ALPB Online Forum - ELCA Exiles Speak about Why They Left Holy Mother ELCA

"Brett, I did not damage ELCA enough,
so Liz Eaton stepped in to finish the job."

1. What are some of the other problems that are not related to the 2009 decision?
2. Had the decision in 2009 been different, would NALC exist?

How about these to start. 

1. Lack of commitment to the Great Commission. (google "ELCA evangelism" and try to find a story or article less than 10 years old)
2. Creeping (but picking up speed) Universalism 
3. Advocacy efforts always political left of center even when official documents are right of center (i.e. abortion - so far as I know the ELCA has never advocated for any limits to abortion)
4. Drift from scriptural and confessional authority (OK this is related to the 2009 decision)
5. Blindness to their own failed policies (i.e - their 30 year commitment to the quota system has resulted in them being the whitest denomination in the country). 

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 Austin, like Paul McCain, has been put in the ALPB penalty box.

Charles Austin - ELCA Pastor  and Apologist Has This Right -

The "Steadfast" guys - though many of them seem to this outsider to be pompous, self-important and super-crabs skilled at stroking their own egos - are, at least recently, attempting to avoid the bitter and nasty language employed on that other site [LutherQuest - sic].

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 "I won a prize for - It's OK To Pray hats."

Former DP Dave Behnke, who barged in on a pan-religious memorial service at Yankee Stadium, and prayed with various religions without even naming Christ:

In answer to your question, the extremist "LutherQuest posters" are in large part layfolks, some of whom are not in the Missouri Synod.  The nasty stuff from clergy is somewhat diminished, in my opinion.  The examples provided by Don, although dated, indicate to me, however, that any niceness may be a veneer.

I don't know the way supervision is provided in the ELCA.  The change at Steadfast, again in my opinion, comes from effective supervision.  The elimination of the crackpot contingent is never going to be 100%, at any rate.


Dave Benke

 LCMS offers hope for Sodom.
Creeping Universalism? - WELS-ELS-LCMS has it.

The Delight of Working the Soil - Oceanography of the Dirt

 Our neighbor and her daughter wanted to be
rose gardeners. She started with an extra Veteran's Honor
and now has three of these Home Rome roses to plant.

Our Army Ranger veteran and landscaper stopped by to say hello to Chris and ask to borrow Sassy. He looked over my front-yard and grinned, saying, "Do they mind what you did to the grass?"

He was the one who asked, "What do you have against grass?" But now that the roses are blooming and the other plants forming, the front yard looks more like a display for gardeners and rose-lovers alike.

I thought Edith's Darling was an odd name for a rose.

 Above is a Downton Abbey rose, so Edith's Darling
is Marigold - marigold colors.

Once I took two offers of $5 roses, which were from Weeks, a large wholesaler, selling their leftovers via Gurney's. This time the grower was Weeks again and the retailer Spring Hill Nursery. I network with all of them and no longer buy at full price. New featured roses are often $30 each. These were $6.

The catch is taking what is offered, but that worked well twice before. As readers know, I often brag about the $5 roses thriving under the maple tree.

 Neptune

I favor roses with a long history and a small price. Mr. Lincoln was $12 from Edmunds, and I know what to expect from that rose - long stems, deep red roses, a cloud of aroma. Still, it is fun to find the labels on the new bare root roses and look up their names.

Planting roses means sitting on the damp ground, often on thorny pieces of rose pruned some time before. I contend with tree roots, opportunistic weeds, and an abundance of Wild Strawberries, carelessly planted  - or on purpose - by the birds who patrol the garden. The Robins were watching me open up patches of mulched soil, knowing food would be disturbed and running around for their hunting. Several pieces of cardboard mulch featured dozens of bugs underneath, doubtless the reason for Grackles quickly flipping cardboard away.

Some people like to fish, boating on lakes - and the ocean - to enjoy their hobby. I like digging in the ocean of soil beneath our feet. When dealing with untilled soil and steadfast maple roots in the past, the labor seemed endless. Now the front-yard is completely mulched and full of red wiggler earthworms.

