Greek Class - John 5:24-47. John the Baptist - A Burning and Shining Light. 7 PM Central Daylight, Thursday. Storm Warnings

 For now I will be marking in red
those Greek words with English derivatives.

Video for this class.

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 5:24-471550 Stephanus New Testament (TR1550)

24 αμην αμην λεγω υμιν - οτι ο τον λογον μου ακουων και πιστευων τω πεμψαντι με εχει ζωην αιωνιον και εις κρισιν ουκ ερχεται αλλα μεταβεβηκεν εκ του θανατου εις την ζωην

25 αμην αμην λεγω υμιν - οτι ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι νεκροι ακουσονται της φωνης του υιου του θεου και οι ακουσαντες ζησονται

26 ωσπερ γαρ ο πατηρ εχει ζωην εν εαυτω ουτως εδωκεν και τω υιω ζωην εχειν εν εαυτω

27 και εξουσιαν εδωκεν αυτω και κρισιν ποιειν οτι υιος ανθρωπου εστιν

28 μη θαυμαζετε τουτο οτι ερχεται ωρα εν η παντες οι εν τοις μνημειοις ακουσονται της φωνης αυτου

29 και εκπορευσονται οι τα αγαθα ποιησαντες εις αναστασιν ζωης οι δε τα φαυλα πραξαντες εις αναστασιν κρισεως

30 ου δυναμαι εγω ποιειν απ εμαυτου ουδεν καθως ακουω κρινω και η κρισις η εμη δικαια εστιν, οτι ου ζητω το θελημα το εμον αλλα το θελημα του πεμψαντος με πατρος

31 εαν εγω μαρτυρω περι εμαυτου η μαρτυρια μου ουκ εστιν αληθης

32 αλλος εστιν ο μαρτυρων περι εμου και οιδα - οτι αληθης εστιν η μαρτυρια ην μαρτυρει περι εμου

33 υμεις απεσταλκατε προς ιωαννην και μεμαρτυρηκεν τη αληθεια

34 εγω δε ου παρα ανθρωπου την μαρτυριαν λαμβανω αλλα ταυτα λεγω ινα υμεις σωθητε

35 εκεινος ην ο λυχνος ο καιομενος και φαινων υμεις δε ηθελησατε αγαλλιασθηναι προς ωραν εν τω φωτι αυτου

http://biblehub.com/greek/21.htm - rejoice accompanies....

36 εγω δε εχω την μαρτυριαν μειζω του ιωαννου τα γαρ εργα α εδωκεν μοι ο πατηρ ινα τελειωσω αυτα: αυτα τα εργα α εγω ποιω μαρτυρει περι εμου οτι ο πατηρ με απεσταλκεν

37 και ο πεμψας με πατηρ αυτος μεμαρτυρηκεν περι εμου; ουτε φωνην αυτου ακηκοατε πωποτε ουτε ειδος αυτου εωρακατε

38 και τον λογον αυτου ουκ εχετε μενοντα εν υμιν, οτι ον απεστειλεν εκεινος τουτω υμεις ου πιστευετε

39 ερευνατε τας γραφας, οτι υμεις δοκειτε εν αυταις ζωην αιωνιον εχειν και εκειναι εισιν αι μαρτυρουσαι περι εμου

40 και ου θελετε ελθειν προς με ινα ζωην εχητε

41 δοξαν παρα ανθρωπων ου λαμβανω

42 αλλ εγνωκα υμας οτι την αγαπην του θεου ουκ εχετε εν εαυτοις

43 εγω εληλυθα εν τω ονοματι του πατρος μου, και ου λαμβανετε με.  εαν αλλος ελθη εν τω ονοματι τω ιδιω εκεινον ληψεσθε

44 πως δυνασθε υμεις πιστευσαι - δοξαν παρα αλληλων λαμβανοντες - και την δοξαν την παρα του μονου θεου ου ζητειτε

45 μη δοκειτε οτι εγω κατηγορησω υμων προς τον πατερα; εστιν ο κατηγορων υμων μωσης εις ον υμεις ηλπικατε

46 ει γαρ επιστευετε μωση, επιστευετε αν εμοι - περι γαρ εμου εκεινος εγραψεν

47 ει δε τοις εκεινου γραμμασιν ου πιστευετε, πως τοις εμοις ρημασιν πιστευσετε

http://biblehub.com/greek/4487.htm

Potato Roses - How To Video

Some peel the potatoes first.

If the potatoes grow a bit, they are not going to hurt the roses.

***

GJ - I have not done this yet, except by accident. Long ago I pruned some roses and left the canes on the ground, in a pile. We had plenty of rain, and all the canes rooted simply from lying on the ground.

Many bushes have this power, to root from the freshly cut stems, so the videos above take advantage of God's engineering of the rose.

This is why every Peace rose comes from the original. The commercial rose growers use a-sexual reproduction but they also graft the showy rose onto a wild rose base. After a tough winter, sometimes only the wild rose base will grow and bloom.

Note - multiplying roses on your own is legal, but selling them is not. The commercial rose growers invest a lot of labor in developing, grafting, and marketing roses, in raising them for two years, in storing them in the cold, and shipping them out.

