Paul Gerhardt - From The Bethany Lutheran Hymnal Blog

The Morris biography of Gerhardt is linked here.

Luther wrote that the Gospel is not for the rich and secure, but for the poor and broken-hearted. Few Lutherans suffered as much as Gerhardt, and few wrote so beautifully for those afflicted with terrors of conscience, rejection, suffering, and persecution.



Tune - Warum sollt' ich mich denn graemen - linked here

"Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676

1. Why should cross and trial grieve me?
Christ is near With His cheer;
Never will He leave me.
Who can rob me of the heaven
That God's Son For my own
To my faith hath given?

2. Though a heavy cross I'm bearing
And my heart Feels the smart,
Shall I be despairing?
God, my Helper, who doth send it,
Well doth know All my woe
And how best to end it.

3. God oft gives me days of gladness;
Shall I grieve If He give
Seasons, too, of sadness?
God is good and tempers ever
All my ill, And He will
Wholly leave me never.

4. Hopeful, cheerful, and undaunted
Everywhere They appear
Who in Christ are planted.
Death itself cannot appal them,
They rejoice When the voice
Of their Lord doth call them.

5. Death cannot destroy forever;
From our fears, Cares, and tears
It will us deliver.
It will close life's mournful story,
Make a way That we may
Enter heavenly glory.

6. What is all this life possesses?
But a hand Full of sand
That the heart distresses.
Noble gifts that pall me never
Christ, our Lord, Will accord
To His saints forever.

7. Lord, my Shepherd, take me to Thee.
Thou art mine; I was Thine,
Even e'er I knew Thee.
I am Thine, for Thou hast bought me;
Lost I stood, But Thy blood
Free salvation brought me.

8. Thou art mine; I love and own Thee.
Light of Joy, Ne'er shall I
From my heart dethrone Thee.
Savior, let me soon behold Thee
Face to face, - May Thy grace
Evermore enfold me!

Hymn #523
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Psalm 73: 23
Author: Paul Gerhardt
Translated by: composite, based on John Kelly, 1867
Titled: Warum sollt' ich mich denn graemen
Composer: Johann G. Ebeling, 1666
Tune: Warum sollt' ich mich denn graemen

God Bless Our Native Land - From the Bethany Lutheran Hymnal Blog

 Norma A. Boekler's Artwork

Tune - America - linked here

"God Bless Our Native Land"
Siegfried August Mahlmann, 1771-1826
Recast by John S. Dwight, 1813-1893

1. God bless our native land!
Firm may she ever stand
Thro' storm and night!
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave
Do Thou our country save
By Thy great might.

2. For her our prayer shall rise
To God above the skies;
On Him we wait.
Thou who art ever nigh,
Guarding with watchful eye,
To Thee aloud we cry,
God save the State! Amen.

Hymn #577
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Romans 13:1-7
Author: Charles T. Brooks, 1834
Recast by: John S. Dwight, 1844
Tune: "America"
1st Published in: Thesaurus Musicus, 1740

Mainstream Denominations Will Die with the Mainstream News

General Michael Flynn was drained of all his money while the Obama era officials were stating for the record - Congressional testimony - that they had no evidence at all.

I told you what was developing with Michael Flynn. Those of us who studied the case knew it would blow up in the face of the liars, like Schiff, Nadler, and the media.

The news is dead.
You are what matters now.
Handle with care.
Q

As the mainstream media go, so will the mainstream denominations - especially the WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic). They will howl about the shortage of money, but it is really from the Gospel deficit.

The Lutherans sects treat people like dirt. They depend on slander, dirty tricks, and violating the law to continue in office while robbing widows and orphans. They are like the hedonists at Balshazzar's feast, but they cannot read the writing on the wall - YOU ARE FINISHED. CAPUT.

 A graduate of Martin Luther College, the WELS School of Ministry, has left his mark on Lutherdom.

