These are some brief things to consider about the pet dogma of WELS, the ELS, and the LCMS - commonly called Universal Objective Justification, but also called Objective Justification, Universal Justification or--to be honest--Universalism.

• The real founder of the LCMS Perryville branch was Martin Stephan, who never finished a college degree. He did not care to study Latin and Greek, but spent his time reading the literature of Pietism. He was not qualified to be a pastor, but the unique Pietistic congregation was allowed to extend him a call, St. John in Dresden.
• CFW Walther completed a bachelor's degree at Leipzig University, which was entirely rationalistic at the time. Walther joined various Pietistic circles, first the Kuhn group and then the Stephan group of young clergy and professionals.
• Stephan demanded absolute obedience to him among the young clergy who followed him. Any dissent was addressed with punishment and a forced apology and submission to Stephan's rule.
• Walther's concept of justification came from Stephan, and it never varied after that. Not from Luther. Not from the Book of Concord. Not from Gerhard or Calov - but from Martin Stephan, semi-educated Pietist, syphilitic adulterer, spiritual tyrant.
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• The double justification language of UOJ--dearly loved and copied throughout the Synodical Conference--comes from the Calvinist translation of the Halle Pietist Georg C. Knapp. Leonard Woods was a famous Calvinist whose translation dominated American theology for a century. Walther liked the Woods terms, which the Germans had copied back in the Homeland, and so it spread like kudzu on a warm summer day.
• Stephan's limited education included Halle University, where Knapp was the last of the Pietists before rationalism completely took over the school.
• Halle University was central to American Lutheranism, from Muhlenberg, founder of the ULCA or LCA tradition to Stephan to Adolph Hoenecke, the WELS dogmatician. The Norwegians were Pietistic and so were the Swedes, even though the Swedes named their synod Augustana, after the Augsburg Confession.
• Walther wanted to be the big dog in the LCMS and certainly taught his UOJ, but the LCMS was quite willing to print a justification by faith catechism in German in 1905. They still sell a KJV catechism which is entirely lacking in UOJ.
• WELS is equally hypocritical, expelling Pastor Paul Rydecki for teaching justification by faith, but only playing patty-cake with VP Paul Kuske for the same "crime."
• The Gausewitz (WELS) catechism, used by the entire Synodical Conference, did not teach UOJ, which is why there has been so much conflict from the addled leaders trying to force UOJ on their sect.

  Rydecki was kicked out while Kuske was relieved of his precious emeritus label. Oh. Oh.

No wonder Concordia Ft. Wayne is a hotbed of Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Sugar Snap Peas - note the dragon claws prized in Hong Kong.

My Aunt Grace Noel had me opening pea pods when I was a kid on their farm. That struck me as a lot of work for a truly delicious vegetable. I switched to edible pod peas and our family ate them raw all the time.

I am dying to plant all the seeds I have, but a look ahead says that peas are the only option for now. Peas love the cold and tolerate snow on them. That is why LeSeur, near Minneapolis, is famous for peas. Just pronounce the name right. LaSoor, not LaSewer Peas.

Sugar snap or snow peas can be grown to maturity with the peas shucked from the pods, but that is crazy. Perhaps this year I will grow enough to get to the stove and cook - for once. They are great raw and--like corn--lose flavor over time. The packages of pea seeds are out and ready for planting.

With seeds, the key is soil temperature. Peas love the cold and hate the heat, so they are perfect for the itchy gardener who has to get something going in the early spring. I have shocked gardeners with my peas growing in and through the snow. The Creator has given us a variety of plants so we can have food throughout the seasons.

And yes, even a pea-picker can get tired of his favorite vegetable, as we proved when I grew three pounds of pea seeds in Midland. Longing turned to loathing, and we switched to beans. We gave the dragon claws (tendrils) to our members from Hong Kong, who told us, "Peas are grown only for the dragon claws in Hong Kong. Are you sure we can have two grocery bags?"

Cutting the dragon claw tendrils meant even more peas grew, because fruiting plants will often grow more flowers and fruit again once the seed container is picked. Thus tomatoes, beans, and many fruits keep flowering - roses too. But not corn. One stalk - two ears.

Garden Follies
I continue to entertain myself with garden follies published here, there, and everywhere. The Farmers Almanac has suggestions on plant care, such as spreading wood ashes, fertilizer, etc. Like their weather reports, their planting directions are sufficiently broad to include everything, from fertilizer to compost.

At Walmart I saw fertilizer in the woe-begone garden center. Plants, seeds, and mulch will not arrive in January. The lonely lady at the register said, "We have a lot of cold night left."

The fertilizer was rated 10-0-10. What? The old standby was 10-10-10 or another combination of Zen and modern chemistry. The package said- "To protect the water table from phosphorous pollution..." Now the light goes on. Inorganic fertilizer has a minor effect and passes on to pollute the water table, where time and creatures overbalance the nutrition and produce algae blooms, which use up oxygen, which suffocate fish, etc.

Ho ho. I remember books scolding the gardener for using manure or compost with only a 1-1-1 rating - like rating Lutheran worship services by how many sub-woofers are in the sound system.

Here is the difference. Creation gardening means the organic matter on top is drawn into the soil by God's creatures and kept in the top twelves inches of earth.

Soil fungi are usually branched and quite capable of gathering organic compounds from different sources simultaneously. Once the nutrient material is inside the cellular membrane, it is transported back through the network of fungal hyphae that often ends at the root of a plant, where some fungi trade for exudates. Thus the same fungus can extend hyphae downward and outward, absorbing several crucial nutrients— phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron, nitrogen— as well as water. 

In the case of phosphorus , for example, the propensity of fungi to gather and transport it over distances is truly remarkable . 

This mineral is almost always chemically locked up in soils; even when it is applied as fertilizer, phosphorus becomes unavailable to plants within seconds. Not only do fungi seek out this necessary plant nutrient, but they have the ability to free it from its chemical and physical bonds. Then they transport their quarry back to plant roots, where the phosphorus is absorbed and utilized. 

Don’t forget that in those instances where a fungus brings food back to a plant root tip, it was attracted to that plant by the plant’s exudates. Fungi are good, but the plant is in control. 

Fungi and plant-available nitrogen 
Some fungi trade nutrients for exudates, but most often nutrients are released as waste after they are consumed by fungi or when the fungi die and are decayed. Much of what is released is nitrogen.

Lewis, Wayne; Lowenfels, Jeff; (2010-09-10). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 906-912). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

This means the soil has been building fungi all winter, under the wood, leaves, and newspapers, ready to feed the plants I grow. We used to say, "Look beans, and peas and legumes build usable nitrogen in the soil through those nodules on the roots. Buy some fungi and put it on the seeds before planting, to make sure that happens. We have to fix nitrogen (provide usable nitrogen)."

But this is true, one way or another, with all plants. Fungi feed and water them in exchange for carbon.

Here is another bit of humor from the chemical gardeners. "Ach. Leaves are not much good for compost. They are mostly carbon. Use them if you must."

Mostly carbon? What do the the fungi crave - carbon. They give the plant what it wants in return for carbon.

And wood - absorbs nitrogen. "Watch out when adding wood to soil. In the long run it is good, but in the short run, it absorbs nitrogen." Thus the old gardening books and current gardening humor books.

Fellow gardeners, what have we learned about chemicals from Teaming With Microbes? They move around. In organic or Creation gardening, they do not leave but stay, traveling from creature to creature.

Wood mulch and sawdust absorb nitrogen to help in decomposition, and then return the nitrogen as the rotting matures. This is another way of saying the fungi handle the transactions, rotting the wood for us, turning wood into nutrition, and trapping the useful chemicals in the soil.

Norma Boeckler

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.

German text: Erlangen edition II, 36; Walch II, 634; St. Louis II, 462.

TEXT:

John 2:1-11. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatever he saith unto you, do it. Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they tilled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast. And they bare it. And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

CONTENTS:

A CONSOLATION. A DOCTRINE AND EXAMPLE, AND THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THIS MARRIAGE.

* The outline of this exposition I. THE CONSOLATION OF MARRIED PEOPLE AND THE HONOR OF THE MARRIAGE STATE.

