LCMS Lavender Joint Book of Concord Sex and America’s Political Conscience: Seared, Hardened, and “Woke” All at the Same Time (part I of II)

This ELCA professor was a key player in the 2009
change of policy in ELCA. See the article below.

 ELCA's Fortress needed to be bailed out, so LCMS worked with themin publishing a Book of Concord where everyone made some bucks.
"It's all about the benjies." - 29A says.

 LCMS Robert Kolb 

Psalm1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

LCMS Charles Arand is busy turning Concordia St. Louis into another Seminex, with the help of Matt the Fatt and Paul the Plagiarist.

 Theresa Latini - a Presbyterian who taught at Luther Seminary (?!) -
was fired from United Lutheran Seminary for being a milimeter to the right of its board and students.

Sex and America’s Political Conscience: Seared, Hardened, and “Woke” All at the Same Time (part I of II):



"Way back in 2009, when the Lutheran theologian Timothy Wengert provided the justification for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s (ELCA) acceptance of homosexual behavior by their clergy, many who both reject Christ and who claim Christ were doubtless gratified. On the other hand, the short paper Wengert wrote which did this, “Reflections on the Bound Conscience in Lutheran Theology,”[1] prompted my own pastor – a Lutheran who loves and adheres to the 1580 Book of Concord – to study the topic of conscience in the work of Martin Luther.


…or with Luther’s existentialist, pragmatic interpreters…
I highly recommend reading Pastor Paul Strawn’s paper, as you will learn about…:

Wengert’s “simply tragic” (I’d use a different word) failure to acknowledge existing scholarship that had been done on Martin Luther and the conscience by highly noted scholars (I add, this is a good way to kill your conscience about conscience).
How for Luther, “the burdening of the conscience with man-made laws or traditions, and the burdening of the conscience by the Law of God in view of sin, are two vastly different things.”
How this conscience burdened by God’s Law is an “evil conscience,” “plagued by guilt and despair in the face of the knowledge of God’s judgment upon a specific sin.”
How an evil conscience can become hardened: “man can and does fight against his conscience and eventually, may even be able to subdue it so that it goes into a type of dormancy.”
How Luther found these things not only in the Bible, but in the character of Orestes in Virgil’s Aeneid: the Erinyes, or Furies, of Alecto (“unceasing”), Megaera (“grudging”), and Tisiphone (“avenging murder,” hounding the guilty for their sin). If hell is not feared, future pain and suffering certainly is."

 Now we begin to smell the pot roast. The bonds of fellowship for ELCA and Missouri are UOJ. Jungkuntz chaired the Seminex board when they became the official seminary for the Metropolitan Community Church.

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Is the $90 LCMS dogmatics book another UOJ fantasy?
I am not willing to spend the money to prove it.

A hit job | The Week That Was | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art

Rusty Cranford

A hit job | The Week That Was | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art:



"The alleged murder target was D.A. Jones, a Pennsylvania consultant who's pleaded guilty to scheming to get money from Preferred Family Healthcare, the Medicaid-enriched nonprofit that made millions providing mental health and other services in Arkansas and neighboring states. Cranford once worked there, too. Cranford has not been charged, but the information is contained in a prosecutor's motion that Cranford be denied bail on an earlier charge. Earlier court filings indicate Cranford played a role in the kickback scheme in which former Republican state Rep. Micah Neal and former Republican state Sen. Jon Woods, both of Springdale, are accused of working with others to channel a portion of state money aimed at Ecclesia College to themselves. Neal has pleaded guilty. Woods is awaiting trial."



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Luther Examined and Reexamined by William H T Dau (1864-1944) - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry – "Faithful to the Reformation"

PDF

EPUB eBook

Kindle Book

Luther Examined and Reexamined by William H T Dau (1864-1944) - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry – "Faithful to the Reformation":



"“One may deplore the pathetic courage which periodically heartens Catholic writers for the task of writing against Luther, but one can understand the necessity for such efforts, and, accordingly, feel a real pity for those who make them. Attacks on Luther are demanded for Catholics by the law of self-preservation. A recent Catholic writer correctly says: ‘There is no doubt that the religious problem to-day is still the Luther problem.’ ‘Almost every statement of those religious doctrines which are opposed to Catholic moral teaching find their authorization in the theology of Martin Luther.’”

