Rescue Roses - Harvesting and Replanting. Another Insect Magnet

Veterans Honor Rose:
Fragrant, pure red, lasts forever in the vase, even when left cut on the ground.

One Veterans Honor rose was in a bad place and kept getting stepped on. I moved it to the Blackberry patch temporarily.

I told our neighbor next to Mrs. Wright's home that I should have some extra roses from Gurney's this year. No offer came from Gurney's, which told me that Week's roses were not overplanted and undersold, as they were last year. I got 20 roses for $5 each and enjoyed learning about a lot of great roses that I would not have planted otherwise: Easy Does It, Europeana, Paradise, Purple Splash, and Hot Cocoa.

The Blackberries were crowding the orphan rose, so I decided to offer it to our neighbor. Sassy went outside today and found our neighbor's little terrier in the bush near our house. Sassy flushed the dog out, did a meet and greet, and started to play. The terrier ran over to neighbor's house, and we learned the little doggie can climb his own fence.

The same neighbor and her daughter followed me on Mother's Day and thanked me for the roses I left at their door, so I knew she loved roses but thought they were "difficult to grow."

The plan is to figure a place to put them, and prepare a place one day ahead. I do that by soaking the ground thoroughly the day before. Then the clay is easy to dig but not a mess on transplant day. Meanwhile I will water the Veterans Honor rose extra to build it up.

Purple Splash climbing rose stays in bloom. 

More Rescue Roses
Our helper has two Purple Splash roses growing, and one of our maple trees, too. All are mulched carefully with cardboard and shredded cypress.

Today I saw that my work on the fence roses yielded some Peace roses and Pink Peace roses. The Peace roses were harboring a couple of Japanese beetles, which enraged me. I got my supersharp rose clippers and cut the Peace roses and put them in a vase with water. The beetles wanted to stay in the roses and eat, but I chased them out with the clippers, as much a nightmare for them as they were for the roses.

Pink Peace are intense, deep pink, and very productive. The heat index was Inferno! today so I cut those too, to let them enjoy the cool weather inside.

I watered a long time in the main rose garden yesterday, so I figured some roses would be there as well. The Falling in Love row had several more, perfect in form and delicate in color, mildly fragrant (compared to Stinkin Lincoln, cough). The entire vase was quite a cloud of rose fragrance when I brought it in.

This photo captures the white reverse of Falling in Love,
but not the meanest thorns in rosedom.
This week I cut one stem with four blooms and two buds on it,
which Mrs. I enjoyed indoors.

I noticed that the whole front yard smelled rosy this morning, with only a few roses in full bloom.
The fence roses will become front yard roses next year, so we can enjoy and care for all the roses at once. I can replace the fence roses with some low flowering shrubs like Clethra.

Clethra is an insect magnet, full of flowers, attractive and low growing.

Borage is just starting to bloom, so we ate a few flowers.

Borage

This annual herb has bright blue clusters of edible, cucumber-flavored flowers. Studies in Switzerland have shown borage to be exceptionally attractive to beneficial bugs with an average of over 100 beneficials found in just 1-square-yard of borage. In addition, common green lacewings have a very strong preference to lay their eggs on borage. Look for it on garden center seed racks and mail order seed catalogs.

I have sown borage seeds and had them grow all along the Wright fence. This year I have fewer in the back that I can see, but several plants in the front rose garden. They are fun to have in a high traffic area. We used to harvest the flowers all the time in Phoenix, with them growing around the pool.

A garden of roses is a delight to everyone
and a reminder of this great Luther quotation.

Who Is Left Standing in Egyptology at Yale? From 2013. Now Being Replayed at Fox News with Roger Ailes

John Darnell was considered the department's Indiana Jones.

The first Mrs. Darnell was actually a pioneer in the field
and was listed as a member of the Yale Egyptology faculty.

http://neveryetmelted.com/2013/02/02/scandal-strikes-yale-egyptology-department/

And who’s left standing?

When John Darnell agreed to a one-year suspension from the Yale faculty following numerous University policy violations, he left the Egyptology division of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department without a chair and with just one full-time faculty member — associate professor Colleen Manassa ’01 GRD’05, with whom he allegedly had the intimate relationship that led to his suspension.

