First Aid for Roses

Today I administered first aid to several rose bushes. They were newly planted but not leafing out as well as the rest. Most of the six had some leafing started, but two did not.

I only needed two tools. One was a bucket or two of rainwater. If you are out of rainwater or not collecting it, water standing for 24 hours or lake water will do. Those two do not have inhibiting chlorine compounds in them. Rainwater has the added advantage of usable nitrogen compounds. That is why rain will green up a lawn quickly even though a long watering will not do much - except keep it alive.

The other tool was a pair of strong pruning shears. The purists would have you use the scissors cutting type rather than the anvil kind. The idea is to cut through the canes and remove a little from one or perhaps several canes.

Some newly planted bare root roses will have dead wood, which detracts from the health of the plant. Sometimes a new cane simply dies and looks wooden rather than green. When deadwood is tossed on concrete, it sounds just like a pencil, dry and hard. I suspect that the cold weather nipped some of the new roses.

Pruning the green healthy canes will also spur growth. It is the nature of all bushes to become more active in growing when pruned.

The cures are not sprays and inorganic fertilizers, but God's own rainwater and pruning.

Falling In Love Rose

Falling In Love Rose is growing beautifully, after a hard pruning.

I planted blackberries where we once only had plantain weeds. We mulched last fall, and the soil was ready and wormy - not as abundantly blessed as the main rose garden, but certainly under the care of red wigglers. With more watering and root growth, the earthworms will multiply with the other soil creatures.

I woke up early and began soaking the blackberry plants in rainwater. Several hours later I planted them, put the mulch back, and watered them.

I tried out the Jackson Aqueduct, sending water around the yard in two phases - first on the rose garden for Mrs. Gardener, along the fence, then along the vertical garden on Mrs. Wright's side. She came over and gave me permission to use their concrete blocks for a Creature Convention Center. I also ordered a hanging platform bird feeder, so we can watch them closer to the house.

One of the fun aspects of bird feeding is how they chase their pals from one source, so birds land on another - if there are alternatives.

Feed the creatures in the soil, feed the plants -
healthy soil means healthy humans.

No, the First President of Martin Luther College (Amalgamated) Was John Lawrenz - For One Month. Second President of MLC WELS Ted Olson Died

Friday, April 24, 2015

President Theodore Olsen is called to glory

Funeral arrangements are still being developed. He was a member of Beautiful Savior, Spooner.

Dear friends in the living Savior,

Today the MLC administrative offices received news from Mrs. Joanne Olsen that President emeritus Ted Olsen died this morning at 7:44am, after a brief hospitalization.  When funeral arrangements are finalized, the family will inform the administrative offices and we will pass along the details for his victory service.

President Olsen served as a parish pastor in Wisconsin and Florida.  He served in various WELS ministerial education schools.  He was a tutor at Northwestern Lutheran Academy in Mobridge, SD.  He was a professor at DMLC.  He served as president of Martin Luther Preparatory School in Prairie du Chien, and finally as the first president of Martin Luther College.

The Lord blessed his ministry at MLC as he evangelically guided the college during the amalgamation of DMLC and Northwestern College.  The fruits of his labors here at MLC remain visible in a college that remains committed to Scripture and with a single focus on preparing gospel ministers for service in the WELS.  We thank Jesus for this faithful servant of the Word.  Now the apostle Paul encourages us to Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  We grieve with the family at the suddenness of Ted's death and the pain of separation.  Yet we rejoice with the family in the Spirit-given confidence that those who die in Christ are alive in Christ.  Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.  May Christ's Easter triumph comfort and sustain Joanne and the entire Olsen family.  May we at MLC honor his memory with a renewed commitment of faithful study and adherence to the inerrant Word, and a passion for the assigned task to prepare servants of the Word to go forth and proclaim the saving message of new life in Christ.  Thanks be to God, he gives us the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the comfort and confidence of the living Savior,

M. Zarling

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=5bc022e089bd092f413025e42&id=6f15c07171

***

The ideal WELS member
was envisioned long ago.

GJ - WELS Church and Change leaders (synonymous with the WELS administration) forced the merger of Dr. Martin Luther College and Northwestern College. Naturally, the clergy resented it but did not fight it with any fire. Temporary smoldering is their forte.

The NWC alumni group was "not allowed" to vote on the merger.

A mail in poll showed that the majority responding did not like the idea.

