Rose Consultations - Avoiding the Big Mistakes in Gardening. In Short - Don't Do It!

Creation Gardening means avoiding the big mistakes. In roses, that means

1. Failing to prune consistently, which is not much work.
2. Imagining that fungicides will stop black spot.
3. Ignoring the complex dependencies of Creation, which work on their own, given a chance.
4. Trusting in man-made fertilizers when God does a much better job.

1. Don't Let Roses Get Ragged - They Love Prunes

One rose fancier laughed with me about KnockOut roses "pruning themselves." Their robust growth means they need steady pruning, which can be accomplished two ways. One is by cutting roses and snipping off spent roses during the enjoyable time. The other is by having a take-no-prisoners pruning session, which includes taking off all spent roses, all roses trying to go to seed and without petals, and all dead wood. The biggest pruning I do with KnockOuts is a 50% cut, which happens at the beginning and several times later. 

Pruning is the opposite of hurting the rose. Cutting energizes the plant. If 20 buds are forming, clipping 10 of them will make the remaining ones bloom faster and better - and more will form. A rose about to peak is best in color, so a bush full of peaking roses will be glowing red or pink. 

2. Don't Spray for Black Spot - It Is Part of Colored Roses

Black spot was introduced with the Persian Yellow rose, so we have to deal with it among most rose varieties - except KnockOuts. Black Spot is a fungus that lives in the soil and eats at the leaves. I normally cut the hybrid teas and clip off the leaves in the grass (not in the mulch). A healthy rose in my gardens will have Black Spot and still do well. If the rose is weak, the Black Spot seems to be killing it. The solution is to strengthen the rose, not douse the Black Spot with poison.

Man-made toxins kill the beneficial organisms so the intended good effect has long-term bad consequences.

But he lost the Best Dressed Rosarian award.

3. Don't Ignore the Complex Dependencies of Creation

God created soil as a living ocean of creatures dependent upon each other, plus some sand and clay and stuff like that - mostly rocks in some areas. The creatures we cannot see are the most important, because they are the foundation for the soil-plant-microbe relationships.

I encouraged one rose grower to do more to grow plants harboring beneficial insects. She had holes eaten into her roses. I have wasps or hornets in the front and back, and they have to be eating something. Research - "Wasps eat a wide range of invertebrates including spiders, caterpillars, ants, bees, and flies." I had a few holes eaten in the roses, perhaps by earwigs, but it is not a big problem. A concentration of roses should increase the pests, but they also increase the supply of food for the pest eaters. When I was pruning, a flower fly got in my way - he looked like a little bee. 

I let the white and Peace flowers take the pest attacks, which brings the beneficial insects (flower flies, ichneumon wasps, etc) to the roses. The good insects may attack the pests on their own or lay eggs on or near the pests. Thus the solution takes a little time, as it does with me. The second blooming had greatly reduced damage, and the rest of the summer the roses were damage free.

A ye who get out the insecticide and poison the ground with systemic poisons - are the spiders missing in thy garden? As I was looking at the roses in the front yard, I saw a silken thread above them, perhaps a traveling thread used to come down from the maple tree and feast among the rose pests. As the season develops I often cut flawless roses that enjoy a thick spider web around the stem, a wall built against illegal intruders without any cost to me.

God not only creates these magnificent examples of plant and animal life, but engineers them to perfection in their individual roles and manages their work. The parisitoid wasps see pests as "food for my children" and destroy the pests for us while guaranteeing a new generation of helpers. The spider sees wood mulch and says, "There I will stretch my net, because the food supply around and beneath wood mulch is endless." Birds think the same way, yet birds and spiders feast together. Each creature is fitted for the tools and skills it needs to prosper, which is engineering at its best, but it is also managed by unseen forces to carry out its tasks relentlessly and to move on when the work is done.

Side Bar

Did Jesus command His disciples to cast a vision for the future? Did the Holy Spirit descend upon them so that people saw images of soft-drinks and snacks, making the prospects hungry for the Christian Faith? St. Paul wrote, "Preach the Word at the right time and at the wrong time." (Jackson Relevant Relational Living Surfer-Dude Paraphrase) 2 Timothy 4:2

The Word created in the beginning, entirely through the Son, the Creating Word. Nothing was created apart from Him - John 1:3.