Jeff Lowenfels argues that keeping the soil undisturbed is often better than tilling and rotating crops. Fungi  set up their own networks in the soil and perform the duties managed by the plants, delivering nutrition and water in exchange for the carbon credits they need to grow.

Ignoring the other microbes, the fungal contribution alone is staggering, intricate, microscopic, and unseen. That reminds me of Jesus speaking to Nicodemus about the power of the Spirit/Wind (the same word in Hebrew and Greek).

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The wind is invisible but tears roofs off, uproots trees, and blows buildings apart. The Spirit's work is always united with the Word - just as powerful and invisible. Therefore, references to the Word include the Spirit, and references to the Spirit include the Word. Spirit-born means Word born, born from above, the power of the Spirit in the Word conveying Jesus to us.

When soil is sterilized in the laboratory, plants will grow in it, but they are stunted and more prone to disease. Only recently did the soil scientists learn of fungus growing in plants to protect them - and fungal connections to most plants, feeding and watering them. Many labored in agriculture, landscaping, and gardening without knowing these basics, which are only now reaching the public. And yet we take derivatives of soil fungus to kill disease in our own bodies. Everything has a purpose, and nothing is wasted.

Gardeners enjoy being little creationists in the soil, making tiny changes to an incredibly complex system and enjoying - or abhorring - the results. I let the English Ivy grow, as Mrs. Ichabod wanted, so the landscaper said,"Is it growing over the picture window on purpose?" I told him they were free curtains and shades, even though they want to grow inside too. The unfortunate result is the ivy sneaking into the rose garden to enjoy more sun and water.

Various mint plants dot the rose garden now, to keep the beneficial bugs fed in their adult stage. Plants will send extra nectar to attract beneficials when attacked. Having the host plants nearby increases the numbers of resident Hover Flies, Ichneumon Wasps, Tachinids, and Pirate Bugs. Spiders are heroes - toads are honored guests, pampered with rotting logs and shallow pans of water.

 Mountain Mint's tiny flowers attract tiny bugs
that prey upon pests.

Last year I pampered the mint plants - Mountain Mint, Monarda, and Cat Mint. The tiny mints of last year started out the spring as tall green plants ready to bloom all summer.

 Cat Mint looks like lavender.

Tonight's Greek Class Is Postponed Due To Rain. Volume 1 of Luther Ready for the Artwork

Norma Boeckler's website is here.

Our latest rain left 7 inches of rain, as measured by my wheelbarrow. We have one day off - today - followed by three days of rain. Since I have to deal with wet ground before and after, perhaps a delivery at 2 PM or later, I thought it would be best to delay the Greek class.

I studied how long bare root roses could be soaked before planting. Some gardeners on the Net tell of leaving them in water, below the cane level, for weeks - by accident. That would be OK, except for the prospect of facing an even muddier place to plant them.

If they are planted, three days are a blessing for settling the soil, energizing the soil creatures, and keeping the canes damp.

We decided against storing the manger scene most of year,
so we have left it next to the altar all year.
The rose is Fragrant Cloud.
Falling in Love roses are behind it.

Pink Peace like to bloom all over the bush at once.
Veterans' Honor has blooms that simply glow in the garden.

 Fragrant Cloud - from the side.

Volume 1 of Luther's Sermons will be ready for the artwork today - Norma will work on the set.

Each volume will have a selection of Gems from Luther's Sermons. A final volume will compile the gems separately, probably a larger selection.

Televangelist Benny Hinn's headquarters raided by IRS | 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Televangelist Benny Hinn's headquarters raided by IRS | 13 WTHR Indianapolis:



"GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Federal agents descended on the North Texas headquarters of television evangelist Benny Hinn and took boxes out of the offices.

The search began about 9 a.m. Wednesday at Hinn's headquarters in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. According to Hinn's website, he was in Paris.

Lisa Slimak, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, said she was unable to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. A message sent to Bennie Hinn Ministries went unanswered.

Hinn was one of six television evangelists investigated by the Senate Finance Committee in 2007. Three years later, the six were cleared of any wrongdoing.

NBC affiliate KXAS reports that U.S. Postal Service inspectors and IRS criminal investigators were executing a search warrant. The IRS criminal investigators conducting the warrant service primarily investigate tax evasion and general fraud against the government."