That is also why so many bargains are available late in the planting season (April-May). That massive investment goes on clearance, and lots of great roses can be bought for little more than the cost of a little potted tomato at Walmart. Some of the larger tomato plants are $6 a pot, and bare root roses from Weeks via Springhill were $6 this year.

Large gardening centers will also put their potted roses on sale late in the season. But avoid getting KnockOut roses. They look great for a few years, if pruned, then die. KnockOuts are inherently weak.

 Giving you the skeptical gimlet eye.

Warning! Warning! Watch YouTube Gardening Videos with a Gimlet Eye.
I look over a lot of YouTube gardening videos, and many of them appall me. One gardener showed off his big stand of rye, which he raised as a cover crop. "Now I am going to rototill it into the soil." That proves he does not comprehend the nature of soil, how God's creatures fashion soil from their unique and overlapping skills.

Another video shows a gang of people heaving logs, soil, leaves, and more - to form some kind of compost pile. If you need a posse to garden, you have the wrong hobby.

Yet another has the gardener gathering all kinds of organic material, shredding it himself, and then heating it to get rid of bacteria (!) and other organisms (?). These videos prove that God's engineering will overcome man's foolishness, as long as the measures are not mounted on a massive scale, where the soil is destroyed.

Creation Gardening will save people time and trouble,
while teaching the connection between Creation
and our favorite hobby.

Gardening Is Not Laborious
Gardening requires a certain amount of work each day, but that does not mean hauling and digging enormous amounts of materials to have a good result.

• If sod makes the best compost, why not compost on the spot by covering the lawn with opaque, organics - like cardboard and wood mulch?
• If leaves contribute carbon to the soil and shelter beneficial bugs over the winter, why not leave them on the garden and add more from the neighbors who do not read about Creation and bugs?
• If the soil benefits by leaving it in place, because of fungus and other organisms, why toss, flip, and eviscerate what improves the foundation for all plants?

 Put down that rototiller and
pick up a book on Creation gardening.

BBC - Earth - Plants talk to each other using an internet of fungus. Everyone Should Read This Popular Treatment

 This is the heavy duty version.

BBC - Earth - Plants talk to each other using an internet of fungus:



"No, we're not talking about the internet, we're talking about fungi. While mushrooms might be the most familiar part of a fungus, most of their bodies are made up of a mass of thin threads, known as a mycelium. We now know that these threads act as a kind of underground internet, linking the roots of different plants. That tree in your garden is probably hooked up to a bush several metres away, thanks to mycelia.
The more we learn about these underground networks, the more our ideas about plants have to change. They aren't just sitting there quietly growing. By linking to the fungal network they can help out their neighbours by sharing nutrients and information – or sabotage unwelcome plants by spreading toxic chemicals through the network. This "wood wide web", it turns out, even has its own version of cybercrime.

Around 90% of land plants are in mutually-beneficial relationships with fungi. The 19th-century German biologist Albert Bernard Frank coined the word "mycorrhiza" to describe these partnerships, in which the fungus colonises the roots of the plant.

Fungi have been called 'Earth's natural internet'

In mycorrhizal associations, plants provide fungi with food in the form of carbohydrates. In exchange, the fungi help the plants suck up water, and provide nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, via their mycelia. Since the 1960s, it has been clear that mycorrhizae help individual plants to grow.

Fungal networks also boost their host plants' immune systems. That's because, when a fungus colonises the roots of a plant, it triggers the production of defense-related chemicals. These make later immune system responses quicker and more efficient, a phenomenon called "priming". Simply plugging in to mycelial networks makes plants more resistant to disease.

But that's not all. We now know that mycorrhizae also connect plants that may be widely separated. Fungus expert Paul Stamets called them "Earth's natural internet" in a 2008 TED talk. He first had the idea in the 1970s when he was studying fungi using an electron microscope. Stamets noticed similarities between mycelia and ARPANET, the US Department of Defense's early version of the internet.

Film fans might be reminded of James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster Avatar. On the forest moon where the movie takes place, all the organisms are connected. They can communicate and collectively manage resources, thanks to "some kind of electrochemical communication between the roots of trees". Back in the real world, it seems there is some truth to this."



'via Blog this'

For the Birds - Their Habits Are Habit-Forming

People wonder about the stumps in my front and back yards.  I just dug two more in the back. They are simply a luxury I installed for the birds.

Bugs and worms will thrive under them, as the soil fungus begins its attack of the bottom of the stump.

The main attraction is the watch-tower they provide for bug-hunting. I see birds using the stumps all day long, always leaving their marks. The stumps are also handy for filling rose vases.

Birds also love to perch in safe places. In the bird-feeding area, I pour rainwater on three living perches. Two are Butterfly Bushes. One is a Pokeweed. Bushes are also landing zones for insects, so they feeders as well. The bushes provide shade for us, since they are between our house and the baking, setting sun.

 Norma Boeckler's Bluebird

Sunset provides a lively animation each evening. The shadows of birds on their swing play upon the wall behind my computer. I constructed two swings for two windows where feeders are hanging. Each swing consists of a six feet of metal rod hanging from small chains on each end.

