Daily Luther Sermon Quote - "Bring in Hither the Poor, And Maimed, And Blind, And Lame."

 

Click here for the Complete Second Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

23. Just in this very manner our Papists still excuse themselves and say:

The doctrine is right, of course, but we must still adhere to the Church and her orderly government. Again, we must above all things maintain obedience to the worldly power, so that there may be no disturbance and insurrection. Thus they are troubled just like the Jews. If they would accept the Gospel, they fear they might lose their Church and government, whereas the Gospel alone builds up the true Christian church, and prevents all injustice, violence and insurrection. Besides covetousness is also present; since they see nothing in the Gospel but mere poverty and persecution, so that it goes as it does here, that they simply and without fear refuse to obey the Gospel and say, they have taken wives and cannot come, and still they want to be Christians and claim to have done just right, and want to be regarded as pious bishops, good princes and good citizens.

24. But how will it go with them? Just as it did with the Jews. They held so long to their law, priesthood, kingdom and treasures, until they at last went to destruction, and lost one after the other; so that now they dwell here and there and have their homes under foreign princes as if living in a swing.

This is the reward for which they labored. For they desired not this supper, and preferred their kingdom, priesthood and houses, rather than the Gospel. Therefore they lost all three, and received the sentence that none of them should taste of this supper, and thus be deprived of both, of temporal things here on earth, and of the everlasting feast in heaven. The same will also certainly be the fate of our adversaries.

25. Thus Christ our Lord lectured this sharp doctor and his associates at the table, and showed them how they stood before our Lord God, namely, that God was angry at them, and would look out for other guests, as follows: “Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor, and maimed, and blind, and lame.”

26. As though he would say: Very well, inasmuch as this must be done, that you must examine your land and oxen and take unto you wives, and on this account neglect my supper, that is, you want your priesthood, kingdom and wealth, and will let me and my Gospel go, hence I will let you go, too, that on this account you will lose all, and I will provide me other guests. Therefore go forth, my servant, into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and crippled, the lame and blind. This was also done among the Jews. 

 The Byzantine - also known as the Apostolic or Traditional Text.
The modern Greek New Testament - Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland - is a cut and paste joke.

Flowers for the Road Crew, Part 2

 

Maria Shriver is not only pure white but also more perfumed than any rose I have grown. I did not say anything about that, but the father will know in the car as he drives home!

The road crew was even closer today, running fiber optic cable underground, just off the curb. I asked, "Anyone need more flowers?" Several guys said no, but one said, "I gave my wife your flowers yesterday, and my daughter said - No flowers for me? She is seven." 

I said, "I will get some for her right away." I had lots of Enchanted Peace and also Maria Shriver.

I have cups ready all the time, so I filled one with water and went looking for the best roses. I brought them out, and he was so happy. I said, "I always have roses, so come on by when you have a need."

We talked a little, and he told me his crew were all bachelors and not looking for flowers. I said, "Get some roses and you will have wives."

The color of Enchanted Peace makes the rose look as if it were illuminated from the inside. It has some fragrance, unlike the original Peace rose, and grows tall, loaded with blooms, long lasting.

Your Thrivent Managed Money Is Recruiting on the Net for ELCA Seminarians

 

If you are reading this blog regularly, you already know that there are no costs and no ads, no commercial agenda. Moreover, many non-profit sources are linked so that more information is available about... 

1. The Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry, 
2. Norma A. Boeckler's Christian art, 
3. Scriptural sources, 
4. The Church of England, and
5. Lutheran apostate sects.

Rev. O'Rear States...

ELCA Research and Evaluation shows pastors are retiring in record numbers, and there has been a sharp decrease in seminary enrollment. The result is a shortage of ministers—a growing problem. [Boo hoo!]

To help stem that tide, the seven ELCA seminaries are now working together through a new website designed to enlarge the pool of qualified candidates prepared to answer a call to ministry. Through grants from the Richard Hay Barkalow Charitable Fund at InFaith Community Foundation, elcaseminaries.org launched this past summer.

“We want to see the pool of candidates for ministry increase to meet the needs of the church and God’s mission in the world,” said Matthew O’Rear, assistant to the president for strategic initiatives at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. O’Rear is also the executive director of the ELCA seminaries’ InFaith grant.

“Before [the new website] there was no central place to allow the seminaries to showcase campuses, scholarships and other resources,” O’Rear said. “The seven seminaries reflect the larger church, and as the church is facing a decline in attendance, so are the ministries. We have a common mission together and this is a unified spot.”

Editor's mistake - this is the recruiting video for WELS' Martin Luther College. And it worked well - everyone in the video received a divine call.

 

 

Nothing To See Here - Gettysburg Seminary Campus Selling Off Property - The ELCA Shuffle

 

 Nothing to see here - move on.

Thumbnails of the Dwindling ELCA Seminaries - 

"Supported by the Richard Hay Barkalow Fund managed by Thrivent Charitable Impact &        Investing®"

ELCA is in the property selling mode of institutional meltdown.

Gettysburg - merged with Philly to form the oddly named United Lutheran Seminary - just sold a chunk of the campus to the town library.

Luther Seminary in St. Paul has sold off property.

Southern Seminary merged with a college campus.

Trinity Seminary also merged with a college campus.

Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago sold their pipe organ to Catholics and packed up to rent some space at a Chicago Roman Catholic campus.

Pacific Seminary sold their unique campus to a Muslim school and went downhill, literally, for office space.

Wartburg Seminary in Iowa got a large gift. They have full-time online seminary students who "do ministry" locally. Probably all of the seminaries do that to pump up their statistics.

The ELCA is trying hard to maintain the seminary names, lest anyone notice the rapid, nation-wide sell-off of properties. I noticed the change in seminaries at the ELCA level, but one must give credit to their leaders. ELCA has seen the radicals completely take over their synod, just as WELS and Missouri have let the Church Growthers take over their own abusive sects.

"We are one in the Thrivent, we are one in the merge..."

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

 

Click here for the Complete Second Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

18. The Jews acted and excused themselves thus: Oh, we cannot accept the doctrine, for it is opposed to the priesthood and to the law, which God himself has given us through Moses. Besides it also creates divisions in our kingdom which God has confirmed. We must see how to maintain our own affairs! Thus the first one excuses himself with his land, the second with his oxen, and both think they do well; the third does not even excuse himself at all, he simply refuses, and says he cannot come.

19. These are the excuses of the Jews as well as our own, which we prefer against the Gospel, for we are no better than they were. They first pretended that the law of Moses had to remain, and because the Apostles preached against the law, that neither their law, temple nor priests were necessary, for a greater priest was present, Jesus Christ, of the tribe of Judah; they would not tolerate such preaching, but held to their law as they still do. Thus it has come to pass that they still wait at the present day, and must wait until the last day for their Messiah to come, and they hope that he will prepare all things, the old priesthood anti kingdom as it was in the time of David, when he will give them everything in the greatest abundance.

20. For Christ here treats of these three parties. The first says: I want to see my farm. These are the foremost and best among them, among the Jews they were the entire priesthood and the chief rulers. These said: We priests must work, cultivate and harvest the land, that is, we must rule the people, and wait upon the priesthood God has entrusted unto us, as Christ also calls ministers cultivators of the soil who sow the Gospel. But as the teachings of the Apostles are opposed to this, it is wrong, and we are justly excused when we do not accept their doctrine.