When so many turn away from divine solutions for man-made answers derived from business, we should shake our heads and direct the young seminary students to the garden, since their school's name  - seminary - really means seed-bed. Try working the garden with ordinary tools and labor, and plant the living seed that was created to grow and reproduce.

I still sow seed in the yard, those tiny seeds that easily fall into the rough surface of soil and mulch, germinating and growing to self-sow in the future. In the olden days, that was called broadcasting. Now we say that about digital media, where we can broadcast the Word via blogs, websites, and live-streaming video. The results are similar though global, since the Word can reach anywhere. We get responses from all over the 50 states and around the world. The Word never returns void, always accomplishes His purpose, and always prospers His purpose. 

4. Don't Trust in Man-Made Fertilizers When God Does a Much Better Job

Jeff Lowenfels, who wrote Teaming with Microbes, recently wrote a column where he dissed anyone who tossed around the soil just to place a few potted plants in the garden. Of course, there is no better way to disrupt good fungus, kill earthworms, and exposed weed seeds to sunlight for instant germination and growth.

Man-made fertilizers are detrimental to soil microbe growth. Their reputed power - compared to the gentleness of earthworm castings or animal manure - is an argument against factory fertilizer. The combination of fungus-bacterial-protozoa-nematode interactions keep the usable chemicals of decomposition in a convenient place for the fungus to funnel the food to the roots. Factory fertilizer is like that TV game where dollars descend or blow around in a cage. The contestant can keep what he catches, but most of it floats to the floor.

God's fertilizer adds up rather than passing into the water table. God's plan is to add the organic matter generated by plant and tree growth - leaves and other debris - to the soil, so the soil can hold more nutrition and support more life to grow plants that add more organic matter.

The self-serving and opportunistic maple tree would like to have the front yard for itself, shading out all rivals, using its greedy surface roots to absorb the rain and elbow out other roots. But that tree can live in peace with a rose garden if the lower branches are pruned to let in the sunlight.

God's fertilizer is hand-crafted (by His own Hand) from:

• Fallen leaves, dying seeds, pollen, dead insects.
• Mushroom compost and the excretions of billions of soil creature.
• Mown grass left in place.
• Rain fertilized by lightning.
• Animals large and small that die in the soil - moles, voles, earthworms, and springtails, to name a few.
• Bacteria and protozoa fighting a war over which will dominate.
• Fungus.

I made way for the new roses for the altar flowers,
disposing of this Veterans Honor rose in the garden,
but the bloom still remained full and brilliant red for days.

Memories and Missed Steps at Christian News

The Lion Sleeps Tonight can be heard on a TV commercial.

I was listening to some Doo Wop songs last night, including such classics Sixteen Candles, Duke of Earl,  and The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Some songs have kept groups working for 50 years; now many concerts have been arranged to feature them while the original artists are still alive.

That reminded me of our upcoming 50th class reunion. Mrs. Ichabod has been absorbed into my class, so it is just as much her reunion. A lot of Moliners went to Augustana College and knew both of us. Many of the original class members are no longer alive, including my best friend in high school. But others are in daily contact on Facebook, and we go back to Garfield Elementary School, now closed. When I saw the photo of the Garfield water fountain, I remembered that day the big kids of the sixth grade picked me up to drink from it. They looked like giants to me.

Christian News is reprinting the glory days of the Seminex fight, which the LCMS lost while celebrating their win. We were all young then - and fascinated that Lutherans could be in the news for a year. The more I learned about the LCA, where I was serving, calling the conservatives the bad guys, the more I saw what the differences were.

I was really Augustana Synod, although that group was merged into the LCA. I was confirmed at an Augustana congregation by an Augustana pastor and went to Augustana College, which was populated by Augustana Synod students and professors. Our Greek professor drove with his wife to attend our wedding in South Bend, which was conducted mainly by our Augustana pastor. I lived where the synod grew, which is also where they built their seminary. Their famous geology professor graduated from my high school.

Augustana - like the LCMS, WELS, and ELS - was a blend of orthodoxism and Pietism. In orthodoxism, every old writer's publications is fed into the brains of the followers. Names become somewhat familiar but never overcome the framework of the synod patriarchs. At Augustana Seminary the same doctrinal summary text was used for 40 years, the only change being the switch form Swedish edition to the English translation.

