Monday, August 6, 2018

Reported Late - The Entire ELDONA Seminary Graduated in June

St. Ignatius ELDONUT Seminary has delayed its new addition, since they no longer have any seminary students.

2018 Synod and Seminary Graduation 
This year’s Diocesan Synod will take place at Salem Lutheran Church (Malone, Texas) during the week of June 25– 29. (The 2018 Colloquium was held in January in Fort Wayne, Indiana.) Although the Colloquium and Synod usually occur during the same week, they were divided this week to accommodate the Seminary schedule, so that the clergy of the diocese would gather after the seminarian’s conclusion of his studies to conduct his theological colloquy. Josiah Scheck’s colloquy is presently scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 26. The seminary graduation is scheduled for Wednesday evening, June 27.

The ELDONUTs have reached critical mass, as they boasted at one of their recent conferences (theme: Greg Jackson is mean, because his congregation gave us all those books for free, plus the valuable Gerhard set we "borrowed" and kept.)

They are catching up to the Little Sect on the Prairie - "Graduates from the seminary with a Master of Divinity degree were Noah Thompson and Christian Walz." One hundred years of grace without the Means of Grace, and they only have two MDiv graduates.

The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie bragged that Kincaid Smith's son "earned a PhD" but they failed to mention Michael's school. Here it is -


 Michael Smith has an PhD from Trinity in Indiana, a Babtist, unaccredited online school. "We are not affiliated (accredited) with any regional or national accrediting agency..."

Here is the Trinity catalog PDF.


 Did they colloquize the ex-ELS Rolf Synod before meeting, studying, and worshiping with them? The ELDONUTs treated the Chief Article as an adiaphoron. That was even though the Right Reverend James Milhous Heiser made it clear in 2000 that he rejected Objective Justification - once he knew what it meant - from Thy Strong Word.

Why Combine the Little Sect Story with the ELDONUTs?


 Jay Webber was deeply offended that Floyd Luther Stolzenburg was supported by the ELS/WELS - until Schwan money sent Jay to the Ukraine. How do the Ft. Wayne guys get mixed up with such unqualified clergy? Jay got the Rolf Synod guys back into the ELS, except for Rolf, who became LCMS again.
Herein lies a tale. Jay Webber and Kincaid Smith were midwives for the creation of the Lutheran Confessional Synod, headed by Bishop-for-Life Randy DeJaynes. James Heiser, bishop-in-waiting, was running the book business. For one brief shining moment, the LCS was in fellowship with the ELS. But no one wants to talk about that.


Jay got his STM from an ELCA computer,
so he is almost an alumnus with Michael Smith.

Central Lutheran School, St. Paul, Minnesota, LCMS - To Close


St. Paul's historic Central Lutheran School closing after 130 years


Declining enrollment, financial pressures cited in recent fundraising effort. 

The move follows a rough week during which the nearby Twin Cities German Immersion School decided against purchasing the building, and a last-ditch effort by other investors failed to come to fruition.
But Central Lutheran’s woes — dwindling enrollment, in particular — mirror those of other parochial schools locally and nationally.
An effort to save the school via a GoFundMe page asking for $450,000 raised just $10,551 following its launch this spring.
The school noted then that while it once relied totally on tuition for funding, now about 80 percent of students received some form of financial aid, and that more than half qualified for free or reduced-price lunches.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Principal Elizabeth Wegner wrote that the school board voted unanimously to suspend operations on Friday night after investors were unable to submit signed purchase agreements by a deadline set that day.
“This sudden turn of events, when everything was looking so optimistic, leaves us all sad, shaken, angry and maybe even questioning God’s will,” she wrote. “This is normal. It will take time for this to soak in and it will take more time as we go on to see the good our Heavenly Father has planned for each of us.”
The school is at 775 Lexington Parkway N., and serves students in preschool through eighth grade. Its mission is to “make Christian disciples of our students and to equip them with the fundamental knowledge and skills for responsible citizenship in the community and the world.”
In addition to Christian teachings, the school also offered music, art, physical education and STEM programming.
The school noted in its fundraising effort that it has attracted immigrant children from Eritrea, Laos, Ethiopia and Myanmar.
Wegner wrote in her Facebook post to family and community members on Saturday that the school would keep them updated about a “farewell gathering” and that it planned to send them information about other schools.
According to data collected from private schools by the St. Paul School District, nonpublic enrollment in the city fell from 11,064 in 1995-96 to 7,455 in 2015-16, a 33 percent decline. The data did not include breakdowns for individual schools or school types.