'via Blog this'

The Biggest Scam in History - Mainline Dogma, Straight Outta Halle University

Nothing can top fresh coffee, early in the morning. The phone does not ring. No repairmen show up at the door. Birds start to chirp in the trees, but the squirrels do not rouse themselves to raid the bird-feeders or fall off the window ledge.

I wonder why no one is running around with hair on fire about the vast scam being perpetrated by the mainline seminaries - including the Lutheran ones. Even the alleged critics on the sidelines are part of the fraud - conservative apostates, who are like Sanka coffee, a hint of the substance but none of the flavor of the real thing. Mainline dogma, like Sanka, owes its existence to German influence.

Apostasy has many parents, but Halle University - which absorbed Wittenberg University - certainly deserves a place in history for switching so quickly from a school to teach the Bible to one constantly attacking the Scriptures.

 Rolf Preus moved Walther's Easter absolution of the world
to Good Friday. Others declare the Moment of Absolution to
be the angelic message in Luke - Peace on earth...

Perhaps Calvinism is the main ingredient in that movement called Pietism, an artful blend of Roman and Calvinistic cell groups plus a veneer of Lutheranism. The spirit of Calvin is chiefly one of making grand, elegant statements without any Scriptural support. If we listen to Calvin's pontifications, they sound almost like CFW Walther's theses.

The Halle University veterans knew the entire world was absolved the moment Christ rose from the dead. 1 Timothy 3:16 - there it it, but they never notice - no it is not.

1 Timothy 3:16King James Version (KJV)

16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was 

• manifest in the flesh, 
• justified in the Spirit, 
• seen of angels, 
• preached unto the Gentiles, 
• believed on in the world, 
• received up into glory.

Lenski calls this passage - the six aorists. The Incarnate Word was "justified in the Spirit," but no mention can be found of the entire world justified, declared innocent. One needs this thesis - "If Jesus is justified, then the entire world is justified." That is typical of Calvin and mainline clergy today.

All the Lutheran seminaries are mainline - ELCA, LCMS, ELS, WELS, CLC (sic). The sideline Lutheran critics and gurus are also mainline - Otten's Christian News, LutherQuest (ha!), Steadfast Lutherans (haha!), etc. They all agree that the entire world is forgiven and saved, just as the Universalists do. But more than that, like the Unitarian buddies of the Universalists, most of them have dropped all the distinctives of the Christian Faith: the divinity of Christ, eternal life, etc.

These mainline leaders reject the Chief Article, which is Justification by Faith in Christ. Nothing irritates them more or energizes them quicker than Justification by Faith. They shun, excommunicate, and excoriate anyone suspected of teaching that dreaded doctrine.

The Right Wing of Apostasy makes a living by criticizing the Left Wing of Apostasy, even though they share the same repudiation of the Chief Article.

The Left Wing makes it easy. One Episcopalian seminary merged with Union Seminary in NYC because Union recognizes all religions as valid. Likewise, my old seminary - Waterloo Lutheran in Ontario - delights in having a Jewish scholar on the teaching faculty, plus other oddities,such as a Methodist professor who pastored a Mennonite congregation in town. Mrs. Ichabod said, "What?"

Like the Roman Empire, the apostates worship every god except the One True God. Him, the apostates persecute night and day, between fund-raising events.

The "conservative" Lutheran apostates look at ELCA's seminaries and say, "Look at how horrible, unionistic, and bankrupt they are!" But they should be saying, "We are only a baby-step away from them. We should discuss that at the next WELS-ELCA-LCMS-ELS joint Thrivent project.

Mordor, in Mequon, was inviting Jewish scholars to teach them, many years ago. Concordia in Ft. Wayne was doing the same - with ELCA leaders and the heresiarch Richard John Neuhaus. As I recall, Father Neuhaus also taught at Concordia, St. Louis.

As Luther warned, when the Means of Grace are jettisoned, foul errors rush in to replace the truth. Readers can judge for themselves - when the following Lutheran theologians wrote their statements, did they not seem to be arguing against the flatulence of UOJ?

 The Preus Family franchise does not want me to quote what
the Preus brothers edited and published.

