Ecclesia College a church? Fort Smith attorney files amended FOIA lawsuit

Ecclesia College a church? Fort Smith attorney files amended FOIA lawsuit:



"In a recently filed Renewed Motion to Dismiss a Freedom of Information Act case brought against Ecclesia, Ecclesia revealed and contended that it was actually a church and not a college and that records concerning the expenditure of grant monies were church records,” McCutchen wrote in a news release.

McCutchen’s amended complaint filed in Washington County alleges that Ecclesia violated Article II, Section 24 of the Arkansas Constitution on the grounds that giving state grant fund monies to a “church violates the Constitutional prohibition on compelling citizens to ‘support any place of worship,’ and that it also gives ‘preference . . . to any religious establishment.’”

The amended complaint also alleges that Ecclesia Inc. “committed a fraud” in the application process by representing itself as a college rather than as a church, as it now contends."

 "We have to learn how to turn a college into a church
when the feds come knocking, and a church into a college
for receiving Arkansas state tax money."

'via Blog this'

Why Not Teach Justification by Faith? LCMS Worship: Propers for Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession

LCMS Worship: Propers for Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession:



"Lutheran Service Book lists the anniversary as a commemoration, and therefore it provides no propers. Lutheran Worship listed it as a festival, and LCMS Worship has received several requests to help celebrate the occasion."

'via Blog this'

***

GJ - I am weeping - tears of laughter, not of joy. The LCMS wants to commemorate the Augsburg Confession? Why not teach its doctrine. Why do all the bigwigs teach Universal Objective Justification and rejoice in their agreement with the ELS and WELS on this matter?

And then have a service featuring the Confession the LCMS refuses to confess, in its districts, in its schools, in its pulpits?

Justified before birth! So why did Christian News
say Donna Preus was a sinner? She was born a guilt-free saint,
according to her children and grandchildren.

From Christian News, May 22, 2017.
“Robert Preus: Preacher and Teacher of Eternal Peace – A Sinner Save by Grace – A Great Hero of the Faith” was the headline of the special 32 page “Robert Preus Remembered” (November 13, 1995 Christian News) More than twenty-one years later this issue on the death of Donna Preus, the wife of Robert, is part II. Donna, like Robert, was “A Sinner Saved by Grace.” She is a role model for women. 

WELS Darling Katy Perry - On the Terrorist Attack on Little Girls at a Concert

The Booze Brothers were so thrilled with Katy Perry
that they featured her on their Facebook pages.
The CORE's "coffee house ministry" was
actually a bar ministry, with predictable results.

Katy loves the radical Left.

Katy Perry has some curious suggestions as to how people should respond to to the threat of additional attacks: love, "coming together," with no borders, and that people should "co-exist." 

Perry made the comments on the Elvis Duran And The Morning Show.

Former Navy Seal Higbie, appearing as a guest on Fox News Thursday, said, “Go to hell, Katy Perry. Hold one of your concerts in Syria and see how that goes.” 

Send in the clowns -
Glende is losing members the second time in a row.
His buddy Ski is at his fourth call, and in his fourth district.
The Ichabod readers hope Ski got his appearance bond money
back, from his first call and court appearance in Milwaukee.
Both of them worked for Mark and Avoid Jeske.

House Finches Courting, Crepe Myrtle Rescue Work, Blackberries

Photo source - House Finches.
The female flaps her wings for food, and the male
feeds her in their courting ritual.

Our six-foot bird swings are close to the bedroom window and the kitchen sink window. The birds are used to us being a few inches away, so we have close-up views all day.

Cardinals by Norma Boeckler

Mrs. Ichabod and I noticed the House Finches carrying on. I knew Cardinals did this, but I did not know the courting ritual of Finches. The female sits on the swing and flaps her wings like a nestling. The male watches a bit and then feeds her - or pretends to.

House Finches eat voraciously, not only the seeds from traditional feeders, but even the nectar from Hummingbird feeders. I decided to switch them to cracked corn, which is popular with many animals and far less expensive. I grow Hummingbird feeders instead of mixing nectar for them.

