Our 45th Wedding Anniversary

Birds Greet Me When I Open the Sunflower Seed Box

Purple finches will show up in groups to enjoy sunflower feeders.

Long ago I pushed suet into mesh bags and distributed them around the backyard. Yesterday a downy woodpecker rewarded me by posing on one bag while eating. We saw pileated woodpeckers twice in Bella Vista, doubtless attracted by suet hanging and an abundance of oak borers in dying trees.

Downy woodpeckers love suet when they are not eating bugs.

I also noticed that the extra lump of suet--stuck in the tree and covered with almond butter--was completely gone. Mrs. Ichabod pulled that suet out of the freezer and began slicing it up as turkey breast. The almond butter was starting to turn, so I added that for dessert.

Our grandson Alex helped me scatter sunflower seeds in the mulched vegetable and corn gardens-in-waiting. More seed was poured into the soi-disant squirrel proof birdfeeder. We reached 60 degrees yesterday, so the bedroom window was open and bird sounds came through. Purple finches were munching sunflower seeds inches from the open (screened) window.

Our vast expanses of mulch serve as birdfeeders, providing a cover and food for soil creatures, a large shopping area for birds to select fresh food for themselves. I add sunflower seeds for the seed eating birds that prefer eating from the ground.

Lowe's had just what I wanted - a little metal chair to attach to a tree. I also bought field corn to screw into the squirrel feeder. Soon squirrels will sit in the chair and enjoy corn treats. My favorite is a composite cob a Ace Hardware. It takes forever to eat and resists all kinds of weather. However, the old fashioned cob photographs better and scatters corn on the ground for blue jays.

Creating a Leaf Mulch To Make the Flowers Spring Up Later

Butterfly Weed is a close relative of the milkweed.
Monarch butterflies need one plant or the other to feed their caterpillars.

We had 48 degree weather yesterday, and it will be just as warm today. This prompted discussions on Facebook about raking leaves, which we are only starting. Half the leaves are still in the trees, all over town. We had a snowfall, but all of it melted at once.

Our neighbor donated more newspapers, so I want to to use them as an initial layer on the grass where I will built up a butterfly and hummingbird area. Both creatures like the same kind of plants, a variety including Butterfly Bush and Butterfly Weed. Bee Balm (Oswego Tea, also called Monarda) is another fave, along with Bee Bread (Borage) and Comfrey (a Borage relative).

Borage - Bee Bread - will seed itself.

To have a good area for planting, I want the grass mostly gone and the soil soft for spring planting. I am going to try two free sources for this, a layer of newspapers and a layer of leaves on top. Rain is coming so that could work out well.

Our artist-in-residence, Norma Boeckler, was intrigued about my double-layer of newspapers and mulch. Most mulching sources will mention commercial mulch alone, but not the newspapers.

Newspapers block more of the sunlight from the soil, which is important in killing off the lawn grass and creating compost rather than weeds like crabgrass that roar through the wood mulch and grow even higher.

In a short period of time, newspaper alone will turn grass black, generating compost on the spot with all the right ingredients - high nitrogen grass, earthworms, moisture, darkness, and soil creatures. I would rather kill knee-high crabgrass with newspapers than spraying the patch with RoundUp, vinegar, Dawn, salt water, or a torch.

A rain-soaked box of newspapers is incredibly heavy. Cellulose holds a lot of water. When the box of newspapers dries, the pages blow all over the neighborhood. I have experience newspapers soaking wet and dry from heavy winds and sun. Our helper is skeptical about leaves holding down the newspapers, but I am optimistic - if the promised rain comes and the leaves keep falling.

We already filled the compost bin (chicken wire) with leaves on top the green trash from Mr. Gardener's harvest. Snow fell and melted on the dead plants, and the leaves began to decompose and speed up the green material's decomposition. I add wrinkled apples, fallen pears, and black bananas from time to time.

Pig Weed is a beautiful plant with bad PR.
This weed will generate juicy, tender growth for composting,
growing anywhere and yet easy to harvest.

Given that a large area of organic matter will cover the lawn in the far back, what will we do in the spring? Planting through mulch is the easiest possible way to garden. Simply pull the much away with a metal rake - and plant. The rest of the mulch will continue to feed the soil, hold water, and block unwanted weeds.

The roses along the fence will be different. We will plant the roses in the lawn, then mulch with newspapers and cypress around them. We can create a straight line and space them easier this way. The mulch budget for 2014  was used up faster than the snow removal funds in Buffalo this fall.

In short, a Creation gardener will save as much organic matter as possible for renewing the soil, and trust the soil creatures to pull down what is needed for their use.

The soil web theory argues that the populations beneath the surface will shred the initial contributions, break up the complex chemicals (cellulose, carbohydrates), and hold them close to the plant roots. The soil creatures will endlessly swap the chemicals  and keep them right where the plants need them. In turn, the plant roots will swap their carbon for the NPK and metal ions they need.

Not rototilling is the best possible way to build up the soil population.

Plants need nitrogen for growth,
which is passed around by bacteria, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, and earthworms.
Nitrogen is a trust fund kept in the family by the Creation gardener.

Cosby Exposed by One Woman after Another. Prime Example of Victim Control

Bill Cosby's history has caught up with him.
Time wounds all heels.
If he gave enough money to Wisconsin Lutheran College,
they would name a building after him.

Long ago Bill Cosby gave me the creeps. I watched the cartoon show he narrated, and refused to let it be on our TV again. Either he was high on dope when onscreen, or pretending to be. I wondered how this children's show - Fat Albert - could be worthwhile for anyone, especially children. Needless to say, this contributed to stoners being considered cool. And later, we elected one President, who confessed to pot and cocaine in his ghost-written autobiography.

The media often try people in the public eye and find them guilty. But the string of accusations have a legal case behind them. Cosby had to settle with about 13 women at once. The terms were sealed, of course, and "everyone was happy with the resolution."

More women are going public with an identical tale. Cosby friended them, offered them help in their careers, then gave them wine and a pill. When they tried to press rape charges, the lawyers and publicists made sure their money-bucket was untouched.

WELS, LCMS, the Little Sect, and the CLC (sic) are happy to prop up repeat sex offenders and clobber anyone who tells the truth about their deliberate obstruction of justice (a felony). I have a list of specific examples from each abusive sect listed above. In fact, I helped the attorney for the plaintiff (a young girl) win an initial $400,000 settlement against WELS, Pastor Fred Adrian, and the Michigan District - the Zerbe case.

The DP-without-Portfolio, Herman Otten, spiked my story on the Zerbe case and was quite indignant with me for sending it. The ELS made sure I lost a couple of friends over it, too.  I could tell WELS-ELS pushback was operating at max speed.

