Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "For these priests and monks think nothing else than that God is moved by the mass and by other human inventions..."

 

Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord

23. Hence, take to thyself this commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and think upon it, contemplate it, and search what kind of a law it is; how far you are from fulfilling it, yea, how you have not yet even made a beginning to suffer and to do from the heart what God demands of you. It is pure hypocrisy, if anyone wants to creep into a hiding-place and think: Oh I will love God. Oh, how I do love him, he is my Father! How gracious he is to me! and the like. Yes, when God does our pleasure, then we can easily say such things; but when he sends misfortune and adversity, we no longer regard him as our God, nor as our Father.

24. True love to God does not act in this way, but in the heart it thinks and with the lips says: Lord God, I am thy creature; do with me as thou wilt; it matters not to me. I am ever thine, that I know; and if thou desirest, I will die this very hour or suffer any great misfortune; I will cheerfully do so from my heart. I will not regard my life, honor and goods and all I have, higher and greater than thy will, which shall be my pleasure all my days.

But you will never find a person who will constantly regulate himself according to this commandment; for the whole life you are living in the body, in the five senses, and whatever you do in your body, should all be so regulated as to be done to the glory of God, according to the regulations of this commandment, which saith, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind.” As if Christ said: If you love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, then nothing will be lacking; you shall experience it in your daily life, namely: when everything you do, whether you wake or sleep, whether you labor or stand idle, whether you eat or drink, is directed and done out of love to God from the heart. In like manner your mind and thoughts will also be directed wholly and entirely to God, so that you will approve of nothing you are not certain is pleasing to God. Yea, where are those who do this?

25. And this part where he says, “With all thy mind,” argues powerfully against the writings and teachings of man, upon which he especially depends, and thinks thereby to obtain a merciful God and merit heaven.

Such imagination of the human reason draws us in a wonderful manner from this commandment, so that we do not love God with all the mind; as has been done hitherto, and is still done at the present day. For these priests and monks think nothing else than that God is moved by the mass and by other human inventions; but he abhors it and does not desire it, as is said in Isaiah 29:13: “In vain do they serve me, because they are teaching such doctrines which are only the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8-9. The commandment here requires you to consider nothing good that is against God and against everything he has commanded or forbidden. It thus requires, you to give yourself wholly and entirely to him in all your life and conduct.

26. From this you can conclude, there is no human being who is not condemned, inasmuch as no one has kept this commandment, and God wants everyone to keep it. There we stand in the midst of fear and distress, unable to help ourselves, and the first knowledge of the law is, that we see our human nature is unable to keep the law; for it wants the heart, and if it is not done with the heart, it avails nothing before God. You may indeed do the works outwardly, but God is not thus satisfied, when they are not done from the heart, out of love; and this is never done except man is born anew through the Holy Spirit. Therefore God aims to accomplish through the law nothing more than that we should in this way be forced to acknowledge our inability, frailty and disease, and that with our best efforts we are unable to fulfill a letter of the law. When you realize this, the law has accomplished its work. This is what Paul means when he says in Romans 3:20, “Through the law is the knowledge of sin.”

27. From this it appears clearly that we are all alike, and are one in the inner wickedness of the heart, which the law reveals, when we look into it rightly. Therefore we might well say, If one is good, then all are good.

Therefore no one should accuse another. It is indeed true that in public and gross sins there sticks a deeper sin; but the heart is alike bad, unless it be renewed by the Holy Ghost. But what shall I do when I once recognize my sin? What does it profit me? It helps me very much, for when I have come thus far, I am not far from the kingdom; as Christ says to a scribe in Mark 12:34, who also knew that the works of the law were nothing without love.

28. But what shall we do to get rid of our bad conscience? Here follows now the other part of this Gospel, namely, who Christ is and what we can expect of him. From him we must receive and secure freedom from a wicked conscience, or we shall remain in our sins eternally, because for this purpose is Christ made known and given by the Father, in order that he might deliver us from sin, death, from a wicked conscience, and from the law.

