In a Search of the Literature, I Found This Website

Musicians endlessly categorize their sub-sub-sub categories, merging and fusing names, mesmerizing and confusing the rest of us. I found this scholarly summary of Doo-Wop on the Net a few minutes ago. How many years does it take to reach this level of Doo-Wop scholarship?

Nothing reveals the untrained theological mind faster than endless sub-categories, shadings, history, and trivia. Thus the laity have a great advantage over the pretensions of MDivs who still struggle with spelling. Laymen do not have to remember their precious dog notes from seminary, so they can rely on the plain message of the Holy Spirit in the Word.

One thing is clear - when someone begins articulating Justification by Faith, which is in fact the Article on Which the Church Stands or Falls, the UOJ-sperts begin their campaign of hatred, deception, and division.

Didja know the LCMS version of justification without faith was far superior to the WELS version of justification without faith? That shows the influence of MDiv coaching and brow-beating. Notice that one "without" is italicized while the other is bold. Subtle? Yes, but that takes four years of training drinking beer to achieve that level, which is called "clear" in Scientology.

Likewise, one must know the intimate details of Synodical Conference history to understand this UOJ religion. Disregard the myth of its origins. I suggested that all Lutherans follow Walther's example for excommunication, which he practiced on Bishop Stephan:

• Gather those who agree with the plan into a mob - and leave the rest behind.
• Travel, without warning, to the person's house, armed with torches and guns.
• Kick the person out of his house, threatening him with the weapons.
• Steal all his gold, strip him, and mock him if any gold is left. Take that too.
• Steal all his books.
• Steal his clothing, bedding, and gold jeweled chalice, a personal gift from Europe.
• Kidnap him and force him to cross over the river to Mississippi.
• Dump him on the shore with a shovel and a few bucks.
• Make up stories about the noble, Biblical, Confessional leadership of the mob leader, CFW Walther.

I tried that advice on some LCMS pastors on Facebook, and they did not respond. Another one informed me that I had no knowledge of Walther's forcing F. Pieper on the LCMS as his official parrot, bypassing the normal way professors were elected to that office. According to his nephew, L. Fuerbringer, Walther changed the election away from the local districts and made it a national election. And who chaired that meeting? The Great Walther, of course. One of the Walther hagiographies denied that CFW made a face when one candidate was mentioned. "But even if he did..."

Francis Pieper.
Notice the early photobomb.

I did not steal your iPhone, but even if I did...

Sounds a wee bit fishy. Those are two memories of that moment when Pieper was selected from seminary to take over the Walther dog notes. After three whole years in the parish, Pieper became a seminary professor.

The division among American Lutherans happened mostly because of Walther's ruthless behavior, his lust for power, and his false doctrine. He did not win the fight for justification without faith until Pieper got it canonized in the 1932 Brief Statement, which the Enthusiasts raised above Scripture and the Confessions. The only question became, eyebrows dancing in wrath and consternation, "Do you agree with the 1932 Brief Statement?"

Fox Valley WELS - Candid Photo

One is the sexpert, one is the UOJ theologian, and the other is the enabler.

From Teaching English to Comedy - A Short Hop

Jeffery Daniel, RIP.

I did not know Barnaby the Juggler at Moline High School, but he was remembered as a lot of fun. My late friend, Larry Easter, was quite impressed with Jeff's act. Many of my friends moved from teaching in public school to some other vocation. One became a computer graphics expert. Several became lawyers. I imagine Jeff found comedy useful in teaching English, so the move to the stage was a slight change in audience.

I found some YouTube video about Jeff - and there is a little about Larry Easter - Linn County. Here is another album by Linn County. Larry is found in Wikipedia, among other places on the Net. The group was honored for their work.

I told Larry that his fellow band members all looked like rotund Kiwanis members when they were inducted into the Iowa Music Hall of Fame.

Being in band and orchestra created a compact group of friends. Musicians seem to be over-represented on the honor roll in academics, perhaps from the mental discipline of memorizing music and working on scales until some good music finally emerges.

It seems as if Larry's band got their album recorded only a few days ago. We got together on a trip to Moline when LI was very young. Much later we met in Phoenix with a Moline friend who also passed away in the last year.

People seem to put the wrong emphasis on life. The most important memories involve our children - and now our grandchildren. We had a Norman Rockwell weekend, grilling with Team Jackson. When the charcoal was heating up, Alex helped me prune the roses. He was keen on getting rid of old blooms for me, and soon after we had five dozen in bloom at once.

He said, "Grampy, I learn a lot from you." That is my Hall of Fame, my Oscar, my Pulitzer, my endowed chair of rosarian science.

We walked to the corner for a yard sale. The girls opposite the yard sale started a lemonade stand to take advantage of the traffic and fund their tubing adventure. The next day they were still at work as we drove by their stand. I rolled down my window and asked, "Do you have drive-through service?" They laughed and brought two cups of lemonade. Mrs. I said, "What did they charge?" I said "Fifty cents, but I gave them a dollar each." She said, "We charged a nickel when we had a stand in South Bend." I said, "It's for tubing, and it's the most I ever paid per ounce for a drink. But it was worth it."