The Episcopalian Church (TEC) Is the Bellwether for All Denominations - Bare Facts from David Virtue, Virtue Online

 

 Clown Eucharists are suggestive of change, as the sociologists say.
In plainer language - this is your future, unless you are in WELS, where your future is now.

GJ - Note - around 1978, TEC and the LCA had 3 million members each. 

Recently released figures from The Episcopal Church Parochial Report on average Sunday Attendance revealed that in 2011 TEC had 698,376, but by 2020, that figure had plunged to 483,098 or 30.8%. Between 2019 and 2020, the ASA figure dropped 11.7%. TEC is heading into its own personal columbarium. 60,232 souls just don't vanish. "These numbers indicate a doubling in the rate of membership decline and a tripling in the rate of attendance decline over the previous year." Jeff Walton of IRD reports that TEC also took a huge hit in its finances. In a first, the church's giving metric, known as "plate and pledge" dropped $59 million (-4.3%) from 1,353,835,316 to 1,294,757,071. This is especially noteworthy as the U.S. inflation rate was only 1.4% in 2020, easing from 2.3% in 2019. There were fewer Sundays to attend, corresponded with fewer opportunities to give, and collection plates suffered. 38 parishes closed across the country. In response to a newly surveyed question, 24% of Episcopal parishes reported a "very significant" negative impact of the pandemic upon their congregation's finances, while an additional 39% reported a "somewhat significant" impact. Many Episcopal parishes closed to in-person worship for much of the pandemic. Parts of the Episcopal Church ceased services altogether -- streaming or otherwise -- with parishioners directed to either a diocesan-wide virtual service or to the Washington National Cathedral. You can read his full report here. https://virtueonline.org/alarm-bells-episcopal-church-decline-accelerates Here are the Fast Facts from the Parochial report data 2020. file:///C:/Users/David/Downloads/Fast%20Facts%20and%20Fast%20Facts%20Trends.pdf Another reflection by VOL correspondent Mary Ann Mueller, Fudging Figures Episcopal Church's ASA Spin Cycle can be read here: https://virtueonline.org/fudging-figures-episcopal-churchs-asa-spin-cycle Now if you add the huge losses in properties won by the ACNA ($100 million in Ft. Worth), this is no longer chump change. PB Michael Curry and the HOB must be feeling the pain. Is it any wonder that more and more dioceses will be forced to juncture (read merge) over the coming months as they see their fortunes fade and people leave for greener spiritual pastures or columbaria? Is it any wonder that aging Episcopal bishops are heading out the door(I think this image of the catheter is distracting and a slap that should be beneath you checking their catheter bags) before heading off to golf courses? ***** To illustrate how the losses are affecting whole dioceses, the Episcopal News Service reported that Wisconsin's three dioceses would pursue reunion as one. Leaders of Wisconsin's three Episcopal dioceses announced Oct. 5 that the dioceses will take steps to combine -- a canonical process known as reunion. In August, the dioceses had announced they were launching a formal process "to explore ways to deepen cooperation and coordination." I wrote at that time that this could happen and lo and behold, it hath come true. Budget short falls, aging congregations and no young people coming forward to fill pews is a sure sign of death. The Midwest is a graveyard for TEC, only the coastal areas have survival possibilities, but the overall numbers are not good. The Diocese of Los Angeles announced this week that they have no plans at this time to call for the election of a bishop suffragan. The death of Bishop Jon Bruno, who ran the diocese into the ground financially over property lawsuits and more, and the departure of Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce to become bishop provisional of the Diocese of West Missouri has meant that three retired bishops will fill in for the departing Bruce. Things are so desperate the diocese had to call in The Rt. Rev. Chet Talton, sixth bishop suffragan of Los Angeles, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday to return to the episcopal rota! It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see where all this is going. One of the two other bishops is former PB Jefferts Schori, which is a sure-fire win to push the diocese right over the cliff. She has a hard time even believing in the supernatural! Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Schori knew how to play the game and shame the conservative bishops who actually believed in the Almighty. ***** I wrote a piece that encapsulates why TEC is in the mess it is despite all the talk of 'beloved community' by PB Michael Curry. I titled it; CANCEL CULTURE AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The minions of cancel culture have had a field day in The Episcopal Church. If in doubt, cancel it out. Former Albany Bishop Bill Love was canceled. He refused to accept resolution B012 demanding that homosexual marriage be accepted and received in his diocese. He refused. He was canceled, episcopal style. Of course, it's done with polite language, faux pain, and do come back when you are enlightened; but we all know that is not going to happen. There is no right of return, and why would Bishop Love possibly want to return? Hundreds of orthodox episcopal priests were cancelled because they refused to bow the knee before the Moloch god of sodomy and for their intransigence. They, too, were cancelled. ACNA was born. You can read more here, and no, it is not