ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
In a surprise visit, a long-time friend stopped by and talked about the Library recently organized and graced with a computer and wifi. He asked about getting a Krauth Conservative Reformation, spotted it, and happily took it home to add to his reading collection. He already had a Schmauk and other gems. He is an layman who knows Lutheran doctrine much better than the Walther-Calvin maggot priests.
"Excellent.
Thanks, Greg for getting these out every Sunday (in spite of any Vimeo
problems). IMO the printed word and Norma's art makes up for any
Vimeo technological problems."
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16 The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19 The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord! Praise be to Thee, O Christ! The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Preface p. 24 The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #259Flung to the Heedless Winds
Prayers and Announcements
Sarah Buck, Dr. Kermit Way, Lori Howell, Randy Anderson, Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes, Pastor Jim Shrader; Callie and her parents, Aaron home from the hospital.
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Collect
O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Jesus Is the Great "I AM"
The Reformation is a great way to discuss the theology of the Middle Ages, from Augustine to Luther. Or, Islam to today. Or, the influence of Thomas Aquinas. However, the real meaning of the Reformation, apart from all the subcategories of the Bible, church history, dogmatics, and personalities - one point is central.
The meaning, purpose, and glory of all this - and more - comes from Jesus, the "I AM" of Exodus 3 and John 8 - "Before Abraham was, I AM." Any one or any entity that tries to set aside the work, ministry, and power of Jesus Christ is bound to fail, as we see so clearly in these days.
Jesus is central to the entire Bible, which is the only revelation of God Himself. He is central because God the Father chose to give Him to be our Good Shepherd, and our sacrificed Lamb, and our King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The Holy Spirit's work is to teach us this truth through the Scriptures, through teaching, preaching, and memory - the truth coming from God the Father and God the Son - in harmony with each other.
This only comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ, faith stirred up and supported by the Holy Spirit teaching us about our Savior Jesus, the Son of God. Thousands of books have been published to lean this way or that about many topics. However, what teaches us faith in Jesus Christ is ultimately the Bible, the true Bible. That is the anchor when we are storm-tossed, depressed, anxious, fearful, and lost.
Every Word of the Bible is divine, aiming at lifting us up, opening our hearts, teaching us the enormous grace of God revealed through faith in Him. The Bible is all-Jesus, not partly Jesus. People like some parts? How kind to treat the unique Word of God so seriously.
The Son of God is eternal, and speaks from Genesis 1 and John 1. "In the beginning [God created the heavens and the earth] was the Word..." both books, unique in starting the same. Do people stop to think that the Creation came from Jesus Himself, the Son of God?
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. [GJ - "The same" is pointing to one Person alone.] 3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
How can anyone scoff at what God can do, when the Son is the Creator of what the Father has commanded, and the Holy Spirit has executed?
How can we say to ourselves or others, "God cannot do this for me or my loved ones, because He does not know or care or see or feel compassion." Yes, everyone feels discouraged and beaten up at one time or another,
How many dozens of examples do we need to recite to see how much God has done with so little within ourselves? When the disciples wanted to keep the children away (sticky, odorous, and clamoring), Jesus welcomed them and excoriated the disciples. I brought back a lost little white dog last night and all the children beamed "Thank you!" at me with their voices, smiles, and eyes. The little white dog was really half brown from the mud, but the children only saw their tiny friend. So the children around Jesus only saw the Good Shepherd, as we should see Jesus today.
What harm does Jesus do to make us so discouraged, fearful, and angry? The Good Shepherd tends the flocks, calls each individual by name, and leads them to food and clear water. Not only that, He chases the wolves away, the wolves who want to scatter the Flock.
We are far past the time when most denominations will teach any of this. The vast amount of noise is about comparing one religious corporation to another, adoring and honoring it. People should wear corporate symbols around their necks so we can sort them all out.
But Jesus works in another way. The most oppressed people were burdened by their sins. They could not pay enough to absolve them. Jesus said, "Your works are nothing. I AM your righteousness. Believe in Me, not the demands of the lawgivers."
To this day, many turn Jesus into the Lawgiver and Moses into the Savior.
But He brought joy to the hearts of those who heard and believed He was the one predicted all those centuries. When we consider all the things that led to His torture, crucifixion, death, and resurrection, we realize that those thousands of incidental Promises were and are the unified truth of the Scriptures. That was not just for the past, but for our present and future.
The former McCormick Seminary, joined at the LSTC hip, also has a habit of moving to other locations. They previously joined at their former locations and have now moved together again for the symbolism of returning to Rome. Many Lutheran leaders are spiritually already in Rome, Eastern Orthodoxy, or Pasadena. "Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. Matthew 26:31 KJV.
