From Simon Peter Long - "The philosophers of old knew that the soul is immortal without the Word of God, but they never could find the way."

Go forth, then my dear hearers, God-ward. Our text tonight begins with the words: “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward.” There is something in every man’s heart that says after all, there is a hereafter; there is something in every man’s heart that says, there is a better way of living than I have lived; there is a better home somewhere than I have got; there is more comfort than I have received so far; there is a God and there is a way to come to Him and that way is through Jesus Christ, who said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man cometh to the Father but by Me. There is in every man’s soul and in every man’s heart a something that says, I am immortal; I am not dead when my body lies in the coffin; the old man, my body, is giving away, but there is something in me that is young; there is something in me that cannot die. The soul of an old man is as young as the soul of a child. The philosophers of old knew that the soul is immortal without the Word of God, but they never could find the way. Christ has shown us the way. God has pointed it out to us in this letter of recommendation, showing us how to serve God and go God-ward. Walk in His path and follow Him, and be faithful to Him until death that you may receive the crown of eternal life. And this very night God comes to us in His Holy Supper and says, I will come to you, and stand at the door of your heart and knock, and I will sup with you and you with Me; I will come to you that you may come to Me. There may be some here tonight whose hearts are heavy, who are troubled with this and that, and this same merciful God comes in this beautiful letter of commendation to you and says, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” This is is the good news, the Gospel, the glorious news of the letter of recommendation. May God bless you all, is my prayer. Amen.

from Simon Peter Long. The Eternal Epistle. “Twelfth Sunday After Trinity. Letters Of Recommendation. 2 Cor. 3:4-11.”

Luther on Double Predestination - Which Calvinists Claim for Luther, Without Evidence, Of Course

From the last words of our Gospel: "For many be called, but few chosen," foolish and wicked thoughts have been drawn by idle fellows, who say the meaning of this sentence is that God has chosen some unto salvation, and these will be saved without a doubt, while on the other hand those who are not thus chosen will be damned, no matter how piously or how faithfully they may live; for it is the will of God that such shall fall and not be saved. Hence they conclude that it is a matter of indifference how they live; for if I am to be saved, it will take place without my concern about it, and if I am not to be saved, all my concern about it will avail nothing. What reckless, secure people such ungodly thoughts will produce every one can judge.

-Luther. House Postil Vol. 1. "Septuagesima."

UOJ is most like Calvinism or the Bible?
Correct - UOJ is derived from the concept of grace without the Means of Grace. UOJ is most like Calvinism and the Adventist Creed of Objective Justification.

Clethra - A Moving Experience

 Clethra - or Summersweet.
Tiny flowers seem to be the favorites of butterflies and beneficial insects.

Sometimes a gardening debacle provides some useful experience. Our effort with the Chaste Tree showed that an hour of sprinkling the areas to be dug was not enough. We moved that tree, but with little root support. Its future looks grim, reminding me of Phoenix traffic - "If you want to change lanes, buy the car next to you." I might buy the next Chaste Tree rather than pull it from the clay soil.

 I found Chaste Tree potions on the Net, which cost more than the tree.

I really wanted a Clethra shrub in the rose garden, so I watered both areas for two hours. That was easily dug and fit into the area I carved from the loose, damp soil. Hours later, the Clethra showed only a little sign of the move while the Chaste Tree looked even worse.

My only hope is in the days of rain ahead and the Chaste Tree's remarkable ability to bounce back, as it did before when I moved it.

Moving plants becomes necessary when those cute little plants are all growing into each others, certain plans did not work out, and some things are best enjoyed in the main garden.

 Hidden Lily flower stalks emerge from the ground and last well in a vase.

I can move the six foot tall Wild Ginger Hidden Lily plants, because the roots will fashion a new plant after winter kills the upper growth. They have shown a propensity to take over the butterfly area while the spare garden has remained empty, the victim of rose gardening up front getting all the attention.

If I leave the Hostas in place over the winter, I will have stronger plants to divide and plant around the roses in the spring. I want to fill in the areas between roses with spreading, useful plants. To qualify, they have to fit into one of several areas:

1. Hummingbird plants - Hostas, Trumpet Vine, etc.
2. Butterfly plants - Joe Pye, mints.
3. Beneficial insect hosts - Daisies, Borage, mints.
4. Bees and all pollinators - above.

