Greek Lessons - Exegesis - For New Students Too

 The opening of John declares what Genesis 1 teaches.
Class is 8 PM Central Daylight this week,
Central Standard afterwards.

Tonight we will finish the Gospel of John in Greek and begin Greek exegesis.

We have attracted extra students who were not going to learn Greek, but began attending because the lessons are mostly English and are relevant to everyone.

Exegesis (Hebrew, Greek, English) means declaring what is in the text. Jesus is the exegesis of the Father (John 1) Who declares what the Father really is. The Gospel of John is devoted to this. As my friend says, John is the doctrinal Gospel.

This series in Greek exegesis will have a lower percentage of Greek content but will include the key doctrinal verses for such issues as the Real Presence, infant faith, etc.

Anyone listening can catch onto what the Greek geeks are thinking about. True exegesis means declaring what the passage really means, not what a denomination, era, fad, or cult imagines. The ultimate example in our age is Lenski. Luther's exegesis in his sermons is the finest example of all.

These lessons will be in November and stop in December for the tent-making season (grades, final tests, etc). We can discuss future classes using the same methods in January but stopping for Lent.

One product of the Gospel of John class will be the Brief Commentary I am writing.

 The Bible is a unified truth, so Luke 15 and
John 10 teach the same concept, with a different emphasis,
also reflecting on Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40.

More Gems from the Sermons of Martin Luther, Volume V

Christians Distinguished from Heathen

1. In this Gospel we see how God distinguishes Christians from heathen. For the Lord does not deliver these teachings to the heathen, for they could not receive them, but to his Christians. However, he does not consider those Christians, who only hear his Word, so as to learn it and be able to repeat it, as the nuns do the Psalter. In this way Satan also hears the Gospel and the Word of God, yea, he knows it far better than we do, and he could preach it as well as we, if he only wanted to; but the Gospel is a doctrine that should become a living power and be put into practice; it should strengthen and comfort the people, and make them courageous and aggressive.

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Love Gold and Earthly Possessions, Hate God

It is impossible for one, who loves gold and earthly possessions and cleaves to them, not to hate God. For God here contrasts these two as enemies to one another, and concludes, if you love and cleave to one of these two, then you must hate and despise the other. Therefore, however nicely and genteelly one lives here upon earth and cleaves to riches, it cannot be otherwise than that he must hate God; and on the other hand, whoever does not cleave to gold and worldly goods, loves God. This is certainly true.

#5, Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

$100,000

Examine now and see, if our heart is not a rogue, full of wickedness and unbelief. If I were a true Christian, I would say. The hour the Gospel is received, there comes to me a hundred thousand dollars, and much more. For if I possess this treasure, I have all that is in heaven and upon earth. But one must serve this treasure only, for no man can serve God and mammon. Either you must love God and hate money; or you must hate God and love money; this and nothing more.

#8, Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Little Birds Teach Us

28. As if the Lord would say: You have never yet seen a bird with a sickle, with which it harvested and gathered into barns; yea, the birds do not labor like we; and still they are nourished. By this the Lord does not however teach that we are to be idle; but he tries by this example to take all anxiety from us. For a bird cannot do the work of a farmer as we do; yet, it is not free from labor, but it does the work for which it was created, namely, it bears its young, feeds them and sings to our Lord God a little song for the privilege of doing this. Had God imposed more labor upon it, then it would have done more. Early in the morning it rises, sits upon a twig and sings a song it has learned, while it knows not where to obtain its food, and yet it is not worried as to where to get its breakfast. Later, when it is hungry, it flies away and seeks a grain of corn, where God stored one away for it, of which it never thought while singing, when it had cause enough to be anxious about its food. Ay, shame on you now, that the little birds are more pious and believing than you; they are happy and sing with joy and know not whether they have anything to eat.

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

May the Gospel Break Forth in Deeds

35. Now the sum of this Gospel is: Christians should not worry about what they are to eat; God provides for them before they think of their need; but they are to labor, that is commanded them. But what the kingdom of God and his righteousness are, would require too much time to discuss, you have often heard about them, if you have been attentive. This is now enough on today’s Gospel. May God grant us grace that someday we may also even put it into practice! May the Gospel remain not only in our ears and on our tongues, but come into our hearts and break forth fresh into loving deeds!