Hat tip to John Brewer.

Colleen Manassa Darnell (the second Mrs. Darnell)

By JDZ
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Episcopal Seminary Funeral March Underway? - Juicy Ecumenism. Note How Another Collapse Is Affecting Trinity ELCA Seminary, Also a Merger. Plus ELCA in Pennsylvania

This is the Episcopal Divinity School near Harvard. My professor Elizabeth Schuessler-Fiorenza taught there after Notre Dame, then received an endowed position at Harvard.
Hartford Seminary became Hartford Seminary Foundation,many years ago - and now it is Hartford Seminary again.

Episcopal Seminary Funeral March Underway? - Juicy Ecumenism:

Episcopal Seminary Funeral March Underway?

In a surprise move, the Board of Trustees for one of the 10 schools educating Episcopal Church seminarians has voted to cease granting degreesat the conclusion of the 2016-2017 school year. It is unclear how Episcopal Divinity School of Cambridge, Massachusetts might continue on, with the board stating that it “will explore options for EDS’s future” in the coming year.

Interim Dean Francis Fornaro, who took office in March of 2015 following the departure of former Dean Katharine Ragsdale, will resign in November and stated “I totally disagree with this resolution.” Fornaro is a 1996 graduate of the seminary and previously served as adjunct faculty there.

“A school that has taken on racism, sexism, heterosexism, and multiple interlocking oppressions is now called to rethink its delivery of theological education in a new and changing world,” declared former Washington National Cathedral Dean and EDS Board Chairman Gary Hall in an official announcement. “Ending unsustainable spending is a matter of social justice.”

Hall has significant history with multiple theologically progressive, financially struggling institutions: he also presided over the final years of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary of Evanston, Illinois before it merged with Bexley Hall Seminary of Ohio to form Bexley-Seabury. In 2015, Hall announced that he was stepping down as head of the National Cathedral early, in order for another official to be named that could complete a 10-year fundraising campaign to stabilize the financially struggling church.

Episcopal Divinity School was formed from the 1974 merger of Philadelphia Divinity School and Episcopal Theological School, both of which trace their origins to the mid-1800s. The Cambridge, Massachusetts seminary sold property worth over $33 million to neighboring Lesley University in 2009 in an effort to pay off outstanding debt and regain the school’s financial footing. According to The Living Church, EDS draws 7 percent from its $66 million endowment to cover operating costs; 5 percent or less would be considered sustainable.

In early 2015, Dean Katharine Ragsdale announced that she would be departing as head of the seminary after five rocky years there marked by intense disagreement between faculty and the administration.

Several Mainline Protestant seminaries have been under financial stress in recent years, with American Baptist Churches USA (ABC) and United Church of Christ (UCC)-affiliated Andover-Newton Theological School – the oldest graduate theological institution in the United States – announcing intent to sell its campus and end its residential study program. In January, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia announced that they would each close and re-launch as a single institution. [GJ - I think the Pennsylvania ELCA seminaries must remain legally separate to retain their status with the ATS.]

Of those schools educating Episcopal Church seminarians, the denomination’s flagship General Theological Seminary in New York faced turmoil in 2014 as Dean Kurt Dunkle met opposition from a majority of faculty whose “resignations” were accepted by the GTS board despite not being offered. Eight of the nine dismissed faculty were later “provisionally” reinstated and much of the faculty has since turned over.

Episcopal Divinity School is regarded as one of the Episcopal Church’s most liberal seminaries. The seminary’s board describes EDS as “leaders in educational programs that are enlivened by theologies of liberation, especially the many voices of feminist, congregational, ecumenical, and global studies.”

According to EDS Board Treasurer Dennis Stark, “We are spending six million a year from our endowment, and 30 percent of that is above a reasonable amount.”

According to the school, EDS’s investments are currently valued at approximately $53 million plus the real estate value of its campus, which is adjacent to Harvard University. More than half of the endowment is restricted.