1. The first consolation and honor

2. The second consolation and honor 3-6.

* Of the Wedding. a. What we are to think of the great show and cost of weddings 7-10. b. What opinion should we have of dancing and music at weddings 11.

II. THE DOCTRINE AND EXAMPLE OF LOVE AND FAITH.

1. Of love

2. Of faith. a. That this doctrine and example is very wonderful 18f.

* Where divine grace exists and does not exist 13-14. b. How the character of faith is here exhibited 15f.

* Of the strong spiritual temptations

17. c. Why this doctrine and example are the highest theme in the Gospel 18f.

* In what way temptation is to be overcome 18.

* One should know neither father nor mother in the things and service of God

* Parents should rear their children not according to their own ideas, but as God’s Word teaches

20. d. This doctrine teaches that faith never faileth 21.

III. THE SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION OF THIS MARRIAGE.

1. Of the marriage in itself 22, 2. That it was in Cana

3. That it was in Galilee

4. That Christ was bidden to this marriage

5. That Christ’s disciples and mother were present.

6. Of the waterpots of stone: a. Of the waterpots them selves 27. b. That there were six of them 28. c. Of the water that was in them 29. d. That they were of stone

7. That the water was turned in to wine 31-33.

8. Of the servants who had drawn the water: a. Of the servants themselves 34. b. Of their drawing it 35. c. That these servants knew whence this wine was 36.

9. Of the ruler of the feast: a. That he tasted the wine, and did not know whence it was 37. b. That he addressed the bridegroom 38-39.

1. Enough has been written heretofore on marriage; hence we leave that subject for the present, and treat the following three topics in this Gospel text: first, the consolation this history affords married people by virtue of their marriage; secondly, the faith and love revealed in this Gospel lesson; thirdly, the spiritual significance of this marriage.

I. THE CONSOLATION OF MARRIED PEOPLE AND THE GLORY OF THE MARRIED STATE.

2. In the first place, it is indeed a high honor paid to married life for Christ himself to attend this marriage, together with his mother and his disciples.

Moreover, his mother is present as the one arranging the wedding, the parties married being apparently her poor relatives or neighbors, and she being compelled to act as the bride’s mother; so of course, it was nothing more than a wedding, and in no way a display. For Christ lived up to his doctrine, not going to the rich, but to the poor; or, if he does go to the great and rich, he is sure to rebuke and reprove, coming away with disfavor, earning small thanks at their hands, with no thought of honoring them by a miracle as he does here.

3. Now the second honor is his giving good wine for the poor marriage by means of a great miracle, making himself the bride’s chief cup-bearer; it may be too that he had no money or jewel to give as a wedding present. He never did such honor to the life or doings of the Pharisees; for by this miracle he confirms marriage as the work and institution of God, no matter how common or how lowly it appears in the eyes of men, God none the less acknowledges his own work and loves it. Even our Caiaphases themselves have often declared and preached that marriage was the only state instituted by God. Who then instituted the others? Certainly not God, but the devil by means of men; yet they shun, reject and revile this state, and deem themselves so holy that they not only themselves avoid marriage — though they need it and ought to marry — but from excess of holiness they will not even attend a marriage, being much holier than Christ himself who as an unholy sinner attends a wedding.

4. Since then marriage has the foundation and consolation, that it is instituted by God and that God loves it, and that Christ himself so honors and comforts it, everybody ought to prize and esteem it, and the heart ought to be glad, that it is surely the state God loves and cheerfully endure every burden in it, even though the burdens be ten times heavier than they are. For this is the reason there is so much care and unpleasantness in marriage to the outward man, because everything that is God’s Word and work, if it is to be blessed at all, must be distasteful, bitter and burdensome to the outward man.

On this account marriage is a state that cultivates and exercises faith in God and love to our neighbor by means of manifold cares, labors, unpleasantnesses, crosses and all kinds of adversities, that are to follow everything that is God’s Word and work. All this the chaste whoremongers, saintly effeminates and Sodomites nicely escape, serving God outside of God’s ordinance by doings of their own.

5. For this is what Christ also indicates by his readiness to supply any want arising in marriage, bestowing wine where it is needed, and making it of water; as though he would say: Must you drink water, that is, suffer affliction outwardly, and is this distasteful? Very well, I will sweeten it for you and change the water into wine, so that your affliction will be your joy and delight. I will not do this by taking the water away or having it poured out; it shall remain, yea, I will have it poured in and the vessels filled up to the brim. For I will not deprive Christian marriage of its cares and trials, but rather add to it. The thing shall be wondrous, so that none, except they themselves who experience it, shall understand it. It shall be on this wise: 6. God’s Word shall do it, by which all things are made, preserved and transformed; that Word which turns your water into wine, and distasteful marriage into delight. That God has instituted marriage ( Genesis 2:32) the heathen and unbelievers do not know, therefore their water remains water and never becomes wine; for they feel not God’s pleasure and delight in married life, which if they did feel they would experience such delight in my pleasure as not to feel the half of their affliction, feeling it outwardly only, but inwardly not at all. And this would be the way to turn water into wine, mixing my pleasure with your displeasure and placing the one against the other, so that my pleasure would drown your displeasure, and turn it into pleasure; but this pleasure of mine nothing will reveal and give to you except my Word, Genesis 1:31: “God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”

7. Here too Christ indicates that he is not displeased with a marriage feast, nor with the things belonging to a wedding such as adornments, cheerfulness, eating and drinking, according to the usage and custom of the country; which appear to be superfluous and needless expense and a worldly matter; only so far as these things are used in moderation and in keeping with a marriage. For the bride and groom must be adorned; so also the guests must eat and drink to be cheerful. And such dining and doing may all be done in good conscience; for the Scriptures occasionally report the like, even the Gospel lessons mentioning bridal adornment, the wedding garment, guests and feastings at weddings. Thus Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:53 presents ornaments of gold and silver to Rebecca, the bride of Isaac, and to her brothers; so that in these things no one need pay attention to the sour-visaged hypocrites and self-constituted saints who are pleased with nothing but what they themselves do and teach, and will not suffer a maid to wear a wreath or to adorn herself at all.

8. God is not concerned about such external things, if only faith and love reign; provided, as already stated, it be in moderation and in accord with each person’s station. For this marriage, although it was poor and small, had three tables; which is indicated by the word Architriclinus, showing that the ruler of the feast had three tables to provide for; moreover, the groom did not himself attend to this office, but had servants; then too there was wine to drink; all of which, if poverty were to be urged, might have been dispensed with, as is frequently the case with us. So also the guests did not merely quench their thirst with the wine; for the ruler of the feast speaks of how the good wine ought first to be set on, then, when men have freely drunk, that which is worse.

All this Christ allows to pass, and we likewise should let it pass and not make it a matter of conscience. They were not of the devil, even if a few drank of the wine a little beyond what thirst required, and became merry; else you would have to blame Christ for being the cause by means of his presence, and his mother by asking for it; so that both Christ and his mother are sinners in this if the sour-visaged saints are to render judgment.

9. But the excess customary in our times is a different thing, where men do not eat and drink but gorge themselves with food and drink, revel and carouse, and act as though it were a sign of skill or strength to consume overmuch: where, moreover, the intention is not to be merry, but to be full and crazy. But these are swine, not men; to such Christ would not give wine, nor would he visit them. So also in the matter of dress, it is not the marriage that is kept in mind, but display and pomp; as though the most admirable were those most able to wear gold, silver and pearls, and to spoil much silk and broadcloth, which even asses might do and switches.

10. What then is moderation? Reason should teach that, and cite examples from other countries and cities where such pomp and excess are unknown.

But to give my opinion, I would say a farmer is well adorned if for his wedding he have clothes twice as fine as he daily wears at his work; a burgher likewise; and a nobleman, if he have garments twice as costly as a townsman; a count, twice as costly as a nobleman; a duke, twice as costly as a count, and so in due order. In like manner food and drink and the entertainment of guests should be governed by their social position, and the purpose of the table should be pleasure not debauchery.

