Schuh Catechism from the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry

 Walther the Wizard kept people away from the other Luther groups by calling them false teachers when he was and is the heresiarch, attacking the Chief Article. Now they are all united in UOJ, so people like Schuh are ignored by their own and by the sanctimonious Synodical Conference.

Below is the section in Rev. Schuh's Q&A on Luther's Small Catechism.  This was published in 1915 by the Ohio Synod/General Council.  Do you see any hint of UOJ?  It seems pretty clearly JBFA to these eyes.

Lesson 72. The Forgiveness Of Sin, Or Justification.

(Question 237-239.)
1) What is the next truth which we confess in the third article of the creed?
“I believe the forgiveness of sins.”
2) (237) “Why do you say in this article: ‘I believe the forgiveness of sins’?”
“Because I, according to God’s Word, most assuredly hold, that God in His Christian Church daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers.”
3) According to what do we hold or believe this doctrine of the forgiveness of sins?
According to the Word of God.
4) This teaching is not something which men have invented, but it is plainly taught in the Bible. And it is a most precious doctrine. Who is it that forgives sins?
It is God who forgives sins.
5) Where does God forgive sins?
In his Christian Church.
6) Outside of the Christian Church there is no forgiveness of sins. To whom does God forgive sins?
To me and all believers.
7) How does God forgive sins?
He forgives sins richly and daily.
8) What sins does God forgive?
He forgives all sins.
9) God is so bountiful in His dealings with us that He forgives not only the small but the great sins. And how often does He do this?
He does it daily.
10) We sin every day, and on that account what do we need every day?
We need forgiveness every day.
11) (238) “Why is this necessary?”
“Because I then only become just before God, when God forgives to me my sins.”
12) What has God threatened to do with sin?
God has threatened to punish sin.
13) If sin is not to be punished, what must be done with it?
It must be forgiven.
14) And if it is not forgiven, what will be done with it?
It will be punished.
15) How does God regard those whose sins He has forgiven?
He regards them as just.
16) When only can God regard us as just?
When He forgives us our sins.
17) Repeat Psalm 130:3.4.
“If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
18) If God should regard iniquities, that is, if He should hold sins against us and punish us on account of them, what would become of us?
We would be lost.
19) But what is our hope when we think of our sins?
Our hope is that there is forgiveness with God.
20) Read Psalm 143:2.
“Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.”
21) Also Is. 68:6.
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”
22) Also Job 25:4-6.
“How can a man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?”
23) From all these passages we see how very important this doctrine of the forgiveness of sins is. The doctrine of justification if the very heart of the Gospel. Without the forgiveness of sins we cannot be saved. The only hope for us poor sinners is that God forgives sins. Only then can we be just in the sight of God. For what is it that makes us unjust before Him?
It is our sins.
24) The forgiveness of sin is the condition of our justification before God. When sin is forgiven how does God regard us?
He regards us as just.
25) (239) “What then is justification?”
“Justification is that act of God by which He, of pure grace, for the sake of the merits of Christ, pronounces a poor sinner, who truly believes in Christ, free from guilt, and declares him just.”
26) Whose act is justification?
Justification is the act of God.
27) God is our judge. He alone can condemn or pardon. What is it that induces Him to pardon or forgive us poor sinners?
He does it out of pure grace.
28) Repeat Rom. 3:21-24.
“Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
29) God pities us poor sinners and this pity induces him to forgive. But He has threatened to punish sin. How can He forgive when He has threatened to punish? In our answer just after the words “of pure grace” we are told how He can forgive in spite of the fact that His justice compels Him to punish. What does our answer say?
“For the sake of the merits of Christ.”
30) What did Christ do that God should forgive sins for His sake?
He suffered and died for us.
31) He suffered and died to redeem us from our sins. In the passage just repeated we are told how we are justified. Through or on account of what are we justified freely?
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
32) Whom does God justify according to our question 239?
He justifies a poor sinner who truly believes in Christ.
33) What kind of sinner is a poor sinner? When is a man poor?
When he has nothing.
34) Read 2 Tim. 1:9.
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
35) A poor sinner is one who has nothing to depend on and who knows that there is nothing in him that could please God or make satisfaction for sin. And how should a man feel who knows this?
He should feel sorry.
36) Such a sinner was the poor publican in the temple. Read what is written of him Luke 18:13.14.
“The publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
37) How did he feel on account of his sins?
He felt ashamed, he felt sorry.
38) So a poor sinner is what kind of sinner?
He is one who feels sorry for his sins.
39) But what is said in our answer of the poor sinner to whom God forgives sins?
He truly believes in Christ.
40) What does such a poor sinner believe concerning Christ, as to his person?
He believes that he is true God.
41) And what does he believe concerning Christ’s work?
That He died for us and saved up from our sins.
42) Read Rom. 3:28.
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
43) How are we justified according to this passage?
We are justified by faith.
44) Now read Rom. 4:5.
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
45) What is here said of faith?
It is counted for righteousness.
46) Read also Rom. 10:4.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
47) We are accounted righteous before God, not for anything we have done, but for what Christ has done. And who is thus accounted righteous?
Every one that believeth.
48) What does God do to such a poor sinner who truly believes in Christ according to question 239?
He pronounces him free from guilt and declares him just.
49) What is the first thing He does?
He pronounces him free from guilt.
50) Read Psalm 32:1.2. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
51) Compare with this Rom. 4:6-8.
“Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
52) Read also Gen. 15:6 and see what is here written concerning Abraham. “He believed in the Lord; and he counted it unto him for righteousness.”
53) Compare with this Rom. 4:3.
“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
54) Read also Hab. 2:4.
“The just shall live by his faith.”
55) When we believe in Christ what does God do with sin for Christ’s sake?
He forgives it.
56) And after God has pronounced us free from guilt what does He declare us to be?
He declares us to be just.
57) What is it that makes us unjust before God?
Our sins.
58) And what must be done with sin if we are to be just in the sight of God?
It must be forgiven.
59) And how does God regard us when sin is forgiven?
He regards us as just.
60) Why is this forgiveness of sins so necessary?
It is necessary in order that we may be saved.
61) By whom was this forgiveness secured for us?
It was secured for us by Christ.
62) How is this forgiveness offered to us?
It is offered to us in the Gospel.
63) And how do we accept it?
We accept it by faith.

