Sunday, May 1, 2022

There Are More Great-Grandmothers Now,
So Many of Us Have Two Generations To Honor and Thank

This is my mother holding her great-granddaughter.

 Christina Jackson is holding Erin Joy. The nurses called her Joy for her happiness and laughter, only to find out that was her middle name, besides ours for her - Erin Where's the Party Jackson.


 Christina is holding the older sister, Bethany Joan Marie, whose smiles and natural curly blonde hair earned her the nickname Angel. She posed for the camera every time.



 Christina loved to visit people. This was at Larry Carlson's home; he suffered from ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.


 Christina posed with LCA Presiding Bishop James Crumley. Years later we were at lunch with him, and he asked about my exit from the LCA.


 Christina's photo with Alice Walton led to the group picture of the Walton family at their art museum.


Christina got a hug from Alice Walton, which led to the Walton family photo above. I met both of the CEOs of Walmart at their meetings. I do that because there is often just one chance.


 Hang around too long, you get your portrait at a museum.


 Pastor Lawrence White, LCMS, spoke at a conference we attended. Christina enjoyed talking to him, and he was very gracious.


 We only have so long to be with our mothers, so we should let them enjoy our love for them, because the final years are too brief.

This is a short list of famous people I made an effort to meet - President Richard Nixon, President Ronald Reagan (I led us into the VIP section), Roland Bainton, Stan Hauerwas, several of the Waltons and two Walmart CEOs, actor Hugh Jackman, Jack and Robert Preus, Ralph Bohlmann (who left me frostbitten), David Preus, actress Julie Harris, and Graham associate Cliff Barrows, and clarinet artist Benny Goodman.

Every single mother is worth more than all the celebrities, stars, and famous people put together.

Almost all my Moline friends have seen their mothers pass away. So many say on Facebook, "I wish I could talk to my mother now for just 10 minutes." The younger ones can do that now. 

Gladys Parker, 18, was a co-ed in 1931, going to Normal College to be a teacher. Her students still talk about her being the best they ever had.


Sunday Morning Mike Problem


I am sorry. I was so enthralled with everything technical that I did not ask if the mike needed its own power. Apparently it does, because neither mike worked for the service today.

Alec enjoyed seeing the mike lifted up as the culprit. No, I did not feel like tossing it out the window. This is a great adventure with a lot of possibilities for spreading the Word.

I will provide a make-up service in a day or two. Stay tuned.

We may also need to match the speed of my fiber optic with what the system should handle. We have a jet engine for internet speed (1000 megs) and the default setting was lower. That may have contributed to bad viewing, which can be adjusted.


Misericordias Domini - The Second Sunday after Easter, 2022


 

Misericordias Domini – 

The Second Sunday after Easter, 2022 

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

 

Bethany Lutheran Church, 
10AM Central Daylight Time

 


The Hymn #436         The Lord's My Shepherd

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made. Psalm. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

 

God, who by the humiliation of Thy Son didst raise up the fallen world, grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death do Thou make partakers of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.


The Epistle and Gradual       

 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Then was the Lord Jesus known of the disciples: in the breaking of bread. Hallelujah!

V. I am the Good Shepherd: and know My sheep and am known of Mine. Hallelujah!

 

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #305:1-5 - Soul, Adorn Thyself


Unity of the Gospel

 

The Communion Hymn # 328          O Jesus Lamb of God Thou Art - CPE Bach

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #50              Lord Dismiss Us    

 

Prayers and Announcements

  • Medical Care and Concerns - Pastor James Shrader and his wife Chris, Kermit Way and his wife Maria Ellenberger Way, Callie and her mother Peggy, C.
  • Glen Kotten received the news that his fiancĂ© can fly to America for their wedding this summer. Congratulations and God's Blessings!
  • Pastor Jackson's has cut his online teaching in half to make more time for video lectures, etc.
  • We all have one thing in common - we are here because of our mothers. Anyone with a living mother should thank her, pay attention to her needs, and realize how much she has done. Only those - who can only visit the grave and hear the kindly remarks of mom's relatives, friends, co-workers - fully appreciate those facts.

 

 


Second Sunday After Easter

Lord God, heavenly Father, who of Thy fatherly goodness hast been mindful of us poor, miserable sinners, and hast given Thy beloved Son to be our shepherd, not only to nourish us by His word, but also to defend us from sin, death, and the devil: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that, even as this Shepherd doth know us and succor us in every affliction, we also may know Him, and, trusting in Him, seek help and comfort in Him, from our hearts obey His voice, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

 

KJV 1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

 

KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 

Three of Luther’s sermons on this text:


Unity of the Gospel

KJV 1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Luther noted in his commentary on 1 and 2 Peter that Peter's letters should be carefully studies because the short letters have some of the great passages of the New Testament.

One writer recently stated that the problem with modern translations is easy to describe - the unknown collections of translators do not accept or teach the basics of the Scriptures, that -
  1. The Word is clear, authoritative, and divine;
  2. The Word is one harmonious whole, the Book of the Holy Spirit, always efficacious because the Word and the Spirit are always together, never apart.
  3. The Bible judges all books and is not judged by any other book;
  4. The passages we do not understand are illuminated by the plain, clear passages.
I did not include inerrant or infallible, because both terms are tossed about by the modernists, and those adjectives are necessarily part of the description of the Sacred Scripturas.