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Blinded by Abundance

6. Thus we may observe all creatures and become convinced of God’s goodness in them. Christ says in Matthew 5:5: “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” As though he would say: I give it to the whole crowd; but who thanks me a single time for it? He enlightens my and your eyes, but no one acknowledges that it is God’s blessing. If some morning the sun should not rise, or rise three hours late, what distress and loss would that cause? How we would open our mouths and eyes? Then everyone would say: God be praised and thanked, who has given us such a light! But since it occurs daily, that the sun rises and shines at the appointed time, no one considers it a blessing. So it is with the rain from heaven, with the grain in the field and with all God’s creatures. They exist in such abundance, and we are daily so overwhelmed by their abundance that we fail to see them.

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Greek Lesson - John 21 - Peter's Absolution. Exegesis

 Graphics by Norma Boeckler -
this is the most read post on Ichabod. - 108,000+ views.

Parser Link
John 21

15 οτε ουν ηριστησαν, λεγει τω σιμωνι πετρω ο ιησους σιμων ιωνα αγαπας με πλειον τουτων? λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε συ οιδας οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω βοσκε τα αρνια μου (lambs)

Simon - not Peter. φιλω - not the verb Jesus used - weaker.

16 λεγει αυτω παλιν δευτερον, σιμων ιωνα αγαπας με? λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε συ οιδας οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω ποιμαινε τα προβατα μου (sheep)

17 λεγει αυτω το τριτον σιμων ιωνα φιλεις με? ελυπηθη ο πετρος οτι ειπεν αυτω το τριτον φιλεις με και ειπεν αυτω κυριε συ παντα οιδας συ γινωσκεις οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω ο ιησους βοσκε τα προβατα μου

Lenski - For already when the angel sent the first message by the women he said, "Tell his disciples and Peter," Mark 16:7. Peter was present when Jesus appeared behind the locked doors and gave the disciples the commission, "So I, too, send you." Peter was thus absolved and reinstated into his office and was again established among the believers, including the eleven. His case, however, was so grave that Jesus proceeded to do more. Here at the lakeside he takes Peter in hand in order to eradicate from his heart the last trace of false self-confidence, and at the same time in order to cut off any possible foolish criticism on the part of any members in the church, he formally and publicly reinstates Peter into his office.

 Peter's Martyrdom

18 αμην αμην λεγω σοι οτε ης νεωτερος, εζωννυες σεαυτον και περιεπατεις οπου ηθελες - οταν δε γηρασης εκτενεις τας χειρας σου και αλλος σε ζωσει και οισει οπου ου θελεις

Peter crucified in 64, led with rope around his waist to his death. οισει οπου ου θελεις - emphatic not, Lenski.

19 τουτο δε ειπεν σημαινων ποιω θανατω δοξασει τον θεον και τουτο ειπων λεγει αυτω ακολουθει μοι

signing by which

20 επιστραφεις δε ο πετρος βλεπει τον μαθητην ον ηγαπα ο ιησους ακολουθουντα - ος και ανεπεσεν εν τω δειπνω επι το στηθος αυτου - και ειπεν κυριε τις εστιν ο παραδιδους σε

21 τουτον ιδων ο πετρος λεγει τω ιησου κυριε ουτος δε τι

22 λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εαν αυτον θελω μενειν εως ερχομαι τι προς σε συ ακολουθει μοι

23 εξηλθεν ουν ο λογος ουτος εις τους αδελφους οτι ο μαθητης εκεινος ουκ αποθνησκει και ουκ ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους οτι ουκ αποθνησκει αλλ εαν αυτον θελω μενειν εως ερχομαι τι προς σε

24 ουτος εστιν ο μαθητης ο μαρτυρων περι τουτων και γραψας ταυτα και οιδαμεν οτι αληθης εστιν η μαρτυρια αυτου

25 εστιν δε και αλλα πολλα οσα εποιησεν ο ιησους ατινα εαν γραφηται καθ εν, ουδε αυτον οιμαι τον κοσμον χωρησαι τα γραφομενα βιβλια αμην

1550 Stephanus New Testament (TR1550)

Exegesis - 

18 θεον ουδεις εωρακεν πωποτε ο μονογενης υιος ο ων εις τον κολπον του πατρος εκεινος εξηγησατο (has exegeted Him - exegesato)

Strong Thayer notes - here.

"About ad 75, Josephus used 1834 (eksēgéomai) as a "technical term for the interpretation of the law as practiced by the rabbinate" (A. Schlatter, Der Evangelist Johannes, Stuttgart, 1948, p 36, who cites Josephus, Ant. 17.149; War 1.649; 2.162).]"

