Will Harrison Go? Matt and Paul McCain Should Get Themselves Parish Calls. Been a Long, Long Time

Selections, Open Letter, ALPB Forum

Removal of Human Resources leadership in the International Center who had information related to questionable activities of Rev. Harrison prior to his being elected President.

 Cooperation with non-RSO entities such as Balance Concord in the sending of books written by the President timed to arrive right before an election.

    Speaking at the annual meeting of Brothers of John the Steadfast despite pastoral counsel from members of the COP that he should not be a speaker.

Purple Splash Proves That Rain Is Effective - Just Like the Word of God

Purple Splash - from Weeks Roses.

Our helper wanted to grow roses, and I had some extras. Two Purple Splash roses cost me $5 each, and I did not have a good place for them. He dug them up and placed them in his front yard. He was really catching onto the fun of watching plants grow. He already had a maple tree from the abundant crop in my gardens. He mulched the tree and protected it from stomping with a tire around it.

The rose wilted a bit from the transfer. One cane looked a bit questionable for a time. He demanded some flowers. I said, "Give it time to establish new roots." Then we had days of rain - and then more rain. He said, "You were right about rainwater. Nothing happened until it rain. I watered and watered it, but the rain made it grow and bloom."

I drive by his home when going to Walmart, and Purple Splash shows up perfectly with its white and purple flowers.

The man-made solutions are tap-water at best, and yet the entire denominational racket is aimed at all these methods and funded from offerings. The hucksters who promote their products promise everything and never deliver. Mark Jeske - the new Jester - gives the same idiotic talk every time he organizes a new conference promoting...Mark Jeske. His rant is - "We ran  out of Germans, " a clever way of ignoring the efficacy of the Word in the liturgy, creeds, hymns, and Biblical sermons.

Pastors trusted in the Word in the old days because they had Gausewitz - instead of Larry Olson - guiding them.

Jester's solution is - Change. And yet this Isaiah passage promises three results from the Word of God, which is like the rain and snow from heaven in always being effective -

1. The Word will never be devoid of results.
2. The Word will always accomplish His purpose.
3. The Word will always prosper His purpose.

One layman attended a conference recently and spoke of the nastiness experienced when his group left WELS. I do not know the stories, but I have seen the LCA, WELS, and Missouri leaders at work for decades. 

Violent, persistent hatred is one result of teaching the Word. When I allowed comments, any post on the Fox Valley gang in WELS brought plenty of comments, badly spelled, full of grammatical errors, and loaded with personal insults. I preserved them in the main body because I knew the little sissies would strike out and then erase their comments later, always using phony names or no names at all. Too bad I could track them - down to their proximate address and even their operating systems.

"Do not read that little Gausewitz catechism. That booklet
is too small and simple. We have a big, expensive, and
verbose version for you - the Kuske blue book.
It corrects and improvesupon justification."

Nothing sets off the WELS-LCMS-ELS gang like Justification by Faith. Their biggest doctrinal accusation was my rejection of their precious UOJ. But wait - they claim they teach a better, purer Justification by Faith with their UOJ, so why would the classic, Biblical phrases of Justification by Faith send them into post-binge-drinking tirades?

Simple - the actual, effective teaching of the Word of God yanks their ovine fleeces away from their flea-bitten lupine bodies. The sheepish smiles turn into the slavering jaws of wolves, eager to rip, tear, scatter, and slaughter.

This is Satan's last-ditch effort when confronted with sound doctrine - scare everyone into submission with threats and actual attacks. The works-saints of Lutherdom's leadership have no problem destroying a congregation and crushing their former pastors and laity, if they can use that as an example of their righteous (ok, self-righteous) wrath.

So, when people teach and do what is correct according to the Word, they should expect and welcome the efficacy of the Word. The days can be long and weary - seeing the evil reactions, without experiencing the good results. No one truly understands the Gerhardt hymns without that persecution from one's own "friends," family, and former leaders. 

Every Lutheran pastor knows that Huss had something to do with the Lutheran Reformation, that Luther condemned himself by identifying himself as a Hussite. But read about that man being burned at the stake for the Gospel and sing his communion hymn. 

I have worked four years on this yard that I inherited from previous renters. I took over voluptuous growths of weeds, trash trees and bushes growing and choking worthwhile plants, and so forth. But every spring I have grape hyacinths pop up and beautiful their surrounding with a cluster of flowers. They appear here and there in the front and back. They are not plants that blew in on the wind. They were not placed by birds roosting on limbs and fences. Someone planted them, to enjoy their beauty.