Emmaus Conference UOJ Guru Jay Webber Quoted the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary President - You Won't Believe What It's Like Now! UOJ Is the ELCA Way

Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Waterloo, Ontario.
Mrs. Ichabod earned an MA in German literature at UniWat,
spawned from the "little red schoolhouse,"
whose UOJ Pietism led to the following...

 These three UOJ advocates broke the ice for a shameful
public WELS-ELS-LCMS dogma cuddle. Emmaus 2015.

GJ - "Another Obscure Pietistic Hero

          Webber enjoys citing Pietists and baptizing them as orthodox or confessional Lutherans. The seldom-cited Quistorp gets that treatment from Webber, which would make church historians gasp in wonder. Strangely, Webber begins his essay citing Professor Caroll Herman Little, who once served as president of the seminary I attended – Waterloo Lutheran in Ontario, Canada. Robert Preus once mentioned Little to me and doubtless taught Little as an example of a ULCA pastor who agreed with the LCMS about doctrine. One little problem remains – the Canada Synod was Pietistic. For example, when one of the patriarchs of the synod visited a home and saw the boys playing cards, he said nothing. On Sunday, old Reble delivered a blistering sermon on the evils of playing cards – a typical Pietistic sermon for that era. Like most readers I have to wonder why Little’s opinions about justification matter to anyone."

---

Daniel Moaz is the Jewish scholar in residence,
on the seminary faculty.

UOJ Led WLS into Multi-Faith Education

At Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (WLS), the founding institution of Wilfrid Laurier University, our ecumenical, multifaith and inclusive contact creates a diverse and vibrant community committed to faith in service of the common good. At WLS, you will experience a place where spirituality accompanies academic curiosity to inspire global citizenship.

For more than 100 years, we have educated leaders for church and the world. Through our programs, you’ll learn the art of engaging the resources of a public faith in response to the demands of a changing world. Our association with Laurier provides resources for you to pursue research and scholarly interests in an environment that fosters a high standard of academic excellence.

Our graduates find rewarding careers where they serve, with heart, in various roles such as counsellors, pastors, ministers, chaplains and social workers.

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Keffer Chapel at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Is Dog-gone Friendly

Most of our worship takes place in Keffer Memorial Chapel, a flexible worship space that also hosts academic lectures, panel discussions, community meals, yoga classes, and even sessions for students to de-stress with friendly dogs!

 Then - Keffer Chapel had liturgical services
and some of those silly experiments
that permanently alienated me from the entertainment crowd.

Now - UOJ has brought the Latte Church effect to Keffer Chapel,
plus dogs and various world religions.

United Lutheran Seminary Names Presbyterian Theresa Latini As Its First President — Gettysburg Seminary

Theresa Latini is devoid of Lutheran diplomas, 
which is appropriate for a Presbyterian. 
Latini is her maiden name.

United Lutheran Seminary Names Presbyterian Theresa Latini As Its First President — Gettysburg Seminary:


"April 20, 2017 (Gettysburg and Philadelphia) The United Lutheran Seminary named the Rev. Dr. Theresa F. Latini as the first president to lead the unified Seminary with campuses at Gettysburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[GJ - Her blog is - http://www.theresalatini.com/

Her vita - http://www.theresalatini.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TL-CV-2013-FOR-DISTRIBUTION.pdf]

President-elect Latini will officially begin July 1, 2017, which is also the inaugural date of United Lutheran Seminary (ULS), a consolidation of two historic Lutheran Seminaries in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. ULS is the oldest seminary of the 3.8 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), dating to 1826. [GJ - ELCA started with 5.3 million members and has whittled that down to 3.8!]

Latini comes to the presidency with extensive experience in theological education as an educator and administrator. She has written two books and many articles on topics such as Christian vocation, congregational leadership, and racial reconciliation. She previously served as the George C. Weinman Chair of Pastoral Theology and Ministry at Luther Seminary and continues to advise students in Luther’s Ph.D. program. Currently, Latini is associate dean of diversity and cultural competency and professor of practical theology and pastoral care at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI. She has expertise in conflict mediation and has consulted with congregations and judicatories throughout the United States.