Cardinals:
Mate feeding occurs when the male cardinal picks up a seed, hops near the female and the two touch beaks so the female can take the food. That is such as sweet gesture. Mate feeding will go on until the female lays eggs and incubates them. Normally, pairs of cardinals stay together throughout the year and may breed for several seasons. This bird lives an average of one year although there have been records of longer life spans.

Crepe Myrtle Rescue Work
Once I realized the Crepe Myrtle twigs need additional water, I aimed at a long-term solution. I have large patches of Dutch White Cover growing near the myrtle fence. That would provide an additional nitrogen boost by trimming the clover and placing grass and clover around the two smallest myrtles. I use battery operated trimmers.

Next I packed peat humus around each plant, on top of the clover. The mixture provides plenty of motivation for the soil creatures to pull down organic matter under the plants. Since organic matter holds more water, that will also increase the capacity of the soil to infiltrate and retain water.

Another Blackberry Patch
Surveying the Wild Garden made me realize my need for some invasive plants there, to elbow the weeds aside. Ragweed was starting all over, and maples were forming a new forest.

As I told one gardener, Blackberries transition from "I need to water them" to "What have I done!"

The soaker hose (not needed yet) will run on top of the Wright fence and then angle down to the Butterfly Bushes, which are greedy for water. So extra plants will occupy that general area.

I needed one more Blackberry plant and its network of runners. The one I found had an eight-foot runner. I created a small hole for the main plant and buried the runner under some loose soil and mulch, weighed down by a log.

Divine engineering will take over from there. Established Blackberries will grow in driveway cracks and pop up under a rain-barrel. They appear to be a series of canes, but those canes are connected and tough. I had to get a sharp knife to separate the cane I wanted from its network.

 Gabe Brown - "Let living roots stay in the ground
as long as possible." Roots create most of the organic
matter in the soil, so that is a good idea.

The Shadow of Church Growth

Nothing says clown like doctoral stripes for a DMin
and a stole on a Geneva gown.

One day we walked in Pasadene
One day in early spring
You held a DMin in your hand
To give your life some zing.
Now I'll remember many a day
And many a solemn goal.
The echo of a praise band's song
The shadow of Church Growth.

This is the favorite version of MLC and Mordor.

The shadow of Church Growth
When you are gone
Will color all your dreams
And quench the dawn.
Look into my eyes
My dolt and see
All the lovely dough
You earned for me.

Our global Church Growth goals
Were far too high
You never taught the Word,
But nor did I.
Now when I remember spring
All the dough that DMins bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of Church Growth.

Original version- Written by Paul Webster, Johnny Mardel • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Church and Change ran their putrid seminars,
until WELS clamped down and changed their name.
Now Mark Jeske organizes them with WELS-LCMS-ELCA.
No problem!

Planting a New Blackberry Garden - Free - In Two Digs

Triple Crown Blackberries have many good qualities, besides being free of thorns:

1. They grow, bloom, and fruit in the shade, but really grow in the sun or partial sun.
2. They produce large, good berries - according to our birds and squirrels.
3. They spread on their own by tipping and shoots, even growing under mulch to pop out and produce another cane where a hole is found

The Logos, the Creating Word, engineered Blackberries and its cousins in the larger rose family to spread through runners and tip rooting. Hold a piece of cane on the soil and it will produce roots and a new cane.

I was thinking about the Gabe Brown principle - "Leave a living root in the ground as long as possible." The Wild Garden has a lot of mulch, but not many plants so far. I tried some Elderberry there, but I learned afterwards that they do better as dormant starts, not when tender and growing in the spring.

First Dig
Blackberries are unstoppable, so I dug out a strong cane. "What's this?" The cane had many runners coming from the main plant. Once I dug it out, I pulled another long runner that traveled under a lot of mulch to find a new place to start.

Second Dig
I found the sunniest spot in the semi-shade of the  Wild Garden, a place where the soaker hose would travel to the thirsty Butterfly Bushes. I put a divot in the ground (something I learned when golfing...once).

