Matthias Loy's The Augsburg Confession. From the Lutheran Library Publishishing Ministry, Alec Satin - The Lutheran Librarian

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In This Issue

The Augsburg Confession: An Introduction and Exposition by Matthias Loy Jehovah's Witnesses: A Counterfeit Christianity by Joseph Stump [Journal Article] New Gospel Sermons by Richard C. H. Lenski Eisenach Old Testament Selections by Richard C. H. Lenski Columbus Theological Magazine Vol. 9 by Matthias Loy

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The Augsburg Confession: An Introduction and Exposition by Matthias Loy “Sincere believers of the truth revealed in Christ for man’s salvation have no reason to be ashamed of Luther, whom God sent to bring again to His people the precious truth in Jesus… The whole purpose of the book is practical. It steadily pursues the aim of helping our Lutheran people to a better appreciation of their Church and its precious heritage, and to a firmer stand and a more zealous labor to maintain them and make others partake of the blessings of the Reformation…” — Matthias Loy. Level of Difficulty: Intermediate: Some subject matter knowledge helpful. Book Contents Preface. Part I. Introduction To The Augsburg Confession. 1 Historical Survey. 2 The Confessing Church 3 The Fundamental Principles 4 Confessional Authority 5 Relation To Our Other Confessions 6 The Condemnations 7 The Banner Of The Church 8 Loyalty To The Banner 1 We Must Have Faith 2 Faith Works By Love 3 Faith Manifests Privately and Publicly 4 Faith Stands With Other Christians 5 Faith Joins Churches into Synods 6 Salvation Is Only In Christ’s Kingdom Part II. Exposition Introduction Article I. Of God. Article II. Of Original Sin. 1 Sin Is Universal. 2 Our Confession Sets Forth The Nature Of This Sin. 3 This Appetite Is Really Sin 4 The Consequence Is Eternal Condemnation and Damnation For All Who Are Not Born Again 5 Current Errors Article III. Of The Son Of God And Of The Holy Spirit. 1 The Lord’s Person According To The Scriptures 2 The Reconciliation And Sacrifice For All Actual Sins of Men 3 The Application by The Holy Spirit Article IV. Of Justification. 1 Sinners Are Justified 2 The Scriptural Ground of Justification By Faith 1 That Man Needs Justification Was Not A Subject Of Contention In The Battles Of The Reformation 2 Our Confessors “Teach That Man Cannot Be Justified Before God By Their Own Powers, Merits, Or Works” 3 Our Churches Teach That While “Men Cannot Be Justified Before God By Their Own Powers, Merits, Or Works,” They “Are Justified Freely, For Christ’s Sake, Through Faith” 3 Justification Is By Faith 1 It Is Needful, First Of All, To Understand What Is Meant By The Word Faith, Or Believing 2 Some Believe That Faith Fulfills All God’s Requirements 3 The Faith Which Embraces Christ Is The Gift of God 4 The Faith Which The Holy Ghost Works In Our Hearts Is The Only Means Whereby The Righteousness Acquired For Us By The Vicarious Work And Suffering Of Our Savior Can Be Appropriated. 5 The Faith Which The Holy Spirit Works By The Gospel And Which Appropriates The Righteousness Of Christ Presented In The Gospel, Is A Living Power In The Realm Of Grace Article V. Of The Ministry Of The Church 1 God Has Instituted Means of Grace To Execute His Saving Purpose On Earth 2 These Means Of Grace Are The Word Of God And The Holy Sacraments 3 The Holy Spirit Works The Faith Which Embraces Salvation in Christ Through Means 4 The Answer To Those Who Believe The Holy Spirit Is Given Apart From The Word Article VI. Of New Obedience. 1 Of Course Good Works Ought To Be Done God’s Commandments Are The Test of Good Works Faith Brings Forth The Good Fruits Required 2 Doing Good Works Is God’s Will 3 Salvation By Faith Not Works Is The Teaching Of Scripture and Of The Church From The Beginning Article VII. Of The Church 1 The Product of Human Reason 2 Restoration Occurs Here On Earth 3 Why “In Which The Gospel Is Rightly Taught and The Sacraments Rightly Administered” Was Added 4 Right Understanding of The Test 5 True Unity Depends On The Doctrine of the Gospel And Administration Of The Sacraments 6 The “One Holy Church Is To Continue Forever” Article VIII. What The Church Is. Article IX. Of Baptism 1 Baptism Is Necessary To Salvation. 