In the LCMS, when a DP guided a convicted sex offender into parish minister - and he offended again - SP Matt Harrison (buddy of Paul McCain) ordered Steadfast Lutherans to erase their thread on the case, where all the facts were laid out. The editor who agreed to this farce told me about Harrison, expressed his sorrow, and played dead. Soon after he was promoted to a better position and he became quite obnoxious with me on FB. Missouri pushback - flank speed, taking no prisoners. The DP who guided the sex offender into parish ministry was re-elected.

I am permanently banned on Steadfast Lutherans, a very high honor - though it comes from shills, pimps, frauds, and peculators.

Is the Olde Synodical Conference trying to catch up with the Hyles sect? That minister kept his mistress nearby while pretending to be a rock-ribbed Babtist preacher. His son-in-law was so out of bounds that they finally tossed him in the clink for sex with minor girls, aided by staff members, as his father-in-law was. Son-in-law took over the Hyles church by marrying and betraying the daughter. Thus the sins of one generation are visited on the next.

I often think of the mousy weasels of the Michigan District, who could not stand up to the situation in Columbus, Ohio - except to boost their careers - as John Seifert did.

Remember the warning of Slick Brenner - judgement starts with the House of God, and it will be fierce.

WELS has been shaken by The Shattered Pulpit blog, and they are in full mind-control reaction now. WELS does the following, as the others do with a little more finesse:

1. Isolate the person telling the truth.
2. Slander the victim.
3. Get the victim's friends to silence her - "You are hurting Holy Mother Church."
4. Send tons of anger her way, to show how bad the sin of truth is. Holy Mother is furious!
5. Urge erasing of the blog (Issues in WELS, Bailing Water, Polluted WELS).
6. Drive people away from supporting the truth (see the Intrepid Lutherans, where death squads were dispatched to get pastors and laity to unsign. Even the founder bailed!)
7. Control the story by telling a sanitized version that everyone can tell to displace the truth.
8. Forget it ever happened. "I don't know anything about that."
9. Make sure everyone has to confess the source of the story. React with horror!
10. Sue the person who objects. Make it a massive reaction to show how horrible it is to object to sinful behavior.

Ski, Glende, and Bishop Katy went to hear their idol,
Mark Driscoll.
May their work prosper in the same way as Driscoll's.

---

Greggy,

So you thought Bill Cosby was on drugs during his segments on Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids?

What, exactly, were YOU smoking to make you think so?

Cheers,

Joel Lillo

Fox Valley WELS Pastor and NWD apologist

(Thought I'd save you the effort of typing that this time.)

***

GJ - Joel, please read the sentence over again, including the highlighted part. 

Secondly, check into a really good and caring Twelve Step program. You are addicted to reading this blog, even though you have sworn off many times.. 

1. We admitted we were powerless over Ichabod—that our lives and emotions had become 

unmanageable. 

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to 

sanity. 

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God according to the same Book of Concord that we ignored and scorned for so long.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, as disgusting as that might be.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature 

of our wrongs, especially our pathetic Pietistic UOJ dogma.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character and doctrine. 

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings and help us read the Confessions.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make 

amends to them all. Or at least the first thousand or two.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do 

so would injure them or others. 

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly 

admitted it. That was a first!

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with 

God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us 

and the power to carry that out. 

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to 

carry this message to Ichabodics, and to practice these principles in all our 

affairs. And rely on the Means of Grace instead of Driscoll, Stanley, and Rick Warren.

---

Greg,

Is Lillo on your payroll to play the part of the Pharisaical bumbling frat boy?  Or does he just not grasp the concept of a logical observation based on how Cosby was acting?  Or both.  

It looks like you are simply using the example of Cosby to show people how sin operates.  And then cite examples on how the WELS operates the same way from top to bottom in the "leadership" chain.

The WELS must have missed in the story of David & Bathsheba how sin makes every effort to hide what it has done from the public.  And missed how the apostles hung themselves out in the Gospels for every future generation to see.  

In Christ,

Wondering

***

GJ - Indeed - Lillo could be my highly paid source on all the wrongs of the Anything Goes District. He seems determined to run up my views.

Note This Factoid from Virtue Online

Jefferts-Schori has decided to resign as presiding bishop
rather than run for a second nine-year term of office.
She has spent lavishly from church funds to sue bishops,
congregations, and laity.

Virtue Online:

As the Huffington Post reported, though her predecessor, Bishop Frank Griswold, chose not to litigate against parishes that left the church over its new emphasis on sexual "diversity," Jefferts Schori spent millions of the national church's funds in litigation against five dioceses, winning most of the legal battles.

Over Jefferts Schori's term, however, Episcopal Church membership has dropped by 12 percent. In 2009, the conservative Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) broke away from the Episcopal Church over substantial issues regarding human sexuality and the authority of the Bible.

SPs Harrison and Schroeder pretend to be Confessional Lutherans
while working with PB Liz Eaton of ELCA
and the openly gay  (and partnered) bishop on the right, Guy Erwin.
Erwin is a Confessional Lutheran, too.
He held the endowed chair of Confessional Lutheranism at California Lutheran U.

The Walther-Stephan Myths Burden the Olde Synodical Conference. Classic Ichabod from 2012

Synodocat has a grim outlook,
because he must promote a mythology he knows is false.

I get into phone and email discussions with people who scratch their heads over peculiar attitudes of the Olde Synodical Conference.

The biggest single problem of the Olde Synodical Conference is the Walther mythology. Although the facts about Bishop Stephan and Walther are published, known, and circulated, the mythological view predominates - even among those who would never call themselves Waltherian.

One eye-opener was Herman Otten's grandson repeating the lie, told in Perry County, that Stephan was "given three choices" when caught in adultery. First of all, Stephan was an open serial adulterer, so there was no shock. Secondly, when a man's life is threatened and he is forced across a river at gunpoint, there are no choices.

Stephan's St. Louis residence was known for all the women hanging around.
That included C. F. W. Walther's young niece, who died in America.

Anyone can see how the various authors skip over the kidnapping of Walther's niece and nephew from his father's parsonage. Mrs. Buenger was so involved that she spent time in the hoosegow for her participation. C.F.W. married one Buenger daughter, and his brother married another. When Walther's brother died, Ottomar Fuerbringer married the widow, making the kidnapping epidsodes (the children and Stephan) basic to LCMS history and DNA. Ottomar begat Ludwig Fuerbringer, who skipped over the early years of Missouri in his two books, and Ludwig begat Fibby, who turned Concordia Seminary, St. Louis into a faculty for Seminex.

The Bohemians had no problem with slavery.
Stephan settled his group in a slave state, unlike the Scandinavians,
who loathed slavery and stayed away from slave states.
Quoting Walther on slavery is considered slander, especially today.

Bishop Stephan is often accused of mismanaging money. Doubtless his plans and insistence on Perry County were quite harmful, and he lived high on the hog. But he did not touch the money. Everything was approved by the pastors and the laity, sometimes by one group, sometimes by the whole group. The clergy took money out of the common fund for themselves, too. CFW's brother took $400 out, a huge sum, and never accounted for it, never repaid it.

