Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Growth Comes from Labor and God's Design

Heirloom is a beautiful colored rose with a powerful, legacy fragrance, enough to make me cough.

Someone came by to load a bike on his truck, apparently for repair. The driver said, "Great flowers you have there." Sassy walked out to meet him.

The Rose Garden began with eight hybrid tea roses from QVC and expanded from there. I thought Enchanted Peace would be a great rose, but I never expected 10 blooms on one stalk, all opening at the same time. Apart from digging the holes, mulching, pruning, and watering the roses, I have done very little. 

Double Delight taught rosarians that a Peace heir could have a wonderful fragrance.

The more people want roses, the more they bloom. That is the second part of the True Vine parable in John 15. The first part is pruning (literally taking away) the non-productive parts. The second part is pruning (cleansing) the fruit so it is even more fruitful. The rose wants to form seed-pods and become dormant. The cleansing promotes more growth on top and in the root system.

Clearly the mainline denominations have gone dormant. That includes the ELCA-ELS-LCMS-WELS-CLC-ELDONUTS. They have no interest in the Apostolic text of the KJV - except in making fun of it and replacing the King James with the snip and clip Tischendorf-Westcott-Hort-Aland text.

All the mainline Lutherans have succeeded in alienating their most faithful members while bowing down to Thrivent, the pope, and Fuller Seminary.

Easy Does It can shake off Japanese beetles with a little help.

 The rosarian camera man photographed 50 roses used for the wedding.


[Time out with Sassy to visit the front yard]

OK, I am back. Sassy wanted to explore the garden, so I took the clippers and edited the spent flowers and dead wood branches. Rose gardening takes persistent but fulfilling work. 

Congregations and synod officials bow to money, which is why so many Lutheran congregations take money (usually a pittance) to promote Thrivent, its crafts and assaults. They value the benjies (aka money) so the more giving potential, the greater the sanctity of the person, mistress or not. They do not teach faith in Christ as the only way in which we receive grace and forgiveness, so they are dead wood slobbering over more dead wood, as if a benjie is efficacious.

God has a clearly revealed way in which people receive faith and forgiveness as a result. The place (among others) is Romans 10, sometimes called the Means of Grace chapter of Paul's works. The report (referring to Isaiah 53:1) is the teaching, preaching, or broadcasting of the Gospel Word. "Who has believed our report?" The Apostle concludes by saying, "Therefore, faith comes by hearing [the report of the Gospel]." The emphasis is not on the person but on the effectiveness of the powerful Gospel proclamation.

For many, Lincoln is still the standard for fragrance and old-fashioned beauty.