29. We have now heard what the law is, and how through the law we come to the knowledge of sin; but this is not enough, another has a work to do here, whose name is Christ Jesus; although the first, the law, must indeed remain; yea, it is necessary. For if I have no sense of my sins, I will never inquire for Christ; as the Pharisees and scribes do here, who thought they had done everything the law commanded and were ready to do yet more; but of Christ they knew nothing. Therefore, first of all, when the law is known and sin revealed through the law, it is then necessary that we know who Christ is; otherwise the knowledge of sin profits us nothing.

30. But the law is known, when I learn from it that I am condemned, and see that there is neither hope nor comfort anywhere for me, and I cannot even help myself, but must have another one to deliver me. Then it is time that I look around for him who can help, and he is Christ Jesus, who for this purpose became man, and became like unto us, in order that he might help us out of the mire into which we are fallen. He loved God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself, and submitted his will to the will of his Father, fulfilled the law in every respect; this I could not do and yet I was required to do it. Therefore, he accepts him; and that which he fulfilled in the law, he offers me. He freely gives me his life with all his works, so that I can appropriate them to myself as a possession that is my own and is bestowed upon me as a free gift. He delivers us from the law, for when the law says, Love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, or thou wilt be damned, then I say, I cannot do it. Then Christ says: Come to me, take me and cling to me by faith; then you shall be rid of the law.

31. Now this is accomplished in the following manner: Christ has through his death secured for us the Holy Spirit; and he fulfills the law in us, and not we. For that Spirit, whom God sends into your heart for the sake of his Son, makes an entirely new man out of you, who does with joy and love from the heart everything the law requires, which before would have been impossible for you to do. This new man despises the present life, and desires to die, rejoices in all adversity, and submits himself wholly and entirely to the will of God. Whatever God does with him, is well pleasing to him. This Spirit you cannot merit yourself, but Christ has secured and merited it. When I believe from the heart that Christ did this for me, I receive also the same Holy Spirit that makes me an entirely new man. Then everything God commands is sweet, lovely and agreeable, and I do everything he desires of me; not in my own strength, but by the strength of him that is in me, as Paul says in Philippians, 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.”

32. But you must take heed, that you do not undertake to secure this faith in Jesus Christ by your own works or power, or that you think lightly about this matter; for it is impossible for the natural man; but the Holy Spirit must do it. Therefore beware of the preachers of self-righteousness, who simply blabber and say: We must do good works in order to be saved.

But we say that faith alone is sufficient to this end. Our good works are for another purpose, namely, to prove our faith, as you have already frequently heard from me.

33. Now this is the purpose of the question the Lord put to the Pharisees:

What think ye of Christ; who is he and whose Son is he? But their answer, in that they say, He is the son of David, the Lord rejects and obscures their answer and refers to a passage from the Psalm, in order to leave them in doubt; so that no one is able to answer him a word.

34. However, when David calls Christ his Lord, in that he says in Psalm 110:1, “But the lord said unto my Lord, ‘Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool,’” it is to be understood that David speaks of him both as God and man, for according to the flesh alone he was the son of David. Paul also joins these two when he says in Romans 1:1-4: “I am called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God, which he promised afore through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh; who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” But it is something to know that Christ is Lord; for this has might and power and is especially comforting in the time of affliction. But concerning this I have said more elsewhere and will therefore now close, and pray God for grace.

LCMS-WELS-ELS-ELCA: Your Thrivent Dollars at Work, Melting Down the "Lutherans" with Brimstone and Fire

Luther Seminary Preacher Compares Herself to Jeremiah, Says We Must Repent of Climate Catastrophe, Anti-Trans Laws, and Banning Books

 5 hours ago Staff Writer

"The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the vilest denominations in America. Pro-homosexuality, pro-choice, and certainly anti-Jesus, it’s populated by spiritually decrepit senior citizens and virtue-twerking LGBTQ twenty-somethings. Less than 1% of the congregants in the denomination are saved, as you can only submit to a satanic pastor for so long without getting a little demonic yourself.

We’ve written about them before, in Lutheran Pastor Promotes Hookups, Polyamory, and Premarital Sex
, ELCA Leader in a Polyamorous/’Ethically Non-Monogamous’ Relationship, the time where After Annual Meeting, Lutheran Leadership+ Pastors Celebrate in Gay Bar, in Transgender Lutheran Pastrix Compares the Death of Trans Shooter to the Crucifixion of Jesus and lastly ELCA Church Recites Blasphemous ‘Sparkle Creed’ + ‘I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural’."