UPDATE [7/22/2016]: Anglican Ink reports that another progressive Episcopal Church seminary, Bexley-Seabury, is closing its Columbus, Ohio campus partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary (ELCA) and will consolidate its presence at UCC-affiliated Chicago Theological Seminary. Bexley-Seabury had already shuttered a Rochester, NY campus partnership with Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in 2008. Bexley-Seabury has a full-time enrollment of 17 students and four full-time faculty as of autumn 2015.

'via Blog this'

Vines and Asparagus - A Long Wait But Worth It

 I will need to rent a truck to harvest the asparagus.

Many refuse to grow asparagus because they have to wait to start harvesting it. My experience is that there is nothing better than asparagus from the yard. In fact, we ate most of it raw in Midland.

Asparagus is better now. One can buy male plants that do not use up energy in going to seed. The plants are sent fairly well developed and ready to grow. The old instructions made asparagus growing sound like building the Great Wall of China. I simply dig shallow holes, plant the rubbery crowns, cover and mulch them.

Birds plant asparagus in the wild, along fences. If you need more information, send me an email. When we visited our farm cousins, we looked for asparagus along the fences.

Vines Take Time Too
I have learned that vines also take time. That goes against our assumptions. Don't many homes have vines growing on them. We had English ivy on the front of our house, just a little. It has taken four years for it to cover the front porch and picture window area. From there it decided to invade the rose garden. Like Burmuda grass and Blackberries, a can grow from its tips by rooting itself, and expanding form there.

Trumpet
God created vines for vertical use of the sun. I bought three Trumpet Vine sticks, which arrived looking dead. I soaked them overnight in rainwater and they began to grow. Last year they made modest progress, even though I doted on them, like a worried nurse reviving a weak and pale patient.

In the second year the vine began to show its strength. As I hoped, the one planted under the maple tree is now climbing the tree and covering part of the Maple Tree Rose Garden. I reckon the third year of growth will bring some flowers to attract hummingbirds.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle Vines are slow to get established and then take over if left alone. Last year the vine bloomed a bit and that was all. Now it is starting to spread a little. I expect a lot more blooms and growth next year.

Morning Glory
We ended up with a glorious display of Morning Glories from Mr. Gardener parking some old vines next to the fence. They planted themselves, got going on my earthworm fertilized, mulch enhanced soil, and grew fast. That happened so fast that I asked him if he deliberately planted them there. He laughed and explained the accident and worried I did not like them.

Cow Vetch is a delicate plant but some consider it invasive.

Cow Vetch seeds are harvested for budgies.

Cow Vetch
Vetches are related to beans, so they are good for the soil. I had climbing beans come back this year, just because I let them go to seed last year. The seeds stayed safe in the soil and mild winter, then took off.

Cow Vetch is wild here. Some grew and bloomed in the front yard and the back fence. On the back fence we had a blue waterfall of flowers for time. This year I have not seen it, perhaps because birds love the seeds.

Gardeners agree that they see cycles of growth. Some years nothing can stop a certain plant. The next year, nothing will make it grow.

True Diversity
The Creating Word created genuine diversity in the plant and animal world to take care of all contingencies. Nothing is allowed to dominate for long.

For example, Starlings are aggressive and work in large flocks. But they do not take over the bird population. When plants are truly invasive, it is because they are brought into a country where they do not belong - like Kudzu  Vine (US Government) or the Chinese Multiflora Rose (US Government).

Control-freak sects do not allow diversity of thought. That threatens the insecure leaders. In dominating the members and ministers, these petite tyrants deny the gifts of the Spirit and ultimately pay the price.

One layman said of the WELS District Presidents - "They have to be alcoholics. It's the only way they can live with what they have done to others."

WELS planted the Kudzu Vine of Church Growth
and is now dying of staff infections from Larry Olson, DMin Fuller.

Vines and Asparagus - A Long Wait But Worth It

 I will need to rent a truck to harvest the asparagus.

Many refuse to grow asparagus because they have to wait to start harvesting it. My experience is that there is nothing better than asparagus from the yard. In fact, we ate most of it raw in Midland.

