ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
NECEDAH, Wis. (WKOW) -- Criminal charges will not be pursued against the owner of an Airbnb cabin that caught fire, killing six people in June, according to the Juneau County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Andrew Zobal said in a statement, "After an extensive review of all said reports, the Juneau County District Attorney's Office has advised they will not be pursuing criminal charges against the property owner."
The fire engulfed the home on June 30. Among the six killed were three adults and three children.
An official from the Wood County Health Department said the rental cabin did not have proper licensing to rent.
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GJ - The lesson for all of us should be - we must do our own diligence to make sure everyone
1. Can safely and quickly leave in case of a fire, especially at an unknown place.
2. Has searched the place in advance to assure prevention against fire and monoxide.
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
Introit
Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me: O Thou, my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee.
Be merciful to me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily.
Psalm. Rejoice the soul of Thy servant: for unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
O Lord, we beseech Thee, let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without Thy help, preserve it evermore by Thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
Gradual
It is better to trust in the Lord:
than to put confidence in man.
V. It is better to trust in the Lord:
than to put confidence in princes.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Hallelujah!
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord! Praise be to Thee, O Christ! The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Preface p. 24 The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #54 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Announcements and Prayers
The flowers are from the parsonage garden.
Medical care - Sarah Buck, Lori Howell, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, Kermit Way, Callie and her parents.
Presidential debate on Tuesday.
People ask about our Holy Communion.
Roman Catholics put an emphasis on the ordained priest. The presence of the priest validates the communion service. The forgiveness is partial; the elements become only the body and blood of Christ. The priest and his ordination make it effective.
Calvinists reject Baptism and Communion as sacraments. The elements remain bread and wine and do not convey forgiveness. Calvin mocked the Real Presence.
Lutheran Biblical teaching shows what 1 Corinthians 10:16 reveals. The Body of Christ is with the bread through the Consecrating Word; the Blood is with the wine through the consecrating Word. The Word is always effective.
Distance does not attenuate or weaken the power of the Word, which is always divine. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish through His Word, the 5,000 families were stretched across the grassy oasis. Nevertheless, these miracles showed Jesus could create this miracle for the entire crowd. If the liturgy, hymns, creed, readings, and sermon are effective, then how could the Words of Consecration be ineffective? Those who agree with the Augsburg Confession are one with us and are welcome to join the distribution - after God's Word has consecrated the elements for those who hear and believe.
KJV Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.5 For every man shall bear his own burden.6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
KJV Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee for all Thy benefits: that Thou hast given us life and graciously sustained us unto this day: We beseech Thee, take not Thy blessing from us; preserve us from covetousness, that we may serve Thee only, love and abide in Thee, and not defile ourselves by idolatrous love of mammon, but hope and trust only in Thy grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Take No Thought
KJV Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Most people know this passage, because it is part of the wide-ranging Sermon on the Mount. Mammon is not mysterious. It goes beyond the necessities of life. I heard about one woman who said to her relatives, "Come to my house, so you can drool over my new kitchen."
Mammon is a word for wealth, and it is used in Luke as well. I remember a TV minister quoted his financial advisor saying, "I want you to have WEALTH!" That term mammon often works like a teeter-totter, used to hurt other kids in the olden days, by getting off at the bottom. This minister caught the vision of wealth - he stole an entire church. He was not going to use it, but he wanted possession of it and grabbed it illegally - without any remorse. One thing no one wants now is an enormous church building with very few attending. Watch the Facebook pages for churches selling fabulous audio-video equipment for their extra church "campuses."
That obvious conflict seems to fit this saying perfectly. The goal is not the Gospel but the appearance of success, desiring what others have that is measurable.
Serving God is the opposite of coveting what others have. My plumbing was being fixed up. Some workers were enchanted by the special wooden shelves I had from Arizona. The shelves were 12 feet across, but now are 6 feet wide, due to lack of space. They were happy to get the missing half from the garage. My friend from Moline has no cost no limit garage sales, which we copied for everything. Bible John just picked up a crate of small KJVs - 24 - for children.
It is fun to acquire and even more fun to share. A German saying, "Shared joy is doubled joy."
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Our nature is to worry about things, even though God manages our lives with the Savior Jesus sending His angels to watch, protect, save, and heal. If you have not experienced this many times over, then you are not paying attention. It is clear in raising children but less likely to be appreciated among adults.