Sometimes I think about the pastors, teachers, and laity who have been scarred by WELS, the Little Sect on the Prairie, the LCMS, or the CLC (sic). The worst do not know or acknowledge how evil Holy Mother Synod is. Blinded by the lies and conceit, they parrot the evil of the hyper-Pietists.

I remember one WELS pastor saying his rich adulterous money-man was far better than his counterpart in another city. When the facts came out, the comparison was laughable. But everyone knows, anything goes, when nobody knows.

That deception is the secret of LCMS history. They cover every person in the Saxon Sex and STD Migration with halos, absolutions (as if needed?!), and alternative stories. Bishop Stephan's long-term mistress, from Germany to exile in Illinois, has been badly portrayed, LutherQueasies insist.

Walther has been fast-tracked to sainthood, much like Mother Theresa, so nobody can ask questions about his support of Stephan up to the point of robbing and kidnapping the bishop he helped enthrone.

But all the historical Lutheran falsehoods mean nothing now. The Boomers are the last generation to read books. I found that the only literature undergraduates could recall was something in a recent movie.

The Church Growth/OJ leaders retiring are those who shoved aside traditionalists and boldly regurgitated the tripe of Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek.

• The liturgy is boring and irrelevant!
• The Confessions are just as bad!
• The Bible has to be in today's English!
• Sermons are dead. We have to coach them about their felt needs!

The denominations could recover if they began singing Biblical hymns, using the Biblical Christ-centered liturgy, and delivering individual Biblical sermons. Knowing Luther instead of wearing Here I Stand socks would help a lot.

Just Like Last Night - Big Thunder, But Clouds Without Rain, Hale Warning

Christian News is so banal. It has all the excitement of a parish newsletter mimeographed on topsham paper.

The 4-11-2020 issue is posted on the Net. I am sure the cub editor meant to write 5-11-2020, but details seem to evade his attention.

To avoid eye fatigue, I scan CN using control-f on the Net version.

With one or two exceptions, each issue this year is devoid of

1. Justification by Faith,
2. Means of Grace,
3. Efficacy, efficacious.

But looky here - another eructation -

"Our sins were buried and forgiveness for all was declared on Easter. As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." [Hale, ex cathedra]

There is no explanation for the part in red - it is  proclaimed from the altar of his heart, just as Calvin delivered his majestic nonsense, volume after volume.

This is a classic case of misdirection of the eye, a trick used by magicians, OJists, and Church Growthers.

KJV Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

many - οι πολλοι - hoi polloi.

When I was a young lad, hoi polloi was used as a circumlocution, but I doubt anyone is using much Greek now. The seminarians know less Greek than Sassy does.

The verse Hale forgot to cite - I am being kind - destroys his argument entirely. The term justification in the Bible always refers to God's declaration of forgiveness, as it does here. 

Justification is always Justification by Faith, the Chief Article of Christianity - ignored by Hale, just as he ignores all of Romans 4 and Romans 5:1-2. 

Be sure to act startled and pleased when pulling Calvinist dogma out of the sacred Scriptures. The trouble is, most laity are not confused - they still believe.

The Calvinist Claw Machine never tires of mining false doctrine from the clear, plain words of Scripture. Let me explain briefly.

Due to the Fall, we inherit from Adam our sinful nature. From one man came all sin in humanity. (verse 18)

Righteousness always refers to the righteousness of faith. Did Paul not explain that concept for four chapters and conclude his meaning in Romans 5:1-2? He denied the righteousness of the Law, of man, of traditions, every way possible in the opening chapters of Romans.

 Norma A. Boeckler

The preaching of the Report (Isaiah 53, Romans 10) brings the righteousness of faith to many - not to all. All who are justified are justified through faith in Christ alone - not Buddha or Jove or a turnip. Luther made that point clearly enough, but who is Luther compared to Scaer, Hale, and Webber?

Who has believed our Report? 

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

I am not sure if the LCMS acolytes of ELCA and Rome are using the classic reading of John 16 for this Sunday. The Holy Spirit will convict the world (yes, the entire world) of sin -

John 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;

Norma A. Boeckler