Pont du Gard - Three Levels of Blocks

 

Tremendous Benefits of Fruits - Harvard Medical School. Juices Are Kool-Aid, Sweet But No Fibre

 

How to get enough healthful fruits in your diet? One strategy is to eat with the seasons, choosing grapes and stone fruits in the summer, apples and pears in the fall, persimmons and pomegranates in the winter, and citrus and cherries in the spring.

While all fruits tend to be rich in disease-protective nutrients, some have received particular attention in the nutrition world for their anti-inflammatory benefits.

Berries. From strawberries and blackberries to cranberries and blueberries, these gemlike fruits are particularly potent in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Along with fiber and vitamin C, berries possess plant pigment phytochemicals, such as anthocyanins and ellagic acid, which may be behind their health benefits. Studies have linked increased berry consumption with lower risks of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes.

Apples. Maybe it's true what they say about an apple a day. A study of nearly 35,000 women, found that consumption of this fruit—along with its relative, pears—was linked with a lower risk of death from heart disease. The star components of apples—fiber, vitamin C, pectin, and polyphenols—have been associated, primarily in animal studies, with anti-inflammatory effects and an increase in beneficial microbes in the gut.

Stone fruits. Cherries, peaches, apricots, and plums are all examples of stone fruits. These fruits contain fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and a variety of phytochemicals associated with their colors. For example, cherries have garnered the lion's share of the research among stone fruits. Some studies suggest that cherries can reduce pain and soreness after exercise as well as a reduced risk of gout attacks. The high levels of phenolic compounds in cherries, which have been linked to reduced inflammation, may be behind those benefits.

Citrus. Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes are famously rich in vitamin C. They also contain fiber, potassium, calcium, B vitamins, copper, and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals such as flavonoids and carotenoids. Though there is little human research on citrus, the nutrients found in citrus fruits have been associated with heart-protective effects.

Pomegranates. Those tiny pomegranate seeds contain big rewards of vitamins C and K, potassium, fiber, and potent phytochemicals such as anthocyanin and resveratrol. These nutrients may be behind the potential benefits of eating pomegranates.

Grapes. These succulent fruits are bursting with fiber, vitamins C and K, and powerful phytochemicals.

For more information on formulating a diet that can lower your risk of chronic inflammation, check out the online guide from Harvard Medical School, Foods That Fight Inflammation.

Exaudi - The Sunday after the Ascension

Have a blessed Mothers Day.

Click here for all previous YouTubes

The Hymn #221           Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices              

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Hear (Exaudi), O Lord, when I cry with my voice: Hallelujah!

When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, 

my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek: 

Hide not Thy face from me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Psalm. The Lord is my Light and my Salvation: 

whom shall I fear?

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

Collect

Almighty, everlasting God, make us to have always a devout will toward Thee and 

to serve Thy Majesty with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, 

who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual       

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. God reigneth over the heathen: 

God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. Hallelujah!

V. I will not leave you comfortless: 

I go, and I will come again to you, and your heart shall rejoice. 

Hallelujah!

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #657            Beautiful Savior

            

The Communion Hymn #314         Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray - 

Henry Eyster Jacobs

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 #370           My Hope Is Built

In Our Prayers

• Randy Anderson is at home; Sarah Buck; Dr. Lito Cruz, his wife and son; Pastor Jim Shrader and his wife Chris; Lori Howell; Kermit; those with stress and metabolic disorders.
• We have ordered 15 Bibles for Bible John, 5 Super Giant Print, 10 Giant Print for prison ministries. All KJV.
• The Letha cul-de-sac was festooned with roses for Mothers Day.

 Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:  27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Proverbs 31

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. 15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. 19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Let Her Own Works Praise Her in the Gates

This is an easy passage to discuss, especially since I have so many years and experiences. But first, I have to confess that I should have praised my mother as much as my fellow students still do. She is praised for being a favorite teacher at Garfield and Coolidge. Looking back in time, I can remember the time I was interviewed for entering kindergarten with her taking part. Apparently I passed. We were in the same building, Garfield Elementary in Moline, which is now broken up into condo units. When I went on, to John Deere Junior High and then Coolidge, I realized she was connected to all the teachers, also true of Moline High. 