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Birds make it difficult to ignore their complicate behavior and their care for their children. One pair of blue jays built a nest outside our window in Bella Vista. Soon there were eggs and then the tiny hatchlings. We set up a small ladder inside so everyone could watch. Jays are ferocious protectors of their nests, but this pair watched calmly when I came outside to feed them sunflower seeds. Soon the little ones were flapping their wings. Who taught a skill only recently used in human flights? Once strong enough, the birds took flight and left us.
Some people are afraid of the aggression of blue jays. Maybe that is because they yell and flap their arms around to escape from the dive bombers. However, when seeds are sown for them, they will issue a beautiful bell-like sound.
Jesus, the Lord of Creation, teaches us that the birds seem to have nothing and yet God provides for them with abundance. I grow Poke weed because the prolific berries are the favorite food for 61 species of birds, which expand their food supply wherever they perch. Poke is 9 feet tall and loves the sun. Wild strawberries are ground level and also thrive from the birds airlifting the seeds and planting them from stumps, limbs, and bushes. They bloom in the shade and fill in the places between plants.
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
I was out in the garden, looking for flowers for today. One bloom is Queen of Sweden. Others are Knockouts, pink and red. I walked over to the butterfly garden and saw a massive display of Russian sunflowers - hundreds of tiny yellow blooms, neglected all summer, except for the sun.
Another aspect of tiny flowers - like Alium (garlic) is their attraction to a wide variety of butterflies and insects.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
This is the Jewish comparison, from the lesser to the greater. If herbs and flowers cover the earth, for medicine, food, and beauty, how much more important are God's own people? Much of the malignant problems around us are from the basics of God's Creation. If we believe, then we know that God is answering even before we ask. Whatever we do ask is multiplied by God.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
This is - of course - the righteousness of faith, not the righteousness of works. Trusting in God gives us access to His grace.
KJV Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
1. Built on the Rock the Church doth stand, Even when steeples are falling; Crumbled have spires in every land, Bells still are chiming and calling, Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the soul distrest, Longing for rest everlasting.
2. Surely in temples made with hands, God, the Most High, is not dwelling; High above earth His temple stands, All earthly temples excelling. Yet He whom heavens cannot contain Chose to abide on earth with men, Built in our bodies His temple.
3. We are God's house of living stones, Builded for His habitation; He through baptismal grace us owns Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell, With all His grace and His favor.
4. Now we may gather with our King E'en in the lowliest dwelling; Praises to Him we there may bring, His wondrous mercy forthtelling. Jesus His grace to us accords; Spirit and life are all His words; His truth doth hallow the temple.
5. Still we our earthly temples rear That we may herald His praises; They are the homes where He draws near And little children embraces. Beautiful things in them are said; God there with us His covenant made, Making us heirs of His kingdom.
6. Here stands the font before our eyes Telling how God did receive us; The altar recalls Christ's sacrifice And what His table doth give us; Here sounds the Word that doth proclaim Christ yesterday, today, the same, Yea, and for aye our Redeemer.
7. Grant then, O God, where'er men roam, That, when the church-bells are ringing, Many in saving faith may come Where Christ His message is bringing: "I know Mine own, Mine own know Me; Ye, not the world, My face shall see. My peace I leave with you." Amen.
Hymn #467 The Lutheran Hymnal Text: Eph. 2: 19-22 Author: Nicolai F.S. Grundtvig, 1837 Translated by: Carl Doving, 1909, alt.
All About the Savior
Where do we find the key revelation in the entire Bible - a summary, a portrait, an anchor, or simply - bedrock? The famous Jesus v. Peter is brushed aside, as if the climax has Jesus building on the first Pope, for "On this Rock I will build My Church."
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (a rock), and upon this Rock (bedrock) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Church of Rome gets this verse completely twisted, and today no seminarian or pastor will stop and study this in Greek, no matter which denomination, because so few take the time to clarify this tiny little verse in the original.
I am willing to bet that all the denominations openly or furtively align themselves with the papacy, even if only through the Almy catalogue. LCMS and WELS pastors used to adorn themselves with grim, black Calvinist robes - adorned with colorful stoles in the latter days. More each year are going full papacy with the best of costumes and smoke pots.