The Marvels of a Lengthy Autumn in the South

 The strength of the KnockOut shrub rose is its growth. Therefore, plenty of pruning and watering will yield dozens of flowers, lots of longer stems for the vase. I often had 50 roses in bloom at one time.

We had one day of spring this year, moving from winter to summer with unusual speed. That meant heat and drought, but drought with high humidity. Soon we were in June Bug (Japanese Beetle) weather, which meant chewed rose blossoms and root damage. On the positive side, signs of Milky Spore Disease (toxic only to white grubs) were apparent in a weakened population of the Most Hated Bug in Gardening.

Hope abounds as a long rainy autumn is predicted, which means an absence of frost and a proliferation of roses. The favorite flower loves cooler, rainy weather and reaches its peak in blossoming during such weather, especially since I harvest the flowers often.

 These white KO flowers attracted aphids like crazy early in the spring, then beneficial insects and spiders stepped in to feast on aphids. Now I have lots of beneficial insect hosts and few problems with insect pests. Short version - many herbs for beneficial insects and no pesticides.

KnockOut sidebar - KnockOuts are a tough shrub rose, developed to be disease and fragrance free. Tough means they can be cut back with hedge shears, 30 - 50%, and rebound in weeks. I have done that. Ranger Bob told me to prune them back. I said, "I did, 30% a few weeks ago." The KOs were in full bloom with about 50 roses each. Mulch helps the soil retain water and build soil compost, since the wood, paper, and cardboard become rich soil over time. KOs need constant cutting of flowers to keep them producing. The software in a rose says, "The flower has bloomed and is ready to set seed by making hips. Now we can go to sleep for the season." To enjoy more branch and bloom growth, the gardener must cut away at the KO frequently, especially looking for death starts, the flower so far gone that only the sepals are left, making a five-pointed star. They hide especially in the lower parts.

 Double Delight lights up the garden, colorful and fragrant, related to Peace.


Another Creation Gardening effort will be lots of fun, free of everything except labor. I have numerous plants - hostas, daisies, mints - that can be dug up, divided, and multiplied. I even have hostas offered from Mrs. Gardener next door.

Joe Pye is large and easy to grow, just add water. The blooms create a butterfly frenzy, with various beneficial insects, bees, and wasps joining the party. They take on a brownish tint as they go to seed, which I am using for the spare garden.


I am already taking Joe Pye seedheads and spreading them over the spare garden in the back, assuming some seeds will germinate and populate that area with the same tall plant, a rival to Pokeweed in size.

Salvia

A member interested me in Salvia, because it is a mint, easily grown, and a hummingbird magnet. So far, Trumpet Vine has grown for 3+ years and used 10,000 gallons of water. Results: two trumpet blooms, a regular hummingbird magnet. Ha. I was ready to tear it down when it finally bloomed. Salvia should be better.



Getting a large area to bloom without weeds taking over is a challenge. I told Norma Boeckler that her garden is a marvel for its display of flowers.

  Norma A. Boeckler


I am trying to grow flowers between most of the roses, to fill in where the grassy weeds want to take over. Those weeds love a long rain followed by intense heat. The flowers hold back in the heat, but weeds burst through the layers of mulch.

 Norma A. Boeckler's Cardinals - they delight us all winter.

Questions from the Coast - About the LutherQueasies.
Slander, Libel, and Telling the Truth

 The tu quoque fallacy is familiar from childhood and LutherQueasy - "and you are too."

I got an email from The Coast about libel, slander, etc on LutherQueasy, asking me to make some distinctions. I mentioned their tu quoque fallacy and got this graphic back in a few minutes. We were discussing slander, libel, and when those labels do not fit.

Slander is the term used for speaking falsehoods - the mother's milk of synodical administration today. Everyone is afraid of the "WELS Grapevine," as they call it, or The Slander Machine, as it really is. The leaders pump lies into their Grapevine to discredit anyone who has fallen out of favor. That is also part of gaslighting, an article everyone abused by the synod should read.