I liked the idea of going to Augustana College, within walking distance. Those instructors also knew my mother, who took 10 years to finish college at Augie, teaching one room country schools during that time. She knew the college faculty and they knew me. The first day of English class I met my future wife, Christina, and decided to ask her out and maybe marry me.

My mother had four of us, managed the household, cooked, taught my sister domestic skills, and watched over all our activities. I was also drafted to do household chores, cut the grass, and rake leaves. We went to church every Sunday and went to Sunday School, where my mother also taught. She participated in many school, church, and community activities.

There was nothing else to do on Sunday, because all stores were closed, except the drugstore, which closed at noon on Sunday. Theaters were not open. The only restaurant was closed. Sports were for Friday and Saturday. We watched TV on Sunday and went to bed. 

My mother and father grew up on the family farm, but FDR took care of that. They entered adulthood in their 20s and only knew work, no longer on the farm. They did what they needed to support themselves. 

My mother's family farm waited to get electricity, which was a big deal. I urged her to get a computer, but she said, "I am waiting for the prices to go down." And she did, using an old DOS computer and typing to all her friends and former students. She loved editing with the keyboard instead of erasers. She posted letters all the time, when she lived at our house in Phoenix.

The post-WWII Baby Boomers had the advantage of parents who were trained at home and at church, respecting our Constitutional Republic and the Christian Church. That is no longer true, and I blame the long march of radicalism in the school system and in the denominations. If anyone thinks ELCA is bad, the Waltherian Four are close behind ELCA and working with them using their agenda. That agenda relishes the same categories. Corporations are going along with DEI, pushing other radical trends.

Since the basics of the family have been under attack for the last 50 years or more, it is essential for Christian believers to provide a shelter from the propaganda. The True Vine parable is a good example of that quiet but aggressive media storm. Jesus is the True Vine and the Father is the Gardener, John 15. This is a parable we should know quite well. I spent most of the time yesterday and today, gardening by pruning roses and watering them with rainwater. The spent blooms and deadwood are pruned away - that is primary because flowering energizes the plant. Rainwater has a perfect fertilizer (imagine that!), and pruning wakes up root and stem growth, as well as the buds that grow the flower and the hips (Vitamin C, good for tea). 

KJV John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

This by itself is a perfect description of the Christian life. As long as we stay with Christ, believe in Him, we have access to God's grace (Romans 5:1-2 for synodicals).

The Gospel does not eliminate tribulations, but glorifies in them through faith in the Savior. Faith = righteousness, so the cross must always appear. It is through Justification by Faith that we are purged of our sins and bear fruit. Lacking faith, removing ourselves from the True Vine, means we cannot be fruitful and eventually become deadwood.

The gardener spends a lot of time cutting away the deadwood, because a vine or rosebush will eventually be choked by laziness. As I said more than once, my sister-in-law wanted me to fix her non-blooming roses. I sent the shoppers away and used pruning shears to cut away a large part of the bushes. She burst into tears when she saw the pruned bushes. I reminded her that roses are not a desert plant - they need water too. "Give them water every so often and wait two weeks." The phone rang two weeks later and she cried, "The bushes are packed with blooms!" Much later she trimmed away all the blooms, two weeks ahead of graduation. My brother (the grandson of a gardener, just as I am) said, "What are you doing? Graduation is near!") Two weeks later, the bushes were packed with blooms.

There is not much difference between basic truth and the Scriptures. The essential point is that Jesus teaches us so we can understand it in the simplest way. Mothers suffer in many ways in raising their children. Often it is unknown or treated lightly. Thanking mothers is fruitful, because they bear many burdens. Trials can be from illness or from emotional burdens. Women are often the ones who care the most about others, so they should also be thanked often with many pleasant surprises.