The Michigan District of WELS shot down four different resolutions aimed at approving the merger. DP Robert Mueller then spoke on the floor of the WELS convention in favor of the merger.

Gurgle promised the merger would not cost more than $8 million, but they spent $30 million. Once again, the clergy smoldered for a short time.

John Lawrenz thought he could be finally more than a high school principal by being the first MLC president. He was largely in charge of the merger. When word got out, his presidency lasted for about a month. Some clergy finally worked themselves into a fury - why reward the NWC graduate who stabbed them in the back? His presidency faded faster than the truth in a WELS PR release.

Lawrenz really wanted to be on the Mequon faculty, but the closest he ever got was the porta-seminary in Asia. Fellow Church and Change pioneer Steve Witte followed him as president of the little seminary that couldn't. Does anyone imagine they teach anything close to Lutheran doctrine?

Virtue Online Link - Episcopal Priest Downloading Child Porn. WELS SP Mark Schroeder Would Provide Instant Absolution and "We Didn't Know"

Wilmington Island pastor and former Bryan County teacher arrested on child porn charges

Wilmington Island pastor and former Bryan County teacher arrested on child porn charges
April 23, 2015By DeAnn KomaneckySavannah Morning News

http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2015-04-23/pastor-and-former-teacher-arrested-child-porn-charges
A former teacher and a pastor have been arrested on unrelated child pornography charges.

Bruce Fehr, 54, of Savannah, and Zachary Giebner, 33, of Savannah were arrested following an investigation that began two months ago. During the investigation, investigators with the Southeast Georgia Child Exploitation Task Force discovered that both Fehr and Giebner were downloading child pornography. Giebner was formerly a teacher at Bryan County High School, according to the Effingham Sheriff's Office.

Fehr is the reverend at St. Francis Episcopal Church on Wilmington Island, said Joe Heath, with the Effingham County Sheriff's Office and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Search warrants were executed this morning at each of their Wilmington Island homes where computers were seized and the men arrested. Both men are currently in the Effingham County jail where they face charges for Sexual Exploitation of Children.

The FBI-led Southeast Georgia Child Exploitation Task Force operates in conjunction with State and local law enforcement, to locate and recover juveniles that have been sexually exploited through prostitution and to identify and arrest those who would sexually exploit juveniles by other means. The task force is comprised of agents and officers from the FBI, GBI, Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pooler Police Department.

---

The Rev. Bruce C. Fehr, Rector & The Rev. Lori L. Fehr, Priest Associate

The Rev. Bruce and the Rev. Lori Fehr are 2013 graduates of the School of Theology at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, and were ordained to the priesthood on October 4, 2013, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Prior to seminary, they were both active lay persons in the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast and at their home parish, St. Francis of Assisi, Gulf Breeze, Florida, and previously at St. Paul's, Ventura, California. They each served on the vestries and as wardens at different times in the two congregations.

Bruce and Lori met in the 8th grade and have been married since 1980. They both earned their earned B.A. degrees in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine in 1982, and their Juris Doctor degrees from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1985. Bruce was an an insurance litigator in state and federal courts in California and Florida, and Lori has practiced in the area of child welfare and dependency law. She most recently served as a Senior Assistant District Legal Counsel for the State of Florida Department of Children and Families and as first a Managing Attorney and then Appellate Counsel for Children's Legal Services.

They have two grown daughters, Alexandra and Kimberly, and two border collies.

---

VOL NOTE: Bruce and Lori Fehr are new priests. They were both ordained on Oct. 4, 2013 by Bishop Benhase of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Gulf Coast.

Aqueduct Finished - Watering the Entire Backyard from One Spigot

Ancient history is summarized as:
"Rome had the drains, but Greece had the brains."
Rome absorbed and used the engineering triumphs of every
culture they conquered. They tolerated the worship of all gods,
except the One True God, Christ, as Luther observed.

I doubt whether my aqueduct in the backyard will last as long the Roman Empire's, some branches are in use today. But I do have the advantage of watering the entire backyard gardens--with soaker hose--from one faucet.

Soaker hose is made from recycled tires, made to leak all over, just like those tires did before they were tossed, only with advantages to the garden. The most water conserving way is to drip water at the base of plants rather than spraying all over Creation.

Bee Balm

The Vegetable Garden Section
Facing the backyard, the first leg of the aqueduct goes left across the vegetable garden, then rises to the chain-link fence. The vegetable garden section inadvertently fed the expansion of the wild strawberries, which had stayed around the faucet. Empowered by the steady water source along the back wall, they moved across and established themselves, a decorative and bird-friendly border. I am now using wild strawberries in other locations for a cover plant and bird feeder.

