Saturday Rain Means Friday Digging

Our last garden roses will be on the altar this Sunday, a few Veterans Honor. The size of this crop from earlier years includes Veterans Honor and Falling in Love. The chapel has been remodeled for sound.

This strange autumn has seen drought alternated with heavy rains. We just had one and another is due for Saturday.

"Sassy, we have to go back!"

A sharp bark or two.

"Back to the bulbs!" 

We had some remaining bulbs, large daffodils, small grape hyacinths, and enormous white grape hyacinths. 

Fortunately, the ground was soft and the weather perfect for a few more divots. Sassy stood guard on the driveway and eventually told me she wanted back inside.

As bulb gardeners often say, we do not plant seeds, roots, or seedlings, but the flowers themselves encased in food for their journey upwards.

I ran into about a dozen bulbs from previous digs. They look like bulbs from the bag, but they also have roots. They will push the flower upward, wait for the right temperature, then bloom according to the Lord of Creation's plan, John 1:3. Furthermore, they slowly multiply in the soil, each year, making doubles and triples. I had a number from the earlier bags where I peeled them apart for their own separate place.

People glanced at my digging and planting efforts. They will hit the brakes in the spring and see:

• Daffodils of various colors and sizes;
• Grape hyacinths large and small, purple, white, and pink;
• Lilies, huge perfume bombs;
• Aliums (garlic) and a few others varieties.

The only spring planting will be glads and cannas.

The Importance of Hymns - Quotation from the Lutheran Librarian, Alec Satin

From “A Mirror For Pastors. Translated From The German Of Guthe, 

By Rev. W. E. Tressel, Baltimore, Md. 

The Activity Of The Catechist.” in Loy, ed. 

The Columbus Theological Magazine. Vol. 18, 1898.

quote:

The pearls of the Church’s hymnology are likewise not to remain unknown to the scholars. One should also not omit to communicate whatever in the history of the origin or blessed influence of these hymns is edifying. If the children learn the hymn: “If thou but suffer God to guide thee,” relate to them the circumstances under which it was composed: G. Neumark in the year 1653 fell into such great poverty, that he was even forced to pawn his beloved viola di Gamba, upon which he was such a skillful performer. When God did not permit his confidence to be put to shame and helped him out of his need, so that he could redeem his viola di Gamba, he composed the beautiful hymn so expressive of trust in God, and when he had finished writing it, he immediately played. it amid tears of thankfulness. Koch’s “Geschichte des Kirchenliedes” is a rich storehouse upon which to draw in this respect.

The Bethany Hymnal -

 

"If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee"
by Georg Neumark, 1621-1681
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

Tune - Wer nur den lieben Gott - linked here

1. If thou but suffer God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He'll give thee strength, whate'er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God's unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that naught can move.

2. What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee
O'er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.

3. Be patient and await His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure
And His discerning love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.

4. God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care.

5. Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to everything.

6. All are alike before the Highest;
'Tis easy to our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.

7. Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word, though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

Hymn #518
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Psalm 55:22
Author: Georg Neumark, 1640
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Titled: "Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten"
Composer: Georg Neumark, 1640
Tune: "Wer nur den lieben Gott"

 Georg Neumark

My Favorite Overlooked Great Lutheran - Theodore Schmauk

 

The Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry

In This Issue

The Life and Teachings of Theodore Emanuel Schmauk by George W. Sandt The New Theology: Samuel Schmucker and Its Other Defenders by James Allen Brown Sermons on the Gospels by Matthias Loy My Experiences In The Mission Field Of South Dakota by Frank Albert Kiess The Forgiveness of Sin: And the Possibility of Attaining a Personal Assurance of it by Timothy East