satire. https://virtueonline.org/cancel-culture-and-episcopal-church ***** An ACNA parish withdrew from the C4SO Diocese and landed in limbo. A lot of the problem arose of the CEEC acronym which led to confusion over an Anglican Ink headline and accusations that one evangelical Episcopal Body was pro-homosexual. St. Mary of Bethany Parish in Nashville, TN, withdrew itself and said they are joining with the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, (CEEC) a denomination not to be confused with the Continuing Evangelical Episcopal Church (CEEC), because they claim the denomination they want to join is pro-homosexual. Both have the same CEEC acronym causing confusion. Archbishop Robert Gosselin, Metropolitan and Archbishop of the Continuing body told VOL that, "we are not 'that' CEEC." The confusion stemmed from a bad headline on Anglican Ink and a statement that the Communion Episcopal group was pro homosexual. However, Quintin D. Moore, Archbishop of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches said the congregation has not been accepted into their denomination and denies being progressive. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/acna-parish-withdraws-c4so-diocese-and-lands-limbo ***** The ongoing debacle in the ACNA Diocese of the Upper Midwest needs resolution. More stories are pouring out about abuse. I posted two stories: CAROL'S STORY - Part 1 and 2 which documents alleged older child to younger child sexual abuse at Church of the Resurrection, which was further compounded by the church leadership's alleged mishandling of these allegations. The youth pastor at that time knew of the abuse, failed to respond appropriately, and caused additional harm and trauma in his response to the children involved. To clarify, the events described below took place before the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) province had been formed. Who's Who • "Carol" - a survivor who alleges sexual abuse by an older boy when she was a child at Church of the Resurrection and subsequent mishandling of those allegations by Church of the Resurrection staff and parishioners. • Church of the Resurrection - a large ACNA parish located in Wheaton, IL that serves as the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of the Upper Midwest. • Keith Hartsell - youth pastor at Church of the Resurrection during the time of this story, later a priest in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest & a high-ranking leader of The Greenhouse Movement. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/carols-story-parts-1-and-2 ***** The Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest is beset with more problems than it should. In an exclusive, VOL learned that Bishop Todd Atkinson was taking a leave of absence - withdrawing as acting assistant bishop of the diocese over charges of abuse of power. Furthermore, questions were raised in 2018 as to the establishment of Via Apostolica, Atkinson's diocese for full membership in ACNA as a Missionary Diocese because of concerns of extra biblical revelations and 'Heavy Shepherding'. A dozen Canadian priests signed a letter urging Charlie Masters, Moderator Bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada to refrain from recommending Atkinson and Via Apostolica as a missionary district in ACNA, until significant questions concerning his leadership style and theology were considered. Masters refused to listen to them and now it has banked up on this diocese. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/abuse-power-cited-bishop-todd-atkinson-taking-leave-absence ***** ON THE GLOBAL FRONT, outgoing Anglican Communion Secretary General, the Most Rev. Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, 72, who announced he was retiring, dodged a question put to him by a Premier reporter about the Welsh decision to bless same-sex marriage, saying only that, "As long as God is alive, there will always be the Anglican Communion of churches." He told Premier he is "very confident" in the future of the group and said, "My confidence is not based on the human aspect, but on the divine aspect, in that the church belongs to God, and the Anglican Communion of churches, is a part of God's Church, the universal church." That's despite fears of divisions over theological stances, especially around the issue of sexuality. Fearon conveniently ignored that GAFCON, which holds the majority of global Anglicans soundly in its grip, roundly rejects homosexual practice especially homosexual marriage as a violation of Scripture, the creeds and the Canons and Constitutions of most Anglican provinces. It should be remembered that Fearon took over as Sec. Gen. from one Gregory Cameron, a personal friend of Rowan Williams. Cameron went on to become the Bishop of St. Asaph in Wales, a leader in the push to bless homosexual marriage in Wales. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/anglican-general-secretary-spins-welsh-decision-bless-homosexual-marriage To no one's surprise, evangelicals are pushing for a new bishop after the Church in Wales allows pastors to bless homosexual marriages. Evangelicals who hold to traditional Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage want a new bishop to be appointed in the Church in Wales following the results of an early September vote to allow pastors to bless same-sex marriages. The Church in Wales, composed of six Anglican dioceses in the United Kingdom, does not allow clergy to conduct legally binding same-sex marriage ceremonies. However, in a Sept. 6 vote of 28 to 12 in favor, with two abstentions, clergy were approved to host blessing ceremonies for same-sex unions in their churches. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/evangelicals-push-new-bishop-after-church-wales-allows-pastors-bless-gay-marriages It's interesting why they have not called on GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines, missionary bishop to Europe to step in. ***** IRAN. An Anglican missionary couple told VOL this week that they had 144+ churches and growing in Iran with some 21 churches in formation, with the Badini Kurds, having the first known indigenous movement ever among them. There are no outside missionaries; disciples are making disciples. "We baptized our first Yazidi (Northwestern Iraq) gospel worker, recently. We have 13 to train. This is our first breakthrough," the missionary couple told VOL. ***** The GIDEONS have ceased to exist in the UK following conflict with its USA parent body. A worthwhile ministry over many years distributing bibles, a name familiar to wide society, but brought to an end by its parent body. The issue seems to be over whether women could apply for membership on a spiritual or an occupational basis. They will now operate as GOOD NEWS For Everyone. ***** Lovers of the teaching and ministry of the late John Stott, revered as one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century, will be happy to learn that a new book, JOHN STOTT: A Summary of his Teaching by Ted Schroder is out and can be purchased at Amazon on Kindle for $9.68 https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Ted-Schroder-ebook/dp/B09CHCXDNJ It is a rare privilege when you are among handful of disciples to get a front row seat with one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century -- John Stott - a man described by NY Times columnist David Brooks as a man who could have been America's Protestant pope. Another who had a front-row seat was New Zealand-born Ted Schroder, who was John Stott's assistant in 1967. Ted stayed a personal friend until Stott's death in 2011. Schroder has a long and distinguished ecclesiastical career of his own. He authored this volume as a summary of Stott's teaching, or 'Uncle John' as he was affectionately known. You can read how Stott handled the rise of the charismatic movement, his views on hell, his changing views of evangelism and social justice activism, his love of birds and much more. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/john-stott-summary-his-teaching ***** CULTURE WAR STORIES OF THE WEEK https://www.springtideresearch.org/research/ The State of Religion & Young People 2021. Over 75% of young people identify as religious or spiritual. But they told us they're not turning to faith communities during stressful moments in life. https://albertmohler.com/2021/10/07/briefing-10-7-21 Out with Easter and Christmas Terms: Modern Cult of Wokeness on Display as School In Oxford Secularizes Its Calendar in the Name of Sensitivity https://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.utterly.inspiring.life.of.african.saint.apolo.kivebulaya/137529.htm The utterly inspiring life of Anglican 'African saint' Apolo Kivebulaya https://anglicanmainstream.org/conservative-mps-close-interest-in-c-of-e-affairs/ Conservative MPs' close interest in C of E affairs. Disestablishment anybody? ***** BISHOP TODD HUNTER and Critical Race Theory. The bishop of C4SO, an ACNA diocese has come out in favor of CRT. Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option and Orthodox believer, said that the bishop once "issued a guidance praising Critical Race Theory." I can't imagine this going down well with ACNA's College of Bishops. He smears people not supporting Critical Race Theory in the church as "name calling and thinking the worst of people's motivations," likening them to those who accused Martin Luther King of being a Communist. He says CRT "is simply trying to understand the hidden, underlying issues of race (or other forms of injustice) that go beyond the individual and express themselves structurally." He even compares it favorably to missionaries seeking to understand cultures with "an open devotion to Jesus Christ and the neighbors he has given us to love." ***** The vaccination question: a theologian reflects, part 1. The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Professor of Historical Theology Radner weighs in on the COVID vaccination debate and asks, "How did the issue of vaccination so divide the church?" "I am a conservative and traditionalist Christian. Yet during this Time of the Virus, I seem to have ended up on opposite sides with many of those with whom I would otherwise agree in the faith. The matter is vaccination: I am vaccinated (and I wear a mask with most others!), I think most people would be well served by being vaccinated, and I support vaccination mandates for those who work or frequent places of public interaction, including schools, as a way of serving others well. How did the issue of vaccination so divide the church?" You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/vaccination-question-theologian-reflects-part-1 ***** The Anglican Diocese of Egypt announced an historic moment in the launching announcement of a new Anglican Church territory in Alexandria. Justin Welby will be there to inaugurate the event. Dr. Sami Fawzi, Archbishop of Alexandria, said it would be the 41st province in the Anglican Communion. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/anglican-diocese-egypt-historic-event ***** The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council asks the question, If GAFCON Is Merely A Conference, What Is The Point? In his report from the GAFCON Primates' meeting, Archbishop Foley Beach declared that "GAFCON is not an ecclesial jurisdiction; it is a conference." He commented in response to the deep disappointment that many have been feeling since a GAFCON Province has consecrated two women as bishops of the Church despite a moratorium on such consecrations. Although a spokesperson for GAFCON is reputed to have stated that this moratorium among GAFCON Provinces had expired, this is clearly not the case. • The GAFCON Primates authorized a Task Force on Women in the Episcopate in 2015. That Task Force consisted of 19 Bishops and theologians from Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, North America, Chile, Myanmar, Sydney (Australia) and the UK. • In 2017, the GAFCON Primates authorized a representative of the Task Force to consult with a "Panel of Advisors"--a bishop, clergy, and lay representative from each GAFCON Province or Branch. The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll did so. • In 2018, the GAFCON Primates received the Interim Report of the Task Force and approved its primary recommendation: Ashey asks some incisive questions and offers some answers. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/if-gafcon-merely-conference-what-point ***** CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWS. Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream reflects on The future of the Church of England: Synod, wider culture, and challenges for evangelicals. He writes: "Different wings of the Church of England have been mobilising to ensure sufficient representation of their distinctive points of view in the new General Synod, elections for which are currently taking place. While Synod candidates understand their responsibility for governance of the organisation in a broad sense, they are aware that if elected, their votes will affect crucial decisions to be made by the church, not just in matters of finance, administration and mission strategy, but in areas which touch on fundamental theological issues. How the specific headline question is answered: "should the church bless and celebrate same sex relationships or not?" -- depends on how the church understands its own nature and purpose; God, his word to his people and the world; what we should believe and how we should behave." BBC Editorial Guidelines and Christian Values. Judith Sture, an occasional VOL columnist, made a complaint to the BBC about the language used on one of their programmes. Not on the news, or in a drama, or from a member of the public sounding off on camera. No. It was a complaint about Strictly Come Dancing (that's Dancing With The Stars for US readers). Yes, you did read that correctly. I complained about an example of offensive language used on Strictly. "So what was I getting my knickers in a knot about? Well, one of the judges decided to use the name of Jesus as an expletive in her comments about a dance. Much as another person may say, in the same situation, 'Bloody hell, mate, you nailed it there.' Only she didn't say it that way. She chose to use a name that is important and valuable to Christian believers -- to give the same effect." You can read her piece here: https://virtueonline.org/bbc-editorial-guidelines-and-christian-values ***** FACTOID. There have been a multitude of lawsuits over the last year over various governmental orders to churches and faith organizations to simply shut down during the COVID -19 pandemic. Many have been resolved in favor of the churches' First Amendment rights. ***** VOL is in a campaign to raise funds to keep us going. The truth is out. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury tried to broker homosexuality into the Anglican communion and failed. Williams bombed because one man, a Nigerian Archbishop, Peter Akinola, stood up to him and said "no!" For over a decade (2000 to 2010), the two men faced each other in one venue and from one country to the next. They locked horns over who would blink first. Williams said Akinola would blink, but he was wrong. Dead wrong. In the end, Williams slunk away. He retired eight years early. He had failed to achieve his goal. He had hoped to twist the communion to suit western pansexual provinces like The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada and other such provinces. Instead, Williams saw GAFCON's birth and growth. Today GAFCON stands strong as the response of the faithful who oppose the mistaken direction of progressives in the mostly Western Anglican Communion. We may never know how close the communion came to being splintered and scattered into a thousand ecclesiastical pieces by the Affirming Catholic Williams. It was a close call. A Nigerian Anglican evangelical Archbishop saved the day...and the communion. VIRTUEONLINE broke the story. Most of the mainstream Anglican media ignored the story, either out of fear or sheer disbelief. They still refuse to expose it all. No Anglican news service covers the communion like VOL does. To keep these unique stories coming to you, we need your help. It takes time, research, effort and money to write these stories. There are no salaries being paid, but we do have expenses to keep the lights on. There are internet bills, researchers, overseas correspondents who must be paid and more, so please consider a tax-deductible donation to make it all possible. Our shoestring budget allows little room to maneuver. You can make a donation here by check, credit card or PAYPAL. VIRTUEONLINE 570 Twin Lakes Road P.O. Box 111 Shohola, PA 18458 A PayPal donation link can be found here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support.html THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT David David Virtue