Once translators (collected by that particular Bible business - NIV, RSV, ESV, NRSV, etc.) accept the falsehoods of the apostate professors, they nave plenty of reason to distort and mock the text of the New Testament, not to mention the Old Testament. The translators favor the fraudulent Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus - which conflict with each other, but dismiss the 5,000 Majority (Traditional, Byzantine) texts that agree. In fact, the two fake codices disagree with each other.

So we have in this 1 Peter passage a message which reflects John 10 - I AM the Good Shepherd, using different words, a slightly different presentation of the same message, which began with the blood of the lamb and the Passover Meal so many centuries before Christ.

First Peter is very much concerned with the problem of persecution. It is thought that he was executed in Jerusalem, and the persecution there pushed the Christians out of the hostile city. Later, due to the arrogance of some zealots, they brought the Roman Imperial Army down of them, and Jerusalem was destroyed, people carted off into slavery, and the Temple laid flat from the soldiers looking for gold.

Jesus is first of all our example in suffering, though ours is so little compared to what He did. To this day experts call crucifixion the cruelest form of death possible. And that was a horrible beating, insults, punches, and the abandonment of the disciples (except John). 

No matter what happens, we are to follow In His Steps. (That is the name of a famous best-seller.)

22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Here is the definition - He was without sin, yet He was judged guilty and worth of death. He was reviled and yet He did not return the hatred.

In fact, Jesus warned them time after time, that faith in Him is faith in God the Father, that all things happening were the will and grace of God the Father and God the Son participating. 

He suffered horribly and did not do anything He could have done, which made the enemies and the crowd insult Him even more. Is it no surprise that a Roman soldier confessed his faith in Jesus as He was dying?

Jesus - instead of throwing the hatred back - let God the Father carry out the divine purpose.

24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The temptation is to say, "But I know all this," when we should consider and repeat to ourselves what this one verse says. In carrying our sins, taking them on Himself, atoned for the sins of the world.

One person who writes to me had trouble with Objective Justification, because of information merged together and distorted. One illustration from a Robert Preus book destroys OJ. Christ is the righteousness of God, but His righteousness does not become ours until we believe in Him.

 Preus loved the works of Quenstedt, and the truth came through Preus' last book.

25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Many of us wandered in the wilderness of false teachers, because each sect promised to be real, pure, and had so much to be adored. We did not know it then, but each bad experience was an energizing push in the right direction. In many cases, it took very strong and hurtful forces to move us toward total reliance on the Scriptures. We can identify with the lost sheep of Luke 15, the trusting sheep of Psalm 23, the sheep dying for our sins in Isaiah 53, supported by the details in Psalm 22.



Vincero! RESI Should Broadcast, Starting Before 10 AM,
As Part of Upper Page

 HAL 9000 is a parody of the IBM 9000 mainframe. I use it in my online classes when someone has an issue with the learning system.


In short, there was a problem. Their system could not see our system. HAL 9000 showed all the lights blinking where they should, ditto on another computer, ditto using another router plug.

They took it to a higher level. While they did, I executed a magnificent fix. I did not earn six (6) certifications for nothing.

Tension builds, "What did you do?!"

I turned the encoder off and then on again. Yes, it was on but must have been pouting. 

Everything was checked over by the RESI people - very nice techies.

Vincero!

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Cardinal Fly-By - Early Garden Growth

 





I tried some miracle bird food, which arrived as sunflower seeds and peanuts, plus something else. I poured it onto two bird feeders (garbage barrel lids). The swarmed the food. Later, all of them seemed to be in formation as they flew by the back door.

Cardinals are supposed to be shy birds, but they love their homestead. The male cardinal, according to some sources, will let his mate go first to see if the bath or the food is safe. However, several times I have stepped out of the front or back doors, only to see a Cardinal fly toward me and perch close by. "May I have a few moments with you to share my family's need for fresh food?"

My first Hummingbird of the season hovered around three empty feeders, plus one we no longer hang, then repeated his soul-wrenching flight pattern at each empty feeder and fourth ghost feeder. I filled the three that day.

Instead of a ferocious storm last night, we had a decent rain. I planted in the butterfly garden as the sun was setting. 

We now have Joe Pye Weed growing up quickly, just as the daffodils are finishing their cycle and fading for now. The plants are quite distinctive and robust, predicting their path upward, ready to eliminate weeds by overshadowing them. They would take over the roses, but I can prune them back and let the leaves serve as additional mulch.

Bee Balm is coming up with the Joe Pye, so the bees, butterflies, and Hummingbirds will have hundreds of stations for food. Clethra, the most modest of shrubs, is budding out. 

Young Hostas are known for feeding the rabbits and perhaps the squirrels. The older ones which survive are known for color and for Hummingbird flower spikes, not so attractive except to the Hummingbirds and pollinators. 