The Word faithfully broadcast will grow and produce for future generations. Too many pastors and laity have withdrawn from the battle. They will not challenge the moneyed manglers of the Word - it might cost them a committee chairmanship or a free trip to Europe.

Grape Hyacinths

Please Explain This - I Am Listening. How Did Luther Anticipate Objective Jstification 300 Years Before Its Articulation by a Calvinist Translating a Pietist?

Calvinist Leonard Woods, Junior, graduated from Andover Seminary.
He explained Knapp's theology with these terms -
Objective Justification and Subjective Justification.

Objective Justification is the Helen of Troy for the Synodical Conference, the dogma that launched a thousand essays. Simply put, OJ states that God declared the entire world forgiven when Christ died - or when Christ rose from the dead. They have not decided on the Moment of Absolution, but the entire unbelieving world was absolved on or about Good Friday - they say. We have not yet heard from the Holy Spirit where this dogma is revealed, but in a world where John Lawrenz debates with the Holy Spirit and almost wins, anything goes.

A related matter is the salvation of the entire unbelieving world. That is often claimed by OJ Enthusiasts, who say, "I was saved 2,000 years ago!" That gets awkward, dating their salvation from the approximate time Jesus was in the Temple. The more astute among the false teachers say, "I was saved at Calvary." Redeemed, yes, but not saved.

Objective Justification and its overlooked partner, Subjective Justification, were articulated by a Calvinist, Leonard Woods Junior, the super-star son of Leonard Woods, Senior, the first theology professor of Andover Seminary - also a Calvinist.

But Subjective Justification is not Justification by Faith, as some might assume, just as OJ is not the atonement, in their own words. Subjective Justification means accepting the dogma of Objective Justification.

These two terms - OJ and SJ -  came from a Calvinist translator of the Halle University professor's Pietistic lectures on theology - George Christian Knapp. His German doctrinal book was published in 1827 and translated by the Calvinist Woods in 1831.

Explain this - how did Luther teach Objective Justification 300 years before the term was articulated by a Calvinist, Woods, translating a German Pietist, Knapp?

The quotation above, from the commentary commended by the Formula of Concord editors to explain justification, repudiates the claim solemnly declared by Jay Webber, ELS pastor with an STM from an ELCA online seminary.

Where did Walther obtain his special revelation about universal absolution without faith? The scholars have shown, and Walther admitted, that he learned his OJ from Bishop Martin Stephan, who studied at Halle but never graduated from any university.

Now we begin to smell the pot-roast, as Luther said. The concept of OJ came to Protestants through Pietism.

An Even Bigger Question
Lutherans are about to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. But they dodge this question with the greatest of ease.

• WELS claims twice in their precious Essay File that OJ is the Chief Article of the Christian religion. 
• The ELS and LCMS are itching to work with WELS on the basis of OJ. 
• ELCA teaches exactly the same false doctrine, because their various segments all came from Pietism too. 

When Benjamin Mayes announced his call to Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, he mentioned his work editing Luther's works at CPH. I had to ask -

Gregory L. Jackson Did Luther teach justification by faith? If so, why is Missouri working with WELS?

Like · Reply · Yesterday at 8:21am

Jordan Cooper This was a very relevant comment to the above post.

Like · Reply · Yesterday at 8:59am

Gregory L. Jackson I thought so, for an editor of Luther.

Mayes holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Concordia University Nebraska (1997), a M.Div. from CTSFW (2003) and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2009). While working on his doctorate he served as assistant pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids. He has taught as an adjunct professor at CTSFW since 2011. Most recently, he has worked as an editor for Concordia Publishing House (CPH), St. Louis, Missouri. He will continue to serve CPH as managing editor and co-general editor of Luther’s Works: American Edition. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two sons, Caleb and Jonathan.

Will 2017 be one giant con-job, with Lutheran leaders letting everyone think they teach Justification by Faith?

SP Harrison Unfriended Me - in 2011

We were Facebook friends when he was running for president. We still have 800 mutual friends.

Harrison might not have liked the way I reported on his kissing up to Paul McCain. Not long ago someone wrote to Waldo Werning, "Are you training a replacement?" The answer must be, "Yes!"

Werning was close to the Preus brothers and Herman Otten.

Werning is being reborn as Paul McCain. The difference - Werning kept most of his hissy fits private, instead of posting them all over the Net.

