not less miraculous, as St. Augustine says, than this miracle.

17. We are, to be sure, thus familiar with the fact that corn grows yearly out of the earth, and through this familiarity we are so blinded that we do not esteem such work. For what we see daily and hear, that we do not regard as miraculous; and yet it is even as great; yea, if one should speak correctly, it is a greater miracle that God should give us corn out of the sand and the stone, than that he should here feed a multitude with seven loaves. For what is the dry sand but crushed stones, or a stone other than sand and earth welded together; but how can bread which we eat come out of stones, and yet it grows only out of the sand of the earth? In like manner everything that grows, and all the animals give to us, each according to his own nature; whence does it come but out of the earth and dust?

18. These are even the miracles which have been established from the beginning of the world and daily continue, so that we are entirely overwhelmed by them, without our eyes and senses feeling them, since they are so common that God must at times, as he does here, perform not a greater, but a special miracle, which is extraordinary by which he awakens us and through such an individual and special miracle he shows us and leads us into the daily miracles of the whole world.

19. No farmer can deny that his corn grows out of mere stones, as also Moses in Deuteronomy 32:13 says: “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he did eat the increase of the field; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” What does that mean? How can honey and oil grow out of rock and stone? Now it does happen that both corn and trees which bear the sweetest fruits are rooted in stones and sand, and out of that they grow and from nowhere else do they receive their sap and strength. If it should take place before our eyes now that oil and honey should flow out of a column of rock, then the whole world would speak of this as the miracle of miracles; but since we daily walk over the fields and land where they grow before our eyes, there we see nothing and appreciate nothing.

20. Since we now cast to the winds the daily works of God, which are nothing but miracles, he must cause us to gape at these special and like miracles, and let them be proclaimed as special miracles in order that a Christian may let such miracles be to him a writing and a book, from which he learns to behold all the works of God, and satisfies his heart with them, and thinks thus: Why shall I be worried with anxiety and care on account of temporal need and provision? From what source does God give us the corn in the field and all fruits, since the world with all her wisdom is not able to create a straw, a leaf or a little flower? Since Christ, my Lord and God, does such things daily, why then shall I be worried, or doubt as to whether he can or’ will sustain my bodily existence?

21. Here you may reply: Yes, how does it then come about since he is such a king who feeds the whole world so bountifully, that he permits his Christians so often to suffer from want and poverty in the world? For he should indeed care for his own people bountifully above all others.

Answer: Here one must understand how the kingdom of Christ is constituted; for he will by this show us, as I said at the beginning, that his kingdom upon the earth is preeminently not a temporal kingdom, which consists in how we here upon the earth may eat, drink, keep house, care for the body, and moreover where all the necessaries of this life must be regulated and provided for. But he has founded a spiritual kingdom, in which one should seek and find divine and eternal possessions, and so constituted the same that it would be richly provided for and perpetuated by the Word of God, the sacraments, the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that it would not lack in anything that serves us in securing and maintaining our eternal life. Therefore he lets the world in its government have and take the necessaries and provisions of life, and thereby provides richly for it. But Christ exhorts his Christians to place their hope and consolation not in temporal things, but to seek the kingdom of God, in which they shall have sufficient forever and shall be truly rich. That is the first.

22. In the second place Christ desires to teach his Christians to exercise faith in the things which pertain to the temporal life and to their temporal possessions, in a way that they see him here even in their hands and expect from him also the necessaries of this life; for since the Church upon the earth is his Church and shall remain so, he must provide for her, for her body, for her food, her drink, her clothing, her buildings, her locations and other necessary things. Yea, he has indeed created all that the world contains and produces for the sake of pious Christians; he gives and maintains all still only for their sake, as long as the world stands, in order that they should richly enjoy these things in this life, and have no need. But since the devil rules in the world and he is the enemy of Christ and of his Church, and since they themselves do not seek the things of this world, they must suffer that to be taken out of their mouths, and robbed of, which belongs to them. Here now Christ must help his Church and give where she suffers need and want, that she may continue to exist, that it may be called miraculous giving; and the Christians acknowledge that it is given by him and that he shows forth continually in his Christendom such special miracles, so that they notwithstanding will have something to eat, drink, etc. , even if the world gives nothing and grants no favors; but takes from her, and is jealous and hateful because of what God gives her.