His Eminence, Bishop Jim Heiser (fish hat) gave Ichabod readers a sample of the high church, Rome-centric pastors from Ft. Wayne and the Other One. Wayners resist saying "St. Louis" because of their imaginary superior status. Sadly, these photos are no longer being published, since they lack gravitas and sanctimony.
Bedrock
Modernists cannot abide the thought of Jesus being divine, so they are very cozy with the Church of Rome, where the Savior is downplayed to emphasize the holiness of the Pope and His underlings (Let him that readeth understand, Matthew 24:15). Note that the papal wannabees go along with gazillion holy days, prayers, and honors for every dead person except the Savior, the only one who rose from death.
The modernists make the Word of God devoid of anything except their own material desires. ELCA - in one small corner of their world - Explores Lutheran Values - with an emphasis on abortion. They glory in their shame. And yet, from the anxious bleating of the sheep who happen to be wolves, the Faithless Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) follow ELCA and even get ahead of the apostasy.
The Singular in the Trinity
The Savior Jesus is the keystone, so believers know that the Bible begins and ends with the Son of God, from the Creating Word in Genesis 1 and John 1 to the ending of Revelation.
Everyone should be furious that colleges, seminaries, and denominational drones are intent on replacing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with second-rate sales gimmicks, still being borrowed from Peter Drucker and the gang at Fuller Seminary and other bandit hide-outs.
Even worse, they have kidnapped the Bible business to keep it in harmony with the frauds from the Church of Rome, Tischendorf, the American Bible Society, and the even worse United Bible Society.
The Faithless Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) are eager to make money from selling bad, expensive, conflicted Bibles. All their changes are against the divinity of Christ and faith in Him.
I ran across a so-called Lutheran blog, now deceased, that complained about the Walther Four denying the use of the New KJV. The so-called best of the alternatives (like gourmet vomit) happily engages in changing the main text and also in providing apostate readings in the footnotes.
"It’s not as though the vice presidential nominee needed to travel to all the way to China to learn to treat reporters as children better seen and not heard. But he surely absorbed by osmosis the folkways of Chinese politicians vis-Ã -vis the press on his many visits to the Middle Kingdom.
Walz first traveled to China 35 years ago around the time of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Despite it serving as a mostly peaceful protest, Chinese officials did not treat it with the indifference initially shown by Walz toward the violent George Floyd riots in Minneapolis four years ago. The Chinese Communists murdered an unknown number of protesters that certainly number in the hundreds and perhaps reach well into the thousands."
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GJ - Walz - like Kamala - has a definite, extensive, glaring background in Marxist cooperation and promotion with China. The article linked above should be read along with many more details.
Similarly, Walz' behavior as a governor should offer him a chance to reveal himself as a tool.
KJV Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT BE ANXIOUS FOR THINGS OF THIS LIFE, BUT SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
* Avarice and anxiety are the fruits of unbelief.
1. This Gospel is a part of the long sermon Christ delivered to his disciples on the mount, in which among other things he especially warned and admonished his disciples against the infamous vice of avarice and anxiety for daily bread, the legitimate fruit and proof of our unbelief. This does great harm in Christendom when it takes possession of those in the office of the ministry, who should be occupied by nothing except teaching the Word of God and faith aright, and chastising the error and sin of the world; or when it possesses these it should confess God’s Words before all persons and be prepared to serve everybody for the sake of God, even if they be obliged on that account to lose their riches, honor, body and life.
2. Christ wishes also to teach here how he desires to have his kingdom distinguished from the civil life and government, that he will not govern his Christendom upon earth so that it be conceived and vested as a government where Christians are first of all to be amply provided with temporal goods, riches and power, and who need not fear any need or danger; but he wishes to provide them with spiritual treasures and what their souls need, so that they may have his Word, the consolation of his grace, and the power and strength of the Holy Spirit against sin and death unto everlasting life. Moreover whatever they need of temporal things for this life and the necessaries for present wants they are to expect also from him, and they are not to be terrified if they do not see this before their eyes and have it prepared for the future, and are tempted by want and need. On the other hand they are to know that their God and Father will care for them and will surely give them all if they with firm faith are only anxious about and seek how they may continue faithful to his word and in his kingdom, and serve him there.