"If Jenny Craig calls again, just hang up, OK?"

Amazon Edition of Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, Third Edition - Being Prepared

Thy Strong Word is being finished for Amazon-Kindle, which will make it much less expensive for readers. My finishing editor, who does so much in fixing the format, moved to Texas and set up a new household, so that slowed TSW down. The debut is scheduled for mid-June.

Kindle eboods are ideal for looking up and quoting material. I have both versions for favorite gardening books.

Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant
Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant is next. I have corrections from a proof-reader, Next I will send the corrected file to Norma Boeckler for artwork.

The budget for CLP is:
$100 - Proof-reading
$100 - Finishing work
$100 - Free promotional copies      
$300 -  TOTAL

Those who contribute will get free copies when the book is done, which should be in the next 30 days.

Norma Boeckler is the award-winning artist who
designs the covers and the interior art.

In the Jungle, The Mighty Jungle

The Tokens made "In the Jungle" their song,
but the hippo and dog are the best performers.

TV is still using this song in the background. When I walk into the garden in the back, I am in the jungle. The birds are singing and having a go at the feeders, sometimes bathing in the children's swimming pools. If it is quiet and I go to the feeders, the chorus starts up to announce that breakfast is served.

Squirrels see me watching their approach to the feeders. Sometimes the varmints retreat, but they often sit brazenly on top the sunflower seeds in the platform feeder. I have seen squirrels bat the birds away with their front paws, so I chase them away for a moment.

The backyard has everything birds could desire:

• Tall grass for shelter.
• Fresh berries for discerning tastes: blue, black, poke, wild strawberry, elder, beauty, goose, raspberry, etc.
• Trees and bushes for diversity in habitat.
• Perches to serve as a crow's nests for spying bugs.
• Wood mulch and logs to feed and concentrate soil creatures.
• Abundant fresh water, until they bathe.
• Four feeders - platform, finch, suet, and hanging.
• Bugs galore to eat.
• Fresh showers from the Jackson Aqueduct

Modern Marvels - The Jackson Aerial Aqueduct
Soaker-hoses are a good way to water with relatively little waste. I have two outdoor faucets, one in the front and one in the backyard. I use splitters to run two soaker hoses from each faucet, plus one traditional, pesky, kink-prone hose.

Most of the watering is done by turning the water on and switching hoses by a complex system of levers that only I can understand. A special touch is the the soaker-hose run on top of  the fence on Mrs. Wright's side. The birds can get a shower this way, which is especially appealing to hummingbirds.

In the dry weather especially, the birdbaths get brown-green from the algae, dirt, and fertilizer which is dumped on grateful plants nearby.

The front soaker-hoses run under the mulch in the rose garden. I no longer know exactly how they run, but the slanted yard sends excess down to the maple tree garden.

In the backyard, ceramic pans for plants catch the soaker hose water, which also cleans them. The ceramic pans provide additional water sources for birds - but especially for toads hydrating in shallow water.

Battling the Poison Hemlock - The Umbrella Flowers of the Carrot Family

All the carrot family flowers are umbrella-like,
but the flowers vary in color and arrangement.
Beneficial insects love all the tiny flowers.
Dill smells exactly like dill pickles.

Almost Eden and his dog Opie were outside when Sassy and I walked over. I wanted to check out the carrot family weeds on his berm, which is a lab for anything goes plants. He got the topsoil free from a construction site. They messed up their scraping of the soil and could not process it for sale. He gladly took it. Topsoil disturbed will expose past weed seeds and welcome new ones planted by the wind and the birds.

One cluster like mine was definitely Queen Anne's Lace. As I learned yesterday from the Net, "Queen Anne has hairy legs." Once I saw the hairy stems, I looked more closely at the flower, which definitely had the spot of "blood" in the middle. Unlike her cousins, Queen Anne decided to have a fake bug painted into the compound flower, to encourage pollination.

People sometimes rave against evolution, but evolution must use the language of Intelligent Design, yea even Creation, to explain what goes on in plants. Every feature has a purpose, and purpose requires design and Creation.

My interest is not only the marvel of Creation by the Word itself, but the perfectly inter-related engineering of each feature and the continuous management of plants and animals.

Some members of the carrot family contribute directly to gardening:
Carrots
Parsley
Fennel
Anise.

David - The Death of Socrates

Hemlock has distinct purple blotches or streaks near its base.

