Another Way To Live

The best way to live is to consider each day an opportunity to create joy in someone's life. Sometimes that means giving items that another person will value or use. Nothing is more vacant than an unused book, previously read and appreciated, but simply filling up space. Book collections, like garden soil, need to be turned over to remain productive. 

Giving someone time is very special, because time is far more valuable and volatile. It is here and gone, even when decades are involved. I feel honored when a neighbor needs a ride. I have needed rides to eye surgery appointments - four in all, two surgeries, two follow ups soon after - not the best time go solo. Lots of things go back and forth in a close neighborhood - food, gifts, flowers, rides, house-watching. I told a heart-patient, "Your garbage barrel days are over. I am taking over." He told me priceless stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton. 

The Gospel is the most important. I think it is good that the fossilized, overly-endowed, false-teaching piles of brick and marble are going away. I told one Lutheran, seminaries are so loaded with money and so lacking in students that they keep merging. Andover and Newton Seminaries (typical young Calvinists, old Unitarians) had to merge as Andover-Newton. They still got embarrassingly small, so they merged with Yale Divinity, which had already merged with the Episcopal Seminary nearby. 

The Gospel is not found or kept in brick, mortar, marble, silver, brass, and gold. The spoken Word is the Gospel. Luther called the Church a mouth church and an ear church. The mouth must teach the truth of the Scriptures without additions or subtractions. That eliminates every parish and pastor using the NIV, ESV, RSV, NRSV, and other poor imitations of the Bible. 

The Gospel Word heard is going to move around, in the family and community. The fruits of the Spirit are inevitable with the speaking and hearing of the Word. When Ranger Bob and I took Sassy out to the garden today, the green daffodil leaves were up everywhere - just the start. The bulb has to bloom. It is already a flower when planted. It only has to finish up to welcome spring and lift heavy hearts.

The daffodils are not only beautiful and varied, they are also easily cut and shared with others. And get this - the daffodils multiply on their own, so much that they have to be thinned.

Daffodils symbolize happens when the Gospel leaven is at work.

Once Again - A Glancing Blow from the Storm - Maybe Some Snow

The storm is not upon us...yet. I follow the weather maps closely for our little NW corner of Arkansas. We are almost always spared the storms that rush by above us (Joplin, Missouri) or below us (Little Rock). 

I was thinking about winning and losing tonight. Massive losses are accumulating for those who engaged in evil and treachery years ago - and cover it up, as best they can, today. 

I miss so many leaders of the past, like FBI head Comey. And Dick Cheney, the embodiment of evil. At the funeral of George HW Bush, Cheney looked up at the camera recording the event and glared so ferociously, it looked as if he willed the camera to fail from his power. If I were winning, I would smile benevolently or put on a sad face about the passing of the former CIA Director. 

When the Obama crew posed for their goodbye photo at the White House, all of them glared into the camera, Cheney style. I noticed one particular redhead trying to break the camera lens. Four years later she became the press secretary, so bad that her communication attempts are animated for everyone to enjoy. I will circle on back to her later.

Synod leaders are like that. The evil ones are easily forgotten, and most hope they are. I was thinking of the radical professor who said the LCA was 99.9% controlled by men - she was posing on the cover of their magazine. That was Elizabeth Bettenhausen. She was here and there, but has escaped the reporting of Google. The latest datum is about 30 years old. 

Liz won for her side. She gave the Mattson lectures for no apparent reason. When I raised the issue of the funds being siphoned and the endowment money misused, the key person used my favorite phrase in talking to the sem president, "I have already talked to my attorney about this." Dead silence was followed by frantic efforts to heal the wound. 

Now ELCA has at least 50% female bishops, so justice has been done and a new age is upon them. Unfortunately, the Pyrrhic Victory means that the golden dawn will rise upon empty churches, hollowed out and merged seminaries, and necessary liquidation events. 

ELCA is the warning for the LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC-Eldonia bullies. The office of bishop or faux-bishop is pursued by those who will do anything to get and keep the power. However, once they are in the posh leather chair, speaking ex cathedra (not wiki but a favorite source for LutherQuest and Harrison), they only accelerate their doom. 

Tentative Title - The King James Version: Apostolic Text, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Text and Heretical Translations

 

+++

The second version of The Bible Book needs a new title, so I am proposing - 

The King James Version:  

Apostolic Text, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Text and Heretical Translations

This sums up what I am trying to teach in the book, and it is really a starter book for those who want to pursue the KJV topic. I have read and re-read some recently received books, which by themselves have a lot to say about the pagan and Roman Catholic influence on all modern translations, especially the Little Three - the ESV, RSV, and NIV.