A Simple Test for How Early - Apostolic - The Greek New Testament Is.Do Not Let the NIV/ESV Synodicals Buffalo You

 

The fraud concerning the Westcott-Hort-Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament started with Hort claiming the Majority Text was newer and therefore corrupted and changed by the eevul Christian Church. He was a Romanist who hated the Majority (aka Byzantine aka Traditional) Greek New Testament text.

Last night, on Facebook, someone tried to sing the song of the Nestle-Aland text being the best, most scientific and the Majority Text being unscientific and cast aside. This rap started with Count Tischendorf and went ballistic with Hort.

Here is the test, which is quite simple. We have early Christian authors who wrote about the New Testament, quoting it. The Church Fathers - as we call them - have enough information that we can date the publication. Their quoting of the New Testament fixes a time when those examples were already in circulation. And they were Majority (Byzantine) text quotations! 

Why do we not have those New Testament manuscripts? Answer - Because the inspired Scriptures themselves were the foundation of the Christian Church - not corner lots with plenty of parking. The originals were copied as the Christian Church grew miraculously and worn out through use. Others were lost through persecution.

Corrupting the text came from the weak, packed-with-heretics Egyptian side. But the healthy, strong, and disciplined Church kept and maintained what was pure. 

Notice that the ELCA, LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC illiterates are packed with false teachers - who are rewarded for promoting the most damnable heresies. They are paying the price for apostasy. Nor will the indifferent and hostile (like the ELDONUTs) be spared for loving every Bible but the best one - the KJV - because they imagine themselves to be experts. Oh yes, they are experts at pivoting -as sincere as the callers offering solar panels for free.

A pastor who uses the New KJV is saying that (via footnotes) the Nestle Aland - NU - readings are equal to the M (Majority) readings. Let's try out this sneak attack using the Old Testament. Note that I am using the NIV because the New KJV is too chicken to go this far, something the RSV pioneered for Isaiah 7:14.

The text says "a virgin will conceive" - certainly a miracle directly from God. The RSV and NIV footnote virgin "or a young woman." That little footnote rejects the meaning and context completely, making Unitarians delighted. They say to one another, "We know it was just an ordinary birth and it happened in that era," chuckling at Virgin Birth and the Two Natures in Christ.

That is just an example of how to sabotage a text with a footnote. Where the New KJV is timid, the NIV is Harvard Divinity on steroids. Both are doing the same thing, the NIV paving the way for the New KJV to be bolder in the future. 

Sabotage comes from the French for shoe, because angry peasants would trample fields with their wooden shoes to get even with the owner. The tender plants are crushed by the thousand and the farmer often does not know until much later.

Tis easy to find Concordia-by-the Grotto* graduates smirking their way through sermons, teaching the opposite of the actual text, emboldened by the work done by the ecumenical experts.

*I wanted to show people the inner campus of Notre Dame, which had two road entrances at the time. The guard at the first one stopped me because I was just a student and they were not allowing visitors. I smiled and said, "OK" and turned around to go to the other one, a fair distance away. "What is your business here today?" gruff guard #2 asked. I said, "We are here to see the Grotto," which is famous as a place of Marian devotion and burning candles. The guard said, "Come on in," and gave me directions.

Advance Staff Training by Sassy Sue

 

Sassy began having trouble jumping onto the bed because of her cataracts and age. She needed the light on and she enjoyed being encouraged. At first she barked against the tickle, when I tried to get her going by touching her. But she decided she liked the tickle jump, especially after she trained me to give her a heavy dose of affection before the jump.