The tomatoes have been marking time with all the cold damp weather. They will soon take off. Some other plants are the bee balms (horse mint, Oswego tea) I planted earlier, and a bunch of sunflowers.
Some inexpensive roses are well established in the front row.

Peas can be planted very early, sprouting when it is their
time to grow. Does this show design and purpose?

The Vertical Garden Section
The fence is an ideal way to practice vertical gardening. Any vining plant finds an easy toe-hold and plenty of sun. I moved the soaker hose to the top to get it out of the way of planting, mulching, and weeding.

Birds love the spritzing on top of the fence and the dripping below: frequent bathing and feeding, since water encourages bugs, the prime beef of bird-dom.

Currently the fence area has a long stretch of peas, growing like corn in July, some beans, and about 30 asparagus. The asparagus just sent up their first sprouts - tall, skinning, elven, too skinny to harvest this year.

Butterfly Weed is the good-looking cousin of milkweed,
so it also feeds the Monarch butterfly.

The Back Stretch
The hose drops to the ground for the back stretch, where I have Butterfly Bushes and giant sunflowers planted to screen the view. To make sure I had plenty of inexpensive sunflowers, I planted bird seeds (black oil sunflower seeds) by the hundreds.

The back section is mulched with newspaper and wood mulch, with autumn leaves on top. Mrs. Ichabod said my goal is to mulch the entire world. No, just NW Arkansas.

Peace

Chicago Peace

Pink Peace

Mrs. Gardener's Roses
Mrs. Gardener loves roses and always enjoys them, so I put my best hybrid teas along the right fence - the Peace trifecta (Peace, Chicago Peace, and Pink Peace), Mr. Lincoln, Barbara Streisand (don't judge), Pope John Paul II (again, don't judge), and Tropicana.

The soaker hose comes out on the right from my highly-engineered faucet. It passes through the Three Sisters garden, to be planted next week, then along Mrs. Gardener's side, up to the compost, where it will deliver some water each time I turn on the faucet. Compost does better when kept damper than rain alone will accomplish.

Norma Boeckler photographs, paints,
and gardens, using her talents to glorify God's Creation
and Jesus the Creating Word.

The Hose Section
I have an ordinary garden hose attached to my elaborate sub-divided faucet piping (using 3 doublers at a total cost of $5). I need the garden hose for grandson Alex to water the plants when he visits, and to fill the bird baths in the Jackson Bird Spa. They need cleaning and filling once or twice a day.

Cardinals, by Norma Boeckler.

Expansion
I admitted to Mrs. Ichabod that the Jackson Bird Spa needs to be expanded into the Creature Convention Center. For that I have saved two large pieces of cardboard, which is a good substitute for the newspaper layer. On those will go the concrete blocks to build the Center, with nooks for food and shelter, screen on top for keeping seed dry, places for baths, and a toad pond. Mulch covers the cardboard afterwards, since the blocks would be less stable resting on mulch. No I will not sink supporting caissons down to the bedrock layer, not without an enormous gubmint grant.

Watering
To water everything in the back, I only need to step outside the kitchen door, turn on the faucet and set the switches for the left or right sides.

Roses Blooming - The Balance and Harmony of Creation. The Three Three's

White KnockOut Rose.

Yesterday, three white KnockOut roses were in bloom, looking healthy and strong. Sassy and I walk daily by two yards where roses were growing last year. One was fussed over and saw weeds take over the rose beds, "in spite of landscaper's cloth and weed killers applied." No blooms were visible yesterday.

Another yard has two forlorn KnockOuts, one with bare soil around it, the other with grass surrounding it. Neither plant looked good.

Red KnockOut roses add swaths of color to the yard.

The three rules of roses are:

1. Jackson Mulch.
2. Water.
3. Prune.

Jackson Mulch is simply a layer of newspapers with wood mulch on top. Other organic mulches could be used besides shredded wood, but that is handy, easy to apply, and low in cost.

Watering means making sure the roses are given the moisture they need, before they get thirsty. The old rule is a bucket of water per week, per rose, if it does not rain. Newly planted roses get watered every day for two weeks. All roses love a complete plant shower if it has not rained all week.

I add stored rainwater wherever I can, especially to roses that need a boost. Rainwater is best combination of pure water with usable nitrogen included, better than the vitamin water they sell at stores.