During Luther Seminary’s June 20 chapel service, preacher Anna Ferro, who works as a community fellow with the Student Affairs office while she awaits her first call, gave a message on Jeremiah 20: 1-6. In this reading, Pashur, the official in charge of the temple, hears Jeremiah prophesying doom and gloom and, beats him and throws him in jail, causing Jeremiah to tell him his new name is ‘Terror on Every Side.’

The Two Best Medicines Are Exercise and Food

Eat expensive processed food, ignore major muscles, and complain about the results?

Daily hospital trips - as driver - and fast food - mea maxima culpa! - gave me lots of reasons to repent. One vivid visual - another person - resulted in each leg artery clogged and both legs therefore infected.

We all complain about tired legs and aching feet, but exercise will reduce pain. Our circulation must push the blood upstairs - or else. The calf muscles are very good at that, but they need help through flexing, exercise, and lifting them up.

Don't laugh, but I stand at the kitchen window, looking out at the bird feeders and sing "Tip Toe Through the Tulips." Yes, I go up on my toes, and that pumps the gastrocnemius (calf) muscles.

Some make sure they walk a definite distance each day, and others use dreadmill walking machines and even magical, moving stairs.

Charlie Sue and I will do regular walks, now that it is cooler.

Medicare helps pay for gym fees, so I pay nothing for Planet Fitness. I use the resistance equipment regularly, after starting with the dreadmill. Like good food, good exercise makes us move from clinging to the unhealthy to craving the healthy.

Food Is the Best Medicine - 

Especially Food for the Poor

The farmers - like my parents - were always first to praise the food grown in gardens. They ordered us "spoiled rotten kids" to try everything, especially salad and vegetables. They had no choice on the farm, where they gladly ate from the vegetable garden and fruit trees.

The irony! Poverty in the Depression enforced the best nutrition for those with little cash. Today their food plan has become the least expensive at the grocery store, and also the most effective for good health. 

The less we do to food, the better it is for us, the better we feel. When someone offers a brand, new, super exciting, guaranteed to cure pill or food substance, backed by a real doctor - it is a ruse, fraud pure and simple.

Shockeroo - the food labels in the store are often as depressing as a Biden rally. The farmer's garden is downplayed and the photogenic combinations of salt, grease, and sugar are portrayed with loving devotion. Chopped frozen greens are shunned in favor of stacks of frozen pizza. 

Warning! - do not take home fresh fruits, fresh or frozen vegetables, nutritious seeds and nuts - they will ruin your taste for the super expensive, super salted, grease-sugar extravaganzas that drain our bank accounts and send us limping to the doctor.

Basics - 

1. Lots of fresh or frozen greens every day.
2. Four fruits a day (base) or six for the disgustingly healthy.
3. Some nuts (walnuts, almonds) and seeds (like flax, sesame) each day.
4. Some meat.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "Thus Christ desires to show us that we preach the law rightly, only when we learn from it that we are unable to fulfill it, and that we are the property of the devil."

 

Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord

22. Thus Christ desires to show us that we preach the law rightly, only when we learn from it that we are unable to fulfill it, and that we are the property of the devil. This we learn from experience, and it is shown now and then in the Scriptures, especially by St. Paul when he says in Romans 8:7-8: “Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,” and it follows, that they who are in the flesh cannot please God.

23. Hence, take to thyself this commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and think upon it, contemplate it, and search what kind of a law it is; how far you are from fulfilling it, yea, how you have not yet even made a beginning to suffer and to do from the heart what God demands of you. It is pure hypocrisy, if anyone wants to creep into a hiding-place and think: Oh I will love God. Oh, how I do love him, he is my Father! How gracious he is to me! and the like. Yes, when God does our pleasure, then we can easily say such things; but when he sends misfortune and adversity, we no longer regard him as our God, nor as our Father.

24. True love to God does not act in this way, but in the heart it thinks and with the lips says: Lord God, I am thy creature; do with me as thou wilt; it matters not to me. I am ever thine, that I know; and if thou desirest, I will die this very hour or suffer any great misfortune; I will cheerfully do so from my heart. I will not regard my life, honor and goods and all I have, higher and greater than thy will, which shall be my pleasure all my days.

