ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
"A Northrop pastor is facing a felony charge of possessing child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, Robert Cairl Trueblood, the pastor at St. James Lutheran Church, is charged with possessing pornographic material involving a minor on a work computer - a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.
The complaint states that on March 7, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received a tip from the company Chatstep stating that a user identified as "PervyPastor" had accessed a chat room through the service and uploaded an image identified by company representatives as being consistent with child pornography."
Creation Gardening is an easy book to give away. The author's price (write to me) is only $5 plus shipping.
Mrs. Ichabod had a doctor's visit, and we began talking with him about various things at the end. He mentioned going to seminary and then talked about God's Creation through the Word. I said, "I teach that." He asked, "You do and in...?" I finished, "Yes, six days - through the Word."
He was a bit startled about the idea of a Creation Garden, which made him smile. The next visit will mean roses and a book or two. I enjoy telling people that the flawless roses were grown without sprays and chemical fertilizer, which hails back to "If you do not believe the Word, at least believe because of the signs (miracles)" in John.
Diabetic Shock
Our son sees the same diabetic specialist that Mrs. Ichabod visits. She just received her copy of Creation Gardening before she saw him. LI said, "She was still disturbed by your roses when I saw her." By the way, she really adores roses, which we give her, so this news was intriguing.
Gabe Brown, Regenerative Farmer
Someone directed me to a video, which I will place at the bottom of this post. The initial video led me to a series created by Gabe Brown, regenerative farmer from North Dakota.
Those who are interested in this might want to investigate the theories of the soil-food-web, another general term for these practice.
Agricultural videos bring out the inner farmer in me, since both my grandfathers owned farms until the Great Depression.
Four Disastrous Years Taught Brown
My brief description - Gabe Brown began on a huge farm which he was buying from his in-laws. However, they had four years in a row which were a total wipe-out of the crops, due to natural disasters like drought and hail. They had no cash. He planted each year but had nothing to harvest, so the soil noticeably improved because the soil absorbed the destroyed crops.
Farmer Brown learned that he needed to focus on the health of the soil to have good crops and preserve his greatest asset - the land.
Chemical and plowing practices (tillage on the tape) have the following bad effects:
Plowing creates a hardpan that the roots cannot break through. Bigger, deeper plows push the hardpan layer down but do not solve the problem.
Plowing also reduces the carbon in the soil, which diminishes what the soil can do.
Chemical fertilizers do not reduce these problems, but make them worse.
Rainwater, which is often sparse, runs off and causes soil erosion, when the soil surface is hard and non-porous.
Did an earthworm take this photo of Gabe Brown and his son Paul?
Brown's main emphasis is upon diverse cover crops, which keep most weeds down, soften the soil, and attract beneficial insects that devour the pests. Animal life of all types also eat weed seeds at a prodigious rate.
I had similar problems. I began gardening in shock - I could afford the chemicals. I had the almost-infinite resources of the Grace Dow library in Midland, so I read every gardening book (adult and juvenile sections) I could find. The juvenile books were often the best ones.
I softened clay by placing wheelbarrows of finished compost on top of it. The soil creatures did the plowing, mixing, and tunneling. Once the soil had digested the organic matter I used, the gardens were always productive. I did not want to spray what we ate, and I had no need for chemical enhancements.
I also created fast compost by putting sod clumps together in a hole I dug for a parsley garden. The soil became jelly-like from all the humus digested in it.
Scarlet Bee Balm is rampant, but this purple Monarda is clumping.
Brown learned from an expert that he needed more than one plant in his cover-crops - he needed a mix of six. This diversity is what I am practicing in the gardens, because I reasoned, "The plants with another agenda can grow next to and among the roses, providing a good rest and feeding station for the beneficial insects." -
Dandelions - a dandy and attractive herb.
Horse, Mountain, and Cat Mints - well-behaved and clumping.
Wild Strawberries, low-growing and planted by the birds.
Clover.
Buckwheat and other plants can be bee-friendly and squeeze out weeds, without becoming a bother.
I pull out future nut and maple trees, but the list above are never-pulls. Big obnoxious weeds can be dug out in some cases and given cardboard-mulch shade in others.
Brown's overall emphasis in his videos -
The soil must be built up, not abused until dead.
Repeated plowing is bad for every aspect of the soil. Organic growing is no good if someone plows that soil all the time. He does not plow at all now.
God mulches (did Brown steal that from me, or did we both steal it from Creation?) He calls cover crops/mulches "the armor of the soil."