Asparagus is better now. One can buy male plants that do not use up energy in going to seed. The plants are sent fairly well developed and ready to grow. The old instructions made asparagus growing sound like building the Great Wall of China. I simply dig shallow holes, plant the rubbery crowns, cover and mulch them.

Birds plant asparagus in the wild, along fences. If you need more information, send me an email. When we visited our farm cousins, we looked for asparagus along the fences.

Vines Take Time Too
I have learned that vines also take time. That goes against our assumptions. Don't many homes have vines growing on them. We had English ivy on the front of our house, just a little. It has taken four years for it to cover the front porch and picture window area. From there it decided to invade the rose garden. Like Burmuda grass and Blackberries, a can grow from its tips by rooting itself, and expanding form there.

Trumpet
God created vines for vertical use of the sun. I bought three Trumpet Vine sticks, which arrived looking dead. I soaked them overnight in rainwater and they began to grow. Last year they made modest progress, even though I doted on them, like a worried nurse reviving a weak and pale patient.

In the second year the vine began to show its strength. As I hoped, the one planted under the maple tree is now climbing the tree and covering part of the Maple Tree Rose Garden. I reckon the third year of growth will bring some flowers to attract hummingbirds.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle Vines are slow to get established and then take over if left alone. Last year the vine bloomed a bit and that was all. Now it is starting to spread a little. I expect a lot more blooms and growth next year.

Morning Glory
We ended up with a glorious display of Morning Glories from Mr. Gardener parking some old vines next to the fence. They planted themselves, got going on my earthworm fertilized, mulch enhanced soil, and grew fast. That happened so fast that I asked him if he deliberately planted them there. He laughed and explained the accident and worried I did not like them.

Cow Vetch is a delicate plant but some consider it invasive.

Cow Vetch seeds are harvested for budgies.

Cow Vetch
Vetches are related to beans, so they are good for the soil. I had climbing beans come back this year, just because I let them go to seed last year. The seeds stayed safe in the soil and mild winter, then took off.

Cow Vetch is wild here. Some grew and bloomed in the front yard and the back fence. On the back fence we had a blue waterfall of flowers for time. This year I have not seen it, perhaps because birds love the seeds.

Gardeners agree that they see cycles of growth. Some years nothing can stop a certain plant. The next year, nothing will make it grow.

True Diversity
The Creating Word created genuine diversity in the plant and animal world to take care of all contingencies. Nothing is allowed to dominate for long.

For example, Starlings are aggressive and work in large flocks. But they do not take over the bird population. When plants are truly invasive, it is because they are brought into a country where they do not belong - like Kudzu  Vine (US Government) or the Chinese Multiflora Rose (US Government).

Control-freak sects to not allow diversity of thought. That threatens the insecure leaders. In dominating the members and ministers, these petite tyrants deny the gifts of the Spirit and ultimately pay the price.

One layman said of the WELS District Presidents - "They have to be alcoholics. It's the only way they can live with what they have done to others."

WELS planted the Kudzu Vine of Church Growth
and is now dying of staff infections from Larry Olson, DMin Fuller.

The Advantages of Study and Controversies

I looked over at Sassy. Her eyes were fixed on me, her tail wagging in a friendly and encouraging way. How can I resist her silent request for a walk? I will be back in a while. This is our long walk time, relatively cool and quiet.

We had fun on our walk. One neighbor lost her foot to infection from diabetes, She was in a wheelchair for a long time. Now she has a prosthetic lower leg. She looked at Sassy, resting in the dew-soaked grass and said, "We get tired fast. don't we?"

This resting position lets Sassy enjoy some cooling wet grass.
When she went outside after her bath yesterday, with a real feel of 100, she was as jumpy as a puppy,because she felt the cool effect of the wet fur.

Study and Controversy
St. Paul commends doctrinal conflict, because that separates the bad from the good. The Pietists want everyone to get along and continue to lay their bug eggs in the good meal, like flour flies, and prosper their ministry of indifference.

If a pastor refuses to engage in doctrinal issues, he puts his study habits to sleep. Too many passages, even in the horrid NIV family, are too challenging, too much against the denominational fads running their sect into the ground.

