Retired DP Benke (Earlier Ex-DP Benke) On ELDONA and Other Sects

 Someone designed this graphic as "Benke's vita" or resume. Haha.
He prayed with all these world religions but not "in the Name of Christ."
Benke is one of those LCMS smart-aleck bullies who always has a putdown that avoids the real issue.
To re-elect the apostate, his supporters had hats that
said "It's OK to pray." Hard to find those photos on Google now.

Ex-DP Dave Benke:
Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out. My question was from the other angle - why do you want to stay if you honestly believe those in your denomination are so far off track? I don't have my ACELC membership roster in front of me, but the big bubble of membership is in Western Missouri and Nebraska, from my recollection, with scattered folks in Texas (The Keller Resolution People) and then here and there. ELDoNA is one of those offshoot denominations of the Missouri Synod with about 20-25 congregations, and they seem happy. Why not the same direction for the congregations in the ACELC? 

I'm not thinking about "blessed subtraction" from the Missouri point of view, but about Fresh New Starts for those folks. Jack Cascione's (former?) church simply became independent, but hooks up with others for mission. 

While I was district president, we picked up a congregation that had been in a very small micro-group, possibly acronymned (sic) FALC (Federation of Authentic Lutheran Churches?), and let's say five decades down the line from their affiliation with FALC we figured out a way for them and their pastor to become part of the Missouri Synod. That group had run its course. But the folks who remained through the whole era had not been unhappy in the micro synod, and did not join the Missouri Synod because it was bigger - they studied the doctrine and practice in our very own Atlantic District and made the choice to join. So it's OK to leave, and it's OK to join. Dave Benke 
https://alpb.org/Forum/index.php?topic=6857.msg431895;topicseen#msg431895

 For snazzy threads and $400 walking sticks,
join the ELDONUTs.  Like  the LCMS and WELS, they
studiously avoid publishing Luther during the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

***

GJ - Apparently, the ACELC is living rent-free in Benke's head, where there is plenty of room. He is graciously snide, like so many church politicians I have known.

The departures from the LCMS suggest that large groups of people despise the direction of the sect. Lutherans resist packing up and leaving, so the existence of ex-LCMS congregations should send a message to the most ELCA of LCMS DPs.

 They won Rolf Preus back, so Benke should
brag about that accomplishment.

Progress on Luther's Sermons - Volume IV Being Prepared for Amazon and Kindle

 Norma A. Boeckler designed the cover
and illustrations for Volume IV.  She had an author's
day at the Midland Dow Library in Michigan.
Her latest book is Those Days on the Farm.

Norma A. Boeckler's extensive list of books and illustrated books is listed here by Amazon.

Progress, The Sermons of Luther -
Volume IV is being prepared for Amazon print and Kindle e-book publication by Janie Sullivan.

Volume V is edited for typos and being finished for Janie Sullivan and for artwork by Norma A. Boeckler.

Volume VI is being read for typos, glitches, and other barriers to good reading.

The last two sermon volumes and The Gems of Luther's Sermons will be finished very early in 2018.

Future Plans
God willing, as always, publishing plans include the two Catechisms and Galatians.

New titles being planned include -

1. An Ichabod Lutheran Dictionary, 
2. The Gospel of John - A Brief Commentary, and 
3. Calvinism Ruined the Protestant Church.

Last Roses of 2017 - Our Norman Rockwell Neighborhood

 I am Sassy Sue - and this is my Normal Rockwell world.

I had rescue roses on the altar for Reformation Sunday. The frost was coming, so I cut them before we had two nights at 20 degrees. Some buds had been nipped earlier, but the five-inch rain encouraged the plants to keep growing and blooming.

They looked forlorn on the altar, mostly closed from cold outside, waiting for their big day. Yesterday, the blooms were fully open and photogenic.

I knew who wanted them most, after the service was over. Our neighbor's daughter brought two vases back not long ago. "My mother finally gave up the last rose." That meant she kept them for a long, long time. So I dropped off the new bouquet Sunday afternoon and left some coupons, too.

On our cul-de-sac we can watch the neighbors park, visit with others, barbeque, and walk the dogs. Many connections remind me of the Norman Rockwell covers of the Saturday Evening Post, which we all enjoyed each week, growing up in the 1950s.

 After surgery this year, Chris' first walk was
to the neighborhood estate sale, which yielded a
 Bissel floor cleaner.

Mr. Gardener mowed my lawn for me, without being asked, when I only had a push mower during hot, sticky, allergy-friendly weather. I delivered his newspaper to his front door each morning, since the paid service lobbed it under his car or truck each day. Sassy always waits for me to grab it and toss it to the door on our morning walks. Neighbors had an informal meeting and decided to light up his widow's home better at night. Army Ranger Bob and I pooled some twirly lights and added a solar light, so the front is lit like the White House at night.

We have the Town Car for a little longer.
Sassy enjoys trips to Walmart and the Post Office,
but most of all to her friends at Lowe's.

Bob helped the mother of the four girls on the corner to arrange her yard sales. That is one place where we swap superfluous treasures, like a Bissel floor cleaner, a neat brass table, and so forth. We donate in the hopes of removing clutter and not seeing something we want in return.

Bob sold me a Voyager - and repaired it to the point where it was more like a new car than a 2002. For rainy nights, before his camper shell was bought, he borrowed the Voyager back for the big Sunday delivery to stores. I always hand him the keys and tell him, "Don't drive too fast, son."

Sassy and I often see the vet tech and her children walking their dogs. Sassy found their runaway dog hiding in a bush, once. Our neighbor's children give me their surplus pine needles, and I pay them for their labor. A thick layer of needles provided the start for the first Hosta garden in the back.

I also used the needles to provide an acid-soil bed for the Blueberry row, but since I was raising them for the squirrels, I delivered all the plants to our dentist's wife. She laughed with happiness because she had all her plants stolen before her move. She was starting over and thought, "I really need more Blueberries."

Across the street is our Laotian family. We met the son when we first moved in. He kept asking me two or three questions at a time. I said to him, "You sound like a cop." He said, "I am taking criminal justice. Yes, I plan on it. Why do you know my mother's name?"

Next to them is the painter, who donates five-gallon paint pails to me, every so often. They are perfectly clean and so handy for storing and carrying rainwater. Our dentist's mother got one, and so did another friend. The painter's children and extended family children play outside and love to run to Sassy for some petting. She also visits the children next door, who moved in recently. Sassy is neutral about adults, until they welcome her. Then she adds them to her list of flock members. The children are always her immediate interest and she goes to them at once, a bit too loud but always gentle.

On Joye Street lives Pat and her husband John. They assume we will stop and visit when we go by. Once Pat was too tired to get out of bed. She said, "I was in bed. I heard Sassy. I said hello Sassy. Have a nice day Sassy. But I could not get up."

There are other neighbors, too. One stopped us at Cracker Barrel and said, "You own Sassy. We see you walk by every day."