23. Behold, we should now also learn to believe that we have a Lord in the person of Christ, who provides for our stomachs and for our temporal lives, and thereby thrusts aside and conquers the cares of unbelief. For he excites us through many examples to faith, as it is his earnest wish that we should be a people, who have no care for our own person as pertains to both the spiritual and bodily, or the temporal and eternal (for here he is not speaking concerning the cares of the office or of the labor which is commanded everyone by God and laid upon him, in which he is to be true and faithful); in order that we may do with cheerful hearts and with confidence in him what is commanded us, especially that which belongs to the kingdom of God, and if need and want stare us in the face, that we permit such things to be commanded us. And a Christian should comfort and strengthen himself thus: I know, and have learned from the Gospel that I have a Lord who can make out of one loaf as many loaves as he will, and he does not need in order to do it either a farmer or a miller or a baker, and he gives to me when and as much as I require, although I do not at once know or understand, yea, do not even think about it, how or when and whence he shall come to my help.

24. The text of this gospel also now shows how Christ feels and speaks when he sees the people who follow him and cannot return home without fainting, when he calls the disciples to himself and has a little counsel with them, he begins and says: “I have compassion on the multitude.” And he adds the cause when he says: “Because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat,” etc.

PART 2. THE DOCTRINES.

A. THE CHIEF DOCTRINES.

25. Here tell me, if the multitude had sent an embassy to Christ to report on their need, could they have formulated their report as well as Christ himself here thinks it out and holds it before his disciples? For how would they or could they paint it better or allege stronger reasons to move him, than to have said: Oh, beloved Lord, have compassion on the poor multitude of people, men, women and children, who have followed thee so far in order to hear thee? In the second place, consider that they have now remained and continued with thee for three days. In the third place, remember that they have nothing to eat and are in the desert. In the fourth place, if you send them away fasting they must faint on the way before they arrive home, especially the weak men and the women and children. In the fifth place, consider also that some have come far, etc. Behold, Christ reflected upon all this himself before anyone speaks with him and has himself formed the prayer so beautifully in his own heart. Yes, he is distressed on their account before they think of praying to him, and earnestly discussed with the disciples their need and gave counsel what to do in their behalf.

26. What then is all this but a purely living sermon, proving and witnessing that Christ is so earnestly and heartily concerned about us, and before we can propose anything to him, he looks into our hearts better than we ourselves can, so that no mortal person could speak with another more heartily. For he does not wait until someone says to him: Oh, Lord, have compassion on the multitude, think how they have held out, how far they are from home, etc. Yes, he says, I have compassion on them already and have thought over it all before. But listen, he says to the disciples, what counsel do you give, what shall we do for them in order that the multitude may be fed?

27. Now this counseling and consulting with the disciples took place, first, in order that he should thus reveal his own heart and thoughts. For it must not remain hid in his heart only, that he had compassion and anxiety for the people; but it should come to light so that it could be heard and seen, and we might learn to believe that we have the same Christ who is ever concerned about our bodily needs, and in whose heart are ever written in living letters the words, “I have compassion on my poor people,” and he shows it in his acts and works, so that he earnestly wishes that we only acknowledge it and hear this Word of the Gospel, as if he spoke it yet this hour and daily whenever we feel our need, yea, much sooner than we ourselves begin to complain about it.

For he is eve,’, and remains forever, the same Christ and has the very same heart, thoughts and words concerning us as he had at that time, and has neither yesterday nor at any other time been different, and will not to-day nor tomorrow become a different Christ. Now here we have a very beautiful picture and tablet which paint to us the very depths of the Savior’s heart, that he is a faithful, merciful Lord, to whom our needs appeal to the very quick, and he sees deeper into our wants than we are able to pray and present to him. Shame on our abominable unbelief, for we hear and see this, and yet in spite of it, we cannot fully trust in Christ.

28. Yes, that is just the reason he began this interview and asked the disciples for counsel, namely, that we might see our own unbelief and foolishness and chastise ourselves. For here you see how he considers their need much better and more fully, and gives counsel concerning it, than we ourselves are able to do, and no person in his own danger or need can give Christ counsel how he might be rescued out of his distress. And although Christ had already deliberated and concluded what he would do, yet he asks them for their advice through which they see how he cares for them and what they themselves are able to advise him. Here it is revealed what the counsel of men can do when men undertake to be the counsellors of God and of Christ. Here they all stand like the musicians who have ruined the dance, they have gone in their human wisdom and considered it with their financiers. Here are four thousand men and indeed as many women and children. Where should one receive sufficient for them to eat, especially here in the desert, unless they eat grass and hay?

