Weeds or Herbs? - Wait for the Flowers and Fruits

Borage flower.

Our helper came over with his children to help with the storm damage. We had a large pile of branches from the brief wind storm and additional pruning.

I pointed to the tall borage plant with six clusters of buds, the top one in bloom - "Your weed is doing well." Earlier, he was certain it was a weed, and I argued for borage. I said, "Wait for the flowers. Then we will know for sure." I was used to tiny borage plants in Phoenix. This one erupted out of mulch and newspaper layers, above composting sod and earthworm activity.

Next to it was another borage plant, easily matching its leaves, barely out of the mulch,  no longer a questionable stranger in the rose garden. Many people use delicate borage flowers to garnish a salad. They are so prolific that someone can harvest the flowers each day from one plant and have plenty more the next day. Meanwhile, they are dropping seed. Like dill, borage will volunteer forever.

Typical cluster of Borage.

Our neighbors are careful about maintaining their yards, but mysteriously reverent about preserving the weeds growing in the road and sidewalks. I am watching several on our morning walks. One seems to be a variety of milkweed, so I am waiting for it to bloom and fruit.

The conservative Lutherans have been complaining about the weeds growing in their synods for several decades. Christian News began its 50-year career as an advocate for various synodical politicians, all of them a vast disappointment.

I asked Robert Preus and John (Slick) Brenner the same question, "Why do your graduates hate Lutheran doctrine so much? The majority of them come from your system of education."

They agreed with me about the cause - "Bad training." Both synods--WELS and LCMS--were producing invasive weeds because the schools were busy sowing weed seeds, which are:

• Adoration of Holy Mother Synod, infallible and indefectible.
• Neglect of the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.
• Knowledge of the 10,000 unwritten rules of the synod while abusing the Ten Commandments.
• Debate of the trivial in order to avoid the real doctrinal issues.

The ladies guild celebrating Halloween -
coming to a synod near you.

WELS and Missouri turned away from justification by faith and focused fanatically on Walther's peculiar justification without faith (UOJ). Walther borrowed his dogma from the Founder, Bishop Martin Stephan, whose open adultery with his young female groupies meant they shared his syphilis, which killed his wife and most of his children. Walther was just as much an Antinomian dictator as his former boss, so the followers fell into line and adopted his peculiar dogma. Walther institutionalized it by teaching, writing, and forcing his parrot F. Pieper upon the synod.

Good seed flourishes, too - if given a chance.

WELS clergy always whine about Missouri bullying them and forcing their little seminary to close for a time. No one thinks to say, "You mean the way WELS treats the ELS as its sock-puppet today?" That would be blasphemy because the Wisconsin sect is god almighty in their eyes.

The Wauwatosa museum of Walther delusions suffered from the training of its faculty, proud alumni of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Their preening and boasting reads like a hollow version of CFW Walther at his worst.

Wauwatosa institutionalized UOJ, its secret GA initiation rites, and crazy claims - like Wayne Mueller claiming the Confessions advocate a constant changing doctrine. No one can argue with Wayne, another UOJ Stormtrooper, because Holy Mother Synod appointed him, in spite of his lack of scholarship and ability.

Panning was a weak Mequon president (but strong on UOJ). Valleskey was a horrible seminary president (fanatical on UOJ and Church Growth). Wendland is a clown about about four issues -

1. UOJ.
2. Feminist agenda.
3. Church Growth. 
4. Rupert Murdoch's NIV.

When justification by faith and Christ-centered worship services were dominant in the Olde Synodical Conference, the synods bore fruit, in spite of the efforts of the wolves to force their false doctrine on everyone. The Instruments of Grace always bear fruit, so the lupine leaders coasted on the efforts of faithful leaders from the past,

1. who visited members instead of the gym, 
2. who wrote their own sermons instead of plagiarizing them, 
3. who thought nothing of serving the same congregation for decades.

Luther observed that the weeds of false doctrine are sterile. They flower and fruit, but the crop is useless. That is the difference between a useful plant like borage and another prolific seeder like crab-grass. No one sells crab grass seed because no one needs to. Yards are green with crab grass right now, and its slender seed stalks are rising above the lawn to perpetuate the reign of digitaria. Crab grass must be pulled up or poisoned - harsh methods indeed. No wonder it flourishes.

The Lutheran clergy are doing little to combat the weed growth in their sects. The best rebukes are coming from the laity. Some say, "The laity have nothing to lose." In fact, they are losing Lutheran worship and doctrine, which is everything. They may be thinking about their children and grandchildren, how the congregations of the 1960s were mostly liturgical - in all synods - and now they are not. They may worry that the worst weed patches grow around the synodical headquarters cities.