2 “Children are to be baptized, who by Baptism, being offered to God, are received into God’s favor.” 3 Our churches therefore rightly “condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the Baptism of children, and affirm that children are saved without Baptism.” Article X. Of The Lord’s Supper. I. The True Body and Blood 1 Communicated and Received 2 “Truly Present” 3 “Under the Form” 4 “Communicated” II. Proofs of the Doctrine III. Those Who Teach Otherwise Article XI. Of Confession. I. Absolution must be retained in the churches. 1 Those To Whom Absolution Is Distasteful 2 The Heavenly Consolations of the Gospel II. Pastoral Care 1 Confession and Absolution Prior to Lord’s Supper Predates the Papacy 2 The Lutheran Church Did Not Reject The Ancient Usage Article XII. Of Repentance. 1 The Right of Absolution to Fallen Christians Who Repent 2 What is Embraced in True Repentance 1 The Soul’s Awareness of Sin 2 Contrition is Not Atonement 3 The Proper Fruits of Repentance 4 The Errors Which Faithful Christians Must Condemn Article XIII. Of The Use Of The Sacraments. I. The Nature and Design of the Sacraments. 1 Not Only Marks of Profession 2 Their Higher Purpose II. The Necessity of Believing The Gospel III. Not The Work Done Article XIV. Of The Ecclesiastical Office. Article XV. Of Ecclesiastical Rites. I. External Rites are Unavoidable 1 Distinguishing Between Divine and Human Rites and Ceremonies 2 Distinctions in Human Ordinances II. Adminitions In This Article 1 Liberty and Love Article XVI. Of Civil Affairs. I. Civil Government Is A Divine Institution. 1 Human Equality and Individual Liberty 2 Civil Government is a Divine Institution 3 Scriptures Do Not Prescribe The Form of Government 4 An Ordinance of God 5 Subjection “not absolute” 6 Sometimes Christians Must Refuse II. More Regarding Civil Affairs 1 False Notions of Holiness 2 The Affairs of Life in General Article XVII. Of Christ’s Return To Judgment. I. The Consummation is Not Yet 1 The Lord Will Come Again 2 The Object of His Coming 3 The Resurrection of the Dead 4 The Full Enjoyment of Eternal Life 5 Eternal Torments For The Ungodly II. Two Specific Errors Condemned 1 Anabaptists 2 The Chialists [Millenialists] Article XVIII. Of Free Will. I. Civil Righteousness 1 Man’s Essential Atttributes 2 The Will Is Still Free 3 Man’s Freedom To Act Limited II. The Righteousness of God 1 Spiritual Righteousness 2 Inability of Man to Attain Spiritual Righteousness 3 Free Will Cannot Work The Righteousness of God by Faith III. Pelagianism Condemned 1 The Pelagian Spirit 2 The Obligation To Condemn Error Article XIX. Of The Cause Of Sin. I. God Is Not The Cause of Sin. 1 God creates all nature. 2 He who made all things preserves them all. 3 Sin Is Never The Will of the Holy One. II. Sin’s Cause Is The Will of the Wicked. 1 Will Enables An Intelligent Creature To Fall Into Sin. 2 The Sinning Creature Turned Away from The Creator. 3 How Did Wicked Persons Enter Into The World? 4 How Could Man Created In The Image of God in Righteousness and True Holiness Choose to Disobey? Article XX. Of Good Works. II. Justification by Faith Alone Cannot Be Abandoned. 1 The One and Only Way of Salvation. 2 Salvation by Faith is the Fulfillment of the Law. Article XXI. Of The Worship Of Saints. I. Proper Honors To The Saints II. No Invocation To Saints II. Articles In Which Are Recounted The Abuses Corrected. Article XXII. Of Both Kinds In The Lord’s Supper. Article XXIII. Of The Marriage Of Priests. Article XXIV. Of The Mass. Article XXV. Of Confession. Article XXVI. Of The Distinction Of Meats. Article XXVII. Of Monastic Vows. Article XXVIII. Of Ecclesiastical Power. Order a Printed Copy Print Copy: The Augsburg Confession: An Introduction and Exposition by Matthias Loy - “Lutheran Librarian” edition Download the eBook PDF EPUB - [Apple, Kobo and other devices] MOBI+AZW3 - [Kindle] If you request an EPUB or MOBI version, you can expect to receive it within a few hours. If you don't hear back by the next day, check your spam or junk mail folder. This is especially true for yahoo mail. You can also request a copy of this or any Lutheran Library e-book by sending an email with the title and format you'd like. Enjoy the book! Publication Information Lutheran Library edition first published: 2020 Copyright: CC BY 4.0 Read more