Luther’s Two Sermons for Exaudi 

Compare and Contrast - ELCA's Married Bishop Elect

 

https://www.stmarksconshy.org/users/bryan-penman--3

Bryan is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary), where he graduated in  2012 with his Master’s of Divinity Degree with a concentration in Metro Urban ministry. Bryan completed his undergraduate studies at a Lutheran school Lenoir-Rhyne University Additionally Bryan holds a certification in youth and family ministry from The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. Bryan is a life long Lutheran and grew up at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Stafford, VA which is part of the Virginia Synod. After graduating from college he spent several years as a retail manager before going to work with his mother in her real estate business. It was from there that Bryan sensed a call to ministry and decided to enter seminary in 2008.  Bryan is passionate about ministry and teaching a new generation of church into what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Bryan and his partner Matt live in Conshohocken with their adopted child.

LinkedIn - The I's Have IT

"I feel a strong sense of call to people on the move. God is on the move in our world today transforming our faith communities into powerful instruments of healing, reconciliation, and service. I feel called to empower and equip a diverse community of faith though worship, teaching, preaching, and leading the people of God to go on a journey with God.

I believe that I am an equipping leader. I tend to teach and equip people I work with so that they can take ownership of the ministry we all share - making disciples and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. I also see my leadership as shared, first of all with God and also with those for whom I serve. Together we discern the will of God for our community and together we work to bring new members into our congregation and together we work to proclaim the word of God in our community. I also have a good sense of humor and have fun doing my work. I have a passion for ministry; I am inspired by our work as the church and lead with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm."

Missing information from ELCA below, but note that the new bishop was active in the activist branch of ELCA - ELM. Penman wrote this ELM article, so why does ELCA hide the bishop promotion in a bland announcement?

ELCA News and Events 

https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/8227

CHICAGO — The Rev. Bryan J. Penman, Conshohocken, Pa., was elected May 4 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 3-4 at Franconia Mennonite Church in Telford, Pa.

Penman was elected on the fifth ballot, with 203 votes. The Rev. Karl M. Richard, pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Springfield, Pa., received 122 votes.

The bishop-elect has served as pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Conshohocken since 2013 and also as co-director for evangelical mission in the synod since 2022.

Penman earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and religious studies from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., in 2004; his Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) in 2012; and a certificate in youth and family ministry from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG). Lenoir-Rhyne is one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities; LTSP and LTSG are now part of United Lutheran Seminary, one of seven ELCA seminaries.

He will be installed Sept. 14, time and venue to be announced.

***

The Rev. Patricia Davenport is retiring after serving as bishop since 2018.

Conshohocken | Local News

May 10th, 2024 | By Kevin Tierney

The local newspaper was also vague.

Funny Book

The only things they learned from Walther were the Lutheran Papacy and Objective Faithless Justification.

 

The Beast Surfaces (a timeline of central power in the LCMS) by Jeffrey A. Young, Ph.D. Chart & Interpretation received, 4/4/24 LCR pastoral conference.

Introduction to the Beast Surfaces Parts I, II, and III.

 

This history chronicles the events that illustrate the rise of coercive central power in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Today the central power of the LCMS defends itself as a money-making enterprise, allows some within LCMS to believe that it is a divine ordinance, and wields her bylaws as a sword of the flesh. A similar masquerade is depicted in Revelations 17 under the name “beast,” but such a beast is not unique to the LCMS. A similar beast is commonly present in many large denominations, e.g. the treasury of the Vatican which feeds the power and primacy of the pope and wields canon law as a sword of the flesh....

CFW Walther signed the document making the syphilitic Martin Stephan the bishop. Walther staged a riot to gain Stephan's episcopacy, gold, property, books, and clothes. Walther anointed himself as Pope and took over the seminary, the sect, publishing, and doctrine. He changed the rules to make F. Pieper (Wisconsin Sect) the seminary president and later synod president. 

Walther only had a bachelor's degree and Latin. His knowledge of Biblical languages was scant.

To this day, Walther's idiocies about Objective Faithless Justification are uttered as sacred, derived from Pietism, Rationalism, and legalism.

Concordia Publish House produces Titanic books - 

They sink into thy depths with bubbling groan,

Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.

 

The New High Priests Serve No One But Themselves.