Queen Anne's Lace is disparaged as a weed known for "truck parking lots," as Jessica Walliser writes. Poison Hemlock is the plant that killed Socrates, when he was given a death sentence and forced to drink it.

Almost Eden pointed out that toxic plants are not so bad since we no longer go out and eat whatever we find in the forest. He said, "Just don't eat it."

Even so, I saw the Poison Hemlock having the potential for many more family members to follow. Growing unbidden in the former sweet corn garden, the plants grew in a cluster, with a cluster of flowers, each complex flower having hundreds of seeds. The opportunistic weed took advantage of the sun and reached 8 feet in height. The Hemlock also had mulch to feed the soil population and extra watering from the blueberries I planted. The greed! The avarice!

I used hedge-clippers to cut the plant at the base and chop it up within the garbage can. I react more to cutting roses, since my skin burns and tingles from rose pollen.

I had another suspect plant along the fence, so I looked for distinctions within the carrot family. This one was not quite in bloom, but had hairy legs. Aha. Next I rolled a leaf to get its aroma - definitely carroty. I will leave the Queen Anne's Lace growing alone the fence, because I like the plant and its attraction to beneficial insects.

Poison Hemlock is supposed to smell mousy but I never detected an odor there.

The "spot of dried blood" identifies Queen Anne's Lace,
so we do not have to mention her hairy legs.

Dill smells dill pickly and fennel gives off a licorice aroma. Anise has the fragrance of black licorice.

Falling in Love with Falling in Love. One of Those $5 Roses from the Gurney Offer

When you combine Moonstone with Marilyn Monroe how can you help but create a star? We guarantee you'll "fall in love" with these full, shapely blooms of exhibition form. The pure pink color softens to white on the outer petals and on the reverse to give the flowers a surreal glow. The strong rose and fruit fragrance is downright heavenly. The upright plants stay tidy and compact. Just right for tucking right up front in the flower border. Large dark green foliage clothes long stems perfect for cutting. Flower Size: 5-7". Fragrance: Strong rose and fruit. Hybridizer: Carruth, 2007.

The Edmunds photo captures the white contrast, Falling in Love.

Let us start with a major blooming cycle, so good that I asked Mrs. Ichabod to see the first two blooms - Falling in Love. The photo above does not do the rose justice, which is true of all rose photos. The best portrait never captures the subtle colors.

Marilyn Monroe Rose

Moonstone Rose

The story behind planting this rose will impress the flintiest heart in Lutherdom. I bought 10 roses for $5 each from Weeks Roses via Gurney's. They only promised two of each, a variety of colors.

When I took roses to Ecclesia College, I cut the ones in full bloom or ready to bloom. I soon heard the registrar's office was keen on roses, so they got regular deliveries of whatever roses were ready. The assistant kept asking for one rose again and again, "Pink and it smelled so good."

I thought the rose died at one point and I almost pulled it out entirely, but it was still alive and had its tag - Falling in Love. Keeping those tags in place is a chore, and I often do not bother.  I looked up its description and realized that was the rose she kept looking for. First year bare root roses leaf out, bloom, and take some time to bloom again. The roots are getting established and - in my case - the sod is turning into compost.

The assistant loved the rose without knowing the name, but the name fit - she was engaged to be married, a situation that developed that year. We attended her wedding and saw the old and young college crowd. I told the bride the name of that mystery rose.

For the rose garden we decided to grow one row with the same name and characteristics. The garden began with a variety and we still like that, but the advantage of several bushes of the same variety is putting together a good bouquet all alike or contrasting with white rose. That was my plan with white (John Paul II) and red (Veterans Honor) but the John Paul roses do not last well when cut. Growing on the bush, John Paul roses are heavenly and have a good fragrance.  Most roses outlast JP in the vase, so I may look for a better white rose. Oh the hype!

On a hot, sunny day, in the perfect place to show off, Falling in Love burst into bloom, two roses together. Aww. I will get a photo tomorrow, plus progress photos of various plants.

KnockOut roses are the easiest to abuse,
as so many are eager to prove.

K Mart Rose Killers
I stopped by K Mart to look around. Outside were plants roasting in the sun, on sale perhaps. All the roses were KnockOuts, not in bloom but with all the petals off. I touched the soil - hard as a rock. They were trying to sell dead KnockOuts for $16 each. Anything above FREE! was too much.

Recent Developments
The Elephant ears have reached the surface and are ready to inspire and intimidate the neighborhood.