Latini will lead the new theological school, whose roots run deep in Lutheran identity in America and broadly across historically ecumenical Christian commitments. “I am honored and humbled to be called to serve as the first president of United Lutheran Seminary. Grounded in the promises of God, this bold and innovative union of two historic Lutheran institutions will enable us to educate and empower public Christian leaders for confessionally rooted, ecumenically connected, and interculturally competent ministry in the twenty-first century. I look forward to co-laboring with students, staff, and faculty at ULS and with colleagues throughout the ELCA as together we join God’s work of healing, justice, and reconciliation.”

An ordained minister of Word and Sacrament (sic) in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Latini’s background includes pastoral positions in Minneapolis, MN and Levittown, PA.  She received both her M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary. The PCUSA has been a full communion partner of the ELCA since 1997. Full Communion partners share a commitment to interchange of clergy and an official recognition of agreement in essential doctrines and sacramental understanding. [GJ - So that makes this farce OK?]

The Rev. Dr. Elise Brown, who chairs the Seminary Board of Trustees, affirmed that “Dr. Latini brings a broad range of academic experience and expertise in pastoral care, cultural competency, diversity, and conflict resolution.” Brown continued, saying these “areas of expertise will serve United Lutheran Seminary and the wider church in forming leaders for the 21st century in a church that has undergone significant change.  We are thrilled a full communion partner with such deep passion for and understanding of Lutheran reformation theology and history has agreed to serve with us.” 

Consulting with the Rev. Charles Miller, the leader of the search team, ELCA “Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was very affirmative of the ULS presidential search committee's work and its decision to recommend Dr. Latini.”  During the search process, Miller also observed “After two interviews and some forty questions ranging from ‘what is a seminary?,’ ‘what does it mean to be Lutheran in America today?,’ and ‘how do you work with people who don't agree with you?,’ Dr. Latini's responses persuaded our committee that she was ULS leadership-ready! Her answers were thoughtful and theologically astute. Dr. Latini's gifts and experience equip her exceptionally well to lead ULS in its pivotal and formative launching on July 1, 2017.”  [GJ - Given the parameters, I have to heartily agree with this assessment.]

President-elect Latini will begin as the Seminary President July 1, with a planned inauguration for November 2, 2017 in Lancaster, PA. She will live at both Gettysburg and Philadelphia campuses with her husband, Tom van Deusen, and daughter Eleanor.

The search for a seminary president was launched last fall following the decisions of Gettysburg Seminary President Michael Cooper-White to retire after 17 years of service, and President David Lose of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, took a call to serve as senior pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN."


'via Blog this'

***
GJ -

The latest ELCA seminary presidents are -

 Louise Johnson, Wartburg Seminary - founded by Loehe.

 Robin Steinke, on the right, is president of Luther Seminary.

The Berkeley seminary combined with a college, just as Southern did. Now Trinity in Columbus is merging with Capital University. Some additional documents are being handed to the ELCA Board of Directors, which suggests that similar adjustments are coming.

All the ELCA seminaries are financially distraught, no matter what the happy talk memos say. The leaders managed to shrink the ELCA faster than wool in boiling water, just in time for the brick and mortar investments of the past to become an expensive burden.

 Susan Johnson - "Why wasn't I hired?
I went to Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
and have extensive experience as a Canadian bishop, eh?"

Mulched Yards Hold the Rain - Five More Inches Fell Last Night

 God delights in using overlooked people and bad situations
to glorify His Name.
Dandelions quietly help the soil, provide fluff for birds' nests,
and offer super-nutritious leaves.
Man answers by poisoning and pulling them.

I was tempted to look at my wheelbarrow rain gauge, after all-night storms, which cut out the Internet. I could not find a pair of bad shoes to check the wheelbarrow. I only found two right-handed shoes fit for mud and water, so I was content to look out the back door and make a guess.

The backyard is under water. Fortunately, the rain flows down the sides of the house and down into the street. The wood and leaf mulches absorb all the rain and hold it, sponge-like, and keep the plants hydrated.