Lenski

The wonderful person thus described to us can, indeed, and did, indeed, bring us the ultimate revelation, "he did declare him." The demonstrative  is resumptive and emphatic, taking up "God Only begotten" together with the appended relative clause, R. 707 and 708. The verb is choice and impressive and is not used otherwise by the evangelist. It goes far beyond what any man could do, assuming even that it were possible for him to see God and then to tell us what he had seen. The tense is the historical aorist, summing up all that Jesus "did declare" concerning God not only by his words and his deeds but also by his very coming and the presence of his person. The Logos is the supreme exegete, the absolute interpreter of God. The verb means more than erzaehlen, "to narrate or tell"; it means "to expound" or "set forth completely." The Greek is able to dispense with an object, but the English cannot imitate this brevity. So some supply "it," which is too weak and means too little; others, what he beheld while being with God, which is well enough in substance but too long in form; "him" is best of all. "Christ did not receive the revelation in time, like the Old Testament prophets, by means of the inspiration of the spirit of God, passing it on to others; he is himself the eternal Logos and the essential truth. He made known on earth what he beheld with the Father and heard from the Father as the Son of God before the foundation of the world, John 3:32; 6:46; 8:26, 38, 40; 12:50 (compare the analogous expression concerning the Holy Ghost, 16:13). And this which he received and obtained not merely in time but beheld and heard before his incarnation in eternity he sees and hears also continuously as man, since it is an eternal seeing and hearing and not subject to the change of time. For as we have already learned, he is the exegete of the Father, as the one who is in the bosom of the Father, and he knoweth the Father, as the Father knoweth him, John 8:55; 10:15. And as he knows the Father, so he knows also men, his brethren." Philippi, Glauhenslehre, IV, 1, 443. Thus also the last word re-echoes and joins again the first word  Logos The Word — he did declare. And this ushers in the historical account, setting down for us what "he did declare."

The Other Reformation: How Martin Luther Changed Our Beer, Too : The Salt : NPR

WELS-LCMS clergy say, "The only thing we like about Luther."

The Other Reformation: How Martin Luther Changed Our Beer, Too : The Salt : NPR:



"On this day 500 years ago, an obscure Saxon monk launched a protest movement against the Catholic Church that would transform Europe. Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation changed not just the way Europeans lived, fought, worshipped, worked and created art but also how they ate and drank. For among the things it impacted was a drink beloved throughout the world and especially in Luther's native Germany: beer."



'via Blog this'

Gems from Luther's Sermons, Volume 5

 The thankful leper - by Norma Boeckler

Gems from Volume 5

The Wicked – Justified by Works

11. They are really wicked people who become proud in external things, who desire to justify and make themselves pious by their works, as this lawyer here does. Behold, what a proud character he is, he presents himself in his own name, and thinks Christ will not rebuke him; yea, he allows himself to think that the Lord will extol and praise his life in the presence of all the people, and does not think of learning anything from the Lord, but only seeks his own praise. The ignorant pretender would have gladly heard a psalm of praise from the man whom the people esteemed, and at whom all men wondered. Thus all hypocrites do, who outwardly parade their excellent, great and noble works. They well say that they do not seek honor and praise, but inwardly in their hearts they are full of ambition, and desire all the world to know of their holiness, and smile very nicely when they hear men speak of it.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Our Glittering Lives

19. Therefore, what the Lord here says to this lawyer, he says to us all, namely, that we have not yet fulfilled the law, and still he requires us to do it. On this account all men are guilty of death, and are the devil’s own property. “All men are liars,” Psalm 116:11, vain and offensive. What they pretend does not avail before God. In our own affairs we are shrewd; how to scrape together money and goods, how to speak well of God before the people, and how to push ourselves ahead in a masterly manner. But what does God care for this? His will is that we should love him with all our hearts. This no man can do, and the conclusion is that we are all sinners, and especially those who walk in a beautiful outward show.
Therefore it is safer that we go and confess that we all are sinners, than that we have respect to our works and cling to our beautiful, glittering lives.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The High Mission of Christ

26. When he entered upon that high mission to prove that he loved God with all his heart, he laid down his bodily life with all he had, and said: Father, here you have all, my bodily life, my glory and honor, which I had among the people; all this I give as it is for thy sake, that the world may know how I love thee. My Father, let my wisdom perish, so that the world may look upon me as most foolish. Let me be the most despised, who was heretofore praised by all the world. Now I am the worst murderer, who before was friendly, useful and serviceable to the whole world. Dear Father, all this I despise, only that I may not be disobedient to thee.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Christ the True Samaritan