The mature tomatoes have ripened into a deep red. I have to serve the slugs some beer tonight in hopes they will stay in the bowl long enough to be devoured by some night creature - a raccoon, a dog, or some other varmint.

All the berry plants - especially pokeweed - are doing well and ready to fruit.

Poison Hemlock
My giant beneficial bug plant is indeed a Poison Hemlock, a toxic member of the carrot family. Fortunately my explorations have not caused an allergic reaction to it.

The plant is crawling with mature and young ladybugs. Tonight I spent some time watching them from a few inches away. Tomorrow I will put on my bunny suit and dispose it as toxic waste.

A good covering helps when getting rid of Poison Hemlock.
The clothing is washed immediately after.

Rose to Water Pails - Tansy to Mulch. Neighboring Gardeners

Giant Alium bulbs are fun to grow.

I have my eyes open for things to give to Almost Eden Gardens and Nursery. For instance, I have Giant Alium (garlic) finishing, and some giant Elephant Ears starting to grow. Sharing bulbs gives him a chance to try some plants without spending extra money. The Alium has doubled, so I can divide it. The Elephant Ear bulbs have to be pulled in the fall, so I should have something to share there.

Tansy is reputed to repel flies.

Wiki:

Tansy can be used as in companion planting and for biological pest control. It is planted alongside potatoes to repel theColorado potato beetle, with one study finding tansy reduced the beetle population by 60 to 100%.^[6][15][16]

In England tansy is placed on window sills to repel flies; sprigs are placed in bed linen to drive away pests, and it has been used as an ant repellent.^[17]

In the 1940s, distilled tansy oil mixed with fleabane, pennyroyal and diluted alcohol was a well known mosquito repellent; collectors were paid five cents a pound for tansy in full bloom.^[6][18] Research has found that tansy extracts do indeed repel mosquitoes, but not as effectively as products containing DEET.^[6][19] In 2008, researchers in Sweden investigated the use of tansy to repel ticks, showing a 64–72% repellency for each oil constituent.^[20]

I ended up with 5,000 Tansy seeds, which mystified him until his farmer's wife mother told him about the herb. I did not need 5,000 so he got the bulk. When I asked for some of his wood mulch from chipping a tree, he drove two front end loader buckets full to me. That was a small loader, but it was so much better than wheelbarrowing the stuff across a large field.

The painter, whose wife got roses on Mothers' Day, gave me five-gallon pails for hauling water, following me to the rose garden to hand them over.

Meanwhile, our helper came over to patch up the mulch in the rose garden, where patches of grass or weeds broke through. Weeds love mulched, earthwormed soil as much as roses do. All we need to do is hide the sun from them and turn them into compost.

Sound Doctrine
False doctrine grows well where sound doctrine has taken root. Interest in spiritual matters grows and people with their own agenda take advantage.

The false teachers of mainline Protestantism have been almost unopposed. They do not need to be invited. They blow in with the wind, like weed seeds. Or someone leaves a deposit, with fertilizer, like a bird, and the new dogma takes root. False doctrine grows abundantly with big taproots or prolific seed production  - or both. But false doctrine is sterile.

People think of many healing and beneficial bug plants as weeds, but they contribute without doing harm. The Creating Word gave us most of our medicines in herbs that thrive in bad soil. Deadly Nightshade has an ugly berry and is toxic to farm animals, but the plant produces a stomach medicine.

Some plants are just toxic. I was following the growth of a beautiful member of the carrot family. The carrot family carries its seeds in the form of an umbrella. This plant was more of a cluster and continued to grow taller. I tried various names - even my neighbor was puzzled.

• Not Queen Anne's Lace - blooming too early.
• Not quite Angelica - some wrong characteristics.
• Not Fennel - no licorice aroma.
• Not Celery, Not Parsley. None of those nice smelling family members.
• Not Poison Hemlock - no purple splash. Wait a minute. There are purple splotches near the bottom!

I showed the suspect plant to Almost Eden. He pointed out all the baby ladybugs on it. "Don't be in a hurry to get rid of it." I went back to the comparisons, including another evil  plant - Cow Parsley. Everything pointed to Poison Hemlock, especially its attraction to beneficial bugs.

