Tom Fisher and John 10

 

 Black eyed Susie and her mother

Dear Pastor Jackson,

Today I will again focus on Christ our good Shepherd in John 10 and highlight Luther's comforting thoughts from his book Bondage of the Will. These comforting words of Luther are very precious to me because they bring me close to the Shepherd and Bishop of my soul, our Lord Jesus Christ. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that ye being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye are healed. For ye were as sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Peter 3 )

 I also want to share a true wonderful story of a little cuddly ewe lamb I named Black Eyed Susie, cared for by her mother named Misty. This true story lead me to think of my own mother teaching me to pray the Lord's prayer, and to believe in God my Heavenly Father and in His holy infant child Jesus. It also lead me to think about my grandmother reading Luke 2 to all of us grandchildren every Christmas. All of us grandchildren would gather around the old round oak table as our grandmother read Luke 2 to us by the flickering light of the old coal oil lamp:

"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,  and saying,  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:1-14

And so my grandmother and my mom constantly taught me God's Word so now I believe in God my Heavenly Father and in His holy infant child Jesus. 

I am pondering in amazement about how God's grace, God's kingdom, and God's Word all came to me by my mother and grandmother:

*Bringing me to be baptized into Christ and receive the entire Christ and His righteousness in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

*Praying the Lord's prayer with me every night and then answering all my 'God questions' (My brother and I became skilled in spontaneously asking never ending  questions about God until finally our mother would tossel our hair and tell us it was now time to go to sleep trusting God our Heavenly Father )

*Reading God's Word to me from the King James Bible and then later having my brother and I read the King James Bible out loud. My grandmother would have my brothers and I look up Bible passages from Portals of Prayer and then read them from her old dog eared King James Bible.

*Bringing my brothers and I to church every Sunday and then asking both of us to explain what we learned from the sermon. When we visited our grandmother on her farm our whole family would go to her church: St. John's Lutheran Church. Grandmother would give us a 'chicklet' to chew on reminding us to sit still and listen. Here I learned to love the King James Bible liturgy from the red hymnal at a very young age. I also observed the blessing, strengthening, and peace my mother and grandmother received at holy communion. I perceived it was not empty but abundantly full of God's blessings, and a peace that was beyond understanding.

*Consistently teaching my brothers and I the 10 commandments through out the day. 

*Teaching my brothers and I to be happy especially as we worked. I can still hear my mother singing as she did the laundry and the endless menial tasks that tend to make us feel sorry for ourselves. My mom grew up on a farm during the 1920's and 1930's. They had no electricity, no running water, no indoor bathroom, no air conditioning, no centralized heating, but they all had the one thing needful: to listen to, read, and ponder God's Words. This gave all of them true happiness and peace as they did all those menial labor intensive chores on the farm. My mom would often tell me how she could hear her mother singing 'What a Friend We Have In Jesus' as she carried two buckets of milk from the barn to the house. 

*Teaching my brothers and I to endure hardships, sickness, failures, disappointments, trusting God''s Fatherly merciful care. 

God has mother's care for the greatest in the kingdom of God: little infants, and little children.  Their angels do always behold the face of their Father in heaven. Wow! This should make every mother join with the virgin Mary saying:

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever." Luke 1:46-55

So women preach to us too, especially when we are little. They bring us to Jesus our Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. "And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. " Luke 18:15-17 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father in heaven. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine that went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones perish. Luke 18:10-14

Ringo watches the sheep.

Just one little lamb with a black eye brought all of these thoughts to mind. Black Eyed Susie had a rough start. I found her way at the other end of the pasture yelling her head off for her mother Misty.  She was still wet as I carried her back to her mother. Misty immediately started to lick her off. I thought everything was going good until Ringo, my guardian dog kept playing with this little lamb,  preventing it from nursing. I had quite a time keeping Ringo away from Black Eyed Susie. Finally Ringo got the message and I was sure she had nursed. It takes about five days for new lambs to latch onto their mother. Until then they do not know their mother's voice and easily get lost. The grass is tall so little Black Eyed Susie easily got lost and separated from Misty her mother.  I would often find little Black Eyed Susie lost in the tall grass at the far end of the pasture. I would pick her up and begin to carry her back to Misty.  At first she would squirm and kick a little. Then she would snuggle down and enjoy the journey through the pasture. Black Eyed Susie is the most special, cuddly and snuggly little lamb I have ever carried. Christ our Shepherd carries us too!

It is so comforting that Christ our Lord calls us lambs when we are little and sheep when we are older. Christ here shows how precious we are to him. He is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls!!