Recent Books and Articles Published

The Augsburg Confession: An Introduction and Exposition by Matthias Loy “Sincere believers of the truth revealed in Christ for man’s salvation have no reason to be ashamed of Luther, whom God sent to bring again to His people the precious truth in Jesus… The whole purpose of the book is practical. It steadily pursues the aim of helping our Lutheran people to a better appreciation of their Church and its precious heritage, and to a firmer stand and a more zealous labor to maintain them and make others partake of the blessings of the Reformation…” — ... Read more Jehovah's Witnesses: A Counterfeit Christianity by Joseph Stump [Journal Article] “The peril… lies not in any apparent ability to gain a large number of adherents… but in the fact that where it is received… it undermines belief in the existence of the soul and in eternal retribution for sin. Those who accept even this much of its teachings become persons for whom the Gospel loses all power of appeal; for what appeal can the Gospel make to those who believe that they have no soul and that there is no eternal death from which they need to be saved?” – Joseph ... Read more New Gospel Sermons by Richard C. H. Lenski “Christ our Savior and all his apostles preached justification by faith, even as did the prophets of the Old Testament. Justification is the central doctrine of all the Scriptures, the heart and soul of the entire Christian religion. All believers are justified, all the saints in heaven now have been made what they are by justification, and at the last day the righteous at Christ’s right hand will be there because they have continued in justification to the end.” — R.C.H. ... Read more Eisenach Old Testament Selections by Richard C. H. Lenski “The need of a more adequate exegetical-homiletical treatment of the ancient gospel and epistle selections has long been felt. The manager of the Lutheran Book Concern has commissioned the writer of these lines to meet this need.” — R.C.H. Lenski Richard C. H. Lenski (1864-1936) is best known for his insightful and still invaluable series of New Testament Commentaries. He served as Professor of Theology at Capital University and President of the Western District of Joint Synod of Ohio and ... Read more Columbus Theological Magazine Vol. 9 by Matthias Loy “This Magazine is designed to supply the want, long since felt, of a Lutheran periodical devoted to theological discussion. Its aim will be the exposition and defense of the doctrines of the Church as confessed in the Book of Concord. Theology in all its departments is embraced within its scope, though for the present special attention will be given to the controverted subject of predestination.” Matthias Loy (1828-1915) was a giant of American Lutheranism. He served as president of the ... Read more The King James Version: Apostolic Texts, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations, by Gregory Jackson “Since Tischendorf lied so many times about Codex Sinaiticus, what does that suggest about his earlier work with Codex Ephraim Rescriptus - and his later work embracing Codex Vaticanus?” “How does anyone explain Sinaiticus having white, supple pages after resting unknown for 15 centuries?” — From Questions to be asked while reading this book. “The most read English Bible is the King James Version, with 55% of the readers, compared to 19% for the latest New ... Read more Martin Luther's House Postil Complete in One Volume translated by Matthias Loy Martin Luther’s House Postils are Christ-centered devotional sermons which Luther delivered to his family and students. This newly typeset edition contains the complete collection, originally published by Matthias Loy in three volumes. Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed. Book Contents Preface To The English Edition. Dr. Martin Luther’s Preface To His House Postil Volume 1 First Sunday In Advent. Matthew 21:1-9 Second Sunday In Advent. Luke ... Read more May God cause his face to shine upon you and bring you peace. From Your Lutheran Librarian editor@lutheranlibrary.org