Pruning means cutting off dead wood and cutting the blooms before they fade and go to seed. Giving away roses will mean even more roses blooming. John 15:1-10 has the same advice for grapes and the Kingdom of God. Pruning activates the bush while letting the flowers fade will induce a resting cycle.

California Dreamin'

The three No's! of roses are:

1. No tilling.
2. No use of toxins.
3. No walking on the soil.

No tilling means that the soil is not turned over, mixed, or osterized at any time. A fresh rose garden can easy be created by digging  the right number of holes, planting the roses, and covering the area with Jackson Mulch. That will turn the grass and weeds into composting soil, already loaded with soil creatures and some earthworms. 

No use of toxins means no spraying for insects, not even those "safe" oils, no use of herbicides or fungicides. All three groups of killing chemicals will slaughter the very creatures fashioned by God to take care of the pests. For instance, why do spiders love wood mulch? They set up shop where food is plentiful. Why mow them down with sprays, which will not prevent the next insect invasion?

No walking on the soil means preserving the fungal jungle created by Jackson Mulch. Those fungal strands feed the rose roots, so trampling them is not good for the soil's health. Most will lay down stepping stones to minimize damage.

Veterans Honor

The three soil amendments

1. Red wiggler earthworms.
2. Rainwater.
3. Compost

Red wiggler earthworms should be introduced to a mulched rose garden because they are the best at using that vast banquet of food above the soil - Jackson Mulch. They love the shade, the perpetual sogginess, the infinite supply of food as God's Creation works on the wood, newspapers, dying grass and weeds.  Red wigglers are the most active in the root zone, reaching their maximum density if food and moisture are constant. There is much more to soil health than earthworms, but their population will tell us how the rest of the horde is doing.

Rainwater is collected and stored for later use. I use large plastic garbage pails that catch the runoff from the roof, which is much easier than converting downspouts. Rainwater barrels are perfect for soaking bareroot roses and little plant boxes before they are installed in the ground. Everything purchased looks damp enough, but they are thirsty and get a perfect start from an abundance of God's own liquid fertilizer - safe, effective, and free. Immerse - do not just sprinkle.

Compost is formed by Jackson Mulch but also gathered in the back of the yard. The fall harvest vines can go there, plus weeds, dead plants, autumn leaves, old straw, etc. Soil can be added now and again. I build mine with chicken wire, about 10 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. No turning is required. Keep it moist and the soil creatures will reduce it to the finest soil amendment, loaded with earthworms and earthworm eggs.

John Paul II

Brett Meyer's First Report on the Emmaus Conference.

I attended the second half of Pastor Jay Webber’s presentation of his essay promoting the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification.  Having previously contended against the doctrine of UOJ with many who were in attendance I want to provide my critique of Pastor Webber’s essay.  The challenging aspect is deciding where to start with an essay which promotes and defends a doctrine which completely contradicts Scripture and teaches contrary to the Lutheran Confessions.  There is not one aspect of the doctrine of Objective Justification which doesn’t war against Christ’s Word and the faithful Christian Confessions.

I will begin by addressing Pastor Webber’s false claim that God looks at the whole world, both believers and unbelievers as being in Christ and being outside of Christ.  The first time I heard him confess this was in a discussion of UOJ on Dr. Lito Cruz’s Extra Nos blog back in 2010 where he stated, "In Christ, as God looks at the world through Christ, all are under divine mercy and are forgiven, and are therefore invited to believe and be saved. But outside of Christ, as God looks at the world apart from Christ, all are under divine wrath and judgment, and are condemned. The same people - namely all people - are under consideration in each case." 6:40am http://extranos.blogspot.com/2010/03/grinding-my-ax.html

Pastor Webber promotes the same false teaching in this 2015 essay here, “The judgment of God that is proclaimed in the law, is a reflection and outgrowth of what God sees when he looks at the world apart from Christ, and sees the world as it is in and unto itself. Outside of Christ, God sees a world that is defined by fallen humanity's innate wickedness and hostility toward him, and a world that deserves to be, and is, under his wrath. In contrast, the forgiveness and acceptance of God that is proclaimed in the gospel, is a reflection and outgrowth of what God sees when he looks at the world through the "lens" of Christ, and sees the world as it is in Christ, under the covering of Christ's righteousness. In and through Christ, God sees a world that is defined by his Son's sinlessness, and a world where there is no accusing law, but only the peace and harmony with God that has been established by the obedience of Jesus. Do not try too hard to understand this. The twofold mystery of what God sees and says for condemnation apart from Christ, and what God sees and says for justification in Christ, cannot be understood beyond what Scripture specifically reveals.”