Doctrinal conflict causes people to look at the Scriptures and Confessions anew. By chance - if it was chance - my dissertation at Notre Dame was about an Augustana Seminary professor who was a Social Gospel advocate. As readers may recall, the main Social Gospel representative - Rauschenbursch - came from the Northern, liberal Baptists who re-interpreted Scripture via rationalism.

So I plunged int to the history of the Social Gospel Movement itself, which came into the mainline denominations through the National Council of Churches and into politics through Franklin Roosevelt administration. The dreams of government control became the reality and then the Gospel itself.

I said, "Our synod is not Lutheran. It is liberal Baptist Social Gospel!" To prove that, without trying, Franklin C. Fry's son gave a talk at a conference where he used the typical SG explantiona of the Good Samaritan. "Our job is more than binding the wounds of stricken. We have to make the roads to Jericho safe!"

That began our slug-like movement into the conservative side, where the residents jeer, "You have to join us to be real Lutherans!" and later chant "You are not one of us because you were not born in our synod!" The second chant is a blessing, although they do not know it.

Pastor Herman Otten would like to enchant his readers back into the glory days, but how many steps were missed on the way to this skirmish?

Attacking the Chief Article of Christianity - Foundational Error
When Papenfuss asked his members to kiss the foot of Pope JP Meyer - purveyor of UOJ at Mequon - the Kokomo Statements blew up in WELS and the LCMS. This would have been a great time to study Justification by Faith, according to the Scriptures, Luther, and the Book of Concord. But Otten sided with UOJ because Stephan, Walther, and Pieper taught UOJ, straight out of Halle. God has visited the LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC(sic) with the most horrible haters of sound doctrine to punish faithless Lutherans for siding with forgiveness without faith, salvation without faith. They all work with ELCA because they agree with ELCA Pietists who reached honest Universalism before they did. Of course, they all have their Lavender Mafia, another kind of fellowship, but that is just the fruit of their dogma.

Selling the Beck Bible - Leading People Away from the English Luther Bible - the KJV
I remember when the ignominious RSV was not yet done. The KJV owned the English denominations and dominated the English language. We were a lot more literate then - in ordinary language and in the words of faith. Christian News joined the rush to have a new translation published every week or so, and the Beck Bible had several radical changes before it sank into oblivion. Otten led Lutherdom in abandoning the KJV and its many modernized versions, some of which are quite good. We do not read the original KJV, even when we think we are. It was very slightly modernized, back a century or so. The Babtists love their New KJV because the key doctrinal passages are twisted to fit their dogma and to avoid troubling references to the Sacraments.

Kissing the Papal Ring by Selling - Yes Selling - A Lying Anti-Luther Rant Published by Rome
Did I see a reference in the new issue about being critical of the Church of Rome? Ha! Christian News had the brass to sell an anti-Luther book in its Reformation issue. That is a bow - or rather a genuflection - for the Roman Catholic readers. In fact, the only consistent editorial policy is to please every faction in every denomination that considers itself "conservative." God preserve us from the conservative Roman Catholics, who would likely bring back burning at the stake if they could get away with it.

The four sects of the Synodical Conference make sure that Otten spikes the stories about their DUIs, drunks, and abusive pastors. If a WELS vicar is sent to state prison for his crimes against a minor girl, "counseling her," Christian News will spike the story. If the FBI arrives at WELS headquarts, for good reason, because of porn swapping by their PR guy, the story is bleached, bromided, santized, and sent to page 17 to be overlooked. Otten's certification is always Page 1! - above the fold.

Preview of May 23, 2016 Christian News.Reading CN So You Don't Have To

 “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (attributed to Santayana). At the time of Seminex, the LCMS was preserved by the voluntary exodus of professors at the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis — not by disciplinary actions by the Seminary or by the Synodical administration. I doubt that the cleanup would ever have come about through doctrinal discipline, owing to the Gemanic lockstep, bureaucratic mentality prevailing in the Synod. By God’s unmerited grace, those profs created their own exodus. We can hardly rely on such to occur again. 

If nothing is done about the current New Testament Department problem at Concordia Seminary, St Louis, there will be a repeat of the Princeton Seminary debacle early in the 20th century: the collapse of meaningful inerrancy in the New Testament area will spread to other theological disciplines and the students educated with such a philosophy will contaminate the parishes—and the LC-MS will go the way of virtually all other major denominations, into a vague social or pious religiosity that apes the culture and ceases to be witness to it."