11. Now is it a sin to play and dance at a wedding, inasmuch as some declare great sin is caused by dancing? Whether the Jews had dances I do not know; but since it is the custom of the country, like inviting guests, decorating, eating and drinking and being merry, I see no reason to condemn it, save its excess when it goes beyond decency and moderation.

That sin should be committed is not the fault of dancing alone; since at a table or in church that may happen; even as it is not the fault of eating that some while so engaged should turn themselves into swine. Where things are decently conducted I will not interfere with the marriage rites and customs, and dance and never mind. Faith and love cannot be driven away either by dancing or by sitting still, as long as you keep to decency and moderation. Young children certainly dance without sin; do the same also, and be a child, then dancing will not harm you. Otherwise were dancing a sin in itself, children should not be allowed to dance. This is sufficient concerning marriage.

II. THE DOCTRINE AND EXAMPLE OF LOVE AND OF FAITH.

12. In the second place, to return to. our Gospel lesson, we here see the example of love in Christ and his mother. The mother renders service and takes the part of house-keeper: Christ honors the occasion by his personal presence, by a miracle and a gift. And all this is for the benefit of the groom, the bride and the guests, as is the nature of love and its works.

Thus Christ lures all hearts to himself, to rely on him as ever ready to help, even in temporal things, and never willing to forsake any; so that all who believe in him shall not suffer want, be it in spiritual or temporal things; rather must water become wine, and every creature turned into the thing his believer needs. He who believes must have sufficient, and no one can prevent it.

13. But the example of faith is still more wonderful in this Gospel. Christ waits to the very last moment when the want is felt by all present, and there is no counsel or help left. This shows the way of divine grace; it is not imparted to one who still has enough, and has not yet felt his need. For grace does not feed the full and satiated, but the hungry, as we have often said. Whoever still deems himself wise, strong and pious, and finds something good in himself, and is not yet a poor, miserable, sick sinner and fool, the same cannot come to Christ the Lord, nor receive his grace.

14. But whenever the need is felt, he does not at once hasten and bestow what is needed and desired, but delays and tests our faith and trust, even as he does here; yea, what is still more severe, he acts as though he would not help at all, but speaks with harshness and austerity. This you observe in the case of his mother. She feels the need and tells him of it, desiring his help and counsel in a humble and polite request. For she does not say: My dear son, furnish us wine; but: “They have no wine.” Thus she merely touches his kindness, of which she is fully assured. As though she would say: He is so good and gracious, there is no need of my asking, I will only tell him what is lacking, and he will of his own accord do more than one could ask.

This is the way of faith, it pictures God’s goodness to itself in this manner, never doubting but that it is really so; therefore it makes bold to bring its petition and to present its need.

15. But see, how unkindly he turns away the humble request of his mother who addresses him with such great confidence. Now observe the nature of faith. What has it to rely on? Absolutely nothing, all is darkness. It feels its need and sees help nowhere; in addition, God turns against it like a stranger and does not recognize it, so that absolutely nothing is left. It is the same way with our conscience when we feel our sin and the lack of righteousness; or in the agony of death when we feel the lack of life; or in the dread of hell when eternal salvation seems to have left us. Then indeed there is humble longing and knocking, prayer and search, in order to be rid of sin, death and dread. And then he acts as if he had only begun to show us our sins, as if death were to continue, and hell never to cease. Just as he here treats his mother, by his refusal making the need greater and more distressing than it was before she came to him with her request; for now it seems everything is lost, since the one support on which she relied in her need is also gone.

16. This is where faith stands in the heat of battle. Now observe how his mother acts and here becomes our teacher. However harsh his words sound, however unkind he appears, she does not in her heart interpret this as anger, or as the opposite of kindness, but adheres firmly to the conviction that he is kind, refusing to give up this opinion because of the thrust she received, and unwilling to dishonor him in her heart by thinking him to be otherwise than kind and gracious-as they do who are without faith, who fall back at the first shock and think of God merely according to what they feel, like the horse and the mule, Psalm 32:9. For if Christ’s mother had allowed those harsh words to frighten her she would have gone away silently and displeased; but in ordering the servants to do what he might tell them she proves that she has overcome the rebuff and still expects of him nothing but kindness.

17. What do you think of the hellish blow, when a man in his distress, especially in the highest distress of conscience, receives the rebuff, that he feels God declaring to him: “What have I to do with thee?” Quid mihi et tibi? He must needs faint and despair, unless he knows and understands the nature of such acts of God, and is experienced in faith. For he will act just as he feels, and will not think of God in a different way and mean the words. Feeling nothing but wrath and hearing nothing but indignation, he will consider God only as his enemy and angry judge. But just as he thinks God to be so will he find him. Thus he will expect nothing good from him.

That is to renounce God with all his goodness. The result is that he flees and hates him, and will not have God to be God; and every other blasphemy that is the fruit of unbelief.

18. Hence the highest thought in this Gospel lesson, and it must ever be kept in mind, is, that we honor God as being good and gracious, even if he acts and speaks otherwise, and all our understanding and feeling be otherwise., For in this way feeling is killed, and the old man perishes, so that nothing but faith in God’s goodness remains, and no feeling. For here you see how his mother retains a free faith and holds it forth as an example to us. She is certain that he will be gracious, although she does not feel it.

She is certain also that she feels otherwise than she believes. Therefore she freely leaves and commends all to his goodness, and fixes for him neither time nor place, neither manner nor measure, neither person nor name. He is to act when it pleases him. If not in the midst of the feast, then at the end of it, or after the feast. My defeat I will swallow, his scorning me, letting me stand in disgrace before all the guests, speaking so unkindly to me, causing us all to blush for shame. He acts tart, but he is sweet I know. Let us proceed in the same way, then we are true Christians.

19. Here note how severely he deals with his own mother, teaching us thereby not only the example of faith mentioned above, but confirming that in things pertaining to God and his service we are to know neither father nor mother, as Moses writes in Deuteronomy 33:9: “He who says of his father and of his mother, I know them not, observes thy Word, Israel.” For although there is no higher authority on earth than that of father and mother, still this ends when God’s Word and work begin. For in divine things neither father nor mother, still less, a bishop or any other person, only God’s Word is to teach and guide. And if father and mother were to order, teach, or even beg you to do anything for God, and in his service that he has not clearly ordered and commanded, you are to reply: Quid mihi et tibi? What have I and you to do with each other? In this same way Chris there refuses absolutely to do God’s work when his own mother wants it.

20. For father and mother are in duty bound, yea, God made them father and mother for this very purpose, not to teach and lead their children to God according to their own notions and devotion, but according to God’s command; as St. Paul declares in Ephesians 6:4: “Ye fathers; provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord;” i.e. teach them God’s command and Word, as you were taught, and not notions of your own.

Thus in this Gospel lesson you see the mother of Christ directing the servants away from herself unto Christ, telling them not: Whatsoever I say unto you, do it; but: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” To this Word alone you must direct everyone, if you would direct aright; so that this word of Mary (whatsoever he saith, do it) is, and ought to be, a daily saying in Christendom, destroying all doctrines of men and everything not really Christ’s Word. And we ought firmly to believe that what is imposed upon us over and above God’s Word is not, as they boast and lie, the commandment of the church. For Mary says: Whatsoever he saith that, that, that do, and that alone; for in it there will be enough to do.

21. Here also you see, how faith does not fail, God does not permit that, but gives more abundantly and gloriously than we ask. For here not merely wine is given, but excellent and good wine, and a great quantity of it. By this he again entices and allures us to believe confidently in him, though he delay. For he is truthful and cannot deny himself; he is good and gracious, that he must of himself confess and in addition prove it, unless we hinder him and refuse him time and place and the means to do so. At last he cannot forsake his work, as little as he can forsake himself — if only we can hold out until his hour comes.

III. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS MARRIAGE.

22. In the third place, we must briefly touch upon the spiritual significance of the text. This marriage and every marriage signifies Christ, the true bridegroom, and Christendom, the bride; as the Gospel lesson of Matthew 22:1-14 sufficiently shows.