Featured

The Life and Teachings of Theodore Emanuel Schmauk by George W. Sandt “Lutheranism clings to God’s Written Word. Her motto is the Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the Word of God, not as a prescriptive letter, but as the power of God unto salvation.” – Theodore Schmauk “[Dr Schmauk] ranks as one of the ablest and most consistent defenders of the Lutheran faith. His catholicity of spirit enabled him to put himself in the place of his opponent and see things from the latter’s point of view… And yet he never swerved from the strong conservative position he always took by making weak or compromising concessions. Level of Difficulty: Intermediate: Some subject matter knowledge helpful. There is no man in our Church whose Christian consecration has been more evident, whose deep loyalty to the Church has been stronger, whose full participation in her thought and activity has been wider, whose counsel has been more constantly sought and given, whose influence has been more powerful and helpful than that of Dr. Schmauk.” –Dr. Knubel, The Lutheran Book Contents Preface Part 1. Dr. Schmauk On Live Questions And Issues 1 On The Person Of Christ 2 On The Doctrine Of The Trinity 3 On The Freedom Of Will 4 On Negative Theology 5 The Lutheran Conception Of Salvation 6 On Confessionalism 7 Luther And The New Theology 8 On Progressive Conservatism 9 On Lutheran Union 10 On Lutheran Pulpits For Lutheran Ministers 11 On Lutheran Disunity 12 On The Lodge And Pulpit-Fellowship 13 On Un-Christian Societies 14 On Co-Operation 15 Dangers To The Lutheran Church In Cooperating With Revival Movements 16 The Lutheran Church And External Relationships 17 Two Great Lessons Of Providence 18 The Church And Social Problems 19 On Christmas 20 The Tricky Controversialist 21 On Possibilities Of Union Part 2. A Biographical Sketch 1 - The Schmauk Antecedents 2 - Birth and Boyhood (1860 to 1876) 3 - A Student at College (1876 to 1880) 4 - Student at Seminary (1880 to 1883) 5 - His Early Pastorate as Associate of his Father (1883-1898) 6 - Literary Activities Begin 7 - As Educator - The Pennsylvania Chautauqua 8 - As Historian - No Traitor To His Blood 9 - Editor and Sunday School Leader 10 - Citizen, Patriot and Public Speaker 11 - Death of his Father (1898-1903) 12 - President of the General Council (1903 to 1905) “The One Conservative Lutheran Body” The General Council’s Attitude Toward Modern Evangelism 13 - The Confessional High-Water Mark (1907) 14 - Administrative Problems 15 - A Trying Convention (1909) Dr. Schmauk and the Swedes 16 - “The Confessional Principle” (1907-1911) 17 - The QuadriCentennial Celebration of the Reformation (1917-1920) 18 - The Closing of a Strenuous Life Positions Held in the Church Author of Following Books A review “I have just finished a rapid examination of your book… It has held me fast all day, except when in church, and for two brief breathing spells. I have read enough to lead me without waiting longer to express my intense delight and most sincere gratitude. You have produced an epoch-making book… You have not left the least shred of an argument against the Confessional position unanswered.” – Henry Eyster Jacobs Download the eBook PDF Apple/Kobo EPUB Kindle AZW3 Legacy MOBI (If EPUB or AZW3 won’t work on your device) You can expect your book to arrive within a few hours. If you don't find it, check your spam or junk mail folder. You can also request a copy of this or any Lutheran Library e-book by sending an email with the book's title and format. Enjoy the book! Publication Information Lutheran Library edition first published: 2018-01-25 Updated: v6.2021-04-07 Copyright: CC BY 4.0 Read more

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The Life and Teachings of Theodore Emanuel Schmauk by George W. Sandt “Lutheranism clings to God’s Written Word. Her motto is the Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the Word of God, not as a prescriptive letter, but as the power of God unto salvation.” – Theodore Schmauk “[Dr Schmauk] ranks as one of the ablest and most consistent defenders of the Lutheran faith. His catholicity of spirit enabled him to put himself in the place of his opponent and see things from the latter’s point of view… And yet he never swerved from the ... Read more The New Theology: Samuel Schmucker and Its Other Defenders by James Allen Brown “Suffice it to say that faith is faith, and not obedience, or love or delight in God, or any other distinct grace or virtue. Nor does the Bible say being justified by obedience, or love, or delight, or good works, but ‘being justified by faith, we have peace with God.'” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed. Justification by Faith versus Schmucker’s “New Theology” “The substance of this fundamental doctrine may be ... Read more Sermons on the Gospels by Matthias Loy “When you feel your burden of sin weighing heavily upon you, only go to Him… Only those who will not acknowledge their sin and feel no need of a Savior — only these are rejected. And these are not rejected because the Lord has no pity on them and no desire to deliver them from their wretchedness, but only because they will not come to Him that they might have life. They reject Him, and therefore stand rejected. But those who come to Him, poor and needy and helpless, but trusting in His ... Read more My Experiences In The Mission Field Of South Dakota by Frank Albert Kiess “I received my first call into the largest mission field of the Northwest, in the State of South Dakota, far away from good old home. In September, 1892, I left home for my long journey. My good mother and a brother-in-law, Joseph Koby accompanied me as far as Chicago, where I kissed mother goodbye, but my brother-in-law went with me as far as Milwaukee. There we stayed one week, he returned and I went on to the icy North…” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter ... Read more The Forgiveness of Sin: And the Possibility of Attaining a Personal Assurance of it by Timothy East Timothy East’s practical book is intended to, “disturb the false peace of the criminally indifferent… impart consolation to the conscientiously fearful, (and to) excite to higher degrees of gratitude the comparatively few, who know that they are safe for eternity.” Timothy East (1817-1892) was the writer of the famous “Evangelical Rambler”, later republished under the title “The Sheepfold and the Common.” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter ... Read more Scripture Selections for Daily Reading by Rev. Jesse Hurlbut “…A good selection of Scripture passages well suited for reading at family worship…chosen to furnish a reading for every day and to complete the bible in a year. Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed. Rev. Jesse Hurlbut writes, “It has seemed to me that there is need of a good selection of Scripture passages, of nearly uniform length, fitted for reading at family worship, so chosen as to furnish a reading for every day in the year and to ... Read more Kanamori's Life-Story Told by Himself; How the Higher Criticism Wrecked a Japanese Christian: And How He Came Back by Paul Michitomo Kanamori “Why did I leave the ministry when I left the Congregational church? Because, in the first place, my New Theology and Higher Criticism had destroyed my faith in the perfect, divine authority of the Bible; and in the second place, they had destroyed my faith in the perfect deity of Christ. When I had lost these two things I had lost everything… I could preach all the practical side of Christianity, but not the central fundamental truths of Christianity, Christ and his salvation ... Read more May God cause his face to shine upon you and bring you peace. From Your Lutheran Librarian editor@lutheranlibrary.org