Dr John Warwick Montgomery, Ph.D., D.Théol., LL.D. Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University Wisconsin; Director, International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

I ran into Ken Hunter (DMin Fuller Seminary, another degree from Chicago's ELCA seminary) on my way into the Purple Palace. We had already talked on the phone, where he assured me that Paul Kelm endorsed his Church Growth seminar when asked.

What was Hunter doing going into the Purple Palace, LCMS Headquarters? He was meeting with the Council of Presidents, to guide them in the ways of Church Growth. I thought the two directions we were going said it all. I was completely disgusted with Church Growth in the LCMS and WELS, not to mention the adulterous pastors supported by the officials. I resigned from WELS and intended never to serve a church again.

Hunter's pablum took over WELS and the LCMS completely, with the enthusiastic support of each Synod President, including Bohlmann, Barry, and Harrison (Otten blessed, Otten endorsed) and Mischke, Gurgle, and Schroeder (each one assigning handlers to Otten, to keep him in line).

I have great respect for Montgomery's learning and his work for the legal rights of Christians. But I have heard that he supports UOJ in his new book with some LCMS professor.

From someone:
"On a side note, I was reading a collection of essays edited by J.W. Montgomery and Gene Veith. They have obvious LC-MS ties, but, yet, take on a kind of outlier posture. My point is that in reading through J.W. Montgomery's essay, he simply assumes the categories of objective and subjective justification as the orthodox canon of Lutheran theologians."

Observing the Eighth Commandment, I think one reason for this lapse by JW is the widely held assumption that OJ is the same as the atonement, that SJ is justification by faith. I have taken that assumption apart in a few posts. OJ is universal forgiveness and salvation without faith. SJ is simply making a decision for OJ - it is faith in OJ!

And then - he could simply be wrong. He came from the LCA originally, and universal salvation was an assumption.

Wikipedia:
Montgomery is a scholarly maverick^[12] who has 11 earned degrees in multiple disciplines: philosophy, librarianship, theology, and law. His degrees include: the A.B. with distinction in Philosophy (Cornell University; Phi Beta Kappa), B.L.S. and M.A. (University of California, Berkeley), B.D. and S.T.M. (Wittenberg University,Springfield, Ohio), LL.B. (La Salle Extension University), M. Phil. in Law (University of Essex, England), Ph.D. (University of Chicago), Th.D. Doctorat d'Universite (University of Strasbourg), LLM and LLD in canon law (Cardiff University). He also holds an honorary doctorate awarded in 1999 by the Institute for Religion and Law,Moscow.^{[3][11][13][14]}

CFW Walther organized a riot to rob and kidnap the Pietistic bishop
he followed slavishly.

It Is All Over - And Christian News Has Only Made Matters Worse
The adoption and canonization of the LCMS Brief Statement of 1932 ended any hope for Missouri becoming a Lutheran synod. Instead, the sect has been divided among the Bronze Age Pietists, with statements and rules on everything, and the next generation product of Pietism - the Pentecostals and ELCA wannabees.

These are simply stages in Halle University Pietism:

1. Halle UOJ
2. Confusing hedonism with the Gospel - ELCA UOJ.
3. Confusing tongue-speaking with evangelism - Pentecostal/charismatic movement.

What do they have in common? All three repudiate:

• The Book of Concord, 
• The efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace, and 
• The Chief Article - Justification by Faith.

Otten is at Stage 1, arguing with Stage 2, which is most of the the LCMS/WELS hierarchy and many of the clergy.

Many charismatics and Pentecostals believe in Biblical inerrancy - at least they think they do. In fact, many of their statements are diluted with various equivocations to allow those with rationalistic tendencies to associate with them.

So - having everyone stand up and cheer for inerrancy is not going to cure anything.

Also, a large segment of the American people, the Babtist tribe (but not the Baptists) adhere to the traditional text of the Bible and the KJV in its various flavors. However, a brief glance at the flavors show that very few of them are faithful to the text when Babtist dogma gets in the way. The KJV 21 is an exception and I am looking at the Third Millennium KJV as another possibility. Needless to say, the New KJV is dominant and decidedly Babtist and anti-Sacrament.

So let's all argue for the text - Rah, Rah, Make Disciples, Rah!

The problem in Missouri comes from lying about its history, mythologizing CFW Walther, and elevating the little sneak to divine status as the Great and Final Prophet of all Things Christian and Secular.