“Rome has never acknowledged her errors nor admitted her moral defeat. The lessons of past history are wasted upon her. Rome is determined to assert to the end that she was not, and cannot be, vanquished. In the age of the Reformation, she admits, she suffered some losses, but she claims that she is fast retrieving these, while Protestantism is decadent and decaying. No opposition to her can hope to succeed.” – From the Introduction

Contents (245 pages)
Preface.
1 Luther Worship.
2 Luther Hatred.
3 Luther Blemishes.
4 Luther’s Task.
5 The Popes in Luther’s Time.
6 Luther’s Birth and Parentage.
7 Luther’s Great Mistake.
8 Luther’s Failure as a Monk.
9 Professor Luther, D. D.
10 Luther’s “Discovery” of the Bible.
11 Rome and the Bible.
12 Luther’s Visit at Rome.
13 Pastor Luther.
14 The Case of Luther’s Friend Myconius.
15 Luther’s Faith without Works.
16 The Fatalist Luther.
17 Luther a Teacher of Lawlessness.
18 Luther, Repudiates the Ten Commandments?
19 Luther’s Invisible Church.
20 Luther on the God-Given Supremacy of the Pope.
21 Luther the Translator of the Bible.
22 Luther a Preacher of Violence against the Hierarchy.
23 Luther, Anarchist and Despot All in One.
24 Luther the Destroyer of Liberty of Conscience.
25 “The Adam and Eve of the New Gospel of Concubinage.”
25 “The Adam and Eve of the New Gospel of Concubinage.”
26 Luther an Advocate of Polygamy.
27 Luther Announces His Death.
28 Luther’s View of His Slanderers.
Afterword"

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EPUB eBook

Kindle Book

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Easy Does It Roses

Easy Does It ranges from orange to various sunset colors,
and it blooms like crazy all summer.

I made the mistake of allowing a few vendors to include all their business partners in mailings and email. However, I am getting better at resisting temptation from the rose merchants.

The last two times I decided to buy just one type. Mr. Lincoln occupied the newest area last year, and Easy Does It claimed the last piece of former lawn - on Mrs. Wright's side.

The summer of 2017 was the Buckwheat Boondoggle, when that exceptional plant took over the rose garden twice. The lawn crew used weed-eaters when all the buckwheat plants were above the roses, bearing mature seed. The need crop came soon after, so the overgrown ivy and dominant cover crop made the house look abandoned, as one visitor admitted.

 Mr. Lincoln has long legs.

Mr. Lincoln is vigorous, tall, prolific, and the most fragrant rose around. The plants from last year are bursting in growth already.

My neighbor was working on her front yard. She said, "I am not very good with plants." I said, "We all have failures with plants, for a lot of reasons. The idea is - plant more of them to get good results."

That is what I do with publishing. Although both efforts offer some instant rewards, both require long-term gambles.

Roses out-produce everything in value, which can be seen in many ways. Nothing is uglier in winter than a rose bush, but they delight people, spring through fall. Name another flower where one in a bud vase will be a good present. See what I mean?

I gave Mrs. Wright one mature bud in a vase, saying, "Watch it open." She was sceptical, as she admitted later. The tiny bud opened slowly into a spectacular bloom that lasted many days and perfumed her living room.

Sassy the wonder-dog came out to help me with planting the roses. I pulled the bare root plants out of the rain barrel, where they soaked for several days. When Sassy is outside for long, she sets up a security perimeter and scans in every direction. Army Ranger Bob came by for some pour-over coffee.

He said, "You looked peaked and needing some rest." I asked, "Does that mean a coffee break?" He lit up and said, "Oh I could use some." Sassy went inside with us for some pour-over coffee. He calls her Chow Dog and looks for treats for her to enjoy.

We went out later and Bob let me continue my labors. The one thing I needed was to water the roses to help them get started, several benefits accruing - soil is settled down, canes are kept moist before leafing out, roots starting growing.

This morning Sassy wanted her walk, so we went out. I noticed damp sidewalks, overhead clouds gloomy with rain. By the time we returned, rain began falling. The ideal rainfall after planting anything is a long, steady rain.

Which part DID you like?

Matt the Fatt Ordered Joshua Scheer To Cover Up an LCMS Scandal - And He Did. Some warning from the ELCA… and a great video from the Fort Wayne Symposia | Steadfast Lutherans

Steadfast Lutherans told the horrible story of Darwin Schauer placed in a congregation, only to offend again.