But you will never find a person who will constantly regulate himself according to this commandment; for the whole life you are living in the body, in the five senses, and whatever you do in your body, should all be so regulated as to be done to the glory of God, according to the regulations of this commandment, which saith, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind.” As if Christ said: If you love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, then nothing will be lacking; you shall experience it in your daily life, namely: when everything you do, whether you wake or sleep, whether you labor or stand idle, whether you eat or drink, is directed and done out of love to God from the heart. In like manner your mind and thoughts will also be directed wholly and entirely to God, so that you will approve of nothing you are not certain is pleasing to God. Yea, where are those who do this?

WELS-LCMS: Chasing Andy Stanley, ELCA, or Both?

 

Andy Stanley Comes Clean About Supporting Homosexuality, Sort Of

"Andy Stanley came under fire earlier this year for his support of homosexuality which publicly dates back to 2012, yet that sermon did not attract the same level of notoriety as what he said behind closed doors. Nevertheless, Andy Stanley would continue to have a pro-sodomite conference at his church last month, which was brought up in his most recent sermon. In uncharacteristic fashion, Andy Stanley did not make public his most recent sermon, but audio obtained by Protestia has gone viral.

Andy Stanley begins by telling his audience that he has not changed his position on this, meaning he’s always been affirming of homosexuality.

Andy Stanley makes it clear that he teaches that same-sex attraction is not sinful. This is in direct violation of the Bible’s teachings on sinful desires.

Andy Stanley then denies that the Unconditional Conference was gay affirming. This is a lie, but Andy Stanley is clearly doing damage control as he mentions that people left his church because of this. He mentions two presenters at the conference, Brian and Justin who are homosexuals in a “marriage,” yet their faith is affirmed by Andy Stanley also. He then says that these two people have been regular speakers at his church for some time in an attempt to own discernment bloggers for not knowing this. Yet ironically, he proves the point that he’s gay affirming in trying to lie about it while at the same time affirming it."

A Great Honor!

 Also called the Snap, Crackle, and Pop Gym Award

How Did the American Lutherans Depart from the Book of Concord?Walther Led the Apostasy and the ALC/LCA Followed in His Hoofprints

 

The editor frowns on tobacco products, but this Luther caricature is just too humorous.

Lutherans came to America through various European sources of Pietism. The Pietists were not all alike, but they were influenced by the fact of Pietistic societies and schools (like Halle) emphasizing good works and getting along (like Spener).

By Civil War times, the General Council came out of the General Synod. The original seminary was in Gettysburg (General Synod) and those who favored Lutheran teaching (General Council) formed their seminary in Philadelphia (Mt. Airy).

Pietism is fertile ground for everyone getting along together, ignoring differences, and leaning on rationalism. Mergers created the American Lutheran Church, The American Lutheran Church, the ULCA, the LCA, etc.

The Synodical Conference (LCMS, WELS, ELS) began with Pietism, though their history scribblers do a ferocious amount of lying about it. CFW Walther B.A. made himself the dogmatic dictator of the Pietists who came to America, led by Bishop Martin Stephan who was arrested in Germany for adultery and mismanagement of funds, a true Church Growth founder.

The Seminex liars came back the same day. The Preus brothers taught the same OJ as the Tietjen fans. This was the first split in history where both sides were consummate liars.

Walther and Company were radical Pietists, not unlike the Wheat Flour Messiah, and they both taught the Objective Faithless Justification of Halle University. Walther made sure that F. Pieper (Wisconsin Synod) followed him and his OJ, his seminary presidency, and his synod leadership. The natural affinity of Germans to follow Dr. Luther rather than Walther, B.A., kept back OJ - though no one cares to admit it today. The LCMS printed and still prints Justification by Faith catechisms and other sources from the Book of Concord.

A cast of hundreds, a wasted forest of innocent trees, an anchor for all the unread books above the pastor's desk.