32. But Christ, the true Samaritan, takes the poor man to himself as his own, goes to him and does not require the helpless one to come to him; for here is no merit, but pure grace and mercy; and he binds up his wounds, cares for him and pours in oil and wine, this is the whole Gospel from beginning to end. He pours in oil when grace is preached, as when one says: Behold thou poor man, here is your unbelief, here is your condemnation, here you are wounded and sore. Wait! All this I will cure with the Gospel. Behold, here cling firmly to this Samaritan, to Christ the Savior, he will help you, and nothing else in heaven or on earth will. You know very well that oil softens, thus also the sweet, loving preaching of the Gospel gives me a soft, mild heart toward God and my neighbor, so that I risk my bodily life for the sake of Christ my Lord and his Gospel, if God and necessity require it.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Substance of the Gospel

36. Now here we have the substance of the Gospel. The kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of mercy and grace, in which there is nothing but a continual carrying of the lost. Christ carries our infirmities and sicknesses, he takes our sins upon himself and has patience when we fail. We still always lay about his neck, and yet he does not become weary of carrying us, which should be the greatest comfort for us when we are in conflict with sin.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Law Is a Mirror

40. Now find me a man who is chaste or otherwise pious with a burning passion and love; there is none such on the earth. We find ourselves much more inclined to anger, hatred, envy, worldly pleasures, than to tender heartedness and other virtues. And when I find in my inclination such a spark, it is all false, the law is not satisfied. But I find not only a spark in me, but a whole bake-oven full of the fire of evil inclinations, for there is no love in the heart, nor in any member of the body. Therefore I here see in the law as in a mirror, that everything I have is condemned and cursed; for not one jot of the law shall pass away but all must be fulfilled, as Christ says, Matthew 5:18: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.”

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Let the Gospel Drown All Other Sounds

11. In the same manner should the beautiful sound and the lovely music of the Gospel of Christ so engage and fill our ears, that we may hear nothing else, as when a great bell or a kettledrum and trumpet sound and resound, the air is so full that whatever else is spoken, sung or cried cannot be heard. So should Christ’s words constantly in all our lives and actions have the upper hand in our hearts through faith, and know of comfort, righteousness and salvation from none other. These would indeed be blessed eyes and ears that could thus make use of the blessed time or dispensation of the Gospel, and know what God has given them in it; for such eyes and ears God himself esteems as an excellent and precious treasure and a sacred and holy possession, which could not be purchased by the whole world even if it had many more and brighter lights and suns.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

Gospel Doctrine, Power, and Treasure

43. Behold, this is the doctrine and the power of the Gospel and the treasure by which we are saved; which brings us to the point that we also begin to fulfill the law. For where the great unfathomable love and favor of Christ are known and believed, thence flows forth also love both to God and to our neighbor. For by means of such knowledge and consolation the Holy Spirit moves the heart to love God, and gladly does what it should to his praise and thanks, guards against sin and disobedience and willingly offers itself to serve and help everybody, and where it still feels its weakness it battles against the flesh and Satan by calling upon God, etc. And thus while ever rising in faith it holds to Christ, where it does not do enough in keeping the law, its comfort is that Christ fulfills the law and bestows and imparts his fullness and strength, and thus he remains always our righteousness, salvation, sanctification, etc.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

Faith Forms a Bright Vision and Refuge in God

5. In the first place it is a characteristic of faith to presume to trust God’s grace, and it forms a bright vision and refuge in God, doubting nothing it thinks God will have regard for his faith, and not forsake it. For where there is no such vision and confidence, there is no true faith, and there is also no true prayer nor any seeking after God. But where it exists it makes man bold and anxious freely to bring his troubles unto God, and earnestly to pray for help.

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Ten Hairy Shirts

30. Now study this example and incite your life that you may do your good works not only without harm to others, but also to their advantage, and not only to friends and the good, but consider that the greater portion will be lost, and that you will receive ingratitude and hatred as your reward. Then you will walk the right road in the footprints of Christ your Lord. Until you have accomplished this, you should not regard yourself a true, perfect Christian, it matters not whether you wear ten hairy shirts and fast every day, or celebrate mass every day, and pray the psalter, make pilgrimages, and establish churches or yearly festivals. For Christ wishes to have such works done, if they are done in the right spirit

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

When God Seems Farthest Away

37. Therefore observe that when God appears to be farthest away, he is nearest. This word of Christ reads as though we cannot know what he will do, he does not refuse nor promise anything, so that the lepers, who previously certainly relied on his kindness for all things, might have become offended at it, and begun to doubt, and taken quite a different sense of it than Christ meant. Christ speaks it out of an overflowing kindness that he thinks it unnecessary to tell them that they have already obtained what they want. But as the sense was not clear to them they might have thought he was entirely of a different opinion, and farther from them than before.