So if you have any ideas about how to improve the new title in blue above, email me at greg.jackson.edlp@gmail.com

 The Little Three Bibles are produced this way, and they keep on changing too.

Your Morning "I Told You So."

 John Durham - this post has been fact-checked by
Google, Yahoo,  the NY Times and the Clinton Foundation.

I have continuous conversations with people about the ultimate victory of the President and the shattering defeat his opponents. If you need to ask, "Which President?" - stop reading.

I began following Bill and Hillary Clinton before they were elected President. Given their pedigree (Yale Law) and political history, Arkansas, a lot of facts were spilling out about both of them, far too soon for someone running for high office.

I said then, in St. Louis, when we had monster movie nights, "They will fill a bookstore with books about how corrupt they are." Newly elected, Bill and Hillary reeked of corruption in the casual background articles about both.

Long ago, the Clintons filled bookstores with research volumes exposing everything they did. However, books do not indict. Prosecutors do. The lawyer/CPA said, "Greg. How did you know?" I said, "There were so many early stories about them that they had to be completely corrupt."

The current situation is akin to the Persian army of 1 million men, versus Alexander the Great's at 50,000. He could not figure out how to defeat them, but once he did, he fell asleep completely. He was very difficult to wake up the next day. Apparently he figured out that the 20 to 1 ratio worked against the Persians. They had many languages, many officers, many chains of command. Alexander routed them.

When Durham was appointed prosecutor, most people lost track of him his continuous labor. They forgot his past, which was a good prediction of his future, never letting go of a criminal prosecution. 

Everyone around Bill and Hillary, plus a few more high-level yokels, is now in deep yogurt. Hillary is distraught. I said before, thanks to my research connections, "It is all coming down. Everything. It is going to be Biblical."

I expect things to be even crazier for a time, but those are just the last few attempts to distract and take the heat off those guilty of major crimes. Some can only be tried in military court, in a safe place like Gitmo. 

 I copied this funny take on the "Durham wasp," years ago. Do you wonder why?
Vincero!

The Genius of Modern Bible Translations Paraprases

NIV

When anything is accepted by large groups of morons, we have to give credit for the genius behind it. That does not mean the concept is right, only that it has been cleverly promoted - like the electric cars that will freeze their owners to death if caught in a heavy snowstorm on a super highway.

 WELS used this snip and clip Bible to denounce snip and clip Bibles - like their beloved NIV?
That is typical WELS GA lying - deceiving people while laughing at them.

The genius of the modern paraphrases is the snip and clip, better known as the Eclectic Text. Pardon me, but the ESV, RSV, and NIV "Eclectic Texts" fall harshly on the unwaxed ear. 

To put it bluntly, each modern New Testament varies from the others and from their own earlier efforts at the perfect, "scientific, most accurate" text. Added together, there are thousands of variations among themselves and in their own versions. For example the "classic" NIV (a term that makes me shudder with amusement) can no longer be used by the denominations dumb enough (like WELS-LCMS) to use them. On Bible Gateway, hosted by the NIV, the original NIV no longer exists.

To use an obvious slap in the face, the "young woman will conceive" of Isaiah 7:10 is now upstairs in the RSV text again, not in the footnote. Anything currently offered as bait in a footnote from the NIV-RSV-ESV can easily turn into the main text.

Part II Is the Deathtrap, the Scandalon

As I wrote before, widely known - the heretics love to omit words and passages that do not please them. 

The modernists reject 

• the divinity of Jesus Christ, 
• His Virgin Birth, His miracles, 
• His doctrine, 
• His atoning death, 
• His resurrection from the dead, and 
• His Ascension. 

The world of Biblical scholarship is 99% in agreement - especially Rome. Your synodical leadership is mostly in agreement, whether ELCA, WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, or Eldonia (LQ spelling).

The LCMS is so blatant that they published a two-volume commentary on Mark where the main text is based on Codex Vaticanus - a forgery promoted by the Antichrist, along with Sinaiticus.

The Little Three (ESV, RSV, NIV - two owned by the National Council of Marxist Churches) attack readings at random - or so they seem. One picks on Jesus' divinity in 1 Timothy 3:16, the other downgrades the ending of Mark, leaving the Gospel without an empty tomb. 

So I cannot say they all chop the ending of Mark, that they all eliminate the divinity of Christ in 1 Timothy 3:16, that they all erase entirely this verse or that. A machine gun is not used for accuracy but for the total murderous effect of bullets on the target. 

That is the modern approach to the paraphrases of ESV, NIV, and RSV. An ESV advocate will sniff that he uses that variation on the blasphemous RSV, not that horrid NIV. That is like saying that Prince Andrew did not actually do anything wrong with the American teenage girl (due to age of consent or possibly who lost the original photo).