Listen up, LCMS groupies. Missouri stopped being Biblical long ago and now publishes Seminex dreck almost exclusively. Try to read the giant "Small" Catechism, the toxic Dogma-tanic, or the bloated doubled-down Mark commentary. Seminex insiders took over Concordia Publishing House to print their rationalistic propaganda while making a few bucks on the side.

The Efficacy of God's Word? "Never Heard of It. We Promote Happy Campers."

 

"Thrilled and excited about the next year!"

The newly hired Professors of Church Growth get furrowed brows when they are asked to teach the Church History 101 course. "But, but, but," they say, "We only know the part after Understanding Church Growth was published. Those were glorious wonder years, when the classrooms erupted with Oh! Oh! Oh! I just discovered another Church Growth Principle!"

"All of us bathed in the serenity of Pasadena, whether priests, bishops, or Salvation Army members, or ELCA, or LCMS, or WELS, or stealth ELS."

 

 I photoshopped the Episcopal leaders, above, anticipating the future WELS advocacy.

WELS hazing helps students conform and fit in with the "names" who run the show.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "Do you want to do something pleasing to God, then do it out of genuine love."

 

Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord

17. Do you want to do something pleasing to God, then do it out of genuine love. That the Jews practiced circumcision, fasted much, prayed much, and performed other like services, was not pleasing to God, for it did not come from the heart, as this commandment requires: Thou shalt love God with all thy heart. Thus it will be also with you, even though you should belong to the Carthusian friars, or to a still more exacting order; all would avail nothing, if you had not the love of God. From this you are to conclude, all works are nothing, that do not originate in love, or are against love. No commandments should be in force, except those in which the law of love can be exercised.

18. From this it now appears what a misleading calling that of the monks and priests is, in that they wish to merit heaven through their works alone, and they also bind the people to do good works, in order that they may thereby merit heaven, which is a cursed and godless service. Hence, as already stated, the law is to be only an exercise to prove our love; otherwise, aside from love, God never inquires about works, no matter how excellent they are.

19. You can now see how many people know what the law means: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.

Surely they are few who know it, and fewer still who keep it. How can they keep that which they do not know? We are blind and our nature is totally blind, and so is also human reason. It knows nothing so imperfectly as that which the law of God requires.

20. Now here Christ shows the Pharisees and the Scribes a twofold kindness. In the first place, he dispels their blindness and teaches them what the law is. In the second place, he teaches them how impossible it is for them to keep the law. Their blindness he dispels, in that he teaches them what the law is, namely: that love is the law. Human reason cannot comprehend this nowadays any more than the Jews did then, for if it had been possible for human reason to comprehend it, the Pharisees and Scribes, who at that time were the best and wisest of the people, could have understood it; but they thought it consisted alone in performing the external works of the law; in giving to God, whether it be done willingly or unwillingly; but their inward blindness, their covetousness, and their hardened heart they could not see, and thought they thoroughly understood the law and were fine fellows, holy and pious people; but they stood in their own light. For no one is able to keep the law unless his nature is thoroughly renewed.

We Had Rain All Night - Earthworms Delivered Today

 Uncle Jim's Worm Farm

Our new neighbor liked the idea of adding earthworms to their yard and garden. The box of 2,000 red wigglers arrived today, and I scattered them on top of the soil near favorite flowers. 

Faithful readers recall that I wrote about our drought yesterday. I had three Hummingbird (clethra) shrubs transplanted by yesterday afternoon.

The worms arrived in a book-sized cardboard box, the Uncle Jim's bag inside. They did not look like much until I pulled out some wads of inter-twined wigglers.

All I do is place them on the ground. They gain size quickly when they get hydrated, and that was perfect, in contrast to powdery dry dusty soil yesterday.

My favorite is earthworm manure for deluxe plants - roses, clethra, and some others. Man tends to deplete the soil foolishly - while the Creator turns abundance (rich soil) into even better soil, the worst soil into improved and productive soil.

In the spring I will purchase organic products because they provide continuous improvement to the soil, with all the creatures enjoying more food, more moisture, more aeration of the soil.

 A classic, once sold for hundreds of dollars.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "Do you want to do something pleasing to God, then do it out of genuine love."