 Veterans Honor (red), Falling in Love (pink, white).
Both are fragrant.

Density Good and Bad
A great variety of beneficial insect hosts in the rose garden has contributed to almost no pest damage this summer - and no pesticides, of course.

We can see God's design in the way a dense planting will feed too many destructive insects, such as many roses by themselves.

But density can also favor the shock troops of the insect world. Daisies are always crawling with Tachinid flies, whose hatching children devour aphids. I used to let the first aphid attacks alone to let the beneficials address them with egg laying. White roses were especially vulnerable.

Try this at home - it is perfectly safe. Plant something new in the garden, a flower known for attracting a certain insect or butterfly.

• Parsley - Swallowtail Butterflies.
• Daisies - Tachinid flies - look just like houseflies but smaller.
• Joe Pye - Various butterflies.
• Hostas in bloom - Hummingbirds.

People ask about Joe Pye. As I describe its powerful butterfly attraction, various butterflies dart around its blooms.

As I told Jessica Walliser, her book changed the way I garden, because I am always looking up which plants will host the insects I want guarding the flowers. She "liked" my comment.

The Roman Catholic Church Is Re-paganizaing Society. ELCA and Its "Conservative" Bedfellows Are Doing the Same

 The papal audience hall is a snake's head. But why?

From a Moral-Historical Perspective, 

This Crisis is Worse Than You Realize

Contrary to Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s early and oft-quoted assessment, the Catholic Church is in fact facing a “massive, massive crisis.” Greater clarity about the nature of this crisis can be had by looking at the larger moral-historical perspective.

There is only one reason why pedophilia is even a moral issue today: historically, the Catholic Church made it one. Sex with boys and girls, but especially boys, was an accepted part of ancient Greek and Roman culture, the culture into which Christ Himself, and hence the Church, was born. Christianity rejected this common pagan sexual practice as a distortion of sexuality, and evangelized accordingly. If it were not for the success of Christianity’s evangelical efforts, the laws against pedophilia still on the books today would never have been there at all.

 ELCA Pastor Nadia Bolz-Webber is a leader in the denomination's group to normalize all relationships. Thrivent wants the pan-Lutheran church to keep their business afloat by imagining the insurance company is benevolent, generous, and "theirs."

Centuries of degraded behavior and abuse have fashioned a Roman Catholic hierarchy that is a product of those attitudes and a beneficiary of them. The last time they showcased a reform among the American bishops, they specifically excluded SNAP, which was the organization that knew the most and did the most to expose their crimes. That was about 30 years ago, and nothing has happened to change the situation.

One can see the same attitudes in the LCMS and WELS. No one wants to "hurt" Holy Mother Missouri by taking a stand on some well known ELCA wannabees who flout their behavior. Might those pastors take their congregations from Missouri into ELCA? That cannot happen!

The WELS culture of drunkenness helps them excuse anything and everything - except mentioning the truth. That is a crime worth a hot pursuit and expulsion.

Scott Barefoot (WELS-LCMS) told me about a WELS pastor who was known for homosexuality, with nothing being done about it. He was told by SP Schroeder, "Write a letter." That is the first step is self-excommunication, suggested by all the leaders as they wink at each other. Let's compare two crimes:

1. Engaging in child porn, which is derived from the worst kind of violent child abuse.
2. Teaching Justification by Faith.

1. SP Mark Schroeder publicly  and quickly absolved Hochmuth of all sin, even though his PR director was unrepentant and continued to offend.
2. SP Mark Schroeder excommunicated the pastor, kicked out the congregation, and built up a mission in the same town to rescue WELS members from such odious influences as the Chief Article. The District Popes also broke up the group that was studying the issues (Intrepids) while blessing and aiding the crafts and assaults of the Jeske Crime Family. Mark Jeske can do no wrong, because his consecrated and consecrating hand rests on the Thrivent money button. 

Anyone who questions this, lay or clergy, places himself outside the boundaries of the synod and will eventually realize that the drones have an allergic reaction to his presence.

The Episcopalians have pursued the pagan agenda
with remarkable speed and effectiveness. ELCA followed,
and ELCA-Thrivent sets the agenda for all Lutheran franchises.