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Christ Should Fall Down and Praise Them

69. However, the false saints and murderers of Christ also now praise and extol with a loud voice God and his works, yea, they preach and cry more about God than the true saints do. As we even now see every corner full of preachers, who highly extol and praise God, that he alone is worthy of praise and honor, and use the very same voice and Word which the true preachers use. Why then is it not valid? Or what is the matter with it? Without doubt nothing else than that they with this leper do not fall down at the feet of Christ to thank him, but want Christ to fall down at their feet and thank them.

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Christian Life

72. From this we see how far a Christian life is above the natural life. First, it despises self; secondly, it loves and thirsts for contempt; thirdly, it punishes everything that is unwilling to be despised, by which it resigns itself to all misfortune; fourthly it is also despised and persecuted on account of such contempt and punishment; fifthly, it does not think itself worthy to suffer such persecution. Now from the very first part the world and nature flee, when then will they come to the last? But there is still another and a greater behind it, concerning the falling at the feet of Christ, which the priests neither understand nor want; for not every faith is sufficient for it, but the faith of Christ must be there, that truly humiliates us. Of this we will treat later under the spiritual interpretation. “And he was a Samaritan.”

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Indecisive Autumn

We needed several nights below freezing to for the trees to start turning color and losing leaves. I had some gardening plans on Saturday, but the cold discouraged everyone's outdoor ambitions and the remaining rose collars stayed in the limo.

The sun came out again, and roses began to bloom, so we took one in a bud vase to our chiro, who just had a baby girl. He also received two copies of the Creation Gardening Book. My favorite response to the photos is - "Those are your roses? You grew them?"

Yesterday evening, a slow drizzle began, to hurry the Halloween visitors inside.  More rain was falling this morning, so the leaves will rot faster. Water, bacteria, and mold conspire to reduce the leaves, a job finished by slugs, earthworms, and mites.

I said to one visitor, "In the old days, gardening experts made fun of leaves because they were mostly carbon and offered a low ratio of nitrogen. But now, they realize fungus is the key enabler in soil, and fungus needs carbon."

Creation Gardeners, who often operate under other names - Carbon Cowboys, Cover Croppers, Organic Gardeners, Lasagna Gardeners - spend their time and energy facilitating God's own Creation and engineering - not to mention His divine management.

I had to remove the hoses from the outside faucets, due to the freezes, and worried, "How will I get water to the new plants, if it stays dry?" But now I have moist soil, a wheelbarrow full of rainwater, and various barrels and buckets overflowing.

Ranger Bob is itching to weed-eat my front yard. I said, "Nope. I have Hosta planted. Everything can wait until spring. Then I will have a lot of cover crops like Daisies  and Hostas, in-between the roses."

A landscaper like Ranger Bob sees the ideal as flowers separated by attractive mulch. However, our weather patterns almost neutralize mulch, acting as steroids to push weeds through the saturated cardboard and shredded wood.

The new farmers - Carbon Cowboys - argue for cover crops

• To build up the soil through growing roots, 
• To hold rain and snow-melt in their deep root systems, and
• To host a wide variety of beneficial bugs and spiders.

I look at the front yard as a mass of roots feeding the soil. I truly despise Bermuda grass for its invasive nature, but the plant has carpeted the rose garden fairly well for now. Like the traditional lawn, the grassy weed has the potential to return its storage of food into the soil. 

Several nights of 20 degrees left the entire crop of Buckwheat deader than a WELS conference on the Book of Concord, where the only attendees would be a few who wanted to make their own wine. So the Buckwheat is rotting into the soil and its seeds are dropping onto the soil, the largest bird-feeder in the area.

 A classic - this will convert the weed-hater.

Weeds - Guardians of the Soil

Another soil improver, created and designed by God, is the Hog Peanut plant, a legume with deep roots and nitrogen building capacity. I used to say, "There it is again," and try to yank it out of the ground. No luck. I even used Roundup on my neighbor's plant, and it grew back! Now I snip it off at the base and let it grow again.

