This Train Ain't Going Nowhere, This Train. This Train Ain't Bound for Glory This Train!

 

 The 2020 Spijkenisse (Netherlands) Metro Derailment. The whale tail helped prop the car to effect the rescue.

Bad driver. He missed his cues and almost killed a bunch of people - and himself. That made me think of the reckless leadership of Matt the Fatt, Mirthless Mark the Bookkeeper (more Schwan money - don't mention his first wife), and the rest. 

 "Brett, I know what you are thinking. I never intended for it to go so far, just enough to make me the Presby-Lutheran open-minded Presiding Bishop in a suit coat and alb."

One error leads to others. Women's ordination in the LCA was nothing much, ditto ALC. Women chaplains worked at colleges, like Harvard, and at some institutions. 

Notice that the Woke language of today was being heavily promoted five years ago, by the lady who defeated Mark Hanson - above - for ELCA presiding bishop. Equity means half the ELCA bishops are now women, claiming in print that the Holy Spirit was in the closet and is being let out, so we can see what She does, a bizarre mix of Enthusiasm and The View.

 "A new fad for us to follow - Unstuck!
Whee! I can feel it working already!"

Did the LCMS-WELS-ELS really think ELCA would drive their members into "conservative" congregations, tossing fresh money into their coffers? Lyle Schaller, a Methodist minister consultant told them ELCA would be a bonus for the "conservatives."

 As many know, this was prophetic.

When the Great Lutheran Apostasy leaders (ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC-micro-minies)... 

1. conference together, 
2. teach Universal Objective Justification with one accord, and 
3. hang their tongues out for Thrivent money and Thrivent money changers in the Temple - getting a divine call - expect nothing but further disasters.

PS - From Ichabod 2018

ELCA Female Bishops - Partners in Ministry with WELS-LCMS-ELS.
Enthusiasts Together, UOJ to a Fault

 https://religionnews.com/2018/07/25/new-elca-female-synod-bishops-talk-metoo-religious-left-what-lutheran-looks-like/

Briner: (Southwestern Texas Synod) has some of the fastest-growing cities in the entire U.S. along the corridor of San Antonio to Austin and beyond. We have people of all ages moving in, but they’re not generally coming to church. So we have an incredible opportunity there, but a lot of it is thinking about how are we different. We’ve become a really settled people who have become very comfortable with the way we’ve always done things. So trying to figure out, how do we be open to the Spirit and be open to the Spirit’s work? Because I’m telling you what, the Spirit is up to something …

Bishops: Amen. Yes, she is.

 Sue Briner, LinkedIn

Briner: … if we would just let her out.

Bishops: Let her out. Get out of her way.

Briner: Open the doors and let her out.

Bishops: She’s out! She is loose!

Why Do the WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC Sects Clamor for the Universalism of ELCA?

Schulz taught at Concordia, Mequon. They seldom mention that - like John Sparky Brenner - his PhD is from a Jesuit university - Marquette. He touts "universal justification" that strange contradiction so much like hot-cold and black-white.

The modern synodical hatred for Luther's Biblical doctrine does not go back to the Reformation, but only to recent times. 

One thing is clear - Objective Justification Universalism brings them all together at the same hog wallow.

They are far more unified by Thrivent than by the Lutheran Confessions. The recent WELS hiring of Thrivent Annuity Salesmen (aka Planned Giving Counselors) is proof of their desperation. The salesmen need an insurance license and get commissions, as reported by Father S. S. - who will deny he ever said that.

Like the Easter Lilies - Late But Welcome

 Bee Balm never disappoints.

I bought three potted Easter Lilies for Easter Sunday, going through the offerings at Walmart and its local competitor, Harps. That group provided one bloom and many buds for Easter Sunday. Now they are in full bloom.

I started with a few Hostas from the Gardeners' over-supply, years ago. The ones from the front yard were roasting in the sun. They were moved to the shade of the green fence planted by birds resting on the log fence in the backyard. The Hostas were mature, so they are bursting out of the ground now. With a bit of luck, more will be established this year. I have learned to use the plastic collars around each new Hosta, because the critters love to tug them out of the ground and eat them.

 Instead of chemicals, Howard promoted the use of organic matter to keep the soil in India fertile and productive.

Hosta blooms are loved by hummingbirds. 

The Bee Balms are popping up now. Until a few days ago, they seemed to be gone. They are well established and enjoyed for their not-so-ironic attraction to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. When the Military Gardening Group gathers on the front porch for coffee, the plants and their tiny companions serve as constant entertainment. I enjoy hearing them and guests ask, "What is that?"

When our vet tech neighbor looked at our Joe Pye Weed in bloom, she said, "I saw those at the nature preserve. I live next to a nature preserve!" Joe Pye is especially loved by butterflies and bees.

Like Joe Pye, Clethra is a late bloomer, but very welcome. Clethra provides a cinnamon sweet fragrance, best enjoyed by a gentle breeze. Insects love the tiny compound  flowers of Joe Pye, Clethra, and Mountain Mint.

 Hostas come in many colors and patterns, and critters love them small. All my new Hostas are collared and watered with rain from the rain barrels.

Getting Rid of the Majority at Lutheran Seminaries

The Calvinist - Rev. Dr. Theresa Latini - had a moment of clarity in her life, and the students never forgave her for that. She works at the big Augustana Synod parish in Minnesota now.

A professor at United Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia, just died at the age of 81, though they listed his birth as 1935. I am getting 87, but that may have been a typo.

He was their endowed professor of Anglican Studies, one more example of teaching everything except Luther's Biblical doctrine. When the ELCA seminaries finish hiring professors of 

• various world religions, 
• various denominations, and 
• various genders (37 and counting), 

there are no slots left for traditional men who are Lutheran.

Go easy on me talking about marketing, but that is the only thing I learned in WELS. This ELCA swing to non-Lutheran leaders in their Lutheran seminaries is a big mistake, since only a few of their potential students belong to the World Council of Churches/NCC faction that runs ELCA. I do not need to tell anyone the favored population of their student bodies, but it is not promising.

ELCA rejoiced when Latini was replaced with a Professor of Lutheran Confessions, a man so talented, he was a pastor for only a few months, then serving only a few more months as bishop. Although they embraced Latini for being a Presbyterian woman, that did not match his remarkable resume, Professor-Pastor-Bishop-President Guy Erwin.