The Grapevine works because the SP, DP, or CP says, "This is confidential and you cannot tell anyone." Hoo boy. That has to be good. Of course it gets repeated but no one can credit the original person, who is protected by the Seal of the Anti-Confessional. This approach breaks up potential alliances, which terrify the synod leaders. That is why their first question about a scandal is, "Who told you?" The slander follows.



Once I mentioned to Kuske that we were going to a gathering, which was a birthday party. He got all frightened and asked what it was about. It was purely social. When I got back from a CLC (sic) church, the sect president's mother got out of her car and asked all about the meeting.

Slander is speaking a falsehood with an intent to harm someone's reputation, and it is roundly condemned in the Large Catechism, proving once again that the leaders do not know or follow the Confessions.

 Not according to Luther, Melanchthon, and the editors of the Book of Concord. Therefore, they are also blind guides leading others into the pit.

There are several defenses against slander. One is - the matter is true. So it is not slander to call Matt Harrison "Matt the Fatt." Nor is it slander to identify Matt, Mark, and John, as blind guides and scoundrels, because they are - by definition - since they oppose the Gospel, Luther, and the Book of Concord.

Tim Glende had to admit to the judge, when he and three others sued a WELS man for the "crime" of defending his wife and telling the truth - the charges against Ski were factual. Therefore, Tim and Ski and two women on the staff had no case at all. And yet, after Tim's lawsuit was tossed out of court, the other three wanted to pursue their phony case. Are Tim and Ski the Booze Brothers? They pretended to start a coffee shop ministry and turned it into bar-hopping. Booze Brothers - not slander.

Libel is publishing harmful, false information. Cardinal Jack Cascione realized that his anonymous gremlin was getting him into serious legal difficulties. So Jack admonished the miscreant, which prompted a hollow apology and more of the same.

Some would say it is cowardly to publish libel under the guise of a fake name. Cascione and the webmaster know who it is, so they are hardly innocent. Cascione often reminds his disciples, "This is my website. I pay for it."

Am I wrong in calling them poorly educated, inarticulate, and lazy? Their bunch calls me a Calvinist for publishing Luther. The LutherQuashers can call me a heretic all day - that is a matter of opinion, easily clarified by detailed, factual information. Do they provide any? No, they just like to whine and accuse.

I publish provocative terms to make the UOJ Stylists angry enough to answer back. The real issue is - are they accurate terms? They cannot condemn me for polemics. If they read Luther once a year or so, they would find many polemical passages in his writings.

Faking the foul is not only popular in soccer but also on websites. I will encourage them to do more of that, because they expose how weak their dogma is. They lack the courage to confess how much they hate Luther and Justification by Faith.

I have lavishly quoted their favorite authors, like Eward Preuss and Rambach, to compare them with the Scriptures and the Confessions. They simply whimper and accuse.

Copy and Paste These Graphics Below,
Then Defend the UOJ They Teach.
Show How They Agree with the Scriptures, Luther, and the Confessions








And Yet There Is Always Hope

 Why pay $100,000 for an education in apostasy at the Concordia seminaries?


Doubtless the ancient Romans thought the world was coming to an end. The greatest engineering empire collapsed abruptly, though they saw it coming centuries earlier. But Constantine had already founded a New Rome, in what became Constaninople, and that lasted 1100 years.

The fall of Constantinople, conquered by the Muslim Ottoman Empire, led to the Renaissance and established the Reformation. The Turks drew the Christian forces away from Germany long enough for Luther's reforms to become established.

America has gone so far downhill - and so fast into the arms of Fuller and Rome - that I cannot imagine a recovery. Yet God changes history in a flash, and triumph turns to ashes.

I am encouraged by the interest in sound doctrine by the younger generation of men. There is a parallel with retail and other parts of our economy, like publishing.

Higher education, publishing, and other mainstays were local. Big rich families controlled publishing, and shooling was often an issue of location, whether teaching or enrolling.

The fancy publishing companies are collapsing while independent news gathering on the Net is taking over. The denominations turn out their laughable, expensive PR magazines (the few remaining) but everyone can blog the truth faster than the establishment can print.

Higher education is continuing to leave giant piles of carved stone and brickwork empty. The seminaries are their own competition, because people need online courses to study and pay their expenses. I lived in the Gilded Age, when seminary tuition was $150 a year and a Heick hardbound doctrinal volume cost $7, likewise the Book of Concord.


Now they want ransom payments for tuition and books - $90 for regurgitated Barth - Missouri's UOJ Dogmatanic.