 Matt the Fatt ordered SL editor Joshua Scheer to erase all the evidence from SL, and he did. I preserved the story on Ichabod, which made Scheer grumpy.

 One of your LCMS pastors, Joshua?
Protected by Harrison, too?

 The caption is in the graphic below.
LCMS is still haunted by Walther and Stephan.

Love that cheesehat. A man of the sheeple,
always ready to entertain.

Some warning from the ELCA… and a great video from the Fort Wayne Symposia | Steadfast Lutherans:



"Posted on March 15, 2018 by Pastor Joshua Scheer
So in the heavily antinomian, reductionistic, Biblically uninformed “bound conscience” ELCA a couple recent things should be pointed out as warnings for those who have drank (sic) too deeply of their theology (or fathers) and methodology (largely listening to the culture instead of the Word)."



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GJ - LCMS cover up artists (like Herman Otten) are congratulating themselves for not being ELCA. Did someone spike their dranks, I mean, drinks?

The grandees of Steadfast Lutherans teach the same UOJ as ELCA does. In fact, SL is a closed shop for UOJ. No one can post who teaches Justification by Faith. Comments in favor of the Chief Article are often erased, and those JBFA Christians are called "morons" by the previous editor, a self-inflating bullfrog named. Best of all, no one can link to this blog, which is great for viewer numbers, averaging 3,000 per day - every day.

Tim Rossow called y'all "morons."
LCMS seminaries do not teach manners, grammar, or Lutheran doctrine. They have drank (sic) from the same cup of toxins.

Scheer madness also linked  an ELCA website that seems to be even naughtier than Nadia, but why give them Search Engine Optimization? I know - to enhance that superior feeling, even though the LCMS clergy think Nadia, Leonard Sweet (seminary speaker), and other snake oil salesmen are worthy of study. Here is Nadia and a penetrating question from Sceptical Baby.

Lutheran Seminary Fires President - Latini Responds

 Yes, I was there, interviewed at the Philly Seminary
around 1981. Someone was already hired, so others were interviewed to meet the demands of HEW. Hence, it was called an HEW interview - a free trip to Philly.

Lutheran Seminary Fires President:



"Latini said via email that she was being scapegoated, and that United Lutheran was facing challenges from its recent creation from merging two Lutheran seminaries. "I had been eager to help this newly-combined organization to flourish," she said. "However, given the longstanding, historic divisions between the predecessor schools and what I believe to have been a politically based whisper campaign against me and other members of the board, it became clear that certain parts of the organization were not going to stand behind me and that I could not be effective as president. I have been scapegoated by an historically divided institution resistant to unification, and have been given little chance to respond to the accusations against me.""

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GJ - Gettysburg was the original seminary - the General Synod. When that group became too anti-Lutheran, about half split off to form the General Council and establish its own seminary in Philadelphia.

Ironically, the General Synod came from the Pietism of Halle and that ideology led to the split. WELS also came from Pietism and returned to it via Fuller Seminary.

Bergandoff was an icon of the Augustana Synod, Augustana College, and higher education. He wanted the Midwestern seminaries merged at the U. of Chicago campus, which did take place but failed slowly in the decades following.

Conrad Bergendoff wanted the two seminaries united, and plans were made to do that in the LCA merger of 1962. However, that plan collapsed even though land was already purchased for the merger.

That division was always mentioned with some bitterness, even into the 1980s, so it is no surprise that it is still felt decades after that. I was told, "It is offensive to suggest that a Pennsylvania pastor is from the other seminary, so it is better to start by saying - where did you graduate?"

The reactions to Theresa Latini were so hysterical that some began wondering about Union and Harvard taking "tainted" students from United to finish their seminary degrees at those even-more-Left-wing institutions. The idea is to get Lutheran prerequisites done at an ELCA seminary (Do you hate Luther? Yes? Good. We can ordain you.) to be buffed and polished at Harvard or Union. (Are you an atheist? Yes? Good, you can graduate from our hallowed halls.)

Lutheran seminary education is truly pathetic these days, and I am including the anti-Lutheran ones in the ELS, WELS, and LCMS. The micro-mini ones are jokes not worth mentioning.

Lutheran seminary president ousted in controversy over past 'conversion therapy' work | PennLive.com

 "Nothing to see here. Move on."

