Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Poor Little David Becker - Logic Escapes Him.
Christian News Going Out with a Whimper


David Becker is offended that I use Marquart and Otten quotes on the back of the last two editions of
Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.

He failed to mention that Otten orders CLP regularly - and has - ever since the book was published.

Becker reminds me of WELS calling me a "false teacher" and selling two of my books. Below is their current catalog online.

Books  :  Religious Resources  :  Other Religions  :  Catholic Lutheran Protestant

Catholic Lutheran Protestant 15-4450 9780615166353
Catholic Lutheran Protestant 15-4450 9780615166353
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Catholic Lutheran Protestant

A Doctrinal Comparison of Three Christian

Author: Gregory Jackson

"The purpose of this book has been to provide a way for people to understand, study and discuss three distinctive Christian confessions." The book is divided into three sections: Part One, Areas of Agreement; Part Two, Areas of Partial Agreement; and Part Three, Complete Disagreement. Papercover. 299 pages.
Catalog Item Number: OL-154450
Price: $ 22.00
Quantity: 







Otten was offended by the graphic, with him posing as the Pope. I was offended that he promoted a vicious, lying book against Martin Luther for one of his Reformation issues.

Otten, who always demands answers when he emails LCMS officials, would not answer why he was selling that garbage. I emailed him several times. No answer. Finally, he responded to someone else, "I sell to both sides of the issue."

Likewise, he promoted and sold Marquart's essay against Church Growth - and published many of mine, which were free. But Otten gave David Valleskey a rave review for We Believe - Therefore We Speak, and sold it as a doctrinal book. The Valleskey book is a tangle of Universal Objective Justification and Church Growth methods.

Jackson to Otten - "Did you read the last half of the Valleskey book?"

Otten, "No."



Walther's qualifications as the Great Prophet of All Christendom are this:

  • He graduated from a rationalistic university with a bachelor's degree.
  • He participated in Pietistic groups and followed two Pietistic gurus.
  • He became the enforcer for Bishop Martin Stephan, STD, his second Pietistic leader.
  • He looked the other way when Stephan pursued young girls and made them his sex slaves, preferring his main one at the spa to his wife, who walked there to help him with his disease.
  • He led the group that stole Stephan's gold, land, and books, and kidnapped the bishop at gunpoint, because the leader's syphilis became known among his female groupies.

Otten continues to repeat the Missouri Synod myths that have deceived so many, clinging to the dogmas of Walther rather than the Biblical teaching of Martin Luther.


Luther Days Anonymous Tip

Natalie Pratt on her Facebook page, now erased.
There is a lot of erasing in her life, like her blogs.

Anonymous:

I wonder what would happen to Luther Days/Natalie if her involvement with WELS Documented and Shattered Pulpit blogs came to light.....


 What would Paul Kuske say?

---

***

GJ - Natalie erased her Shattered Pulpit and WELS Documented blogs. They had very high ratings because she bought services that phonied up the stats.

Some parts of those blogs are still copied in this one. Various people wonder how much can be believed from Natalie Pratt, including her "near death experiences" with cancer.

Funny how she met with SP Mark Schroeder and suddenly had  the Biggest Lutheran Festival in North America, an official link from WELS.net - still there - and funding from the synod.

Schroeder's leadership has resulted in a surplus of weirdness, including the Ministry of the Odd Couple, who will be there at Luther Days to sell their books and listen to your secrets. Don't worry, Scott only talks about them on Facebook.









Beginning - The Lost Dutchman's Goldmine:
Luther's Biblical Doctrine of the Word






The Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine:
Luther’s Biblical Doctrine of the Word

Gregory L. Jackson, PhD







Martin Chemnitz Press
Text copyright, Gregory L. Jackson, 2016
Art copyright, Norma A. Boeckler, 2016



Introduction
When I taught in Southeast Phoenix, I often drove toward the Superstition Mountains, which seemed especially beautiful and mysterious as the sun was setting behind me. Local papers and national TV remind everyone of the fabled Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine, located in the Superstitions, near Apache Junction, so rich in gold that some dreamers have spent decades looking for it.

The Dutchman, a nickname often used for Germans, is Dr. Jacob Waltz. He had a map and directions to a goldmine with the richest ore he had ever seen. In one published story, a sample of the ore proved that it was indeed the purest gold ever found.
This legend, based on fact and enlarged by many fanciful tales and deadly searches, reminds me of another German goldmine, almost entirely lost, almost a myth today.

When Lutherans celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, they will be selling beer bottle openers that play “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and other trinkets, supposedly in honor of Martin Luther. The gadgets demean a man so lost to history that Robert Wilken -  once a Lutheran doctoral advisor at Notre Dame – declared, “There is a new Luther for every generation.” Wilken is now a Roman Catholic layman and is a Distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology
.
My research in the Scriptures and comparative dogmatics have uncovered the most basic concept of Biblical teaching, which Luther highlighted and the Reformed rejected. Although the papal theologians used the Scriptures to debate the Lutherans at first, they soon turned to denouncing the Word of God as unclear, incomplete, and in need of the ultimate judge and exegete – the Pope.

Decades ago, Lutherans taught this Biblical doctrine of the Word and normally used those expressions in discussing the Christian Faith, worship, doctrine, and practice. But the map to Luther’s goldmine has apparently been lost, so leaders veer into Pentecostal, Evangelical, business, occult, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic gulches, washes, and flash floods.







Cardboard Bonanza - Roses Make Everyone Happy


We were allowed to dumpster dive for cardboard at a fast food place. I lowered Chris in carefully. Just kidding.