The "confessional" leaders of the LCMS-ELS-WELS-ELCA
rejoice in forgiveness without faith -
contrary to St. Paul, Luther, and the Book of Corcord.
Pass the plate and fund their missions (salaries) of apostasy.

If someone says, "I am going to read the Book of Concord," that is not motivating for careful study. Required reading in a school is only a shallow introduction. But if someone wants to know what the Book of Concord teaches about the forgiveness of sin, that will take him through the:

1. Augsburg Confession
2. Apology of the Augsburg Confession
3. Small Catechism
4. Large Catechism
5. Smalcald Articles
6. Formula of Concord, especially the Righteousness of Faith
7. Article on Election, and related passages.

Go ahead, prove me wrong about Justification by Faith being the Chief Article. But post it in public and give exact quotations and the correct citation, so I can check your work.

The answer from the UOJ/Church Growth Pietists is - "Do not listen to him. Do not read his work. Do not quote him."

I would not trade all the guns in the McCain armory for the pleasure and peace I have received from studying Luther, the Confessions, Chemnitz, and Gerhard.

Darth Vader, Leader of the UOJ Stormtroopers -
"I find your lack of faith...uplifting."

Lazy Pastors Do Not Study. From 2012

I marvel at how little the full-time ministers do. They must be like the royalty in Europe, who are always exhausted from the latest party, the most recent vacation.

The pastors have to study the Word in order to preach, so many of them plagiarize their sermons and skip the studying part (which they imagine is boring).

They do very little visiting.

Those are the three components of a healthy congregation - preaching, teaching, visiting. Thelazyu pastors do little of all three.

I gave that secret away without charging a consulting fee.

WELS had two "consultants" in Columbus, both divorced. They did their best to wreck the congregations. WELS made sure one got a congregational call to an independent congregation, though he was never a member of WELS. The other one went to work for WELS Lutherans for Life, for a time.

Everyone wants to be a boss and earn the big money. WELS Lutherans for Life has a generic name, to make more money. Their payroll in 2010 was about $350,000, and they listed assets of $500,000. Few pastors make as much money as Bob Fleischmann (divorced and remarried). His Christian Life Resources gathers in $1 million a year, so he goes around raising money from congregations that will never see that kind of annual budget, from pastors who actually do Means of Grace work.

$1.3 million income for his generic charity - one year.
Income dropped by 50% from 2010 to 2014.

Salaries used to be listed in the IRS forms, but they are not in the 2010 report for Fleischmann. His salary was quite hefty many years ago. 2014 has Fleischmann listed as making $72,000 a year.

From WELS Documented 2015 - Examples of Schroeder's Leadership. But Why No Punishment for the Mark Jeske Crime Family?

Friday, January 16, 2015

Among the Hidden: The fear of speaking out against the WELS

Why the fear to speak
publicly against the WELS?

Why do so many people, pastors included, feel that when they have concerns about the Synod they must speak anonymously? What happens if those concerns are expressed? Is there a safe manner for both concerned pastors and laypeople to express those thoughts where they don't have to do it anonymously? What can the Synod do to assist people and help them feel like they are able to speak openly and not anonymously? Obviously many feel like they can't.

*****

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IMPORTANT NOTE: The purpose of this post, and the cases cited, is to examine and discuss WHY so many people, who have concerns about the synod, don't speak up as themselves but instead feel the need to remain anonymous. It is also to examine if there are only specific subjects (i.e. contemporary worship, doctrinal issues, etc.) that make people feel vulnerable or if it is "across the board" with everything. The cases cited below are for discussion to see if these very public cases, and their results, are what is holding people back - because of what they have seen happen to others.

For all the "anonymous and hidden" people out there, please comment with why you feel the need to either blog, write, or comment anonymously. What do you fear will happen if you speak openly?

Likewise, if you are one that HAS spoken up about concerns in the Synod, and had positive results, please share the general topic and how you broached the subject with the Synod.

For those on the other side of the fence, that spoke up using your real identity and it lead to negative repercussions, what were they? What would you do differently (if anything)?

And finally, what specifically can the synod - synod president, district presidents, circuit pastors - do to reduce all the anonymous writing, comments and concerns?