Soil is an ocean of life, below ground with too many creatures to name, above ground, with hundreds of beneficial creatures that live from it and benefit us.
Diversity of plant and animal life is natural, based on Creation, and this mix leverages all the outcomes of natural far beyond what we can imagine until we see it. Almost Eden and I see hawks resting and searching on our property - because we have so many creatures living from it.
All the children and Do-It-Yourself fanatics are learning that YouTube covers every topic. I have started to create videos for the classroom. Now I am going to create some for gardening. That will have to wait a bit until I get some other items finished.
“Abraham Calov (1612–86): The Prussian on the Cathedra Lutheri.” In Lives and Writings of the Great Fathers of the Lutheran Church, edited by Timothy Schmeling. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016.
“Johann Andreas Quenstedt (1617–88): The Consensus Builder.” In Lives and Writings of the Great Fathers of the Lutheran Church, edited by Timothy Schmeling. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016.
Timothy Schmeling will be installed at Bethany Lutheran College and has already published on Calov and Quenstedt. Bethany has a tradition of the least qualified teaching at the seminary, the better qualified at the college.
If Timothy agrees with Calov and Quenstedt, then he disagrees with Pope John the Malefactor and David Jay Iago Webber. One cannot have Justification without Faith and Justification by Faith in the same stall. That would be unionism. The great and wise in the WELS only teach Justification without Faith, as do the ever-increasing tribe of Preus. As soon as a Preus is in seminary, he starts railing against Luther's doctrine, the Chief Article.
Let's do a little graphical research and see about where the old boys stand.
Calov is quoted and cited by Dr. Robert Preus, who graduated from Bethany Lutheran Seminary before most of the guys (like Moldstand) bothered to do so. Unfortunately, some of the ELS guys (like Gaylin Schmeling) attended Northwestern College (RIP), where criminal hazing was administered with a hanger.
Quenstedt lays out the real issues, so I find it impossible to believe that young Schmeling has missed this on Ichabod. Everyone in the ELS reads and dreads this blog - so I have heard.
WHERE DOES THIS EASTER ABSOLUTION SILLINESS COME FROM?
Oh - now I get it. Halle University promoted the Easter absolution of the entire world. And Bishop Martin Stephan, STD, caught it from Halle. And CFW Walther caught it from Stephan, which made the mob, the threats, the robbery, and kidnapping of the bishop easier to execute. And the Synodical Conference caught UOJ rom Walther and F. Pieper. And Muhlenberg learned his Pietism at Halle. And so did Hoenecke. And that, history fans, is why WELS-ELS-LCMS leaders work so well with ELCA leaders. They all came from Halle, more or less, and they all study at Fuller, if you waterboard them a few hours.
WELS has followed the example of Schuller and Cho, with similar results. Cho's books were sold at one WELS training event - out of a carton of them brought by one of the leaders!
"In 2014, Cho was convicted of embezzling $12 million in church funds. He was given a suspended sentence, but Cho’s son went to jail. Other Protestant leaders have been caught up in sensational scandals too, and as a result, people’s attitudes toward Christian evangelicals have soured.
“The general public in Korean society, they do not trust Christians anymore,” says Jung-Jun Kim, a senior pastor at a small evangelical church in Seoul. "
David Yonggi Cho, 78, founded Yoido FullGospel Church, an Assemblies of God-affiliated denomination that has grown to more than 1 million members. Last year, CT noted how the pastor emeritus faced indictment for an alleged stock scheme with his son.
Last Thursday, the Seoul pastor was convicted of embezzlement as part of a scheme in which he arranged for the church to buy stock from his son Cho Hee-jun at more than three times the market price.
***
Harrison and his UOJ buddy managed to make cheeseheads look bad.
GJ - A little history follows. Robert Schuller correctly calls himself the founder of the Church Growth - really Shrinkage - Movement. He was a short distance from Fuller Seminary, which hired McGavran shortly after they repudiated their mild support of inerrancy.
McGavran and C. Peter Wagner provided the academic salesmanship and Schuller the example of Protestant apostasy. Missouri and WELS - decades later - remain transfixed by the idiotic methods of Schuller, Cho, and Fuller Seminary:
A congregation must have cell groups.
The pastor should establish a personality cult and rule as a dictator.
A denominational name is a great hindrance to a congregation.
Whoopee worship is going to please more people than real hymns and Biblical liturgy.