Soil does not build overnight, an expectation fueled by magical fertilizer compounds which who such names as Miracle-Gro. Thus science doffs it hat to Creation, seeking to imitate what it cannot duplicate. A nitrogen compound will make a plant greener and is likely to spur growth while impeding the production of fruit. But too much fertilizer not only stuns the soil creatures, driving them away, but also burns the plant by drawing moisture out of the cells through osmosis. 

Compare the results of a rainstorm or snowmelt, greening the plants and providing seed for the sower and bread for the eater - Isaiah 55.

Soil Building

So I use autumn and winter to build the soil and dream about the spring. Bags of leaves will go somewhere in the gardens. For example, I put all our cardboard boxes in the bird-feeder area, to rot down into the soil. I can cover them with leaves for added food for the Butterfly Bushes and Poke. 

Aside - I hated and cut down Poke until I realized it was the best bird feeder around - and free. Besides, the deep roots are great for breaking up and building the soil.

The birds sit on their swing and poop weed seeds into the area, various grains, so I let the grains grow all summer too. The mass of greenery is covered with BB flowers, Poke flowers, birds, butterflies, and climbing squirrels. 

The logic of the wild garden is to let the plants that love that setting thrive. I learned that from the growing area farthest back. I kept trying to introduce sun-loving plants there, but native weeds kept taking over. Since my goal was to screen the backyards and  loud dogs behind us, feeding or sheltering birds, I let Creation take its course and claim the area - with some editing.

Logs - Let Them Rot

The logs, which I  left on the ground for fencing and marking new plants,  are now in a state of half-rot. Some are soft like cardboard already, since rain and soil creatures worked them over. Every log is a savings and loan bank, storing food and gradually letting it be released into the soil. But it is also attracting and feeding soil creatures, which draw birds and toads to their location for an easy meal. 

Years go, our Crepe Myrtle was a pathetic shrub.

The Mother of All Crepe Myrtles

My year-around project is to feed the soil under the MACM. That area beneath has grown in area with the plant. First I anointed the soil with red wiggler earthworms, the kind that bend Creature toward compost loving plants. Next I began adding every kind organic matter I could find, from Mushroom Compost to green globs of lawn grass from the bottom of the mower. More ingredients were - shredded wood, pine needles and cones, rotting wet leaves, all CM trimmings and flowers and twigs. And lo - that enormous pile of organic material has been devoured by the Crepe Myrtle time after time. The area beneath is flat, but the soil beneath teams (note the spelling) with soil creatures and the biggest, best earth movers - moles.

The result is a plant that radiates flower beauty all summer and blooms again just to show off (after pruning). Now the plant is covered with the blessed fruit of the flowers - CM seeds, a delight for all birds feeding in winter. 

When Will Mequon Give Up Their Juvenile Gay GA Hazing? 21 SUNY Students Charged With Hazing Pledges Using Urine, Vomit, Alcohol - NBC New York

21 SUNY Students Charged With Hazing Pledges Using Urine, Vomit, Alcohol - NBC New York:



"Twenty-one students at a New York college have been charged with hazing fraternity pledges by making them drink alcohol, forcing them to eat food off the floor, and vomiting and urinating on them.

State University of New York at Plattsburgh authorities say campus police were told in late September that pledges to the Pi Alpha Nu fraternity had been subjected to demeaning and abusive behavior that included being hit on the buttocks with a paddle. "



'via Blog this'

***

GJ - Broken leg? Tooth knocked out? - Mequon.

Obnoxious songs? - Mequon.

Fetching the pope's bowling ball in sewer run-off? - Mequon.

Disrobing outside, in view of the kitchen staff? Mequon.

Reformation - The 500th Anniversary Is Today - Here Are the Guilty, Serving Their Father Below

Scott Barefoot, co-author with Richard Starr - Forgiven! -
posed with a shaven but not shriven Matt Harrison.

WELS loves to control its members and clergy, who seem to enjoy the experience of prison with benefits. But Matt the Fatt Harrison has trumped everyone in disgracing the Reformation.

He promoted via proxies the convention resolution that made discussing synod doctrine and practice an offense worthy of excommunication. That legislation was worded vaguely as addressing an issue not within the scope of that person's office. If the pope had passed that resolution, there would have been no Reformation stemming from Luther.

True, Luther was indeed excommunicated. But that is the other point of the LCMS resolution - its clergy immediately obeyed and no one raised a fuss. All the clergy writers continued to debate trivia, after a deadly silence, fulfilling the Biblical statement that some make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom (Matthew 19:12).