29. Thus you hear the answer of human wisdom when appealed to for counsel and how different it is from faith; for it does not know anything to say to this, than to conclude in a common and dry manner, there is no way to help the situation. That is what nature and reason at all times propose where need and want reign; when they should trust in God and expect from him counsel and help, they fall instantly upon the blasphemous words:

Why, it is impossible, it is a lost cause, etc. When the peril of death and danger visit us, then reason thinks and concludes instantly, it is not possible to live; when there is no bread in the house, it is impossible to ward off hunger; and nothing but mere doubt is where reason cannot see at once before its eyes and grasp that with which the situation can be helped.

Reason is not so wise as to think that Christ knows yet of some counsel and help, since he himself takes interest in our distress and does not doubt, but speaks as he does here, as one who will counsel and help, and not permit his people to go from him fasting, and faint on the way.

30. Yes, reason is not pious enough to give Christ this honor, and believe that he knows how to counsel and help more than it realizes, and to confess its lack of understanding and ability, and thus bring the matter home to him and covet his counsel and help. This is why we have so many fools and wish, in case God should deal with us, to reckon and measure in an ordinary way according to our own ability and powers. Therefore where he fails, we must indeed doubt; as here the apostles calculate and measure by their reason their food and provisions over against the great multitude, and their need compared with their ability. Then the only result will be that they are compelled to say: Here there is no other advice to give than that we let them go where they decide, where they may buy and find food; they may do in this matter as they are able, either faint or continue to live.

31. Thus you see also in the disciples and apostles of Christ our great and deep rooted unbelief, what great ignorant fools we are, compared with the counsel and works of God. And we believe nothing at all unless it goes according to our thoughts and ideas, and think he knows no counsel and does nothing for us where we are not able first to see and calculate how it is possible. Yet he deals with us thus for the very purpose of showing us where our counsel, wisdom and ability end, so that he does a much higher order of work for us than we are able to think and esteem as possible, or can pray for and wish; so that if he should not deal with us in any other way than according to our thoughts and counsels, he would never be able to do any divine work or be able to prove anything divine to us, and every minute we would have to doubt, sink and perish without God.

32. Therefore it is also much better that he, without our counsel, yea, contrary to it, should go ahead and do, as the Lord and God of all creatures should do; for we still would not counsel or say anything more on the subject than the apostles here said in this case, that it is impossible and a lost cause, to feed so great a multitude. Yet however he thus shows himself friendly in that he asks them for counsel and lets them advise on the subject and can have patience with them, lets them begin thus in order that they themselves might be forced to see later how foolish they acted and be ashamed of their unbelief since they experienced and saw before their eyes his miracle.

33. From this we should also learn to become an enemy of our unbelief and oppose it, which continually bestirs itself in times of need and danger, and at once despairs of all consolation and help, where it does not see before its eyes help and counsel in our own human strength. But we should accustom ourselves to think that Christ is able to do, and does do, more and greater things than we can understand or believe; for our hands and strength are not indeed created to the end that they should help us to corn and bread in time of famine and want, to life in time of death, and make something out of nothing. But he is the Lord who can do this and does do it as work that comes natural to him. Therefore he says, turn thine eyes and thoughts from your hands and your ability upon me; my fingers are adapted to the end that they should do it. You are Only to believe, and where it is not possible according to your counsel, then let it be possible according to my counsel and my power.

34. This Christ teaches everywhere in all his miracles and still to-day in his wonderful works which he does in his Church. And yet he cannot exalt himself in our estimation to the degree that we in strong confidence and sure courage commit our need to his counsel and power and let it be commended to him; through which we are helped both out of our need and want, and become free from all anxious care and fear, by which we make our need greater and severer than it is in itself. And we have in this a twofold benefit and gain: A peaceful, quiet heart and conscience and in addition consolation and help, and moreover, that we thus render to him the best sacrifice and divine service. On the other hand, if we do not do this, it cannot be agreeable or pleasing to him, and the blame is no one’s but our own that we worry and plague ourselves and yet accomplish nothing by such worry; for we must nevertheless let it remain in his power, since no one of us is able even to change a little smallpox mark on his body although he should worry himself to death over it.