The Lutherans Repudiated Luther, the Reformation, and the Bible.Paradoxical Pietist Dogma Reigns Supreme in Calvinist Compromise

 

 WELS is delighted to embrace Objective Justification with the LCMS, ELS, and ELCA - instead of the Chief Article, Justification by Faith.

J. P. Meyer taught OJ infallibly for 50 years at Mordor, aka Mequon.

 Walther taught "making a decision for Christ," just as J. P. Meyer did. He shattered the Synodical Conference by insisting on Stephan's Halle Pietistic (and rationalistic) dogma of OJ.

The Lutherans will be avoiding the Reformation this Sunday - not just ELCA alone or Missouri alone - but all of them alone. Those are the three solas hauled out of the closet for the end of October.

Pietists sent pastors over who had the perfect combination of Luther and Calvin. Bishop Martin Stephan was a leader in Pietism, and all of the Walther circle were ardent Pietists following Stephan and loving their cell groups. Stephan loved his cell groupies, young women who caught the fever, the fever of syphilis. That is how the Stephan migration took place, organized carefully in advance. Once he was placed under house arrest for his crimes, which his inner circle knew well, they packed up and left for New Orleans. 

The LCMS likes to date their beginning date as 1847. But they landed in 1839, swearing obedience to Stephan as their bishop. CFW Walther cleverly bided his time until he could take over the sect, robbing his bishop of the man's gold, land, house, books, and personal possessions. Walther also embraced the Objective Justification of Stephan, who studied at Halle University, where OJ and rationalism reigned supreme.

The Wisconsin Synod, like Missouri, fakes its own history and talks about how orthodox they were from the beginning. No, they were Calvinist-Lutheran from the beginning, and the dogma of Calvinism took over a long time ago. 

The Little Norwegians, aka the ELS, are a bit more honest. They left the 1917 pending merger of Norwegian sects to have their own sect based on Objective Justification, which they teach with a passion unknown since the invention of lutefisk.

ELCA is made up of many different Pietistic sects, finally merged into one swell foop, 1987. They also teach that God has forgiven everyone in the world - that is their definition of grace. 

Like the others, ELCA is allergic to the concept of faith in Jesus Christ. Like the others, the synod leaders and professors loathe the King James Version but adore the NIV, RSV, ESV, NRSV, and a smattering of other transient paraphrases. 

 WELS' Bivens and Zarling baldfacedly declared Objective Justification to be the Chief Article of Christianity. No, OJ is the final belch of Calvinism, loud enough to silence the tepid, timorous Lutherans of today. When Jay Webber and Jon-Boy Buchholz showed up to promote OJ at Emmaus, they were like the disciples -

KJV Luke 24:16 But their eyes were holden* that they should not know him.

* Arrested, held back in Greek.

Where Did They Go Wrong?

Calvinism clings to Lutheran doctrine the way mercury clings to silver and gold. As a group, Calvinists teach:

1. The Scriptures are a dead letter, because the Spirit roams the world apart from the Word.
2. The Sacraments are merely symbolic, ordinances (yes - laws) to obey.
3. Human reason judges the Word, making it reasonable, appealing, and germane. 
4. The entire world is predestined in advance to salvation or damnation, the majority being damned. This double-predestination was in every edition of Calvin's doctrinal book.

How else do you explain ELCA, WELS, ELS, and Missouri rushing to get their DMins at Fuller Seminary? The pigs "believe" but their hides bristle.