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one " John 10:27-30

Our old nature, reasoning, and our old will constantly add sneaky, subtle works righteousness to our justification. Luther constantly corrected this error that is around all our necks, firmly pushing us back to Christ the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Do it yourself 'christianity' runs full throttle here in America and throughout the world adding our own will power, decisions, endeavours, and emotional devotion to our justification. This eternally fatal error is engrained in the Bible Belt especially among Baptists who insist you must make a decision for Christ and come forward to the alter to accept him into your heart. Oh how they despise God's work, will, name, and power in Baptism. Smart aleck LCMS pastors, seminary professors, and laymen further undermine and corrupt justification by faith in Christ. They teach universalism they cleverly call objective justification (everyone is already forgiven without faith). Then they add synergism calling it subjective justification (man must decide to accept their false dogma that everyone is already forgiven without faith in Christ). Be sure to read page 169 of Pastor Jackson's book, The King James Version: Apostolic Texts, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations; and also page 11 of The Path To Understanding Justification. Perhaps all of these sneaky errors could be described by the term 'free-will'. Luther called it a lie  Now a word from Luther from his wonderful book, Bondage of the Will. Every Christian should read it and reread it because here Luther grinds our highest powers of reasoning, will, endeavouring, and devotions into less than dust. 

"As to myself, I openly confess, that I should not wish "Free-will" to be granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my own hands, whereby I might endeavor something towards my own salvation. And that, not merely because in so many opposing dangers, and so many assaulting devil's, I could not stand and hold it fast, (in which state no man could be saved, seeing that one devil is stronger than all men;) but because, even though there were no dangers, no conflicts, no devils, I should be compelled to labor under a continual uncertainty, and to beat the air only. Nor would my conscience, even if I should live and work to all eternity, overcome to a settled certainty, how much it ought to do in order to satisfy God. For whatever work should be done, there would still remain a scrumping, whether or not it pleases God, or whether he required any thing more; as is proved in the experience of all justiciaries, and as I myself also learned to my bitter cost, through so many years of my own experience. 

But now, since God has put my salvation out of the way of my will, and has taken it under His own, and has promised to save me, not according to my working or manner of life, but according to His own grace and mercy, I rest fully assured and persuaded that He is faithful, and will not lie, and moreover great and powerful, so that no devils, no adversities can destroy Him, or pluck me out of His hand. "No one (saith He) shall pluck them out of my hand, because My Father which gave them me is greater than all." (John 10:37-28). Hence it is certain, that in this way, if all are not saved, yet some, yea, many shall be saved; whereas by the power of "Free-will," no one whatever could be saved, but all must perish together. And moreover, we are certain and persuaded, that in this way we please God, not from the merit of our own works, but from the favor of His mercy promised unto us; and that if we work less, or work badly, He does not impute it unto us, but as a Father, pardons us and makes us better. This is the glorying which all the saints have in their God! (Martin Luther,  On The Bondage Of The Will, Associated Publishers and Authors, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971, pg 148-149)

Time has gotten away from me again  It is time to do chores. Ringo will be waiting for me and if course I need to make sure little Black Eyed Susie is doing well.

Pastor Jackson please add your comments or corrections as you wish. If possible please publish the photo of little Black Eyed Susie and Misty her mother. [Done!]

I just got in from chores and I am happy to report that Misty and little Black Eyed Susie are doing great. They were both nibbling on lush red clover at the far end of the high pasture.

Tom Fisher

Brief Notes on Nutrition

 

Food choices have definitely changed for me since I found Eat To Live in my own library. The first part was eliminating colas, sweetened/fake-sugar drinks, and fast food. I began a daily vegetable stew with chick peas, chopped greens, walnuts, blueberries, onions and green/red peppers, tomato paste, and sesame seeds.

For fruits I began experimenting with fresh apples, oranges, pineapple, and pears.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman is correct - that combination reduces weight steadily and creates a craving for the foods listed above.

I am no expert - I ignore trademark brands, such as Keto. They all stress something too much when our bodies were created to mix and blend the ingredients from the first chewing to the final leg of the journey. 

Digestion is far more complex than anything I imagined, so I have learned that most of the medicine I need is administered by poor people eating vegetables, greens, and fruits, while the weight problems come from using the high priced, fad-centric, diets.

I ate meat post-Fuhrman, often from high-salt, high-fat Schwan frozen foods. Now I am eating a small amount of sausage meat with the vegetable stew, plus eggs with toast for a morning breakfast.

