Saturday, July 22, 2017

A Classic Post from 2007 Tops the Weekly List.
Jason Ewart, the Booted from WELS, Is Still Second



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Amusing the Bystanders at Buckwheat Gardens


Everything about Buckwheat seemed great. It would push out weeds, bloom fast, and improve the soil. Winter kills the plant and almost all the dropped seeds , so Buckwheat is one of the best cover crops.

We had a perfect combination of rains and sunshine that gave initial germination, then good growth, and finally explosive growth while blooming. Many "knee-high" plants now reach my eyes.

Our latest visitors said, "I can see roses in there." I am going to get some photographs later today.

But, as I wrote before, the key is the soil. Just like the sweet corn I grew in compost years ago, the ultra-rich soil in the rose garden is compost (the former lawn) with mulch to feed the fungi. Leaving the plants alone -with minimal digging - allows the soil creatures to do what God has designed them to accomplish.

Creation Gardeners focus on the soil, not the plants. Some problems cannot be avoided. There is no cure for Japanese beetles, though a good bird population will help. Moles eat the grubs, so I am not going to curse moles, as so many do. Our mild winter last year (no snow on the ground) certainly helped grubs and fleas set record population levels this summer.


Rooted and Grounded
Luther never stopped emphasizing the importance of the Word, which is how we are rooted and grounded. The Savior comes to us only through the Word, not through grinning ushers, popcorn, soda, and little praise bands.

The greatest and most powerful weapon of Satan is Enthusiasm. The entire Preus Family Enterprise is dedicated to separating the Word from the Holy Spirit. Like Walther, the neurotic disciple of Bishop Stephan, STD, the Preus clergy constantly sell the vacuity of Halle's rationalistic Pietism.

Before anyone launches into another paroxysm about Universal Objective Justification, please read the Knapp textbook from Halle University - his anointed lectures. The poor guy could not write and blabbered endlessly. Yet Halle was sanctified and glorified for its first devotion to Biblical piety.

"God has declared the entire world forgiven and saved, whether anyone believes it or not." Thus they separate the Spirit from the Word and make a pagan altar devoted to their favorite dogma.



Where Is This Found in the Scriptures?
The Scriptures are the control, the infallible and inerrant standard for all doctrine and practice. But the Enthusiasts cannot find a single text or unified theme anywhere in the Bible that supports their fantasy.

The UOJ parasites, who live from the draining the synods of their energy and life, cannot find a passage to support their UOJ. They direct everyone to their favorite authorities, such as CFW Walther, BA, and his carefully chosen and deliberately brainwashed disciples - like F. Pieper, the worst combination of WELS and Missouri.

For those who insist - this quotation is the explanation
by the Calvinist Woods of Knapp's opaque writing.
This is the English version of Knapp that is still in print and
had a profound influence on all Protestants, starting before the Stephanite ships landed.


Now they have established Walther, Stephan, Pieper and the sub-apostolic teachers of the Synodical Conference: they are norma normans, the ruling norm. To question them is to step on the third rail of Midwestern Pietism. As one disciple said to me, "You criticized Pieper!" That reminded me of a young nephew accusing me of "not caring about the environment - though I was composting before he was born.

Yes, Pieper and Walther are the Midwestern Apostles. There is a sub-apostolic order, made up of Stoeckhardt and other maulers of Biblical doctrine. People moan about how these Bronze Age Missourians should be worshiped adequately, translated more, and promoted often.

But lo, the living fanatics are given their moment at the lectern so they can preen on the podium. Oh. Oh. They now have gobs of quotations they can copy, paste, and stitch together. They even plagiarize each other, giving no credit for the earlier stink bomb of UOJ.


  1. There is a Chief Article and it includes the word Justification.
  2. Walther taught Halle's Objective Justification from Halle University, just the opposite of Luther's (and Paul's) doctrine.
  3. QED - Therefore, God declaring the entire world forgiven and saved - THAT is the Chief Article of Christianity. Ask Bivens - or Zarling - from whom he stole this sleight of hand. Ask ELCA-trained Jay Webber, who imagines Luther taught Justification without Faith.

Delightful Coffee - Some Ideas


When we raised bunnies, we were given bunnies all the time.
Now I get coffee graphics, which I love, 

and lots of good books to share.

There are various ways to make coffee:

  1. The aluminum percolator was once the norm. Given the quality of coffee, that was sufficient.
  2. Mr. Coffee came up with a drip maker that cooked the coffee, making it undrinkable in short order. But it was a roaring success.
  3. French Press is a great way to make a small amount of very good coffee, but the victim has to get that impacted set of grounds out of the end of the press. Breaking a French Press glass tube is very easy.
  4. My mother had the vacuum pot method, which all the kids loved to watch.



But now there is a simple, low-tech way to make wonderful coffee and enjoy the experience, with easy clean-up. This is all we do now, because our Black and Decker drip coffee maker was very old. I tossed it to remove any temptation. Yes, I know they make drills, etc, but it was a pretty good coffee maker.

Pour-Over Coffee
This requires a goose-neck water heater and a pour-over contraption, coffee filters, a bean grinder, and freshly roasted beans. Perfectionist also use a scale to weigh the beans. The better grinders are burr grinders.




Mrs. Ichabod got a little pour-over contraption at the store, and that works fine. I bought some cone paper filters. We get freshly roasted beans, which are hard to find at most grocery stores.

I am still learning some fine points, but these are the major considerations:

  • Coffee begins to degrade as soon as the beans are ground, so everyone should start with grinding just before brewing. If freshly roasted beans can be obtained, then that is an important step up.
  • The water really matters too. I use private label water, better known as Walmart water. Sam's Club water bottles are the perfect amount for us to get two mugs from the pour-over.
  • Using a filter in a pour-over means the grounds can be tossed into the garden with the paper diaper. Coffee grounds are very good for the soil, and that does add up over time. One reader gets hundreds of pounds of grounds from Starbucks. Some coffee shops are glad to share them. Earthworms adore coffee grounds.

We Have Learned - 

Any coffee made from a pour-over will be far better than the product of a typical coffee brewer. 

Coffee should be enjoyed immediately after the pour-over, but if some remains and reaches room temperature, the flavor can be enjoyed all over again. Luke-warm is not good. Cold or hot - very good.

Company enjoys watching the pour-over and learning about how it works. The bloom is fun, with various details open for discussion on the Internet.

I did not obtain a scale because we found a good measuring place on our grinder. That has worked well.

Roasts in typical coffees are nothing like freshly roasted and ground pour-over coffee. I never liked commerical dark roast coffee. Now I enjoy the variations in roasts. Dark roast can be excellent.

Teacher's lounge coffee in the past -
now they have Mr. Coffee doing the same thing.