The Hollowed Christendom, Forgotten Luther.Lost Third Spirit

 Lutherans now have little to say about the Reformation. The denominations are melted into one Protestant/Roman collection. For example, when I skim the Roman Catholic news, I find a mix of Mary and various Unitarians. 

Slightly different, the vague Protestants long for Rome, so they jump over the barriers and banners, complaining how dry and colorless their own people are. 

Let's go backwards! The Holy Spirit is the energy behind the hymns, liturgies, sermons, lessons, and prayers. 

Like St. Paul, Luther and Melanchthon included the Spirit's work with everything.

More to come - efficacy - the Spirit in the Word...

The Formula of Concord Confesses the Efficacy of the Visible Word

"The other eating of the body of Christ is oral or sacramental, when the true, essential body and blood of Christ are also orally received and partaken of in the Holy Supper, by all who eat and drink the consecrated bread and wine in the Supper--by the believing as a certain pledge and assurance that their sins are surely forgiven them, and Christ dwells and is efficacious in them, but by the unbelieving for the judgment and condemnation, as the words of the institution by Christ expressly declare when at the table and during the Supper He offers His disciples natural bread and natural wine, which He calls His true body and true blood, at the same time saying: Eat and drink. For in view of the circumstances this command evidently cannot be understood otherwise than of oral eating and drinking, however, not in a gross, carnal, Capernaitic, but in a supernatural, incomprehensible way; to which afterwards the other command adds still another and spiritual eating, when the Lord Christ says further: This do in remembrance of Me, where He requires faith [which is the spiritual partaking of Christ's body). "
Formula of Concord, SD, VII. #63. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1921, p. 995. Tappert, p. 581. Heiser, p. 270.

+++

The majority sees symbolism rather than realizing efficacy.

Lou Holtz Has Reminded Me of Football Passions - Holtz Coached the Hogs - and Later, the Notre Dame Football Mosaic

 

The artist fashioned this image, 

which is not worth a football game. 

The blog posted 62,715 visits.

I lacked enthusiasm but I found a lot more time to spend on  Floor Eight of the Notre Dame Library. The goods were a great comfort when we were cocooned in Sturgis, Michigan, during the Great 1978 Snowstorm of the region. We had a car full of theology books to study and fresh food to keep us delighted. 

Oh the irony! No one knew the blizzard was coming. We drove home with the books from the ND library and all the food and coffee we needed. I woke up second in the morning and Christina asked about the car in the garage. It was quite a site for me to lift up the garage door and see it go up, and up, and up, with a wall of snow to the very top. We were snow-bound for a week, no traffic, and no annual meeting.

Sections of the Bible can be a great benefit, so I am going to list some ideas to increase the use of regular Scriptures.

Psalm 91 is often found by readers who vividly read and speak out loud the verses. Daily reading is best and many enjoy the benefits. "For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Psalm 91:11

"The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth." Psalm 37:12" 

The Proverbs are a wealth of wisdom, just as true now as back then, the Good Ol' Days.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7

 

Regular reading of shorter passages fuels our God-given knowledge.

 

PS - One leads to another, and repetition builds upon spiritual wisdom.  The efficacy of God's Word is from the Son of God and God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the agent joined with the Word. 

"How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the 

children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings."

The 1370 Count - What Does It Mean!

 

An oncologist and I were discussing cancer issues when he asked about the main blog I published daily, very much part of Christina's studies. He was shocked to hear that I had 600 readers a day on the average. I said, "That's a big classroom." He thought about it.

The total views for today are already 1379 and climbing, as the weather forecaster claims. The synods measure their numbers, but not honestly. They claim or imagine a certain number is good for their money and satisfaction. 

Here is a test for the 70ers and up - "How many of the synod bosses and laity are still around?" Or worse - what have they left behind?

1. The greatest English Bible - the King James.
2. The pursuit of feminist clergy and teachers and managers.
3. The basics of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz.
4. A scattering of claims about Biblical standards. 

A nurse without speaking ability! Tiny Bethany "spoke" beautifully without physical strength, only with intense eyes and smiles.

Part Two - Zion Mourns in Fear and Anguish

 

 Holyrood Abbey is a famous landmark, founded 1128.

Zion Mourns in Fear and Anguish - The seldom sung hymn is found in The Lutheran Hymnal, but not likely to be used by the pop Calvinist efforts of LCMS and WELS. Zion on the Mississippi is even less popular.

