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| Pirate Bugs are tiny enemies of aphids. |
Dr. Lito Cruz blogged about scientists and their theories. That reminded me about the agricultural experts discovering aspects of Creation that eluded them for the last century.
Synthetic fertilizer will make plants grow better, especially when the correct NPK ratio is observed for the crops, which vary in their needs.Nitrogen can make a plant grow without producing fruit. Most of us have put lawn fertilizer on grass and noticed how it became greener and denser. Conclusion - man-made fertilizer is good, even though the pioneering scientist - Liebig - saw that the original outcomes were misleading and the theory wrong. Never-mind, he launched an international industry.
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| Justus Liebig is Mr. N-P-K. Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium. |
Only recently, soil scientists have taken note of the essential work of soil fungus, whose strands are thinner than a human hair and invisible to the naked eye. Moreover, fungal contributions cannot be easily observed in a lab.
Likewise, organic growers re-discovered the value of manure, mulch, and compost. They had good results, but gave more credit to the larger creatures of the soil - like earthworms - than to the fungus they could not see. One earthworm per shovel of soil was considered a key measure of fertility.
Now the scientists realize soil fungus has many powerful effects:
Breaking down the most complex plant compounds, like wood and bark;
Distributing useful chemicals and water to plants;
Fighting plant disease.
The log rotting on top of the soil is feeding many plants, attracting soil creatures, perhaps sheltering a toad, and providing bugs for bird food.
Others have argued that cover crops are essential for renewing the soil, because 75% of the organic matter in soil comes from roots.
Since these results can be measured scientifically, it is easy to compare the Liebig theory with Creation. Whether one starts from
- The complex relationship of fungus and soil microbes, or
- Replacing toxins with beneficial insects, or
- The regeneration of soil through cover crops, or
- Abandoning the plow -
Creation explains why those new approaches work so well, whether among Christian believers or not, for the sun shines equally on the just and the unjust.
Dr. Cruz' article reminds me of a professor who knocked us off our assumptions that something was true because everyone said it was. He would offer something from Judaism and then point out the exceptions. He let us plant our flags on everyone's established truth, then blew up the assumption. His final observation was: "Every Harvard graduate gives the same test - short answer, matching, and an essay question." And I thought, "That's my Old Testament professor from Augustana."
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| Where do we find cell groups instead of the Means of Grace? - Pietism. Where do we find Justification by Faith instead of UOJ? - Pietism |
In Theology
What intrigued me about the WELS clergy in Columbus, Ohio was their smug ignorance and their utter hatred for Lutheran doctrine. Something had to explain how the entire cluster of congregations was running on hypocrisy, so utterly superior to everyone but doing exactly what ELCA, the LCMS, and the Pente-Babtists were doing. Albeit a day late and a dollar short.
The answer was - their complete disregard and contempt for the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. At this point they have already caught up with the early ELCA's commitment to all things radical. The LCMS and WELS are tearing apart their own sects while celebrating the Reformation's 500th by saying, "Here We Stand in our CPH Stockings - Sign Up for a Charitable Annuity Trust from Thrivent."
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| Buy yours and a doggie t-shirt at CPH. |