For example, poison or spotted hemlock (Conium maculatum), a native of Europe, and a similar North American species, spotted water hemlock (Cicuta maculata), are both exceedingly appealing to beneficial insects of all sorts. They are found across the entire North American continent, but both are incredibly poisonous to humans and livestock, making them a very bad selection for the insectary border (just ask Socrates—he was executed by being forced to drink a concoction of poison hemlock). Both plants are also considered noxious invasive weeds in many regions. However, these species are very valuable nectar and pollen sources for numerous beneficial insects and—even though you probably don’t want them in your yard or garden—a roadside patch can provide food for many beneficials.

Walliser, Jessica. Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control (Kindle Locations 1532-1537). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

Attractive to baby ladybugs - that  is a strike AGAINST the mystery plant. 

In another study, begun in 1928 and lasting thirty-three years, researchers documented more than fifteen thousand insect parasitoids present on several hundred different plant species in central Illinois to examine what kinds of plants attract what kinds of insect visitors. They found that the plants with the most parasitic wasp species present were members of the carrot family (Apiaceae)—with an average of twelve parasitic wasp species per plant species! Other important plant families for these parasitoids were the aster family (Asteraceae), the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), the pea and bean family (Fabaceae), and several others. The carrot family is so important to parasitoids because members of this family have those open, exposed nectaries. The other plant families frequented by parasitoids had more concealed nectaries and so were found to be more attractive to certain wasp families but not others. The ten plant species that hosted the largest diversity of parasitic wasp species offered nectar that was easily accessed by wasps with all sorts of different mouthparts.


Walliser, Jessica. Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control (Kindle Locations 1522-1529). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

False Doctrine Must Be Removed
Like the Poison Hemlock I am growing by accident, false doctrine must be removed. Poison Hemlock kills from the feet up, so the victim knows he is dying. The plant must be carefully cut down and its base poisoned with Roundup.

WELS - ELCA - LCMS - What could possibly go wrong?

Walmart Shareholders Meeting - A Dream Come True for the Booze Brothers. They Missed Seeing Their Fave No-Talent Singer-Dancer, Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Little Ichabod and I went to the Walmart Shareholders Meeting, which  combines their business meeting with an entertainment extravaganza. They keep one guest secret  from everyone, and that star sings at the end of the meeting.

I was curious why the normal line-up during the meeting was not long on celebrity. In the past many of the entertainers were nationally known (perhaps more in my generation). Finally, I said, "Is there a mystery guest?" LI did not know.

I remembered Celine Dione singing in the past, coming out at the very end while people went nuts taking photos.

Pretending to close the meeting, Katy Perry's make-up was advertised in a video and she strolled out with her dancers to do a three-song set. I said to LI, "The Booze Brothers dream come true!" That explained where the entertainment budget went. One can only imagine what makes her successful in a land gone to the dogs.

Geena Davis in a League of Their Own

We arrive early at the monthly Saturday Morning Meetings. Very early. At one meeting we sat behind the Walton (Walmart) heirs and top executives. I have talked to two of Sam Walton's children, Alice at the museum and Jim after a meeting. The family owns 51% of the stock, which comes from Walton planning his estate early and dividing the shares.

So - one meeting we were in the row behind Geena Davis, who was introducing the annual Bentonville Film Festival.

Hugh Jackman was very kind to a little girl who brought him a card during the
Christmas meeting. He greeted the family afterwards and stayed
to shake hands with those, like us, who wisely stayed around to say hello.
He is the only celebrity guest to do this - ever.

We watched Hugh Jackman leading the Christmas carols at a December meeting and shook hands with him afterwards.

Anderson Cooper came to one meeting to promote his autobiography. Once again we were front and center. We are in so many reaction shots at the meetings - cameras aimed at the crowd - that I advised LI to look toward "our" camera to avoid the monitor-stare look.

Arnold Schwarzenegger never stops entertaining.

We were fairly close to Arnold at another recent meeting. He loved telling stories about how films get made. Some fans know that he is famous for going to Walmart at all hours and buying large quantities of stuff between takes.

We spoke to Google's VP of global sales, Philipp Schindler,
after another meeting. 

WELS Is Blessed with Notorious Liars Like VP Joel Voss. The New DP is Michael Jensen, Western Wisconsin District

Scott Barefoot posed with Joel Voss and someone else.

Report from the District Conventicle -

"There was open laughter when Voss said that WELS was blessed to not have any major doctrinal disputes. Open laughter."

Pin the tail on the felony district. 

A great ice-breaker for synod beer parties!

