A Wonderful Thanksgiving Day

 

Christina is on the left, Maria on the right.

I just got off the phone with Maria Ellenberger Way and her husband, Kermit. We had a great time talking about coincidences in life, schools, etc. 

I was not playing Windows solitaire all day. I did some grading and posting, took Sassy for a walk, and began getting food visits. Just as the hunger hit, Team Hagar dropped off enough for a family of four. Soon after, Mrs. Gardener's son-in-law handed me a plate overflowing with food. 

Sassy pined for Ranger Bob, and he came with another packed plate of food. When I was talking  to Kermit and Marie about how she favored anything from Bob and played difficult with me, I saw Sassy listening to me, her face lighting up, and German Shepherd face grinning in agreement about the fun. For bedtime she went out for the promised treats, enjoyed them, and did the tickle-jump, but only after getting her lovey time with pets, praise, and a list of people who love her. She licked my hand as if she read the previous post on her management skills.

I was using my fake-martyr style when I said I was html coding while everyone was eating. I had already eaten enough and held back for pumpkin pie. Sadly, Bob was too full to have any pie with his coffee. But when he saw that as good news to me, he backtracked and accepted a slice "without whipped cream." His self-denial was touching.

I showed him the photos of me saluting his former military base (thanks to Bret Meyer) and asked for color prints of it. 

I saw a photo of Andrea wearing the cameo my mother gave to Christina, and it looked perfect on her.

Besides all that, the weather continued cold and the birds created a big show in the backyard. Juncos appeared for the first time and scurried on the ground for treats. I saw Cardinals and woodpeckers around the suet for the first time. The baby squirrels came in sizes cute, cuter, and cutest. They sit on the window sit enjoying their peanuts, fearless and with big eyes inches from me. Many generations have heard, "You are too old for milk now. Eat at the Jacksons. Their dog is harmless and the food is plentiful, with water on the side."

 "Is breakfast ready?"

I Was Coding the Header While You Were Eating Dinner

A request from Ranger Bob, saluting Yakima,
where he was based years ago.

 Photo by Brett Meyer

I have not coded HTML manually since broadband became the norm, and Blogger took away the easy way to make it happen.

I wanted to post the clearest path to the Vimeo videos, so I put it up on the header - using my personal hand-crafted HTML code - Bethany Lutheran Vimeos.

The easy path to the old Ustream-IBM videos is marked on the left side and also here.

The Lutheran Librarian has been coaching me. As I wrote before, the Vimeos arrive later at 

1. YouTube here, and
2. Facebook Bethany Lutheran Worship TLH KJV here.

Biography.com and American Thinker - The 400th Anniversary of Thanksgiving

 

"William Bradford was a Separatist religious leader who sailed on the 'Mayflower' and eventually became governor of the Plymouth settlement.

Who Was William Bradford?

William Bradford was a leading figure in the Puritans' Separatist movement. He and other congregants eventually sailed from England on the Mayflower to establish a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where Bradford became longtime governor after a devastating winter. He died in 1657, with much of the history of the settlement recorded in his two-volume work, Of Plymouth Plantation.  

Early Life

William Bradford was believed to have been born in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, in March 1590, with records indicating his baptism being held around this time. His parents died early in his childhood, leaving Bradford in the care of various relatives. Attending a religious service in Scrooby before his teen years, the youngster joined the Separatist denomination, a more radical branch of Puritanism that believed in removing itself from the Church of England. He and other congregants eventually fled to the Netherlands to escape persecution, though in their adopted land, they still faced attacks, due to the country’s affiliation with England’s King James I.

The Mayflower then sailed for the area called Plymouth, where the settlers set up a permanent community. After a grueling winter, during which many died, including the already chosen governor, Bradford was unanimously elected to be governor of the settlement. He served a combined 30 years (with breaks taken) from the early 1620s until almost the time of his death. During that time, in autumn 1621, the settlers held what would later be seen as the first Thanksgiving, a secular harvest feast shared with the Wampanoag tribe, with Native American transatlantic voyager Squanto having helped colonists in the growing of corn."

+++

Why the 400th Anniversary of Thanksgiving Matters Today- American Thinker

By Scott S. Powell

The Thanksgiving holiday, which commemorates one part of the Pilgrim story, remains the favorite holiday for many Americans. And for good reasons beyond enjoying a feast. With 2021 being the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, it is worth revisiting the Pilgrim “character” and their five significant achievements, which created the seminal story of America and reveals remarkable insight into who we are.    