The LCMS clergy will not stand up to Matt the Fatt or Paul McCain the Plagiarist. Thus they earn the rewards of their ovine silence.

 Mark Schroeder is in charge of protecting the first,
second, and third strings of the WELS Church Growth bench. 

SP Schroeder has continued the WELS tradition of rewarding the stupid, the ignorant, the corrupt, and the incompetent. His path out of serving as a high school principal was secured when various people warned Gurgle to leave office or wear stripes. Gurgle went Third World for a year and showed up on Don Patterson's staff. No one has denied that the MLC chapel funds were siphoned off by synod staff, so I cannot confirm that rumor.

Schroeder traveled to the Anything Goes District, just to save Ski's hide and inflict him on a fourth congregation, a fourth district. Patterson helped of course, and rules were broken by the next DP of the Anything Goes District, to accomplish this blessed task.

In short, Schroeder will do anything to protect the right people and to condemn and silence Justification by Faith. Like the novel 1984, unpleasant details and horrible crimes have been erased from the collective memory.

Just as Gurgle silenced Issues in WELS, so Schroeder liquidated The Intrepid Lutherans, the very group he encouraged Steve Spencer to start.

 Pope John the Malefactor does not have much of an impact
on anything. Soon the ELS, CLC (sic), and micro-mini sects
will disappear - unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. The ELS will leave behind a tiny, glittering campus built on Marvin Schwan's guilt-offerings.

These leaders have nothing in common with Martin Luther. They hate and repudiate Luther's Biblical doctrine, which the faithful believe - not from Luther's authority but from the Spirit's. The Bible judges all books and essays, but these clowns offer essays that filter their feminist Bibles to make a mockery of the Gospel.

 The Lutheran leaders today - no better than Liz Eaton - wipe their feet on the Scriptures and claim they are led by the Spirit.

Retired DP Benke (Earlier Ex-DP Benke) On ELDONA and Other Sects

 Someone designed this graphic as "Benke's vita" or resume. Haha.
He prayed with all these world religions but not "in the Name of Christ."
Benke is one of those LCMS smart-aleck bullies who always has a putdown that avoids the real issue.
To re-elect the apostate, his supporters had hats that
said "It's OK to pray." Hard to find those photos on Google now.

Ex-DP Dave Benke:
Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out. My question was from the other angle - why do you want to stay if you honestly believe those in your denomination are so far off track? I don't have my ACELC membership roster in front of me, but the big bubble of membership is in Western Missouri and Nebraska, from my recollection, with scattered folks in Texas (The Keller Resolution People) and then here and there. ELDoNA is one of those offshoot denominations of the Missouri Synod with about 20-25 congregations, and they seem happy. Why not the same direction for the congregations in the ACELC? 

I'm not thinking about "blessed subtraction" from the Missouri point of view, but about Fresh New Starts for those folks. Jack Cascione's (former?) church simply became independent, but hooks up with others for mission. 

While I was district president, we picked up a congregation that had been in a very small micro-group, possibly acronymned (sic) FALC (Federation of Authentic Lutheran Churches?), and let's say five decades down the line from their affiliation with FALC we figured out a way for them and their pastor to become part of the Missouri Synod. That group had run its course. But the folks who remained through the whole era had not been unhappy in the micro synod, and did not join the Missouri Synod because it was bigger - they studied the doctrine and practice in our very own Atlantic District and made the choice to join. So it's OK to leave, and it's OK to join. Dave Benke 
https://alpb.org/Forum/index.php?topic=6857.msg431895;topicseen#msg431895

 For snazzy threads and $400 walking sticks,
join the ELDONUTs.  Like  the LCMS and WELS, they
studiously avoid publishing Luther during the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

***

GJ - Apparently, the ACELC is living rent-free in Benke's head, where there is plenty of room. He is graciously snide, like so many church politicians I have known.

The departures from the LCMS suggest that large groups of people despise the direction of the sect. Lutherans resist packing up and leaving, so the existence of ex-LCMS congregations should send a message to the most ELCA of LCMS DPs.

 They won Rolf Preus back, so Benke should
brag about that accomplishment.

Progress on Luther's Sermons - Volume IV Being Prepared for Amazon and Kindle

 Norma A. Boeckler designed the cover
and illustrations for Volume IV.  She had an author's
day at the Midland Dow Library in Michigan.
Her latest book is Those Days on the Farm.