Birds move from the bushes to the feeders to the swing - all day long. They are noisy eaters, chattering happily about their food, so they attract other birds. Rosecrested Grosbeaks joined the happy throng recently:

1. Grackles
2. Cardinals
3. Starlings
4. Common Finches
5. Goldfinches
6. Chickadees
7. Mourning Doves
8. Woodpeckers

Food, Shelter, and Water

Most of the food we provide is natural, from the mulched areas to the various plants and stumps that host insects or grubs.

The shelter comes from various bushes, trees, and vines. One bird nests in the vines hanging on our porch. The vines cover half of the picture window in front - our self-cleaning, redneck curtain.

I keep a lot of baths full of fresh water. In fact, I moved one away from the house and among the other baths. As soon as I filled it, a robin landed on the edge and began its bath, watching me warily.

God made birds to be extremely careful of anything new. If they were as sociable as puppies, there would be no birds left. 

Those who first begin to feed birds are disappointed about the deserted food. Birds may wait several weeks before they eat from a new source. Their habits also work in our favor. Once trust is established, birds carry out their daily tasks a few feet away from us. 

Most of God's Creation is hidden from us, partly by our failure to notice, but also by protective cover. As often mentioned before, no one realized the enormous influence of fungus until recently. 

I understand that some examples of fungus are thousands of acres in size, so we cannot claim they are too tiny to see. We are likely to watch 200 movies on eagles before we see a single one about the majesty, size, and power of fungus.

Fungus has probably cured one of your infections and given you a longer life. 

Many parts of God's Creation are like angels, unseen and yet at work to help us. We used to warn Little Ichabod, "You are wearing out your guardian angels. Safety first."

Creation Gardening - Various Arguments against Some Accepted Practices

Blackberries are blooming where I once only had weeds.
One weed is left - the others have fled.

I have been watching natural gardening and farming videos lately, but the best insights come from Gabe Brown. He has a combination of experience and scientific data to confirm his practices. When I walk around the neighborhood with Sassy, I see examples of various agricultural felonies.

 I have a much larger tree stump collection now,
and I bring home rotten wood from our morning walks.
Logs and stumps promote birds, bugs, and toads.

Bare Soil
Gabe Brown calls crop residue, cover crops, and mulch "soil armor," a good term. When the soil is bare, as it often is among gardeners, the surface heats up to 150 degrees in the summer. That destroys life in the soil while drying up the earth and the plant.

Wide-row planting and French intensive gardening (similar approaches) both use the concept of plants as living mulch.

Bug-Huggers Are Smart Gardeners and Farmers
Call me lazy, but I would rather attract pest eaters than try to kill pests with various poisons. Many of my plants are scattered around the front and back yards to host beneficial insects - and spiders.

• Daisies 
• The Clumping Mints - Mountain, Cat, Monarda
• Spirea
• Chaste Tree
• Clethra
• Cone Flowers
• Sunflowers
• Dandelions and other deplorables 

Crops Enrich the Soil
Those of us who have changed neglected areas into productive gardens have learned that plants enrich the soil. Brown states that 75% of the organic matter in soil comes from roots.

Root systems are unseen and therefore unheralded. They grow down to fantastic depths, often following worm tunnels, and change the soil by this action, but also by shedding organic matter all the time. The most astonishing work of roots is to set up fungal networks for sharing nutrition and water among many different plants.

The plants' shedding leaves (not to mention dead insects) will also benefit the soil. A bad weed can be tossed into the compost area or left in the deep shade of bushes to become compost. Leaves are the best way to improve soil for free - adding carbon and various nutrients from the soil and sun.

Depleting the Soil with Neatness
Many gardening and farming habits deplete the soil. With good intentions:

1. Plant residue is gathered up. 
2. Leaves are raked away. 
3. Soil is tossed and turned, as if the best thing would be to destroy the fungal networks repeatedly.

These are a few of the roses harvested for our chiropractor
last year - no chemical fertilizer, no toxins.

Water Infiltration Is a Major Issue

If the soil repels rain and snowmelt, the result is muddy flooding. A big rain is not only wasted, but the best soil is eroded away.

Creation methods open up the soil to let rain and snowmelt soak in, and also to hold the topsoil during 12 inch rains, which do happen. Therefore, soil armor prevents droughts and floods.

The Soggy Mess Is Blooming
Confession - this spring our front yard was a brown soggy mess of wet mulch, tree stumps, and the thorny silhouettes of roses. Lawns were green from excess rain. We only had sprigs of weeds popping up.

But now - drum roll - the older roses are all starting to bloom. Four orange Easy Does It roses are packed with color. They show up a block away, as I look back from Almost Eden. I cut a Veteran's Honor rose for one neighbor and Easy Does It for the altar and another neighbor. Yellow, pink, white, and red roses add to the display daily.

 How many bugs live the in the Crepe Myrtle?
The Cardinals nesting there enjoy the bugs and later the seeds
from the bush.

More details emerge in Northwest Arkansas kickback indictment | NWADG

 Randell Shelton Jr. and his attorney Shelly Koehler of Fayetteville walk into the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building in Fayetteville for his original indictment March 28.

More details emerge in Northwest Arkansas kickback indictment | NWADG:



"Paris paid Shelton's consulting company $267,000 out of college money from 2013 to 2015 without notifying his college's board until October 2015, according to the indictment. Shelton is described in court documents as a mutual friend of Paris and Woods.