"Zion Mourns in Fear and Anguish"

By Johann Heermann, 1585-1647

1. Zion mourns in fear and anguish,

Zion, city of our God.

"Ah," she says, "how sore I languish,

Bowed beneath the chastening rod!

For my God forsook me quite

And forgot my sorry plight

Mid these troubles now distressing,

Countless woes my soul oppressing.

2. "Once," she mourns, "He promised plainly

That His help should e'er be near;

Yet I now must seek Him vainly

In my days of woe and fear.

Will His anger never cease?

Will He not renew His peace?

Will He not show forth compassion

And again forgive transgression?"

3. "Zion, surely I do love thee,"

Thus to her the Savior saith,

"Though with many woes I prove thee

And thy soul is sad to death.

For My troth is pledged to thee;

Zion, thou art dear to Me.

Deep within My heart I've set thee,

That I never can forget thee.

4. "Let not Satan make thee craven;

He can threaten, but not harm.

On My hands thy name is graven,

And thy shield is My strong arm.

How, then, could it ever be

I should not remember thee,

Fail to build thy wall, My city,

And look down on thee with pity?

5. "Ever shall Mine eyes behold thee;

On My bosom thou art laid.

Ever shall My love enfold thee;

Never shalt thou lack Mine aid.

Neither Satan, war, nor stress

Then shall mar thy happiness:

With this blessed consolation

Be thou firm in tribulation."

Hymn #268, The Lutheran Hymnal, Text: Isaiah 49: 14-17, Author: Johann Heermann, 1636, ab.

Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1869, alt.

Titled: "Zion klagt mit Angst und Schmerzen", Composer: J. Hermann Schein, 1623

Tune: "Zion klagt"

***

How many strikes have gone against them, and yet the Big Five Apostates toodle along, thrilled and excited, - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)?!

WELS finally got some truth out - about how to eliminate congregations via merger; they already eliminated the efficacy of the Means of Grace decades ago. Missouri and ELCA are just the same. A few clever slogans will make the executives happy.

Meanwhile, the music is not Lutheran or even appropriate. Sermons are pirated from various Fuller-Schuller-Willow Creek sources. Bibles are considered good if they are sufficiently corrupted by by Otten-Beck quality and errors. There is only one Bible that is thoroughly and completely banned - the King James Version, far too consistent, precise, and reliable.

Sine fide - without faith - is the Big Five slogan.

The Scriptures Are Always Effective -- The Holy Spirit Working Through the Word

 

1. The Bible begins with the Holy Trinity -
2. The Father commands each of the days in Genesis.
3. The Son executes those commands.
4. The Holy Spirit hovers over Creation and teaches this wonder to us, from the  very first Word and throughout the New Testament.

The Apostles only had the Scriptures - not the Old Testament but simply the Testament. Luther called the New Testament a series of sermons on the Old Testament.

In other words, the Old Testament phrases and verses in the New Testament serve - even now - as the NT anchor, not just a quote from ancient times. Those Old Testament statements were puzzles for centuries until they were fulfilled by the Spirit teaching through the Apostles as promised.

Each Old Testament citation in the New Testament is not simply a light from the past, but The Light shining from the earliest days to serve as the foundation for the new and final era of the revealed Gospel.

KJV Exodus 3 reveals the Angel of the Lord as God. The Burning Bush has Two Natures, signifying the bush as burning but never consumed. Moses insisted on a name for God, Who said, 

"Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." 

Around 1400 years later, the Two Natures of Christ enraged His opponents.

KJV John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. 

The clergy and laity should take this to heart. Those who believe the power of the Gospel can expect to have to rocks thrown, with joy and energy. Oh, but energy is the Greek word for efficacy, effective. They forget the dual nature of effectiveness. The Holy Spirit hardens and blinds those who will not believe the Savior.

One Reason Why We Must Know and Teach - I AM the Good Shepherd

 

There are many titles of majesty in the Bible. Norma Boeckler has illustrated 50 of them. There is only one Name of God - I AM.

KJV Exodus 3:13 

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

One member has kidded me about emphasizing this as the Name of God so often. But I would not need to do this, if pastors knew the Old Testament, learned some Greek, and opened it to John 8. 

The pivotal moment happens when Jesus revealed Himself openly as I AM, the Name of God.

KJV John 8

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.

The opponents picked up stones to murder Him, which means they knew exactly what Jesus meant. They were speaking to God in the Flesh, the Word Incarnate and naming The Name Above All Others.