KJV Best versus KJV-Never

I am deeply offended by the term KJV Only (not really). I am really KJV Best. I read all the translations all the time because I must use them to make the point about the poverty and low use of the Little Three. Going over the ESV-RSV-NIV errors has only made me more disgusted with the so-called conservative Lutheran sects.

The KJV-Nevers have destroyed their own sects, whether large like ELCA (Presiding Bishop Liz Eaton and a host of looney-tunes) or miniscule like Eldonia (loaded with arrogant but dumb Ft. Wayne graduates).

To sum up - any denominational leader who allows or endorses the Little Three Paraphrases is accelerating the decline and utter destruction of his own church body. 

My Final Meeting with the Eye Surgeon

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, features a faded highway sign promoting Dr. T. J. Eckelburg, Oculist. The billboard is central to the theme of sin and punishment.

That is my favorite American novel of the 20th century (LOTR is my favorite British work). 

 Iconic? Purrfect.

I was a bit anxious to have my eye pressure checked, which was a bit high two weeks before. 

The surgeon came bouncing in after looking over the assistant's measurements. Eyesight was 20/20 and 20/25. Eye pressure was normal. He said, "You really were bad before the surgery."

I told him I felt like a little kid, going outside without glasses and seeing everything in brilliant color. I thanked him several times and asked if he got the Honey-belle oranges. He stopped, grinned, and said, "I heard a box was there for me, and it said To the Doctor and Staff  - Thank You for Restoring My Vision. I took four and gave the rest to the staff. I had to wash after eating one, they were so juicy."

He bounced out of the office, he was so happy with his work. 

He also suggested I figure out how to be comfortable with reading. I told him I could already work without using reading glasses at the computer. Reading glasses made me tired on the computer. I wrote this without glasses. I also did some online work without glasses. Reading a book requires them.

I came back, picked up Sassy, and we sent off a package. Sassy was a bit jilted from not going to the doctor, so I got her a burger after the post office stop. 

Don't Know Much about an Oh-mi-cron? A Guide To Heretic Translations

 Webber, ELS, "I do not know the Biblical languages, so - like Walther - I am an expert on everything."

I was re-reading a book packed with KJV revision information. The big changes really took place in the late 1800s, but they were rejected on the "translation" side and the Greek text side - at the time. The errors came back with a roar and sometimes on little cat's feet, but they came back for good. All the Lutheran synods support the errors, including Holier-Than-Thou ELDONA. They promote the ESV and hate the KJV.

The author of that book on revision makes a point about Scofield and Darby and its effect on translation. Scofield - a very successful fake - could not stand John 1:17 as it was, so he changed it.

KJV John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Darby For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ.

That is all you need to know about translation, even about Biblical languages. Heretics change the message of the Bible, one word or one phrase at a time.

KJV 1 Timothy 3:16 is a perfect example, which we know because it has been abused on several levels. The Halle Pietists and Jay Webber use the verse to say that the entire world was absolved when Jesus rose from the dead. 

KJV And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

ESV Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

NIV Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Many of the modern translations eliminate "God" from the opening of 1 Timothy 3:16 and turn the word into "who" or "he." Why? The modernists do not accept Jesus as anything more than a man. They even claim the earliest manuscripts (in their imaginations) never described Jesus as the Son of God.

Where Have All the Lutherans Gone? Long Time Passing?

 

 Walther is the American Calvin.

I see a lot of discussions among Lutherans on the Internet but almost no discernment about Biblical doctrine. Then I realize that the crumbling foundation was laid a century ago. One example was a book called What Lutherans Are Thinking, recast by wits as What? Lutherans Are Thinking?

The joke was that the typical Lutheran was too traditional, not radical (Calvinist) enough. One essay from the book unraveled the basic doctrines of Christianity, a perfect prelude for Braaten-Jenson's Christian Dogmatics many decades later. The Braaten-Jenson team openly mocked the articles of the Faith and became ELCA's official dogmatics book, though ELCA tried to deny it - and also boasted about it.

In academic theology, certain points are used as stepping stones for a religious concept, or sometimes for an appreciation of an older theologian. Few get close to the real thing, because that is the third rail of modern theology - actual faith in the Word of God.

I am ready for another wave of Bultmann, asking ourselves how much of the Bible can we still capture from the concept of mythology. 

The only reward for knowing and reading so many of these modern theologians (required reading) is this - some Leftists got old enough to start bellyaching about how radical their heirs were. Braaten exemplifies that bit of divine justice. After enjoying rich rewards for apostasy, he ended up as an example of someone who could not face the nothingness that he promoted by his books, lectures, and teaching.