Zion on the Mississippi goes into all these details, which are quite confusing and difficult to follow. The Society was running out of money when they robbed Stephan of all his gold, personal possessions, 1500 books, and land (120 acres, eventually).

C. F. W. Walther led the mob against Stephan, acted as the new leader in Perry County, and took over leadership of the group soon after the big event. Walther also controlled the history of the group, stifling attempts to write about those early days.

The Saxon mob, organized and led by Walther,
robbed Stephan of all his gold.
Where did it go?
The stolen chalice ended up being used in C. F. W.'s congregation in St. Louis.
Thieves love to show off their trophies from robbery.

A group of pious liars turned Stephan into an embezzler (who never held the funds), a false teacher - whom the clergy installed as bishop. The clergy pledged total obedience to Stephan, so it is not shocking that Walther simply took over that style of leadership, becoming the American Pope.

The pious liars have never disclosed Stephan's well known adultery, in Europe and in America, or how he doomed his wife and children by sharing his syphilis with them.

Stephan studied at Halle University.
Stephan changed Walther's concept of justification - to UOJ.

The doctrinal foundation of the Olde Synodical Conference comes from Stephan's cell group Pietism and his initial education at Halle University. The Saxon group came over as Pietists and kept their cell groups going for a long time. Their bizarre justification scheme came from Halle and Stephan. Walther never changed, never went beyond his rationalistic and Pietistic training. But many consider his every pronouncement infallible, inspired, and beyond criticism.

The Missouri Synod, like other Pietistic groups, moved closer to the Confessions and Luther in later years. In that regard the LCMS was no different from the Swedish Augustana Synod or the Tennessee Synod or the General Council. Even the General Synod became confessional enough to merge with General Council, forming the ULCA in 1918.

The Missouri Synod remained a mix of Pietism and Lutheran doctrine, which is why the group had their Seminex crisis, their surge of Pentecostalism, and their love affair with the Church Growth Movement.

Plants Grow in Soil - The Church Grows through the Efficacious Word in the Means of Grace

Two Black Boxes for Darwin
The best known one (Behe, Darwin's Black Box) is the irreducible complexity of life at the microscopic level. There are too many mechanisms that must work together perfectly to rely on evolution as an explanation. In fact, evolution becomes increasingly comical as we look at the infinite dependencies of the soil under our feet.

A scientist offered a second black box for Darwin. This one is always on my mind when I write about gardening. He said, in a book whose title I have forgotten, that a scientist cannot answer the question of purpose. He can only observe what he sees. And yet, everyone is eager to say things like this:

1. The purpose of the protozoa is to keep the bacteria in check.
2. The purpose of the earthworm is to tunnel, mix, aerate, and fertilize the soil.
3. The purpose of the this particular insect, the fig wasp, is to pollinate the fig tree. No other animal can do this. Without this one particular wasp, the tree would never fruit, never reproduce.

I often wonder if my favorite authors on the soil food web are winking at the discerning reader, when they mention the craft, cleverness, and purpose of microscopic dependencies. They toss out evolutionary terms, even precise dates like 750 million years ago, but 99.9% of the content says just the opposite. To paraphrase something from long ago, "Intelligent Design trembles on their lips."

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.

Wayne Lewis, Jeff Lowenfels,(2010-09-10). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 908-910). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

Both of Darwin's black boxes are in play here. No one can explain how a fungus can be purpose-driven to swap nutrients it collects for the carbon it needs to grow. Nor can anyone anyone explain how the root tip knows the plant needs and arranges the bargain.

Science is pursuing nanotechnology - mechanics at the microscopic level. Plants already do nanotechnology in every cell, and microscopic beings minister to them, using nanotechnology.

Fungi cleverly trap nematodes with a little spring action they devised "on their own," or they lure those delicious tiny worms with one chemical and kill it with another. Nematodes are power bars for fungi, since nematodes are loaded with extra nitrogen. The fungi can send that excess nitrogen along their length to plant roots, which respond with carbon credits.



No Compromise
I am not suggesting any compromise with Creation through the Word. Nor does the Six Day Creation depend on its agreement with current science. I find it amusing that science must collide with Creation when explaining how everything works together.

This Creation concept is especially important because the power and efficacy of the Word is the bedrock of Biblical teaching. Take that away and nothing is left but moralistic philosophy (aka mainline theology, aka modern Pietism).

Ruined Soil, Bad Crops
The SpenerQuest clowns were crowing and preening their feathers recently. They made this hilarious claim - the LCMS is so good and pure because Walther and his obedient followers pledged to the entire Book of Concord. Therefore they alone have the right version of everything, including UOJ (which the masked with their term - "election by grace").

They revealed their Pietism by emphasizing what Walther did - not what he actually taught or believed. Walther also swore eternal allegiance to his adulterous, syphilitic bishop - an eternity that lasted until CFW organized a riot to rob, threaten, and kidnap his bishop-for-life.

Walther, who only had a bachelor's degree from a rationalistic school, believed in Stephan's UOJ, which was learned during the Third Martin's stay at Halle University, the mother ship of Pietism. Walther taught Justification Without Faith. The Great Walther only associated with Pietists, going from the Pietist who died to the one who led their escape to America - Stephan, who was dictatorial, corrupt, adulterous, and crazy with the clap.

Why are the "conservative" Lutherans so comfortable with ELCA and going downhill with the same speed as ELCA? They have distanced themselves from the power and efficacy of the Word. Now they rototill their congregations and districts with the latest programs, borrowed from the equally apostate Babtists.

Some have thought to blame the encroachment of Babtist influence on Lutherans, but that is several fries short of a Happy Meal. The mutual attraction is like lint to Velcro, and it is apostasy. The Church Shrinkers want nothing to do with the faithful, even if those people are only faithful to their own confessions and teachings.

The Church Shrinkers are drawn to their ideal counterparts - the greedy, corrupt, unbelieving apostates who ooze sanctimony in the name of sanctification and issue absolution for their own crimes while condemning the fidelity of others as felonious.

Mrs. I was on the phone with QVC to order something for our anniversary. I suggested a dustmop, but she wanted jewelry. Somehow they got on the topic of roses. The phone person asked to speak to me. "How do you keep insects from your roses?"

I said, "I don't do anything except use wood mulch. I used no spray and had no insect damage all summer." The poor woman was in shock.

In fact, we found grasshoppers on the roses twice while pruning them. We did nothing and they did not move, hop, or semi-fly away. They had it good - organic rose food, no aftertaste of pesticide.

Why no visible damage? The good insects kept the damaging ones in check. We also know that fungi keep plants healthy and productive, too, by living close to them and inside of them.