Lutheran seminary president ousted in controversy over past 'conversion therapy' work | PennLive.com:



"A prominent Lutheran seminary with two campuses in Pennsylvania is having a stormy moment of reckoning over the early-career, "conversion therapy" work by its first-year president.

That moment reached a climax at the United Lutheran Seminary Wednesday, with the school's board of trustees voting to end the Rev. Theresa F. Latini's tenure as president.

Latini, who answered some questions from PennLive via email Wednesday night, called the board's action unfair.

"I have been scapegoated by an historically divided institution resistant to unification," she wrote, "and have been given little chance to respond to the accusations against me."

United Lutheran Seminary is the modern-day result of a merger between longstanding seminaries in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. The jointure was approved in January 2016, and took effect this fall.

The controversy stemmed from Latini's work in the 1990s, according to this report on Philly.com, as director of One By One, a Pittsford, N.Y.-based organization that believed and taught that sexual orientation change is possible.

That information, the news site reported Wednesday, was made known to the seminary's board chairman during a presidential search process last year.

But the chairman, the Rev. J. Elise Brown, did not share that information with the rest of the board's selection committee, which subsequently hired Latini last summer.

As word of Latini's past leaked out in recent weeks, students, alumni, faculty and staff have pushed back against the presidential search process, the lack of transparency surrounding it, and related issues.

The pushback continued through a board "listening session" in Philadelphia last week, and culminated in Wednesday's actions."



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This just in, as a letter to people in the Lower Susquehanna Synod:


March 14, 2018

Wednesday of the 4th Week in Lent

Dear partners in Christ:

The United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) Board of Trustees held a formal Board meeting on Wednesday, March 14, to address Seminary and Board leadership issues. As you may know, Bishop Dunlop is a member of the seminary board of directors and served as chair of the transition committee leading to the creation of the United Lutheran Seminary.

During today’s meeting, the Board voted to end Dr. Theresa F. Latini’s position as President of the United Lutheran Seminary. This decision was made based on the Board’s concern that the ongoing controversy surrounding her naming as President make it extremely difficult to overcome the issues related to trust as the president of this institution. With the understanding that there is much work to be done in healing, the Board recognized that her ongoing tenure would present a significant obstacle to moving forward. The primary obligation of the Board is to our Seminary and the perpetuation of its critical mission in training leaders for the church.

Also during today’s meeting, the board of directors of the United Lutheran Seminary elected Bishop James S. Dunlop as acting president of the seminary until an interim president is elected by the board of directors. Because of his rich history with the seminary, he feels a deep calling to serve the seminary in this important position at this critical time in the seminary’s short history. Offering full support, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton encouraged Bishop Dunlop to accept this acting position, saying that he is the person best suited to fulfill this role at this time. A search for an interim president will begin in earnest. (For more information regarding the outcomes of the meeting, read today's Board of Trustees' statement here.)

To successfully carry out this role, Bishop Dunlop will be taking a temporary leave of absence from serving as our bishop. His responsibilities as our bishop will be adjusted and shared with staff. Bishop Dunlop said that he could agree to accepting this position because he has complete faith in our staff. He is confident our staff will be able to continue to perform their ministry tasks and to continue to carry out the mission of our synod.

Vice President Lucinda L. Bringman has called for a special meeting of the Synod Council on Thursday, March 22, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is in accord with *S8.58. of our synod constitution: “If the bishop is to be temporarily absent from the synod for an extended period, the bishop, with the consent of Synod Council, may appoint as acting bishop for such period an ordained minister of this church.” Until an acting bishop is appointed and confirmed by Synod Council, the staff will continue to function as it has whenever the bishop is away from this synod.

With the help of God and with requests for prayers, Bishop Dunlop has accepted this temporary position. We are a people whose story is centered in the death and resurrection. We are prayerful that out of these recent painful and difficult events will come new life. We invite your prayers for God’s light and guidance for healing, trust, wisdom, and compassion.

Yours in Christ,
Bishop James S. Dunlop
Vice President Lucinda L. Bringman
Secretary Thomas E. McKee

===

ALPB Forum Notes a Large Number of Resignations from the "United" Lutheran Seminary Board

"In 2018, we have received resignations from several Board members. Robert King and Nancy Dering Mock stepped down earlier this year due to personal reasons. Lisa Leber, Audrey Moody, Phillip Harrington and Elise Brown tendered their resignations in advance of today’s board meeting. Cheryl Meinschein, Charles Miller, Emma Porter and Janet Montelaro resigned immediately following the meeting."