 Kids! Invite your buddies to Friendship Sunday!

ELCA is now devouring itself, and its WELS-ELS-LCMS bedmates are following suit. 

So where do we begin with remedies? Thanks to Alec Satin, anyone with a computer and the Net can immerse himself in the great books of American Lutherdom - The Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry, with many of them in low-cost print versions on Amazon as well.

The easiest and most effective remedy is the Luther-Tyndale-KJV Bible. I saved that for last, because the KJV Majority Text is foundational and the translation is clear, compelling, everlasting.

The whiz-kids and philosophy majors of LutherQueasy, Eldonia, and the ALPB Ovaltine Forum do not even come close to discussing Biblical truth. I have waited years for one of them to discuss, verse by verse, Romans 4. They refuse because they cannot even get started.

Nota bene (Latin for looky here) - Calvinist News finally found a headline to generate some interest - shock!  awe! The LCMS university system is sinking into San Francisco Bay, just like the Millennium (Manure) Towers. After holding hands with ELCA for decades, Missouri has found itself to be an ELCA echo and WELS dopplegaenger (German for two-timer).

 "He is crazy" is the most used critique used by so-called Lutheran leaders. Did Harrison declare Otten insane when he drove to New Haven and sang an ode to Otten? That is the level of synodical leadership today, no different from Mirthless Mark the Bookkeeper and others.

Hymnal - Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing

"Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676

Tune - Ich singe dir - linked here

1. Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing,
A cheerful trust maintain;
For God, the Source of everything,
Thy Portion shall remain.

2. He is thy Treasure, He thy Joy,
Thy Life and Light and Lord,
Thy Counselor when doubts annoy,
Thy Shield and great Reward.

3. Why spend the day in blank despair,
In restless thought the night?
On thy Creator cast thy care;
He makes thy burdens light.

4. Did not His love and truth and power
Watch o'er thy childhood day?
Has He not oft in threatening hour
Turned dreaded ills away?

5. He ever will with patience chide,
His rod falls gently down,
And all thy sins He casts aside
And in the sea doth drown.

6. When silent woe thy bosom rends,
His pity sees thy grief,
Supplies what to His glory tends
And to thine own relief.

7. He knows how oft a Christian weeps
And why his tears now fall;
And in the book His mercy keeps
These things are noted all.

8. His wisdom never plans in vain,
Ne'er falters or mistakes;
All that His counsels did ordain
A happy ending makes.

9. Upon thy lips, then, lay thy hand
And trust His guiding love;
Then like a rock thy peace shall stand
Here and in heaven above.

Hymn #535
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ps. 56: 8
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1653, cento
Translated by: John Kelly, 1867, alt.
Titled: Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund
Tune: Ich singe dir
1st Published in: - Harmonischer Liederschatz-
Town: Frankfurt, 1738

Editor: Travis Cartee

Hymn - Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee

"Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee"
by Valerius Herberger, 1562-1627
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

Tune - Valet will ich dir geben - linked here

1. Farewell I gladly bid Thee,
False, evil world, farewell.
Thy life is vain and sinful,
With Thee I would not dwell.
I long to be in heaven,
In that untroubled sphere
Where they will be rewarded
Who served their God while here.

2. By Thy good counsel lead me,
O Son of God, my Stay;
In each perplexing trial
Help me, O Lord, I pray.
Mine hour of sorrow shorten,
Support my fainting heart,
From every cross deliver,
The crown of life impart.

3. When darkness round me gathers,
Thy name and cross, still bright,
Deep in my heart are sparkling
Like stars in blackest night.
O heart, this image cherish:
The Christ on Calvary,
How patiently He suffered
And shed His blood for me!

4. Lord, hide my soul securely
Deep in Thy wounded side;
From every danger shield me
And to Thy glory guide.
He has been truly blessed
Who reaches heaven above;
He has found perfect healing
Who rests upon Thy love.

5. Lord, write my name, I pray Thee,
Now in the Book of Life
And with all true believers
Take me where joys are rife.
There let me bloom and flourish,
Thy perfect freedom prove,
And tell, as I adore Thee,
How faithful was Thy love.

Hymn #407
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Revelation 3:5
Author: Valerius Herberger, 1613
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Titled: "Valet will ich dir geben"
Composer: Melchior Teschner, 1613
Tune: "Valet will ich dir geben"

Hymn - Draw Us To Thee

 

"Draw Us to Thee"
by Friedrich Funcke
Translated by August Crull, 1845-1923

Tune: "Ach Gott und Herr" - linked here

1. Draw us to Thee,
For then shall we
Walk in Thy steps forever
And hasten on
Where Thou art gone
To be with Thee, dear Savior.