Sassy's signal for affection is to sit down, look up, and smile, as if to say, "I am ready for petting and gushing praise." She has blocked teens from walking down the sidewalk, grinning and facing them, her rear leg down, expecting praise and petting.

I was getting tired of helping her jump up on the bed numerous times, so we took off the legs of the bed, giving her an easy step up. The dog ramp was anathema to her, and she did half-hearted half-jumps to show me how much she would avoid the ramp.

After a little encouragement, Sassy learned it was easy to hop up into her bed, as long as I stayed in my place.

Success? Almost.

She missed the commotion and drama of the tickle jump, so I do an imitation of the drum roll, raise my voice, and cheer when she makes the jump. Praise and pet time is first, so I did that this morning.

The funniest part of my advanced training was seeing her walk up to the bed a few days ago, form the friendly triangle with her bottom on the floor, and grin up at me. "You know I love praise and petting." She runs back to gain speed, though no necessary, listens for the dramatic sound effects, then climaxes the jump with five or six loud barks.

"You did it, Sassy!" Bark! Bark!

"You made the tickle jump!" Bark! Bark! Bark!

 "OK! I will let you drive my Town Car."
The ears back show her great happiness.

The Manure Tower Is Sinking Faster Than WELS-LCMS-ELS-ELCA, For the Same Reasons

 

Dr. Walter A. Maier, PhD in Semitics, not a DMin in coffee bars - 

The keystone and the cornerstone of Protestantism are Justification by Faith in Christ together with its twin truth, the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

"Neglect one or both and the whole structure will fall."

+++

I reversed one Maier sentence to emphasize the soundness of the structure and construction materials, tragically lacking in the tofu buildings of China - video in the post below. 

Look at a similar example in America -

***

One of the plain-spoken commentators said the site for the Leaning Tower of Frisco was questionable from the start, with soft mud and sewage as the foundation. The same company not allowed to build nearby was given the chance to build  Millennial Tower - a very tall, deluxe building - without going down to bedrock to support the structure.

The parallel to WELS-LCMS-ELS-ELCA is clear. 

Their common foundation is not the cornerstone - Biblical inerrancy. What ELCA openly rejects is slyly insinuated in all the WELS-LCMS-ELS work - the hopeless NIV, the runner-up ESV, and sometimes a nod in using the closeted NKJV (which honors the Nestle Aland anti-Majority Text snip and clip of the New Testament).

Justification by Faith is the keystone of Christianity - rejected and derided equally by Roman Catholicism, ELCA, WELS, LCMS, and the ELS. ELCA is not so fanatically nasty as its Thrivent ministry partners are, because their Mistress of the Dark is completely indifferent, lodged in the utterly dark ELCA headquarters.

Luther argued with some force that denying Justification by Faith is the equivalent of promoting justification by works, clearly the position of Rome and glaringly obvious in the mini-ELCAs. The beauty of the LCMS-WELS-ELS position is their ability to make their beloved Objective Justification the Chief Article of Christianity! And then - to make matters worse - the LCMS-WELS official doctrine began as Justification by Faith. The poorly educated CFW Walther, who trained Pieper to be as dumb but more sly, inserted Bishop Stephan (STD) into the mix, but really did not win until 1932.

 Pastor Pepperpot repeats his points, pouting and extending the Left Foot of Fellowship when told he is completely wrong. He reads his cue cards sitting at a desk below an enormous collection of unread theology books. 

Please Do Not Watch - This Is Not Happening in China. You Are Imagining This Due to Extreme Prejudice

 

Many More Books on the Text, Translations, and the KJV Are Arriving

 

One reader suggested Pickering, and I am reading that author daily (the three Pickering books I bought). Next the Lutheran Librarian Alec Satin sent me books to use and to share with others. Finally, I checked in at Alibris - and like "Ring of Fire" - Bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire. I found way too many books and began dropping choices.

One constant in text and translation issues is Bruce Metzger, Princeton University. Graduating from seminary, I wanted to study under Metzger. He survived my escape to New Haven, but he remains a primary author, often quoted. I am looking forward to reading his books since he went over to the paraphrase illusions.