First, of the many groups of settlers who came to America, only the Pilgrims were singularly motivated by a quest for religious freedom. They repeatedly spoke about their voyage to the New World in terms of a flight from tyranny to freedom, comparing themselves to God’s chosen people -- the Israelites -- who overcame slavery and abuse in Egypt to get to the Promised Land. Similar to the Israelite’s exodus, the Pilgrims had left what they saw as oppressive and morally corrupt authorities in Great Britain and Europe to create a new life in America.

Thanksgiving could be thought of as the holiday that made the other American holidays possible.  Without the Pilgrims having courage; absolute faith in their cause and calling; and a willingness to sacrifice and risk everything, they never would have embarked on the 94-foot Mayflower -- a ship of questionable seaworthiness. Were it not for their faith and determination to find freedom of conscience and live according to their Christian beliefs there may have never been a July 4th Independence Day or other subsequent American holidays we take for granted and celebrate each year. 

After a harrowing passage across the Atlantic -- one that included wild pitching and broadside batterings by gale-force winds and ferocious seas that caused the splitting of the ship’s main beam -- the Mayflower was blown off course from the intended destination of the established Virginia Colony territory to wilds of Cape Cod. The Pilgrims knew not where they were nor how to proceed, so they beseeched the Almighty for favor in a making landfall in a suitable place with fresh water and fertile soil to establish a new and independent settlement.

Now in sight of land after a frightening voyage and facing hunger from spoiled and depleted provisions and anxious about settling outside the purview of Virginia Company charter territory, the secular Mayflower passengers were clamoring for rebellion.  And this is when the Pilgrims made their second major achievement that would shape the future of America. 

Pilgrim leaders William Bradford and William Brewster recognized that Mayflower passengers, diverse as they were, needed to maintain unity in order to survive and settle in a potentially inhospitable environment.  So they drafted a governing agreement that would be acceptable to both their Christian brethren and the secular crewman and merchant adventurers who made up about half the 102 people aboard the Mayflower. That governing document, known as the Mayflower Compact, provided for peace, security and equality for everyone in their anticipated settlement. With every man aboard signing the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims established the foundation for democratic self-government based on the will of people for the first time. Without knowing it at the time of adopting the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims were laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution, which would follow some 170 years later.

The fact that all the Pilgrims survived the squalid and cramped ship quarters during the dangerous crossing of a vast ocean is no doubt partially attributable to the good fortune that the Mayflower had previously been enlisted as a wine transport cargo ship. Unlike most ships, she had a “sweet smell,” from all her decks and bilges being “disinfected” with wine sloshing and soaking from broken barrels of Bordeaux and high-alcohol port in the many prior crossings of the sometimes-stormy English Channel.

That all changed once the Mayflower’s passengers settled in “New Plymouth,” Massachusetts in December of 1620. The first winter was devastating, with over half the Pilgrims dying, including nearly half the women. Four whole families perished. But it could have been worse.

Had those colonists not settled where they did, adjacent to friendly natives of the Pokanoket Indian tribe and had they not befriended two who could speak broken English -- Squanto and Samoset -- perhaps none would have survived.  Squanto and his fellow native tribesman would teach the Pilgrims survival skills, showing them how to hunt, fish and plant various crops, such as corn, squash and varieties of beans which were unknown to the Englishmen.

The Pilgrims’ third major achievement was the Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty that was signed on April 1, 1621 by leaders of the Plymouth colony and Indian chief Massasoit.  And a remarkable accomplishment it was, for it lasted more than 50 years -- longer than subsequent peace treaties made by other colonizing groups with native Indian tribes. The fact that there were bloody conflicts between other colonists and tribes, such as in the Pequot War fought in Connecticut in 1636-1637, makes the Pilgrims stand out for they succeeded in maintaining the longest-lasting and most equitable peace between natives and immigrants in the history of what would become the United States.

Despite learning from the native Indians how to plant, cultivate and harvest new crops in their first year, the Pilgrims complied with their sponsoring Virginia Company charter that called for farmland to be owned and worked communally and for harvests to be equally shared.  This socialist common property approach created disincentives to work.  William Bradford recorded in his memoirs that while “slackers showed up late for work… everybody was happy to claim their equal share… and production only shrank.”