The Hostas transplanted last fall are now in the backyard, 

  1. under the green fence of Elderberry bushes and bird-loving shrubs, 
  2. along Mrs. Wright's fence, and 
  3. in the former jungle of weeds far back. 

The Hostas took advantage of winter rains and a bit of snow to burst into mature growth. I have been longing for some blue varieties to show off their color, and they are now in a place where the filtered sunlight shows off their subtle blue and yellow.






Friday, April 29, 2022

Directly Related to the Failing Seminary Syndrome - Keep Track of This Link - Berean Patriot

Berean Patriot reminded me of the Veterans Honor rose.

https://www.bereanpatriot.com/whats-the-best-bible-translation-and-more-importantly-why/

Hello Pastor Greg,

 

Came across this link, and I find it interesting, thought I’d share:

 

What's the Best Bible Translation? And More Importantly, Why? - Berean Patriot

 

Now I don’t know who this guy is nor what his credentials are, but he seems to have done his homework and I can relate to his line of reasoning. He links to other articles of his, on textual criticism and also the Apocrypha.

 

His link is entirely about modern Bible translations, none of which he thinks are usable, except for the NKJV and the NASB95. He has this to say about the ESV:

 

"I actually consider the ESV to be among the most dangerous of all Bible translations.

Not because it’s the worst translation – it’s not – but because it’s subtle, almost sneaky, about being bad. It’s just literal enough and just gender-accurate enough to escape detection as being mistranslated. This is especially bad because all the passages where they intentionally mistranslated God’s words also go undetected. (And there are more besides the half dozen we looked at.) In my opinion, that makes it more dangerous than something obviously mistranslated like the NIV and NLT.  Plus, there’s that word it deleted in 1 Cor 6:9…"

 

I like this kind of talk!

 

Anyway, you may find something of interest in this link.

 

In Christ"


***


GJ - Blog are often a good place to find out information or to get opinions about important topics. I enjoy the comment about ESV, because so many Lutheran pastors tried to show me their superiority by snobbishly telling me, "I can't stand the NIV. I use the ESV.


Lutherans are not even in the picture about defending the apostolic Majority Text.


Wherever Christianity has touched a new area with the Scriptures, the Faith of Jesus has grown and spread. People have risked their lives and died from persecution, spreading the Gospel even more. 


Lutheran seminaries - from ELCA on down to the CLC (sic) - have bailed out of the KJV, ridiculed it at every opportunity, and turned out class after shrinking class of 

unbelievers. The cold cash of St. Marvin Schwan did not build up any seminary, but left the institutions with even more brick and mortar to heat, cool, and repair. Did they not know they were building monuments to an adulterer who bought off his long-suffering wife for $1 million and a Cadillac? Schwan did not make any donations anonymous. Marvin had his name on everything but his place in heaven.


 St. Marvin's mug is mostly scrubbed from the Internet. So is his notorious behavior and the consequences. Ask your Circuit Pastor or District President about the death of his first wife. It has to do with his grinning photo in Forbes. Even the ELS knows.


Link to The King James Version Review on Amazon

 Link to The KJV on Amazon, print and Kindle

Top review from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2022
Gregory L Jackson PhD is a Lutheran theologian, teacher, and pastor. He received a STM degree in Biblical studies from Yale in 1973 and he earned a Master's degree and a PhD in theology at the University of Notre Dame in 1982.

The purpose of the Bible is to instill faith. Faith is the instrument God uses to save us. Doubt is the instrument the devil uses to lead us away from God.

In his previous book on the King James Version (KJV), Dr Jackson demonstrated that the KJV is an inspired and trustworthy translation, and it is the Bible which faithful English-speaking Christians should read. He described how the authentic texts of the Bible were preserved and passed down by faithful men as what we call the Majority Texts, and how they were translated into English by faithful men.

In this book, Dr Jackson demonstrates that “modern” Bible translations (such as the RSV and NIV) are neither inspired nor trustworthy. They are based on defective texts, translated by faithless men.

On page 1, Dr Jackson provides the following quote from the Trinitarian Bible Society regarding the problem with modern translations:

“Today there is an artificially produced conviction resulting from marketing techniques and imposed on the churches from without. This whole modern consensus maintains the Bible publishing industry must now determine the texts of Scripture.

The Church ... has abdicated her role as guardian of the Bible and has turned such responsibility to hirelings who market various, conflicting translations to the confusion and disarray of the Church.”


Dr Jackson provides an overview of the actions of several persons who brought us to this state: Constantine Tischendorf with his 'discovery' of Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus which he claimed were the world's oldest and best Bibles, Wescott and Hort with their redacted Greek New Testament which removed references to miracles and the divinity of Jesus, and Eugene Nida with his dynamic-equivalent, paraphrase translations in which essential doctrines are watered-down so as to make them acceptable to Roman Catholics and other apostates.

Dr Jackson also provides an extensive lists of books which the reader may use to make a deep-dive study of the issues behind deficiencies in modern Bible translations. Therefore, one can use this book as an overview of the issues as well as a reference source for further study.

I would recommend this book to someone who wishes to learn about the deficiencies of 'modern' Bible translations and how such defective Bibles have contributed to the apostasy which we see today in mainline denominations.

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