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Why Is the Fat Food Group the Most Promoted One?

Yes, I am still losing weight and improving what I eat, with some meat, lots of greens, beans, vegetables, and fruit.

 

The key component of the American sugar-salt-fat diet is fat. The first two parts, sugar and salt, are too obvious to ignore, so the fat component remains ideal for gaining and maintaining too much weight.

The highly promoted fat group starts with milk. Ice cream is so profitable and appealing that they deliver it to our doors.

Sadly, fat is quite overwhelming in milk, cottage cheese, and cheese. Those cheese sandwiches are really satisfying because of the cheese, butter, and bread. Salt is prominent, and the sandwich can be enhanced with jelly or honey. Don't ask how I know.

Eggs are high protein, but also high fat, often cooked in fat or made more delicious with butter, which I understand is 100% fat. That is why I stopped buying bread, because it is a gateway drug for butter. Or is it the other way around? 

Fat adds up easily (with salt and many kinds of sweeteners) in all our snack foods. We may have seemingly wonderful plans while including plenty of fat with the fatal partners - too much in the sugar group and omnipresent salt.

The simple alternative is a new but old way of eating. Walmart has gigantic rows of snacks and one devoted to candy. Candy is opposite frozen vegetables at our store.

Snacks and candy are manufactured, quite expensive, and fattening - no nutritional benefits.

Frozen vegetables and the produce area (fruits, vegetables) are low in cost, low in calories, and very nutritious. The last part was my gigantic blindspot, because the healthy American diet is long on protein, fat, and salt. 

The parents of Boomers grew up on fresh vegetables, some meat, no sodas, and plenty of fruit. Dr. Joel Fuhrman is a bit extreme at times but simply true to our rural heritage, which is also how poor people around the world - and in America - have eaten with great success.

ELCA

ELCA's Liz Eaton went to Harvard and re-imagined the English language, NIVish.

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Exposing the ELCA

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 Bishop Johnson is the Mega-Bishop of the Canadian ELCA, named ELCiC. "I get no kick from ELCA. Mere alcohol don't help me at all. So tell me why it should be true, I get ELCiC out of you."

"Not funny, fat-heads."

Bishop-for-a-Year Megan Rohrer has 36 payments to C. M. Almy left before her robe, stick, and fish-hat are debt-free. They is an Augustana College graduate.

Trinity-Hamma featured at various times - Loy, Leupold, Lenski, and Lenker, but now they cannot even buy a seminary student. Why?

Bishops and Presidents Grow in Office

 Bishop Larson, one of the first, grew in office, paving the way in ELCA leadership.

Unqualified Wartburg Seminary President Johnson, grew in office, as proven by an earlier photo.

 They gave her an honorary doctorate on her way out.

 Robin Steinke, the early years.

 Luther Seminary donated Latini in the search for a Gettysburg-Philadelphia Seminary president. Steinke got a shrinking seminary and Latini became the travel agent for a huge, hollowed out church.