Although no one is certain of the exact date of the first Thanksgiving, we know it was a Pilgrim initiative, celebrated in November 1621 to give thanks to God after the first harvest, meager though it was, and their survival -- having lost so many during that first winter in Plymouth. When Massasoit was invited to join the Pilgrims, it was probably assumed that he wouldn’t bring more guests than the 50-odd Pilgrim survivor hosts. Massasoit arrived with twice that number, well-stocked with food, fowl and game of all kinds -- including five deer. There was more than enough for everyone and it turns out that the first Thanksgiving celebration would last three days, punctuated by Indian song, games, and dance, Pilgrim prayers and a military parade by Myles Standish.     

The Pilgrims fourth major achievement was the rejection socialism and the adoption of private enterprise.  After the meager Thanksgiving harvest, the second season of collective farming and distribution proved equally disappointing. Governor Bradford had seen enough, recording that the system “was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.” So before the 1623 season he scrapped socialist farming and replaced it with private ownership of land for each of the families. As a result of becoming responsible for their own welfare and gaining freedom to choose what to grow for consumption or trade, the Pilgrims’ productivity surged.

The fifth factor that distinguished the Pilgrims was their model relational behavior.  While tolerance enabled them to keep relative harmony in their diverse community, they also looked outwardly to serve and help others.  In March of 1623, it came to be known that Massasoit was on the brink of death from an unknown sickness. Senior Pilgrim elder Edward Winslow immediately set out on a forty-mile journey to administer medicinal broth, natural herbs and prayers to Massasoit. Astonishingly, he made full recovery within days, and remarked, “Now I see the English are my friends and love me; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.”

Times are very different today. But the Pilgrims’ five achievements and the qualities of character that made them exemplary are as relevant as ever.  A contemporary Thanksgiving makeover might include: rekindling a quest for adventure; developing the faith to hold on to a vision of a promised land no matter what; mustering the courage to go against the crowd and defend the truth; gaining the inner strength to endure hardship; revitalizing respect for and tolerance of people of different beliefs; rejuvenating a joyful willingness to sacrifice for others; and renewing the predisposition to extend love, assistance and gratitude at every appropriate opportunity.

Scott Powell is senior fellow at Discovery Institute. This article is a vignette out of his acclaimed book, Rediscovering America, now available for order on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637581599).  Reach him at scottp@discovery.org

The Tickle Jump Threat - Sassy's Management Expertise

When the bed had legs, Sassy was having trouble jumping up on it. Some of that was faked, but the trouble was, I had to watch her half-jump and slide down again. I threatened her with the Tickle-Jump, and she snarled at me for putting my foot behind her and touching her to jump. She never bit but she could do a great imitation of an angry dog about to retaliate. It worked. I won.

Legs removed? No problem! Except she found the lower bed equally difficult. So I re-introduced the Tickle-Jump. She repeated her former gambit. She needed some love before jumping, so she sat down and looked at me with a smile. "You need some love?" She smiled angelically (or at least faked her innocence).

So now we have a routine, well established by Sassy for getting attention. "Tickle-Jump!" means she will sit facing the bed, her chest up against it, until I pet her all over her head and shoulders, and tell her how many people love her. She modestly gives me a couple of licks to say "Thank you." 

Then I am expected to make sound effects, an engine revving up and getting louder as she makes her tremendous Evel Knievel run and hop onto the bed. If everything has gone well, she congratulates herself with eight loud barks in a row. "I did it!"

 She would not sit next to Ronald by herself, so a customer took this shot of her, on the way to a MHS reunion.

Rush Limbaugh on Thanksgiving

 

Limbaugh received the Medal of Freedom from Q.

From Rush Limbaugh

“This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than what it really was. That happened, don’t misunderstand. That all happened, but that’s not — according to William Bradford’s journal — what they ultimately gave thanks for. “Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract” that they made on the Mayflower as they were traveling to the New World…

They actually had to enter into that contract “with their merchant-sponsors in London,” because they had no money on their own. The needed sponsor. They found merchants in London to sponsor them. The merchants in London were making an investment, and as such, the Pilgrims agreed that “everything they produced to go into a common store,” or bank, common account, “and each member of the community was entitled to one common share” in this bank. Out of this, the merchants would be repaid until they were paid off.

“All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well.” Everything belonged to everybody and everybody had one share in it. They were going to distribute it equally.” That was considered to be the epitome of fairness, sharing the hardship burdens and everything like that. “Nobody owned anything. It was a commune, folks. It was the forerunner to the communes we saw in the ’60s and ’70s out in California,” and other parts of the country, “and it was complete with organic vegetables, by the way.

“Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that” it wasn’t working. It “was as costly and destructive…” His own journals chronicle the reasons it didn’t work. “Bradford assigned a plot of land” to fix this “to each family to work and manage,” as their own. He got rid of the whole commune structure and “assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage,” and whatever they made, however much they made, was theirs. They could sell it, they could share it, they could keep it, whatever they wanted to do.

What really happened is they “turned loose” the power of a free market after enduring months and months of hardship — first on the Mayflower and then getting settled and then the failure of the common account from which everybody got the same share. There was no incentive for anybody to do anything. And as is human nature, some of the Pilgrims were a bunch of lazy twerps, and others busted their rear ends. But it didn’t matter because even the people that weren’t very industrious got the same as everyone else. Bradford wrote about how this just wasn’t working.

“What Bradford and his community found,” and I’m going to use basically his own words, “was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else… [W]hile most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years — trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it — the Pilgrims decided early on,” William Bradford decided, “to scrap it permanently,” because it brought out the worst in human nature, it emphasized laziness, it created resentment."

SNIP

This Vimeo Link for Thanksgiving Should Work

 

This is the Vimeo Thanksgiving service - and previous videos.

YouTube is picking up the saved video.

Facebook BethanyLutheranWorship TLH KJV - FB takes longer than YouTube to post the saved video.

Our Star-Spangled Universe - And God Created the Pleiades

 

The Pleiades - NASA photo.

The Pleiades are a group of more than 800 stars located about 410 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. Most skywatchers are familiar with the assembly, which looks something like a smaller, hazier version of the Big Dipper in the night sky. 

Also known as the "Seven Sisters" and Messier 45, the object derives its English name from Greek legend. The Pleiades are the seven daughters of the Titan god Atlas and the ocean nymph Pleione. During an ancient war, Atlas rebelled against Zeus, the king of the gods, who sentenced his foe to forever hold up the heavens on his shoulders. The sisters were so sad that Zeus allowed them a place in the sky in order to be close to their father.

The Pleiades are an example of an open star cluster — a group of stars that were all born around the same time from a gigantic cloud of gas and dust. The brightest stars in the formation glow a hot blue and formed within the last 100 million years. They are extremely luminous and will burn out quickly, with life spans of only a few hundred million years, much shorter than the billions of years our sun will enjoy.

https://www.space.com/pleiades.html

Thanksgiving, 2021. Thanks to God in a Strange Land

 

Thanksgiving Eve, 2021

7 PM Central Standard Time

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 

7 PM Central Standard Time

LL Approved - All Vimeo Videos Here.

Facebook - BethanyLutheranWorship,TLH, KJV -

Saved Afterwards

YouTube - Gregory Jackson - Saved Afterwards

The Hymn #574            Come Ye Thankful     
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 100 p. 144
The First Lection 1 Timothy 2:1-8
The Second Lection Luke 17:11-19 

The Sermon Hymn #577      God Bless Our Native Land

Thanks to God in a Strange Land

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
The Hymn #558     All Praise to Thee - Gounod

In Our Prayers

• Facing Surgery - Randy Anderson.
• Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader.
• Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes.
• Our military and police.
• Our media ministries - Alec Satin, Norma Boeckler, Travis and Lauren Cartee. 
• President Trump, our leaders.

KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

KJV Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Thanks to God in a Strange Land

KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

We should never forget that we are recapitulating the Roman Empire, against the wishes of our Founders. They studied ancient history because they knew it was the foundation of Britain, Europe, and much of the world. The framers of our Constitution wanted the best for the future, so they provided checks and balances for government, the Four Freedoms in the Bill of Rights - religion, speech, press, and peaceful assembly to petition the government. The second amendment was just as clear.

The checks and balances were established to keep down tyranny and protect our God-given freedoms. Once a dictatorship is established, those freedoms are weakened and slowly destroyed.

The Roman Empire grew so strong and rich that they sank into a broken state of powerful men and slaves, then paying foreigners to protect them from...foreigners.

The New Testament assumed Christians were living where they will be persecuted, tortured, thrown into prison, exiled, and killed. The power of God is so great that He worked through the Apostles to teach people to pray for Him to intervene - He intervened then and He does now.