Replace the Gospel with the idol of success, derived largely through Asian polytheism. Norman Vincent Peal stole this from an occult book and made millions with plagiarism. Schuller stole the same idea and gave his mentor, Peale, credit for it. Cho was even more direct and gave credit to powers of the universe - The Fourth Dimension - waiting to give us everything we demand.
Plagiarism is good. They throw bricks at the first person, money at the second.
Mirthless Mark Schroeder has given free-rein to Jeske's Church and Changers, sour eructations from Fuller and Willowcreek.
Needless to say, all the denominations - even the Church of Rome - have been gaga over Fuller, Willowcreek, and Trinity Divinity School for years. Even the franchise units, like Kent Hunter's business, have made money off this stupidity, paganism, and silliness.
No one should wonder that the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation is being hailed with a repudiation of Luther's doctrine and the Book of Concord. As Luther said, "If someone handles pitch, his hands soon become black." The Lutheran leaders want to promote the Schuller-Cho-Fuller model at every level of their educational units and ministry, then say, "Our hands are clean. That is why we are kicking you out, and kissing them in."
When people read this blog, they realize that my descriptions of WELS, LCMS, ELS, and the micro-minis are not only correct, but far too mild and irenic at the local level. The cover-ups are massive and on-going, from the Love Letter pastor to the child porn dealer at Schroeder's headquarters. The corruptions of doctrine and worship are continuous and gathering momentum.
The leaders lead posh and luxurious lives while draining the resources of their synods, just as the parisitoid insects lay their eggs in the living bodies of other insects. Like the babies of the parisitoids, the children of Lutheran leaders do very well indeed.
In the future, the Lutheran synods will be a fraction of their size today - thanks to Church Growth doctrine and worship - but the trust fund offspring of denominational leaders will be fine.
C. Hendrickz - Nick at Night. John 3. In many places, the correct translation of John's Gospel demolishes false claims. As one layman says, "John is the doctrinal Gospel."
Today, I am getting Volume 1 of Luther's Sermons ready for Norma Boeckler's artwork, so I am going to stick with the Thursday schedule for Greek class rather than try to make up the pre-flood cancellation. No class until Thursday. I will mark up chapter 5 of John for the students.
I am happy to say that we did not flood, and the birds/squirrels confirmed me as the Dr. Dolittle of the block region. Our yard looked like a small animal refuge, with squirrels and birds eating from the feeders, foliage, and soil all the time, moving and fussing all the time, even in the remorseless rain.
Squirrels assume my mission in life is to feed them.
Our big day for rain was Saturday. I measured 12 inches of rain in 24 hours; friends told me their rain gauges overflowed. The backyard became a lake, the birds and squirrels eating from the feeders all day, soaked and cold in the rain.
The Rosebreasted Grossbeak loves sunflower seeds.
A Rosebreasted Grossbeak discovered the feeders and began chasing other birds away. Now he is a regular. The finches gladly line up six to a feeder, but he wants to be the whole show. Nothing was more comical that a young squirrel using the platform feeder to stand near his feeder and flail at birds coming in for the food. The platform feeder was lowered and the other ladder, the allegedly squirrel-proof feeder, was moved away from the house.
The seeds I scattered were doubtless food for many birds and squirrels, and just as likely to be attacked by fungus or bacteria. However, living seed has a powerful drive to germinate and grow, engineered by the Creator to take advantage of any opportunity. I poured out sunflower seed soaked by the rain, and the seeds were already sprouting. More seeds around the feeders are growing with their distinctive sunflower leaflets. Corn is also growing in the front and back. Perches are surrounded by square feet of Wild Strawberries.
Berries Are Easy To Grow
Most plants - even grass - flower, fruit, and produce seed. Berries produce attractive fruit, sometimes edible for humans, always edible for animals. The pollen and nectar are useful foods for beneficial insects. Below are the berries I grow, and the critters eat, making me the Dr. Dolittle of Springdale.
Wild Strawberries
They were growing here in the yard when we moved here, and they have grown ever since, encouraged by many bird perches. They flower and fruit early in the spring (last month already), even in the deep shade. With watering they will spread through their runners. They look like tiny rubies in the lawn and the gardening areas.
Elderberries grow easily and fast, creating lots of little black berries from these compound flowers.
Elderberries
I once had two plants - now I have sprouts as well. One plant is ten feet tall already. The other is shorter but already producing distinctive umbrella flowers that become a zillion little elderberries.