1. Which one has the love letter pastor protected by the DP and CP?
2. Bonus - which state is he in?
3. Which district is the Anything Goes District?
4. Bonus - which city in that district has the highest percentage of drunks?
5. How many districts was Pastor Tabor in?
6. Where are the best liquor party/women's retreats?
7. Name the DP who has lost or kicked out the most congregations.
8. Bonus - identify the connection between Tabor and his doctrinal expert.
9. Which district is host to Fuller Seminary, their favorite school?

Voss preached at St. Paul in German Village (Columbus, Ohio).
It was the big Reformation service for the area.
He could not be found, because he was watching Green Bay on TV
somewhere in the building.

Abundance of Rain - Indifference

We get plenty of rain that starts in Oklahoma, which is OK with us - and the rest from Texas, drawn up from the Gulf of Mexico. Last week we had a series of showers, all less than predicted, but still abundant.

I parked the wheelbarrow under the eaves -  and it was full. Four rain-barrels filled. The litle wastebasket also filled.

The transplanted Butterfly Bush kept showing signs of wilting before the roots had a chance to build up again. Before the rains, I kept extra rain-barrel water for the plant, and used it often. Now it looks as green and perky as the big brother plant, which is nine feet tall. The larger plant gets stored rainwater and the murky water left in the birdbath that I converted from a children's swimming pool.

When the rain is plentiful, gardeners who save the extra rain wonder what to do with so much. Several inches of rain mean there is no need to water for a while. If it continues to rain and mist, day to day, water is delayed even more and the storage containers fill to overflowing.

There is no better boon for gardeners. Rain is liquid fertilizer, the gentlest and best, life-giving for the plants and for the soil creatures that thrive when their thirst is satisfied.

Below is a summary of the nitrogen cycle.

The Nitrogen Cycle

• All life requires nitrogen-compounds, e.g., proteins and nucleic acids.
• Air, which is 79% nitrogen gas (N₂), is the major reservoir of nitrogen.
• But most organisms cannot use nitrogen in this form.
• Plants must secure their nitrogen in "fixed" form, i.e., incorporated in compounds such as:
  • nitrate ions (NO₃⁻)
  • ammonium ions (NH₄⁺)
  • urea (NH₂)₂CO
• Animals secure their nitrogen (and all other) compounds from plants (or animals that have fed on plants).

Four processes participate in the cycling of nitrogen through the biosphere:

• nitrogen fixation
• decay
• nitrification
• denitrification

Microorganisms play major roles in all four of these.

Nitrogen Fixation

The nitrogen molecule (N₂) is quite inert. To break it apart so that its atoms can combine with other atoms requires the input of substantial amounts of energy.
Three processes are responsible for most of the nitrogen fixation in the biosphere:

• atmospheric fixation by lightning
• biological fixation by certain microbes — alone or in a symbiotic relationship with some plants and animals
• industrial fixation

Atmospheric Fixation

The enormous energy of lightning breaks nitrogen molecules and enables their atoms to combine with oxygen in the air forming nitrogen oxides. These dissolve in rain, forming nitrates, that are carried to the earth.
Atmospheric nitrogen fixation probably contributes some 5– 8% of the total nitrogen fixed.

Industrial Fixation

Under great pressure, at a temperature of 600°C, and with the use of a catalyst, atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen (usually derived from natural gas or petroleum) can be combined to form ammonia (NH₃). Ammonia can be used directly as fertilizer, but most of its is further processed to urea and ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃).

Biological Fixation

The ability to fix nitrogen is found only in certain bacteria and archaea.

• Some live in a symbiotic relationship with plants of the legume family (e.g., soybeans, alfalfa).

  Link to a discussion of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes.

• Some establish symbiotic relationships with plants other than legumes (e.g., alders).
• Some establish symbiotic relationships with animals, e.g., termites and "shipworms" (wood-eating bivalves).
• Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria live free in the soil.
• Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria are essential to maintaining the fertility of semi-aquatic environments like rice paddies.

Biological nitrogen fixation requires a complex set of enzymes and a huge expenditure of ATP.
Although the first stable product of the process is ammonia, this is quickly incorporated into protein and other organic nitrogen compounds.

Decay

The proteins made by plants enter and pass through food webs just as carbohydrates do. At each trophic level, their metabolism produces organic nitrogen compounds that return to the environment, chiefly in excretions. The final beneficiaries of these materials are microorganisms of decay. They break down the molecules in excretions and dead organisms into ammonia.