Our helper jumped in, literally, and we loaded the Icha-boat with thick cardboard. He was worried about filling up the car. I said, "You can walk home. The cardboard is more important."

He reacted strongly and then laughed.

We have so much that we could finish all of our front yard areas and continue in the Wild Garden. We are also using our supply of rain-soaked newspapers to fill in the gaps.

Veterans Honor


Once free mulch becomes an agenda item in the garden, more and more will appear within reach.

Organic mulch is anything that has lived - within reason. Our favorites are wood products - shredded wood mulch, newspapers, packing paper, and cardboard. We also use pine needles to add some acid to the Blueberries - and that can help roses too. Leaves are abundant in our yards and all the others, so we save all of ours on top of the gardens and grab bags from others - light, pleasant to smell, - and ideal for beneficial insects, earthworms, and improving the soil.

Purple Splash


Our helper's yard:

  1. He has two roses from our collection. Purple Splash. They are pruned and mulched.
  2. He transplanted a pesky maple from our yard, mulched it, and now it is 10 feet tall.
  3. His neighbor gave him mint, and that is growing in abundance, as I warned.

Our almost next-door neighbor has Veterans Honor from our garden, and a good friend has a group of VH in memory of her late husband.

Roses inspire happiness. After our big rain, with a wait of a few days, the roses are in another bloom cycle, aided and abetted by extra rainwater from our barrels. I don't mind hauling water like a peasant when roses bloom as a result.

 California Dreamin

Patience, Water, and Mulch. Trumpet Vine Blooms


Many plants take longer to become established than we imagine. The famous one is Asparagus, because the roots build up energy for delicious spears several years before they are harvested. Between the delay - common to all perennials - and the Purgatorial labors assigned to simply planting a crown of roots, most people are scared to death of heart attacks while digging and qualifying for Social Security before getting a few spears.

Birds plant them in the wild by perching on fences. Readers may guess the rest of the planting operation.

"I'm just here for a drink, really."


The old asparagus planting guides had the poor gardeners digging and moving soil like they were creating another Panama Canal. I opened up holes in the earthwormed and mulched soil, dropped them in, and left them alone.

Year 1 - Plant asparagus crowns, let them fern out.
Year 2 - Let them fern out.
Year 3 - Harvest when spears come up that are as thick as a man's thumb.



Roses, Clethra, Beautyberry, Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Gooseberry, and many more became established last year and now are thriving - and when stoloniferous - spreading like rumors. Like grass, many plants spread through underground stolons, making gardeners say "My Blackberries are spreading like wild and cornering the house!" and soon - "Do you need any Blackberry starts? Bueller, Bueller, anyone? anyone?"

Norma Boeckler's Hummingbird.


Trumpet Vine is another slow mover. Three sticks arrived in the mail last year. I soaked them in rainwater for 24 hours, and they showed signs of life. They were planted thus -

  • The first on the sunny side of the Maple Tree, where roses were watered.
  • The second on the shady side of a backyard tree, mostly neglected.
  • The third next to Mrs. Wright's fence, where it would get more sun, plus water from the Jackson Aerial Aqueduct - soaker hose on top of the fence.
Little growth was showing in the first year, and I wondered if the most neglected vine would survive.
The fence vine did a little better, and the Maple Rose Garden vine definitely spread and climbed the tree a bit.

The second year of growth is almost done. The first two are doing well and do even better as they become more stoloniferous and established next year.


The fence Trumpet Vine is already the mother of all vines, above the fence, spreading along the chain link network, and - what's that? - blooming. I leaned over the fence and saw my first Trumpet Vine flower, thanklessly blooming on the other side, facing away from its guardian and protector  - me. Nevertheless, I was delighted.

Why bother with Trumpet Vine? They are the ideal Hummingbird flower. Instead of repeated purchases of Hummingbird food, I grow it for the future. They also like Bee Balm, a mint that can grow in clumps or spread like...mint.

Most feeders for Hummingbirds are shaped and colored to look like Trumpet Vine flowers.

That Long Delay Before Flowering and Fruiting
Most will say, "The long term plants take so long because the roots have to become established," a vague sort of statement that makes anyone nod seriously.

That solemn declaration neglects the complex facts of establishment, all established by the Creating Word and engineered to perfection:
  • The soil needs to be left alone to allow the creatures to do their work.
  • Roots grow and root hairs add to the miles  of plant exposure to the soil. Yes, yes, we all know that.
  • The fungi establish the feeding system between the vine roots and sources of food and moisture. The vine offers carbon in exchange for needed nutrition.
  • Bacteria and other microbes form a food foundation for the higher level animals, like earthworms.
  • Earthworms tunnel and improve the soil, opening up channels for water to penetrate the soil in greater depth.
  • Pests attract pest eaters - beneficial creatures - so that level of food/feeder is begun.
  • The early growth of the vine - or any plant - creates a better soil environment for all other living things.
 Someone created this excellent summary of Calvinism and Roman Catholicism.
Calvinists deny the Sacraments are efficacious.
Roman Catholics neglect the Scriptures.

The Gospel takes time to be established too. Many have the start of faith but do not feed this beginning with more study of the Word and Means of Grace worship. Mega-churches are collapsing because they began on the shifting sand of entertainment fads and saw that wash away and undermine their lucrative business.

My neighbor wanted more tomatoes so she used chemical fertilizer. She said, "I have lots of  vines but no tomatoes." I said, "With nitrogen you get all green and no fruit."

The rah-rah rock churches were all about the green, the loot, and bore no fruit to perfection.