If anything is different, it is because we have leveraged and speeded up everything. The evil of mankind and destructive governments is greater than every before because of the power of weapons, whether military, medical, or the media.

For that reason, though we have many things we can do as citizens, we can always pray diligently for our leaders, the good and the evil ones.

2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

The old way was to wage war against those in authority. That even happened within the Roman government, where the emperors were removed violently and their families destroyed to make sure junior would not claim the throne later. Instead, Paul commanded the Christians to pray for all those in authority - kings leading the list. The way to real peace is accepting government rules overall and praying for improvement. My professor translated "peaceful" as quietistic - not trying to use the Church counter the government. 

The New Deal and socialism came directly from the work of a small group of leaders, The Brotherhood of the Kingdom, establishing a list of reforms they wanted enforced by the government. Those reforms became the New Deal, and few realized they were promoting the socialistic ideals that were already building government bullying in Europe.

They called their reforms "The Social Gospel," which was really socialism promoted by the Christian Church. Now that is the assumption of all mainline denominations. They exist - like their seminaries and colleges - to "redeem society" with their agitations. The foundation for "woke" is that Social Gospel, and it is all Law. Their view of the Bible is rationalistic, so faith means little to them, except turning words of faith around to serve their revolution.

One way to spot these rascals is to see how they operate. They work from a church or church body and get groups to work together the goals of the moment, with money and letters of protest added. They have "Christian" lobbyists who work in the state capitals and DC.

That is why they have giant old churches with big endowments and only a few people in attendance.

As we can see the agitations for a perfect society based on law has not worked out. Now we are trying anti-law, which is even worse.

Nevertheless, Paul's inspired advice is inspired and has worked well in the past in addressing social problems peacefully through prayer, compassion, and repentance.

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Calvin may teach double-predestination, but God does not. Through the power of the Gospel Word, the worst see their sins and repent of their evil. In other circumstances, God removes the evil, as the Scriptures warn. Someone cannot work against the Word of God and persecute the Faith without consequences.

This happens in many ways, coming from many different voices. As I said in talking to the young Evangelical minister, there is nothing we have to do except preach and teach the Word of God faithfully. Interestingly, the stewardess overhead us talking and said, "I can here you. I'm on your side."

Instead of fretting whether we can make that change, all we need is the Word itself. Sometimes I simply add one Word or phrase to answering someone trying to make a point against the truth of the Word. It is the Word that has the power, not the speaker. But we should be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us.

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

These words mean Paul is repeating something they already know, and it is from God, who is always renewing society through the Gospel and even through persecutions. Nothing makes us desire the truth more than seeing it being taken away. The Word belongs to God alone, and His will directs it so that it accomplishes everything according and abundantly so.

7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

This is a wonderful way of the Apostle to emphasize the way of peace, which is not his advice or command, but the will and Word of God, dispelling wrath and lack of faith.

The Gospel of Mark among the "Conservative" Lutherans - Where Are the Death or Glory Leaders? - Hiding Behind Their Quia Fig-Leaves!

 

The Gospels of Mark and John are the 1-2 punches used by the Biblical apostates to make a case for their own little vision of Jesus' ministry.

I will simplify their case. 

1. The Son of God is removed from Mark 1:1 - Westcott-Hort.
2. The resurrection is removed by stopping the Gospel at Mark 16:8. Westcott-Hort.
3. The Virgin Birth is not recorded, feeding the claims of the rationalists. Westcott-Hort's theories are set in stone, the two men lionized, and their factual errors ignored.
4. The Gospel of John is centuries later, not from the Apostle John, and not historical, the Tuebingen school - German rationalism.

The anti-Scriptural leaders do not have to prove their case, which hovers between absurdity and defying the facts. They only need to "damage" that particular doctrinal point, pile up experts, and leave people in doubt. After all, every verse has 99 wrong interpretations and one correct interpretation.

There is no difference today between the leaders of LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC(sic)-ELDONA and ELCA. They speak as one, loathe to use the KJV and its genuine text when they can feed their members Westcott-Hort rationalism 

• in the name of science (don't laugh, that is very serious for them), 
• scholarship (not like Dr. Maier's or Lenski), 
• relevance (which is why they are losing membership in droves), 
• and Mary. 

Yes, the adoration of Mary is very important to large numbers of "conservative" Lutheran clergy. The LCMS seminaries train men for Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy - in the name of good worship. 

Using the double-talk of Barth/Kirschbaum and Bultmann, these death-or-glory leaders utter fatuous combinations of fancy-talk that obscures their doubts. 