Jesus simply passed through the mob, proving that His divinity was not limited by His humanity. The Word of God is always effective, always united with the power of the Holy Spirit. Wolves do not confirm faith but brag about their non-faith. Their greatest wish is to extirpate any suggestion that we are Justified by Faith in Jesus Christ, Who gives access to His grace through believing in Him (Romans 5:1-2, try it!). If the clergy would only look long enough, they might see through their blindness and realize their hardness of heart. 

KJV 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me...

Yes, put away your Pope-blessed three-year-lectionary, which seeks to dilute and disperse any hope for a consistent Bible version, the more variety and money earned, the better. God brought the printing press into use in the West. China used the press long before that. The Reformation was spread through the printing press in many languages, and now the Gospel is being marketed, rebuked, diluted, ignored, mocked, and hidden away in their precious Apocrypha, through the printing press and Internet. 

The Big Five - ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic) - Stopped Being Lutheran Now They Are Far Left Unitarian

 

The Big Five - ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic) are so far gone that they are closer to the Unitarian sect than they are to the Reformation. In fact, they can barely say the word Reformation or show any knowledge of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz.

Before writing angry, anonymous emails to me, consider the facts. The alphabet soup of synods has grown away from the Scriptures, even the Majority or Apostolic Text. Their loathing of Luther is the direct result of loathing fraudulent men and texts, which gave them freedom to disparage the Biblical texts, especially their favorite phonies - Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. 

Notice the similarities of corruption. Bogus Bad American Bibles like to end Matthew with "making disciples." Surprise! So does the modern German Bible. 

But lo, the KJV has the correct translation of the Greek - "teach all nations." Luther's original Bible translates the ending "teach all nations."

KJV Matthew 28:19 - 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Luther Bibel 1545 28:19 Darum gehet hin und lehret alle Völker und taufet sie im Namen des Vaters und des Sohnes und des heiligen Geistes, 

Koine 1550 Stephanus -  19 πορευθεντες ουν μαθητευσατε παντα τα εθνη βαπτιζοντες αυτους εις το ονομα του πατρος και του υιου και του αγιου πνευματος

NIV Matthew 28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

The clergy today know little Latin and less Greek, but they should be able to look up various translations of the New Testament. Parading "make disciples" has been a fetish of WELS and the CLC (sic), with adherents of Fuller Seminary exploding with rage against teach all nations.

Many more examples from their precious NIV, RSV, ESV, and NRSV Bibles reveal that the Big Five cannot handle the precision and sonority of the KJV, which was intended to be read from the pulpit and was accepted as the best English translation.

These clashes, since they do not agree with the best text and translation, open up many errors and excuses for apostasy, without even including the Living (ha!) and Amplified (Ja!) gassy paraphrases.

Look at how ridiculous "making disciples" is. How do they make them? Do they bake them, shake them, and forsake them? A train cannot move safely on slightly crooked tracks, but Church Growthers imagine they can power up a congregation by "making disciples who make disciples who make disciples" - a quote from one of the worst WELS professors. 

Rationalism is always a delight for false teachers, because they commit themselves to attacking all Biblical doctrine, centering on the divinity of Jesus Christ and faith in Him. That is exactly the plan for the Bogus Bad Bibles (including the Christian News Beck Bible - or Milchkuh). Hint - Beck followed the apostates with the imaginary ending of Mark, which energizes the false teachers with "no empty tomb, no resurrection." Yes, I have the Beck Bible. I have the Westcott-Hort blasphemous Greek New Testament. W-H even omitted "the Son of God" in Mark 1:1.

The late Northwestern College (WELS) faculty loathed the NIV and often said so in class. They had no courage beyond the classroom walls, and that tiny school was merged. 

The underlying, Biblical doctrine in all this is the Efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace, opposed and missing in the Big Five - ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic). 

Calvinists loathe the efficacy of the Word because of the Zwingli-Calvin influence, plus a big dose of secular philosophy. The Baptists and especially the Baptists are going mainline rapidly. So where do the Lutherans of all stripes go? Yes, to the last excuse for Calvinism - Fuller Seminary, so weak that they watered down inerrancy from the start. The later rumble was only a case of rejecting inerrancy loud and proud.

 The Holy Spirit will convict the world "Of sin, because they believe not on Me;"

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Third Sunday after Epiphany - The Leper and Centurion's Servant - "Here behold the attitude of faith toward Christ: it sets before itself absolutely nothing but the pure goodness and free grace of Christ, without seeking and bringing any merit."

