Sunday, July 10, 2022

Graduation, 1972. Waterloo Lutheran Seminary,
Now Much Smaller as Martin Luther University Seminary.

 

Black and white photograph of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary graduates and faculty members in the Seminary chapel. Left to right, back row: Delton Glebe, Eric Howes, David Granskou, Ragnar Teigen, Eduard Riegert and Unknown. Centre row: Gregg Jackson and Gil Scharf. Front row: Guenter Dahle, Laurie Van Kleek, Paul Schweitzer, Bill Wade, Unknown (Ron Mulberger) and Dave Hardy. 1972.

The faculty from this photo have passed away, except for Richard Crossman (Unknown), who became the next seminary dean or principal. Crossman was a Tillich fan who took 20 more years to finish his doctorate. Crossman retired, replaced by a lady dean.

Ulrich Leupold, PhD, was the dean and New Testament professor before Delton Glebe became dean, making the curriculum all about counseling. Leupold died of a degenerative brain condition. I told him where I planned to go and he gestured happiness with his shaking hand. The faculty and students encouraged me - in their own way. Another Leupold taught much earlier at Cap Seminary, Columbus, Ohio (Loy, Leupold, Lenski).

 This building included Waterloo Seminary's  chapel, a few seminary rooms, and the MSW program. Now it is mostly a counseling training center with a few seminary students and fewer seminary faculty. 


The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2022



The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2022

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson




The melodies are linked in the hymn name. 
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.



The Hymn # 452                      The Son of God  
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 
The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #528:10-15  If God Himself Be For Me

A Simple Guideline

The Communion Hymn # 308       Invited Lord  
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 # 651                    Be Still My Soul 


Prayers and Announcements

  •  Kermit and Maria Way, Pastor Jim and Chris Shrader, Callie, her mother Peggy, and her father Calvin, C.
  • The doctor gave Lynda Roper good news.
  • Esther Estrada will arrive in Minnesota on July 20th. Glen Kotten and Esther will be married on July 23rd.
  • Norma Boeckler's son has experience with church broadcasting and has ideas about the sound.
  • The Bible Book came out last year, and a much improved The King James Version, the newest book, is reaching new people. Email if you or someone else wants one or two.




KJV Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

Fourth Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father, who art merciful, and through Christ didst promise us, that Thou wilt neither judge nor condemn us, but graciously forgive us all our sins, and abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: We pray Thee, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt establish in our hearts a confident faith in Thy mercy, and teach us also to be merciful to our neighbor, that we may not judge or condemn others, but willingly forgive all men, and, Judging only ourselves, lead blessed lives in Thy fear, through Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

A Simple Guideline

 

KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 

Basic to the Bible is the revelation that God is merciful. The parallel qualities follow adding to the initial powerful statement - Be merciful. Why? Because God is merciful, not judging, not condemning, but forgiving.

As Lenski points out in his unique, grammatical way, be merciful does not mean be merciful once, but be continuously merciful, always merciful. Lenski, Luke, p. 372.

This relationship can be found in another form in John 15, Jesus as the True Vine. He is continuously bearing fruit, so we as, as the fruit  of the Vine, obtain those qualities from faith in Him. That is the way we obtain grace, through faith in all the work of Jesus Christ but primarily in His Atonement, Resurrection, and Ascension.

The Gospel-dominant emphasis in the Bible is often ignored or misunderstood. Our human temptation is to dwell on the Law and merge the Law and Gospel together, as if we cannot be forgiven unless we are perfect.

The opening of this passage is also teaching us that we should be as forgiving toward others as God is toward us.

38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 

This passage has been promoted by hucksters like the one who had a money machine. He worked on cruise lines long ago. He had a machine that converted ordinary dollars into $100. As I recall, he sold many copies of this machine, which was engineered to work that way.

Verse 38 is a remedy for those who cannot let go and forgive, who will not help others, who have no time for others, who want to keep everything for themselves, including their time.