23. This marriage took place in Cana of Galilee; that is, Christendom began in the days of Christ among the Jewish people, and continues still among all who are like the Jews. The Jewish nation is called Cana, which signifies, zeal, because it diligently practiced the Law and zealously clung to the works of the Law, so that even the Gospel lessons always call the Jews zealots, and especially St. Paul in Romans 9 and Romans 10. It is natural too that wherever Law and good works are, there zeal will be and contention, one claiming to be better than the other, first of all, however, opposing faith which cares naught for works and boasts only of God’s grace. Now wherever Christ is there such zealots will always be, and his marriage must be at Zeal City, for you always find by the side of the Gospel and faith work-righteous people and Jewish zealots who quarrel with faith.

24. Galilee signifies border or the edge of the country, where you pass from one country into another. This signifies the same people in Zeal City who dwell between the Law and the Gospel, and ought to emigrate and pass from works to faith, from the Law into the Christian liberty; as some also have done, and now still do. But the greater part remain in their works and dwell on the border, achieving neither good works nor faith, shielding themselves behind the shine and glitter of works.

25. Christ’s being bidden to the marriage signifies that he was promised long ago in the Law and the prophets and is earnestly expected and invoked to turn water into wine, fulfill the Law and establish faith, and make true GalileansOF US.

26. His disciples are bidden with him; for he is expected to be a great King, hence to need apostles and disciples in order to have his Word freely and fully preached everywhere. Likewise, his mother is the Christian church, taken from the Jews, who herself most of all belongs to the marriage, for Christ was really promised to the Jewish nation.

27. The six waterpots of stone, for the purification of the Jews, are the books of the Old Testament which by law and commandment made the Jewish people only outwardly pious and pure; for which reason the Evangelist says, they were set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, as if to say: This signifies the purification by works without faith, which never purifies the heart, but only makes it more impure; which is a Jewish, not a Christian or spiritual purification.

28. There being six waterpots signifies the labor and toil which they who deal in works undergo in such purification; for the heart finds no rest in them, since the Sabbath, the seventh day, is wanting, in which we rest from our works and let God work in us. For there are six work-days, in which God created heaven and earth, and commanded us to labor. The seventh day is the day of rest, in which we are not to toil in the works of the Law, but to let God work in us by faith, while we remain quiet and enjoy a holiday from the labors of the Law.

29. The water in the pots is the contents and substance of the Law by which conscience is governed, and is graven in letters as in the waterpots of stone.

30. And they are of stone, as were the tables of Moses, signifying the stiffnecked people of the Jews. For as their heart is set against the Law, so the Law appears outwardly to be against them. It seems hard and difficult to them, and therefore it is hard and difficult; the reason in that their heart is hard and averse to the Law; we all find, feel and discover by experience that we are hard and averse to what is good, and soft and prone to what is evil. This the wicked do not feel, but those who long to be pious and labor exceedingly with their works. This is the significance of the two or three firkins apiece.

31. To turn water into wine is to render the interpretation of the Law delightful. This is done as follows: Before the Gospel arrives everyone understands the Law as demanding our works, that we must fulfill it with works of our own. This interpretation begets either hardened, presumptuous dissemblers and hypocrites, harder than any pot of stone, or timid, restless consciences. There remains nothing but water in the pot, fear and dread of God’s Judgment. This is the water-interpretation, not intended for drinking, neither filling any with delight; on the contrary, there is nothing to it but washing and purification, and yet no true inner cleansing. But the Gospel explains the Law, showing that it requires more than we can render, and that it demands a person different from ourselves to fulfill it; that is, it demands Christ and brings us unto him, so that first of all by his grace we are made in true faith a different people like unto Christ, and that then we do truly good works. Thus the right interpretation and significance of the law is to lead us to the knowledge of our helplessness, to drive us from ourselves to another, namely to Christ, to seek grace and help of him.

32. Therefore, when Christ wanted to make wine he had them pour in still more water, up to the very brim. For the Gospel comes and renders the interpretation of the Law perfectly clear (as already stated), showing that what belongs to us is nothing but sin; wherefore by the law we cannot escape sinning. When now the two or three firkins hear this, namely the good hearts who have labored according to the law in good works, and are already timid at heart and troubled in conscience, this interpretation adds greatly to their fear and terror; and the water now threatens to rise above the lid and brim. Before this, while they felt disinclined and averse to what is good, they still imagined they might yet succeed by their good works; now they hear that they are altogether unfit and helpless:, and that it is impossible to gain their end by good works. That overfills the pot with water, it cannot hold more. This is to interpret the Law in the highest manner, leaving nothing but despair.

33. Then comes the consoling Gospel and turns the water into wine. For when the heart hears that Christ fulfills the law for us and takes our sin upon himself, it no longer cares that impossible things are demanded by the Law, that we must despair of rendering them, and must give up our good works. Yea, it is an excellent thing, and delectable, that the Law is so deep and high, so holy and righteous and good, and demands things so great; and it is loved and lauded for making so many and such great demands.

This is because the heart now has in Christ all that the Law demands, and it would be sorry indeed if it demanded less. Behold, thus the Law is delightful now and easy which before was disagreeable, difficult and impossible; for it lives in the heart by the Spirit. Water no longer is in the pots, it has turned to wine, it is passed to the guest, it is consumed, and has made the heart glad.

34. And these servants are all preachers of the New Testament like the apostles and their successors.

35. The drawing and passing to the guests is, to take this interpretation from the Scriptures, and to preach it to all the world, which is bidden to Christ’s marriage.

36. And these servants knew (the Evangelist tells us) whence the wine was, how it had been water. For the apostles and their successors alone understand how the law becomes delightful and pleasant through Christ, and how the Gospel by faith does not fulfill the Law by works, every thing being unchanged from what it formerly was in good works.

37. But the ruler of the feast does indeed taste that the wine is good, yet he knows not whence it is. This ruler of the feast is the old priesthood among the Jews who knew of naught but works, of whom Nicodemus was one, John 3:9; he indeed feels how fine this cause of Christ would be, but knows not how it can be, and why it is so, clinging still to works. For they who teach works cannot understand and apprehend the Gospel and the actions of faith.

38. He calleth the bridegroom and reproacheth him for setting on the good wine last, whereas every man setteth on last that which is worse. To this very day it is the surprise of the Jews that the preaching of the Gospel should have been delayed so long, coming first of all now to the Gentiles, while they are said to have been drinking the worse wine for so long a time, bearing so long the burden and heat of the day under the Law; as is set forth in another Gospel lesson. Matthew 20:12.

39. Observe, God and men proceed in contrary ways. Men set on first that which is best, afterward that which is worse. God first gives the cross and affliction, then honor and blessedness. This is because men seek to preserve the old man; on which account they instruct us to keep the Law by works, and offer promises great and sweet. But the out-come is stale, the result has a vile taste; for the longer it goes on the worse is the condition of conscience, although, being intoxicated with great promises, it does not feel its wretchedness; yet at last when the wine is digested, and the false promises gone, the wretchedness appears. But God first of all terrifies the conscience, sets on miserable wine, in fact nothing but water; then, however, he consoles us with the promises of the Gospel which endure forever.

It's never too young to begin despising the Means of Grace. Martin Luther College, Early Childhood Education

WELS Discussions

Joe Jewell There's a real asymmetry there though, Seth Bode, in that one side (the side that wishes to defend anything with the label "WELS", no matter how aberrant the practice) risks no censure whatsoever for using their real names, whereas the other side certainly does. It is a very "cheap" courage that allows a Synod Firster to toss brickbats at those who are skeptical of the latest Chuch'n'Change innovation or the latest liturgical invention. He risks nothing in so doing, and may well win plaudits from his DP.

But there are real consequences to pay for speaking certain truths from the "wrong" position; e.g. a seminary professor who was a member of the TEC told a roomful of around 100 of my brothers that I was "misleading them" in quoting verbatim from a document (which at first he claimed did not even exist, until he realized that I had a copy of the same in front of me on my laptop!) wherein the LCMS criticized and subsequently rejected the NIV2011. That President Schroeder quoted precisely the same lines from precisely the same document about 9 months later in his pastoral letter to the synod is of no consequence, I suppose--he was in the "right" position (though his view was marginalized anyway), which is all that matters sometimes. (This attitude of alethic relativism, by the way, is endemic, likely stems in part from the functional Arminianism which is now rampant among those who wish to dispose of our Lutheran heritage, and is--I think--what resulted in the NIV2011 even having a chance in the WELS, essentially alone among those denominations professing a belief in verbal inspiration).