 

                        The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Anyone can figure out who the new high priests are, even if they do not hold any special titles. Listen to how they describe their work, like participants in a business meeting. They get out their statistics and blame various people. They project statistics that declare, "We are all doomed." And they are!

The business model is completely dominant in the Church of Rome, and the so-called Protestants have nothing but admiration for them. For decades they have adopted, little by little, the priestly costumes of the Catholic hierarchy. They demand money from everyone and complain they cannot get enough. One Lutheran sect has $100 million tucked way, perhaps more. They want to lay their consecrated and consecrating hands on more.

Dave (It's OK to pray with pagans) Benke made it clear - his gifts to various institutions have been swallowed up. Suddenly, piles of brick and mortar are worth less than the original buildings, which are sold off for a song. 

Everyone should laugh at the so-called pastors and synodical leaders who rushed off to Fuller Seminary for their business training. The sects also got together with ELCA, just to make sure that they were all in same choir, singing, "Amazing Cash." One self-appointed bishop covets church property and beards, hiding what they teach, as if anyone cares. 

\

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Exaudi - "Priests and monks, as they are at present, are dependent in name, character and works upon human institutions, which the Gospel thrusts to the ground. Hence, they dare not accept the Gospel, and they continue as they are."

 

Complete Sermon ->Luther's Sermons - John 15:26-16:4.
Exaudi, Sunday after Ascension

I. CHRIST’S SERMON OF COMFORT.

7. That we may, under no circumstances, despair, Christ says, I will send you a Comforter, even one who is almighty. And he calls the Holy Spirit here a Comforter; for although both my sins and the fear of death make me weak and timid, he comes and stirs up the courage in my heart, and says:

Ho, cheer up! Thus he trumpets courage into us; he encourages us in a friendly and comforting manner not to despair before death but to cheerfully go forward, even though we had ten necks for the executioner, and says: Aye, although I have sinned, yet I am rid of my sins; and if I had still more, so that they overwhelmed me, I would hope, that they should do me no harm. Not that one should not feel his sins, for the flesh must experience them; but the Spirit overcomes and suppresses diffidence and timidity, and conducts us through them. He is powerful enough to do that.

Therefore. Christ says further: “Whom I will send unto you from the Father.”

8. For he, the Father, is the person that takes the initiative: I am the Son; and from us the Holy Spirit proceeds. And the three persons are one, and one essence, with equal power and authority, as he better expresses it when he says: “The Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father.”

9. That is as much as to say: He who will comfort you is almighty and Lord over all things. How can the creatures now harm us, if the Creator stands by us? Notice how great the comfort of the Holy Spirit is. Now let all the Turks attack us. As long as he is our guard and rearguard, there is no danger. John also says in his first Epistle,1 John 3:19-20: “Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him; because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” Likewise, in the following chapter, verse 4, he says: “Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” So the Lord now says, Him will I send unto you, so that nothing can harm you. Is not that liberal comfort? Who would not be fearless and cheerful in view of this?

And Christ calls him “The Spirit of truth;” that is, where he is and comes there is a rock foundation through and through, the real truth. Neither falsehood nor hypocrisy is there, for the Spirit is not hypocritical. But wherever he is not, there is nothing but hypocrisy and falsehood.

Therefore, we fall when the test comes, because the Spirit of truth is not present. Christ now further says: “He shall bear witness of me.”

10. That is, if he is in the heart he speaks through you, and assures and confirms you in the belief that the Gospel is true. Then, as a result, the confession of the Gospel springs forth. What, then, is the Gospel? It is a witness concerning Christ, that he is God’s Son, the Savior, and beside him there is none other. This is what Peter means when he says: “Ye are a royal priesthood, that we are elected thereto, that we preach and show forth the excellencies of Christ.” 1 Peter 2:9: Hence, there must always be witnessing. Witnessing loads upon itself the wrath of the whole world.

Then the cross follows, then rebellions rise, then the lords and princes and all who are great become angry; for the world cannot hear, nor will it tolerate, this kind of preaching. Therefore, the Gospel is hated and spoken against.

