First Greek Lesson Live on Ustream, Thursday, 7 PM Central Standard.

Here is the saved video of the first lesson, John 1:1-5.


Some resources will be posted here Thursday AM.

This is the Ustream link for the first presentation.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

To read Greek, everyone must know the Greek alphabet, which is almost the same as ours, since English is based on Greek via Latin.

There was a young vicar from Kew,
Who kept an old cow in a pew.
He taught each week,
A new letter in Greek,
But it never got farther than mu.

You do not have to write it out, but it may help to learn the alphabet, Later, in looking up Greek words, knowing the order helps.

Once the alphabet is learned, reading the Greek words is next.

We will use the Gospel of John.

Greek NT: John Chapter 1

1 ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
2 οὖτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
3 πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν
4 ἐν αὐτῶ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·
5 καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
6 ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῶ ἰωάννης·

There are many sources for St. John in Greek. We will get into text issues later - how the text is chosen or manipulated.

Step One - The Obvious 
Look for words you already know in English, by changing the Greek letters into English. Later this will be easy. The brain has to switch over.

Connect them with English words.

arche - beginning - archeology
logos - word - study of beginnings, archeology
theos - God - study of God, theology
pan, panta - all, pandemonium - all demons,
egeneto - came about or born, genetics
zoe - life, zoo - zoology,
phos, photos - light, photography (graph - writing)
anthropos - man, anthropology - study of man
skotia - darkness - no derivatives in English
phanei - verb, shines, ephanescence
onoma - name, onomatopoia - cuckoo, a cuckoo is named for its cuckoo

Fill in Other Words
ἦν - was, imperfect. The be word is irregular in all languages
ὁ - article, nominative
τὸν - article, accusative
Learn to love the article in Greek, which shows the case of the noun. This is unusual for those with Latin. The article is "the".

Majorly Important

1. Never write the English in above or near the Greek. 
2. Never open the English up near the Greek. 
3. Never get anxious over grammar and vocabulary. Both build naturally.
4. No interlineal Greek/English.
5. No alternative page Greek/English.
6. Burn your Greek flash cards.

Must Do

1. You must spend time on the Greek alone. 
2. Learn the alphabet by heart. Write it down if that helps.
3. Read it out loud until the passage comes out easily. The brain is starting to let Greek take root. For every person Greek is chicken scratches at first.

Tactics of the Left - Censoring Anything That Displeases Them - Sanctimony Dripping from Their Lips

 Bultmann is a good example of Pietism turning into pure Rationalism,
while still making a living off of Biblical piety.
That is the WELS-ELCA-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic) today.

By now most people realize that ObamaCare was a complete fiasco, forced into law by deceit and manipulation. Some are hanging onto the myth, so I pointed out that it was designed to fail and morph into total government control - "single pay" - as promised by candidate Obama in 2008.

What followed on Facebook was a series of personal attacks, which got uglier and uglier. No one wanted to touch on the facts of ObamaCare. No, I was a horrible person, a monstrous Christian, even mocked for having a fun, old photo as my profile - as if that never happened before on FB.

I kept feeding the frenzy, simply by pointing out what the Left could not face.

The format was familiar. I have seen the tactics used by the dying Lutheran sects for decades.

• A new agenda  is beyond questioning, because it is pure truth and goodness.
• After a bit of discussion, the attacks are launched.
• The facts only enrage the apostates, making them even more venomous.
• People take turns issuing their denunciations.
• Most are silent, because they do not want to be targets.

For example, the Chief Article of Christianity is Justification by Faith Alone, but the ELCA, WELS, LCMS, ELS, and CLC (sic) all say their Pietistic, rationalistic UOJ is the Chief Article.

The Chief Article is a fact, not a theory or myth, and the Book of Concord is exceptionally clear - linking Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz to that foundational thought. But where do any of the apostate leaders acknowledge this to be true? Has anyone read Luther's Galatians, the old German LCMS catechism, the original Gausewitz?

 Have you bought your Reformation shot glass yet?
Doggy t-shirt? Here I Stand socks? Bottle opener?

Their UOJ is the Chief Article (Bivens plagiarizing Zarling) is a fatuous lie, but they have laid down their new agenda in spite of their published contradictions, and no one can debate.

While honoring the Reformation with their lisp (intentional spelling), their hearts are dead set against Luther's Biblical doctrine.

Sassy Gets a Traveling Companion

Sassy and I did perimeter security at a Moline reunion dinner,
a few years ago.
Sassy always has something to say.
We took altar flowers to a neighbor for his birthday this week -
she sang Happy Birthday with me.

Sassy and I went out for our morning walk, joined by our neighbor's dog. She is some kind of Dachshund, probably a mix, the one that does canine wheelies all the time. When she starts off, she raises her front legs in the air for a second, probably the torque from her rear legs.

Everywhere we went, our little companion followed, dashing around with glee, pretending to be independent but always catching up. We almost had a new dog, but I took her over to her owners when we were done.

Later our helper had a total of 16 bags of leaves to bring into the garden Ten stout bags came from a distant neighbor and six from his tree-less yard. We have a good layer overall, but could easily compost another 20 or so. When the spring rains come, there will be plenty of food for the soil in the backyard.

I shocked Facebook friend Jeff Lowenfels, telling him I had his newest book already. Amazon shipped it before it got into bookstores. I am just starting it now.

Two of us are gathering leaves in our area. The other is the owner of Almost Eden Gardens and Nursery, the other toxin-free grower. He takes his truck out to get leaves. I use our Town Car. Recently we went shopping in Fayetteville, and I brought back a car packed with leaf-bags, so happy.

The topic makes me smile, because I was doing this when Little Ichabod was young enough to hide in the backseat when I stopped for the neighbor's leaves. No matter how many I put on the yard, they were all gone by late spring.

The gardening books at the time were dismissive of leaves, because dead leaves are not full of compost-energizing nitrogen. That is true, but they are full of fungus-feeding carbon.  The soil, when left alone and free of toxins, is laced with miles of fungal tubes that take nutrition and water to plant roots. The fungi obtain the carbon they cannot manufacture - but must have - in exchange for the plants' demands.

I do not need to test the soil - and worry about the mix of this or that organic addition to the soil. I simply add as much free stuff as I can. I began a stick and twig pile near one tree. Instead of tossing them away during yard cleanup, I throw them in the same pile. The pile does not grow, because the birds nab them for nesting material.

Early in the spring I will hang twine on the bushes and place dryer lint in baskets, for additional nesting material.

Early in his business, Sam Walton reasoned that he could sell below others if he kept his costs low. That policy was enforced down to making pencils last and reporting funds down to a fraction of a penny.

Last year I spent nothing on chemical fertilizer, nothing on toxins. My birdbaths were children's pools, bought at the end of the season - from Kmart.