Congregations used to get people excited about a new building program, but now those aging buildings are their tombstones, not their anchors. They drive people away with their false doctrine, abuse, and gaslighting, then complain about the results. When one restaurant made my wife violently sick, do you think we went back? When a famous chain served rancid food and refused a full refund, can you imagine us going back for more?

The apostates of the Pan-Lutheran Synodical Corporation (ELCA-WELS-ELS-LCMS-CLC sic) know they are failing, but they hope to wring whatever salaries and benefits they can before the slide accelerates.

The Word will still accomplish God's will, no matter what they plot. Braver men than they burned dissenters at the stake, and what did that accomplish? The Reformation spread even faster. Smarter debaters argued against the Scriptures, and that only sped the forging of the Book of Concord.

Now the opponets are poorly trained, lazy, and prone to let their lupine fangs show. What are they against the Word of God? Better men - coached by Holy Mother Rome - had the power of the sword, the best dungeons in the world, the slowest torture devices. But still Rome raves against Luther, for defeating them. They cannot tell the truth - the Word defeated them - not Luther. However, Luther was not afraid to use the double-edged Sword of the Spirit against the murdering horde.

This parallel will give you goosebumps. 

What did Rome use against the Scriptures?

Answer - Theses. Philosophical statements that cited the Scriptures at times but never related to the actual issues at hand. Can you name another example like that, equally weak in the Scriptures, but impossible to derail from his domineering statements? Walther, Walther, anyone, anyone?


The Lutheran Church Continues To Prove It Is Dead to Faith, Crawling with Apostasy

 Kolb is the LCMS fig-leaf for the ELCA's many blasphemies, not that LCMS academics disagree with ELCA - not at all.
Commissioned in 1993: lie down with dawgs, git up with fleas.
Jane Strohl is an ELCA pastor with a PhD in church history, so the question about women's ordination in Missouri has been answered: No Problem!
 Exactly why did the LCMS jointly publish a Book of Concord with ELCA, notably with Timothy Wengert in the title: The Kolb-Wengert BOC?
Guy Erwin, the ELCA insta-bishop, held the Gerhard and Olga Belgum Chair in Lutheran Confessional Theology at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. WELS-LCMS-ELCA-Christian New - united against the Word of God, happy to flaunt it: UOJ triumphant.

Timothy Wengert resources at Reconciling Works.

 Face the facts - these scoundrels agree with ELCA's dogma - World Absolution without Faith - UOJ. They work with ELCA on all kinds of religious projects, and recently rejoiced in their triple-base hit: total agreement about UOJ.

 The LutherQuashes, who imagine themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy, fall all over themselves in agreeing with ELCA

Note the three advantages this blog has over the rowdies on the Internet.

  • I know their sects' history better than they do. 
  • I researched the LCA/ALC documents and deceits long before the 1987 merger - and I left.
  • I studied modern theology, and recognized their affinity with Barth, Tillich, and the rationalistic Pietists at Hall. 

ELCA and the Olde Synodical Conference have intermingled histories, but one bad thing in common - being founded by Halle Pietists or Norwegian Pietists or Swedish Pietists.

Pietism is anti-Creed and therefore quickly succmbs to rationalism.

The Olde Synodical Conference postures about the Book of Concord but look at their bed-fellows for the Kolb-Wengert Book of Concord. When it was published, I was shocked to see it even attempted. However, that was really the final signal that all Lutheran groups promote apostasy, approve the blasphemies of the Left, and cannot wait to do even more damage.

The Reformation's 500th Anniversary was their chance for a 99.9% unified voice against Luther, against the Book of Concord, and above all - against the Chief Article of Christianity.

As many laymen have noted, the "conservative" UOJ fanatics cannot define or defend their hatred of Justification by Faith. A Greek exegesis of their favorite passages has taken away their weapons of deceptions. For good reason Jesus warned us about wolves wearing the finest woolens - they still growl, slaver, and gnash their teeth, waiting for a chance to murder, scatter, rend, and destroy.

 The UOJ simpletons call the Chief Article "Calvinism," but look who gave them their favorite terms - OJ and SJ - the Calvinist translator of Knapp the Pietist.

---

 Is the Chief Article Calvinism, as various beanbrains claim?
They do not even know the Book of Concord or the Bible.

 While you are reconciling, reconcile this with UOJ.