Creation Is the Little Picture

 

 The Maria Shriver rose is replacing the John Paul II roses. White roses tend to be weak, and JP2 fades the moment it is cut for the altar.

Today I began my search for a rescue dog, got some advice, and drove onto the gardening center. I was hoping for another showy, potted rose and some hostas with a theme. Daisies are good for  roses, so I snagged a yellow shasta with coconut like fringes on the bloom. Last year I had white coconut daisies, late with only a little growth in the drought.

Call me nostalgic, but the Queen Elizabeth rose is the most beautiful one of all. The bud alone signals a perfect bloom of ethereal color - developed by a Creation scientist.

Steady rain has been a boon for grasses, weeds, and flowers. The frail plants have become strong with the combinations of rain, drizzle, and sunshine.

The rose Ranger Bob dubbed The Rose From Hell is now the favorite. The blooms are a light red with white, making them look otherworldly. The thorns are still the worst I have ever endured, especially good for accidental blood-letting. Bob spotted a second one (neglected but blooming in the back) and suggested a group for frustrating prowlers.

 Easy Does is prolific and displays "the colors of sunset."

The shy but persistent photographer got this Easy Does It rose photo for a wedding rehearsal dinner. 

I sit down on a square of cardboard to work on planting and pruning. I was near the sidewalk and the beautiful Easy Does It roses when our Hispanic grandmother came by.  A few weeks ago she gave me presents for the roses from last year. She loved talking about the new ones. She got a bunch of Mother's Day roses from Bethany Lutheran Church. The newly moved-in next-door mother of three got the biggest arrangement. Everyone found roses on their doorsteps, including four households outside our little cul-de-sac.

The steady rains energized the struggling plants from last year. Hand-crafted holes for the newest plants made me think of the musical Carousel. "Look at them worms" instead of "Look at them clams." There is an extra boost from

• Stored rainwater
• Organic mulch
• Red wiggler earthworms and related creatures.

The increase is exponential because each part benefits and grows the other parts. 

Biblical Doctrine - Efficacy of the Word versus Enthusiasm

 

Hoenecke, the WELS theologian, wrote in his Dogmatics - "The Word never without the Spirit [GJ - efficacy], the Spirit never without the Word [GJ - Luther called it Enthusiasm]. That is sound doctrine."

The efficacy of God's Word is well known to Ichabod readers - and should be - because the New Testament is packed with references to the term in Greek. The Greek word is - literally - energy, which breaks down to "working in."

God's Word always has an effect, as Isaiah 55 teaches. 

Luther used the term Enthusiasm for "the Spirit without the Word."

Enthusiasm

The term Enthusiasm was used by Luther and is found in the Book of Concord. Anything taught outside of the Scriptures is Enthusiasm. Here are a few examples:

• Purgatory  
• Mary without sin  
• Infallible Pope.  

The world religions - Buddhist or Atheist or Universalist - are Enthusiasm.

When a Pentecostal says, "The Holy Spirit told me you must go to Venezuela and become a missionary there," that is also Enthusiasm. If a claim cannot be supported clearly by the Word, the pronouncement is Enthusiasm.

The modern Bibles are Enthusiasm, not because they are new but because so much has been erased from the Scriptures or changed in meaning. No shock for the faithful is this simple truth - the Bad Bible Boosters are Enthusiasts who use their vapid, lame translations to promote their dogma - 

• The Virgin Birth in Isaiah 7:14 is replaced by "a young woman", or a "young woman" becomes the explanation in the footnote. Your experience may vary.
• Justification by Faith was not denied in the old version of the NIV, but the new NIV claims "all are justified" in Romans 3.
• Various new "translations" make it clear - to them - that Mark 16:9-20 does not belong, which erases the empty tomb and the Ascension from that Gospel.

Scholars are usually NOT divided about the New Testament text, because the vast majority of them favor the Universalist-Unitarian toxins.

Note well - all the Lutheran synods - WELS, ELCA, LCMS, ELS, CLC - are Enthusiasts. They have a grab bag of lesser doctrines and gladly embrace just about anything among their synodical brethren, especially concerning Thrivent loot. However, their cloven feet are welded to their religious foundation - Objective Faithless Justification. Even a whisper of opposition against their "Chief Article" will spark the foul odors of their Confession of Unfaith.

Do I exaggerate? Not at all. WELSians Frosty Bivens and Mark Zarling declared that the Chief Article of Christianity was their precious Objective Faithless Justification. They published their nonsense with unfeigned glee and have not let go. Like the Emmaus Conference gurus - Jay Webber and Jon-Boy Buchholz - they repeat their error without shame and dance to the sound of hooves clopping.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - The Ascension - "And Suffer Nothing To Remain But Faith"

 

Complete Sermon - Day of Christ’s Ascension Into Heaven. Mark 16:14-20. Christ Commissions his Disciples to Preach the Gospel

5. What is the Gospel? It is these words which the Lord speaks: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

We have often said — and I think we ought to thoroughly understand it by this time — that the Gospel cannot suffer us to preach works, however good and great these may be; for it seeks to pluck us down from our presumption and to set and plant us solely upon God’s mercy, that his work and grace alone may be extolled. Therefore, it suffers us not to rely upon our works. For one of these two must perish: if I stand upon God’s grace and mercy, I do not stand upon my merit and works; and, vice versa, if I stand upon any works and merit, I do not stand upon God’s grace. For, “if it is by grace,” says St. Paul, Romans 11:6, “it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.” I cannot say that God owes me a reward, but I must confess that he has given it to me entirely as a free gift.

6. Hence, he that would preach the Gospel must cast aside all works that are calculated to make men just, and suffer nothing to remain but faith, or I must believe that God, without any merit of mine and regardless of all my works, has granted me his grace and eternal life, so that I am constrained to thank him and say: I rejoice, praise and thank God that he has freely and out of pure grace given me this most excellent boon. Likewise that the Gospel is, as Scripture says, nothing more nor less than a declaration of the honor, praise and glory of God. As we read in Psalm 19:1-2: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” Therefore, we must preach in a way that the glory and praise will be given to God and not to ourselves. Now, there is no greater praise and glory that we can give to God than this, that we confess that he, out of pure grace and mercy, takes away from us sin, death, and hell, and gives his beloved Son for us, and all his treasures to us. Such a confession must give glory and honor and praise to him alone.

 Emmaus disciples and the Risen Christ