The case still rests on the same set of facts, and the change in the number of charges doesn't add any risk to the defendants because of federal sentencing guidelines, said attorney Shelly Koehler of Fayetteville. Koehler represents Shelton. Attorneys for Woods and Paris did not answer requests for comment Wednesday."

 Did Paris forward all those funds to Shelton without the knowledge of the college's CPA?
Certainly someone knew about that much
money being sent.

'via Blog this'

Why Would Anyone Shun Christian News ? Herman Otten Asks Disingenuously

 Herman Otten is consistent - he bans all Lutheran books.
The only Lutheran articles in CN are from the late R. Surburg.

Why Do The Organized Conservatives Shun Christian News? 
Christian News, March 3, 2014. Reprinted May 8, 2017.

This week’s lead story on the 40th Anniversary of Seminex lists some of the articles which appeared in Christian News during the months in 1974 as Seminex was being formed. Many of the articles were reproductions of newspapers reports which appeared in St. Louis and elsewhere throughout the nation about Seminex. CN’s own reports explained the theological issues involved which the secular press often missed. The AP insisted it was a struggle between power and scholarship. The conservatives were supposed to have the “power” and the liberals the “scholarship.” CN showed that the confessional Lutheran minority had the real scriptural scholarship on their side.

No, you cannot fool us with a graphic.
They are all on the same UOJ team.
Bucky's photo is older than Christian News.

Today at least some of those who sided with Seminex such as Dr. Charles Mueller, Sr., Dr. Arthur Carl Piepkorn, and Rev. Richard Neuhaus are considered orthodox and held in high esteem while, according to the LCMS bureaucracy, the editor of CN is an impenitent sinner on the road to hell, banned from preaching in any LCMS church, communing in the LCMS and banned from pastoral conferences. The LCMS’s organized conservatives have remained silent about this “excommunication.” He is a “Journalistic Wolf” out for blood as the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau already said years ago.

SP Matt Harrison was once a seminary student.Two phony doctorates in one synod -
Kintz bought a drive-by online doctorate in education,
in little more time than it takes to earn a real MA,
but he was working full-time at CPH. Astonishing!
Harrison dropped out of the seminary doctoral program,
but won an honorary for his electioneering
and winning the SP prize.
An honorary doctorate is worth one mass,
or in this case, one banjo ballad sung to Herman Otten.

“Noland Doesn’t Mention CN as a Resource for Learning About Seminex” was the title of a discussion of Seminex on the Steadfast Lutheran blog sent to Christian News by David Becker.

It simply is not politically correct for anyone who wants to be in favor with the LCMS’s Harrison administration and the LCMS’s high salaried ($186,000 a year) “unelected ruler,” Paul McCain, to quote Christian News or report what the CN editor has been saying in various publications beginning with the 1950s. With the exception of the Confessional Lutheran edited by Paul Burgdorf, and its supporters, theologians like Theodore Dierks, Harold Romoser, Arthur Drevlow, Fred Bartling, etc. most conservatives remained silent. The LCMS’s administration despised the Confessional Lutheran and few conservatives wanted to be out of favor with the LCMS administration and the district presidents.

 Buy your Reformation 500 shot-glass and other trinkets from CPH.
They refused to print Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant,
because the author (moi) published in CN.

Today most of those who want to be in favor with the Schwan supported Harrison administration act as if what the editor has written since the 1950’s about those who formed Seminex does not exist. Seldom are the 1961 and 1962 State of the Church Book of Documentations, which CN compiled before it began in 1962, the News and Views four part series on “What Is Troubling the Lutherans?” published by the Church League of America and written by Herman Otten with suggestions from a few others, including Kurt Marquart, A Christian Handbook on Vital Issues, the Five Volume Christian News Encyclopedia, Crisis in Christendom- Seminex Ablaze ever mentioned. There is no more complete source of information about Seminex than what appeared in Christian News week after week all during the years Seminex was much in the news. Hundreds of articles in CN were photographically reproduced from a large variety of sources, left, center, right.

Did Otten mention his free review copy of Creation Gardening? 

“A Sharp Difference-ON EVALUATING Christian News” on p. 13 of the December 10, 2012 CN shows the sharp difference of opinion in the LCMS about CN. The founder of the Steadfast Lutheran, who is close to the LCMS president, urged CN to close up shop after Harrison used CN to get about twice as many nominations for LCMS president than incumbent Jerry Kieschnick. Since then Harrison has refused to speak or meet with CN.

Did Otten mention his free review copy
of The Lost Dutchman's Goldmine?
Did the book's emphasis on Justification by Faith
annoy and appall him?
He has no trouble promoting Roman Catholic, Babtist, and Calvinistic books.

Noland claims that the best source of information about Seminex is Affirm, which he says is still in existence. CN helped Affirm when it began, often published its address and reprinted articles from Affirm. Now Affirm claims to publish everything conservatives need to know about the LCMS. Just compare what Affirm published with what CN published. Most of the issues of CN are now available on line. Check the index in the last issue of each year of CN since it began in 1962 with the indexes or content of Affirm. Affirm began when it was considered safe in the LCMS to challenge the liberals in public. CN gave Affirm its mailing list at its request to help Affirm reach laymen who could finance Affirm. CN did this without charge. Affirm said it would give CN it’s mailing list once it had one. Affirm never kept its promise. Affirm said it would not name names as CN was doing and would then “come up smelling like a rose” when compared to Christian News. When a founding editor of Affirm resigned because of a divorce, he sent CN some articles to publish. Dr. Tom Baker...