Next I placed the runners in the same position they occupied before, shoveled some soil and mulch on them, and weighed this three-part garden down with small branches and logs.

Rain should fall today, and I will build up the plant with more rainwater. I did not have a chance to use much of the stored rainwater when the new front rolled in.

Birds and berries go together in the garden.

The testimony of an Assistant High School Principal - Comfort for Christians

The testimony of an Assistant High School Principal - Comfort for Christians:



"Speaking the Word is always used by the Holy Spirit.
Remember the story of Stephen in the book of Acts? The preaching of the Word by ordinary Christians will harden some listeners and save others. There are people like Dr. Ruff who cannot bear to hear even a bit of God’s law, much less his gospel.

At 5 minutes 28 seconds (5m28s) he physically grabs the young man’s sign.
At 7m29s he says, This is a public school. We don’t believe in that here.
At 1m10s he says to the young man, You can go to hell."

The full post is at the link.

http://www.alecsatin.com/spirit-of-the-age/testimony-of-dr-zach-ruff/

'via Blog this'

The testimony of an Assistant High School Principal - Comfort for Christians

The testimony of an Assistant High School Principal - Comfort for Christians:



"Speaking the Word is always used by the Holy Spirit.
Remember the story of Stephen in the book of Acts? The preaching of the Word by ordinary Christians will harden some listeners and save others. There are people like Dr. Ruff who cannot bear to hear even a bit of God’s law, much less his gospel.

At 5 minutes 28 seconds (5m28s) he physically grabs the young man’s sign.
At 7m29s he says, This is a public school. We don’t believe in that here.
At 1m10s he says to the young man, You can go to hell."



'via Blog this'

Jackson Out, Jackson In

We attended our oldest grandchild's graduation from our local community college, one week ago.

Today, the school informed me that I would be teaching English composition part-time there.

Online is strange in asking for a commitment to teach and then canceling a class for no reason. They have reasons, such as low enrollment for the class, but they do not share the reasons why. I happened to find out twice when my supposed class was switched over to someone's friend - not canceled at all. But they wrote - "Your class has been canceled, sorry."

Oddly enough, we live within walking distance of the satellite campus, which is expanding to a new, larger building. We moved here for another school, but something was very fishy there. I told them so when I quit. That small college president made the national news this year by being indicted by the federal government for fraudulent use of tax money and wire fraud.

He is the only boss I have had to garner felony indictments. However, in churchwork I have had many who deserved to be indicted!

Moves to Springdale neighborhood,
great neighbors, community college campus next door.

Coffee To Wake Up the Gardener and Garden

Today I was talking to a coffee expert on using coffee grounds in the garden. I used some extra coffee on some new plants and saw good results, especially with rainwater added. I began adding more used coffee grounds on other plants that needed attention.

My Crepe Myrtle twigs have various heights. The tallest receives regular rainwater and coffee grounds. In the front, the tallest is at the bottom of the slope and the shortest at the top. Today, the light went on. Although Crepe Myrtles are drought tolerant and sun-loving, any plant at the top of the slope will get less water than at the bottom. In fact, the back yards drain down where the myrtles are lined up in a row, the bottom one getting the best runoff and a big of soil as a bonus.

The rescue operation will consist of more grounds for the shortest myrtles, plus extra stored rainwater.

Benefits of Coffee Grounds
No, I do not think coffee grounds will drive slugs away and do other magical tricks. But the grounds are organic sponges, a convenient way to lighten the soil and add some nitrogen material.

I am more interested in their contribution to lightening and hydrating the soil. Coffee grounds as mulch on top of the soil will be pulled down by earthworms, contributing to water infiltration and the conversion of the grounds to castings.

Earthworms alone have a powerful effect on the soil, by tunneling, sweetening the soil with their Caltrate glands, adding nitrogen waste, and leaving their castings, which are considered the best of all fertilizer. Although they seem too tiny to make a difference, the earthworms on one acre of land add up to a one-ton creature moving a ton of soil every day.