This is mid-March; the "In 2018..." resignations of two Board members may seem to some to imply "oh, so long ago".  That 4 members resigned in advance of the reported Board meeting and 4 immediately after it, bringing the total "In 2018" to 10 Board Member resignations, is extraordinary and cautionary.  All linked to the Presidential issue?  What was the allegiance to prior institutions of these resignees before it became so "United"?  Were they asked to resign?  This appears on the surface to be a personnel matter, thus "closed session", yet a ton of backroom/backyard conversations and actions had to lead to this.

The search for a new President will be extremely difficult, not just because of the unforgiven transgression of the immediate past-President, but in the main because of the boiling cauldron of discontent that the stakeholders may perceive from the Board resignations.  The laundry must be cleaned now.  But, first and always, prayers for all involved, including those who never forgive.

Another Disgraceful Issue of Herman Otten's Christian News

WELS was slow in removing all their Hochmuth videos and graphics, but their speed and thoroughness have both increased. Save everything early or it will be gone in hours.

The March 19, 2018 issue of Christian News is another  long sales-pitch for Roman Catholic book sales. Randy Engel wants to sell us the news that many Catholic prelates are homosexuals, but Luther observed the people worshiped as gods those cardinals who were satisfied with a woman - 500 years ago.

The real news is WELS-LCMS going along with the ELCA-RC stampede out of the closets.

Wisconsin Lutheran College invited Weakland to give a public lecture there - and WELS lied about it, calling it "a private luncheon" as if that mattered. WLC invited the whole community and included lectures by Weakland's favorite priests, who doubtless were also gayer than lavender hose.

“Rembert Weakland quickly became one of the darlings of the liberal hierarchy of the United States” (823). 

“A r c h b i s h o p Weakland was one of the first supporters of the forays of the Homosexual Collective into the Catholic Church in America. In Rueda’s The Homosexual Network published in 1982, Weakland’s role in assisting the Collective to advance its agenda in Am-Church is well documented. 

“As reported by Rueda, Weakland’s pro-homosexual position including active support for pro-homosexual legislation is a matter of public record and his contribution to the Homosexual Movement has been acknowledged by all major national homosexual groups including the National Gay Task Force, Dignity and New Ways Ministry. 

“Weakland’s notorious homosexual apologia, Herald of Hope. The Archbishop Shares: Who is Our Neighbor? which appeared in the Catholic Herald Citizen, the diocesan weekly for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on July 19, 1980 is filled with vintage pro-homosexual Newspeak. Weakland employs pro-homosexualist Linguistics throughout the text and defends every tenet of the Homosexual Collective from ‘homosexuality is inborn and irreversible’ to ‘gay is good.’ The Archbishop consistently uses the term ‘gay people’ when referring to homosexuals. His essay undermines the Bible’s condemnation of sodomy and debunks the idea that homosexuals prey on young boys. The pro-homosexual article appeared the same year that Archbishop Weakland himself engaged in a homosexual affair with a layman” (824). 

“According to writer-researcher Robert A. Sungenis, ‘Out of 36 priests who were named as child molesters in the archdiocese, 21 of them are still in the Milwaukee area and 6 of those have active assignments. Not one of the 36 has ever been so much as questioned, and no parishioners, except the victims, knew the names of these priests. 

“While the Archdiocesan public relations department touted Weakland’s model program for handling clerical sex offenders, the Archbishop was shuffling offenders from parish to parish” (825).
Christian News, 3-19-2018, p. 5

 WELS SP Schroeder said, "We didn't know!" but the arrest document for Hochmuth said Joel was caught before. Christian News buried the story of government agents raiding WELS headquarters and finding lots of child porn there, courtesy of Joel Hochmuth. The communications director got an easy plea, then re-offended. UOJ means never having to say you're sorry.

WELS Martin Luther College graduate's FB graphic.

Could this CEO be a millennial Bernie Madoff? | New York Post

Venture Capitalists, investors, etc. etc.

Could this CEO be a millennial Bernie Madoff? | New York Post:


"Ever wonder what a modern-day millennial version of Bernie Madoff might look like?

Could it turn out to be Elizabeth Holmes, the 33-year-old Silicon Valley sweetheart who is the chief executive of blood-testing firm Theranos?