Concentrating the Plants - Weal and Woe. Or - Jessica Walliser Ruined My Life!

 Lady Beetles have the best reputation, but the tiny beneficials are also there to wipe out pests - unless pesticides wipe them out.

One member debated my rejection of man-made chemicals in the garden, because some crops are very fragile when grown together - attracting a bounty of diseases or pests.

But a concentration of one plant can also provide an army of pest destroyers. That gave me a chance to use weal or woe in the headline.

I only work with a small property, but I have seen what an invasion of aphids can do to roses, even worse - Japanese beetles. I wonder if they are any worse than the Asian cover group - The Japanese Beatles.

One answer to an invasion of pests is to have plenty of beneficial insects ready to combat them. Those host plants are generally the unglamorous ones:

• Sunflowers.
• Fever Few.
• Daisies.
• Mints.
• Tiny-flowered plants, like Clethra (Summersweet).
• Joe Pye.
• Members of the carrot family, like Queen Ann's Lace.

Do not read this book! You will catch Walliseritis, the urge to discover beneficial bugs in the garden and their host plants. Symptoms - obsession with beneficial bug plants, talking to people about tiny wasps, reading The Snoring Bird and loving every page.

If we start or end with Creation - every plant and bug has a purpose, perhaps several roles besides the main one. I thought of headlining this post - Jessica Walliser Ruined My Life! - because she moved my concentration from roses to bugs, not that the roses have suffered one bit.

Beneficial bugs normally do their work after hatching, though the Lady Beetles are also adult pest destroys. So some plants make great nurseries for beneficial insects, providing pests to eat while growing into beneficial moms and pops. But other plants serve the adults, providing nectar and pollen for the mature insects. Nothing-but-roses would be heaven for aphids, but a concentration of host plants nearby would mean pests serving as food and games for a permanent adult population of beneficial insects and spiders.

John Paul II white rose blooms are fragrant, and aphids sucked them dead. Spiders and beneficial bugs gave JPs like this.

Note well - when I began cutting perfect examples of John Paul II, the white rose most devoured by aphids, I found a tough spider web at the base of each rose stem. Accident - or on purpose? I refuse  to join the screaming hordes who hate spiders. They serve us indoors and out. 

Note also - when I cut flowers for friends or the altar - tiny Flower Flies and Ichneumon wasps hover around the blooms in the vase, as if saying goodbye to their hatcheries. I may even go inside with a few flying bugs in my hair. extending my appeal as Dr. Doolittle. Anyone can attract four-footed animals. What about six and eight feet? I have one minor sting from decades of gardening.

Concentrations for Butterflies and Hummingbirds

City planners put entire shopping districts together, and we can imitate them. The lone scarlet Bee Balm will attract a hummer, but a group of them will provide a place for them to shop for nectar and insects.

Ruby Spice is the Summersweet shrub (Clethra) that I grow.
Why do fragrant plants attract so many butterflies and beneficial insects?

I finally put a Butterfly Garden together and made Summersweet (the Cinnabon shrub) the center attraction. Empty places left by the Wild Ginger I moved looked like great planting areas for Summersweet on emergency sale - 2/3rds off! The two mature ones are along the driveway, for people coming to see the roses. All I had to do was move them from obscurity in the backyard to celebrity in the front. And now the rain is gently falling on the new and old plants, fertilizing them at the same time - Who thought of that?

The Butterfly Garden is in the sunniest spot and features Milkweed, Joe Pye Weed, Tansy, Mint, and Knitbone (Comfrey). At the front is the trio of new Summersweets, aka Cinnabon, aka Cinnamon Fry shrub. Observe gardeners - scented plants get a lot of attention from the best and most useful insects - mints, carrot family, and Summersweet. So I am seeing more butterflies daily, even though the garden is headed toward its winter sleep.

 Joe Pye has a vanilla fragrance in the bloom, but the plant has a medicinal aroma besides. 

If Plants and Insects Have a Purpose...
Facebook has a lot of problems, but it lets us be in touch with a wide variety of families. It is incontestable that plants and animals prosper because of their created purpose and abilities. How much more is that true of people, the pinnacle of Creation?

We see many kinds of suffering, which are turned into a purpose. It can be grief that is discussed to help heal others wounded by loss. Or the suffering can be extraordinary pain and impossible medical conditions that become triumphs, because they are used to show how to live with such difficulties.

We see church bodies run into the ground by Worldly Wise Men (Pilgrim's Progress). But we also find ordinary pastors and congregations that flourish through the Gospel Word rather than the Drucker Goal.

Jonah informs us - adversity is the whale that vomited us on the shores of Sugar Creek, NW Arkansas, . All the blessings imagined and many more have been realized, from being near grandchildren to having an ideal setting for writing and teaching. I used to say, "There are only a few Lutherans in each state that seem to care about Luther's doctrine. If only we could get them together." And now the Net has united us through video services and emails.

 Chaste Tree oil sells for $40. Bees love the blooms. The shrub smells like something parents insist is good for us.