 

 Paolo Veronese - Healing the Centurion's Servant, 16th century

Complete Sermon -> Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Leper and Healing the Centurion's Servant

TEXT:

Matthew 8:1-13. And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour.


I. TWO EXAMPLES OF FAITH AND LOVE.

1. Two examples of faith and love are taught in this Gospel: one by the leper, the other by the centurion. Let us first consider the leper. This leper would not have been so bold as to go to the Lord and ask to be cleansed, if he had not trusted and expected with his whole heart, that Christ would be kind and gracious and would cleanse him. For because he was a leper, he had reason to be timid. Moreover the law forbids lepers to mingle with the people. Nevertheless he approaches, regardless of law and people, and of how pure and holy Christ is.

2. Here behold the attitude of faith toward Christ: it sets before itself absolutely nothing but the pure goodness and free grace of Christ, without seeking and bringing any merit. For here it certainly cannot be said, that the leper merited by his purity to approach Christ, to speak to him and to invoke his help. Nay, just because he feels his impurity and unworthiness, he approaches all the more and looks only upon the goodness of Christ.

This is true faith, a living confidence in the goodness of God. The heart that does this, has true faith; the heart that does it not, has not true faith; as they do who keep not the goodness of God and that alone in sight, but first look around for their own good works, in order to be worthy of God’s grace and to merit it. These never become bold to call upon God earnestly or to draw near to him.

3. Now this confidence of faith or knowledge of the goodness of Christ would never have originated in this leper by virtue of his own reason, if he had not first heard a good report about Christ, namely, how kind, gracious and merciful he is, ready to help and befriend, comfort and counsel every one that comes, to him. Such a report must undoubtedly have come to his ears, and from this fame he derived courage, and turned and interpreted the report to his own advantage. He applied this goodness to his own need and concluded with all confidence: To me also he will be as kind as his fame and good report declare. His faith therefore did not grow out of his reason, but out of the report he heard of Christ, as St. Paul says: “Belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the Word (or report) of Christ.” Romans 10:17.

4. This is the Gospel that is the beginning, middle and end of everything good and of all salvation. For we have often heard that we must first hear the Gospel, and after that believe and love and do good works; not first do good works and so reverse the order, as the teachers of works do. But the Gospel is a good report, saying or fame of Christ, how he is all goodness, love and grace, as can be said of no other man or saint. For even if other saints have a good report and reputation, it is nevertheless not the Gospel, unless it tells alone of the goodness and grace of Christ; and if it should include other saints also, it is no longer the Gospel. For the Gospel builds faith and confidence alone upon the rock, Jesus Christ.

5. You see therefore that this example of the leper fights for faith and against works. For as Christ helps him out of pure grace through faith without any works or merits of his own, so he does for every man, and would have all to think thus of him and expect from him like aid. And if this leper had said: “Behold, Lord, I have prayed and fasted so much; I beg you to look upon this and on account of it make me clean” – if he had come in this manner, Christ would never have cleansed him. For such a person does not rest upon God’s grace, but upon his own merit. In this way God’s grace is not praised, loved, magnified nor desired; but one’s own works deprive God of his honor and rob him of that which is his. This is to kiss the hand and to deny God, as Job 31:27-28 says: “If my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied God that is above;” and Isaiah 2:8: “They worship the work of their own hands,” that is, the honor and confidence they ought to give to God, they attribute to their own work.

6. Furthermore the example of love is presented here in the love of Christ to the leper. For you see here, how love makes a servant of Christ, so that he helps the poor man freely without any reward, and seeks neither advantage, favor nor honor thereby, but only the good of the poor man and the honor of God the Father. For this reason he also forbids him to tell anyone, in order that it may be a pure, sincere work of free and gracious love.

7. This is what I have often said, that faith makes of us lords, and love makes of us servants. Indeed, by faith we become gods and partakers of the divine nature and name, as is said in Psalm 82:6: “I said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” But through love we become equal to the poorest. According to faith we are in need of nothing, and have an abundance; according to love we are servants of all. By faith we receive blessings from above, from God; through love we give them out below, to our neighbor. Even as Christ in his divinity stood in need of nothing, but in his humanity served everybody who had need of him. Of this we have spoken often enough, namely, that we also must by faith be born God’s sons and gods, lords and kings, even as Christ is born true God of the Father in eternity; and again, come out of ourselves by love and help our neighbors with kind deeds, even as Christ became man to help us all.