2. Draw us to Thee,
Lord, lovingly;
Let us depart with gladness
That we may be
Forever free
From sorrow, grief, and sadness.

3. Draw us to Thee;
Oh, grant that we
May walk the road to heaven!
Direct our way
Lest we should stray
And from Thy paths be driven.

4. Draw us to Thee
That also we
Thy heavenly bliss inherit
And ever dwell
Where sin and hell
No more can vex our spirit.

5. Draw us to Thee
Unceasingly,
Into Thy kingdom take us;
Let us fore'er
Thy glory share,
Thy saints and joint heirs make us.

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #215
Text: Solomon's Song 1:4
Author: Friedrich Funcke. 1686
Translated by: August Crull, 1923
Titled: "Zeuch uns nach dir"
Tune: "Ach Gott und Herr"
1st Published in: C. Peter, "Andachts-Zymbeln"
Town: Freyberg, 1655

Hymn - Come, Thou Bright and Morning Star

"Come, Thou Bright and Morning Star"
by Christian K. von Rosenroth, 1636-1689
Translated by Richard Massie, 1800-1887

Tune - Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit - linked here

1. Come, Thou Bright and Morning Star,
Light of light, without beginning!
Shine upon us from afar
That we may be kept from sinning.
Drive away by Thy clear light
Our dark night.

2. Let Thy grace, like morning dew
Falling soft on barren places,
Comfort, quicken, and renew
Our dry souls and dying graces;
Bless Thy flock from Thy rich store
Evermore.

3. May Thy fervent love destroy
Our cold works, in us awaking
Ardent zeal and holy joy
At the purple morn's first breaking.
Let us truly rise ere yet
Life has set.

4. Ah! thou Dayspring from on high,
Grant that at Thy next appearing
We who in the graves do lie
May arise, Thy summons hearing,
And rejoice in our new life,
Far from strife.

5. Light us to those heavenly spheres,
Sun of grace, in glory shrouded;
Lead us through this vale of tears
To the land where days unclouded,
Purest joy, and perfect peace
Never cease.

Hymn #539
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Psalm 88:13
Author: Christian K. von Rosenroth, 1684, cento
Translated by: Richard Massie, 1857
Titled: "Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit"
Tune: "Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit"
1st Published in: Geistreiches Gesangbuch
Town: Halle, 1704

Mystery Box in My Recycle Barrel - Tells a Tale

 

Our recycle pickup was delayed by our ferocious snowstorm that lasted a day or two. Most of us left our barrels along the curb, just to be sure. 

I saw the lid of my barrel propped up by some object within. I had to check it out, so I walked over for a look. It was a brand new, empty box for 32 Twinkies and Ding-Dongs.

Our neighbor does baby-sitting for their extended family, so I wondered if they were buying treats in bulk.

Does anything describe our waste of money on cheap desserts better than this? I know - who am I to throw Berliners at Hostess!

My parents had a very low opinion of mass desserts, McDonalds, and similar foods never found on a Depression era farm table. They insisted we taste the exotic vegetables before deriding and refusing them.

The box reminded me craving good food now and looking forward to variations. Yesterday I added mushrooms, flax seed, almonds, onions, green peppers, and peas to a can of soup. I only ate half of the sauce pan full, so I ate the other half today. At breakfast I thought, "That deluxe soup will be great - and it was." I took off 16 pounds so far and registered 135/65 blood pressure today.

Sassy needed Pupperoni today so we went to WM for that and some vegetable enhancements. Tomato paste is packed with nutrition? Who knew? (I did not - and it is inexpensive too.) 

I am working through bean variations because they are the compliment to stacks of leafy greens. Beanie weenies may not please Fuhrman, but I have always liked the combo.

We are inundated with supplements to make us better, and doubtless many have value. However, I wonder if people consider the vast amount, numbers, and complexities of the plants ignored in favor of...Twinkies.

Happy Valentine's Day - From Andrea

This Will Be the Main Location Until the New Domain Is Up

 

A lot of people were sad to see Google erase Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed. This blog included almost 20,000 posts and a similar number of comments. Long ago, the OJists got too obnoxious so I cut out their blathering, simpering, and unedifying comments.

I have been setting up a new domain - not on Google - with a built-in backup. If that goes well, I will use it for posts, sermons, and yard sales. That should also include the previously published material.

I will use duplicate posts (Bethany Lutheran Worship) to herd the readers back here. 

 The same people who leaked to Ichabod switched sides when convenient. How is that working out?