Believers are like plants. They grow by being nurtured in the right way, designed and provided by God Himself. When man injects his rapid grow cells and other instant answers, he destroys the divine meaning and purpose in the Means of Grace.

Notice all the synodical programs to solve the problems caused by all the synodical programs.

The ultimate irony is that the skunkpatch called LutherQuest is violently opposed to Luther's doctrine, the Biblical doctrine of Justification By Faith.

Megachurches after the Star Pastor Is Gone - Religious News Service. Does Patterson Have a Succession Plan Once He Is SP?

Kudu Don Patterson dressed up like this - no kidding.
Photoshop added the dollar signs.

What are megachurches without their star pastors?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/national/what-are-megachurches-without-their-star-pastors/ar-AA73tho

Can a megachurch survive the departure of its megastar pastor?

For Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, it’s an open question.

Mars Hill announced last week that it would dissolve the network of 13 churches across the Northwest that took root under pastor Mark Driscoll, who stepped down in October after supporters lost confidence in a high-wattage leadership style that was criticized as bullying, hypermacho and intolerant.

For many megachurches, a pastor can become larger than the church itself — particularly for multi-site churches whose disparate congregations are connected by little more than a pastor’s sermon and a satellite feed. Before his resignation, the name “Mark Driscoll” was more widely known than “Mars Hill.” The dueling brands sometimes clashed.

Some say Driscoll once told staff members, “I am the brand.”

Driscoll’s edgy personality built up a congregation of an estimated 14,000 people at 15 locations across five states. Weekly attendance is now reportedly about 7,600. In August, the church’s expenses exceeded revenue by $650,000.

According to Mars Hill leaders, by the start of 2015, locations within the Mars Hill network will either become independent, self-governing churches, merge with another church or disband.

Mars Hill’s church properties will be sold or the loans on the individual properties will be assumed by the newly independent churches. Central staff in Seattle will be laid off as the formal Mars Hill organization dissolves.

Megachurches across the country have faced similar dips in attendance once a popular pastor left, a problem that can plague any church but one that can be exacerbated in a megabrand context. If the chief executive of McDonald’s left, for instance, the company would face fewer questions about its survival than “The Colbert Report” will when its star leaves.

“It’s not uncommon for CEOs to say the first agenda item is to talk about ‘What happens when I’m not here anymore?’ ” said William Vanderbloemen, co-author of “Next: Pastoral Succession That Works.” “The key is to have an emergency succession plan.”

After former megachurch pastor Rob Bell’s controversial book “Love Wins” raised debates over whether hell exists, his Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Mars Hill Bible Church lost about 1,000 people. It now has about 3,000 attendees, said its current pastor, Kent Dobson.

Every megachurch pastor wrestles with challenges of brand and leadership, said Mark DeMoss, who handled some public relations for Mars Hill before Driscoll resigned. “If the pastor is the best communicator and preacher and pastor in that local context, I think you can make a good case for that’s who ought to be up there,” he said. “The dangers are sometimes in succession.”

Not all churches with large followings have a drop in attendance after a pastor’s departure. After Joel Osteen’s father died, following a heart attack in 1999, his Lakewood Church in Houston grew from 5,000 to more than 50,000 today.

Attendance at Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., was about 4,000 when he died. Under his son, Jonathan Falwell, the church has a congregation of about 10,000.

Similarly, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., founded by the Rev. D. James Kennedy, an icon of the religious right, had an attendance of about 1,000 (and a broadcast reach of about 3 million) when he died in 2007. After some turmoil during the transition — under Tullian Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson and a popular pastor in his own right — the church’s membership is about 2,400.

Driscoll’s fall from grace came after growing scrutiny of church finances, plagiarism allegations concerning his books and comments he made under an online pseudonym. Much of the criticism came from bloggers and on social media from people who did not attend the church.

Could Driscoll make a comeback at another church or ministry? For an evangelical movement that values forgiveness, redemption and second chances, anything is possible.

For one, Driscoll’s resignation did not reach the scandalous level of Jim Bakker’s or Jimmy Swaggart’s in the 1980s. Bakker was accused of fraud related to time shares; Swaggart was accused of adultery. Both remain active in the ministry but aren’t seen much beyond late-night cable TV.

Other high-profile pastors have stepped down and then attempted comebacks with varied success.

After allegations of gay sex and drug use were made by a male escort, Ted Haggard stepped down from his Colorado Springs church and as head of the National Association of Evangelicals. But he has since started another church.

In 2011, Sovereign Grace Ministries founder C.J. Mahaney took a leave of absence from his church-planting network amid charges of “various expressions of pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment and hypocrisy.” Mahaney was reinstated after a year, and he is now pastor of a church in Louisville.

In 2010, John Piper took an eight-month leave from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, explaining that his soul, marriage, family and ministry pattern needed “a reality check from the Holy Spirit.” He returned for a few years before retiring.

Some evangelicals see high numbers as a measure of success for a minister — something that could be hard for Driscoll to reproduce in a second act.

“If [Driscoll] can continue to draw people in and have a successful ministry, then his authority — even if it has been questioned — will still rest on what he’s producing,” said Scott Thumma, a megachurch expert at Hartford Seminary.

Some critique evangelicalism as a tradition that encourages a drive for more and more numbers, regardless of the costs. Wendy Alsup, who attended Mars Hill from 2002 to 2008, said she sees a growing movement of evangelicals asking whether bigger actually is better.

“There’s a big reaction among some to identify with something that has longevity,” Alsup said. “They’re rejecting fast growth and going back to the slow, methodical structure.”

— Religion News Service

SP Mark Schroeder got directly involved in rescuing Ski,
instead of saying "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

Luther Selection - Sent by Michigander

Below is today's selection from the John Sander collection of Devotional Readings from Luther's Works.  Today being November 16, of course.  Page 403-404. Augustana Book Concern, 1915.

Remembering that the distraction of the times that enabled the Lutherans to continue with little attention from the powers that were, that it was the Turk (Muslims) at the gates of Vienna, the comments by Luther on the Old Testament lesson of Ezekiel 16: 49-50 remain appropriate today, given the goings-on in the Middle East and other places.

----------
Ezekiel 16: 49-50  This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness [sic] of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

   These same conditions now exist everywhere.  Every peasant, burgher, nobleman is simply gathering dollars, waits and saves, eats and drinks, is insolent and mischievous as though God were nothing at all.  No one cares for the despised Jesus in his poverty; nay, he is even trod under foot, until all obedience, discipline and honor are destroyed among us, as they were in Sodom and Gomorrah, and matters become so bad as to become unbearable, because all admonition and preaching seem to be of no avail.  The world will not recognize that it must die and stand before God in judgment, but rages against the known truth.  Let us give heed and take heart, that the wrath of God may not also sweep us away.  What else would God need to do to that end than let loose the Turks and Satan among us.  The Turk would be compelled to cease doing what he has done and is still doing, were we not so hardened in blindness and impenitence and so completely ripe for judgment.  The reason is that we rage so blasphemously against God's Word and his proffered help.