I don't pretend that's especially severe, mind you, to be falsely accused of all but lying by a man with a microphone and a position of authority. But then, I'm a scientist, not a pastor. If the opinion of one influential sem prof were enough to derail my ministry or my family's livelihood (as it certainly could potentially be), I would have thought twice about speaking my mind, and maybe chosen to make my comments in an anonymous internet forum instead. As many have. Do I wish they were public? Yes. But can I blame them? No.

Church and Changers have DP protections - ask Jeff Gunn. Justification by faith...walks.

Let's teach children to put women's makeup on the pastor and council members at Redeemer (WELS) in Tucson.

***

GJ - I was thinking of one incident. I was invited to speak to the some pastors from the Michigan District - Northern Conference, I recall. I mentioned Paul Kelm endorsing, in writing, a Kent Hunter Church Growth program.

Frosty Bivens immediately rose up to accuse me of slandering Paul Kelm's "good name."

Right away, someone asked, "Do you have proof?" I did not thing it was a big deal. I wondered why they implied that I was making it up. But that is the style of liars.

I had the brochure in my briefcase, and I produced it. Next, "How do we know that Kelm was actually quoted?" I guess Kent Hunter was now a liar.

Later on I spoke with Hunter and he confirmed: a) He asked for the endorsement from Kelm; b) Kelm willingly supplied it.

Anyone who thinks he can have any impact on these adulterous drunks is fooling himself. They have used these tactics successfully for decades and will not change until they pull the walls of their cesspool down around their ears.

Wearing your Mark Jeske button will make you invulnerable to all criticism, no matter how incompetent you are in covering up the incompetence of other Jeske disciples.

The Right Reverend Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton: Ego absolvo me - I absolve myself of all guilt.

Bishop Cook had about 12 drinks and was texting when she ran down Thomas Palermo. She hid in her gated community but another biker found her and forced her to return, about 45 minutes later.

Someone has been asking me about which Lutheran seminary to attend. The synods project a mirage glimmering on the horizon. Surely with their approval, the candidate who does all his work will have a call and serve in the Kingdom!

Just the opposite is true. The synod school will grab all the money and  force someone out, leaving him with a mountain of student debt and a useless degree. "But," some object, "What if I graduate and get a call?" That is no better. The DPs are eager to wipe out new pastors to make room for the next herd to be slaughtered.

WELS and the Little Sect are known for this, but so is the LCMS. Just remember - an MDiv from a synod school is a worthless degree, although one at the same price from a divinity school could be valuable. Yale Divinity School graduates are known for not serving congregations after graduation, but doing many other things instead - graduate school in Asian literature, social work, business school, doctoral degrees in theology.

Any Lutheran MDiv is equal to the rest, so a cheaper degree from a Pietistic school or Canadian one is a better deal than St. Louis, Ft. Wayne, the Sausage Factory, or the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie. Whether someone serves a parish is a gamble, no matter what. The origin of the degree seems immaterial, since the synodicals have no qualms about brutalizing their own graduates, pastors, and teachers.

Let the buyer beware, or as Jesus said, "Count the cost first."



St. Ignatius
Someone has asked me about the ELDONA seminary start-up, St. Ignatius. The total cost is very low, and the pastors in that group are the most intellectual of the Lutheran entities I know.

ELDONA is the only organized Lutheran group to teach justification by faith and reject Universal Objective Justification (aka Universalism).

Book about St. Ignatius.

A Blessed St. Ignatius Day from St. Ignatius Lutheran Theological Seminary!

The world continues to ask the devil’s question, “Has God indeed said…?” By the power of God’s Holy Spirit the Church continues to answer the world with boldness and clarity as it faithfully believes, teaches, and confesses all that Christ Jesus has taught in the Holy Scriptures. St. Ignatius Lutheran Theological Seminary is established for the very purpose of this holy work. The Church must continue to train men in the Word so they may faithfully give the divine gifts of the Gospel and the Sacraments to all nations, for all generations to come until Christ comes again in glory.

The Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA) is currently accepting applications for enrollment for St. Ignatius Seminary Here candidates for the pastorate will be trained to hold fast to all that Christ has taught the Church. They will be taught to rely on the Word of God, to apply the faithful teachings of the Lutheran Confessions, and to observe the historical practices of the one holy, Christian and apostolic Church that proclaim God’s truth. They will be equipped so that they may be worthy candidates for Christ’s Holy Office of the Ministry, rather than being timid hirelings or those who are conformed to the world.

St. Ignatius Seminary is named for Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who is remembered for his faithful contributions to teaching doctrine and practice in the Church. The example of this bishop and martyr is a valuable asset to the Church as he exemplified both wisdom and humility in Jesus Christ. (Please note, St. Ignatius is not to be confused with Ignatius of Loyola, who was canonized by the Roman church for waging war against the teachings of the Reformation.)

As the Augsburg Confession states, it is taught among us that we receive forgiveness and “become righteous before God by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith,” (AC IV) and that God has instituted His Holy Office through which He provides the preaching of the Gospel and the administering of the Sacraments, the gifts by which His Holy Spirit produces such faith. (AC V) St. Ignatius Seminary is founded on these teachings as it trains men for this office. 

For more information on St. Ignatius Lutheran Theological Seminary, please visit http://saintignatiusseminary.com Enrollment applications for the 2014/2015 school year are now being accepted. Contribution information is also available for those who would like to financially support this work, which endeavors to ensure the faithful preaching of life in Christ crucified to all who will hear.

***

GJ - If the idea is studying theology with believers who appreciate the scope of Christian theology, then St. Ignatius is a good idea and far less expensive than the Thrivent salesman farms. One also has to calculate lost income, which I why I went through college and seminary in six years, earning a new degree when my peers at seminary were still finishing (partying).

In this age of technology, there is nothing keeping a faithful man from serving a group and building a congregation. The mighty Episcopal Church has 50% of its priests in part-time calls, and they have a (failing) seminary with a $66 million endowment. Clearly, money and tradition are not the answers. I can only guess what their other failing seminaries have in the bank.

A Lutheran pastor can gather a congregation with blogging, Ustream broadcasting, visiting, etc. God will provide. The destruction of traditional Lutheran worship will certainly make a segment of the population eager to participate in Means of Grace liturgical services, which are now rarer than an honest DP.

I suggest:
1. Meeting with those who have direct experience with a given educational choice.
2. Looking at and preparing for alternative sources of income, not unlike Paul, who made tents to avoid burdening tiny congregations.
3. Comparing costs.

God will provide for faithful servants, and Satan will provide for the rest, so this is a win/win situation. 

Honeysuckle - Scentsation - Lonicera.

The time has come to try various vines. I know the trees will be trimmed to give more sunlight, so I have two living tree candidates, one dead tree (best of all for sun), and one baby tree. I have no idea what the last one is - one of those tall but useless plants that appear in untended yards.

I was tempted to saw it down, but then I saw the plant as a living trellis, much cheaper than buying one, much easier than building one.

The three best guesses are pictured here, and I ordered them. Trumpet vine was the easiest first choice. I have seen it growing and climbing. Everyone names it as a great hummingbird plant. I was looking for two others that grow well, make butterflies happy, and attract hummingbirds.

I like the baroque complexity of the Maypop flower. Honeysuckle vine has a good reputation for attracting birds and butterflies. In Phoenix we had a Honeysuckle bush that produced orange flowers and hummingbirds all the time, growing from a sprout to a 9 foot tall bush.

Diversified planting helps because blooms develop at different times and favored species like a variety of food.

Some others in this category (but not vines) are Butterfly Bush, Butterfly Weed, dill, Bee Balm, and various herbs like borage.  Queen Ann's Lace is officially a weed, but I like its dill-like flowers and appeal to bees.

Maypop or Passion Flower - Passiflora.

Trumpet Vine - Campsis.

Some of you fill hummingbird feeders. I grow them.