Holmes founded the privately held firm at age 19 after dropping out of college like other more famous tech CEOs Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg."



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Midweek Lenten Service - I AM the Resurrection and the Life Greek Lesson - Exodus 3; John 11:25; John 14:6. 7 PM Central Daylight Time

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Daylight Savings Time

The Hymn #523    Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me         
The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41

The Psalmody                          Psalm 24                  p. 128
The Lections                            The Passion History

                                                 
The Sermon Hymn #657        Beautiful Savior               

The Sermon –      I AM the Resurrection

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn #552              Abide with Me

I AM the Resurrection

John 11:20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

This raising of Lazarus is the turning point in the mission of Jesus. Once this has happened, Jesus has completed His work. In other words, everything afterwards is inevitable. By raising Lazarus from the dead, in front of a crowd of local and Jerusalem people, Jesus confirmed His reputation as the Christ the Son of God. The rest of the Gospel concerns His death and resurrection.

There are several important details about this miracle. Jesus delayed coming, and this meant Lazarus was dead for days, as witnessed by his friends and famil

Another detail was the disciples' fear of consequences if they came near Jerusalem. Doubting Thomas expected to die because of the hostility of the religious leaders. 

The fame of Jesus had gone forth across the land, so there was both the anticipation of His coming to see His friend, but also the crushing disappoint of Lazarus' death.

This disappointment brought out the clear confession of faith in Jesus - 

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

When Jesus countered by saying "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

Jesus tested her faith. Was it simply faith in eternal life (which we see all over today) or faith in Him as The Resurrection and The Life?

She said, "Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

This is a dominant theme in John's Gospel. First of all, He teaches the necessity of faith in Him as the righteousness of God. Secondly, He elicits a confession of faith in Him as the Savior. Both parts are important - His true nature and our confession of faith in Him, His divine mission and titles of majesty.

This is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit in the Word. I was recalling today about being kidded by a Methodist minister at a meeting. He mentioned our churches being close together. I said, "That important because Wesley has his experience of the warming of his heart after hearing Luther's preface to Romans read in church."

That was a turning point in Wesley's life because he read a clear confession of faith in Jesus through Luther's words. Even then there was great confusion from so many false teachers, but the clear truth struck Wesley. When there are so many confused voices, faith is not clearly taught. He knew he lacked a firm conviction of the truth, and this experience taught him that the Gospel Word has an effect (faith) and affect (he felt it within).

How strange that there are so many efforts to take us away from the very source of faith - the Gospel Word - and entertain us, inspire us, recruit us, or make us feel so guilty we do something really significant, like becoming vegan or joining a social justice warrior group.

Confusion and clamor are worse than ever before, so the need for the stability of the Word is even greater. We can see that where some like Gerhard and Luther have struggled with the Word and the issues of the day, they have spiritual treasure to share with us. The greatest concentration is found in the Gospels and Epistles. The Holy Spirit teaches us so much in them that we can resist any false doctrine and all the temptations of the Evil One.

If anything, the turmoil will increase as worldly wisdom becomes even more radical and more people are confused. But the Word who fashioned the universe is still within the hearts of believers to guide them to eternal life.

Greek Lesson - I AM the Resurrection and the Life

Exo 3:14 - καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν καὶ εἶπεν οὕτως ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς

11:25 ειπεν αυτη ο ιησους εγω ειμι η αναστασις και η ζωη ο πιστευων εις εμε καν αποθανη ζησεται

14:6 λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγω ειμι η οδος και η αληθεια και η ζωη ουδεις ερχεται προς τον πατερα ει μη δι εμου

Gems Mined from The Sermons of Martin Luther, Volumes 1-8, Lenker Edition . Initial Draft, PDF

We have been mining gems from the Sermons of Martin Luther, Lenker edition, volumes 1-8.

I just finished the draft of volume 8, so I decided to put all the gems together to see where we were for capstone volume - Gems Mined from the Sermons of Luther.

The final version will have illustrations from Norma A. Boeckler and page references as well.

Virginia Roberts has not only done heroic work in editing but has also picked out gems from each volume.

I think these will be worthwhile for sermons during Lent and Easter, so I am linking the initial PDF for everyone to download, save, and use. I have plans for making more available in the future.

Here is the link to Gems Mined from the Sermons of Martin Luther.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iogxf2vfw1ppwpu/gems_mined_from_luther_all_8_toc.pdf?dl=0