Instead, when we give - of ourselves and what we have to share - we should have no fears about God giving to us far more than we give to others. What we share goes out and comes back in other forms.

Many times I have built up Lutheran, Biblical book collections and given most of them away, so others can enjoy them and gain from them. Lately I have received a lot of those titles back, while mailing three boxes away for free. 

Money and time are like roses, which grow more productive when shared with others. That is often missed by visitors. They are pruned so they can be even more fruitful, John 15.

Time is our most precious commodity because it is extremely limited, day by day, and in the long view (which gets shorter all the time). God wants us to share time with others because those moments may be the last ones we have.

If shunning worked for the betterment of mankind, we would be in Paradise now. America has so many classes, levels, and types of shunning, to enforce a code no one can comprehend, that many fear using the "wrong" word or going to the "wrong" gathering or having the "wrong" opinion.

39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 

Many are completely blind spiritually and are praised and protected as great leaders. One can follow their landings in the ditch, followed by their disciples (whom they made) who are just as blind. I will not mention Fuller Seminary and their blind followers (think of the $100 machine). 

For example, Westcott-Hort created their own Greek New Testament (GNT), snipping and clipping and pasting with glee. Today's modern scholars of the GNT realize that 160 years later, they still only have the Westcott-Hort GNT (in effect), whose theories have been completely destroyed as wrong, delusional, and a massive joke. The "modern, scholarly" GNTs continue to blind new students while the majority of Bible readers stick to the Byzantine, Majority Text and the King James Version.

40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

We should always keep in mind that everything in the Bible is about Jesus the Son of God. I had a class quiz on each special happening in the Exodus , calling on confirmands - Burning Bush, the bronze serpent raised up, blood on the doorposts, the lamb without spot, bread from heaven, etc - one student said when I asked him about one event - "I am not sure but the answer is probably Jesus."

This is a verse about Jesus. We should strive to be like Jesus. The fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 are in several cases the descriptions of Jesus - meek and lowly, etc. 

KJV Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

KJV Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And the Beatitudes are based upon Christ Himself. 

Everything is conditioned upon keeping Jesus Christ as our center, our foundation, and "our hero" as Luther wrote. Someone who wants to change, dilute, or reject the Gospel (and there are many) will have disciples like them, who are the little Antichrists follow their master, their Father Below.

41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

This is always where we need to start when examining the faults of others. In the Age of Woke, we have much more blaming, shunning, and demanding repayment for mistakes made, even if the slight is imaginary.



Saturday, July 9, 2022

Watch the KJV Quotations Change on the Masthead.
Get Free Copies of The King James Version: Apostolic Texts, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations

H. L. Menken, 

Famous Journalist and Agnostic 

“It is the most beautiful of all the translations of the Bible; indeed, it is probably the most beautiful piece of writing in all the literature of the world. Many attempts have been made to purge it of its errors and obscurities. An English Revised Version was published in 1885 and an American Revised Version in 1901, and since then many learned but misguided men have sought to produce translations that should be mathematically accurate, and in the plain speech of everyday. But the Authorized Version has never yielded to any of them, for it is palpably and overwhelmingly better than they are, just as it is better than the Greek New Testament, or the Vulgate, or the Septuagint. Its English is extraordinarily simple, pure, eloquent, lovely. It is a mine of lordly and incomparable poetry, at once the most stirring and the most touching ever heard of.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956).



The quotation above is in the masthead. The blog will keep changing the quotation (all from The King James Version) from time to time, enticing readers to obtain the entire list.

Those who want copies of The King James book - printed in full color - can email me at greg.jackson.edlp@gmail.com

There is no cost and no salesman will drop by. 

 Norma A. Boeckler, our award winning artist, 
illustrated the book and covers.


Open Letter from Tom Fisher


Dear Pastor Jackson,

Please publish this open Letter to all Lutherans.  May Christ give us all ears to hear the correct understanding of Justification by Faith.

