The Most Neglected Is the Most Important

 Luther is too cool for the school.
They would rather have Rambach.
Click here for the classic parody:
I'd Rather Have Rambach.

1. I’d rather have Rambach with silver and gold;
   I’d rather be Pietist with riches untold;
   I’d rather have Rambach with houses and lands;
   I’d rather be led by the Halle U. band.
   • Refrain:
     And to be the king of a vast domain
     And be held in sin’s dread sway;
     I’d rather have Rambach than anything
     The Gospel affords today.
2. I’d rather have Spener with men’s applause;
   I’d rather be faithful to UOJ's cause;
   I’d rather have Rambach and worldwide fame;
   I’d rather be true to Halle U's name.
3. They're fairer than roses or sauerkraut;
   They're sweeter than Thrivent grants without doubt;
   They're all that my Old Adam needs;
   I’d rather have Rambach and let him lead.

UOJists like Jay Webber, Larry Olson, Dave Valleskey, and Rolf Preus agree with Rambach.

Franklin D. Fry, son of the ULCA-LCA president, commented on a pastor who was relieved to be "promoted" and out of the parish - "No more catechism classes." To his credit, even as an avowed liberal, Fry was disgusted. He thought teaching, especially catechism for children, was very important.

Lutheran pastors were quick to abandon catechism, moving to various forms of faking it. But why teach what is not believed? The clergy of the various Lutheran denominations are far removed from the Reformation in thought, word, and deed.

My uncle was closely questioning me about various features on the sports page on a Saturday, long ago. He was at the donut shop. I was taking care of the counter. I kept mumbling responses to his responses. Finally, he said, "You don't really care about sports, do you?" I had to admit that I did not. Sure I saw Ernie Banks hit a grand slam at Wrigley Field, and I attended various Moline sports events as a band member. Some of my best friends were athletes, but that did not make me want to read about or discuss the games.

That is the state of the Lutheran clergy today, and the laity play their part in displaying a lack of interest. I always laugh to myself about the most intense council meeting I ever attended - we were buying a lawnmower for the church grounds. 100% attention and focus.

Where does this come from? First of all, the Lutheran colleges and seminaries teach politics and synod-love. That leaves little time for Biblical doctrine - and the ones hired have no capacity to teach it. Doctrine is so divisive.

The seminarians leave school - "they get out" in WELS parlance - and are ill prepared to teach anything except the perfection of their sect, the rules for shunning, and UOJ. I know of one pastor who visited someone regularly to grill him about departing from UOJ.

UOJ gurus come in two flavors at the most. Some of them are angry prosecutors who present their case against the Gospel at every opportunity, especially when not invited. The Preus Family, Inc. is a prime example.

Other UOJ gurus are superficial simpletons who repeat the talking points they learned at seminary. Everyone is forgiven and saved, they mutter. Here are the passages, which are laughably wrong, but no one laughs.

They agree that all others (the ELS, the LCMS, ELCA) are just horribly mixed up because no one does anything about false doctrine. And yet they all repeat the same dogma, which converts the rest of the issues into matters of indifference - adiaphora.

So this is a perfect machine for manufacturing and continuing doctrinal indifference.

The Solutions Are Too Easy
The most basic is one which - shhhhh! - Luther employed: verse by verse explanations of the Epistle or Gospel lesson each Service.

Secondarily, but also important - applying Biblical teaching in adult and children's classes, visitation, and all other work. Regular visitation with the Word of God and with the Sacrament for shut-ins - that is basic to pastoral work.

The pastor's job is not to make sure everything is running smoothly and the bills are paid. If a church activity is important, the members can prove its worth by taking it over completely. One LCA congregation was fretting about its bills and being behind. "What shall we do?" I said, "You are leaders. Lead." I gave them Biblical materials to use in their presentations and that provided a good outcome, which they owned.

CPH - Forget Luther. We have cheap trinkets to help
you - and us! - remember the 500th Anniversary.
And we will sell you expensive Gerhard volumes
you will never read.

Luther's Sermons, Volume III, Almost Ready for Production

 Volume III is almost in production.
Volume II is about to Kindle and
have its economy black and white edition.

 I am still looking for a place in Luther's writings where
he endorses Justification without Faith, UOJ, a dogma
totally at war with this sermon passage.
That would be quite a discovery - that Luther
anticipated the influence of Calvin upon Pietism and
began teaching rationalistic Pietism in the midst of the Reformation.

"Does Buckwheat seed itself?" I asked Almost Eden. I found out this year. Deciding the plants were fully mature under the Crepe Myrtle bush, I pulled a bunch of the shallow-rooted plants out and used them as mulch under the bush.

Yesterday I looked at the base of the myrtle and saw scads of new plants - Buckwheat! More and more August rain germinated the the seeds that fell, in spite of Cardinals and Mourning Doves eating them as fast as they could.

Fortunately, winter kill will turn this crop into a big asset for the soil. I am afraid my grandson will say, "Grampy, I remember the summer you grew chest-high Buckwheat in the rose garden." Or roses in Buckwheat field.

Cover crops have two basic functions. One is to invigorate the soil with a large volume of organic matter growing there. A good cover crop will fade in the winter and decompose into the soil. When I bought beans by the pound, I ended the season with leftover bush beans that would do this for me.

A second function of cover crops is to displace weed growth, denying them sunshine and space to grow. Gardeners and farmers pick plants that will drive deep into the soil with their roots, to help rain infiltration, or produce food in the soil - to break it up rather than to feed any creatures.

Weed growth in Lutherdom has taken place because the Means of Grace have been neglected. The business or marketing model has been substituted for being faithful to the Word of God. That is the natural consequence of trusting something so valuable to alcoholics and adulterers. They are more interested in protecting their sinecures than doing anything else.

The so-called conservative Lutherans have recreated the Monty Python show where the Masonic Lodge member is chosen over someone who is competent. The Lutheran Masonic handshake is UOJ, so the fertile fields of spiritual growth have been take over by the lush growth of invasive, persistent, toxic weeds.

Wanna be seminary president? Promote UOJ and get your Church Growth tattoo at Fuller, Willow Creek, or Trinity Divinity. All three would be best. You meet the best people there.

Wanna be synod president? Scowl at Church Growth and wink at its proponents, enabling and funding and protecting them.

Worried about being stuck in a first call? Drop "missional" into conversations with church officials. Sign up for their ridiculous brain-washing gatherings and defend the false teachers with self-righteous fury.