35. However, it is still well for us that Christ permits us to be tested and disciplined in this way, and through our vain counsels and suggestions, our struggling and doubting, he teaches us to acknowledge our exigency; otherwise we would never realize that we were in need and would never learn either to believe or to pray. Therefore he shows and reveals here to his disciples their present want and extremity before they themselves think of it.

36. In like manner also for a time God sends us temptation, terror, misfortune and suffering in order that we may feel our need and become conscious how utterly unable we are either to counsel or help ourselves; but he does so that we may learn not to go ahead heedlessly according to our feelings, and say: Ah, whither now? Here all is lost. Where shall we get something? That “whither?” and “where?” take out of thy mouth and heart, and instead, run here to Christ and expect what he will say and give to thee. For the fact that you feel your need will not hurt you; he lets you feel it in order that you may experience and feel also his help, his beneficence and his rescuing power, and that you learn thus to believe and to trust him.

B. OTHER DOCTRINES.

37. We have said enough now concerning the summary and central doctrine of to-day’s Gospel. Further there are also given in the history of this Gospel many good points. First, that Christ asks, how many loaves have ye, and he takes the same along with the few fishes, for which he thanks God and says grace, and gives them to his disciples to divide and set before the people. Here he teaches, first, that we should use that which God bestows upon us, however small it may be, and accept it with thanksgiving, and know that Christ will also bless it that it may be efficient and sufficient, yea, even multiply it in our hands; for it is pleasing to God when we acknowledge his gifts and thank him for them, and he adds his blessing so that it becomes better and reaches farther than the great riches and superfluous possessions of the unbelievers; as the Scriptures say in Psalm 37:16, “Better is a little that the righteous hath than the abundance of many wicked.” Thus also Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich.” That is, what is given by God and received with a good conscience. And St. Paul also explains this in 1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain,” etc.

38. For what do they have who hold such great possessions without faith and without Christ, and what do they gain, except that they rob themselves of God and his blessings? And besides they are idolators and captives of mammon, so that they dare not touch their own possessions; and they neither let others use them nor do they use them with a good conscience themselves, so that they cannot enjoy the little they eat, because of their avarice and wicked conscience, in which they only think of how to scratch together more and more through their cruel business and trickery; and yet they must ever live in danger and worry, so that they have no peace, neither before God nor before man. They must see and hear, and experience so much with their great wealth and among their own children and in other ways, that their heart sickens; and thus they throw themselves into the snares and pains of the devil, as he also says, out of which they cannot be delivered.

39. On the other hand St. Paul says: He is truly a rich man who fears God and lives in faith, and is contented in this blessedness with that which God gives him, and he possesses it with God and in honor without injustice or damage to anyone; for he has a very great treasure, called God’s blessing, even in his poverty, so that lie must still have enough; for he knows that we all have no more out of life than what we eat and drink, and as we say, to our fill and satisfaction. And yet it does not depend upon our anxious care where God does not give success; as <19C702> Psalm 127:2 says’ “It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of toil (German, care); for so he giveth unto his beloved sleep.” And Christ himself in Luke 12:15 says’ “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

40. Therefore a Christian should think much more of a dollar that God gives him than of all the great treasures of the rich misers upon the earth; for he has this beautiful treasure in his own home that is called godliness, and he has enough or he is satisfied, that is, he has a peaceful, quiet heart in God.

Thus also <19B201> Psalm 112:1-3 says of such a pious and godly person’ “Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth’ the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his hour; and his righteousness endureth forever.” What kind of riches and glory and sufficiency is that, the ungodly world says? What are two dollars in the house and on the farm of a poor Christian who has his house full of children, compared with that of a person who has ten, twenty, fifty thousand dollars in his chest? Yes, and what estimate do you put upon the fact that a pious person has the blessing from God, which you cannot buy either with your hundred thousand dollars nor can you secure it with all the possessions of the world? A dollar with a good conscience is more beautiful in the home and shines more gloriously before God and is of more value to him than all the crowns and kingdoms of empires, which do not enjoy their large possessions with great quiet and with a joyful conscience, and at last are not able to secure from them more than the poorest beggar possesses.