Baraboo WELS Lawsuit - Freedom From Religion Lawsuit. Irony Abounds - Church Growth WELS-LCMS Hero. Lie Down with Dogs, Git Up with Fleas

http://www.channel3000.com/news/Feds-investigate-Baraboo-school-Complaint-claims-discriminatory-policy/39637780

BARABOO, Wis. -

St. John's Lutheran School in Baraboo is under federal investigation following a complaint over its policy toward LGBT students, officials confirmed Thursday.

At issue is the fact that St. John's receives federal dollars. The school gets funding for programs for school lunches, busing and through the No Child Left Behind Program.

The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization that advocates for atheists and the separation of church and state, filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction May 10 after it received a letter school principal Craig Breitkreutz sent to parents in February, making them aware of changes for the upcoming school year. The DPI forwarded the complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the school lunch program.

In the letter, Breitkreutz asked parents to sign an agreement that they and their child will support and obey the school's policy and that any violation could result in removal from the school. Breitkreuz said this protects the school's religious beliefs as well as its "ability to dismiss children that are not following (its) Christian faith."

In the letter, Breitkreutz said the school's federal funding complicates matters, as the acceptance of federal funds makes St. John's a Title IX school. He said the Office of Civil Rights, which protects the admittance of students at Title IX schools, looks for any cases of discrimination.

"The Office of Civil Rights now also protects discrimination against sexual preference and gender identification," the letter states. "If we cannot legally refuse students who are struggling with homosexuality or gender identification, we must maintain our right to hold to the truths of God's Word."

According to the letter, the school maintains the right to "discipline and dismiss" students who "(choose) an outwardly sinful lifestyle."

The letter also states: "(U)nfortunately, we must know the gender of your child. Although this last item should never be an issue, we must be aware to protect our religious freedom."

Patrick Elliott, an FFRF attorney, said while religious schools are generally allowed to implement whatever policies they see fit according to their religious practices, federal funds should not be used to support these institutions.

"We grant religious organizations a very wide latitude to conduct their affairs how they want and many of them are discriminatory," Elliott said. "Many of us don't appreciate that and don't join those organizations. But when they are participating in certain federal programs, we can say, 'You can't participate in this federal program if you're not going to provide your services to everyone.'"

Elliott said St. John's should follow federal rules if it intends to take federal money.

"Just as if a school wasn't going to admit people of a certain race, we would agree that, federally, that school shouldn't participate in those types of funding programs," he said. "As a participant in that program, it has to follow the law, or it could certainly become a non-participant and conduct itself without the federal funds."

Elliott said its complaint over the school's policy brings up a bigger issue over whether federal funds should go to religious schools in the first place. Elliott said his organization believes parochial and other private schools shouldn't be funded by taxpayers.

"Private schools, especially schools that charge tuition, should be on their own and should fund themselves," Elliott said.

Breitkreutz declined to comment on the matter Thursday afternoon.

News 3 also reached out to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the conservative Lutheran denomination the school is affiliated with. A WELS spokesperson did not return our phone call as of Thursday afternoon.

USDA spokesperson Amanda Heitkamp confirmed Thursday the agency is investigating the complaint.

“We are firmly committed to ensuring federal protections against discrimination with respect to all of our programs and activities," Heitkamp said in a statement.

• ***

• 

  Can anyone imagine WELS publishing something by me
  in their precious Essay File?
  But they have no trouble publishing four essays by a
  confessed atheist - or "free thinker."

  
  
• Curtis A. Peterson is a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He was a Missouri Synod pastor and appreciated Ralph Bohlmann for introducing Church Growth into the synod.
• He joined WELS and immediately became a national board member with Valleskey on the same board. No surprise - Valleskey was also a big fan of Church Growth, which he compared to taking the gold and jewels from the Egyptians. But the Israelites were going into freedom, not Freedom From Religion.
• Peterson has been an atheist for years and brags about his former years in "conservative" synods and "evangelism."
• WELS still promotes his essays in their Holy of Holies - The Essay File.
• http://www.wlsessays.net/browse?value=Peterson%2C+Curtis+A.&type=author
• Now showing items 1-4 of 4

  • The Case for Remaining in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in a State of Confessional Protest 

    Peterson, Curtis A. (1971)

  • Dangers and Opportunities in the Contextualization of the Gospel 

    Peterson, Curtis A. (0000)

  • The Doctrine of Church Fellowship in the Lutheran Confessions 

    Peterson, Curtis A. (0000)

  • A Second and Third Look at Church Growth Principles 

  ---
• 
  
• Curtis A. Peterson holds a B.A. from Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and a M.Div and STM (l966 and l983 respectively) from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. 
  