Page 8/9

When challenged on this false teaching in the 2010 discussion he responded, “Of course the Bible does not say exactly this in so many words. But the basic point is reflected here: "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all" (Romans 11:32).”  

This is classic UOJ deception and fraudulent twisting of Scripture which was used by WELS DP Jon Buchholz in his 2005 Conference paper when he wrote the following blasphemous self-convicting contradictions in promotion of UOJ: 

Buchholz, "God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here’s where the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn’t make the statement, "God has forgiven the world."

Buchholz, "God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God’s forgiveness." Again, this statement is true—and Luther employed similar terminology to press the point of Christ’s completed work of salvation.16 But we must also recognize that Scripture doesn’t speak this way."

Buchholz, "God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world. It is also true—and must be taught—that the righteousness of Christ now stands in place of the world’s sin; this is the whole point of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we’re wresting a term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually refers to believers. "

http://www.wlsessays.net/node/390

The truth is that since believers are in Christ by faith, they have put on Christ and are adopted as sons of God the Father.  It is absurd to contend that God looks at his adopted children in any sense as being outside of Christ and therefore under His wrath and condemnation. 

John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

Romans 8:33, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.”  

Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us”

2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 

Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

And since unbelievers are children of Satan and clearly outside of Christ it is equally absurd to contend that God looks at them in any sense as being in Christ,

Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” 

John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  Note that God’s wrath abideth – continues on all those who do not have faith in Christ alone.

John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” 

Condemnation and Reconciliation are two exclusive things.  God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever cannot be simultaneously reconciled to the unbelieving world while they remain under his condemnation.  False teaching UOJists claim this is a mystery of God.  It is quite clearly a contradiction created by the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification.  Scripture teaches that being In Christ only occurs through the Means of Grace creating faith in Christ alone. 

Acts 3:16, “And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Pastor Webber’s contention in this regard is the prerequisite required in his false doctrine for teaching that God has declared the unbelieving world to be righteous and forgiven all sin all while being under God’s wrath and condemnation over their sin.

I’ll continue this review.  In the meantime compare Pastor Webber’s defense of the false gospel of UOJ to Scripture when he writes, “And St. Paul reminds us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (Romans 3:23-25, ESV).

Page 9

KJV Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

Two completely different meanings – the KJV which is harmonious with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions proclaiming Christ is a propitiation through faith in Christ (note not faith in a prior declaration of justification and righteousness while an unbeliever).  The Book of Concord, Apology to the Augsburg Confession: "80] ...Thus, therefore, we prove the minor proposition. The wrath of God cannot be appeased if we set against it our own works, because Christ has been set forth as a Propitiator, so that for His sake, the Father may become reconciled to us. But Christ is not apprehended as a Mediator except by faith. Therefore, by faith alone we obtain remission of sins, when we comfort our hearts with confidence in the mercy promised for 81] Christ's sake."

http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php

I would like to provide additional responses but the false teachings are numerous and will take a few reviews to address.

In Christ,

Brett Meyer

***

GJ - This double-talk style, used by Webber and Buchholz, where they make claims they announce are unbiblical, can also be found in the aged godfather of Church Growth in WELS, Paul Kelm.

Anyone with reading ability will stop and wonder how anyone can be so deceitful, but the WELS pastors are trained to accept such nonsense and second it.

Not that long ago Sig Becker had to lend his weight in defending the Kokomo Statements, which are now taught with a vengeance - but without open conflict.

There is one thing to do - make a decision for UOJ.

Will you spend a few minutes with JP and make a decision for UOJ?
Not for Christ, but for UOJ.
This is the proper language, since Walther also used it.

Dr. Lito Cruz - On Doctrinal Distinctions

Dr. and Mrs. Cruz are obviously regular readers of this blog.

Why I believe Calvinists are not catholics (small c)

Definitely Calvinists are not Roman Catholics. That is something I think they are proud about. I suggest they are not even catholics (note that Romanism started 600AD roughly, all Christians before that were catholics - universal), and I suggest that is not something to be proud about. In fact that is something one should worry about (if one is a Calvinist).

Let me explain.