Real scholarship means looking carefully at the opposition, not denying that the opposition exists. Jim Heiser only faintly remembers reading and selling Thy Strong Word in 2000 and realizing what Objective Justification really means. Of course he moved the epiphany date up to 2013 or so, to claim the revelation came from Rydecki. Both must have been shell-shocked in 2000 to have set up a scenario where Rydecki suddenly revealed the ugly truth of OJ to a panicked bishop.

People think - and professors teach - that the best minds detest the Majority or Byzantine text used for the King James Version of the New Testament. However, the facts say otherwise.

The errors and omissions loved by the modernist scholars really come from the heretics of the first 200 years or so changing and corrupting the text. That is why the Westcott-Hort-Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament is the Minority Text - 

• patched together, 
• corrupted,
• erased where convenient,
• an invented bad text.

As Pickering points out so well, and Metzger acknowledges, the Egyptian side of the Christian Church was weak and riddled with heresies. Codex Sinaiticus! The other side of the early Christian Church was the source of the original manuscripts, which were carefully copied and preserved to maintain accuracy.

A Bible used all the time wears out, so the Majority texts are found relatively late. However, a heretical Bible, like the RSV denying the Virgin Birth, can be stored in a library and seldom if ever touched - like the precious Sinaiticus.

To understand this shell game, one must realize that modernists assume Jesus 

1. was only a man, 
2. a good teacher, 
3. who died and never performed any miracles, 
4. because there is no Trinity - it was invented at Chalcedon 500 years later.

Like Westcott-Hort, they omit and paste in words to back up their idea that Jesus was never divine, that the Early Church added these inventions to the "original text" (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus).

 Princeton's Clyde Manschrek wrote the bio of Melanchthon I read long ago and bought again.

Watch China's Cookie Cutter Complexes Go Under. Evergrande Is Just the Beginning

 

 "I live in the tall one with the fancy top, officer. No, the other row. Third row? Where am I?"

More Chinese firms are in deep tofu from going into debt to keep the economy going. Evergrande has been forced to suspend trading. More oligarchs are raising their hands and asking to be excused, because...you know.

But look at how they saved on blueprints! If they only had buyers.

Back to Nutrition Articles

 

 I look a bit wired, as if a plate of donuts is coming my way.

One reader said he liked the nutrition articles, so I decided to post them every so often. Americans have more bad habits than most countries have food.

I get the A1C blood tests every so often, which show I no longer tolerate the level of sugar I used to brag about. The other news was that I was low in potassium, which means lower energy. The doctor put me on potassium pills, and I immediately had more energy.

I looked up causes for low potassium and learned that too much coffee and caffeinated drinks could cause that. At the time I was drinking more and more Diet Pepsi, in part for energy. I seldom drink coffee more than once a day, but Diet Pepsi was different. 

There are plenty of high potassium foods, says the Cleveland Clinic, such as - 

1. Potatoes and sweet potatoes
2. Beans, with white beans at the top
3. Prune, carrot, and orange juice
4. Seafood - like salmon, which has other benefits
5. Spinach and chard
6. Milk and yogurt
7. Tomatoes
8. Bananas
9. Fruits
10. Avocadoes

I noticed that Fritos, donuts, chocolates, ice cream, and apple pie were not on that list. I gave up on donuts a long time ago. We all know that Americans would rather eat fast foods than good foods.

When I was a young lad, a Pepsi was a rare treat saved for parties. Apart from donuts, danish, fudge, peanut brittle, and cookies - so were desserts. My mother was very fond of desserts, so they were fairly available, and we found her stash of candy at times, too.

Filling up on useless food is not a good idea, and water is much cheaper than any other drink. Sweets make us drink more fluid because the body is trying to dilute the sugar content. That can obviously lead to more colas for more sweets or more salty treats.

 At age 4 I was already promoting glazed donuts, because regular donuts do not have enough sugar!

Not Going To Address What the WELS Members and Clergy Ignore

 

 Nothing says brain dead like having an alcoholic pastor lead "Bible study" at a bar.
Is anyone fooled?

Every so often someone from WELS tries to have me address an individual matter. One recent story is "verified" by being reported somewhere else on the Internet. The source is hearsay. 

I knew a couple who went straight to the synod president at the time, and they got nowhere. If someone is anonymous, that means nothing. With 99.9% of the melting synod obedient or scared, finding the source takes very little time.