 Theresa Latini was a Presbyterian professor at Luther, which made her ideal for erasing Philadelphia of its history of great Lutheran theologians. Was it karma or unionism? 

Philly-Gettysburg Seminary President Guy Erwin began life as an Osage Indian, leveraging that to professor, insta-pastor, insta-bishop, and insta-seminary president. He met the primary requirement - sharp clothes.

 "Brett, I told you things would get better, several years ago, and I see it happening now."

 These ELCA clowns were chosen by Mark Jeske (faux-WELS) for one of his gaseous Change or Die! conferences. Being stupid does not keep them from being underhanded.

Some Photos

Bethany is just above the other photos, the Bulletin Board of Happiness below.

I wanted these photos where I could see them many times each day. Upper left is Bethany grinning for me, on the couch, Sturgis. In the middle - Christina and I graduated early from Augustana in 1969. Upper right - Erin Joy burst into a huge smile with her mom holding her. Lower left - Bethany is in the arms of Christina, about one year old. Lower middle - Erin Joy loved her swing. Lower right - I took this photo of Erin and developed it.

This is the beautiful book stand crafted in Spain, sent by Alec Satin, the Lutheran Librarian. The beautiful facsimile KJV Bible is on the right, donated by a couple in the congregation.

 The reluctant lilies began to bloom this year.

 Joe Pye Weed is slowly budding and the butterflies have arrived to check out their paradise.

Another Creation powerhouse - Mountain Mint was mistakenly covered over with cardboard and mulch, soon bursting through to develop its own pollinator paradise.

 If you like big hips, try Rugosa rose, known for its raggy leaves and big, bright seed pods (hips) full of Vitamin C, used in chewables.

 This may be a red-tailed hawk, perched on the main bird feeder. I wonder why. He always looks at me fiercely, suggesting "You're next."

 A leftover glad from last year bloomed perfectly and went to church on Sunday.

 The entire garden was filled with a ginger-like aroma, which changed into heavy perfume. This lily is enormous.

 Crepe Myrtle is planted for showy flowers and for Cardinal food later. They love to nest at their fast food condo. Robins also love this plant.

 Ranger Bob arranged this memorial. The orange flower is Butterfly Weed, related to Milkweed. Many of my favorites are in the weed family.

 Christina loved Caladiums, which some call Elephant Ears. Slugs also love them.

 Butterfly Weed blooms a long time and attracts a bright orange beetle.

Could You Spare a Few Minutes To Talk about...Fiber?

This is so funny. The over-the-counter medicine companies want to sell us various forms of fiber - pills, powder, fibrous food products. They are as appealing as burlap. 

What we need the most is also what we shun, so we can eat food that spikes our blood sugar. The non-fiber foods leave us craving for more high glycemic foods, like Jello, popcorn, corn, white bread, snack foods, white rice, breakfast cereal, white bread, and a rainbow of candies and desserts. Salt and sweeteners are added to make the flavorless and cheap foods more appealing.

Fruit Fiber - The Dessert with a Peel

Slowly I realized that all those delicious fresh fruits are sweet but bind up their sugar in fiber - the difference between apples and apple pie, the latter begging for whipped cream or ice cream, yea even cheese (a Midwest delicacy).

Sceptics and grouches may name a few sugary fruit, like grapes, but how many people gain 100 pounds from binge eating grapes? Few, I am sure. 

My main fruit is raw apples, several a day, but I also love ripe pears. Blueberries seem very sweet but are not sugar bombs. Besides, they are heart medicine. Whole pineapples recently sold for $2.50 each. All it takes is a serrated knife to slice them horizontally, then eat everything except the triceratops skin. I was recently introduced to papaya, which also balances sweet juiciness with fiber, plus other benefits.

If fruit is past its prime, I share it with birds and squirrels. Lately birds have been flying down to my feet and looking up at me.

 “Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired Saint Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless these animals. By the power of your love, enable them to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in Creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! In Jesus' Name. Amen.”