Well, if we take a typical Calvinist, we assume he would subscribe to the T.U.L.I.P. principle and would be an adamant promoter of Limited Atonement(LA). Here is the problem - the Nicene Creed.

Now I know Reformed people claim to subscribe to the Nicene Creed, but they do not really know what that implies. I find this specially true for Baptistic Calvinists. As typical I have found them to put their own spin on what the Nicene Creed. Case in point, the Nicene Fathers were not re-baptizers - remember the line " we believe in ONE baptism, for the forgiveness of sin"? A Baptistic Calvinists can not affirm that, since if you were baptized as a baby, you will be re-baptized by them once more, so  right there Calvinists of Baptistic bent are out of catholicism.

Yet there is more and so I come now to their affirmation of LA. In the Nicene Creed  we have one line which Lutherans affirm - on Jesus we confess - "who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;"

The phrase "who for us men" - means all of humanity that was how the Nicenes understood that phrase, so if you believe in LA, you can not affirm the Nicene Creed - for LA says that Jesus did not die for the whole human race, he only died for the elect - which is of course only a subset of the human race.

One has to really warp this passage of the Nicene Creed if confession to it and affirmation of LA is to be maintained. The two are incompatible.

So a question , if Jesus did not die for the whole world - that means he did not die for all men, then what happened in the incarnation? That is, we can ask this question - when Jesus became man, did Jesus leave behind the humanity of the non-elect - since after all according to LA, he was not meant to die for them anyway so did Jesus assume the humanity of these people whom he would not die for in the first place? No Calvinists I have asked dared answer this question, all I hear are just evasions. Clearly in the Scripture it says - he tasted death for every man - Heb 2:9.

Calvinists and UOJ are alike - and here is their fallacy - they conflate the Atonement with Justification. They both think that when one is Atoned for, one is automatically Justified as well.

As far as I know, only Lutherans who believe in Justification By Faith Alone, are the ones who make this distinction between Atonement and Justification properly and mediated by the Means of Grace.

Our First Rose Bloomed on Creation Day. Grilling To Bring Back Man-Made Global Warming

Falling in Love Rose - fragrant.

Falling in Love
I was counting about 200 KnockOut rose buds on last year's plants when I saw the white one had the first bloom. The new roses are leafing out, with one or two looking reluctant but still healthy.

When I was putting in new roses, I thought one of the bargain roses from last year was dead. I pruned it hard and left it alone. When I came back a few days later to dig it up for its Big Purple replacement, the rose had leafed out.

Last year year I brought roses to the college fairly often. One staffer in the registrar's office really liked one variety, which was pink and fragrant. She loved the roses and became famous for enjoying the perfume so often. But I did not know which one of the eight she liked the most. When the dead rose came to life and I replanted it in the extra gardening space, the label was still around the base. The name - Falling in Love - and the staffer (unknown to us) was seeing a teacher and planning to marry him.

We enjoyed going to their wedding and sitting with college faculty and friends. If the couple happens to stop by, I can show her that favorite rose, blooming again.

One reader was surprised to hear that the new white rose, still leafing out, is quite fragrant. The classic roses from 30 or more years ago were not known for fragrance. Finally people asked that fragrance be bred back into rose lines, so most of the new ones are. Now the rosarians are working on disease resistance.

Creation Day
I never recognize Earth Day, which was started by a man who killed his girlfriend and left her remains to compost in his apartment. He was a non-violent hippy activist.

Instead, I celebrate Creation Day by firing up the grill and cooking some meat. The West was not won by vegans.

Man-made global warming is fraudulent, but I wanted to stop the slide into global cooling. Using their theories, I thought the smoke of charcoal, chicken, and bacon would do something to slow down our wintry weather.

Our grill is a gift from LI and Mrs.LI. The upper rack holds bacon, which flavors the meat below. If I don't start the bacon on fire and burn it to ashes, I finish it on the bottom rack for the extra crispy touch.

T-Rex devours large quantities of meat,
which we freeze instead of buying overprice, salty lunch meat.

Dreadful, Dishonest, Twisted Webber Essay Promoting UOJ

Jay Webber Essay at the Emmaus 2015 Conference - Free Link to PDF


Jon Buchholz Response to Webber Essay


DP Mueller Response


***

Justified before we are born?
Yes, that is the true message of UOJ.

GJ - I read rapidly through the Webber essay. He is dishonest about Robert Preus, quoting a 1987 essay (but not the juicy, truly dumb part from Edward Preuss). 