More later - in the book, the second edition of The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God.

 Edward Freer Hills is the antidote to the frauds in WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC(sic)-ELDONA. His PhD in text criticism is from Harvard, and his language studies were summa cum laud at Yale. Look for his book The KJV Defended.

A Story Retold

 

I only learned a few years ago that my close friend from elementary school went through a time where the family could barely get by. His father was unable to work, so they were short on everything. People worked together to provide the necessities and never discussed it. When I asked my mother who was getting the clothes, since we had hand-me-downs all the time, she explained, "None of your business."

None of the classmates knew this until Lawrence decided to tell this a few years ago, to encourage people to do the same. He gave me permission to post the story, so some of you have heard it before.

He went to Yale College with a full scholarship and became a tennis coach, the best for colleges of that size in the country, according to Sports Illustrated. He is also a published poet.

Lawrence wanted to motivate people to do the same thing for their neighbors, and that had a big effect on Christina and me. We copied the Tim Ballard Garage Sale, named after another classmate, who does this. The principles are - no prices, no questions, give it away. That is how we redeemed our garage for parking the car and making others happy. I stopped liking a solid, low table in the garage the 20th time I barked my shins on it. "That is such a nice table!" Chris said in protest. "Ask my shins," I replied.

Besides that, when there was a need, we did whatever we could. Four little children were spared a miserable life by a relative's compassion, so we helped where we could and never missed what was given. 

I asked a helper why he came over to shovel without a coat on. "I don't have one!" I gave him my parka and he burst into tears and hugged me.

We have neighborly things going on all the time. Things unused are given to people who have that need. I like direct help because I know about the shortages and how to address them. Many times it is a perfectly good item someone can use. 

Here is Lawrence's story, verbatim - 

"Thanksgiving--

My family lived in poverty for several years when I was growing up in Moline. With Dad unable to work, our Mom struggled to keep all four of us kids under one roof. Government surplus food--big cans of peanut butter, cornmeal for bread, margarine, chalky powdered milk--kept us going.

We loved our Mom then, and love her even more now, for sewing for people, baking pies, working part-time in a printer's shop to try to make ends meet. I'm grateful to my friends at John Deere Junior High for sliding me bread, butter and cheese when they realized I couldn't buy lunches; to my Moline High School tennis coach Joe Ruberg, who supplemented team meal allowances with his own money to make sure I got enough to eat; to our neighbor Mrs. Kasenberg, who gave us the biggest treat of all those years: two weeks of real milk. (God bless you, Mrs. Kasenberg. We know you wanted your gift to be anonymous, but the milk man accidentally blurted out your name.)

I'm grateful to the many high school classmates who knew, but were kind enough not to say, that gift clothes I wore after Christmases back then actually came from the yearly Share Joys campaign for needy families; I'm thankful for their good parents, who taught my friends not to humiliate someone who is living through hard times. 

I'm also grateful for the Sunday school teachers, ministers and priests in Moline who did their best to help our family remember that while we may have been "the least of these" financially, we were still no less than children of God."

 

 The Hebrew letter Aleph stands for Sinaiticus, the "oldest Bible in the world," and yet the newest discovered. 

Dear Pastor Jackson,

I was reading your service post, Matthew 24:24-28, and I thought of this.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert (Sinaiticus); go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers (Vaticanus); believe it not.  For as the lightning cometh out of the east (Byzantium), and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

***

GJ - I think this is a brilliant analogy, because Sinaiticus was found in the desert monastery, where Tischendorf was directed to find it. Vaticanus was held by the Vatican and has no clear origin. Constantin Tischendorf is the one who promoted both codices, which have no children. They are sterile and useful only for old men (Kurt Aland) who believe nothing and deny that the Four Gospels were written by the Apostles and their associates.

Byzantium is the name for the Eastern Roman Empire, which was Greek and Christian, lasting from Constantine the Great until 1453 AD when the last of the Eastern Roman Empire (the city of Constantinople) fell to the Ottoman Empire.

The Fall of Constantinople led to the escape of Greek scholars with their treasures, including many copies of the Bible. Sometimes this tradition is called the Byzantine Text (Stephanos text, Biblegateway.com) because of their protection of the Scriptures by Christian scholars. It is also called the Majority Text, because those manuscripts agree with one another to an astonishing extent, given the many centuries from the Apostolic Age to those examples. The text parents, grandparents, great-grandparents etc were worn out through copying but the text remained 90-95% the same.

