Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Update On Luther Days Fake WELS/ELS Conference Twitter List - Following.
A Reader Asked If Kegler Was Still Being Followed. Here Is the Current Line Up.
Great Confessional Statement - WELS/ELS

 Lesbian activist, ELCA Pastor Emma Kegler is no longer being followed,
as far as I could see -
but guess who is?
Megan Rohrer - "The first trans pastor ordained in the Lutheran church. Also, a disabled writer + award winning filmaker (sic) and historian."
And -
Bishop Guy Erwin is the first openly gay bishop
in ELCA, with his partner Rob Flynn.


Luther Days is following:

  • Lots of ELCA congregations, districts, and entities.
  • ELCA's HIV/AIDS.
  • NoCrapTheology (guess what the graphic is) - Roman Catholic.
  • Several accounts that feature f-bombing - so literate, so classy.
  • UniversityLuther - "University Lutheran Church intends to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all of God's people, regardless of race, situation, family status, sexuality,"
  • NorthPoint - the Andy Stanley twitter account. NP is a favorite place for WELS training. Ask Ski.
  • Zig Ziglar and another by his son.
  • Reformed quotes.
  • Reformed Pastor.
  • Alice in luxury - click for billions - softcore close-up.
  • Craig Groeschel - another Appleton and WELS favorite.
  • Facts not fake. Easy money and softcore photos.
  • Massages.
  • Pastor Rick Johnson WELS Leonard Sweet fan.
  • Various WELS Church and Changers.
  • Rob Guenther - WELS CP and Love Letter Pastor Protector.
  • Follow Back. Super Follow Back. Follow Back 500k, etc, etc. - Seems to be a way of inflating the list.
  • Buddy Jesus.
  • ReconcilingWrks - "ReconcilingWorks works for the full inclusion of Lutherans of all sexual orientations and gender identities in all aspects of the life of their Church."
  • Old Paths Calvinist.
  • ELCA Advocacy "Be a part of the ELCA advocacy effort by signing up for our network at..."
  • MMrohrer - "The first trans pastor ordained in the Lutheran church. Also, a disabled writer + award winning filmaker (sic) and historian."
  • Bishop Erwin - is the first openly gay bishop in ELCA, ordained in a hurry with no parish experience
  • Holey Bible - "funny" new versions of Biblical verses.
  • Sundans - links to porn.
  • Edwards... - same old porn link from before. F bombs. Yuk photos.
  • Pastor Ski - which means he allowed Natalie Pratt to follow him.
  • Bill Limmer - Church and Changer.

This dancer was featured at at ELCA district meeting.
Luther Days is following most if not all ELCA districts and entities,
including "advocacy" and HIV/AIDS.

Reviewing the June 6, 2016 Issue of Christian News
Reading CN So You Don't Have To.
The Kholas of Your Mind



The Chief Article of Christianity, according to Herman Otten, is text criticism.

Many have heard the term Higher Criticism, which involves deciding whether Jesus ever said what the New Testament claims. The short answer is - No!

Needless to say, Higher Criticism, Form Criticism, and the Historical-Critical Method are devious ways to deny the authenticity of the Bible, and these tricks have been effective.

Lower Criticism is deciding on the text of the Bible. Not much is said about the Old Testament, because the rabbinic tradition was so careful and precise, counting the words and the letters in a copy. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that variation in 800 years was almost zero - from the Qumran period to the next oldest example of Isaiah, about 800 AD.

Lower Criticism of the New Testament was giving a great boost by Count Tischendorf, a fabulist of great imagination. He kept the monks from burning up the greatest NT find ever, dubbed Codex Sinaiticus. A codex is more like a book. He found the other great manuscript at the Vatican Library: Codex Vaticanus. Both of his finds have more mystery in them than biography, like the  Shroud of Turin. Boop - there it is.

There is nothing like a good story, so an antiquarian who makes his reputation by finding something and declaring it priceless is a rare talent. They crop up every few years, but most people see through the scam and move it to the fraud and curiosity websites.