These are growing in semi-shade. I made sure they were watered in the late summer drought.
This may be a Southern delight, but I will pass on it.
Triple Crown Blackberries have no thorns and grow like weeds.
Blackberries - Unstoppable
I had to grow Blackberries, so I ordered Triple Crown several years ago. They are now on three sides of the house and thriving in the cracks in the driveway.
Pokeweeds produce Pokeflowers that yeild Pokeberries.
Pokeberries
Poke salad needs to be prepared correctly, because the plant and berries toxic to humans, but not to critters. I consider Pokeweed a free beneficial insect and birdfeeding station. Birds must love the berries, because the books say over 60 species eat them...and plant them where they rest. They surge from the ground in early spring and branch out to form flowers adored by beneficial insects. Next the berries arrive and birds enjoy them, air freighting them to favorite perches.
Pokeflowers are delicate, crawling with beneficial bugs.
The Pokeweed is a work of management genius. God creates an easy to grow berry (sun, shade, semi-shade - tolerant of all conditions, deep rooted, perennial) - the birds which love the berry spread the plant.
I have a triangle of favorite plants in the bird-feeding area. Two are Butterfly Bushes. One is Pokeweed. Soon I will have bees, butterflies, birds and squirrels using the plants as their habitat. I left one Butterfly Bush large enough to serve as the waiting room for the birds. Pokeweed and Butterfly Bush tolerate pruning.
If a Pokeweed is growing in the wrong place, I can remove it and let it drop its berries in the Wild Garden.
Gooseberries - only a mirage so far.
Gooseberries
I have one bush, which is spiney, as promised. They become fruitful as long as three years later. The plant has given me no trouble and no berries - as far as I can tell. See the sad tail (squirrel tail) of the Blueberries below.
The dream, but not the reality.
Blueberries
Almost Eden sold me Blueberry plants, which like acid soil, so I mulched a garden with pine needles (free! and plentiful!). Once they began to fruit, I saw one cane bend in the oddest way, then again. There was no wind, but I saw a fluffy squirrel tail marching away. Now I am content to dote on the canes and let the critters enjoy them.
Raspberries
I ordered some ever-bearing canes a few years ago. Don't. They have no taste. Get Heritage or another one known for flavor. All Raspberries will spread from the roots. They should be in one area by themselves or not planted at all.
Rose Fruit - Rugosa If You Want Big Hips
If you want big hips, search for old-fashioned roses, which are not known for the flowers but for their fruit.
Rugosa (for rag-like) Roses are old-fashioned, very hardy, extremely drought and shade tolerant. Rose Hips are the source of Vitamin C for many vitamin producers. They have a distinctive sour but pleasant taste.
Birds love them, too. I grew my only Rugosa from a little twig Direct Gardening sent me. Neglected and forgotten in the Wild Garden, it continues to grow. I have given it rainwater baths, but it started so small that it needs more time to produce.
Beautyberries Are Ornamental, Toxic, Loved by Birds in the Fall
I enjoy growing these Beautyberries, which seem to just sit there in the Fall, then they are eaten, a good reserve for the animals to enjoy.
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16 The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19 The Epistle and Gradual
The Preface p. 24 The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #50Lord Dismiss Us
Second Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who of Thy fatherly goodness hast been mindful of us poor, miserable sinners, and hast given Thy beloved Son to be our shepherd, not only to nourish us by His word, but also to defend us from sin, death, and the devil: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that, even as this Shepherd doth know us and succor us in every affliction, we also may know Him, and, trusting in Him, seek help and comfort in Him, from our hearts obey His voice, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV 1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himselfto him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. This text teaches us that the Savior is the ultimate shepherd, who guides and guards us. The Bible references sheep and shepherds over 500 times, perhaps the most important metaphors we have for our relationship with the Messiah. Some might say, "That is because raising sheep was so important in ancient times." And that is true, but it remains one of our favorites even though most people have never been on a sheep farm. A few have seen them at a petting zoo, where the large sheep are famous for stealing the little bottles of milk from the lambs. Some of the references are:
The spotless lamb featured at the Passover Meal, before the Exodux.
The blood of the lamb on doorposts, keeping the Angel of Death away.
Psalm 22 describing the sacrifice of Jesus.
The 23rd Psalm, told from the perspective of a sheep.
Ezekiel 34 and the false shepherds of yesterday and today.
I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, fulfilled. Zech 13:7.
Isaiah 53 - We like sheep have gone astray.
The Parable of Judgment, Matthew 25.