Raw Vegetable Fiber 

The vegetables I eat are raw, most of them frozen and simply warmed up from the freezer or de-canned and warmed (chickpeas, lima beans, tomato paste and sauce).

This combination of beans and vegetables is the key to protein, a wealth of nutrition, and long-term satisfaction. I had to give up bread to continue the downward weight trend, and I found bread a trigger for craving and a gateway drug for butter, jelly, and peanut butter. I am at 192 pounds, the lowest weight since I was awakened to nutrition.

Leafy Greens

I was avoiding leafy greens because I do not like salad dressing, never did. I tried using chopped frozen greens, but that did not help. 

Raw leafy greens fill the stomach but not the calorie counter, and they are astonishingly nutritious for their weight, plus some added benefits. Spinach is a super-food in the leafy green category, and I love it, so I eat one or two bowls of spinach every day. Yes, I know the joke, without dressing, or Honeymoon Salad, lettuce alone.

Craving Is for Real, Man

Craving food, usually the wrong food, is the great fear of those wanting to change their habits. Diets, which are disasters parallel to fiber pills and powder, generate overpowering cravings for candy, desserts, and snacks. So I have heard. 

If we always eat what we have always eaten, we will always get fatter because we always age. We have to give up groups of useless food and address craving with good food - 

1. raw fruit - fiber!
2. mostly raw vegetables - fiber! 
3. leafy greens - fiber!, 
4. nuts and seeds. 

I dropped ice cream and colas first, slowed down cookies, and finally stopped buying bread. This gave me a blood sugar drop (A1C) to normal, blood pressure near normal, and weight loss of 32 pounds. Yes, I still eat meat every week.

I now answer craving with two helpings of fruit or eating one or two bowls of spinach. Yes, that works very well and the craving for all the Melo-Cream delights disappear.

Eat To Live, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman was no help to me - for years! That is because I never read it. I found a brand new, forgotten and unread copy in my own library and read it. I bought copies for others, and read it again.

I also get good advice from members and friends.

Outline of Sound Tests on Vimeo, July 4th

The permanent link is here: 

Outline of Sound Tests, Rode (sound card plug) and Snowball (USB) Microphones.

The blackouts have been annoying. Yesterday, it was slight for one household, only a few seconds for another one. I now have it set up so I can see that happening and I can stop until the monitor shows it working again. Yesterday's blip was too short for me to notice.

Today I have a script, this post, to guide the combinations I am trying - only one at a time, to avoid getting all the wires crossed. There may some ideas from the camera manufacturer, but I will do these first. I will use the Tacoma hymns for the sound.

1. The white Logitech camera, with built in sound. Actually, this will be a later test, because that is a good but inferior camera.

2. HDMI zoom camera, the way we usually have it. We get a warbly sound from the organ. I understand this is problem with Vimeo. We had that problem with IBM/Ustream but found a solution in how the plug was used in one slot or another - and it varied. 

3. Moving the mike around, which is plugged into the sound board.

4. Using the big white mike, which will be plugged into a USB slot.

I do not assume these alternatives will work, but we have the equipment to try it out. I have read that compression of the sound is the cause. I will consider local help after discussing this with Vimeo.

An Amusing Thought or Two

 Theodore Letis

Theodore P. Letis

“Moreover, those clergy who have obediently fallen in line with the New Tradition have sent a clear signal to their parishioners and colleagues that, unlike William Tyndale, they no longer find the verbal view of inspiration compelling.”

The Ecclesiastical Text: Text Criticism, Biblical Authority, and the Popular Mind, 1997.

