ELDONUTs Should Stick to the Truth - Stay on the Vine

ELDONUTs continue to complain about this blog to someone who has written nothing here at all, not even an anonymous, blind, don't-tell-Mom comment. I laughed as I said on the phone, "Isn't my email address clear enough on the top of the blog?" I made it more apparent for those who wanted to send a message. For that I got some unwanted spam, but I can zap that to the junk folder.

The so-called Lutherans of today do not like Luther's teaching, nor do they even name the English Luther Bible developed by Tyndale in conjunction with the Lutheran Reformation. Tyndale gave his life for the Scriptures, and the fat slugs of Lutherdom will not even mention the King James Bible when speaking about translations.

Of course, the really conservative ones use the Babtist New King James Bible. The very departure from the Reformation that Luther deplored is embraced by those who trade on his name.

The same cranky and arrogant spirit is found in Christian News, the Missouri Synod, WELS, the ELS, and the venomous CLC (sic). They share with ELCA and Thrivent the same disdain for the unborn child and Justification by Faith.

Thrivent can fund abortion-on-demand through Planned Parenthood, as long as the grants keep coming. No one has provided an adequate excuse for this. A few LCMS pastor fussed for a month - five years after Brett Meyer exposed the Thrivent Planned Parenthood funding on this blog.

Missouri alone makes over $50 million a year from Thrivent, so that is worth a few million babies.

This incredible hardness of heart toward the unborn is best explained by how ashamed these Lutheran sects are - ashamed of faith. No, they will say they are 100% for faith, but not Justification by Faith. Even ELCA will dust off faith every so often. But they all agree with ELCA's Universalism, which is the excrement of rancid Pietism.

This Pietism phase came from a genuine interest in Biblical piety, studying the actual content of the Bible. But Pietism began as a program, and such programs have a way of removing precise Biblical teaching in favor of cooperation and just getting along.

Every argument against Justification by Faith is rationalistic. Example - "If Jesus died for the sins of the world, then everyone is already forgiven." I realize that having poor teachers and hearty drinking buddies are both adverse to learning in seminary. But what keeps the future pastors from studying the Word of God on their own? What keeps them from the low cost - and even the free versions - of Luther's Galatians?

A Program of Friendliness
The answer to the nastiness of Christian News and the Lutheran sects is not a program of friendliness, like the Friendship Sunday fad that WELS promoted - copying Fuller Seminary.

The only solution is teaching the singular purpose of the Bible - Justification by Faith. As Luther wrote, the Scriptures are a long sermon about the man Jesus, to create and sustain faith. Through this faith created by the Spirit in the Word, God grants forgiveness and salvation.

But there is far more to this faith that simply trusting in God's mercy and salvation. The believer is united with Christ and the Spirit dwells in the believer's heart. That moves the Christian to hear the Gospel with gladness and to live a life of continuous contrition for sin and joy in forgiveness.

The more an individual dwells on the True Vine through the Means of Grace, the more fruitful he is for the Kingdom. See John 15. The two kinds of cleansing are clear in that passage. Believers are cleansed through the Word of Grace, that they might be even more fruitful. The unfruitful are pruned away to be gathered up and burned.

We should not be shocked that those who devote themselves to Justification Without Faith (UOJ) are so unproductive, proud, harsh, mean, self-centered, and cruel. They lay waste to households for their revenge and destroy congregations to get even with people who offend their delicate feelings.

John 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Why Bother with Synodical Politicians?

I have a lot of contacts, every day. Most have genuine concerns. A few want to play synodical games with information they will not address on their own. Or they want to trade gossip, their wampum for my gold. No thanks.

I have all the time in the world for doctrinal discussions and insights on recent Lutheran history. Almost all those contacts are laity who are sincerely involved in studying Lutheran doctrine and looking for good authors to study. A few are pastors who find out things before I do or subscribe to periodicals I would not use for mulch.

Christian News has always been a political tabloid, which is what I avoid. If Larry Olson were a Synodical President, I would kiss his feet and carry him in my arms - if he only taught Justification by Faith and the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.

