 |
| Church Growth was a lie to fool people about the damage they planned to accomplish together. Add other names, like Waldo Werning, David Valleskey, Frosty Bivens, Larry Olson, Kent Hunter. ELCA got just as involved in training and all the same destructions. Now the UniSynod worship area looks just like and sounds just like a computer-screen festooned Pentecostal church. |
Our low temperatures are in the single digits and the wind chill only makes it worse. Our extended summer made winter seem impossible but now we are feeling the extremes.
I constructed rose collars in the front yard and put leaves in each for insulation - in case we had a dry winter with no snow, like last year. The yard crew also put all the extra leaves we gathered around the rose garden. I was thinking of building the soil, not enduring an extended freeze.
 |
| Norma A. Boeckler's Bluebird |
Cannot Wait? - Why Not Observe?
A common phrase I hear today is "I cannot wait to see..." That seems to push the important moments into the future. As a gardener, I should say, "I cannot wait to see the roses start to grow in early spring."
Instead, I enjoy observing the winter garden and the slow disappearance of the mulch layer. The Mother of All Crepe Myrtles is a scrawny little skeleton with the remnants of a nest or two in it. That is where I found duct tape interwoven in leaves to form a nest. I will remember the months of mulch making its way into the mouths of soil creatures who feed the roots.
The pokeweed is shriveled too, and its dried berries are on many of the plants. I leave them up as winter bird-feeders. Over 60 species of birds enjoy the berries, far more than the number who favor sunflower seeds. As a former retailer in food, I consider a free supply cutting the overall cost of all bird-food.
Compensation for the deep freeze is the energetic feeding of birds and squirrels in the worst weather. New Year's Eve was sun but colder than ever, so these birds were feeding all day:
- Starlings
- Goldfinches
- Cardinals
- Chickadees.
The hanging feeders have six little zones for eating. The one hanging outside the kitchen sink often had six little birds eating at once, on and off the bird swing I constructed with two levels for waiting, watching, and preening.
As I learned in Minnesota, pleasant weather allows birds to feast on an abundance of God's creatures, berries, and weed seeds. They ignore feeders for the most part. Even the greedy squirrels will show extreme food preferences in fair weather.
But when sleet falls, as it did in New Ulm, or the deep freeze entombs the food, as we are seeing now in Arkansas, the birds and squirrels are grateful for every scrap of food.
A squirrel will gnaw a kernel of corn out of ice after days of sleet. Birds will line up like ladies outside a Dillard's New Year's Day sale. They are hungry and the cold makes them famished for more food energy to keep them warm.
 |
| WELS generates more satire than I can post. This gigantic and costly flop featured the the worst possible speakers. |
 |
| Clueless "Luther" and "Katie" with self-appointed minister Scott Barefoot. The real Luther said, "The people worship as gods those cardinals who are satisfied by a woman." |
Not by Accident - A Process
We are no different from the fair-weather creatures. When faithful teachers and ministers were abundant, we took them all for granted. We discussed whether setting one or two was better in the Service Book and Hymnal (LCA-ALC). We compared liturgical services. Near my home church in Moline was a larger and wealthier church - same synod and architecture. There the organist played much faster. We walked over on confirmation day when 60 children were confirmed at once. We never imagined that the pipe organs would be replaced by digital organ-grinders, the enormous confirmation classes diminished to a handful, even in large congregations.
Lutherans thought they could treat Justification by Faith as an adiaphoron, a matter of indifference. Why? The faithful feared the wrath of the UOJ fanatics - their stock phrases and packaged insults. Recently I was called a Calvinist for mentioning Justification by Faith on Facebook. I replied, "Calvin never taught Justification by Faith. Luther did." Silence. Then - "Who is this heretic?"
In fact, the UOJ Stormtroopers expose their ignorance and shallow thinking every time they bristle and mount a faux-attack. They are Satan's sock-puppets and cannot make a case for their hybrid mix of rationalism, Pietism, and male menopause symptoms.
Too many people dreamt of a gauzy future and failed to observe the present conditions, the warnings thereof. The synods kept placing safe mediocrities in teaching positions, making the seminary's objectives align with the synod politicians' plans. Align is a hot term today. Make sure everything aligns - an essential part of the process. If they emphasize the process, everyone will overlook what is actually happening. As one TV star said recently on a forgotten show, "Trust the process." We should never trust the process.
Now the coming generations are looking at an almost barren landscape. They cannot forget the Boomers, who only want to retire in peace, holding onto their Fuller certificates and Twenty Years of Service plaques. The younger generations will need to mine the treasures of the Lutheran Reformation once again.
- The debacle of the 500th Anniversary should have warned everyone. Thrivent sponsoring events? Why not Budweiser or QVC?
- "In spite of his shortcomings, Luther still pointed to Christ..." That could only come from the shriveled and pickled brains of WELS.
- "Actually, I am already tired of the Anniversary." That came from one of the ELCA pastors at a Jeske conference, who wanted to share her feelings with us.
 |
| The Ten Commandments of Mark Jeske must be obeyed. |