  In almost 30 years in the ministry in both the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods, he was an activist with many published articles supporting the orthodox Lutheran cause in the "Battle for the Bible" in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and author of several articles in the Wisconsin Synod between l987 and l995. He also delivered several essays at pastoral conferences during those years. 
  
  He served congregations in Burlington, N.C., Rock Falls, Ill., Garland, Tex. and Gretna, La., in the LCMS and in Milwaukee, Wis. in the WELS. 
  
  A Foundation member, he is now retired, resides in Wisconsin and calls himself a humanist and a freethinker. 
  
  Freedom From Religion Foundation

---

http://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/2002/may02/peterson.php

"Nod to God" Politicians and the Ten Commandments

By Curtis A. Peterson

A small crowd gathered in downtown Milwaukee on March 27 to witness the removal of a monument of the Ten Commandments from city property where it had stood since 1957.

The ceremony began with remarks by Ald. Jeff Pawlinski serving as spokesman for the Milwaukee Common Council. The events of this day came about because the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals declaring such monuments to be violations of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Disagreeing with the Court but bowing to it, Pawlinski nevertheless lamented the necessary removal of the monument and its return to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which donated the monument in 1955 in a ceremony with actor Yul Brynner to promote the movie "The Ten Commandments."

Making an apparently obligatory "nod to god," both politicians and Eagles officials, understanding neither the Ten Commandments nor the First Amendment, mourned this "sad" day and pointed the finger of blame at the "notorious Freedom From Religion Foundation," which brought the lawsuit resulting in its removal.

Don Runnells, a spokesman for the Eagles, insisted, "This has nothing to do with religion. It's about morals." Every Christian and Jew in the country ought to cringe at such nonsense. According to Exodus 20 and Deut. 5, the Decalogue was given as a covenant between God and Israel, the equivalent of a treaty between a King and a lesser lord who owed him loyalty.

The Ten Commandments begin with the statement "I am the LORD [YAHWEH] your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Whatever else the commandments are, they are a profound statement of faith, with each precept a stipulation of a covenant. They were never intended as mere "universal principles" acceptable to all people everywhere, as Stan Thompson of the Fraternal Order of Eagles asserted.

Ald. Pawlinski declared that the commandments are "the foundation of our nation's laws and the very structure of our society." Yet, only three of the commandments (on murder, theft and perjury) deal with modern law. It is not, after all, illegal to "have any other gods," to "misuse the name of the LORD," or work on the Sabbath (Saturday)--unless "blue laws" dictate otherwise. It's not even illegal, in spite of personal moral scruples, to dishonor your parents, commit adultery or "covet your neighbor's house." In a free state, the government has no right to make rules on those matters.

This monument contains not only the Decalogue, but also two stars of David and a Chi Rho symbol, the liturgical symbol of Christ using the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ. In effect, therefore, the monument promotes ("establishes") two religions. Those of other religions or of none at all are pointedly ignored.

It is also significant that the commandments are listed by the Catholic/Lutheran numbering, incorporating the stipulation about idols or graven images (the second commandment to most Protestants) into the first and makes two coveting commandments. A monument containing the Ten Commandments in Dallas, Memphis or Charlotte would likely have the Protestant numbering, listing a separate commandment on "graven images" and only one on coveting. Therefore the monument not only endorses the Judeo-Christian tradition, but a particular form of the Christian religion.

The best statement of the day was by Ald. Don Richards, who said that American liberty is exemplified in the freedom of the group gathered there to speak their minds on the issues involved. On the other hand, Common Council President Marvin Pratt rubbed salt in the wounds of those upholding the constitutional separation of church and state by declaring that from now on the Milwaukee Common Council will begin with prayer.

In his official remarks, Ald. Pawlinski stated that this monument "inspired those who passed by City Hall in the past half century" and that it will continue to "comfort" visitors at its new location at St. Joseph's Hospital.

As one trained in Lutheran theology, I winced at the notion that this monument was meant to comfort and inspire people. A Lutheran axiom asserts the "law always accuses" (lex semper accusat). Paul in Romans says the "law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression" (4:15) and in 3:20, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his [God's] sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin."