Tom Fisher



"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. Ànd the light shineth in darkness and the darkness Comprehended it not." John 1:3-5

Reasoning, that puss sack of sin and unbelief, has engulfed Lutherans in a false understanding of the chief article of the Christian faith: justification by faith.

"The overly chipper opponents of Justification by Faith want to tell the entire world that God is no longer angry with them, no longer viewing them as sinful and faithless.  By starting with the wrong inference about reconciliation, the opponents of the Chief Article draw the wrong conclusion, repeatedly saying, 'God has declared the entire world righteous, forgiven of sin.' " (Pastor Gregory Jackson, PhD, The Path To Understanding Justification, ISBN 9781072530428, pg. 62).  Pastor Jackson goes on to explain that "this false assurance is the foundation of modern antinomianism.  Every Biblical sin is absolved in advance, except denying this strange dogma, which crime results in excommunication, shunning, and an avalanche of slander. (Gregory Jackson, PhD, The Path to Understanding Justification, pg. 62, footnote 21)

We must teach our children the correct understanding of Justification by Faith by using the King James Bible, Luther's Small Catechism pocket edition, and Pastor Greg Jackson's The Path To Understanding Justification.



Be Balm and Spread the Content


A group of students finished their project and almost followed my directions. I use Word's tool for the table of contents, which updates the page numbers.

The paper began - Table of Content.

I liked that typo and kidded them about contentment. This morning I looked at two examples of Bee Balm. One is the area around the mailbox, where I caught the carrier cutting away the flowers around the box.

He did not realize that the Bee Balm blossoms attract several kinds of bees that care only about the pollen. They are like him, taking their predestined packages where they will be useful and appreciated.

The little stand of Bee Balms grew to several hundred around the mailbox, so I trimmed back the ones closest to the box.

The Military Gardening Group enjoys watching the bees work on the balm closer to the porch. It is peaceful and no one gets stung. I even added some red Bee Balm closer to the porch, saving rainwater just for them.

Balm is an generic word for soothing - Is there no balm in Gilead?

KJV Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?


**


***

The other Bee Balm patch began in a weak state, but I was confident, even content. I dug up some and planted them against side of the house getting the most sun - and often the most weeds, from crabgrass to comfrey (knitbone).  I planted in the fall, knowing the roots would do their work during winter and spring.

Bee Balm has the advantage of waiting patiently to show off - just when the roses and other flowers are beaten down by too much sun and too little rain. The handful of balm from last fall grew into a patch of several hundred flowers in the Butterfly Garden for July. Now the blooms are nodding and bending from a host of bees sampling their food. 

KJV 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

I was required to visit people daily when I worked at St. Peter's in Kitchener. I got to see many retired people and enjoyed every minute. They were the living history of the congregation and the area. One Croft told me about the relative who went to America ("no good" she smiled). He changed his name to Kraft and did very well in the food business. He was the Schwan of cheese.

For sceptics and The Lutheran Librarian - "Born in StevensvilleOntario, Canada in 1874, James L. Kraft immigrated to the United States in 1903 and started a wholesale door-to-door cheese business in Chicago; its first year of operations was "dismal", losing US$3,000 and a horse. However, the business took hold and Kraft was joined by his four brothers to form J.L. Kraft and Bros. Company in 1909. As early as 1911, circulars and advertisements were in use by the company.[12]"

One lady did not like those people who countered her health problems with theirs, which were far worse. She said, "Your pneumonia won't cure my cold!" She had many quips like that. 

Our world is becoming crazier. I even resist my favorite independent news sources now. However, God uses the foolish, greedy, and evil to accomplish His will. Pardon the homey example, but one judo practitioner told me, "Use the opponent's strength against him and he will fly through the air, which is what that brown belt did to you."

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

That is a Greek New Testament pun that translates well. Luther used it too - He is as anxious for us and we are for Him.

Luke 15

Friday, July 8, 2022

Matthias Loy's The Augsburg Confession. From the Lutheran Library Publishishing Ministry, Alec Satin - The Lutheran Librarian