Preus destroyed OJ in his final book, Justification and Rome, not mentioned in the references list, not mentioned anywhere.

That encapsulates the dishonesty of Webber, who never deals with an opposing view, never reveals an ounce of critical thinking.

He has no grasp of Lutheran doctrine, the efficacy of the Word, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

The garbled essay begins with C. H. Little, who taught at the tiny Pietistic seminary of the Canada Synod. 

Webber mentions Pietism but never deals with that all important era. 

He loves OJ so much that he finds OJ everywhere except in the Halle (Pietistic) lectures of Knappe, whose English translation by a Calvinist gave us....

1. Objective Justification and
2. Subjective Justification.

If the term is not there, and the doctrine does not exist among Lutherans
until Pietism, just make up an excuse.

Only 30 Harmed by Jay Webber's Defense of Universal Forgiveness without Faith. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

"If no one wants to come, you can't prevent them." Yogi Berra 

Emmaus Con-Artists: Struggling for Gravitas and Attendance. Boycott the Emmaus Conference

The Emmaus Conference, April 22-23, 2015

Yesterday at 9:03am · 

Just one day to go - still plenty of time to register!

Bishop James Crumley Died Recently, Age 90

We attended the national communications conference of the LCA,
so I posed Mrs. I with Bishop James Crumley.

James R. Crumley Jr., bishop of the former Lutheran Church in America, dies

4/8/2015 2:00:00 PM

            CHICAGO (ELCA) – The Rev. James Robert Crumley Jr., bishop of the former Lutheran Church in America, died April 7 of complications from a fall. He was 90. The Lutheran Church in America is a predecessor church body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

            "To hear him tell the story of his life, the Rev. Dr. James R. Crumley was convinced that God always was full of gracious surprises," ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton said in a tribute to Crumley.
            "One surprise unfolded into another for him. Each one prepared the way for new responsibilities. As he said upon his election in 1974 as secretary of the Lutheran Church in America, 'I believe that when God calls us, God also gives us the resources to fulfill our responsibilities.' The conviction grew even deeper when, four years later in 1978, he was chosen as the Lutheran Church in America's third president and bishop," said Eaton.
            Born March 30, 1925, in Bluff City, Tenn., Crumley earned a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C., in 1951. The seminary is one of eight of the ELCA. Crumley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Roanoke College in Salem, Va., one of 26 colleges and universities of the ELCA.
            Crumley was bishop of the Lutheran Church in America from 1980 to 1987, president from 1978 to 1980, and secretary of the former denomination from 1974 to 1978. He was a member of the Commission for a New Lutheran Church, which planned the merger of three churches – Lutheran Church in America, American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches – to form the ELCA in January 1988. Prior to serving as secretary, Crumley served as a parish pastor from 1951 to 1974.
            Crumley was a member of the executive committee of The Lutheran World Federation and a member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches. He was president of Lutheran World Ministries and second vice president of the National Council of Churches.
            "Through experiences in assemblies of The Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches, as well as engagement with the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Crumley demonstrated in manifold ways his ecumenical insight and commitment," said Eaton.
            "His understanding and vision of the church was not confined only to the Lutheran context," said Eaton. "In a historic development, he exchanged letters with Pope John Paul II in 1985. The letters affirmed the greater mutual understanding that already had emerged from U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue. At the same time, the letters urged deeper commitment to further ecumenical endeavors."
            "As the years passed and the honors accumulated, Dr. Crumley remained that same gracious gentleman who had been raised in the mountains of Tennessee but was called by the church to ministry throughout this nation and the world," said Eaton.
            Crumley married Annette Bodie Crumley in 1950. They had three children: Frances Holman, James III and Jeanne.

***

GJ - Left unsaid in this article is Crumley's regret about the ELCA merger, which really was a new radical sect, not a combination the LCA, the ALC, and the Seminex gay activists - including Mr. UOJ from WELS, Richard Jungkuntz.

I always considered Crumley a real Southern gentleman. I was not keen about his empowerment of the late Dorothy Marple, who ran all the commissions. Given her life long friend, is it any wonder that ELCA pursued its radical agenda for the last 25 years?

ELCA is now slightly larger than the LCA was at the time of the merger. The ELCA has lost the equivalent of the entire ALC in 25 years, even though their leaders met the LCMS and WELS leaders at the same Fuller Church Growth seminars.

UOJ justifies everything except Biblical, Christian doctrine,
which it denies, rejects, and twists into pretzels.