The fundamental theological purpose of the law in the New Testament, especially in Paul's theology, is to condemn sinners and to drive them to Christ. To find comfort and inspiration in the Ten Commandments, therefore, on the bible's own terms, is to find comfort in God's condemnation of humankind for violating the commandments. Far from being an inspiration or comfort to all those who pass by, they condemn to hell all those who do not live up to the commandments by thought, word and deed! Those who reduce the Decalogue to a statement of governing principles insult the original purpose of those commandments. Every Jew and every Christian, let alone every unbeliever, ought to protest against such a misuse.

In Luther's catechetical explanation of the Ten Commandments, each command began with the expression "We should fear and love God . . ." as in the (Lutheran/Catholic) fifth commandment, where Luther says "We should fear and love God, and so we should not endanger our neighbor's life, nor cause him any harm, but help and befriend him in every necessity of life." The Decalogue is essentially a religious document.

The courts of the land, therefore, have it absolutely right: To post the Ten Commandments or to endorse them is to establish a religion. The First Amendment speaks precisely to this when it says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

Curtis A. Peterson holds a B.A. from Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and a M.Div and STM (l966 and l983 respectively) from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

In almost 30 years in the ministry in both the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods, he was an activist with many published articles supporting the orthodox Lutheran cause in the "Battle for the Bible" in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and author of several articles in the Wisconsin Synod between l987 and l995. He also delivered several essays at pastoral conferences during those years.

He served congregations in Burlington, N.C., Rock Falls, Ill., Garland, Tex. and Gretna, La., in the LCMS and in Milwaukee, Wis. in the WELS.

A Foundation member, he is now retired, resides in Wisconsin and calls himself a humanist and a freethinker. 

Last Summer Set Us Up for Clover Lawns - The Power of Mulch

Nothing starts a gardening conversation faster than fresh roses. We were at the chiro's office before when I had a long conversation with a retired professor about organic gardening. This happened again, at the same office, with another retired professor - agriculture. His wife was there for treatment and she fussed over the roses I brought for the office. He invited us to the farmers' market the next day, so we saw him again and took a bunch of roses for her.

I could tell he was in agriculture when he talked about the effects of our unusual 2015 (too much rain and then no rain) and the mild winter. He pointed out the takeover of clover in the lawns all around town, because they went to seed so completely. As he and I both noticed, the flowering trees and bushes were simply astonishing this spring. I mentioned the red bud trees never being so packed with color in any other year, and he said, "Look at the red bud seed pods outside the window." That told me - agriculture for sure.

At the farmers' market, we talked gardening and met the vendors who were there on the off-day. Thursday brings only a few stalls at the Jones Center. Saturday brings about 20 vendors of all types: custom furniture, etc. Growing up in Moline and working at my father's business, I always tried to patronize small businesses from our hometown, which applies to Walmart too, but there is nothing better than a farmers' market.

Emptying the Rainbarrels Again
Rain was about to start when I fed the birds again, late in the afternoon. They ate all day, and continued late in the afternoon, which seemed to be verifying the rain prediction.

I now use four large garbage cans, one small one, and the wheelbarrow to catch rain. The wheelbarrow is my rain gauge, backed up by Lake Gideon, the puddle that forms in a low spot on Scott Street. If it rains a lot and the soil is dry, Lake Gideon is unimpressive. If it fills and overflows into a secondary lake nearby, we had a real sod-soaker, one to wash out the cricks. Last summer one rain did that and perhaps gave us 14 inches in a day, a bonanza for weeds and clover.

Mulch Helps with Light Rains
So my favorites got extra rain from the barrels before the rain - White Profusion Butterfly Bush, hybrid tea roses along the fence, some ambitious blackberry canes, and bee balm.

We have had many light rains this year, which is fine for the roses and returning perennials. We had a little rain last night and some misting this morning. That is where mulch really comes into the Creation food cycle. Mulch holds in the moisture in the soil that would be dried up by steady winds and sunlight. Grass and weeds want to soak up the sun and crowd the roses, drawing from soil moisture as well.

Roses do not like competition, so the proximity of grass and weeds will keep them from producing well. In contrast, mulch will hold moisture and feed the soil creatures and fungus that benefit the roots and feed the plants.

I called this Fireworks once, but it is named Purple Splash.