Those who have trouble with blood sugar (diabetes), blood pressure, heart issues, and overweight - start with Fuhrman's Eat To Live.

Why didn't anyone tell me to eat greens, vegetables, and fresh fruit?

My parents did? I meant someone who did not grow up on farm and eat those things fresh. That doesn't count.

Southern Babtists Have Extended the Left Boot of Fellowship to Rick Warren, DMin Fuller Seminary. We Visited Warren by Accident, Not Purpose Driven

Rick Warren, DMin Fuller Seminary, Southern Babtist, denied he was influenced by Robert Schuller. 

It all began with a trip that had nothing to do with Rick Warren. I was attending an insurance conference with Christina, so we drove from Phoenix. We were looking for a hotel when we went past a sign that said Purpose Driven Street.

We never let a once-in-a-lifetime meeting go by, so we parked the car and went into the church. I was shocked to see an outdoor baptismal pool. "Did you know he was Babtist?" Neither one of us did. Later I asked various Lutheran pastors the same thing, and they were also surprised. Warren was hotter than Georgia asphalt in WELS - at that time.

We listened to Warren ad lib at a paid conference he presented in his church auditorium. We listened in the back, grew tired of the jibber-jabber, and left. Later we were invited to a very exclusive and gated development where a husband and wife wanted to show everyone their success. The husband asked me what I thought of Rick Warren and immediately guessed my allergy to the phony. He said, "We are members. We think he is great."

Warren reminded me of Robert Schuller's emptiness and steroidal ego. WELS and the LCMS have the same problem, completely ignoring the Scriptures, bashing the KJV and TLH, always chasing the latest fad and folly. Lacking Scriptural knowledge and loathing Luther, they rely on boasting about Holy Mother Synod and they wrinkle their noses about their almost identical cousins.

WELS is way ahead of Rick Warren's dogma and practice.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 2 - "And They All with One Consent Began To Make Excuse."

 

 The Great Supper - Tintoretto

Click here - Complete Second Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

10. Following this address one of them who thought himself much more learned than Christ the Lord, begins to say: “Oh, how blessed is he who eateth bread in the kingdom of God.” As though he would say in his great wisdom: You make yourself unprofitable enough by your preaching! If it would depend on preaching, I can do that, too, even better than you; for I consider this a truly great sermon: “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

11. Christ replies to him: Yes, says he, I will tell you how blessed you and your comrades are: “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many,” and they despised it and would not come. This blow was meant for him. As though he would say: You say much in the words, that he is a blessed man who eats bread in heaven! Oh, but you are in very great earnest! What an excellent holy man you are, namely, you are one of those who are invited and yet do not come. These are hard, sharp and terrible words when rightly considered; for he is speaking to real thorough-going rogues, who sat about the table, not because they wanted to learn anything, but in order to observe him closely to see by what means they might come to him and take him. To those he spoke this parable: “A certain man made a great supper.”

12. This man who prepared this supper is our Lord God himself. He is a great and rich Lord, who also once prepared a feast according to his glorious majesty and honor, and it was such a supper which is called great and glorious not only on account of the host, who is God himself, for it would be a glorious supper if he had only given a vegetable broth or a dry crust; yet the food is beyond all measure great and costly, namely, the holy Gospel, yea, Christ our Lord himself. He is himself the food, and is offered unto us through the Gospel, how he has made satisfaction by his death for our sins, and has redeemed us from all the misery of eternal death, of hell, of the wrath of God, sin and eternal condemnation.

13. This preaching of Christ is the great and glorious supper with which he feeds his guests and sanctifies them through his holy Baptism, and comforts and strengthens them through the Sacrament of his body and blood, that nothing may be wanting and a great plenty may be at hand and all become satisfied. Thus this supper is justly called a glorious, great supper on account of the fare and food, so costly and richly prepared that no tongue can describe it and no heart sufficiently grasp it. For it is an eternal food and an eternal drink, by partaking of which a man shall nevermore thirst nor hunger, but be forever satisfied, his thirst is quenched and he becomes joyful; and this not only for one man, but for the whole wide world, even if it were ten times wider, they would all have sufficient. For it is an inexhaustible food and an everlasting drink, as our Gospel says: He who believeth on this Lord Jesus Christ, that he was born for us of the Virgin Mary and crucified for out’ sins under Pontius Pilate, died, descended into hell, and rose again from the dead and sitteth at the right hand of God, etc.; he who believes this, eats and drinks truly from this supper. For to believe in Christ the Lord means to eat and to drink, from which the people become satisfied, fat and stout and strong, so that they are joyful forever.