   I hold that if we Lutherans, as they call us, were only dead, the whole world would immediately cry, "Victory," as though they had already devoured every single Turk.  But it shall happen to them also that a hundred shall be slain by one Turk.  The younkers in Jerusalem thought, if they should only put the profit Jeremiah out of the way they would surely be safe from the king of Babylon.  What happened?  After they had cast Jeremiah into the dungeon, the king came and led them all into captivity.

   I can also see that God has spun a web over Germany as it is determined to be guilty of willful blindness, wickedness and ungratefulness in opposing the precious gospel.  It is determined to be guilty of foolishness before God for which it will have to pay dearly.  May God preserve us and grant us and our little flock that we may escape this terrible wrath, and be found among those who honor and serve our dear Christ, and await the judgment at his right hand joyously and blissfully.  Amen.
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Almost 500 years on, we find ourselves in similar conditions.  Only the times change; people do not change.

Luther's Sermon on the Parable of the Last Judgment. Matthew 25:31-46

TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.


This sermon is found only in the c. edition. Erl. 14, 375; W. 11, 2515; St. L. 11, 1884.

Text: Matthew 25:31-46. But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me, And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

CONTENTS:

CHRIST’S RETURN TO JUDGE THE CHRISTIANS AND THE GODLESS.
I. HOW THE COMING OF CHRIST IS PRESENTED FOR OUR COMFORT AND EXHORTATION:AND ALSO TO WARN AND TERRIFY US.

II. HOW THIS COMING OF CHRIST WILL TAKE PLACE.

III. THIS COMING OF CHRIST WILL CAUSE THE GODLESS THE GREATEST PAIN AND TERROR.

IV. TO WHAT END WILL THIS COMING TAKE PLACE,AND WHAT WILL FOLLOW FROM IT.

A. He will separate the goats from the sheep. 5-6.

B. He will pronounce Judgment.

1. In what way will Judgment be pronounced. 7.

2. Why Christ in this judgment refers only to the works of mercy and of no mercy. a. The ground and cause of this question. 8-10. b. The answer of this question. (1) The first answer. 11-20. * The great unmerciful spirit of the world, and its ingratitude toward the Gospel, and what kind of punishment will follow it, 11-16. * The horrible ruin that will visit the persecutors of the Church of God. 17. * How and why a terrible sentence will be passed upon the Pope and his followers. 18-20. (2) The second answer. 21f.

3. To what end shall this Judgment serve believing Christians. 22-24.

4. The world is striving hard to the end that it may hear this sentence. 25-26.

5. How and why we should well grasp and consider this sentence. 27. * It is a very excellent work to do good to a Christian; and a great sin to cause a Christian pain. 28-29. * How and why the pulpit and the school must be maintained. 29-32. * Complaint against the unmerciful and wicked spirit of the world. 33. * A prophecy concerning Germany. 34-36.

1. The words of this Gospel are in themselves clear and lucid. They have been given both for the comfort and encouragement of believing Christians, and for the warning and terror of others, if perchance, they might be of help to them. While most lessons almost exclusively teach and inculcate faith, this one treats only of the works, which Christ will examine at the last day, that it may be seen that he wishes them to be remembered and performed by those who wish to be Christians and be found in his kingdom.

2. And Christ himself gives this admonition here in the strongest terms that can be given, both in the consoling promise of a glorious, eternal reward, and in the most terrible threatenings of eternal wrath and punishment upon all who despise the admonition; so that whoever is not moved and aroused by these words can certainly never be moved by anything. For Christ says, he will himself come visibly in his majesty, at the last day, with all the angels, and that he will transplant all who have believed in him and have exercised love toward his followers, into his father’s kingdom of eternal glory all who believe in him and love his saints; and that he will also cast into hell forever all who live not as Christians, and who separate themselves from him and all his saints.

3. Now, had it not been told us we should be inquisitive beyond measure to know what would happen on the last day, and what Jesus would say and do on that day. Here we are now told, and have set before us first of all, death, which no one can escape; but after that the day of judgment. Then it shall come to pass that Christ will bring together by means of the resurrection all who have ever lived upon earth; and at the same time he will descend in great inexpressible majesty, sitting upon the throne of judgment, with all the heavenly host hovering around him; and all the good and bad will appear, so that we shall all stand exposed before him. and no one will be able to conceal himself.

4. The appearance of this glory and majesty will immediately become a great terror and pain to the condemned, as we read in to-day’s Epistle lesson, lest they shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10. For even if there were no more than a single angel present, there would not remain in his presence one fickle, wicked conscience, were it possible to escape, any more than a thief and a rascal can bear to come before a human judge. If he could escape, he would much prefer it, if only for the purpose that he might escape public disgrace, to say nothing of his being compelled to hear the judgment passed upon him.

What a terrible sight this will be, when the ungodly shall see not only all God’s angels and creatures, but also the Judge in his divine majesty, and shall hear the verdict of eternal destruction and hell fire pronounced upon them forever! This ought surely to be a strong, powerful admonition for us to live as Christians, so that we may stand in honor and without fear at the right hand of this majestic Lord, where there will be no fear nor terror, but pure comfort and everlasting joy.

5. For he will then, as he says here himself, immediately separate the goats from the sheep. And this will take place publicly in the presence of all angels, men, and creatures, and before the whole rabble of an ungodly world, that it may be seen who have been pious, honest Christians, as well as who have been false hypocrites. This separation cannot take place in the world until that day, not even in the assembly that constitutes the Christian Church. The good and the bad must remain together in this world, as the parable of the wedding guests says, Matthew 22:10; or as Christ himself had to tolerate Judas among his Apostles. Christians are even now grieved that they must remain here in the midst of a crooked, perverse, ungodly people, which is the kingdom of Satan, Philippians 2:15.

6. While they have their sufferings here upon earth, they will have also their comfort on the coming day of judgment, when Christ will separate them from the other flock, so that after that day no false, ungodly men, nor death, nor devil can ever touch them or offend them.

7. Then he will pronounce the verdict in the very words in which he has already prepared it and set it forth, and he will certainly not change it. And the words are peculiar in this that he makes them depend upon the deeds and works here mentioned, which they have or have not done, and which are the basis and cause of his judgment. And all these words set forth at length the works which have been done as well as those which have been neglected. And all this shall happen m the twinkling of an eye, when the hearts of all men shall be revealed before all creatures; and as it is preached here, so there all will be forthwith executed.