To hold water longer for each myrtle twig on the slope, and to improve the soil below, I will add more grounds, dried leaves and grass around each plant. The initial effort will hold moisture in the soil. The long-term effect is to leaven the clay soil with organic material and to increase  microbe activity. Earlier I thought the wood mulch was having an anti-nitrogen effect, because wood absorbs nitrogen as it rots, then gives it up again. That may still be true, but the ability of the backyard myrtle to absorb water and grow made me think of the regular doses of rainwater turning that one plant into a champion when all the others were planted at the same time. And they varied by their position on the slope.

Plants have to be given their due, since each has different Creation gifts. Even the roses vary in what they like and tolerate. I failed with one Chaste Tree when I watered it all the time and left it in semi-shade. That is one bush that wants lots of sun, no water added, and enjoys pruning. I cut the Chaste Tree drooping branches, placed it in the sun, and banned all watering near it. The plant responded with health and steady growth.

This crisis reminded me of the couple whose roses, planted at the top of a small hill on their property, did not grow well. I said, "You planted them in the driest spot in your yard. Water drains downhill." One was a chemical engineer. He said, "Oh."

The myrtle fence was planned to keep some neighbor kids off the rose garden. It worked, because the family moved away.

Free Plants - Some of the Best Around
Our Army Ranger friend really liked the roses I gave him for the cemetery. He especially likes the Veterans Honor rose - glowing red, fragrant, long-lasting.

"Where did you get yours?" I said, "From the Net, but I can grow some on potatoes." He was startled, even though he had worked in landscaping. (Every time he has a landscaping story, it is enhanced by the toxic chemicals he handled - all very effective. I nod in agreement.)

I will root roses and some other plants in potatoes - by drilling holes in the spuds. A rooting compound is supposed to help, so I will try that. The cane goes into the potato and forms roots. The potato is planted in the soil, possibly in a pot before transferring it to the garden. The potato provides moisture and food for the new plant.

Elderberries Ten Feet Tall
Almost Eden sold me two Elderberry plants last year, and they grew and formed fruit. This year they grew much taller and formed even larger berry umbrellas.

I found a plant that grows faster than weeds and spreads, too. Like Blackberries, the Elderberries sprout along runners. I may have botched the transplant, but I took some sprouts and moved them deeper into the Wild Garden, to make an attractive, green, bird-feeding screen.

 Photo source.

This Romans Quotation Proves the Folly of Justification without Faith

Romans 4:20 He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

22 And therefore it was imputed [counted] to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Notice that Romans 4, which is an essay on Justification by Faith, featuring Abraham, concludes with Romans 5:1-2. Or one might call the opening of Romans 5 a transitional sentence.

Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

But the LCMS and others have made this nonsense canonical - 

Holy Scripture sums up all its teachings regarding the love of God to the world of sinners, regarding the salvation wrought by Christ, and regarding faith in Christ as the only way to obtain salvation, in the article of justification. Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25; 

***

GJ - Abraham's faith was not simply in his ability to have a son through Sarah, but his faith in being the father of many nations, as he became through the Messiah and the ever-growing Kingdom of God.

Genesis 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

The befuddled UOJ experts, who think they glorify God's grace by denying and denigrating faith, repudiate the Gospel and replace it with a rationalistic philosophy.

The leaders of the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC (sic)
join ELCA and Christian News in their slippery
evocation of Universal Objective Justification.

Rogate (Prayer) Sunday - The Fifth Sunday after Easter, 2017

Bethany Lutheran Church, 

10 AM Central Daylight Time

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

Rogate 2017 - The Fifth Sunday after Easter. 

 Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

The Hymn # 202                         Welcome Happy Morning                           
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 
The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #454        Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire

Prayer Is the Fruit of Faith

The Communion Hymn # 207            Like the Golden Sun  
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 #457                What a Friend We Have in Jesus

KJV James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

Fifth Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who through Thy Son didst promise us that whatsoever we ask in His name Thou wilt give us: We beseech Thee, keep us in Thy word, and grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may govern us according to Thy will; protect us from the power of the devil, from false doctrine and worship; also defend our lives against all danger; grant us Thy blessing and peace, that we may in all things perceive Thy merciful help, and both now and forever praise and glorify Thee as our gracious Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Is the Fruit of Faith
KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Luther:
1. We are accustomed to read today’s Gospel on this Sunday because it treats of prayer and this week is called Rogation (Supplication) week, in which we give ourselves to prayer and to processions with crosses. Those who first instituted it, no doubt, meant it well, but it has proven to work harm. For, in the processions heretofore, many unchristian things have been practiced, and there has been no praying at all or very little; so that the processions were rightly abolished and discontinued. Often have I admonished that we should persevere in prayer, for there is great need of it. Since the outward prating and muttering of prayer is done away with, we no longer pray in any way. This is a good indication that we heretofore, notwithstanding our many prayers, never prayed.

Today there are also many abuses, especially when people make a public display of prayer. At the LCA seminary they organized a 24 hour of prayer, with someone posted at a given spot. I think they were creating a demonstration for peace. The organizer said, "We need you to fill in a slot. You don't have to pray." I declined to join them in their sanctimony.

Luther's statement about St. Stephen, the first martyr, should be remembered for all things that are undertaken in the Name of Christ. That must begin with faith in Him, which means setting aside our wisdom and letting the wisdom of the Scriptures supplant our wise-foolishness. In many circumstances, people mix man's wisdom with God's, and that is just like gardening. When it is a matter of weeds versus valuable plants, bet on the weeds. The weeds will always win in the untended garden, which is their goal, to reclaim and build up the soil, not to be pretty.

Man's wisdom is the same. We naturally have our own way of thinking, and it is influenced by people around us. A lot of common wisdom is slowly merged with God's Word and then we give credit to man's wisdom for good outcomes. The cross is always attached to the Gospel, so that discourages people. We are like those who see the thorns on the rose instead of the rose on the thorn bush.

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing

This is one of those abrupt verses that make us take notice. We can see that in its context. They were with the Lord for three years and asked Him about many things, all the time. When they were troubled, they asked each other, of course, because that is the way we are.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

So here we have the other part of the abrupt change. From now on they will be asking God the Father directly, but in the Name of Christ. And He promises that He will give whatever they ask.

This is a absolute in the Scriptures - when God urges us to pray, He also moves us to pray through His Promises. The olde English is especially good in this regard - whatsoever ye shall ask. There are no maybes, no qualifications. Because God does not operate in our time system, that means it will happen.

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

The wise guys of rationalism like to pit John against the first three Gospels, but this is exactly. But Jesus taught the same in Matthew.

Matthew 7:7-8King James Version (KJV)

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

We can see that Jesus always taught this because He wanted His disciples to enjoy the blessings of the Faith.

That is why the Law salesmen are always so miserable. They believe that the sins from the works of the flesh can be forgiven through their good works, which always seem especially self-serving. They find no joy in that, so they become more bitter and angry as time progresses. They may actually make themselves bleed in their profession of holiness, but they receive no forgiveness and no satisfaction from those acts - except the praise of men. For example, there are works-saints who crawl on their knees , those who whip themselves, and others who do similar foolish things.

The most powerful but sick groups are those who urge such measures in the Name of Christ when they are really tools of their Father Below. Opus Dei is one such secretive cult, and there are many others.

That is a great form of motivation from Christ, that this one act of faith will always bring about divine results. The proof we get is the failure of our own efforts and the answers that come "out of the blue" as many say. It is only in looking back that we find this to be true, so that builds faith, too, seeing how sure and reliable God's Promises are.

Someone said to me, "I don't know how this will end, what lies in the future." I said, "Nothing that happened to me was in the realm of my imagination." In fact, most happened from outwardly negative circumstances. If I had enjoyed my own dreams, I would have been a book editor, and that would have ended my craving to write about the Faith. Editors never write - they just edit. 

25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

We live in that era promised by Jesus. He teaches us openly about Father, and all the mysterious passages are clear if we spend some time with them. As everyone must remember from the passage about "a little while," that expression is going to define everything God does. It is always a little while. Lat night our Army Ranger friend said, "It takes forever to reach the age of 21. And then it seems like a week later, and we are 35 years old." My other neighbor said the same thing, still shaking his head that we have been next door for years.