Theodore Letis uses the term Ecclesiastical Text, because the believing Church continued reproducing from the original texts. A few called it the Textus Receptus, because Erasmus used a few manuscripts (received text), all he had at the moment, to create the first Greek New Testament in the modern age, which sparked the Reformation when Luther translated it into German.

The Fall of Constantinople was tragic, but it unleashed the Renaissance as scholars and artists headed for Europe. Their new hosts re-discovered the glory that was Greece - 

• The Republic, 
• History, 
• Philosophy, 
• Law,
• Literature, 
• Poetry, 
• Drama, 
• Comedy, 
• Math, 
• Architecture, 
• Engineering, 
• Astronomy - 

all components for the future nation founded as America.

As I suggested, the Traditional Text was preserved by believers in the Church. All the modern texts are sold to the public by various businesses, including the Beck Bible sold by Christian News, later having as many names as the RSV. But that is OK. All Bibles are inspired, as declared by Mirthless Mark Schroeder, the bookkeeper for the Wisconsin Sect.

 Constantinus Tischendorf - how impressive. This emperor has no clothes (codices).

 This is the codex that was discovered pure white and supple, pretty good for 1500 year old skin! Now it has a nice tan, both parts, so we can pretend it is ancient.

"Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" - Earl of Oxford, Stage Name Shakespeare

 "There's Take Off Pounds Sensibly,
or Photoshop, or just using old photos."

 

We are all salted and peppered with Shakespeare, the pen name for the Earl of Oxford. I like to mention the truth about the bard to get certain people eager to send raging emails. Of all the writers of English literature, Shakespeare had the highest vocabulary - greater than Milton's - yet we are supposed to think a stage actor wrote the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare?

The fact that we think of Shakespearean phrases at odd times is a good reminder that the same level of literature is found in the King James Version of the Bible.

I sent Reading the Psalms with Luther (CPH) to someone, because it is a good, quick guide. However, the Psalms in that book are English Standard Version, a Bible owned by the extreme Leftwing National Council of Churches, just a cute avoidance of the squalid RSV and the New RSV. The ESV Psalms read like Beavis and Butthead translating Shakespeare so dolts like us can understand him better.

Naturally CPH did not use their classic The Lutheran Hymnal with the Psalms but quoted the watered down Lutheran Service Book.

I noticed that Bruce Cameron edited the volume. He was the editor who told me I could never publish through Concordia Publishing House because I contributed to Christian News. That was funny, because Jack Preus and Ralph Bohlmann and Al Berry became synod president by working with, flattering, and coaching Herman Otten. Matt the Fatt did the same later, ending with calling Herman a crazy liar.

Matt the Fatt earned his title by running old photos of himself 50 pounds lighter while eating like it was becoming obsolete. 

Here Are Today's Vimeo Links of the Entire Service.

 

Here is the Vimeo file for today.

Later it also published here on Facebook - BethanyLutheranWorship,TLH,KJV.

The Vimeo file also published on YouTube. Proof - all three videos have poinsettias on the altar. This is their first appearance at Bethany this year.

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2021. The End-Times.

 

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Thanksgiving Eve Service, 7 PM Central Standard Time 

 

Vimeo Live Service at 10 AM and Saved after 11:30 AM

The Hymn #192   Gerhardt  Awake My Heart  

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me.

Let me not be ashamed, O Lord: 

for I have called upon Thee.

Psalm. In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: 

let me never be ashamed.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, but according to Thy mercy; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual  

Thine enemies roar in the midst of Thy congregations: they set up their ensigns for signs.

V. Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast purchased of old: the rod of Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God: 

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. Hallelujah!

    

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn #660    I'm But a Stranger Here        

   

Peace in the End-times

The Communion Hymn #310  Thy Table I Approach - Loy

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #649           Jesus Savior Pilot Me             

Announcements and Prayers

• Thanksgiving Eve is Wednesday at 7PM Central Standard.
• Pray for those being forced to take the vaccine or be fired.
• Randy Anderson will have surgery for his lung lesion.
• Pastor Jim Shrader - medical treatment.
• Travis and Lauren are downloading the previous Ustream/IBM services to YouTube. 
• Next Sunday is Advent 1. Mid-week services will be Wednesdays, 7 PM.
• The Lutheran Christina books have been delivered, but there were some mix-ups. If you did not get yours or need more copies, send an angry email to greg.jackson.edlp@gmail.com. Subsequent orders are much faster.