Paul McCain and Otten worked together to elect Al Barry,
both heatedly denying their collusion, but bragging about it
separately to me. They are both in the bag with UOJ

***

Otten is a true ecumenist -
he loves every doctrine except Luther's.

GJ - Otten treats the duplicitous and hypocritical synod politicians as his equals, as he should. He has spent 50 years getting them into office, including Jack Preus, Ralph Bohlmann, Kieschnick, McCain and Harrison.

UOJists like Otten, McCain, and Heiser+ (a recent convert to the Chief Article) ban every book and author that unhinges them, but they show an impressive breadth of interest in every false dogma that tickles their short attention spans.

In contrast, I promote all the books that might interest readers and try to find free or inexpensive copies for our ever-growing audience. For example, even though the ELDONA priests got their chasubles in a knot and spent their last conference denouncing me and hiding my books from view, I still promote Rydecki's translations.

He had to be the top dog, the only dog,
the synod president, the seminary president, the magazine editor,
the dogmatics text editor, and the censor who decided who
would succeed him in his role as SP/Sem Prez/dogmatics monopolist: F. Pieper.

More Silliness This Year at Emmaus, Where Lutheran Eyes Are Closed to Justification by Faith

 Supper at Emmaus - by M. Caravaggio
Luke 24:30 - 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

The Tenth Annual Emmaus Conference

December 20, 2016

The 10th Annual Emmaus Conference is Friday, April 28th, 2017, with a banquet the evening prior on Thursday, April 27th. The topic for the 2017 Emmaus Conference will be: “The Unsuspecting American Luthers”. The backgrounds, challenges, and impact of several Lutheran theologians in the 20^th Century will be explored and discussed.

• C. F. W. Walther, by the Rev. Dr. Fifth VP Daniel Preus
• A. Hoenecke, by the Rev. Dr. Prof. Spineless John Brenner
• U. V. Koren, by the Rev. Prof. Markos DeGarmeaux

Wherever two or three LCMS leaders are gathered together, CFW Walther worship begins. This Emmaus debacle was held in late April, but the papers are not posted yet. In this day of instant publishing, the papers could have been linked on the website. I recall Mirthless Mark Schroeder did not want his shared, years ago, not that he said anything worth publishing. Here is the non-archive archive.

The May 8th Christian News must be the archive, because they posted some promotional bits and photos about the event...afterwards. Oh dear, I missed the conference altogether. David Becker found the event disappointing, albeit without being there. Compared to WELS Luther Days, where Jay Webber spoke to one (1) person - and Natalie Pratt disappeared with the money - Emmaus 2017 was probably a smash hit.

We all know that Preus descendants are the Agent Orange of Justification by Faith. Whenever they suspect that Luther's doctrine is being taught somewhere, they spray their toxic dogma from Halle Rationalists all over, until nothing is left living: no faith, no Gospel, no fruits of the Gospel.

Does anyone wonder why the ELS is almost gone and WELS is corrupt beyond measure? To those who are kicked out of WELS, I always say, "Good for you. They did you a great favor." Alcoholism and adultery are not problems among WELS clergy and teachers - they are resume enhancers, if someone has the right friends and the wrong doctrine.

The strength of the LCMS is its mix of Pentecostal, ELCA wannabees, Walther worshipers, and Lutherans. The Missouri Synod is such a rainbow coalition that the bureaucrats do not have the power or urge to crack down on the Chief Article of the Christian Faith. Anyway, they have Otten to do their work for them. And Logorrhea - and their Fuller/Rome seminaries.

 You were born forgiven kids,
now don't ask any probing questions about this.

How bad is WELS? At Mordor Seminary in Mequon, Wendland is the salesman-in-charge of the New NIV. Valleskey was the previous president, based on years of gushing about Church Growth and studying at Fuller with his pal Bivens (also on the faculty). When I was there in 1987, I did not hear Church Growth promoted in the classroom. But once everyone was "finished," they were also required to attend the post MDiv training, which was all Church Growth. Besides that, when I accepted the call to Shepherd of Peace in Columbus, Ohio, the congregation had me attend Paul Kelm's Church Growth "evangelism seminar," which lasted a week. That event was stocked with such CG kahunas as Valleskey, Hartman, Kelm, Larry Olson, and such like.

The message was clear 30 years ago - the only people who understood evangelism were from Fuller Seminary, although seminarians could also attend the Billy Graham evangelism events. The poster in President Panning's office said, "See Paul Kelm for more information."

Need I say this? - WELS is more fanatical about UOJ than any other sect. Just as the Babtists have dogma that can be taught in five minutes, WELS has their "everyone is forgiven and saved," now make a decision for UOJ. Nothing really matters after that is confessed, and WELS has nothing to talk about in Christian doctrine, except to steal the precious gems, gold, and silver from the Egyptians (as Valleskey gushed) - Fuller, Willowcreek, and the Calvinists.