3. Therefore Christ makes a distinction in this sermon, by which he separates his Christians from the heathen and unbelievers. For he does not deliver this doctrine to the heathen as they do not accept it, but to those who are already Christians. He does not however consider those Christians, who only hear his word and can repeat it, like the nuns do the Psalter. In this way satan also hears the Gospel and the Word of God, yea, he knows it better than we, and can preach it just as well as we, if he only wished to do so. But the Gospel is doctrine that is to be a living power and put into practice; it should strengthen and comfort the people and make us courageous and aggressive. Therefore they who only hear the Gospel thus, so that they know and can speak about it, are not to be classed among Christians; but those who believe and do as the Gospel teaches are righteous. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or else he will hold to one and despise the other.”
4. Now he, who tries to serve two masters, will do it in a way that cannot be called serving at all; for it will certainly be as the Lord here says. One can indeed compel a servant to do a certain work against his will and he may grieve while doing it; but no one can compel him to do it cheerfully, and mean it from the bottom of his heart. He of course does the work as long as his master is present, but when he is absent, he hurries away from his task, and does nothing well. Hence the Lord desires our service to be done out of love and cheerfully, and where it is not done thus, it is no service to him: for even people are not pleased when one does anything for them unwillingly. This is natural, and we experience daily that it is so.
Now, if it be the case among human beings that no one can serve two masters, how much more is it true in the service of God, that our service cannot be divided; but it must be done unto God alone, willingly and from the heart; hence the Lord adds: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
5. God cannot allow us to have another Lord besides himself. He is a jealous God, as he says, and cannot suffer us to serve him and his enemy.
We find very few, who do not sin against the Gospel. The Lord passes a severe judgment and it is terrible to hear, that he should say this of us; and yet no one will confess, yea, no one will suffer it to be said that we hate and despise God, and that we are his enemies. There is no one, when asked if he loves God and cleaves to him, who would not reply: Dost thou take me to be such a desperate character as to be an enemy of God? But see how the text here closes, that we all hate and despise God, and love and cleave to mammon. For it is impossible that he, who loves gold and riches and cleaves to them, should not hate God. Christ here holds the two opposed to one another and as enemies, and says: If you love one of these two and cleave to the same, then you must hate and despise the other.
However well a man may live here upon the earth, if he clings to riches it cannot be otherwise than that he must hate God. And whoever does not trust in gold and worldly riches, loves God. This is certain.
Matt the Fatt only needed11 million Ichabod views to admit the obvious - the Missouri Synod, like its fetid partners - loves everything except the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.
Nothing in the Book of Concord teaches Objective Faithless Justification.
In 2023 there was a brouhaha over the CTCR/CPH/ChiCom-manufactured LLCACA and President Harrison's diktat for the excommunication purge of the "horrible and racist" "alt-right" teachers of "white supremacy, Nazism, pro-slavery, anti-interracial marriage, women as property, fascism, death for homosexuals, even genocide," who "were at the genesis of a recent controversy surrounding essays" in LLCACA. Some of the essays (and their authors) had been sharply criticized for their non-Lutheran, woketardian, leftist propaganda. As a result, at least two critics were known to have been excommunicated, although one excommunicant was reinstated as a communicant member in another LCMS congregation.
Now, in his September 1, 2024, letter, "Give Me ‘Book of Concord’ Lutheranism," President Harrison seems to have backpedaled ever so slightly (and perhaps even taken a swipe at some hyper-ritualist blog postings) when he stated:
quote:
Give me Book of Concord Lutheranism! Book of Concord Lutheranism does not need to be supplemented. It cannot be supplemented with modernism or post-modernism without subtraction. It doesn’t need Anglicanism (apostolic succession, broad church latitude in doctrine, ambiguity in its public confession of Christ in the Sacrament). It doesn’t need Roman Catholicism (a pope, episcopal order, dogma of tradition, seven sacraments, obscure liturgical intricacies or splendorous vestments). It doesn’t need to be supplemented by pop evangelical, what’s-happening-now, wandering, skinny-jeaned, unvested preachers. It doesn’t need Eastern Orthodoxy (dogma of the authority of the church fathers and seven ecumenical councils, much less infant or toddler Communion).
This Mark and Avoid Jeske Photoshop honors the Big Five plus other toxins, like Leonard Sweet, below, patron saint of Lutheran goofballs.
CPH's 400 page "Small" Catechism advises teachers to soft-pedal Objective Faithless Justification. Luther's own Small Catechism teaches Justification by Faith.