Jesus the Chief Shepherd. 1 Peter 2:25.
The Lamb in their midst, Revelation 7.
The shepherds in the fields, Luke 2.
They were like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36.
John's Gospel unites and explains all this in a few verses. As Luther preached in his first sermon on this text:
2. Now, you have often heard that God has given the world two different proclamations. One is that which is declared in the Word of God when it says: Thou shalt not kill, not commit adultery, not steal ( Exodus 20:13-15), and when it adds the threat that all who do not keep these commandments shall die. But this declaration will make no one godly at heart. For though it may compel a man outwardly to appear godly before men, inwardly it leaves the heart at enmity with the Law, and wishing that there were no such Law.
3. The other proclamation is that of the Gospel. It tells where one may obtain that which will meet the demands of the Law. It does not drive or threaten, but tenderly invites us. It does not say, Do this and do that, but rather: Come, I will show you where you may find and obtain what you need to make you godly. See, here is the Lord Jesus; he will give it to you.
For those who have sheep in action: their stubborn and self-destructive nature, their lack of common sense, their gluttony - we can easily identify with them. But Luther points out something else that is especially significant in this parable. Sheep know they are utterly helpless without their shepherd. Therefore, they listen for the voice of their shepherd, because he calls them by name, leads them to food and water, and guards them against all enemies.
The Good Shepherd
This is the most comforting titles of Christ, because it includes both aspects of his work. One is feeding and nurturing our souls, the other is protecting us against spiritual predators and all danger. In the original text, the meaning is really The Shepherd Above All Other Shepherds, or The Noble Shepherd - defined as the one who gave up His life for the sheep. This description means Jesus is far beyond any normal shepherd, because even the best shepherd will not sacrifice his life for the sheep, as Jesus did.
That is why Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and why He invites and comforts us, instead of commanding and condemning us.
Turning the Gospel into Law, Jesus into Moses
I teach Old Testament all the time, and the students constantly remind me of the effort to turn Jesus into Moses. "We have to be obedient, or God will not bless us." So many statements are based on the Law and condemnation. Rather than citing Luther, who makes this so plain, I quote Jesus and point out that the foundational sin is unbelief (John 16:8), and we are to teach faith in the Gospel of Jesus rather than condemnation. "The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they believe not on Me."
I also use Pilgrim's Progress to show images of the Law, such as sweeping a dirt floor to raise up clouds of choking dust. Or the figure of the Law who knocks down poor Pilgrim every time he gets up. "Have mercy," Pilgrim says. "I show no mercy, I am the Law."
Jesus can be taught in such a way that everyone is condemned or frightened into obeying a bunch of man-made commandments.
12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. This lesson is clearly one of warning, because the hired hands are condemned for their lack of concern for the sheep. The wolves are far worse than the hired hands, because they murder and scatter the sheep. Ezekiel 34
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
8 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
Luther - Tend the Weak 11. Here you see that Christ’s kingdom is to be concerned about the weak, the sick, the broken, that he may help them. That is, indeed, a comforting declaration. The only trouble is that we do not realize our needs and infirmities. If we realized them, we would soon flee to him. But how did those shepherds act? They ruled with rigor, and applied God’s Law with great severity; and, moreover, they added their own commandments, as they still do, and when these were not fulfilled, they raved and condemned, so that they were driving and driving and exhorting and exacting, continually. That is no proper way to tend and keep souls, says Christ. He is no such shepherd as that; for no one is benefited, but is rather wholly undone, by such a course, as we shall presently hear. Now let us consider this citation from the prophet in its order. I have noticed great admiration for those who dictate to their congregations. One General Motors veteran said to me years ago, "They love the A+ personalities. No one can stop them. They run over everyone, like steamrollers. But look where it got GM. We are selling off our test track to raise cash." That happens repeatedly in the congregations run by media starts. No one can touch them until the police, lawyers, and IRS show up.
Luther described this well, 500 years ago. Certain pastors want to identify with the wealthy and powerful, so they curry favor with them. That way they can imagine that they too have all this opulence. In the meantime, they neglect the needy - the sick and shut-in, the people longing to hear the Gospel while the rich man's pastor is absolving the unrepentant.
This is done in a subtle way too, when the content of the Gospel is abandoned for the sake of peace, often fueled by the persecution of the synodical leaders, who rule by fear. No touchy subject is treated, because of the fear that someone will run to a synodical authority and cause a big fuss. Luther commented that wolves love fattened sheep, but they do not like the growl of the sheepdog.