41. But the world will not believe this although it sees it before its own eyes. It goes ever ahead with its raking and scraping together of riches and will let no one be satisfied with what he has, every man desires more than his fellow and seeks riches (as it must naturally follow) by robbing, stealing, oppressing the poor. It also follows from this that there is no blessing or success with such riches; but only the curse of God, misery, misfortune and heart agony.

42. In the second place, Christ commands the disciples to set the loaves before the multitude, by which he shows he will administer his work and gifts through the instrumentality of human agencies. He thus also teaches those who have an office or commission (especially the office of the ministry) and those who stand before others, that they should, in obedience to Christ, faithfully and conscientiously serve the people by cheerfully and meekly giving of their own and imparting to others what God entrusted and gave to them. And especially does he teach them to be of use and comfort to the poor flock of Christians by their good example of faith and of love, and thus strengthen their faith and love. For he here shows how he gives and will give rich blessings to the end that such office and service may accomplish much good and bring forth much fruit. Just as it takes place here, when they received from Christ not more than seven loaves and a few fishes, and they began to distribute them, he multiplies them more and more in their hands, and it more than reaches, so that there is an abundance left over.

43. Let us also learn that the gifts and good things, which God gives, are not profaned, if they are thus used in helping the poor in acts of charity, as Christ in Luke 6:38 also promises and says: “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom.” And the experiences of many pious people everywhere have shown those who liberally instituted and gave before our time charitable gifts for the ministerial office, schools, the support of the poor, etc. And God gave them for doing so good times, peace and quiet; hence the proverb arose among the people and was confirmed: One loses no time by going to church; giving alms does not impoverish; possessions received unjustly do not increase, etc.

44. Hence one sees in the world to-day the very opposite; since such unsatiable avarice and robbery reign, no one gives anything either to his God or to his neighbor; and everyone only scratches to himself what is given by others, and they even drain the poor people of their very sweat and blood; and God gives us in return as a reward famine, discontent and all kinds of misfortune until at last we devour ourselves among one another, or we all, the rich and the poor, the great and the small, are devoured by others.

45. Let us also notice the last part of this Gospel, what the gathering and the preserving of the broken pieces that remained over, teach us; for it is God’s pleasure that we do not squander his gifts uselessly; but be economical and prudent with them, and use the abundance which he gives faithfully for our benefit and needs, and preserve them for the future when we may further have use for them. That is honoring the precious food and not permitting the crumbs to lay under the table; just as our fathers taught their children from this example and added the proverb: “He who saves when he has will find something when he needs it,” etc.

46. For it is a malignant, shameless vice and great contempt of the gifts of God, that the world is now over-flooded everywhere with cloisters, pomp and expenditure of money for everything far beyond its ability to pay. From this then must indeed follow such robbing, stealing, usury, hoarding and pinching by which the country and the people, rulers and subjects, are ruined as a punishment. For in this no one will be less than another, and neither will the lords allow themselves to be checked, nor are they able to check others; for since they mass together one vice upon another, so must we be visited with one punishment after another.

47. St. Paul says, 1 Timothy 6:17, “The living God giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” That is certainly true if we use them as given to enjoy, and we should not shamefully expend and destroy that which we have in abundance and cannot enjoy either in our need or in our pleasure, and even if such is expended, ravished and destroyed in an unchristian manner, and later the poor have their little tort, from their teeth by our greed, gluttony and avarice. In this way we merit that God does not permit us to enjoy that which we have raked together, extorted and saved by pinching in great superabundance. For all this is hardly enough with which we can fill the open jaws of hell. No lord has so much land and so many people, no land so much money, that they are able to support one prince more; for a prince must have much more for banking, for sports, for display in dress, etc. , than his people and country can afford. The jaws of avarice can devour property of a prince more than a whole city can give him, and yet no person is happy or better because of it. And all is devoured in a heap while there is lack everywhere in those things we need for the church and the school, for the government and the common advantage of all, for our own honor, nourishment and necessities.

48. Summary. It cannot be called any more enjoying the gifts of God, since he gives them so richly and overabundantly to the end for us to enjoy, even if the Elbe and the Rhine flowed with nothing but gold, and all the lords and princes could make their country nothing but mountains of silver. For man will not use them in the praise of God and enjoy them for himself, but only for the dishonor of God and for the destruction of the blessings given.