Thirty years ago, Tim Buelow ('87) said to me, "All the books in your library are Lutheran. All our required reading was Reformed." And yet, WELS brain-washed pastors are quick to say, "Lenski is not good about justification." That really means, "From what I have heard, because I never study, Lenski teaches faith in Christ and opposes our precious UOJ."

Fun fact - When I gave Christian News the Corky paper to reprint, Buelow phoned me to scream at me for doing it. That is how WELS works - a friend is designated to do the hit - just like the Mafia. Of course, the WELS leaders do not mind killing the hitman later, just in case he talks.

The ELS is totally owned by WELS, which is why it previously prospered under the shadow of the LCMS and is dying faster than zoot suits. The ELS leaders actually  stood up to Missouri, in print no less, long ago. Today, Pope John the Malefactor is a WELS mouthpiece.

Pope John and Mirthless Mark are promoters of Mark Jeske's Church and Changers, a merry band of alcoholic false teachers, who will always be pulled out of their drunken messes by the synodical officials. What earns a security firing in secular life - being walked out of the building with personal belongings in a cardboard box - is reason to promote a pastor as the speaker at the national teachers' conference.

Does anyone notice that WELS-ELCA Pastor Mark Jeske has a conflict of interest sitting on the Thrivent board, earning a ton of money, and voting on giving Thrivent money to his projects? No, not at all. That is how the synods work. The leaders are like harpies, as Luther noting, using their claws to scrape money out of everyone's pockets - "for the Lord."

If anyone has a copy of the Emmaus 2017 conference papers, send them to me. No questions will be asked. No identities will be revealed. All fingerprints will be carefully removed. Thanks in advance. That will help my future essay on Two Felons and a Christian Leader: Stephan, Walther, and Loehe.

Stop the Flooding with Cover Crops. Stop the Droughts with Cover Crops

 Pocahontas, 2011. Floods are getting worse, for a reason.

Starting in the upper Midwest, the solution for excess snowmelt and rain has been drainage tile for the fields and levies for the towns. That is the reason for increasing floods from the same amount of rain.

Perhaps we cannot end all flooding, but we can certainly stop making them worse. The best soil is also washed away from flooding, so the waste and damage easily adds up to billions of dollars.

Cover crops that follow or precede cash crops not only eliminate drought, but also decrease run-off. When the soil is deadened from excess plowing and the use of toxins, the snowmelt and rain do not penetrate deeply.

Note that at 1 hour Gabe shows his water infiltration rate, which is very rapid, 
due to cover crops and no plowing.

This video is worth careful study, because it goes against all the 

"modern methods" that destroy the soil.

If anyone wants confirmation of this, look at the sidewalk in front of the house. Rain runs off the lawn and deposits the best, finest soil particles on the sidewalk, where weeds take root and grow. When yards have bare spots, the sidewalk soil is deeper and the weeds even more robust.

Cover crops push deep into the sub-soil and let water penetrate, which forestalls drought and flooding. The rain should be saved in the soil, not drained downstream floods.

Some will object and say, "But I cover the soil with thick, green grass. That is my cover crop at home." But those gardeners - more or less lawners - tend to pull or kill every Dandelion and Dutch White Clover plant, not to mention those wildflowers often loathed for interrupting the monotony of thick, green grass.

Those who use chemical fertilizers to add green-grass-producing nitrogen must water their grass even more, which is a double waste. Here is the joke - clover is one of the best providers of usable nitrogen while attracting and harboring beneficial insects. People kill the source of free nitrogen and wonderful beneficial bugs so they can pay for nitrogen and insecticides.

So what I am expanding is this - cover cropping the mulch. All my gardens are mulched, either with shredded cyprus or pine needles. I can grow low-growing Buckwheat among the roses, in the bird feeding area, and the Hosta garden.

Cover crops stop flooding and drought by keeping water in the soil, in the plants, where it belongs. That is God's Creation versus man's so-called ingenuity.

Flooding in Arkansas 2015.

An Interview with George Neumayr, Author of The Political Pope - OnePeterFive

 Pope Francis, Society of Jesus,
demonstrates that the Holy Spirit blows where It will.

An Interview with George Neumayr, Author of The Political Pope - OnePeterFive:



"Maike Hickson: What inspired you to write a book on Pope Francis?

George Neumayr: From the first moment I saw him, I knew that he was going to be a Modernist wrecking ball, and he struck me from the beginning as the prototypical “progressive” Jesuit. I knew it was an extremely bad sign that the Church would name the first Jesuit pope at the very moment the Jesuit Order was in its most corrupt and heterodox condition. I knew it was going to be a distressingly historic pontificate, and from the first moment of Francis’ papacy I began thinking that his pontificate would be a good subject for a book. As it unfolded, it became clearer and clearer that someone need to chronicle this consequentially chaotic pontificate."

 Paul McCain loved this painting so much
that he put a version of it on his plagiarized blog.
One read created this enhancement.
That is St. Mary breast-feeding
a favorite saint.

