The Jesuit-Lutherans Are Zwinglians

If you like Barth-Kirschbaum, you'll love Zwingi, who created  the rationalistic foundation for Calvinism.

Conclusion - Apology of the Book of Concord - Chemnitz

I decided to begin at the conclusion. The analogy is funny and perfectly fits Lutherdom today. What if all the tenants told the owners of residential housing that the only way to have peace would be to let the renters decided all issues.

The Lutherans - as we call ourselves today (for no apparent reason) - started the Reformation. Jealous Zwingli and his successor Calvin worked tirelessly to establish a rationalistic alternative to Biblical Christianity.

The Zwinglian-Calvinistic Objective Justification salesmen work from their foundation in Enthusiasm, separating the Word from the Holy Spirit.

The Church Shrinkers promote the same toxic dogma and tell us that the Zwinglians have all the answers.

They want power and money.

 We used to joke about this, but WELS and others have done it. When did you first suspect that your denomination was led by alcoholics?

Oh, Jay - Did You Ever Read This During Your Years at Ft. Wayne and the Online ELCA Seminary?

Jon-Boy, "Oh, Jay - I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.."
Jay - "Like a giant death ray?"
Jon-Boy: "No! Worse - they are reading Luther's Sermons!"

But, because the remission of sins is communicated through the Word, which, as has been frequently said, was entrusted by our Lord to the Church and her ministers, yea, unto all Christians, that it should be preached, it follows that this remission of sin must be believed, and that there is no way of obtaining it, except by faith. The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the very foundation of our creed. The word of Christ, which He gave to His disciples, can certainly not be seized with the hands nor by any self-imposed works, such as fasting, prayers, giving of alms and the like; faith alone can appropriate it, and the heart alone is the proper receptacle for it. It is evident and certain that we are justified only through faith, because remission of sins comes through the Word, and the Word can be received only by faith.

From Luther. House Postil Volume 1. “First Sunday After Easter. (Quasimodogeniti.) John 20:19-31. 

This Message Has Been Approved by a Reader, But It Remains a Mystery to Rolf Preus

A Reader:
In one of your books you included the quote from Luther that unbelief is the foundational sin:

"Therefore it follows that unbelief is the right and true sin; other sins flow out of unbelief and are the fruit from this root".

I think this lack of trust in God is the reason we are where we are today (as a Church and a country). 

Thanks and have a Happy Reformation Day.

***

GJ - Thank you, reader.

This is the key to the ministry of the Gospel, the work of the Spirit as taught by Jesus Himself.
Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

Sadly, most Lutheran pastors do not believe - or know this passage:

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. 

8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 
9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me; 
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Romans 4:24 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.

Norma A. Boeckler

Luther's Large Catechism - Free E-Book

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“The popular edition, here offered, fulfills the hope of the editor from the very beginning, to have the Confessions published at such price that they may he scattered broadcast throughout all English-speaking lands. . . Such edition will serve an important office in deepening and strengthening the faith of our people in drawing them together in the bonds of a common fellowship, and in enabling them to appreciate all the more highly their heritage.

“While in many other religious bodies confessional lines have vanished and confessional obligations weakened, a standard is here raised around which millions in this western world will rally. The attentive reader . . . will see that the matters here treated are not antiquated or obsolescent, but enter most deeply into the issues of the hour.

“We send forth this volume with gratitude for the privilege of having been called to edit it . . . and in the full confidence that it will be a blessing to our Church in America, and, through it, in advancing the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name these confessions were written.

– Henry Eyster Jacobs, From the Preface.

Luther from the Large Catechism

“Oh, what mad, senseless fools are we, that while we must ever live and dwell among such mighty enemies as devils, we nevertheless despise our armor and defense, and are too indolent to look for, or think of them!

“And what else are such supercilious, presumptuous saints, who are unwilling to read and study the Catechism daily, doing, but esteeming themselves much more learned than God himself with all his saints, angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and all Christians?

“For inasmuch as God himself is not ashamed to teach the same daily, since he knows nothing better to teach, and always keeps teaching the same thing, and does not take up anything new or different, and all the saints know nothing better to learn, or different, and cannot learn this perfectly, are we not wonderful men to imagine, if we have once read or heard it, that we know it all, and have no farther need to read and learn, but can learn perfectly in one hour what God himself cannot finish teaching, since he continues teaching it from the beginning to the end of the world, and all prophets, together with all saints, have been occupied with learning it but in part, and are still pupils, and must remain such?

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“For Reformation Sunday I talked a little about the Large Catechism, which I owned as a separate paperback (Augsburg Press, ALC). I read it all the time for years, because it also serves as another way to read Luther’s Sermons, but using the Catechism as an outline. When I wanted to show how the efficacy of the Word was basic to the Bible, Luther, and Lutheran doctrine, I used the Large Catechism.”

– Pastor Greg Jackson, Bethany Lutheran Church, from the post Martin Luther’s Large Catechism - A Great Theology Book for Pastors and Laity

Creation Garden - Busy All Winter Doing Nothing

Books by Norma A. Boeckler

My mother lived upstairs when we were in New Ulm. She asked, "Why are the sunflower stalks sticking up through the snow? I thought you would clean them up?"

I said, "The birds love to perch on them and look for food. Insect larvae are on them or in them. Besides that, the roots will rot into the soil all winter - and be mostly gone in the spring."

We are far behind the North in facing winter. The Reformation picnic was 70 degrees on Saturday. The leaves are on the trees and mostly green. But the signs of winter are evident.

 Beautyberries are striking in the fall, when they set themselves up to feed  the birds as food sources decline.

The Crepe Myrtle has shed most of the leaves, leaving sprigs full of seeds for winter feeding. The Comfrey and cousin Borage are still in bloom for pollinators. The Beautyberry bush has fresh berries and Poke has dried berries for the birds.

 Rugosa roses boast bright red hips, full of Vitamin C,
which is why roses are considered herbs.

How can God's creating Word have no power when each plant goes through seasonal cycles to feed the soil creatures, insects, and birds? Temperature and sunlight trigger different reactions for each plant. Yesterday provided one rose in bloom for the entire garden. The roses are nodding off into their winter sleep. The remaining flowers will turn into Vitamin C-potent hips for bird snacks. I have one Rugosa rose, known for its big hips in the fall and modest flowers in the spring.


The Carbon Cowboys taught me about the value of roots, especially those deep roots that contribute so much to the soil's fertility and absorption of rain. Most of the soil's fertility comes from roots, which create miles of swap-meets where fungus can trade nutrition and water for the carbon they need to grow.

All winter, those roots will be busy establishing a better foundation for spring:

• Roses
• Spirea bushes
• Joe Pye
• Mountain Mint
• Cat Mint
• Daisies
• Monarda
• Poke
• Garlic
• Dandelion
• Crepe Myrtle.

Everyone enjoys the burst of growth in the spring, from the melting snow and rain, but all winter the soil was being prepared for the display, billions of creatures playing their roles. Each one is perfectly created, engineered, and managed to carry out specific functions that fit into one vast plan.

 "I've been for a walk on a winter's day -
California Dreamin, on such a winter's day."