No one has any thought about advising the saving of anything for posterity, but all live as if they would gladly destroy everything at once. In all this work of destruction he will also help us, since we wish nothing different.

The explanation of this history is sufficiently treated in the Postil sermon for the Sunday Laetare, where you may review it.

We have both colors of Calladiums under the maple tree.

The problem with summer weather is the rapid blooming of the roses. The calladiums are just out of the ground now, several months after being planted. But roses are blooming and trying to form seed right away.

KnockOut roses grow and bloom with the greatest speed, so I have to prune them almost as rapidly. We had a heavy rainfall, so most of my work yesterday was cutting the fading roses off all the bushes. I have a lot of children to tend now.

Falling in Love roses have a white reverse side, so they glow in the sunlight.

The most fun yesterday was cutting all the best Falling in Love roses. We have an entire row of them, and they seem a bit slow to develop their blooms. Our helper called them "the nastiest roses" because of their thorn-encrusted canes. I told him, "That is the toughest rose of all to handle, a lesson for us all." He laughed at that. The rose is pink and white, giving it a glowing look in the sunshine.

I leave KnockOut roses on the bush a little longer, for color, but I will soon cut each bush by 50% and let them start over. That gives them a boost for growth and a chance to have all new blooms at the same time.

I do not like wearing gloves when gardening, so I wear the scars of rosarians - scratches and bleeding cuts, tiny thorns embedded in my fingers.

Sassy reminded me of my duty to take her out on a morning walk, humid enough for mildew to form on us as we went out.

The birds and squirrels were waiting for breakfast after the walk, so I filled two feeders for them. The area around the feeders has become a jungle of field corn, sunflowers, and Butterfly Bush. I felt like Indiana Jones trying to reach the feeders, and I was coated with dew once I pushed my way through.

We now get plenty of traffic from the chickadees, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. Just yesterday I watched as Mrs. Cardinal ate one sunflower seed after another. Extremely shy, the cardinals stop by every day now, and our extra food makes their household healthier and more prosperous.

John Paul II continues to be a productive rose bush, but fades quickly in a vase.

Warning and Consolation

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Therefore Jerome and Erasmus do Paul an injustice when they take the words “to his face” to mean “only according to the outward appearance”; they maintain that Paul did not oppose Peter sincerely, but that he did so with complaisant pretense, since others would have been offended if he had remained completely silent. But “to his face” means “in his presence”; for he opposed Peter openly, not in a corner but in the very presence of Peter and with the entire church standing by.When he says, “to his face,” this is aimed especially against those poisonous spirits who slander those who are absent but do not dare open their mouths in the presence of these people. That is what the false apostles did; he touches them obliquely here, because they did not dare slander him in his presence; they did so only in his absence. “I did not,” he says, “speak evil of Peter in the way; but I opposed him candidly and openly, not because of any pretense, ambition, or other human affection or mental disease, but because he himself was deserving of attack.”

"You are not the Pope, Peter."

Luther, as always, showed how important it was to address doctrinal issues directly, rather than pussy-foot around and attack opponents ad hominem.

The executives and professors of the Lutheran sects follow the Roman model quite closely, and this toxic brew becomes ever more poisonous with the bitterness concentrating as the numbers evaporate. They call upon their authority based on being there "at the beginning" - even if the founding was only a few years or decades ago.

Paul addressed Peter face-to-face because the issue was the truth of the Gospel, not the papal infallibility of Rocky (as his name would be rendered in the vernacular). 

Luther did not have the opportunity to meet everyone face-to-face, so he addressed Rome through various writings. Our Revolution took place the same way, with the Founders and the British Loyalists addressing each other in pamphlets.

Naturally Rome has always said, "How dare anyone question the Throne of St. Peter!" Over the years, the Pope has increased his claims of infallibility and authority, placing Himself (yes, they use the divine pronouns) above any Council of the Church. 

The Church of Rome can no longer get away with burning people at the stake, torturing them, and placing them in galleys to serve as slaves rowing the ships. France took care of their Huguenot problem that way - and never recovered. 

The more insecure the rule, the greater the braying and posturing of the leaders. 

Bee Balm is very attractive to bees, beneficial insects, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Last year I planted some Bee Balm and saw a bloom or two - from the red ones. The red ones went wild this year, so we mowed them down for now. They are a mint and therefore spread easily.