One old slander of wood mulch is - "The wood absorbs nitrogen, especially sawdust, as it ages or rots." Yes, that is true, but wood also releases that nitrogen. Nothing is wasted, as the Feeding of the Five Thousand miracle teaches. The fragments are gathered up rather than tossed away.

Organic compounds hold useful soil ingredients in the top 12 inches of soil, helped immeasurably by the soil creatures. I look at these organic ingredients as immobile (mulch, manure, leaves, banana peels, shredded wood). The following are mobile forms of organic chemicals:

• Earthworms
• Spiders
• Beetles
• Springtails
• Ants
• Larvae
• Protozoa
• Bacteria
• Nematodes, and
• The prince of all earth-movers - the mole.

When the soil creatures die - or as they die - they become part of another creature. Thus the Manager provides food for all others plants and animals, which themselves become food for all plants and animals.

The spider that eats the bug is snatched by the bird for its young, whose manure provides growth for the plants that host the spider. 

God is a careful and miserly manager, using every ingredient and creature for Every Day Low Costs (a Walmart motto). Unlike us humans, the creatures and plants go about their labor exactly as designed, with total dedication. Today Mr. Cardinal was going to the backyard feeder to bring seed for Mrs. Cardinal, sitting on her nest in the Crepe Myrtle. I would not go out in the driving rain. Sassy refused, too. But Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal were doing their jobs regardless of the nasty weather.

Some "nice try" additions to the soil will not hurt - Epsom Salts (as suggested by the Epsom Salts Council), egg shells, coffee grounds, and used tea bags. None of those things will make a significant positive difference. Minerals need to be converted to useful versions, so Epsom Salts will only benefit the producers -  but they are still a great ingredient for foot soaks.

Egg shells will not become a part of the soil unless used by birds in their crops, maybe by earthworms in their crops. They are not worth the trouble, but good for arguments. If gardeners want calcium for their plants, let the Dandelion herb grow and flourish - it mines calcium from the soil and provides a neat conversion, to bring calcium up from the taproot to the surface. Earthworms also create useful calcium with unique glands engineered for that purpose.

Bananas are the most frequently bought item at a grocery store (source - Walmart guru). We buy them regularly and toss the peels on the bird feeding area. That can be 400 peels a year, an appealing statistic. The peels dry quickly and become part of bug and earthworm food - a good addition. I do not think there is enough coffee and tea leftovers to make a difference, but I am adding de-caff ground coffee to plants as a mulch, for fun and retribution. I really dislike de-caff and bought it on sale.

Adding organics is more a matter of habit than sudden great ideas and a new idea just promoted on Facebook. Gathering leaves and bits of trees are habits that add up to a lot of improvement.

Our neighbor's adult daughter asked about how to help plants grow under a tree. I suggested bags of organic matter, like mushroom compost and mulch. Earthworms will lighten the soil by pulling it down and tunneling in the soil. The process is far more complex, but that is obvious part. She said, "We have a place where we throw our grass and leaves. It has a million earthworms we got from Mom."

I said, "Ah yes. Those are the grandchildren from the red wiggles I gave her for composting." So my initial purchase of earthworms led to their descendants changing the soil at the homes of the mother and daughter.

Butterfly Weed is an attractive flower needed
by the Monarch Butterfly.
The caterpillars also thrive on Milkweed.

Glad I Planted Before the Rain
Yesterday's effort assumed a rainstorm, but nothing like the one we received. I have 5,000 Buckwheat seeds being drowned, eaten, or germinating. Likewise, 1,000 Butterfly Weed seeds.

The old farming adage—
"One for the mouse, one for the crow,
One to rot, and one to grow,"
is true of fruits as well as of seeds.
And many variations in the source.

The new and old roses are getting warm showers, nitrogen compounds for their growth, and perfect water to hydrate them and the soil creatures.

I poked Hidden Lily rhizomes into the soil, and they are getting settled by the long rain. They were already hydrated by a night immersed in the rain-barrel.

  Hidden Lilies are my latest, all-weather find -
and the cost is low.

Crouching Buckwheat, Hidden Lily - Even More Easy-To-Grow Plants

 Hidden Lily is also called Hidden Ginger.
The root has been used as a ginger substitute.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a hit movie, long ago.