And as Christ is not God, because he first merited divinity by his works or attained to it through his incarnation, but has it by birth, without any works, even before he became man; so we also have not merited by works or love sonship with God, so that our sins are forgiven, and death and hell cannot injure us; but without works and before our love, we have received it in the Gospel by grace through faith. And as Christ first became man to serve us after being God from eternity; so we also do good and exercise love to our neighbor, after we have become pious, free from sin, alive, saved, and sons of God by faith. Let this suffice concerning the first example, the leper.

I Was Saying about Efficacy in the Bible -When Will Lutherans Use the Biblical Term?

 

 Caption - "Masks for thee, not for me!"

Vaccines & Safety

Texas Sues Pfizer for Allegedly Misrepresenting Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccine

The Solution Is Clear for Everyone - Start with the Divine Nature of the Scriptures

  

Worse Than Silence about the Efficacy of the Word - Repudiated Through Rationalism and Marketing

A number of our members have said, "I never heard of the efficacy of the Word until I read about it from your blog."

I can understand that, because I went to the library of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and found almost nothing among all the "Biblical scholars." Kittel's famous volumes - on all the terms in the New Testament - were very thin on the entire word group. 

The Greek word for energy is actually "energy,"  ἐνέργεια, but the genius scholars of today even have trouble with "virgin" παρθένος in Matthew and Luke. Nobody saw the Parthenon, even in photos? (The temple honors the virgin goddess Athena, but who needs Greek when we have Tik-tok and video games? Parthenos in Greek is virgin.)

Efficacy is one of those perfect words, conveying the Holy Spirit at work in the Word and never apart from the Word.   

The entire Bible teaches that this Book alone is the established revelation of God, written by men through the power (energy) of the Holy Spirit. 

If this power, clarity, and harmony is set aside, the Bible is little more than a quaint book of wisdom, a cultural icon.

That has set "Biblical scholars" free to explore their creativity, since nothing is real except their latest suffocatingly dull publication. Yale Divinity School's own Professor of Weirdness must have 100 publications in its CV.

The Evil Four Plus One 

Scorn the Bible

The National Council of Churches' RSV, NRSV, ESV, repudiates the Bible - not to mention

The NIV!

"That they were from many denominations—including Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Brethren, Christian Reformed, Church of Christ, Evangelical Free, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, Wesleyan and other churches—helped to safeguard the translation from sectarian bias." 1984 Preface, no really, Lutherans - no bias!

Plus One is the Beck-Otten Bible, sold dishonestly in every issue of the Christian News. The Beck-Otten has all the flaws and lies of the Evil Four.

Nota Bene - The Christian New$ - known for promoting Objective Faithle$$ Ju$tification - has canceled my free copies of the overpriced CN  issues online. Sob! I was just telling a member about the "husband of one wife" featured in the tabloid, a pastor on his third wife. But that is the criterion in New Haven (not to be confused with Yale University's campus). Anyone who graduated from a Missouri seminary is righteous for life.

How do people read this gibberish without laughing out loud? This was published in LutherQuest. One reader asked, "Have they found Luther yet. They are on a quest, after all."

 Calvin? Knapp? Hale? That is how they pick editors in New Haven, stuck on Calvinism and Objective Faithless Justification.

Let the Walther inbreds crow about their infallible, inerrant Bibles, arguing only about which bad Bible they love the most. Each one of the Evil Four Plus One drops verses, words, even the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Mark 16. The ending may be separated, or dropped in a footnote, or vanished - the message is the same: "We do not believe in the Empty Grave. Seminex has won. ELCA - give us a smooch of victory."

The Word of God Has Its Own Ways To Find the Good Soil

 

A young man stopped by with a brochure and questions about home prices on our cul-de-sac. One thing led to another, talking higher education, radicalism in the public schools. 

We got onto the topic of Biblical studies and Greek. I said, "My church nominated me for distributing good Biblical books." He said, "I have a Greek New Testament on one side and the KJV on the other." We were both pleasantly shocked, and I invited him to see our church service broadcasting and the library room.

As we talked I pulled out around 8 books for him to keep or share for free. Some were from Alec Satin. Others were from Zach Engleman. I added the KJV book and some others.

"You give away KJVs?" He liked that.

We talked about Lutheran doctrine, Justification by Faith, and my definition of holiness. I said, "When we are forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ, holiness is the result."

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.

The Simple Truth Ignored by Apostate Lutherans

Someone created this Luther Activated graphic, which illustrates the obvious but forgotten efficacy of the Word taught throughout the Bible and older theological volumes. Efficacy in Greek transliterates - letter by letter - as energy. The Word of God always has the energy and power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 10 and Isaiah 55:8ff are the classic passages, too clear to miss, but they mean nothing to the Unstuck, the Church Growth, the Management by Objectives, and the Marketing mobs.