I subscribe to the theory that the real cause of the Reformation was not so much the preaching of the Gospel itself, but Luther saying, "If that is the Gospel, then Rome is completely wrong and the pope is a ravening wolf."
Even now, on the most basic level the current pope is aligning with Islam, a process started 30 years ago with the concept of all world religions owing something to Rome.
The group that day included rabbis wearing yarmulkes and Sikhs in turbans, Muslims praying on thick carpets and a Zoroastrian kindling a sacred fire. Robert Runcie, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, exchanged pleasantries with the Dalai Lama. Orthodox bishops chatted with Alan Boesak, the South African anti-apartheid activist and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
The very attitude of ignoring the wolves while teaching a false peace is part of the hired hand attitude. The wolves are those who know very well what they are doing and delight in murdering and scattering for their own benefit. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. One of the best things the denominations have done for themselves is to create an assumption of relative security and comfort - as long as the pastors are obedient to the denomination. Great efforts are made to please the denominational leaders and agree with their shifting opinions. Thus, the hired hands must also join in shunning the pastors who warn about the wolves. So we can see how so many Lutherans have cast aside the Gospel in order to please some of their peers and to receive rewards from the wolves controlling their synod. It only takes a few in the right places to impose this reign of error upon almost everyone. These leaders overlook all manner of crime and false doctrine, but go on full alert against false doctrine and pleas for reform. Errors are hidden in ambiguities. Everyone is allowed to believe their own version, which can be taken two ways - or three. In God's Word, there are two choices, the wrong one and the right one. No ambiguity. No fuzziness. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. This is an important turn in the lesson. The Good Shepherd knows the weaknesses of His sheep, but He leads and strengthens them. He feeds them with the Gospel. All the Law in the world will not improve one's behavior or character. The Gospel bears fruit and those who rely on Christ cannot help bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Leaders used to recognize this. They urged pastors to feed the members with the Gospel, not rail at them. Already at Mordor I heard a student sermon where the young fanatic blamed the members of the congregation for not growing "because a survey shows that a congregation grows only because of its members. It is your fault." I knew that was straight outta Fuller Seminary and taught in those scared - I mean sacred - confines of Mequon. When religious leaders no longer trust the Word to do God's work, they search for clever answers and pound those issues to death. Those who trust in Jesus as the Savior will not be moved by wolves and hired hands. I told the Mormon missionaries, "I know your doctrine, and you do not know mine." They said, "We are not trying to..." I said "Put your little whiteboard away. I know about multiple gods and all that." They wanted to convert me. Next door a neighbor became a Lutheran (left her cult) simply from our services. We seem to be ahead of the Mormons on this block, though that does not matter. Weak training has led to people swarming to the cults and quasi-cults. One Augustana leader wrote such a powerful booklet on Mormonism that their missionaries routinely stopped in to steal the book from the college library. Opposition is a true vote of confidence by false teachers. They know what hurts their cause, so they urge their blind followers to avoid the truth and shun those who teach the truth. Opposition is the highest recommendation, then, from false teachers and their disciples within a group. It is meant to intimidate, but it should encourage the targets who feel the hatred and loathing, which is really a cover-up for fear. Gorillas scream and pound their chests when afraid. Every bully has a gorilla inside, trying to get out. The faith relationship with Jesus is a circle in a circle in a circle. We are in Him and He is in us, just as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. That is a powerful relationship, which can survive poverty, exile, imprisonment, persecution, and death. For instance, Luther regarded martyrdom as merely one more aspect of being a Christian. He accepted it as his fate, since all of Europe seemed against him at the time. Yet out of that opposition came the Reformation. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. We are those sheep, the descendants of pagans in Europe and other places. The Gospel Word gathered believers out of all the tribes of the world, and conversions (and persecutions) hit Africa with great force. The conclusion should be - we need to get the Word broadcast in as many ways as possible, measuring the cause and not the effect. The effect belongs to God, and He is the cause, but we can leverage the cause by spreading the Word more. When rain threatened us with flooding, I broadcast:
5,000 Buckwheat seeds.
Crimson clover seeds.
Butterfly weed seeds (for Monarchs).
And planted:
Butterfly weed root.
Roses.
I cannot claim anything for the seeds, the roses, and the rain, but I definitely want the effect of rain on seeds and plants.
Paul said,
1 Corinthians 3:6-8King James Version (KJV)
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