I have never seen positive results from the campaigns that elect one person or another.

Tell me, is WELS better off for so many years under Mark Schroeder.

May 14, 2007

Dear called workers,

President Gurgel has announced he will decline nomination for reelection at the synod convention this summer. He mailed a letter to all of you late last week explaining his thoughts. If you have not yet received it, it should be arriving shortly. 

Sincerely,

Joel Hochmuth
Director of Communications
WELS
414-256-3230
joel.hochmuth@sab.wels.net

Nine years later, Mark Schroeder has leveraged the damage done by Gurgel and Mischke before him.

One example will suffice - Schroeder went to Appleton to cut a deal for Ski, and soon Ski's own district broke its rules and sent Ski down to Round Rock, Texas.
That was symbolic of "No one touches the Mark Jeske Crime Family."

The feminist-gay-Church Growth agenda of the Church and Change contingent continues unabated. Gurgel was bad, so bad he was forced to leave the presidency? He was the savior of WELS before he became SP. Schroeder is worse than Gurgel.

Shroeder could not even take a stand for a good translation of the Bible, though he told others he hated the New NIV, which is now standard and unopposed in WELS.

One WELS pastor had his son contact me and leak all kinds of information through Ichabod. He was standing at the computer while he did that, so he could say, "I never wrote to Ichabod." I have enough sources so I could determine quite a bit about what was going on.

I am pleased to say that official tabloid for synod politics, Christian News, never misses a chance to sully its own reputation for bad reporting, bad facts, and bad faith.

Rain Promised in One Hour - Holy Moleys

Last night Mr. Gardener was watering his lawn and bushes, and I was watering the roses. I have used his lawn mowing as 100% proof of rain in the near future. He finished mowing his property, front and back. It has to rain now.

We talked about the Crepe Myrtle bush he wanted to plant. I pointed to Almost Eden to our right. The nursery infrastructure is easy to see from our yards. When I saw the new structures going up, I knew we had a business starting in the old dairy farm. In Bella Vista we used to shop at a mini-mall that was also a former dairy farm. I like this conversion better.

We walk across a mown field of grass to reach the plants. Sassy considers a walk through Almost Eden a regular duty. She can track cats, dogs, rabbits, and anything else - as I look at plants. We often find Almost Eden watering many of the plants while his dog Opie waits.

We share the same perspective on plants - no toxins. Almost Eden has an abundance of insect and bird life as a result.

Mr. Gardener is going to shop there for Crepe Myrtles. They might be called Southern Lilacs. I have seen many varieties of Crepe Myrtle in this area - pink, raspberry, and purple blooms. Their popularity comes from a long blooming time (months) and tolerance of hot, dry weather. Unlike Chaste Tree, which hates watering, Crepe Myrtle responds well to watering and also enjoys a heavily mulched base.

Plants Are Self-Mulching
Mulching is a generic term for placing a layer of organic material around the base of a plant:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard
• Grass
• Compost
• Manure
• Flowers
• Leaves.

When I was a beginning gardener, I raked leaves out from under bushes, so they could have bare soil around them. Most bushes promptly dropped more leaves to mulch themselves.

God mulches every plant, much more than people imagine. Leaves, pollen, flowers, and dead insects fall off each plant to add organic matter to the top of the soil. That layer of organic matter keeps the soil cool and moist while feeder the very creatures we want to tend the roots - bacteria, fungi, protozoa, earthworms, and many more. This spring a mole circled the supercenter of food underneath my Crepe Myrtle, the same area that I mulched for the last four years. His digging for food was exactly where I mulched, the first time I have seen a mole dig a food tunnel in a perfect circle. He took days to complete his work. 

 "I love Creation gardeners,
and I frustrate the rest of them.
Goodbye and thanks for all the June-bugs."

Earthworm Enjoyment

Insects are undoubtedly mole nutritive staples, but they're not actually their first priority. Large earthworms are actually what moles generally like to eat the most. Moles consider earthworms to be so valuable they regularly stash them away for later consumption. If they have an earthworm surplus, they tuck them away inside designated safekeeping units. One researcher found a unit consisting of more than 1,200 earthworms. The unit also housed several grubs.