By chance, I saw an offer for Hidden Lily, which I knew nothing about. Once the rhizomes arrived, I began reading. The plant seems to grow like Canna, enjoying sun and water. Unlike Canna, the Hidden Lily is a fairly hardy and can be left in the ground to spread and come up again the next year, or divided and shared with others.

I left the mesh bag in the rain-filled wheelbarrow overnight. The rhizomes seemed like that. They were easy to  plant by poking holes in the mulch and cardboard base, and they reminded me of Canna rhizomes.

 Canna rhizome, subject to frost. Gott sei dank.

 Cannas are enjoyed for their constant blooming and spreading,
but they can also be
as annoying as loud bagpipe music left playing too long.

 Buckwheat flowers fast and keeps flowering in the summer,
but never becomes a pest flower.

Battling Bugs with Buckwheat

"Buckwheat flowers attract honeybees and other pollinators with their morning nectar flow, but they also support healthy populations of smaller beneficial insects. Mounting evidence suggests that blooming buckwheat give a significant boost to important beneficial species, particularly hoverflies (properly known as Syrphid flies but commonly called hoverflies because of their seemingly effortless ability to hover)."

"Throughout the summer, I sow buckwheat in any spot bigger than a dinner plate that won’t be planted for a few weeks. With good weather, buckwheat can go from seed to bloom in a little over a month."

Bad for Weeds, Great for the Soil

"Summer weeds that do germinate alongside buckwheat are usually shaded into submission. Later, when the plants are pulled out, residual compounds exuded by growing buckwheat roots may act as natural herbicides, suppressing the germination of weed seeds."

Growing Buckwheat to Improve Soil

"Phosphorous and calcium are among the most important nutrients needed by plants. Soils that are regularly enriched with organic matter often contain an abundance of these nutrients, but in forms that are difficult for plants to take up. Buckwheat has been called a phosphorus pump because of its ability to take up soil phosphorus and return it in a more plant-friendly form. When you grow a patch of buckwheat, both your garden and your compost pile reap this reward."

Crouching Buckwheat
A large bag also appeared in the mail. That was a bargain bag of Buckwheat seeds. I cannot imagine a better seed for:

1. A low-cost, easy sowing to create a bee and butterfly garden.
2. Flowers that overwhelm pesky weeds.
3. Extra havens for beneficial insects in the Wild Garden.

Last year I had Buckwheat blooming in the deep shade where Wild Strawberries and Hosta bloomed. The extent of shade-blooming plants has intrigued me. When someone wants flowers, shade is often a problem and people regret having too much shade. But when a plant will flourish, flower, fruit, and set seed in the shadiest area of the yard, that is a real benefit.

 Hostas send up an elegant but modest bloom,
a flower loved by Hummingbirds.
The plants multiply without being annoying and garish.

Last summer, my first venture in Hostas was satisfactory. Mrs. Ichabod wanted some, and Mr. Gardener had a bunch to divide. Direct Gardening sold me a more for a few dollars. I planted tiny ones and divided plants last year. They came up again this spring. The value of Hostas, besides infinite variety of color and size, is the flower that Hummingbirds love.

The gardening websites are careful to mention flowers that Butterflies and Hummingbirds love. Today, more of us are in tune with the beneficial insect plants - often those with the tiniest flowers for those micro-creatures like Pirate Bugs.

God has planned for all these flowers to work together in protecting the beneficial insects and worthwhile crops. Sometimes, all someone needs to do is grow the plant that hosts the bug that kills the pest. And those plants are not the difficult or expensive plants, but the common, overlooked, easily grown ones.

Catmint is loaded with tiny flowers that pollinators love.
I have several growing among the roses,
enjoying the sun and extra water,
clumping rather than spreading like a flu virus.

Innocent Pleas Entered in Ecclesia College Bribery Case - Oren Paris III Indicted

Innocent pleas entered in college bribery case:


"The law setting up the work-college account is still on the books, the department confirmed Monday. Grants from the account could only benefit colleges that are "part of the Work College Consortium," the act states. The only college in Arkansas that is a member of that consortium is Ecclesia, according to the consortium's website.