Kloha
I began to read about Kloha and found an article by LMMS Pastor Martin Noland. Kloha's lecture was "published without his permission." Nice deflection. If he lectured, it was already public.

I noticed from this issue that Kloha is already being touchy about his opinions.

When Kloha wrote that the Nestle-Aland is "The Church's text," I thought - "Oh brother."

Here is the quotation - Is my Nestle text authoritative? Yes it is, because it is the church’s text, Christ her Lord is preached in that text, and the church recognizes that the Lord works through that text as the Lord of creation unfolds history. . . .

Noland, who seems to be Kloha's bulldog - 

These are the same positions about Scripture and its texts that I heard over thirty years ago from my own professors—the biblically-conservative and doctrinally-orthodox faculty at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne when Dr. Robert Preus was the president there. If Dr. Kloha is in error in these statements, then they were wrong too.
That is the logical fallacy called the Appeal to Authority. Besides that, it is hearsay. He claims that was their position. Maybe it was.

Ft. Wayne was very mixed in those days, actively supporting Church Growth - voting as a faculty for "Church Growth Principles" and being absolutely ridiculous about UOJ. Some of those students have never recovered from that - a combination of UOJ and Church Growth and Rome plus ecumenical delights. Their support of UOJ and Church Growth in those years made them anti-Christian and anti-Lutheran.

This bowl of hash is straight out of Pietism, learned by Stephan at Halle University,
regurgitated by Walther and all his unfortunate followers.
They call themselves Lutheran but rage against justification by faith.
The Church's text is the Byzantine. The Christian Church became established in the East and grew westward. The Byzantine Empire existed from about 300 AD to 1453 AD, when the Muslims overwhelmed Constantinople.

Let us just assume that a Christian, Greek-speaking empire preserved the New Testament text quite well. This Lower Criticism has invented an industry for itself which is full of professors, editions, books, and journals.

All these fine fellows have their publications, their degrees, their academic honors and awards, but they do not agree with the Scriptures. They are no different than the rabble of Romanists who argued with Luther while storing up kindling for a nice roast. They cannot claim to be Lutheran when they hate Luther's doctrine.





One baby Ichabod reader is JBFA. The other is UOJ.




ELCA and Quotas



About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 3.7 million members in more than 9,300 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.


The lavender description of ELCA, above, is from the standard ELCA news release. The ELCA began with 10,000 congregations and 5.3 million members. They have lost the equivalent of The ALC.

The former denominational executives probably realize now that they were better off separate, but Crumley and David Preus both sought to glue themselves together with the Seminex faction guiding the agenda. Both of them have been quoted as regretting the merger.

The pivotal issue driving the radicalism of ELCA is the quota system, which continues to drive the group into the ground.

"Brett, don't pay attention to this post.
The facts are grossly exaggerated.
I wanted to lose to Liz Eaton, really."

Quotas based on race and sexual orientation mean that qualified people are bypassed in favor of the quota pick. The quota winners know one another all too well and make sure they have greater numbers and more power.  Mark Hanson got gay ordination and gay marriage passed in 2009, and he was pushed out by Elizabeth Eaton.

Straight white males have no quota power. A woman has one quota brownie point. A lesbian has two points. A Black lesbian has three points. That is why so many women now occupy top executive positions in ELCA. Each woman is a two-fer if not a three-fer.

Men are introduced in the ELCA news releases with information about their wives, children, and grandchildren. The latest bishop elections had 3 (three) men elected. But when women are appointed to positions - like President of Luther Seminary, President of Wartburg Seminary - nothing is said about a spouse or any personal relationship.

The Episcopal Bishop was elected with almost no pastoral
or oversight experience. No matter - she was at least a two-fer
and almost destroyed her denomination.

Selective Diversity
Diversity today is always quite selective. What Mark Hanson thought and did  and accomplished for The Cause was meaningless compared to a candidate like Eaton who was a two-fer (married with a child) and favoring three-fers. In the olden days, which are not very old in ELCA, a leader going for re-election was normally re-elected. That was definitely true in the ALC-LCA.