I try to keep a mulch zone of 3 feet around each rose bush. That also discourages foot traffic, while nearby grass does not. Our helper has mint crowding his Purple Splash roses transplanted from our yard. He can cut the plants at the surface, surround the plants, and cover the zone with cardboard, then mulch. The mint will keep away from the roses, and the cuttings will feed the soil creatures.

Some people fear the seedy weeds, like crabgrass (actually a grain brought to America). Tearing out crabgrass is just about impossible. Using Roundup will leave unsightly plant-free zones, and it is not good for the soil creatures or the environment. The best solution for crabgrass is to turns its sun-power against it - cover the plants with cardboard or newspaper and another layer of some mulch. The worst and seediest weed will become compost in the dark.

I had a Veterans' Honor like this one in a vase,
even though the stem was too short.
The bloom was just too luxurious and full.
Later I had to put the bouquet outside to make room
for new flowers - and this rose remained
full and colorful on the ground instead of wilting.

Luther Prep (WELS High School) Installs Screen in Chapel Remodeling, Blocking the Stained Glass Windows. Why Not Put a Garbage Can in front of the Mini-Pulpit?

The remodeling is not done yet. They haven't installed the popcorn and soda machines.

Bada-bing. Chee.

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Wisconsin and WELS - Have 12 of the Drunkest Cities - And a Booming Business in Law Firms Specializing in Eliminating Evidence and ConvictionsELS in Mankato - #10.

Is it significant that the head of the worship conference is
also the bartender at the cash bar set up for the holy event?

Twelve of 20 drunkest American cities are in Wisconsin

Mankato ranks No. 10 on the list analyzing the prevalence of binge-drinking adults. 

By Liz Sawyer Star Tribune

 

MAY 18, 2016 — 10:24PM

CARLOS GONZALEZ

Mankato ranks No. 10 on the list analyzing the prevalence of binge-drinking adults.

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Stand tall, Minnesotans, because apparently lots of people in Wisconsin can’t.

A new list of the “Drunkest Cities in America” puts a perhaps unwelcome spotlight on Wisconsin, which is home to 12 cities in the top 20, ranked by the highest rates of binge drinking in adults.

The findings were compiled by online financial news outlet 24/7 Wall St.

The group analyzed self-reported data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a joint program with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Excessive drinking, concentration of bars and alcohol-related driving deaths all were contributing factors in determining America’s drunkest cities — all but two of which are in the Midwest.

Just one Minnesota city — Mankato — appears on the Top 20 list, at number 10. Nearly one-quarter of residents there admitted to excessive drinking.

Wisconsin outdrinks any other state, results showed. Our neighbor to the east boasted seven of the top 10 “Drunkest Cities,” including the top four: Appleton, Oshkosh-Neenah, Green Bay and Madison.

America’s 20 drunkest cities

1. Appleton, Wis.

2. Oshkosh, Wis.

3. Green Bay, Wis.

4. Madison, Wis.

5. Fargo

6. La Crosse, Wis.

7. Fond du Lac, Wis.

8. Ames, Iowa

9. Eau Claire, Wis.

10. Mankato, Minn.

11. Wausau, Wis.

12. Sheboygan, Wis.

13. Missoula, Mont.

14. Grand Forks, N.D.

15. Racine, Wis.

16. Janesville, Wis.

17. Milwaukee

18. Lincoln, Neb.

19. Iowa City

20. Corvallis, Ore.

Source: 24/7 Wall St.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as consuming at least four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men during one sitting. Heavy drinking refers to the number of alcoholic beverages consumed per week (15 or more for men and eight or more for women).

On average, 18 percent of adults drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol, according to the study. Wisconsinites consistently imbibe on a grander scale, with more than one-quarter of adults reporting that they binge or drink heavily throughout the week.

Appleton, Wis., topped the national list just six months after winning the statewide honors. Data showed that 26.8 percent of Appleton residents drank excessively and nearly one-third of driving deaths involved alcohol. The city has 4.4 drinking establishments per 10,000 residents, compared to an average of 1.6 bars per 10,000 population across the 381 cities covered by the survey.

Using the same methodology, the study also ranked America’s 20 driest cities — the majority of which fell inside the Bible Belt. Two Alabama metros topped that list, with less than 13 percent of residents consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.

Drinking on the job, having an appearance bond
refund left on the court records in Milwaukee,
turning a "coffee house ministry into a "bar ministry" -
the Booze Brothers do Appleton.