Woods emailed a draft of his proposed work-college legislation to Paris on Dec. 2, 2014 -- the same day Paris had the college send a $15,000 check to Shelton's company, according to the indictment. Two days later, Shelton withdrew $12,400 in cash, the indictment says.

Woods also agreed to encourage other state lawmakers to give money to the college. In all, Ecclesia College obtained more than $700,000 in state General Improvement Fund grants in 2013 and 2014, records show.

In other developments at Monday's arraignment, Paris received permission to travel out of state to meet with private donors to the college as long as he gives federal authorities 14 days' notice. Paris was also granted leave to attend family gatherings where potential witnesses in the case are present so long as he does not discuss the case with them."

 Bob Headrick is the academic dean at Ecclesia College.

'via Blog this'

How To Print or Copy Posts from the Blog

Someone asked about how to copy and pass along posts from this blog. I will first deal with the icons at the bottom of each post. Scroll to the bottom of this post - or open up another window for a second view, which may make this easier.

Email
Lower left, end of this post - email. Left-click on that M icon - M for eMail and you will get a page looking like this. Fill out the form and send it. Several at once could get it, if you have email software for that.

Blog This!
Next on that row is the b for Blog This!, a handy tool I use for capturing news items with the link. I mark part of the article (not all of it - which is not allowed) and click the orange b I have on my toolbar in Blogger. That will create a new blog post that will be easy to edit and comment upon. The marked area will appear within quotation marks.

t for Twitter
Twitter is bad software, poorly maintained and - we hope - soon to disappear. If you tweet all the time, you are POTUS or a college student.

f for Facebook
I would not use Facebook pass-alongs, because Facebook exists to mine your data and your friends' data.

Pinterest
I do not use Pinterest or watch The View. That funny icon is for Pinterest and also calls up Facebook - double data sharing, if you like that.

G+1
G+1 is for Google Plus, which shares the post using Google's software.

Old-Fashioning Printing and Mailing
One option is to print the post with an actual printer. Printers were once a marvel, but they are not used as much anymore. They are handy.

Press the control key and press the p key at the same time - that opens up the print command. On my computer, that limits printing to that post.

Or mark the part you want to copy by using the mouse to highlight that area. Once you press the control key and the c copy, you have copied it into the temporary buffer (also called the clipboard). Control v will paste it into Word, into an email, or into a blog.

Copy the Specific Link for the Post
Copy the Link for that Post and Paste the Link into Facebook, etc.
The link or URL is general for the entire blog, but each post has its own link. To get that link, click on the embedded title. I did that for the follow-up article on the New Testament text and got this

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2017/04/a-short-version-of-new-testament-text.html

I also embedded the link, which is done in some software that shows a chain link - get it? - link? Haha. So clever. The broken link means remove the link. Some emails will embed the link by using the enter key. Sometimes not. Depends. Blogger has a command graphic that says LINK, which is not very subtle, but it works.

Working links are the heart of the Google search engine and all social media. The formula looks for active and often-used links. That moves them up on the search engine results. That is why Ichabod owns so many Lutheran topics and graphics on the Net, sharing links, reading links, and methods I employ to get links clicked upon. Daily haters of Ichabod improve the ranking. Daily fans, who Icha-peek all day, disregarding their Icha-widows - improve the search engine results.

EC President Oren Paris III, Woods, others answer to new indictment in kickback scheme | NWADG

Woods, others answer to new indictment in kickback scheme | NWADG:

"Paris is accused of paying kickbacks to Woods while Woods was a legislator and to then-Rep. Micah Neal, also R-Springdale. Neal pleaded guilty to public corruption charges on Jan. 4.

According to the indictment, Paris passed the kickback payments through Shelton. Shelton is a consultant and business partner of Paris. Paris paid Shelton consulting fees from the college, and Shelton would pass money to Woods, the indictment says.

Woods also agreed to encourage other state lawmakers to give money to the college. In all, Ecclesia College obtained more than $700,000 in state General Improvement Fund grants from 2013 through 2014, records show.

In other developments Monday, Paris received permission to travel out of state to meet with private donors to the college as long as he gives federal authorities 14 days notice."

'via Blog this'