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| Photo by Tom Fisher |
We had two days where it rained a bit, and that was appreciated. Before that, when Charli Sue ran or dug in the backyard, clouds of dust billowed from the clay soil.
But now we have an evening of severe thunderstorms coming up. Everything is green, rain barrels are overflowing, and few people feel a craving for more rain.
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| Nine Clethra shrubs are growing and blooming, the smallest only knee-high. |
God's Creation lays out a map for us, what we should expect in the long run. Jesus said, "The sun rises on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just (believers) and on the unjust (non-believers.
KJV Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
One readers likes to ask if my rain barrels are emptied for the next rain - without being mosquito maternity wards. Lacking rain, the barrels and the soil dry up, and sprinkling is only a little bit effective. Watering shriveled plants is discouraging, especially when we look at the current results.
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| Is this an herb brought over to America for its many benefits or "just a weed" filling the coffers of Scotts Lawn and Garden? |
Be patient. This is all about congregations. The garden gets very discouraging at the end of summer, when few people buy gardening equipment and plants and tenacious weeds find many places to grow and thrive.
Spring brings a new look, especially when snow melt and sunlight prompt a revelation. The half-dead, feeble, dying plants show themselves as eager, growing, budding - elbowing and overshadowing the weeds. The roots work all winter and the bulbs popping up in the early spring add to the color and charm.
Discouraged gardeners mutter about all their problems. They openly suggest replacing the gardens with green-tinted concrete. That is the problem. Dis-couraged means lacking courage and faith. If the whole world responded with such pessimism, we would be eating frozen food made from algae. Mmmmm-yuk.
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| Joe Pye Weed is medicinal, attracts butterflies and bees. It improves the soil's nutrition and water storage. |
God's Creation is full of surprises. Roots provide 75% of the organic matter added to the soil, much appreciated by the earthworms and an army of soil creatures, including moles, ants, beetles, larvae. Deep roots provide channels for rain and underground storage. Seven foot Joe Pye Weed is the trust fund for water and nutrition, farming the water supply and organic matter, giving and taking. Shrubs like Clethra (Cinnabon or Sweet Spice) need water and send roots down for aeration and storage, rewarding the soil creatures with mulch and leaf litter.
The congregational parallel is impossible to miss. There are two major church themes - essential and yet almost entirely neglected by Fuller dolts, synod officials, and rationalists:
- The efficacy of the Word and
- Faith in Jesus Christ.
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| The Word of God is just as effective as the rain and snow - it never returns void, it accomplishes God's will, and it prospers God's will. |
The Word of God is active and energetic in all its forms, because the Holy Spirit never works apart from it. The Word never lacks the Spirit, and the Spirit is never divided from the Word.
That means a church should emphasize the Scriptures in their best form (King James Version) and trust in their power.
Faith in Jesus Christ, The Son of God, Savior
Pursuing the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel, I was struck by the practical advice given but clearly ignored by the soi-disant Lutherans. The work of the Holy Spirit is to teach sin - "because they do not believe in Me."
- There are your Fuller DMins (pronounced Demons).
- There are your phony success stories.
- There are your millions of dollars wasted on carnival style snake-oil salesmen.
- There are your dumb and lazy clergy who labor in the carnivals and bars, neglecting the vineyards.
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| Photo by Tom Fisher |