Another embezzler,
dearly loved by WELS UOJ/CGM leaders.

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*****

The Polluted WELS Blog was written by an anonymous author (Matthias Flach) and when he accidentally gave away too many details about his identity, he deleted his page for fear of retribution. Since most of it has been deleted, it's difficult to link to anything for verifiable documentation therefore, Matthias, if you are reading this, we would love to have your input on why published and what lead you to delete, etc so we can learn from your experience.

Comment that wasn't deleted:
"...Two of the DP who are supposed to be the most Confessional are preaching at this conference. If I dared to voice my concerns, I would automatically labeled "divisive" and blackballed. Anonymous blogging is the only recourse Confessional Lutheran pastors have."

***** 

The Bailing Water Blog examined issues in the WELS from 2007 - 2011. If the author of Bailing Water is reading this, we would welcome your input on why you began the blog, what you were able to accomplish, and why you stopped.

*****

The Intrepid Lutheran Blog also started strong and the people involved were NOT anonymous. Did that lead to negative repercussions for any of them? We ask because this was posted in their 2013 blog post, The Witch Hunt Has (Officially) Begun: "...The following paragraph is from WELS District President Doug Engelbrecht’s summary of the recent meeting of the WELS Conference of Presidents, sent out to the pastors of his district: Another item involved the Intrepid Lutheran website.  There is a concern that those who still wholeheartedly support this group by being “signers” are also supporting a pastor who has been removed from the ministerium of the WELS for doctrinal reasons, because he has been given a forum on their website.  The consensus was that each district president should approach pastors in their district who are listed as “signers” on the website and determine whether or not they are in support of the false doctrine that the suspended pastor espouses..."

Because the Intrepid Blog is so big and involves so many issues and people, we would welcome input from any of the originals "signers" on how you felt then and how you feel now about voicing public concerns. Do you have any regrets? Would you encourage others to be like you and come forward as themselves publicly to express concerns? What advice do you have to give looking back in hindsight now?

*****

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The following three case are well known public cases which are often cited as reasons for why people feel the need to be anonymous. The parties in all these cases chose to make them public. We did not dig these out of a closet somewhere. All of them have substantial referenced reading material online if you would like to study each one in more in-depth. We would welcome first-hand feedback from all the parties below (both sides) to further elaborate on the obstacles you faced - both positive and negative. We would also be interested in hearing, now that you know the outcome, if you have any advice for others who may also be in the same situation? 

Case 1: Pastor Paul Rydecki
Issue: Spoke up about doctrinal concerns in the Synod
Outcome: It is with great personal distress that we inform you, earlier this week Rev. Paul Rydecki was suspended from WELS on the charge of teaching the “false doctrine” of Justification by Faith Alone. This drama has been drawn out over the past few months.
Reading Material: 

• Intrepid to the Last: Rev. Paul Rydecki has been Suspended from WELS
• Suspended from the WELS - Why?
• Why WELS Expelled Rev Paul Rydecki
• Arizona-California District Report

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Case 2: Layperson Rick Techlin
Issue: Concerned about doctrinal issues and plagiarism in his WELS church
Outcome: Had his membership terminated from his lifelong church
Reading Material: 

• Intrepid - Why I No Longer Attend My [WELS] Church (22 Comments)
• Light from Light - Why I No Longer Attend My Church
• Receiving Holy Communion in the WELS
• Terminated from WELS Fellowship
• An Appleton Update
• November 1, 2009 Letter
• January 20, 2011 Letter
• April 12, 2011 letter from St. Peter Church
• April 30, 2011 appeal letter

note: all the letters were linked from public websites; they were not obtained by private means.

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Case 3: Layperson had a restraining order filed on him by two WELS pastors
Issue: JD was standing up for his wife's reputation after she was sexually harassed by a pastor. That WELS pastor, as well as, a second WELS pastor filed a restraining order against him and took him to court.
Outcome: Case was dismissed.
Reading Material: 

• Two WELS Pastors and Four Meritless Lawsuits
• WCCA vs. WELS Privacy Concerns
• Meritless Lawsuits and Spiritual Abuse