8. You may ask why Christ there especially examine works called deeds of mercy, or the neglect of such works? Six different kinds are mentioned in the text, although many more might be given; yet were one to judge critically in the matter, there are no more works than those implied in the fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill; in which we are commanded in general, as Christ himself explains it, not to be angry with our neighbor, but to be kind to him and ready to serve and assist him, supply his wants in times of need, whether in hunger, thirst, nakedness, suffering, imprisonment, sickness or other troubles, and to do this even to those who may have given us occasion for anger or for unmerciful acts, and thus do not appear to be worthy of our love and benevolence. For that is a poor virtue which does good only to those we love, or from whom we hope to receive kindness and thanks in return.

But one might, as has been said, add to those works of mercy many more from other commandments; for example from the sixth, that one is to assist his neighbor, to protect his wife, children and domestics, and to keep them under proper restraint and in honor; also from the seventh, eighth and last commandments, that is, to help save and maintain the goods and property, house, home and good report of his neighbor; also to help protect and defend the poor, the oppressed and the down-trodden.

9. Now Christ says also in Matthew 12:36, that men must give an account on the day of judgment not only of the transgressions of these commandments, but also of every idle word they have spoken. Then where shall the works of the first table, the greatest commandment, as right teaching, faith, prayer, hearing and preaching of God’s Word, and the like, find their place? Why does he pronounce such a harsh and severe judgment only upon those who have omitted to do the works of the fifth commandment? Because these works appear almost the same as those which the heathen do. For the Turks do more works of this kind and boast more of them than we who are called Christians. Among them each one regards his neighbor as his brother and shares with him whatever he has.

Nay, they regard it the greatest unfaithfulness and most shameful vice not to share bread with a neighbor in times of hunger. Why does he so highly extol these works which shine so brightly also among the Turks and among the heathen? Certainly he does not mean to say that those also who are not Christians merit eternal life by reason of such works?

10. For Christ himself shows that he is speaking of the works of believing Christians, when he says: “I was hungry and ye gave me to eat,” etc.; “what ye have done unto the least of these my brethren ye have done unto me.” For there is no doubt that he who performs such works of mercy to Christians, must himself be a Christian and a believer; but he who does not believe in Christ, will certainly never be so kind toward a Christian, much less toward Christ, so that for his sake he would show mercy to the poor, and needy; therefore he will refer to these works at the judgment, and accordingly pronounce the verdict to both parties, to those who have done, and those who have not done these works, as a public testimony of the fruits of their faith or of their unbelief.

11. It seems as though he meant hereby to show that many Christians, after receiving the preaching of the Gospel, of the forgiveness of sins and grace through Christ, become even worse than the heathen. For he also says in Matthew 19:30, “Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Thus it will also be at the end of the world; those who should be honest Christians, because they heard the Gospel, are much worse and more unmerciful than they were before, as we see too many examples of this even now.

Aforetime when we were to do good works under the seduction and false worship of the Papacy, every one was ready and willing; a prince, for example, or a city, could give more alms and a greater endowment than now all the kings and emperors are able to give. But now all the world seems to be learning nothing else than how to estimate values, to rake and scrape, to rob and steal by lying, deceiving, usury, overcharging, overrating, and the like; and every man treats his neighbor, not as though he were his friend, much less as his brother in Christ, but as his mortal enemy, and as though he intended to snatch all things to himself and begrudge everything to others.

12. This goes on daily, is constantly increasing, is a very common practice and custom, among all classes of people, among princes, the nobility, burghers, peasants, in all courts, cities, villages, yes in almost every home.

Tell me, what city is now so strong and pious as to be able to raise an amount sufficient to support a schoolmaster or a preacher? Yes, if we did not already have the liberal alms and endowments of our forefathers, the Gospel would long ago have disappeared in the cities on account of the burghers, and in the country because of the nobility and peasants, and poor preachers would have nothing to eat nor to drink. For we do not love to give, but would rather take even by force what others have given and endowed. Therefore it is no credit to us that a single pulpit or school is still maintained. Yea, how many there are among the great, the powerful, and the rich, especially in the Papacy, who would like to see nothing better than all preachers, schools, and arts exterminated.

13. Such are the thanks to the blessed Gospel, by which men have been freed from the bondage and plagues of the Pope, that they must become so shamefully wicked in these last times. They are now no more unmerciful, no more in a human, but in a satanic way; they are not satisfied with being allowed to enjoy the Gospel, and grow fat by robbing and stealing the revenues of the church, but they must also be scheming with all their power how they may completely starve out the Gospel. One can easily count upon his fingers, what they who enjoy the Gospel are doing and giving here and elsewhere; and, were it only for us now living, there would long since have been no preacher or student from whom our children and descendants might know what we had taught and believed.

14. In short, what do you think Christ will say on that day, seated on his judgment throne, to such unmerciful Christianity? “Dear sir, listen, you have also pretended to be a Christian and boasted of the Gospel; did you not also hear this sermon, that I myself preached, in which I told you what my verdict and decision would be: ‘Depart from me, ye cursed?’ I was hungry and thirsty, naked and sick, poor and in prison, and ye gave me no meat, no drink, clothed me not, took me not in, and visited me not. Why have ye neglected this, and have been more shameless and unmerciful toward your own brethren than the Turk or heathen?”

Will you excuse yourself by pleading: “Lord, when saw we thee hungry or thirsty?” etc. Then he will answer you again through your own conscience:

Dear sir, were there no people who preached to you; or perhaps poor students who should have at the time been studying and learning God’s Word, or were there no poor, persecuted Christians whom you ought to have fed, clothed and visited?

15. We ought really to be ashamed of ourselves, having had the example of parents, ancestors, lords and kings, princes and others, who gave so liberally and charitably, even in profusion, to churches, ministers, schools, endowments, hospitals and the like; and by such liberal giving neither they nor their descendants were made poorer. What would they have done, had they had the light of the Gospel, that is given unto us? How did the Apostles and their followers in the beginning bring all they had-for their poor widows, or for those who had nothing, or who were banished and persecuted, in order that no one among them might suffer for the necessities of life! In this way poor Christians should at all times support one another. Otherwise, as I have said, the Gospel, the pulpit, churches and schools would already be completely exterminated, no matter how much the rest of the world did.

Were it not for the grace of God, by which he gives us here and there a pious prince, or godly government, which preserves the fragments still left, that all may not be destroyed by the graspers and vultures, thieves and robbers; were it not for this grace, I say, the poor pastors and preachers would not only be starved, but also murdered. Nor are there now any other poor people than those who serve, or are being trained to serve the church; and these can obtain no support elsewhere, and must leave their poor wives and children die of hunger because of an indifferent world; on the other hand the world is full of useless, unfaithful, wicked fellows among daylaborers, lazy mechanics, servants, maids, and idle, greedy beggars, who everywhere by lying, deceiving, robbing and stealing, take away the hardearned bread and butter from those who are really poor, and yet go unpunished in the midst of their wantonness and insolence.

16. This I say, that we may see how Christ will upbraid the false liars and hypocrites among Christians, on the day of judgment, and having convicted them before all creatures will condemn them, because they have done none of the works which even the heathen do to their fellows; who did much more in their false and erroneous religion, and would have done it even more willingly had they known better.