Savills [real estate team!] represented the McCormick Theological Seminary in its campus relocation to the Catholic Theological Union building. McCormick will move later this year to a nearly 11,000-square-foot space at 5416 South Cornell Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Savills was selected to find a new home for McCormick after the seminary sold its former campus to the University of Chicago. The Savills team of Chicago region President Robert Sevim, Senior Managing Directors Adam Southard and Marty Festenstein, and Associate Cullen Hurley were tapped to locate a new campus near the seminary’s former location in Hyde Park.
“The Catholic Theological Union building is a fitting new home for the McCormick Theological Seminary,” said Sevim. “McCormick’s long-time neighbor, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago has also recently moved in, and the property is becoming a thriving environment for collaboration for these three historic institutions. These three theological schools can share the existing amenities, which provides a unique community experience for students, faculty, and staff within the building.”
The location allows the McCormick Theological Seminary to continue its important mission and achieve its community-oriented goals by remaining within the Hyde Park neighborhood. The building provides efficient, flexible floorplates and the seminary will build a new space for its operations within the building. Finally, the Savills team negotiated an enhanced building signage package for McCormick.
McCormick Theological Seminary, founded in 1829, is one of 10 schools related to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in the United States and Canada and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The seminary is also affiliated with the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS).
Press release by the University of Chicago, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, and their Father Below.
Ouch! Ski and Glende - take them to court! Sue the innocent!
This is a reminder - WELS, ELS, LCMS, ELCA, CLC (sic) and others did more than let Justification by Faith slip away. They extended the Left Boot of Fellowship to all who believe the Chief Article of Christianity.
Shirts, jeans, and false doctrine - they all match!
Today I listened to parts of Fuhrman's talk on Facebook. He emphasizes exercise and has workouts every single day.
One point struck me, because I live in the land of sweet tea, biscuits and gravy - "Exercise means strong muscles that go with strong bones." The counterpoint creeps up slowly - aching legs and muscles, rotator cuff injury, frozen shoulder, sprains, knee and muscle injuries, excess weight - trouble caused by low-nutrition food in abundance and poverty in exercise.
All food creates addiction, so the evil food not only excludes good food but makes good food seem disgusting. In contrast, breaking the fast food and prepared grocery food addiction will make simple foods delicious, dolled up foods disgusting:
I just opened a big box of baby spinach and ate a bunch plain. No calories, lots of nutrition.
I ate a banana, the fifth fresh fruit of the day.
I had some little cinnamon toasts with a little bit of butter.
The chickpeas I eat have 120 mg of salt. The new ones at WM have 480 and 650 mg of salt for extra flavor and all that - one based on Dr. Pepper. The food collections I consume regularly include:
Eggs and toast for breakfast, with Charlie Sue's including Science Diet.
Chopped greens (spinach, kale, collards).
Frozen vegetables - peas, beans, green beens, onions, green and red peppers, plus canned tomato paste.
Oranges, apples, bananas, blue berries, pineapple.
Walnuts.
Ground flax seeds.
One sausage divided equally between Charlie and me (lunch with beans, greens, etc).
I have gradually rejected the following and no long crave -
Restaurant and fast food emporiums, with rare exceptions.
Processed food loaded with salt and fat.
Canned and "seasoned" foods choked with salt, sugar and fat.
Candy and chewing gum.
Colas and bubbly water with salt added.
Ice cream, though Charlie recently shared her Schwan ice cream cone with me.
Large bread slices in large quantities.
Butter, with a few exceptions.
Schwan's frozen foods and pizza. They are now banned and I told them why - way overpriced, over-salted, sugared, and fatty.
The Schwans sold part of their company to South Koreans. Marvin is a saint in the WELS-ELS-LCMS liturgical calendar.
Insects favor plant-based food, which keeps them from relying on the sugar-fat-grease disaster of human diets. Nutrition experts are divided.
A 2021 report from Rabobank noted that “the demand for insect protein, mainly as an animal feed and pet food ingredient, could reach half a million metric tons by 2030, up from today’s market of approximately 10,000 metric tons.” That year, Mars launched a line of cat food made from insects, called LoveBug.
The Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson doesn’t make pet food, but it does sell its animal byproducts for use in the pet food and aquaculture market, which feeds fish, the CFO said. Byproducts like animal fats, hides and inedible proteins, if not used or reduced, can end up in landfills. In this case, Tyson can send what’s in the stomach of cattle it has processed to a Protix facility, where it’s fed to insects. For the company, creating a larger market for this type of waste can not only reduce waste but offer a larger revenue stream.