What believers must do is shunned and excoriated by the Lutheran leaders of today - convey Christ the Son of God and His teaching. 

Everyone promotes grace - at least they say they do. Amazing that they do not grasp the key doctrine - faith in Jesus Christ the Savior is access to God's grace.

KJV Romans 5:1 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.

The confessional, Biblical, orthodoxical Lutherans - pause to laugh or cry or both - reject this passage from their own Book of Concord -

"Moreover, the declaration, John 6:44, that no one can come to Christ except the Father draw him, is right and true. However, the Father will not do this without means, but has ordained for this purpose His Word and Sacraments as ordinary means and instruments; and it is the will neither of the Father nor of the Son that a man should not hear or should despise the preaching of His Word, and wait for the drawing of the Father without the Word and Sacraments. For the Father draws indeed by the power of His Holy Ghost, however, according to His usual order [the order decreed and instituted by Himself], by the hearing of His holy, divine Word, as with a net, by which the elect are plucked from the jaws of the devil. Every poor sinner should therefore repair thereto [to holy preaching], hear it attentively, and not doubt the drawing of the Father. For the Holy Ghost will be with His Word in His power, and work by it...."
Solid Declaration, Article XI., Election, #76‑77, Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1089. Tappert, p. 629. John 6:44. [Cites A. L. Graebner, Doctrinal Theology]

 

Why the Masthead Sermon Quotations?

Nothing seems more ridiculous than gardening - when the work is being done. Yesterday I had a box of earthworm compost... You are laughing already. It was a big, heavy bag, so I slid it into a a large bucket to carry around the garden. 

I scooped the compost onto my recently dug bareroot roses. I was satisfied for the moment. Many would question my efforts, but I remember the dry autumn, when the crew was again digging in more daffodil bulbs, just as I did. Now there is a continuous blooming and new stems coming up every day. The newest efforts last fall meant bulbs rising up later in spring, and the older bulbs increasing their own blooms and coming up earlier from soil heaving. How many bulbs altogether? - hundreds. Daffodil bulbs multiply on their own, IF they are planted.

KJV 2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Our little group has no property, apart from a spare room in a rented house. The staff car is paid for, 20 years old. However, we sow the Gospel bountifully because money and property are sterile and provide nothing for eternal life. We scatter the Word because we know that gains make up for the losses, many times over.

Someone suggested a daily Bible or doctrinal quote, so the Luther sermon selections began. Another suggestion was putting the masthead quotes into the body of the blog so people could use RSS feeds, so that was added. I have used the Lenker Luther Sermons set for decades, and copy-pasting-publishing the quotations is a constant source of Biblical knowledge for me and others. Graphics of the sermon quotes torment the crypto-Calvinists in Lutherdom and embed the content in my long-term memory.

Norma A. Boeckler has her own free service of designing Biblical graphics for everyone to use and enjoy - all KJV quotations.

 

Appalled by another CPH "elephant laboring and giving birth to a mouse," we began our own blog-published Luther's Large Catechism. 

I am not overlooking the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry, which consistently tops CPH on a Google search - and stands out as #1. That alone holds a wealth of free Lutheran material and quite a few low-cost print books.

The synodicals are not admitting this, but their glory-mongering about previous new buildings is now filling them with dread, nightmares, and mental paralysis. From the LCMS Purple Palace down to the latest WELS Martin Luther College fiasco, they must pay for their baubles. They placed their trust in a rich adulterer who destroyed his marriage. And where is the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie (Bethany)?

Growing up as the heir to the Melo-Cream Donut fortune, I knew that overhead was and remains everything. My father loved to point at malls and say, "See those new stores? They have to pay high rent just to be in the mall. They have to spend a lot on overhead before they make a dime of profit. As soon as one drops out, another one moves in to lose their money." He would say today, "I told you!" because there are websites featuring photos and videos of so many malls closed all over the US. 

 Lenker Luther plus the Postils.

I send free books and free KJVs around because I enjoy spreading the effective Word and the Means of Grace.

One anonymous reader sent this  -

"I notice that they treat Jacob's much like they treat the King James. They say we just cannot read English from a 100 yrs ago. Maybe somebody should ask "Does 1 plus 1 equal 2? It did a 100 yrs ago. As far as I know still does."