'via Blog this'

***
GJ - I two definite warning signs about Pope Francis:

1. He is a Jesuit.
2. The media loves him.

Jubilate - The Third Sunday after Easter, 2017. John 16:16-24. Seven-fold "A Little Whiile"

Jubilate, The Third Sunday after Easter, 2017

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10AM Central Daylight Time

Note - the hymn lyrics are linked on the hymn number, the tune linked on the hymn's name. 

The Hymn #  536                            Awake My Soul 

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 Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 518    If Thou But Suffer God To Guide Thee

A Little While - Jesus' Sermon of Comfort

The Communion Hymn #313         O Lord We Praise Thee

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 #231                               We Now Implore                     

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Lord God, heavenly Father, who of Thy fatherly goodness dost suffer Thy children to come under Thy chastening rod here on earth, that we may be like unto Thine only-begotten Son in suffering and hereafter in glory: We beseech Thee, comfort us in temptations and afflictions by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not fall into despair, but that we may continually trust in Thy Son's promise, that our trials will endure but a little while, and will then be followed by eternal joy; that we thus, in patient hope, may overcome all evil, and at last obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

KJV John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Luther’s Sermon on the Gospel Lesson

Luther’s Second Sermon on the Gospel Lesson

Jesus' Sermon about Patience

KJV John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.


Lenski: 10. The Little While of Sorrow, 16:16-24 
The return of Jesus to his Sender brings such an advantage to the disciples (v. 7) in the coming and the work of the Paraclete that joy instead of great sorrow should fill their hearts. Now Jesus adds the further comfort that the separation shall be for "a little while" only. We have the same connection in 14:16, 17, the promise of the Paraclete, and v. 18, 19, the promise of Jesus' coming and of the disciples' be holding him. A little while, and you no longer be hold me; and again a little while, and you shall see me. The separation is to be short. 

Luther:
1. First, we will consider this narrative in the simplest manner, as it occurred after the Last Supper, while the Lord was in the garden on the way with his disciples to his last sufferings and death. In this historical narrative of today’s Gospel the Lord preaches his death and resurrection to his disciples, the words of which narrative the disciples at the time failed to understand, these words being to them dark sayings and totally hidden from them — an experience that may easily be ours, those of us who are not yet firmly established in the faith. What, however, hindered the beloved disciples from understanding the narrative? This, namely, that they thought Christ was about to establish a temporal kingdom which would make an impression upon the world, and move along in pure, perpetual life, not in death, of which he here speaks when he says: “A little while, and ye behold me no more.” As if he wished to say: I will be with you yet a little while longer, perhaps to midnight; after that I will die and be buried, and be taken out of your sight, so that you will see me no more. But again a little while and ye shall see me; that is, on the third day I will arise again and see you again, and ye shall see me again.

This is certainly one of the most peculiar of all Jesus' sermons in the Gospel of John, where the use of repetition is used far beyond our expectation. The same tiny Greek word for "a little while" is used seven times. That serves two purposes.

The first is emphasis. If it repeated so often, then the phrase must be important as one of the last sermons Jesus gave to His disciples in His ministry, before His death and resurrection. A similar example is Paul's seven-fold use of "one" in Ephesians 4.

The second purpose is related - teaching. Brief phrases, repeated, stick in our minds easily, and there is a bit of the annoyance factor that makes us wonder why this has been transmitted to us in a form where the Holy Spirit is quite concise. This lesson is intended to teach us patience in suffering, because all such periods are a little while to God, if not to us at that time of sorrow and pain.

This is a good example of Jesus preparing His disciples for His death and resurrection, although they appear to have forgotten everything in those days of real terror and profound sorrow. He strengthened them through the Word - enough to keep them together in the days after the crucifixion. And He built them up again during His resurrection appearances.

These passages are for us to know first and later apply in our lives, because we do not really comprehend them until the crisis is upon us. That is when we need to trust the Word of God completely and listen only to the Shepherd's voice and let all other voices go.

17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 

The disciples not only asked for themselves, but also for us. Because they have taken hold of this saying, we wonder too. What exactly does Jesus mean? It certainly goes beyond the obvious part that we know, that they would lose Him to the crucifixion but behold Him again on that first Easter, when "they disbelieved for joy." (Luke)

Going to the Father means that the ministry of Jesus that they knew before would change. Jesus would ascend to the Father and continue on a global scale, not in one nature, as if He were only the Son of God but retaining the human nature which He obtained by being born of the Virgin. 

That seems like such a fragile foundation for the Christian Church. These timid, grief-stricked disciples would be the preachers of the Gospel in the first generation and also train local pastors for their work. But that worked according to divine plan because of the sending of the Spirit to guide, direct, and encourage the disciples at all times, reminding them of what Jesus taught them.

In a time of grief and crisis, that event occupies our minds so completely that we  can hardly think of anything else. Because of that occupation, seeing anything beyond the moment is extremely difficult. That is why this sermon by Jesus is so important, that we already know it in words before we experience in life.

And then, when we pass through such trials, faithful believers are confirmed in their trust in the Savior and in the Word of the Gospel. We say to ourselves and to others - "I have experienced the same pain and wondered too. And I seemed locked in that crisis. And yet, looking back, it was a little while."