Diversity never means including more conservatives. Nor does it mean making the gay quota 2% since that would match the numbers in America, 2% of the population. Watch TV news talking heads discuss policy. It is easy to see the quota at work.

Since Elizabeth Eaton has been ELCA bishop, several colleges and two seminaries have been given to women. I guess Berkeley had a woman president, but that tiny seminary was on its way to merging with a college. Luther Seminary was a big win for militant feminists.

Wartburg's new female president laid off three staffers once she was installed, but she added them to her prayers, which must have been a terrific boost. I think Wartburg is another Berkeley, headed for a merger of some type.

ELCA-Episcopal heads in the US and Canada
lined up for this shot.




The Grass-Free Yard: Accumulating Benefits

Purple Splash rose.

What Is So Rare As a Day in June?
James Russell Lowell

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?



Happy June 1st. 
People write or message me and often comment on the gardening articles. Michigander says he looks for them twice a day. A layman in WELS looks for new posts three times a day. Since he suggested the gardening idea, I try to start with horticulture in the morning and repeat the topic later in the day.

We began eliminating the grass in our yard before I learned it was a trend. Those who appreciate Creation or organic gardening can see why grass is losing its appeal. The Creation gardeners enjoy the beneficial creatures in the yard.

Chemical-centered turf and bush landscaping is not very friendly to the variety of animals, large and small, that can inhabit the yard. Grass and bushes alone do not support a variety of creatures. Pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizer suppress life, sometimes on a massive scale.

Speaking of yards, the yard sale provided me a load of fresh cardboard. I did not expect to eliminate more grass so early in the summer. Converting my neighbors to using cardboard mulching made me fear I would not get the extra cardboard leftovers from the sale.

Helianthus is a polite version of the sunflower.


Initial Gardening Frustrations - Not Waiting
Most new gardeners believe the books and start rototilling the soil violently and adding organic matter in large volume.

Those who appreciate the soil food web concept, where fungi establish connections in the soil - if allowed - realize what happens. When soil is converted from grass to gardening, one way or another, a gigantic chemical revolution takes place, involving many different creatures.

Whether someone osterizes the soil with his 10 horsepower rototiller or covers the lawn with cardboard and mulch, the earth must digest the changes and grow the new animals to make fertility happen. In addition, permanent plants need to establish their roots and set up their own Vanity Fair, where they exchange their carbon for the nutrition and water provided by soil fungi. All the soil creatures, from bacteria to earthworms, aid this transformation.

Roses are like asparagus in reaching good production a year or two after being planted, improving after that. The fun of roses is seeing those bare root plants leaf out, bud, and flower so soon. But that is nothing compared to mature roses given a chance to establish their royalty in the soil and produce dozens of perfect blooms.

Strike It Rich rose.


You Didn't Build That
Echoing the Great Prophet Obama, I can say to the roses, "You didn't build that display of blossoms by yourself. Fungi, bacterial, protozoa, and nematodes in the soil worked with earthworms to fix the chemicals you need in the soil and send them to your roots. Meanwhile, Flower Flies and Ichneumon Wasps came in to destroy the aphids and earwigs that initially made your blooms hideous and your leaves holey. Birds supplemented that work by eating bugs that might harm your growth, and spiders set up webs to intercept pests."

Chaste Tree is loved by bees.

Second and Third Year with Plants
The TV roses and KnockOuts are enjoying their third year of growth, so they began producing blooms immediately, before most people in this area were gardening. The weather was cold and rainy, but roses tolerate a great deal of cold. Many hybrid tea roses were planted last year, so they were also blooming early.

Almost Eden began selling plants last year, so I added some I never heard of before or never planted or failed on my first try. Some of these came from clearance shelves at Lowe's and Walmart.

  • Chaste Tree
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries (failed before, in Michigan)
  • Beautyberries
  • Spirea
  • Bee Balm (failed before, in Phoenix).
  • Trumpet vine (failed before, in Phoenix).


They were establishing roots last year, a difficult one for most plants.

Beautyberry grows berries for birds -
not for human consumption.