Big Appetites

Moles possess extremely speedy metabolisms. Because of this, it's absolutely crucial for the subterranean mammals to take in substantial portions of food daily. If they don't, they simply can't sustain themselves. Moles generally consume between two and three times their body weights every 24 hours. Moles are unable to survive without eating for 12 hours or so.

Over 500,000 bacteria will fit inside the period
at the end of this sentence, so a mole is this big or bigger in relation
 to soil creature size.

Moles love earthworms, but they also consume pests in the ground before those grubs hatch into big pests. Although the mole doubtlessly wiped out or stored most of those earthworms underneath the bush, plenty more available nearby. Less hysterical gardeners -the ones who welcome moles - also realize these enormous animals (in light of most soil denizens) are the Caterpillar tractors of the yard.

Moles may frustrate you, but June-bugs (Japapese beetles) infuriate me. Moles do no harm, but June-bugs devour the best flowers and do nothing to make up for their vandalism. I suggest gardeners thank the moles for reducing the number of destructive insects developing under the soil.

The most often named villains of the garden - moles, Starlngs, Grackles, Crows - are also the most voracious predators of pests. Likewise, people complain about Dutch white clover, whose only fault is pulling nitrogen out of the air and fixing it for the soil - thanks to bacteria in the roots.

Clover will sit there in the grass, feed the bee population, mulch the soil with its leaves and flowers and pollen - and die off leaving tiny pods of organic nitrogen compounds for the grass roots. And it expands it beneficial network wherever it can find purchase for its benevolent growth.

People would pay big money for Pokeweed
if the birds did not plant it for free.
We tend to denigrate what is free
and chase what is expensive.

Mulch Has To Go Somewhere

Before garbage pick-up trucks, people gathered organic waste of various types and composted them. During morning walks I find green bags of grass - later leaves - that will go to the dump. If I were building compost, I would grab the grass bags and add them to my compost pile. However, they would lead to hauling the finished compost somewhere in the garden, not my idea of fun. And that ignores the chore of picking up a big, moist bag of stinking, rotting grass and dropping it into the Icha-boat.

I will wait for dozens of bags of autumn leaves, carefully and conveniently gathered in the same bags, lightweight, dry, and devoid of that memorable rotting grass stink. 

I also pick up pieces of rotting wood, often very light - wormed out by soil creatures - and freshly dropped deadwood, still weighted by moisture and ready to feed the troops. Both types are valuable to weight down the cardboard layer before the autumn leaves arrive. I also use them to prop new bushes prone to wind or animal damage. Several logs held up a newly transplanted Butterfly Bush that was weaker than a UOJ argument. After several months of rainwater, the bush was flowering and standing on its own.

Meanwhile, the logs and cardboard held in moisture, served as a food zone for insects and birds, and kept us all from walking into the bush and uprooting it. I moved the small logs to the new cardboard, to keep our yard from airmailing the covering during the next wind storm.

The bare cardboard adds a note of Dogpatch to the backyard at the moment, but it will soon be covered with autumn leaves and promoting the growth of Hosta. Meanwhile, the grass is rotting into the soil and increasing the soil creature population.

When I thought of short-cuts, growing up in Moline, my father would say at the bakery, "You are the laziest thing I ever saw." I looked for ways to shorten the time involved since youthful energy was not lacking. I doubled the load. Now I have moved from flours to flowers, and I still search for ways to make it easier and more productive.

Note for the Frugal 

Newspapers, cardboard, grass clippings, and tree offerings are all free and yet packed with potential soil nutrition. Tree stumps are easily harvested from the curb during fall and spring clean-ups. 

Neighbors see tree stumps as trash to be hauled away. I see stumps as free bird perches and soil creature food. If they have little off-shoots, so much the better. 

Make a rustic fence with these on top of the wood mulch.
Stumps make great squirrel and bird perches.
They love to be a little off the ground and look
for food from that position.