New Bird and Squirrel Feeder
I found a filing cabinet to replace the free one I got from LI. The pull out drawer struck me as a good device for bird and squirrel feeding. The top level keeps seed dry. The drawer tempts the squirrel inside for additional treats.

They took to the new feeder at once. Starlings, blue jays, and cardinals are happily feeding every morning, along with chickadees, doves, and some other species.

Peas - Plant for the Cold
The bulbs are not even peeking out of the soil yet, reason to plant snowflakes, snowdrops, or crocus, to build up gardening self-esteem.  But I did not, so I need to plant some peas. Rain will be coming but insects are not inclined to come out when nights are near freezing.

So I will plant peas today, God willing, and have a new set of plants to watch. At the very worst I will be adding nitrogen to the soil and softening it for beans, but I imagine it will be more like, "Do you want some peas?" Mrs. I "No! Not another pod until next year."

Monday, January 19, 2015

Take that!

More hilarity from the WELS Documented Blog:

Reply

***

GJ - Pastor Steven Spencer has no trouble writing or phoning me. I have no trouble writing him and signing my name.


The culture of deceit, encouraged by WELS GA hazing (now HB hazing) is clearly revealed by this kind of comment, an unwarranted, silly, and sissy accusation.

This is an extreme close-up of an anonymous writer of comments or maggot. I forgot to label the graphic carefully.

Congregational cross-dressing - that's the key. Wayne Mueller's son Adam, a Church and Changer, has the answer. He is the one in the green dress and make-up.

Sam Birner, Martin Luther College (WELS) graduate, December, 2014

ELCA Bishops Hold Panel Discussion of Placement of LGBTQ Candidates

I deepened the background on the whiteboard to show Elton Stroh teaching at Martin Luther College, WELS: "Some of our traditional programs have become dated and uninviting."

I was thinking about the breezy denials about WELS being nasty and vindictive when anyone speaks up about an issue. These claims are found in comments on the WELS Documented Blog.

"Tut, tut. Not so, not so."

I can think of five pastors that I knew in the Michigan District WELS, with no scandal and no false teaching - all driven out by DP Seifert, who also did his best to get rid of the Intrepid Lutherans listing their names on that virtually suspended blog.

There are many more cases across WELS. Missouri has done the same thing, undercutting and hating pastors out of the ministry. Pope John the Malefactor, ELS, is the WD-40 of the Little Sect's slide into oblivion.

I changed the title to express the real reason for the syphilitic bishop's fast exit from Dresden, taking his groupies, leaving most of his family behind.

Martin Stephan is their idol and example, because he demanded obedience and apologies - getting his disciples to enforce absolute submission, CFW Walther became the new pope by organizing a riot to rob and kidnap Bishop Stephan, the same man he made bishop in writing a few months before.

Every time a Jon Buchholz, John Seifert, Don Patterson, or Mark Jeske gets his way, another extended family is alienated from the Lutheran Church. The family members may exchange arsenic (WELS) for botulism (LCMS) or salmonella (ELS). They may become atheists or ELCA members. No one can erase the legacy, even if they deny it.

Becoming a WELS pastor means being subjected to group homosexual acts, as reported in various places and also relayed to me. One future LCMS pastor put a Michigan Lutheran Seminary student in the hospital for attacking him "that way." If someone takes all the data and puts it together, the various reports indicate a solid base of sodomy in the WELS clergy, no different from ELCA. The leaders and clergy know it. They talk about it among themselves. They know about the man/boy girlfriends moved around on the pastoral call list to supply the needs.

They know about the Mattress Room at Mequon and who was caught - both men being ordained anyway. And married. LBGTQ - alive and well in WELS.

And the pastors denying all this? They also say GA is "no more, closed down" - but now it is called HB. And so was Church and Change, "shut down, destroyed, tossed to the winds by Gurgle" - while Mark Jeske's C and C meeting was registering pastors for the next conference on the WELS websty!


---

Job security - plagiarize a gay video at Martin Luther College and post it to YouTube, claiming, "We had no idea we were copying a gay video from Fire Island." All received calls.

The Undercurrent of Homosexuality

Shattered Pulpit Blog

One of my readers suggested gardening posts again, and now there is a group of people asking for more. He laughs about that when he phones. "I started something."

I discuss gardening issues on Facebook too.

I am about to plant peas, which I always do as soon as I can get a shovel in the soil. That is one issue - soil temperature.

Peas tolerate cold soil and love cold weather. One legendary gardener used an electric drill to put holes in the soil to plant peas. I have not been that fanatical so far, but there is time to improve my devotion.

Corn is the opposite. Planting early will stop germination. One farmer waiting until the ladies no longer sat on buckets when fishing at the stream. When they could sit directly on the soil, he figured the temperature was right for corn. In Midland I waited until I could feel the warmth radiating up from the soil. That is most of the source of atmospheric heat, so it signals the time the weather will support a heat-loving, sun-loving plant. No wonder each corn seed stores a lot of energy.

The sunny garden should get corn, but it is too crowded there. Other sun-lovers are tomatoes and sunflowers. I will put strawberries and raspberries there too. Potatoes will be in the straw bales and strawberries on top.

I am all for French intensive gardening. Crowd the growing area. Once more into the breach, or fill the breach with shredded mulch.



Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Henry V

The really fun part of gardening is watching the plants come back to life. Right now the roses are dormant on 60 degree days. They know! Freezing nights will continue through February. but then planting vines and roses will begin in earnest and fall bulbs will be proving me right again (I hope).

The gardening companies, who love me, have started to write about when they will ship - March. I like that. Perhaps we will have a surprise blast of winter when we think the threat is over. But that is part of the gamble, to glare with slit eyes into the storm and promise a recovery.

District VP Don Patterson denied he was Church and Change, but he went to this conference and gave a presentation at another. When Changer John Lawrenz wrote on the C and C list-serve, Patterson cooed, "Pure gold."

Here is the PDF for the 2009 conference. Don't worry. If they remove it, I saved it and can reproduce it as a Word document, PNGs, or both. It is safe to say that most of the speakers are Church and Change Fellow Travelers. A few may be useful idiots. You will hear people deny their connections. If so, why have they worked so hard with these heretics?

Notice the URL for the brochure -

http://www.churchandchange.org/home/2384/2384/file/C&C%20program_color.pdf

As of today, the website is still active and working, but the links are hidden from view. But WELS innocents have been told there is no Church and Change. The appearance is - everything is gone. The reality is just the opposite.

Lookee here - the 2007 Church and Change conference is also preserved. Here is the URL:

http://www.churchandchange.org/home/2384/2384/files/CanCprogram.Web.pdf

I saved that one too.

Ski and Glende excommunicated a member for asking questions about all this. Here he is again.

Leonard Sweet is a New Age Methodist, but WELS and Missouri devour his Dreck.

Oh! Oh! Here is a question about Leonard Sweet speaking in 2005. I have copied this far down on the page, because someone may de-rez this on the Net.




WELS Church and Change, Purpose

Church and Change is a growing group of WELS Christians who desire to think and work like the Apostle Paul who said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."  The Church and Change group is interested in practicing and promoting innovation in ministry methods throughout the WELS especially at the "grass roots" level.

Some in WELS live and breathe music.  Some history.  Some church libraries, or mission festivals, or prison ministry, or limiting abortion.  Good! God uses all effort by his people to his glory.  Church and Change is group of committed WELS Christians who live and breathe innovation in ministry across all spectrums.  Church and Change folk are committed to Lutheran Theology as explained in the Lutheran Confessions.  However, they are thinking about, working with, and pioneering different ways to reach more people, more often, with the gospel so the Holy Spirit can do His thing.  [GJ - Just one question. What moron wrote this paragraph?]

Innovation in methodology is yesterday's news in the WELS.  Pastors, teachers, synod administrators, worker training leaders, home and world missionaries, worship leaders, computer buffs, and countless local laymen and laywomen, have been tweaking (and/or radically changing) ministry methods for years.  In every WELS generation God has raised up men and women, for reasons known only to Him, who are interested in pushing the envelope of "gospel delivery systems."  And this, long before concepts like "English" or "radio ministry" or "Parish Assistance," or "paradigm" or "long distance learning" entered WELS thinking or culture.