11. Reason thinks: Aye, one can, nevertheless, easily preach the Gospel in a beautifully simple and plain way, without a revolution in the world, and then it will be heartily welcomed. This is the utterance of Satan; for if I believe and say that faith in Christ alone does and accomplishes all, I overthrow the monkey play of the whole world; and that they cannot allow. Therefore, Christ’s teachings and man’s teachings cannot stand together; one must fall. Priests and monks, as they are at present, are dependent in name, character and works upon human institutions, which the Gospel thrusts to the ground. Hence, they dare not accept the Gospel, and they continue as they are.

12. Thus, I say that the Christian faith is founded upon Christ alone, without anything additional. The priests will not permit their affairs and institutions to fall; in consequence, seditions and rebellions follow.

Therefore, there must be dissension where the Gospel and the confession of Christ are; for the Gospel opposes everything that is not of its own spirit. If the teachings of Christ and the priests were not antagonistic, they could easily stand together. They are now pitted against one another. As impossible as it is for Christ not to be Christ, so impossible is it for a monk or priest to be a Christian. Therefore, a fire must be kindled. The Lord himself, in Matthew 10:34 and Luke 12:51 says: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Then follows in our text: “And ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

13. Yes; then, first, when you become certain of your faith through the Holy Spirit, who is your witness, you must also bear witness of me, for to that end I chose you to be apostles. You have heard my words and teachings and have seen my works and life and all things that you are to preach. But the Holy Spirit must first be present; otherwise you can do nothing, for the conscience is too weak. Yes, there is no sin so small that the conscience could vanquish it, even if it were so trifling a one as laughing in church, Again, in the presence of death the conscience is far too weak to offer resistance. Therefore another must come and give to the timid, despairing conscience, courage to go through everything, although all sins be upon it. And it must, at the same time, be an almighty courage, like he alone can give who ministers strength in such a way that the courage, which before a rustling leaf could cause to fear, is now not afraid of all the devils, and the conscience that before could not restrain laughing, now restrains all sins.

14. The benefit and fruit of the Holy Spirit is, that sin will be changed to the highest and best use. Thus Paul boasts to Timothy, when he was converted, that whereas he had lived such a wicked life before, he now held his sin to be so contemptible that he composed a hymn and sang about it thus, in 1 Timothy 1:12-17: “I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to his service; though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief: howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his long-suffering, for an example of them that should thereafter believe on him unto eternal life. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.”

The Virtue of Silence from the Waltherian Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

 

"For nine years he served on The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Commission on Theology and Church Relations as chairman of the committee on theology and was the principle author of several reports later adopted by the LCMS." And he flunked his doctorate in Germany and came home to get a seminary doctorate, equal to one from Baylor Baptist.

Avoid the Luther post on Exaudi - at all costs! That simple, plain sermon will demolish David P. Scaer, who holds the David P. Scaer Professor of Nonsense Chair at the fading Ft. Wayne Cemetery.

The Waltherian Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) have sought to ravish ELCA members by pointing out how horrible ELCA is. They were licking their lips and counting their Thrivent bucks from 1987 onward. They knew that the ELCA losses would fill their churches - or at least slow down the melt-down.

Let us guess ELCA was losing 2 million of their 5+ million members after 1987, which had the potential of being a gusher for the Waltherian Four, a regular Spindle Top of excess. "What are we going to do when all those ELCA escapees land in our almost empty churches, colleges, and seminaries?"

 I talked to Schaller after a conference, a nice guy and rather practical.

A well known church consultant - Lyle Schaller - went along with the joke. ELCA would shed members just by the change. WELS even sent Schaller prophecies around to amuse and energize the ministers. Little did they know about the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.

They were all wrong. Luther emphasized faith in Jesus Christ and the cross that came with faith. He borrowed this doctrine from the Apostle Paul and the Savior. By Luther's time the Church of Rome had become so vile, corrupt, and money-oriented that people craved the clear Biblical teaching of the Reformation: Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz.

This is the biggest laugh of all. The Waltherian Four are lost in their navel gazing and follow ELCA, their connection greased with Thrivent money.