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| The collars around the new Crepe Myrtles will protect them against a dry cold winter and discourage rabbits from chewing on their new sprouts. |
My neighbors are cleaning up their leaves while I am gathering them to improve the soil. Some days I only scoop some fragmented leaves under the Mother of all Crepe Myrtles.
Gardening is perfected through a series a small activities, each one seemingly insignificant. When I made the decision to use rose collars, I bought some and gradually fitted them around the new Crepe Myrtles and the roses. Leaves fell and the ground crew stuffed each collar with leaves, since i have most of the leaves from three yards.
Pardon me while I indulge in some sales talk. The manager always said, "Back end activity leads to front end sales." They even had a chart. I averaged so much income each time I dialed a number and earned so much an hour each time I met with someone. Scientific. In gardening that means building the soil, no matter what else is done. Fertile soil, teeming with microbes and soil creatures, will support plants, keep them healthy, and feed them during drought.
The old farm slogan is, "The only time I know what I'm doing is when I spread manure." In other words, adding organic matter will always be worthwhile for the plants. Our other plans and methods are open for debate. Fortunately, for our neighbors, we have no access to manure.
The Gospel has been reduced to a product marketed by devilishly clever people. Whether we give credit to Robert Schuller, Fuller Seminary professors, or other charlatans, the message is the same - "We can figure out how to grow a very large church, a yuuuuuge church, and this is the recipe."
That fits into the mainline apostate formula followed by the UniSynod: ELCA, WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC (sic). They say - "God is all grace, so the entire world is already forgiven and saved. The Gospel is simply telling them this good news. Amen. Halleluia."
The Gospel
The mass movement hokum, spread by Donald McGavran, places a lot of trust in large numbers, not surprising for a man trained in sociology rather than Biblical doctrine. Some might call it ironic, since talk of numbers led to vast shrinkage everywhere.
But the goal was not the Gospel, but apostasy. The leaders got everyone involved and very busy, spending enormous sums at Fuller, Willow Creek, Trinity Divinity, and other snake oil emporiums.
The portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is just the opposite. Vast crowds came to Him, but He did not boast about them. Instead, the focus of each miracle is an individual whose faith was a significant part in the healing. People brought their friend in faith. Some asked for miracles on behalf of others - in faith. The woman with the flow approached Jesus - in faith.
The WELS apostates were clever in warning, "Do not make faith a cause of salvation." They are skilled in the art of poisoning the well. If anyone dares to ask about a felony, "Who told you?" Then they rail against that person, so that merely asking is by itself a felony, not to mention knowing that awful person who told. Faith as a cause is a philosophical diversion, away from the Scriptural truth that God's Word plants faith in our hearts. As the Gospels teach, the story of Jesus spread and people had faith in His divine power to heal.
How many times did Jesus say, "Your faith had made you whole"? I wonder if the WELS leader would scold Jesus for saying that. But they do not trouble themselves with their inconsistencies and contradictions. The power and the glory is theirs.
The Gospels do not reveal any special message except spreading the Word. The Parable of the Sower makes that clear, but the Fulleroids get that wrong too (an indication of their reading comprehension approaching zero). The Sower teaches us to sow the Word with abandon - not to "test the soil first." Whadda hooot. When synodical jackasses test the soil, they always find rich suburbs the most delightful. Growing suburbs - even better.
Jesus' message is founded upon faith in Him. Yes, that is true, no matter what the seminary professors claim. The foundational sin is not believing in Him. John 16:8ff. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus Himself, is to teach faith in Him.
Claiming that unbelievers are forgiven or saved - or both - is a horrible blasphemy against Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
So how did Jesus organize His church? I find nothing beyond charging His disciples with teaching the Gospel of faith in Him. He did not appoint bishops, although ELDONA thinks bishops - or A Bishop - is the Chief Article of the Christian Church. The New Testament speaks very little about church structure, which is why they UniSynod studies and talks about structure all the time. They have no faith, so they have to discuss something.
Not that God works without purpose or result. When people come to faith, the Spirit distributes gifts so that each person has something to contribute. The combination is miraculous because that is how God works.
To borrow a phrase from Luther, God delights in doing the best work through the most unlikely people. They discover what they can do together in faith.
Schmauk has a statement on this, which someone will probably resend to me. (That can create a strange pun - I resent that quotation.) The point is that we should not rush around trying to be successful but only try to be faithful. Individual congregations come and go. The Gospel remains forever.