The goal of Church and Change is to provide a gathering point, a "home room" for WELS innovators.  Perhaps this is the same need felt by the WELS Church Librarians which led them to gather for support, encouragement, and well -- good old fashioned fellowship - one of the greatest assets in the WELS.  Do WELS administrators and WELS laypeople know about each other's efforts at innovation? The purpose of Church and Change includes inviting WELS innovators to communicate with one another, and work together where possible to avoid duplication of effort which wastes God's resources.

The world is changing rapidly.  Who are the innovators of today who will help us "make the leap from German to English" in this generation?  Hopefully, Church and Change can encourage the process of helping WELS ministries keep pace with our rapidly changing culture in America, and around the shrinking globe.

If you are currently serving as an innovator in your WELS ministry, please join us.  Encourage us.  Pray for us.  Let us know what you are learning these days.  We will happily do the same for you.




The Secret History of Church and Change: No Names Given


In 1995, a group of about 10-12 men [GJ - who?] gathered at Wisconsin Lutheran College to discuss current methods of sharing Jesus which were commonly being used in the WELS at that time.  Many at the first meeting felt that those methods of sharing Jesus were not “keeping up with” the rate of change in society.  The message of the Bible was not, therefore, penetrating society very well. [GJ - Cuz the Word cannot do it without Schwaermer help.]

John Parlow, Willow Creek Ministerium member, attended Drive 08's Babtist Worship conference, with Ski, Glende, Jim Buske - 8 WELS workers in all.

"Dr?" Steve Witte - Gordon Conwell quickie degree, so he could be president of the Asian porta-seminary.

 In 1998 two men [GJ - who?] who had attended the first meeting planned a Church and Change conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  The next year there was a second conference in Green Bay.  About 20 people attended each year. [GJ - Witte and Parlow, doubtless, the rotten apples in Appleton]



In May 2001, WELS Parish Services applied for and received a Forward in Christ grant to conduct a three-year pilot program to address the issues surfaced by the previous two Church and Change conferences.  The three-year pilot program was designed to be a grassroots gathering of individuals who were pioneering new innovative methods of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with a changing culture. [GJ - You suckers paid to get Church and Change going, so they could network for synod, Thrivent, and foundation grants.]

Three annual conferences were planned and held beginning in 2001.  At the first conference, approximately 50 WELS members attended.  The attendance grew to 150 in the second year and 180 in the third year.  By the third year, the attendees included more than just individuals who were actively pioneering new and innovative methods for sharing Jesus.  Many in attendance wanted to learn about how to better share the gospel with the changing culture in which they served.  In addition to the three annual conferences a variety of other workshops and gatherings were held dealing with specific ministry issues such as leadership, worship, and women’s ministry.

At the final conference of the three-year pilot, held in November 2003, the conference participants enthusiastically encouraged the organizers to continue Church and Change.  A steering committee was subsequently formed from among the participants to address the future direction of Church and Change.

From November 2003 until the present the steering committee has met and drafted a proposal that addresses the future of Church and Change. 

---

Ron Ash, Katy Perry, and Tim Glende are transforming the world with their new methods.

Church and Change Board of Directors - Ski bailed out officially, but was on the board earlier. Bruce Becker was on the board but left officially when this blog uncovered his dual role as head of WELS Parish Services/Church and Change board member. Chairman Ron Ash just happened to be followed at St. Peter's Freedom by Changers Glende and Ski.

Pastor Ron Ash	Chairman
Jeff Davis	Vice Chairman
Barry Spencer	Treasurer
Sarah Owens	Secretary
Pastor John Huebner
Brian Arthur Lampe

 

Jeff Davis will help talk your congregation into a ruinous building program, which he will help fund with law-motivated guilt giving. Asking about his huge fees will getcha excommunicated at Holy Word, Austin Texas.

GJ - Note how Jeske-centric this board is, with three staff members from St. Marcus - 1. Ski (formerly, taking Bishop Katie, also at St. Marcus, up to Appleton with him), 2. Barry Spencer, and 3. Brian Arthur Lampe, who is a self-appointed pastor with his own ministry business.

The board is also Appleton-based, with Ron Ash (formerly at St. Peter, Freedom) as chairman, Witte and Parlow as founders.

Tracing members and moolah is a good way to see where the power and influence are. At Willowcreek's Liberal College, three members of the board are from a non-WELS congregation - CrossWalk, Luveen, Arizona (Jeff Gunn, Church and Changer). When I published that fact, WLC changed it list of board members to hide parish affiliation. I never heard of a college having three members from the same church running the place.

DP Buchholz will someday discipline Jeff Gunn and kick CrossWalk out of WELS before it actually joins WELS. It part of a 30-year plan. Right now they are on double secret probation.

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Bailing Water has plenty of information about what has been going on.

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Paul Calvin Kelm refused to answer his own fellow clergy when they objected to the Leonard Sweet conference. Likewise, Ski and Glende block email from anyone who fails to genuflect to them. "Write a letter," SP Schroeder says. Ski and Glende worked for.....? Mark Jeske.

WELS Q and A

CSC: WELS Topical Q&A: The Church and Its Ministry: Music/Worship: Church and Change conference

Most Recently Posted Ask a Question
Q:	I recently was sent this copy and I am wondering if this is a WELS sponsered event. I found it a little strange to say the least, especially in some of the noted items such as "Insightful interviews with former WELS members" and the keynote speaker being Leonard Sweet. I know I received a brochure for the WELS Worhip Conference in MN this summer, so I'm wondering what this is, and what is the "Church and Change Steering Committee?" Is there a link on the synod website for the listserv this brochure speaks of?Here is the copy: 2005 Church and Change Conference November 9-11 Madison, Wisconsin The 2005 Church and Change Conference will challenge, inspire, and encourage you as a Christian and as a leader of Christians. But then, when several hundred creative WELS pacesetters gather around God's Word and share their ideas, that's what we expect would happen. We are excited to announce that world-class Christian researcher and communicator Dr. Leonard Sweet will be the keynote speaker for this year's conference. He will address the general session all day on Thursday, November 10. More information about Dr. Sweet can be found at http://www.leonardsweet.com/biocv.html In addition to Dr. Sweet, we are putting together 15-18 workshops that will cover subjects such as: * New approaches to children's and youth ministry. * Starting a contemporary worship service. * New and effective approaches to apologetics (defending what we believe). * Insightful interviews with former WELS members. * Women's ministries. * Small groups. * Preaching in today's world. * And much more... The conference steering committee is interested in hearing about workshop topics you feel are beneficial for this year's conference. Please share your suggestions with Barry Spencer at spebar@tds.net. New to this year's conference will be a Church and Change Exhibit Hall. This room will feature the latest in ministry resources! This conference is for innovative Christian leaders like yourself. Please keep it in your prayers! Mark your calendar now! Invite your friends. And stay tuned to our Church and Change listserv for information updates in the coming weeks and months.
A:	The Church and Change conference is put on by leaders of a number of WELS congregations, but it is not sponsored by WELS. Church and Change people have, however, reported to our Conference of Presidents in regard to their activities and WELS does send one of its administrators to attend the conference. The Conference of Presidents has in the past urged discretion on the part of all WELS affiliated organizations who use speakers from outside our doctrinal fellowship. We do not have a web link to connect you to information on the speaker. --- Bailing Water discussion on Church and Change, plagiarism. Waves of Nausea In the right synod, it is transformational, and good for the resume.

I have plenty of contacts from all three divisions of the Stephan-Walther sect, the Saxon sex cult that followed their syphilitic bishop to Perryville, Missouri, joined the Loehe group, and excommunicated Loehe - as their show of gratitude. They stole their bishop's land, books, gold, and jeweled chalice - after overlooking his serial adultery for years.

The common thread is this - Missouri leaders, ELS leaders, and WELS leaders treat people like Dreck. That is the ultimate test:

• How do they deal with the victims of clergy sex abuse?
• What do they do about clergy who abuse their own children?
• If a DP is a drunk or child molester, what do they do?
• How do they respond to laity who beg them to grow a Lutheran spine?
• Where is the money? as people still wonder about Stephan and Walther.
• Are they honest about the crimes committed around them?
• Do they have a child-like faith or an MBA in controlling people?
• How often do they destroy evidence of a serious crime?