 Norma A. Boeckler 

KJV 1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 Norma A. Boeckler 

KJV Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Peace in the End-times

Introduction

There are many warning passages in the Old and New Testaments about the end-times, and they remain mysterious. They do not tell us exact times but they reveal details which should make Christians take the warnings seriously and also find comfort in God's protection.

KJV Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

We certainly see signs of the end, not only in the displays of rioting and government oppression, but also in society and in the Christian Church.

I left the Lutheran Church in America before the merger, but I could read to the congregation the denials of every point in the Creeds, right from the standard doctrinal book in the LCA seminaries, the Braaten-Jenson Christian Dogmatics, two volumes. Braaten is still alive, at the age of 92. ( I bought the book, quoted it, and mailed it back for a refund.)

Some said to me, "Don't talk about those things," because they were clearly indifferent. Later I was told that the radicalism of ELCA was tearing the congregation apart, just as I warned them.

One of the surest signs of the end, which can last centuries - or be delayed by a new Reformation - is apostasy. That Greek word means former believers have fallen away from faith in Jesus Christ. That will be so bad that Jesus Himself said, "When the Son of Many returns, will He find faith?" The implied answer is - "Very little faith will remain."

Luke 18: 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

2 Thessalonians 2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing (apostasy, verb form) from the living God.

John Hindraker, a blogger with Powerline, noted that his ELCA denomination has shrunk from 5+ million to 3 million, and he "might have to leave some day". Bishop Liz Eaton was outraged by the Rittenhouse verdict and sent a pastor letter.

America has reached a point, like Europe, where faith in Jesus Christ and trust in the Scriptures matter very little among those who are still members of the mainline churches.

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 

This reveals that the end will come so quickly that there will be no time to pack their bags, whether on the roof or in the fields. In kindness, the price of the Gospel's rejection is broadcast so everyone knows.

We have seen many effects of this in America, where good once prevailed and now the lawbreakers and traitors are the heroes. That cannot continue. America has enough of the good left that this evil reign of apostasy can be thrown off, but that will take time and effort.

The Apostolic church grew in the face of active persecution and the status of Christianity being  - the only God Rome rejected. All others were tolerated and worshiped. In spite of that, and having the most prolific Apostle jailed and executed, Christianity spread across the known world and beyond.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

Jesus had compassion on those who would be in a fragile state when this happened. This predicted tribulation will be unlike any other. Whenever we see a smaller version of that final time of chaos, we should remember the warnings.

Artificially or accidentally, a few disturbances can cause everything to be out of balance and the normal flow of goods and services stopped. Part of British Columbia, Canada, has just experienced that from flooding, all roads and railroads broken and in need of major repairs. They have become an island. World-wide we have many combinations of the same disasters, some "natural" and some man-made.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

This reveals that those days will be so terrible that no one would survive at all, but the days will be shortened for the elect, the believers.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

One thing we often find when a secretive group is broken up for its criminal behavior - the leader is a Messianic figure who cannot be questioned by anyone. One was "John of God" who was promoted by Oprah. Another one has just surfaced. Sometimes I follow the short history of these cults, which seem to start with a lot of money and end in shambles, violence, and prison. Bishop's Hill near my hometown, Moline, was one of those. The bishop claimed to have no sin at all, whether in thought or deed, and people obeyed all his whims. 

I have noticed that all the mini-bishops in the Lutheran sects, no matter what their titles, are very much in love with power and getting even. They make themselves  the ultimate authority because they barely know the Bible.

The fakes can be so realistic that they almost fool the sincere believers to.

25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The return of the Son of God will be so brilliant and overwhelming that no one will doubt what is happening. But in contrast, the eagles (which devour carrion) are gathered where the eating is good - planed giving counselors, who rob widows and orphans in the name of the Church. If they are "counselors" and "ordained" for the job, why do they need an insurance license? It is because they will be selling irrevocable annuity trusts to the elderly, removing that money from the estate to give to the synod. 

So faithful Christians need to learn and be steady about the main points of the Faith - and be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within them. The purpose of the Christian Church should be worship and education according to the genuine Scriptures, the ultimate guide in all matters doctrinal and practical. The most important activities are not institutional (buildings, money, etc) but spiritual. That  means the choice of a Bible, a well informed choice, will make all the difference.