17. Since now this terrible condemnation is justly pronounced over those who neglected these works, what will happen to those who have not only neglected the same, have given nothing to the poor Christians, nor served them; but robbed them of what they had, drove them to hunger, thirst and nakedness, furthermore persecuted, scattered, imprisoned, and murdered them? These are so unutterably wicked, so utterly condemned to the bottomless pit with the devil and his angels, that Christ will not think or speak of them. But he will assuredly not forget these robbers, tyrants, and bloodhounds any more than he will forget or pass over unrewarded those who have suffered hunger thirst, nakedness, persecution and the like, especially for his and his Word’s sake. He will not forget those to whom mercy has been shown, even though he speaks only to those who have shown mercy and have lent their aid; for he highly and nobly commends them, when he says. “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.”

18. On account of this judgment fear and trembling might well seize our great spiritual prelates, as they call themselves, the popes, cardinals, bishops, canons, priests, and the whole diabolical rabble of the antichristian crowd at Rome, and everywhere, in their monasteries and brothels, if they were not altogether hardened and deliberately given to Satan, body and soul. They think and act as though they were especially appointed to snatch to themselves every thing that belongs to the poor church, and in their own wantonness to consume, spend, waste, squander, in dissipation, gambling and debauchery, in the most shameful and scandalous maner, whatever has been given for the maintenance of students, schools and the poor people. They mock God and man, Peter 2:13; yea, they publicly murder innocent, pious people.

19. Yea, woe, another and eternal woe, to them and to all who side with them. For it had been better for them, had they never been born, as Christ says of Judas. Therefore they ought rather to wish that their mothers had drowned them in their first bath, or that they had never come forth from the womb, than that one of them should have become pope or cardinal or a popish priest. For they are nothing else than merely desperate and select ones, not highway robbers, but public country-thieves, who take, not the goods of the mighty and the powerful that really have something, but of the poor and wretched, of the parish-churches, schools, and hospitals, whose morsels are snatched from their teeth, and whose drink is torn from their mouths, so that they are unable to maintain life.

20. Therefore let every man beware of the Pope, the bishops, and the priesthood, as he would beware of those who have already been condemned alive to the abyss of perdition. Truly Paul did not prophesy in vain, 2 Timothy 3:1, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Yet all the world moves along indifferently and gives no heed to this terrible judgment that has already been decided against such unmerciful robbers, thieves, and murderers of poor Christians, but especially against those who pretend to be Christians, who after having received grace slide back again, and like a dog eat their own vomit, or as the swine wallow in their own filth, 2 Peter 2:20-22, and thus, having been first, become last before anyone is aware of it.

21. The second reason why Christ especially mentions these works of mercy and their omission, from the fifth commandment, is, that he wishes to remind us, who have been called to be Christians, have received mercy through our Lord, have been redeemed from the wrath of God and the guilt of the fifth commandment and from eternal death, and on the contrary have a gracious God, who is good to us in time and in eternity, to remind us, I say, to look upon all this and regard it as having been done not only for our salvation but also for an example. For, since he has shown us such mercy as to save us, we are also to act toward our neighbor in a manner as not to transgress against the fifth commandment, which especially demands love and mercy.

And we are not to do these things simply because of the commandment and of the threatening of judgment, but for the sake of the example of the excellent and great goodness God has shown. For this example cannot be without blessed results, as God’s work of redemption is not without power and good fruit. Although most people become worse from having heard the Gospel, there must nevertheless be some who rightly understand it and remain faithful to it; for he says that he will separate them into two flocks; therefore there must also be pious ones who have kept this commandment.

22. Therefore see to it that you are among those who are kind and merciful here upon earth for Christ’s sake, or who even suffer for his sake, then you may joyfully await the last day, and need not be afraid of the judgment; for he has already selected you and placed you among those who shall stand at his right hand.

23. For we, who are Christians, should hope for the coming of this judgment and desire it with our whole heart; as we pray for it in the words:

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, deliver us from evil; so that we may also hear the glad and welcome words: Come, ye blessed, into the kingdom of my Father. This is the verdict we await; for this reason we are Christians, and just for the sake of this hope we are so severely oppressed, first by Satan and by our own flesh, which would not have us believe this and rejoice over it; then by the tyranny and enmity of the world. For we must constantly see and hear the maliciousness which Satan and the world practice against the Gospel. There is so much misery upon earth that we ought to be tired of this life and cry aloud: Come, dear Lord, and deliver us.

24. For there are certainly souls who are joyfully and with a good conscience awaiting the judgment of Christ; for they are in the rank and fellowship of those who believe in Christ, and who show fruits of faith through charity and beneficence toward the poor, or through patience in suffering with them. For, as I have said, he who does not have faith will not do works of mercy to Christians, but he who does them, will do them because he believes that he has a faithful Savior and Redeemer in Christ, who has reconciled him to God. Therefore he must have also a kind, loving heart toward his neighbors, even toward his enemies, and serve them in every time of need. Yea, he endures also, as I have just said, those things which come upon him from the world and the devil on account of his faith.

Whosoever is thus minded, I say, let him be joyful and of good courage; for he has already the blessed and joyful verdict: Come, thou blessed one, for thou hast also been one of the least of my brethren, who hast thyself suffered hunger and thirst, or who hast served the other hungry and thirsty ones, and hast shown mercy, as I have done.

25. Behold, therefore, the separation of the sheep and goats is already made in this life, so that every one can experience it internally and must indicate and show it also externally. For they who have not faith will surely do none of these things: they will neither comfort themselves with the grace of Christ, nor think of exercising mercy; they pass by the Word of God and their neighbor, as though they neither saw nor heard anything; they do not care to know that there is a Lord whom they are to serve and who will demand such service from them. For if they would consider that they must die, and appear before this judgment seat, they would not at the time defraud any one of a farthing. But, on the contrary, they think best to turn their eyes away from death and to keep the heart from thinking of it.

26. The world is so blind and hardened, that it can see before its eyes the great mass of men of all kinds who have passed away, and who are daily passing away, but is unwilling to behold it with seeing eyes, and to heed it, but continues securely and gaily in its wickedness. Furthermore, when it hears of the terrible judgment and condemnation that shall come upon it, it gives no heed to the consolation and example offered through Christ, but practices all kinds of unmercifulness; strives to hear and will have nothing else than the terrible, irrevocable verdict pronounced upon it from the judgment seat of Christ, and immediately after be cast from his presence into eternal hell-fire.

27. Wherefore he who may yet be converted and is ready to listen, will have enough, both to frighten and warn him, and to animate and persuade him to accommodate himself to the Word and example of Christ, while there is time and opportunity, so that he need not hear with the world this dreadful judgment, but may have joy and comfort in mercy with all Christians. Nor did Christ spare his Apostles, but earnestly admonished them, when he said in Luke 21:34-36: “Take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life,” which, he shows, will be most prevalent at the end of the world,” and that day come on you suddenly as a snare; but watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man,” etc.