46. This he would gladly still do, if the world could or would haply for its own good follow the well-meant advice which he here gives, and not with unbelief, greed and unchristianlike scheming rage against his Word, to its own harm and ruin. So must he turn this Word with her and prove the contrary; that he who will not strive after God’s kingdom and his righteousness, but despises the same and reckons to provide for himself, against God’s will, by means of his own wisdom and plotting, must be deprived both of the eternal and of the temporal, and either not obtain the temporal or at least not be satisfied and happy with it. “Be not therefore anxious for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for itself Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
47. The world is always anxious about the future, and therewith thinks to assure its fate and to bring this much about that it may be removed from danger, protect and support itself. They see not the vanity thereof, and that their projects go wrong; that it be true, and experience testifies, as Christ here says, that each day brings its own misfortune and evil. Thus it comes to pass that, with such plottings and prudence of their own, whereby they mean to ensure themselves and to forestall all coming danger, the world only causes the more woe and harm. For whenever they see that things do not go as they expected, or that an accident happens, then they begin to despond, think of one remedy and another, and imagine they must, wherever and as best they can, look for help, protection and safety; thus they patch for themselves and think to help matters by all sorts of strange craftiness and practices, whereunto they are driven by unbelief, against God and their conscience, thus to carry out what they have in mind, albeit they see that God does not prosper such things. Hence springs so much misfortune, misery, murder, war, and all mischief and misdoing of the wicked world. Each one means to carry out his affairs without God, to oppress and choke whosoever would hinder him, and rather to throw all things higgledy-piggledy on a heap than to desist from his mind. Thereby in all affairs and governments all good things perish and naught but evil grows; as all history and daily experience more than amply show.
48. Against this Christ would caution his believers, that they may not waver nor stake their affairs on that which is uncertain, vainly caring for the future, but at all times and daily do that which is right; that they may not worry how things will come out, nor permit themselves to be swerved by future and uncertain good or evil things; but rather commend care to God, and then take everything that occurs to them in good part and overcome it with faith and patience. For it cannot be on earth otherwise than that each one daily in his office, estate and calling meet with other things than he gladly welcomes, which causes him much trouble and labor.
Hence does also Christ call this life daily evil or misfortune, that is to say, all sorts of misfortune, resistance, hindrance; that we may know it and be prepared for it, so as not to be frightened by any of them from doing good, neither yet to hanker after the world and become partakers in its unrighteous and evil affairs, — thereby leading ourselves and others into ruin and damnation.
ELCA continues to be the star train-wreck, consuming the LCA, ALC, AELC, which are the ULCA, the Augustana Synod, various Norwegian Synods, and a cancerous lump of the LCMS.
This reminds everyone of Matt the Fatt's incredible feat of electrifying his sect over a bogus charge against a layman, dangling his train mid-air so no one faces the meltdown of the LCMS education system.
WELS is very old, a rust-bucket of second-rate teachers chanting the same old nonsense, protecting the criminal element of clergy and the incompetence of professors. When WELS clergy are imprisoned, "It never happened."
The ELS train polished the saintly image of Marvin Schwan, who now has a sales robot named after him - Marvin. The Little Norwegians, adamant on the dogma of Objective Faithless Justification, exploited adultery in order to build shiny new, soon-to-be-empty buildings. Wisconsin Lutheran College got its share too. Never say "ELLS" and never admit knowing that Forbes published the truth. As one ELLS pastor stated, "Nobody reads Forbes!" Who ran around his sect saying that I put the Forbes article in Christian News? Yes, I thought the matter was too much like Walther covering up for Stephan and starting a riot to grab Stephan's land, money, and title. As one Lutheran said succinctly - "When the Stephan ships landed in New Orleans, a bishop (Stephan) and a pope (Walther) arrived - both heretics.
The Church of the Lutheran Confession...pause to weep with laughter over the name...has one great advantage. They are so deep into their inbred lines that students ask each other, "How are you related to me."
This very special train-wreck is dedicated to the addicts who must have their dreams, their visions, their DMins from Fuller Seminary, their Church Growth Principles. The train represents the thrill of almost being there, if they could only squeeze more money from Thrivent, the Schwan Foundation, and other venereal disorders. "He has gone too far!" said one seminary president. But the insiders know that the Four Waltherian Sects are founded upon Bishop Martin Stephan's syphilis, Pietistic dogma, and Walther's servile covering up the plague, until he could use it to take over.
4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