 

Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord

10. But why was this service of the Jews displeasing to God? For the reason that it did not come from their heart, and was not done out of love to God; but they simply looked upon the service, and did it without the command and word of God; but God saith: My dear sirs, I was not concerned about the fact that Abraham offered up his son, but that he proved by this act that he loved me with his whole heart. There must be first love in the heart, then follows the service that will be pleasing to God; for all the works of the law tend to the end thereby to prove our love to God, which is in the heart; which love the law requires, and wall have above everything else.

11. We are also to notice here that all the works of the law are not commanded merely for the purpose that we simply just perform them; no, no; for if God had given even more commandments, he would not want us to keep them to the injury and destruction of love. Yea, if these commandments oppose the love of our neighbor, he wants us to renounce and annul them. Take the example of this, I recently gave you: Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, leading them for forty years through the wilderness, and not one of them was circumcised, although it was commanded them. Where was their obedience to the commandment?

Was God not angry with them because they did not obey his commandment? No, there was a higher commandment in force at that time, namely, that they were to obey God who commanded them to come out of Egypt in haste to the promised land. By their marching they daily obeyed God, and God accepted it as obedience; otherwise he would have been angry, in that they did not keep his commandments. Both the need and the love were at hand, which set aside all commandments, for it would have been unbearable to endure the pain of circumcision and at the same time the burden of the journey. Therefore love took the place of the commandment of circumcision, and thus should all commandments be kept in love, or not at all.

12. In like manner Christ excused his disciples, as is recorded in Matthew 12:3-4, when the Jews accused them of transgressing the law, of doing on the Sabbath that which was not lawful to do on the Sabbath day, when they plucked the ears of corn and ate them. Then the Lord gave them to understand that they were doing no wrong, as if to say: Here is no Sabbath; for the body needs food, necessity demands it; we must eat, even though it be on the Sabbath. Therefore the Lord cited the example of David, which he laid before the Jews, and said, “Have ye not read what David did; he and they that were with him, when he was an hungered, how he went into the house of God and ate the shew bread which was not lawful to eat, nor for those that were with him, excepting for the priests?” 1 Samuel 21:3f. Then David ate the bread, though he was not a priest, because hunger pressed him to do it. Neither did Ahimelech the priest violate the law in giving the bread to David, for love was present and urged him to give it. Thus even the whole law would have had to serve David in his need.

13. Therefore, when the law impels one against love, it ceases and should no longer be a law; but where no obstacle is in the way, the keeping of the law is a proof of love, which lies hidden in the heart. Therefore ye have need of the law, that love may be manifested; but if it cannot be kept without injury to our neighbor, God wants us to suspend and ignore the law.

14. Thus you are to regulate your life and conduct. There are in our day many customs, many orders and ceremonies, by which we falsely think to merit heaven; and yet there is only this one principle, namely: the love to our neighbor, that includes in it all good works. I will give you an example we recently heard. Here is a priest or monk, who is to read his prayers or the rules of his order, or to hold mass, or say penance. At this moment there comes a poor man or woman to him who has need of his help and counsel. What shall this priest or monk do? Shall he perform his service, or shall he assist the poor man? He should therefore act prudently and think:

True, I am required to read my prayers, hold mass, or say penance; but now on the other hand, a poor man is here; he needs my help and I should come to his rescue. God commanded me to do this; but the others man devised and instituted. I will let the mandates of men go, and will serve my neighbor according to God’s commandment.

15. However, very seldom do we think that the precious service of holding mass and reading prayers should be put in the background; and such a humble service, as you regard it, should have the preference. But what is the reason? The reason is that these dream-preachers, who have nothing to present to us but the ordinances of men, have made us so timid and fearful that we came to the conclusion, if we did not regulate ourselves in everything according to their preaching, heaven itself would fall. Yea, they would rather let ten poor people starve than fail to say one mass. We find even to-day many monks or priests who rather let a poor man freeze, than violate their statutes and ordinances. So lamentably and miserably have they been deceived by their godless preachers and teachers, and by their superiors, who with their statutes and devilish ordinances have drawn, and are still drawing, them away more and more from the law of God to our own notions.