Purple Bee Balms started slowly and built up last year. My main plant was in the rose garden along the Gardener's fence. All of the sudden it bloomed with large purple blossoms. At one point seven bumblebees were working the flowers at once.

Our chiro's secretary loved the purple flowers with the medicinal aroma, so I did a root division today. I planted two Bee Balms in a new place, front and back, and soaked two sets in the rainwater barrel near the roses. I had gallon buckets, so I was able to hand her the chance to have a row of them blooming by next year. She asked for slips, which have to be rooted, then planted. "Go big, or go home," they say.

One Bee Balm went in the hole created when I moved a Mountain Mint into the main rose garden. I was a little leery of the Mountain Mint taking over, but that is more likely with the Bee Balm (Horse Mint).

Mountain Mint is famous for the frenzy of beneficial insects flying around it all the time when the blooms are out.

The Mountain Mint was getting crowded and overlooked, so I placed that in the hole left by a rose that never woke up. That rose got so many pruning cuts and rainwater that it proved no life was left in it. That happens. A rose does not always come out of dormancy. The non-growing roses (4) were replaced with 7 new ones.

The Mountain Mint - earlier buried alive - has a structure around it to keep us from stepping on it. If I want to protect a new plant, I fit cardboard around the base, cover the cardboard with mulch, and set up small logs as landmarks. Not every plant has the vivacity to emerge from newspaper and mulch. When I saw its tender leaves reaching into the light, I twisted one leaf off to smell it. Think peppermint times ten = Mountain Mint.




Clearly God created a lot of beneficial creatures - and plants to host them in the garden. An article on beneficial bugs mentioned that Borage (aka Bee Bread, related to Comfrey) attracts a wide variety of beneficial insects when it is planted. Mrs. I loves to eat the flowers, so I plant them by the front door and also along Mrs. Wright's fence. They drop seed easily and new ones start, but they are not invasive.



At this point I have 95% perfect roses with no spraying and no man-made fertilizer. A wide variety of flowers are blooming at all times, from dandelions and clover to Crepe Myrtle, tomatoes, beans, and buckwheat.

My maple tree area is plagued with grass, which I tried to removed several times before. Almost Eden suggested using buckwheat to squeeze out the grass. Buckwheat is so pushy that it can be used to displace weeds while flowering constantly to host the beneficial insects. Some buckwheat is flowering from what I planted last year.

So I ordered more buckwheat.

Buckwheat illustrates what is just as true with doctrine. An untended yard or garden will be taken over by weeds in short order. My neighbor said field weeds were taking over our backyard before we moved in. The residents did not mow very often, so the coarse weeds grew, sending down taproots or spreading outward with stolons and seed. Close and frequent mowing removed the weeds, and clover took over almost 100% from the heavy rains last summer.

The Lutheran Church and the Protestant denominations are over-run with false doctrine because the Synod Presidents, District Presidents, Bishops, and Supervisors chose to enjoy the perks of the office rather than bear the yoke of the office.

Teaching sound doctrine is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word. If you want to feel the blast of opposition and the sting of personal insults, often from so-called friends, just insist on sound doctrine replacing the false teaching deliberately and eagerly promoted by church leaders, church professors, and church publishing houses.

Two Wolves Story

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Two Doctrines Are Like Two Kinds of Plants
Sound doctrine and false doctrine are like the plants, the wolves.

I constantly work to feed, water, and protect the good plants. The weeds are aggressive bullies but sterile. They produce seed and fruit, but no one wants their seed, their fruit, their leaves. I yank the weeds, cut them at their base, cover them up to let them rot away.

False doctrine is fed by the timidity and and ignorance of the clergy and laity. They feed the church structure, so the church structure grows. They let the leaders grow fat and alcoholic with the easy and high pay of their positions, which further insulate them from any criticism. The rule is - show extreme deference to the leaders - but do they show any deference to the Word of God? Just the opposite is true. They will destroy a congregation to get even with a few people who cross them. They will ban books, as happened in the days of Crypto-Calvinism, for teaching Biblical doctrine.

Their mouths are full of honey when talking to the rich, who love to pay for financial absolution of their sins, indulgences without the name or shame.

Pokeweed grows in sidewalk cracks but zooms to 9 feet tall in the garden, large, fruitful, with toxic berries loved by birds.