28. Notice, however, as I said, that he wishes to distinguish the good works of the Christians from the works of the Turks and the heathen. For he speaks of the works done unto him, of which both parties claim to be ignorant, the wicked excusing themselves, because they had not seen him, etc. But herewith he has most beautifully explained the fifth commandment, that it means, he who fulfills it can be none else than a believing Christian, who did it unto Christ. Thus the woman who anointed his head and feet, Matthew 26:10-13, fulfilled this commandment and is praised by him when he says: “She has wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you, and if ye wish ye can always do good unto them, but me ye have not always. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Again in Matthew 10:42: “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones, who believe in me, a cup of cold water, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

29. We should therefore impress the fact upon our hearts and consider that it is a great and fine thing to do good to a Christian; but on the contrary also, what it is to do evil to him, as I said of the Pope, the bishops, the tyrants, and feudal nobility, who take from the feet of Christ what they have not given him the food, the drink, the lodging and the support of the poor, who are poor for Christ’s sake, because they are not in the position, as ministers, sextons and school masters, to rule the world; nor are they able to engage in any other business in which they might gain a livelihood; for then they would also have been made the partakers of power and would receive enough. But since they have no part in the government, the world gives them nothing for their services. As they receive nothing for God’s nor Christ’s sake, they can have nothing, and must leave behind them poor, wretched widows and orphans.

30. Those in other positions and offices, who have plenty in all respects, do not wish and cannot attend to the duties and the services of the church, neither do they know how. And when ministers and pastors engage in worldly trades and pursuits, they step outside of their proper calling.

Therefore they must be supported, if they are to have anything to eat, from beggary, of which Christ here speaks; but he makes it so precious that whosoever gives meat or drink to the least of his members on earth, he recognizes the same as though it had been done and given to himself. Do we wish then to be Christians, and expect from Christ the honor to be praised and rewarded in the presence of all creatures, we must, indeed, cheerfully and gratuitously give to those who are to perform the duties of their office gratuitously, because they can have no share in secular matters.

This we are to do in order to escape the curse and wrath that will come upon those who would not have mercy on their poor brethren, who had to suffer hunger, thirst, misery, and imprisonment in the world in order to bring us to Christ.

31. But how does it happen that the righteous do not recognize and know that they have done their works unto Christ? They say: Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, etc.? The reason is, that to give something to a poor minister, chaplain, teacher, sexton is regarded as a matter altogether of too small significance to be so precious in the sight of God. Yea the world looks upon it as so much money thrown away. Yet will any one say that the world would be so much richer, were there no pupils, schools, hospitals? Or that it is on their account any poorer, unless it were entirely heathen, or it were, as heretofore, compelled to give enough for the devil’s sake, and allow itself to be flayed to the bone by those who have cheated it of body and soul. In short, the churches and schools receive the very least from the world; yet it is jealous, complains bitterly, and makes a great cry about what they already have, although it gives nothing, and claims to make much better use of its means, when at other times it gives a hundred times as much to shameless, dissolute villains and jugglers; it soon forgets of how much it allows brother Guy to be robbed, and then even it takes a beating in the bargain. It never enters the brain of the world to think and believe that this means to give to Christ; nor is it easy for us to see it ourselves.

32. But Christ is able to speak and judge rightly in this matter, and he knows how much depends upon it. For it is truly impossible to bring up the young in the kingdom of God in any other way than by means of schools; nor is it possible to maintain the Word of God without pulpits. Where these are allowed to fall into disuse, there will be a second Sodom and Gomorrah, which will fare as those of old, who despised the Word of God, and would not listen to nor endure pious Lot. Thus also Ezekiel, 16:48-50, prophesies of Jerusalem: “As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy roster Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw good,” etc.

33. The same conditions now exist everywhere. Every peasant, burgher, nobleman is simply gathering dollars, waits and saves, eats and drinks, is insolent and mischievous as though God were nothing at all. No one cares for the despised Jesus in his poverty; nay, he is even tread under foot, until all obedience, discipline and honor are destroyed among us, as they were in Sodom and Gomorrah, and matters become so bad, as to become unbearable, because all admonition and preaching seem to be of no avail.

34. Right unwillingly do I prophesy; for I have often experienced how it came true; but the same conditions, alas, prevail now everywhere; and I fear and must almost resign myself that Germany may have the same experience as Sodom and Jerusalem, and will be a thing of the past; it will either be destroyed by the Turks or it will crumble by its own hand, unless the last day overtake it soon. For the present conditions are altogether unbearable and so exceedingly bad that they cannot become worse; and if there be still a God, he cannot thus let matters go on unpunished.

35. And now the world will not take heed, nor recognize that it must die and stand before God in judgment, but it rages against recognized truth.

Let us give heed and take it to heart, that the wrath of God may not also sweep us away. For what else would God need to do to that end, than let loose both the Turks and Satan against us. The Turk would be compelled to cease doing what he has done and is still doing, were we not so hardened in blindness and impenitence, and so completely ripe for judgment. The reason is that we rage so blasphemously against God’s Word and his proffered help, and then in addition make our boast against the Turk.

36. And I hold that, if we Lutherans, as they call us, were only dead, the whole world would immediately cry, “Victory,” as though they had already devoured every single Turk. But it shall happen to them also that a hundred shall be slain by one Turk. And when the cry of murder is once heard, how unmercifully the Turks will cut in pieces all people, men, women, and children. Then shall we also begin to cry and lament. It shall come to pass that we shall do as did the Jews, put Christ out of the way. When he has been crucified, we shall be able to take care of the Turk, as Squire Caiaphas and the Jews took care of the Romans; thus the younkers at Jerusalem thought, if they could only put the prophet Jeremiah out of the way, they would surely be safe from the king of Babylon. What happened?

After they had cast Jeremiah into the dungeon, the king came and led them all into captivity.

Thus I can also see that God has spun a web over Germany as it is determined to be guilty in the same manner of willful blindness, defiance, wickedness, contempt, and ungratefulness in opposing the precious Gospel. It is determined to be guilty of foolishness before God, for which it will have to pay dearly. May God preserve us, and grant us and our little flock that we may escape this terrible wrath, and be found among those who honor and serve our dear Christ, and await the judgment at his right hand joyously and blissfully. Amen.

TO THE READER:

If it should happen that another Sunday after Trinity should follow the 26th, which is very seldom the case, then it might be well to use the last preceding Epistle and Gospel for the 27th Sunday after Trinity, and on the Sunday preceding the 27th take the following text for the Epistle and the Gospel: Epistle, 2 Peter 3:3; Gospel, Matthew 24:37-51.