16. These are the principal fruits of unbelief and godlessness, which, as the Scriptures declare, provoke God. Should not God be angry with me, if he commands me to show my neighbor love, and I go and follow my own or other people’s dreams? It is as if a master said to his servant: Go and work in the field, and the servant went and desired to wash the dishes. Should not the master rightly be angry with such a servant? Thus it is also with God. He wants us to keep his commandments, and to regard them more than the commandments of men, and all the commandments to be subservient to love, so that all be comprehended in these two commandments, of which the Lord here speaks in this Gospel: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.”

17. Do you want to do something pleasing to God, then do it out of genuine love.

Drought Turns Clay Soil into Powder

 

The fragrance stops people caught in a breeze flowing through the garden. Everyone loves the butterflies because their 100% lawn environment does not attract butterflies, bees, or birds.

We had some significant rains, but we also had hot weather. The backyard is more like powder than soil. 

I have rain from the barrels, so I used that to move some clethra, aka Summer Sweet. I call it Cinnabon for the combination of cinnamon and a sweetness that invites bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. People also call the shrub Hummingbird.

I get the most scent in the fall when a breeze sweeps through the garden and the other flowers are no longer dominant (mints, Joe Pye, roses). This is a good time to plant or move shrubs, so I am having fun with that.

I moved three in the backyard to give them more sun and to offer our doggy daycare neighbor the beauty and fragrance of  the shrubs.

To prepare a new spot, I dig a small area (clay soil, often hard as a rock) and pour a bucket of water on it. Overnight it will soften but may need another bucket or even a deeper hole to contain moist soil.

To move the shrub I first pour plenty of water on it, often two days in a row. A narrow, heavy duty spade works well to dislodge the root system and lift the shrub by its main branch. The transplanted get extra rainwater from the barrel afterwards. My family heritage as a French peasant carrying water and digging weeds makes the chores automatical.

I could not resist even more Hummingbird shrubs in the front yard, so I have been nurturing them as well. I will move the smaller ones around because it is fun, relaxing, and encouraging for those who want to do the same.

The main Cinnabon in the front sprouted a clone  so I will try moving the small version along the backyard fence.

The front yard was almost foggy with fragrance this year, and everyone enjoyed the bees, butterflies, birds, and hummingbirds. Variety builds up the populations, and the Lord of Creation manages their unique jobs and attributes.

Hard work that we enjoy is called a hobby, and I am happy to be burdened in such a relaxing way. 

Moby Dick Challenge Accepted - And It Rebounds!

 

I challenged a Lutheran librarian to read Moby Dick, or he volunteered. I did such a good job in encouraging another reader that I decided to read the novel again.

One stuffy reviewer said it lacked humor, which made me laugh. The novel  is packed with humor, without trying to be funny.

Look for the Easton Press edition in used book stores. They used it as bait to get readers to join their series of classics.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "...These commandments were given to the end that we might become conscious whether we really love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and in addition our neighbor as ourselves..."

 

Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord

4. As if the Lord would say: He who possesses love to God, and love to his neighbor, has all things, and therefore fulfills the law; for the whole law and all the prophets point to these two themes, namely: how God and our neighbor are to be loved.

5. Now one may wish to ask: How can you harmonize this statement, that all things are to be comprehended in these two commandments, since there was given to the Jews circumcision and many other commandments? To answer this, let us see in the first place how Christ explains the law, namely, that it must be kept with the heart. In other words, the law must be spiritually comprehended; for he who does not lay hold of the law with the heart and with the Spirit, will certainly not fulfill it. Therefore the Lord here gives to the lawyer the ground and real substance of the law, and says that these are the greatest commandments, to love God with the heart and our neighbor as ourselves.

From this it follows that he, who is not circumcised, who does not fast nor pray, is not doing it from the heart; even though he may perform external acts, he nevertheless does nothing before God, for God looketh on the heart, and not on our acts, 1 Samuel 16:7. It will not profit a man at all, no matter what work he may perform, if his heart is not in it.

6. From this arises another question: Since works are of no profit to a man, why then did God give so many commandments to the Jews? To this I answer, these commandments were given to the end that we might become conscious whether we really love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and in addition our neighbor as ourselves; for St. Paul says in Romans 7:7 (3:20), that the law is nothing but a consciousness and a revelation of sin. What would I know of sin, if there were no law to reveal it to me?