During the waiting for God, it is not a little while. But looking back that is true, which is why we should enjoy every moment He gives and and look for the Promises to be fulfilled in a little while. 

If we know the Gospel, then we also comprehend how gracious God is, because we share one common characteristic, being sinful. If justice were measured out toward us, instead of mercy, we would have terrible, miserable lives. But forgiveness is healing and bears fruit at the same time.

Some get this mixed up because they urge others to pray Jesus into their hearts. If they believe in Jesus enough to pray to Him, they already have faith. The Gospel Word creates faith in our hearts, and prayer is the fruit of faith. 

When people teach wrongly about faith, they place the burden on man - pray hard enough, pray long enough, pray with certain characteristics - such as tongues. Those outward qualifiers of man take away from the foundation, which is faith in Christ.

Following Luther, the five standards of prayer are:

1. The Promise.
2. Faith in Him.
3. Asking for specific spiritual needs.
4. Asking.
5. Asking in the Name of Christ.

26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

This is a very important passage, because it emphasizes a truth, and this truth should move us always to trust in Him for answers. When everything seems dark and hopeless. unbelievers see God as angry, punishing them for their mistakes and sins. But God loves us for loving His Son, and we do not hesitate to approach someone who loves us.

Our grandson was being a typical boy his age at lunch yesterday. His mother and two sisters were urging him to have better manners. I said, "He knows he is protected by an invisible shield. He is sitting between two grandparents."

Therefore, all Christian believers are loved by God the Father, who not only answers in the Name of Christ, but also because He loves those who love His Son. Why hesitate?

Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen has a great line that is suitable for his lesson. She prays to God, "Do not judge us according to our sins, but according to our love." With some adjustment, that is what is being portrayed here. God does not condemn us for our sins, since we believe in His Son, but sees our love and loves us in return.

28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 

We take this knowledge for granted, perhaps, but it was new to the disciples and beyond their imagination. Yes, they knew the power of Christ, seeing it so many times. But to see Him as the eternal Son of God, the Creating Word, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that took some time.

29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

This shows us how much the disciples appreciated the divine mission of Christ before the crucifixion. So they were daunted, confused, and frightened almost to death. But they stayed together and were united as apostles.

Praying for Ourselves and for Others

Sometimes I think back to earlier decades when loyalty to employees was a given, so nationally it was thought that big companies owed something to employees, congregations owed loyalty to ministers. That has been blown to pieces and few think that way. Instead, highly skilled people think, for good reason, that they can be replaced by non-citizens, legal or illegal.

So many get set aside today and suffer for it. When employment situations cause agony, there is no fault in praying for a solution for ourselves or for others. I recall several circumstances when all seemed bleak at the moment, yet great abundance followed, beyond all hope, as the Hobbits say in The Lord of the Rings. 

And many have very difficult circumstances. We should always remember those in our prayers. I have seen so many good things happen to others that I never hesitate to pray for them. In this age of written communications on the Net, it is easy to compose a prayer and send it to the person. 

I had the ugliest front yard in the region, a few weeks ago. I had brown mulch, brown to black tree stumps, a few weeds, and the straggly profiles of roses that were not even leafing out. My neighbors had lush green grass fertilized by plenty of rain, with patches of typical lawn flowers (weeds) like Speedwell.

Now the sunlight has send the roses into bloom, not all at once. But the survivors have green up and started to bud. The Veterans Honor, Queen Elizabeth, KnockOuts, and Easy Does It roses are making our frontyard the most colorful. I would love to see everything in the yard in bloom at once, but God has his own timetable. The Elderberries and Blackberries are fruiting now, but the Beautyberries will fruit in the fall, to feed the birds late in the season. God's wisdom spreads out the fruiting of all the plants, so we can enjoy and harvest from each one.

So in life we can see how God gives us blessings for each stage in life, even during the most painful times. I am often reminded of Luther saying, "God is so powerful that He can turn the greatest evil into the greatest good, as He did with Christ dying on the cross for our sins."