Luther lived this for decades because he went through many years where he was a criminal in the eyes of the empire and the Church of Rome. He expected to be a martyr. We call 1517 the beginning of the Reformation. But 13 years later Luther could not attend the Imperial Diet at Augsburg (Augsburg Confession/Confessio Augustana) but remained hidden away in a fortress. That is indeed a long wait. Not only was Europe in doctrinal turmoil, but the Islamic armies came as far as Vienna up until the Formula of Concord, 1580.

So Luther thought in terms of eternity rather than pension funds and mission goals. His first hymn, Flung to the Heedless Winds, was written in memory of the first Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake. Now we think it is bad that someone is condemned and shunned, even though he keeps his pension plan.

19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

It is a little amusing that the disciples discussed it among themselves when Jesus knew their thoughts. That is the kind of detail we should enjoy in the Gospel of John, because we can feel the first-hand intimate portrait of the event. They all wondered and therefore they all needed to be taught so that important phrase would be the anchor of their lesson on patience in suffering.

As Lenski noted in his commentary, there seems to be a contradiction between the hope of "a little while" and "I am going to the Father." This going cannot be anything other than going away, and yet the Ascension of Jesus was not a loss but a triumph and the beginning of their missionary activity, after Pentecost.

And this is all going to be rather rushed, because the disciples would be flattened by the crucifixion, then taught with the 500 before the Ascension, and unleashed on the pagan world, alone but not alone, to preach the Gospel. 

Luther - Faithful Villains
Aye, how friendly and lovingly he associated with us and showed us all exceptional love and friendship! And we have acted thus toward him, have forsaken him and are forsaken by him. Like unfaithful villains, we have denied him, have misused his teachings and grace. What will become of us?

We dare not appear before God, neither can we stand before man, much less before Satan. There is now no consolation. The Savior has departed.

We are in a hopeless, condemned and lost state. Observe, the beloved disciples stood in such anxiety, need and grief that no fasting, no praying, no chastisement, could have helped them. All was lost.

7. In like manner God deals with his children today. Whenever he wants to comfort them, he first plunges them into similar anxiety and temptation. It is agony unbearable when the conscience passes sentence against one. The heart and every refuge fail and anxiety penetrates every nook of the conscience. Anguish and fear consume the marrow and bone, flesh and blood, as the prophet David often laments in his Psalms.

20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 

This parable of child-birth is one we all know from experience or from hearing the stories. Our son was born on the third trip to the hospital. One professor's wife asked so many times that I put a notice on our apartment door - "Not yet, Franny."
I told her, "The announcement is when the sign disappears." She thought that was great.

When something momentous, troubling, or painful is weighing on us, we are to remember the child-birth parable as an explanation of endurance in suffering. The problem weighs us down and presses on us in every possible way. I always tell students, "This degree seems so far into the future, but you will look back on it and say - that was more like a few weeks, not a few years." That has encouraged many of them to stick with it, because giving up seems like a vacation at the moment. Likewise, those who  do not trust in God engage in self-destructive behavior because of impatience. I cannot recall how many felt making up a few assignments was beyond their endurance and strength, when simply doing the work could have been done in a day. And of course, that is nothing compared to dealing with multi-year problems. But in our minds, if it is a crisis, then our lives can be consumed by it.

The special nature of this "little while" is the ability to see what the Holy Spirit is teaching us. There is no such thing as a bad outcome in faith, if we measure according to eternity, which is God's time-table (not ours).

And when we come out on the other side of that long, dark tunnel, whether in this life or the next, we see how God transforms and uses the painful moments of life.
In this life- God says, "You thought this was so terrible, and it was for a little while, but that became a time where something new and better was shown to you."

The disciples wanted to continue, but Jesus gave them a world-wide ministry without His visible presence. Yet they knew His real presence and knew no limits in where they went and what they suffered for Him and for the Gospel. Paul wrote about all the things he wanted to do and yet he languished in prison. However, his most joyful epistles were from prison, while the followers sorrowed. He understood this sermon from Jesus.

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 

Jesus knew about His suffering in advance - and all the faithful villains (the Twelve) would do. But He was faithful in that role as Teacher and Savior. And for that reason, being without sin, He conquered sin for mankind and was victorious over death.

The depth of sorrow will be matched and even exceeded by joy when Jesus rises again. This is not enough for the disciples now, but will reverberate in their minds when all these events unfold.

As I told one widow in our highschool class. the grief remains and never goes away completely. Nor should it. But grief for a believer is healing. Slowly the pain is transformed to joy because the memories that were so painful at first become something to laugh about and be thankful about. 

And for those who lose someone late in life, the little while is only so many years, not a long time.

We lost our daughters about 30 years ago, and we still feel the sorrow at times, and it pressed down hard. But most of the time, those memory buttons get pushed for the oddest reasons and we laugh about something connected with them, no different from when we talk abut and laugh about our son's antics. So we point out, not we had two daughters, but we have two daughters.

No one can take that joy from us. I would say to any parent, too, no matter what pain your child is giving you at the moment, having a child - born or adopted - is a great blessing from God. All the joy and pain are wrapped up together.

23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Here is a Promise that has some startling words - Don't ask ME anymore, after this happens. Instead, ask the Father in My Name, and He will give it to you. What sounds strange at first is the next step in their work, and it remains a great Promise to us as well.