Norma A. Boeckler's extensive list of books and illustrated books is listed here by Amazon.

Progress, The Sermons of Luther -
Volume IV is being prepared for Amazon print and Kindle e-book publication by Janie Sullivan.

Volume V is edited for typos and being finished for Janie Sullivan and for artwork by Norma A. Boeckler.

Volume VI is being read for typos, glitches, and other barriers to good reading.

The last two sermon volumes and The Gems of Luther's Sermons will be finished very early in 2018.

Future Plans
God willing, as always, publishing plans include the two Catechisms and Galatians.

New titles being planned include -

1. An Ichabod Lutheran Dictionary, 
2. The Gospel of John - A Brief Commentary, and 
3. Calvinism Ruined the Protestant Church.

Last Roses of 2017 - Our Norman Rockwell Neighborhood

 I am Sassy Sue - and this is my Normal Rockwell world.

I had rescue roses on the altar for Reformation Sunday. The frost was coming, so I cut them before we had two nights at 20 degrees. Some buds had been nipped earlier, but the five-inch rain encouraged the plants to keep growing and blooming.

They looked forlorn on the altar, mostly closed from cold outside, waiting for their big day. Yesterday, the blooms were fully open and photogenic.

I knew who wanted them most, after the service was over. Our neighbor's daughter brought two vases back not long ago. "My mother finally gave up the last rose." That meant she kept them for a long, long time. So I dropped off the new bouquet Sunday afternoon and left some coupons, too.

On our cul-de-sac we can watch the neighbors park, visit with others, barbeque, and walk the dogs. Many connections remind me of the Norman Rockwell covers of the Saturday Evening Post, which we all enjoyed each week, growing up in the 1950s.

 After surgery this year, Chris' first walk was
to the neighborhood estate sale, which yielded a
 Bissel floor cleaner.

Mr. Gardener mowed my lawn for me, without being asked, when I only had a push mower during hot, sticky, allergy-friendly weather. I delivered his newspaper to his front door each morning, since the paid service lobbed it under his car or truck each day. Sassy always waits for me to grab it and toss it to the door on our morning walks. Neighbors had an informal meeting and decided to light up his widow's home better at night. Army Ranger Bob and I pooled some twirly lights and added a solar light, so the front is lit like the White House at night.

We have the Town Car for a little longer.
Sassy enjoys trips to Walmart and the Post Office,
but most of all to her friends at Lowe's.

Bob helped the mother of the four girls on the corner to arrange her yard sales. That is one place where we swap superfluous treasures, like a Bissel floor cleaner, a neat brass table, and so forth. We donate in the hopes of removing clutter and not seeing something we want in return.

Bob sold me a Voyager - and repaired it to the point where it was more like a new car than a 2002. For rainy nights, before his camper shell was bought, he borrowed the Voyager back for the big Sunday delivery to stores. I always hand him the keys and tell him, "Don't drive too fast, son."

Sassy and I often see the vet tech and her children walking their dogs. Sassy found their runaway dog hiding in a bush, once. Our neighbor's children give me their surplus pine needles, and I pay them for their labor. A thick layer of needles provided the start for the first Hosta garden in the back.

I also used the needles to provide an acid-soil bed for the Blueberry row, but since I was raising them for the squirrels, I delivered all the plants to our dentist's wife. She laughed with happiness because she had all her plants stolen before her move. She was starting over and thought, "I really need more Blueberries."

Across the street is our Laotian family. We met the son when we first moved in. He kept asking me two or three questions at a time. I said to him, "You sound like a cop." He said, "I am taking criminal justice. Yes, I plan on it. Why do you know my mother's name?"

Next to them is the painter, who donates five-gallon paint pails to me, every so often. They are perfectly clean and so handy for storing and carrying rainwater. Our dentist's mother got one, and so did another friend. The painter's children and extended family children play outside and love to run to Sassy for some petting. She also visits the children next door, who moved in recently. Sassy is neutral about adults, until they welcome her. Then she adds them to her list of flock members. The children are always her immediate interest and she goes to them at once, a bit too loud but always gentle.

On Joye Street lives Pat and her husband John. They assume we will stop and visit when we go by. Once Pat was too tired to get out of bed. She said, "I was in bed. I heard Sassy. I said hello Sassy. Have a nice day Sassy. But I could not get up."

There are other neighbors, too. One stopped us at Cracker Barrel and said, "You own Sassy. We see you walk by every day."