H. L. Menken, Famous Journalist and Agnostic

“It is the most beautiful of all the translations of the Bible; indeed, it is probably the most

beautiful piece of writing in all the literature of the world. Many attempts have been made to purge it of its errors and obscurities. An English Revised Version was published in 1885 and an American Revised Version in 1901, and since then many learned but misguided men have sought to produce translations that should be mathematically accurate, and in the plain speech of everyday. But the Authorized Version has never yielded to any of them, for it is palpably and overwhelmingly better than they are, just as it is better than the Greek New Testament, or the Vulgate, or the Septuagint. Its English is extraordinarily simple, pure, eloquent, lovely. It is a mine of lordly and incomparable poetry, at once the most stirring and the most touching ever heard of.”—H. L. Mencken

My Amusing Thought

I have heard many theologues defend bad paraphrases gleaned from a butchered Nestle-Aland Greek text. 

They are always so haughty. Their paraphrases (not qualifying as actual translations) are superior to the King James because they are superbly clear in their language.

Answer - That is why they change their wording every few months? They do not even wait for a new edition. Changes happen more often that the stipulations on our online credit accounts.

Some faux-conservative Lutherans say in a superior tone, "I do not use the NIV. I use the ESV."

Answer - No one should use the NIV, but the ESV is simply another flavor of the Marxist National Council of Churches' apostate RSV.

"Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are the oldest Bibles in the world!"

Answer - If they believe leather can burn and the oldest Bible was used to heat up the library in a monastery dedicated to ancient manuscripts, then it is no surprise that they rely on Vaticanus, which comes from the Mother of All Frauds - the Pope. When was the last time Lutheran "scholars" said a good word about Luther or a bad word about the Antichrist?

I will be posting more KJV quotations from The King James Version: Apostolic Texts, Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translation. Look for them in the masthead or in the book.

 Voelz, the grammarian, produced the gigantic Mark commentary - based on Vaticanus! - at Concordia Publishing House, CPH. Seminex won and their leader sits on his throne at the Purple Palace, worshiped as a god.

No Rain, No Prediction of Rain. The Skies Opened Up a Powerful Thunderstorm

I was watering the drying hostas, coconut daisies, Poke, and Joe Pye. The phone rang and I had an enjoyable conversation with a member. That lasted about an hour, so it was time to turn off the sprinkler. I looked out - "What broke? Where is this coming from?" The rain came rushing down in a cloudburst that stayed in place. To turn off the spigot, a few feet from the back door, I had to get soaked, but that was a great feeling of relief. 

Tons of water were coming down, slackening a bit, then pouring down even harder on wilted plants, dry grass. Even the weeds look pitiful, but they were coming to life and greening up.

I got on dry clothes, then looked out the front. Was the rain-barrel filling up? My brain said, "Of course!" but I had to check. Getting wet again, with a little roof coverage, I found the rain-barrel filled and overflowing. All my barrels and buckets in the back were lined up - but had to be filled up in the rain. Why rush in hot humid weather when rain was not expected for another week? Put not your trust in meteorologists! They do not make little mistakes but shock us with their enormous mistakes, severe weather warnings instead of another sultry day, 95 degrees.

Here is the funny part about a line of full rain-barrels and buckets. They are not needed for some time, maybe not until the next rain. When each container is absent water and has only a bug or spider at the bottom, rain is on everyone's mind. Each day our clay soil gets whiter, and we ask each other, "What is your info on the next storm?"

Surprise! We had 50 mph winds, some reports of hail. Ranger Bob came back later because an enormous fallen tree was across a country road. Now I have brimming buckets and barrels with no compelling need to water anything. 

As Luther wrote, when we have an abundance of God's blessings, which come from the Gospel, we begin to take those blessings for granted, as if everything will remain the same, no matter how much we neglect the Scriptures and teaching faith in Jesus Christ as access to God's grace and forgiveness, KJV Romans 5:2 - the verse they dare not quote.

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.

Although God patiently waits for us to turn away from apostasy, the tools of Gospel learning are largely scattered and unused, replaced by alarming Scripture frauds (NIV, ESV, RSV) and Management by Objective phonies, recycling the gaseous wastes of Peter Drucker.