Norma Boeckler delights in God's Creation.

Backward societal trends often start in small ways.

From time to time I look at the books in the gardening section at Barnes and Noble. They have four different titles on how to grow marijuana. LI and I are not hip. We heard someone singing about "smoking indie and drinking homemade wine" at an event. The singer grinned - inside joke in more ways in one. I went home and looked it up in the Urban Dictionary, my weapon against saying the wrong thing in a college classroom.

Indie is short for indoor marijuana, apparently grown by a number of people, even in Squaresville.

Heather Cook--the Episcopal bishop who ran down the father of two small children--had a pot pipe in her car and a blood alcohol level equal to 12 drinks or more, when she was caught in 2010. She was driving in the ditch on a shredded tire, incoherent. But marijuana is harmless and healthy. Everyone covered up for her, so she ran down Tom Palermo and ran away four years later.

An ELCA bishop did the same thing, running down a woman exercising, escaping until other drivers surrounded him at a gas station.

Recently a woman left her dog in the car to freeze to death, because she was stealing goods from a store to feed her marijuana habit.

I continue to wonder how we went from the horrors of smoking Camels to the medical marvels of smoking marijuana. One inspires ignominy and shunning, the other praise and knowing smiles.

A program about addiction explained the problem this way. Two areas light up in the brain when something delights us. Morphine and other drugs make that area light up, but they take away the delight in the normal things in life - gardening, smelling roses, grandchildren, a breeze blowing across a field of clover (that bubblegum fragrance).

Soon the only thing to make that area light up in the scan is a drug.

Norma Boeckler's Creation art.

Gardening and grandchildren are the best combination. Kids love to help out gardening, and I enjoy getting sharing the work. Participating in the success of the venture is the best part. Our helper brings his children over. They were chasing newspaper sheets around the yard, because one section of Jackson Mulch dried out, the leaves blew off, and the newspapers dried and took to the air in our recent slight rain.

We were working and talking about future yields - peas, spinach, corn, various greens, roses, etc.

I will normally have extra seeds to share, so they will be starting their own garden.

I liked the concept of lighting the trees at night, but I did not want so much light, the electrical bills, and running the conduits - not that I would do that anyway.

Gradually I have added solar lighting around the exterior of the house and among the trees, even in the crepe myrtle bush. For Christmas we added solar lights to the front yard maple tree and to the porch.

These particular solar lights glow all night and brighten when someone approaches. We come home to a lit exterior that brightens when we approach the house and the front door. Three solar lights illuminate the angels in the rose garden in front.

The backdoor lights up for Sassy's jaunts outside and her return. An isolated light stays dark unless someone tries to open the backdoor of the garage. If that is not daunting, the interior security light will go off with any motion inside the garage.

The backyard trees are all lit with a soft glow. If Sassy is near one, it brightens up. Sometimes a critter wants to visit at night. The bright glow makes it clear where it has been or Sassy has walked. Overall, solar lighting is quite attractive and unobtrusive.



Rain is coming so I was thinking about those Oregon Sugar pod peas, waiting to be planted.  Our helped showed up and I handed him the rake. I hated to take work away from him, and he felt great after recovering from a cold.

Peas like shallow planting, so he pulled Jackson Mulch away from the fence and I scattered the peas along the way. He topped off the peas with mushroom compost and loose mulch. I turned on the aerial soaker hose to give them a start and push down the soil and mulch a bit.

That went so fast that we did the same along the back fence, taking a gamble that the black oil sunflowers would survice bird and squirrel predation, plus cold nights during February. The cost in seed was perhaps $1. Buying large bags of sunflower seeds for birds is much more economical than little colored packets of sunflowers with silly names like Autumn Sunset and Smiley Face.

Two soaker hoses were chewed off at the end making them useless. A third one was chewed in the middle, typical of Sassy. She may have  chewed all of them. Hanging them in the dead tree may have enticed a squirrel into a life of crime.

Soaker hoses are a bargain, but normally a one-season tool. They save a lot of time and money. Many plants (like certain roses) will mildew more easily when sprayed from a hose. A soaker hose will normally water at the base and lost little water to run-off and evaporation.

Norma Boeckler

Sunflower Seeds
We put the sunflower seeds in an ideal medium, soft moist soil, covered with soil, mulch, and leaves.

Birds will have a good time searching for seeds, and so will the squirrels. The cold nights may stop many of them, but I planted hundreds. Some will germinate and grow early. The large ones for screening will be planted in March, when they have a better chance.

Matthew 13

13 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.



If I had listened to my doubts and the pessimistic weather forecast of our helper, I would have saved the seeds for birdseed. But I concluded that a few surviving sunflowers would more than make up for all the losses, just like the Parable of the Sower.

The Word multiplies so it should be broadcast. The media people know this, in their own way. They borrowed a farming term for what they do . They broadcast their signal, hoping some will listen and watch.

We did not plant peas and sunflowers. We broadcast them and tucked them in with some mushroom compost and mulch. The power of the harvest will not come from our efforts but from the living seed that was waiting to germinate and grow, to flower and set seed.

Traeder, Taylor D Schofield, WI St Matthew Lutheran School Grades 6-8, Athletic Director, Principal Apprentice https://lockerdome.com/wsjmadison/7333274171221012 OSHKOSH - An Iron Ridge principal appeared in court Thursday after allegedly sexting an Oshkosh police detective who was posing as a 15-year-old girl. Taylor D. Traeder, 25, appeared in Winnebago Circuit Court for his initial appearance, but the case was adjourned until Friday so Traeder could obtain an attorney. Traeder is charged with four counts of causing a child over the age of 13 to view or listen to sexual activity. If found guilty, he could face up to 24 years in prison and fines totaling $40,000. Oshkosh police arrested.  Principal charged with child sex crime OSHKOSH | An Iron Ridge principal appeared in court Thursday after allegedly sexting an Oshkosh police detective who was posing as a 15-year-old girl. Taylor D. Traeder, 25, appeared in Winnebago Circuit Court for his initial appearance, but the case was adjourned until Friday so Traeder could obtain an attorney. Traeder is charged with four counts of causing a child over the age of 13 to view or listen to sexual activity. If found guilty, he could face up to 24 years in prison and fines totaling $40,000. Oshkosh police arrested Traeder Wednesday night. According to the criminal complaint, an Oshkosh detective found an ad on Craigslist where a man was was looking for a female to chat with and possibly meet. “Discretion is a must, as I am married and with my position as a teacher,” the ad stated. The detective responded to the ad and identified himself as a 15-year-old girl from Oshkosh. The detective received a response asking why the 15-year-old read the ad and said, “I’m open to just chatting too, but just thought I would ask.” The detective e-mailed back and forth with the poster of the ad from Dec. 9 to 10. During those conversations, the poster told the detective that he taught sixth- to seventh-grade students at a really small school and he was also the principal of that school. According to the criminal complaint, the detective did a Google search of the phone number that was provided and found that it came back belonging to an individual who was the principal at St. Matthews Lutheran Church and School in Iron Ridge. Through the investigation, police identified the principal as Taylor D. Traeder. According to the criminal complaint, the text messages started turning to a sexual nature on Dec. 11. At one point, the detective received a text saying,“You’re a naughty girl and I’m a naughty teacher.” The sexually suggestive texts continued, and Traeder sent sexual pictures via text to the detective posing as the teen on Dec. 15. Oshkosh police had sent Traeder a picture of a 14-year-old girl who volunteered a photo for the investigation. On Dec. 30, Traeder engaged in another text session where he suggested the teen he thought he was texting should visit him. The texts continued until Jan. 8 Traeder was arrested with the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department in Iron Ridge and transported to Winnebago County Jail Wednesday. ---

http://fox11online.com/2015/01/16/man-charged-for-sending-inappropriate-photos-in-oshkosh/

Man charged with sexting Oshkosh police detective, who was posing as 15-year-old girl