Nitrification

Ammonia can be taken up directly by plants — usually through their roots. However, most of the ammonia produced by decay is converted into nitrates. Until recently this was thought always to be accomplished in two steps:

• Bacteria of the genus Nitrosomonas oxidize NH₃ to nitrites (NO₂⁻).
• Bacteria of the genus Nitrobacter oxidize the nitrites to nitrates (NO₃⁻).

These two groups of autotrophic bacteria are called nitrifying bacteria. Through their activities (which supply them with all their energy needs), nitrogen is made available to the roots of plants.
However, in 2015, two groups reported finding that bacteria in the genus Nitrospira were able to carry out both steps: ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. This ability is called "comammox" (for complete ammonia oxidation).

In addition, both soil and the ocean contain archaeal microbes, assigned to the Crenarchaeota, that convert ammonia to nitrites. They are more abundant than the nitrifying bacteria and may turn out to play an important role in the nitrogen cycle.

Many legumes, in addition to fixing atmospheric nitrogen, also perform nitrification — converting some of their organic nitrogen to nitrites and nitrates. These reach the soil when they shed their leaves.

Abundance
Our basic human failing is taking abundance for granted. God provides the abundance to such an extent that we assume it will always be there. Looking back, we can see that a subversive president and a subservient Congress can wreck a country in eight years or less.

Reversing the damage is like cleaning up after a tornado and flood. Some people want the perfect presidential candidate, but that person is not going to repair the damage by himself.

This is my example of practical politics - taxing garage sales. I remember when Congress suggested taxing garage sales so that taxes were withheld at the time of the yard sale and sent to their greedy coffers. The outrage was so great, so universal that the plan was dropped immediately.

The same thing happened with the government idea of  withholding the tax on passbook savings as the interest accrued: floated as a concept, killed when national fury erupted. Now we have no interest to add up and very little money in savings. Obama passed a national, unlimited tax nicknamed ObamaCare, and the GOP did nothing to stop or reverse it.

The country will not change for the better as long as we let a radical minority dictate policy for the majority.

Likewise, the fever for electing the right Synod President in Lutherdom is irrelevant as long as factions control the practical outcome. The Wisconsin Synod is completely controlled by false teachers whose passion is justification without faith and Church Growth. They dominate all the leadership positions and skim all available money for themselves. SP Mark Schroeder is either the cause of this debacle, as their Manchurian Candidate, or the product of it, bowing the knee to the Jeske Crime Family and kissing both cheeks to honor the Godfather of Thrivent.

The solution is to write a letter to Christian News? Herman Otten promotes justification without faith and sells the Valleskey Church Growth textbook. The FBI can raid WELS headquarters and Otten will spike the story or soft-pedal it on page 17.

Back to Creation Gardening
So - now I have full rain-barrels in the backyard and roses needing some help in the front yard. The rain I have is very much like the Means of Grace. All I can do is distribute this rain, because God has provided the blessings inherent in the rain. There is nothing I can do to invent or manufacture rain. The new science has shown that chemical nitrogen, fixed by man, is vastly inferior to what rain or bacteria can manufacture.

I have been coveting water-pails, but they were often a separate item when stopping at Lowe's or Walmart. My jerry-built solutions, like  a wastebasket in the wheelbarrow, were sloppy and impractical.

Last week a neighbor made a point of thanking me for the Mothers' Day roses. No, I did not write about this neighbor so far. We had along talk in his front yard while his sons played with Sassy. He decided I could use paint-buckets in gardening, and I thought that would be great, when he was able to find  some clean ones from his business. After a while we finished talking and Sassy headed for home, 1/2 block away. I was just inspecting roses when he caught up with four paint-buckets, perfectly clean, with handles, each one carrying five (5) gallons. You thought "one gallon, big deal," didn't you.

That will be my job today, Most of the lagging roses have leafed out now. I will give some promising green canes another prune and extra rain water. If they fail to come out of dormancy, they will be replaced by Edmunds Roses. The new ones will be soaked in rainwater and planted.

Gardener Accused of Dumping Rainwater
No one has accused me - I just like the phrasing. There are times when I have had so much rainwater in the back that I wanted to get rid of it fast - before the next rain. That meant starting with a clean barrel and providing some plants with triple rain:

1. Before the rain,
2. During the rain, 
3. With more stored rainwater to follow.

The chief recipients are the nearby Butterfly Bushes, new tomato plants, Hosta from Mr. Gardener, roses along Mr. Gardener's fence, the Honeysuckle vine, Ederberries, and the Blueberries.

The plants are green and lush from the abundant rain and extra rainwater.