Here now is the law that saith: Thou shalt love God with thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. This we fulfill if we do all that the law requires; but we are not doing it. Hence he shows us where we are lacking, and that, while we ought really to do something, we are doing nothing.

7. That the Jews had to practice circumcision was indeed a foolish ceremony, yea, a command offensive to reason, even though it were given by God still to-day. What service was it to God, to burden his people with this grievous commandment? What good was it to him, or what service to a neighbor? Yea, and it did not profit the Jew, who was circumcised. Why then did God give the command? In order that this commandment and law might show them whether they really loved God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind, and whether they did it willingly or not. For if there were a devout heart, it would say: I verily do not know why God gave me circumcision, inasmuch as it does not profit any one, neither God, nor me, nor my neighbor; but since it is well pleasing to God, I will nevertheless do it, even though it be considered a trifling and despised act. Hence, circumcision was an exercise of the commandment, Thou shalt love God with all thy heart.

8. It was also a foolish command God gave to Abraham, to slay his son, Genesis 22:2. For if reason had been the judge in this, both it and all mankind would have come to no other conclusion than this: It is an unfriendly and hostile command, how can it be from God, since God himself said to Abraham that he would multiply his seed through this son, and it would become as innumerable as the stars of the firmament and as the sand by the sea. Therefore it was a foolish commandment, a grievous, hard and unbearable commandment. But what did Abraham do? He closes his senses, takes his reason captive, and obeys the voice of God, goes, and does as God commanded him.

By this he proved that he obeyed from the heart; otherwise, even if he had put his son to death a hundred times, God would not have cared for it; but God was pleased that the deed came from his heart and was done in true love to God; yea, it came from a heart that must have thought: Even if my son dies, God is almighty and faithful, he will keep his word, he will find ways and means beyond that which I am able to devise; only obey, there is no danger. Had he not had this boldness and this faith, how could his fatherheart have killed his only and well beloved son?

Just When I Thought I Was OUT, They Pull Me Back In!

I thought I was done with posts on nutrition, but a relative said, "The posts encourage me to talk to my daughters about food."

1. Every fad diet with a name is going to rebound with blubber once the victim has built up a terrible craving.
2. Habits trump diets...always.
3. Our bodies obey the habits.

The magic formula is pretty simple - the cheaper and rawer the food, the better the nutrition and lower the calories.

Taking away the killer foods slowly seems to be the best way to escape the yo-yo diet (the one all the food fad promoters crave love).

One approach is to look at all the ingredients and gradually remove the worst ones, one step at a time:

1. Any drive-thru.
2. Bread and butter.
3. Ice cream, ice milk, and desserts.
4. Sugared drinks and fake sugared drinks.
5. Milk and milk products (fat)
6. Cheese and pizza (fat and salt).
7. Hard candies.
8. Soft candies.
9. Donuts and really good bakeries.
10. High salt proportions in canned food (sometimes) and always in prepared food.
11. Frozen raw food that is "seasoned," loaded with salt and much more expensive.
12. Cereal and other tactics that keep moving calories into the digestive track, all day and all night.

Getting away from one old favorite at a time lets the brain say, "You actually ate that garbage?"

or

"Are you going to save those beans for snow melt during the next ice storm?"

or

"Did my bathroom scale just say - One person at a time?"

Fresh fruit can go bad, so it is important to load up on lots of it, plus varieties of raw fruit. Two big apples will eliminate craving for apple pie. Bananas are a great breakfast with black coffee, much tastier than potassium pills. Citrus is an all-out assault on colds, sniffles, flu.

Fresh salads work for many people - volume is no handicap. I like chopped, frozen greens, which blend into home-made stew for every lunch. 

My first epiphany with vegetables was microwaving a large bag of frozen green beans and eating them with a little butter. That was so good and satisfying that I began to start filling up on vegetables and greens.

The last big change is adding - daily - raw walnuts  (or almonds) and ground flax seed. They supply all kinds of good nutrition.

My grocery cart now has:

Fresh fruit, usually apples, oranges, blueberries.

Chopped frozen greens and vegetables

Some eggs and sausage to share with Charlie Sue.

 Charlie Sue - Patterdale Terrier