Is the Fan Club for Matt the Fatt Crypto-Papal? No, They Ooze Rome and Openly Covet the Papacy Without Hesitation.

“Lochner spreads a veritable feast before you for nearly every occasion where the pastor is expected to serve up the Word. Of course, the Mass is central (and he offers some more thoughts on that too!), but it does not exist in isolation. Put together at the request of his fellow pastors, Lochner again ransacks the Church Orders to present an Agenda that draws upon the vast wealth of our Church’s liturgical tradition for occasional services....

“Liturgical Forms is truly the 19th century’s Pastoral Care Companion. Yet again, we find ourselves deeply in Matthew Carver’s debt as he continues to bring into English important works that give us vital insights into the lex orandi of the Lutheran Church.”

William Weedon, Assistant Pastor
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel IL
  

***

A glowing review from Rev. Will Weedon

I do not exaggerate: this is the book that I have been looking for in vain for years. It is the definitive book on the classic historic Lutheran liturgy, where that liturgy is grounded in complete continuity with what came in the centuries before. Lochner’s work shows how the liturgy was purified at the Reformation and then offered to the Church in the service of the Gospel. In Lochner, the liturgy lives and breathes; it is manifestly not some museum artifact but a richly ordered way for the people of God to feast upon the twin gifts that constitute the Chief Divine Service: the Word and the Holy Sacrament.

 

All lovers of Lutheran doctrine and liturgy and music will want this book on their shelves, and they will all be grateful to Matthew Carver, yet again.

Rev. William Weedon St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel, Illinois

When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Plant Caladiums

Caladiums come in many variations of white, pink, and red. They are planted after the last frost (everyone hopes) and slowly grow up to show off their colors.

I ordered a few, which came at a good time. I look at the IBM weather report and try to get things in the ground just before a rain. That seems to have happened today. I enjoy sitting on a cardboard square the ground and digging holes for the latest project. 

The bare root roses came in when it was too cold, so I soaked them in a rain barrel and planted them before several days of rain finished my work. The new ones and last year's have sprouted leaves. 

Caladiums are not spectacular, but their leaves add color to the garden for months.

I enjoy seeing the garden from the ground floor. Many different early-birds sprout among the hardy bulbs. Tiny flowers are a magnet for bees, so I saw them working the hyacinths at a bad time. I was hovering over the flowers while they were cruising the hyacinths. However, I remain unstung over decades, except for one red hornet which zapped me lightly just for existing.

The autumn leaves are being pulled down by earthworms into the soil. Ranger Bob said, "You are the only one on this block that adds leaves to the yard." I said, "I am the only one with roses, too."

I am planning on some gladiolus, not because I am a big fan, but because they are so inexpensive. I can hardly resist the price, so I now put a few in. We are nearly in the gladiolus planting season, so I will get a few.

Babylon Bee - Banks Asking To Borrow Loans from Their Customers

 Banks Begin Calling Customers To Ask For Loans

FINANCE·Mar 22, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

U.S. — In a stunning development resulting from the faltering of the United States banking system, banks have now begun calling their customers and asking for loans. According to reports, thousands of desperate bankers have called up lendees to ask for a few bucks.

"So, uh... how's it hanging there... Rob A. Smith?" said one Fifth Third executive to Rob Smith in Chillicothe Ohio. "You enjoying that, um... 2013 Ford Fusion you financed with us? Yeah, such a great car, the Ford Fusion. How are the kids doing? So, um, while I have you on here, you don't think you could float me a couple thousand, could you? I promise I'll pay you back!"

Masthead Quote of the Day - From Luther's Judica Sermon

Quote from Judica -  Luther's Complete Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

A Christian has that Word and clings firmly to it in death; therefore he does not see death, but his eyes are filled with the life and the Christ in that Word; therefore he never feels death. But the godless possess not that Word, therefore they see no life, but only death; and they must also feel death; that is then the bitter and eternal death.

11. Now Christ means here that whoever clings to his Word will in the midst of death neither feel nor see death, as he also says in John 11:25: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me though he die, yet shall he live,” that is, he will not experience real death. Here we see now what a glorious estate it is to be a Christian, who is already released from death forever and can never die. For his death or dying seems outwardly indeed like the dying of the godless, but inwardly there is a difference as great as between heaven and earth. For the Christian sleeps in death and in that way enters into life, but the godless departs from life and experiences death forever; thus we may see how some tremble, doubt and despair, and become senseless and raging in the midst of the perils of death. Hence death is also called in the Scriptures a sleep. For just as he who falls asleep does not know how it happens, and he greets the morning when he awakes; so shall we suddenly arise on the last day, and never know how we entered and passed through death.