Besides that, the synod minders will spike a story or spin any story their way by kissing up to Christian News. The late Herman Otten apologized to John Brug for posting my review of a book that was almost exactly parallel to the scandals in WELS. The Roman Catholic author would not give me a second volume to review, so I had papist angry with me at the same time. 

WELS members and clergy - 

1. You let the Calvinist, ELCA-aping leaders force the NIV on you. 
2. You kept quiet when Valleskey, Bivens, Olson, and Kelm replaced the Means of Grace with the fads of Fuller Seminary. 
3. You let your own preps, college, and seminary keep up a criminal pattern of hazing, and you laughed and clapped over systemic cross-dressing and Fire Island fun. Sparky Brenner defends hazing (GA, HB, or the name of the week).
4. You let The Lutheran Hymnal be replaced by Tiefel's horrible LBW.2 and now one even worse, loaded with expensive new! Calvinist hymns.
5. You let your synod files fill up with Objective Justification - like a baby diaper - even though the Bible and Book of Concord only teach Justification by Faith.

Yes, I know people have objected. They are either pushed out and slandered or walk out on their own. That is the only way, unless they care to have an attorney speak on their behalf. 

 This is just what they need - expensive and worthless. "Be thou Unstuck!"

 

Tofu buildings fall apart a few years after construction, but I think people are being far too critical. We have Lutheran synods with tofu plans and tofu hymnals. No really. The hymnals only last a few years, because the synods need to print money to stay afloat.

Worried about my enormous holdings in Ever-Tofu, I decided to garden a little this morning. Economic news about China was hard to find, even at Epoch Times, which is Chinese but hardly a cheerleader for those purveyors of death and slavery. The jets flying over Taiwan was a distraction, to make that the China news-of-the-day. Regardless, my broker will alert me when I can short-sell the Three Gorges Dam. I do not want to wait until it is the Two Gorges Dam, if you know what I mean.

I had three Bee Balms arrive in beautiful little boxes with see-through windows. They are in good shape for being shipped. My main concern was getting the roots plumped up with rainwater. Overnight is too much, as I learned once. The Bee Balms were bloated and almost dead. I planted them anyway, and they are still growing well.

Step One - Unpack the three plants and soak them in rainwater. Ignore the jibes about the rain barrels. 

Step Two - Dig a deep hole for each plant. That will leave soft, damp soil for the new plants.

Step Three - Cover each planted Bee Balm base, surround it with a plastic collar to confound critters, and add a bamboo stick to keep the collar in place and the new site conspicuous.

Step Four - Gently soak the area with rainwater. New plants need extra attention, especially when the soil has been dry. We had some good rains, which have arrived just before and just after planting. Otherwise, the soil can easily dry up the newly planted youngling. Rainwater is God's own fertilizer, with abundant available nitrogen. Tap water is chlorinated and lacks usable nitrogen.

Hosta - La Vista

We learned this year that Hosta may thrive at first in the sun but looks horrible during a sunny drought, even with plenty of watering - or - especially with plenty of watering. The plants did well in providing flowers for the Hummingbirds. 

'The Hostas were marched - or hauled - to the back and replanted in the shade garden developed earlier with aggressing pruning. Lambs Ears and some Hosta were already there, so the big established Hostas were planted - and and soon drooped. They suffered from the shock of moving and the dry backyard soil. A long watering fixed the droop while I was tucking in the baby Bee Balms.

We have a few colors of Hosta, but now I would like some blue ones. They all send up flower spikes for the Hummingbirds.

Evergrande or Ever-Tofu: Enormous Real Estate Company Insolvent in China.This Company Alone - Evergrande - Is 2% of the Chinese GNP

 

 Tofu is the nickname for Chinese concrete that literally falls off newer buildings only a few years  old, due to adulterating the chemical mixture with human manure and mud. The Three Gorges Dam was criticized for that practice, so they kicked the analysis team out and called them "racists."

Some say China has been deliberately over-building for 20 years. They have many ghost cities where high rises hold very few people. 

Here is the link on Evergrande, 2% of their Gross National Product.

Recently 15 new high rises were blown up. The video in the article is shocking.

If people bring it up Monday, say, "I have been reading about that on Ichabod - for years. On Saturday and Sunday, total views were over 6,500.