A Most Read Post from 2013 - Plus Other Links

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Joel Osteen Agrees with the Antichrist

Which doofus is posing with his wife?

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/joel-osteen-god-approves-of-homosexuals/

God “absolutely” approves of everyone — including homosexuals — declared one of America’s most well-known evangelical pastors

The Houston megapastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen, whose followers include the likes of Cher and Oprah Winfrey, is hitting the talk-show circuit to promote his new book, “Break Out! 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life.”

Osteen, the very visible face of Lakewood Church in Houston since 1999,  talked to the Huffington Post about his thoughts on prayer, the pope and the homosexual lifestyle.

HuffPo Live host Josh Zepps quoted from Osteen’s new book: “It doesn’t matter who likes you or who doesn’t like you, all that matters is God likes you. He accepts you, he approves of you.”

Zepps followed up by asking if that included homosexuals.

Pastor Joel Osteen

“Absolutely,” Osteen insisted, “I believe that God has breathed his life into every single person. We’re all on a journey. Nobody’s perfect.”

Osteen, who oversees a congregation of 45,000 followers, stated all people must be acknowledged for who they are and expressed reluctance to “categorize” sin.

“The Bible said a sin is pride, a sin is selfish ambition. We tend to pick out these certain things,” he said.

Americans were told the LGBT agenda was just the next stage of the Civil Rights movement. Who knew it would end up with the prosecution and criminalization of vast numbers of Christians? It’s already happening – big time. Read about it in “THE NEW SEXUAL REVOLUTION: How the ‘gay rights’ movement has become a Trojan Horse for totalitarianism.

“But I believe every person is made in the image of God, and you have accept them as they are, on their journey. I’m not here to be preaching hate, pushing people down. I’m not here telling people what they’re doing wrong.”

Osteen has said numerous times that he believes living a homosexual lifestyle is a sin in accordance with his understanding of Christian scripture.

In an appearance on Fox News Sunday in 2012, Osteen discussed his position on homosexuality by telling host Chris Wallace that he “doesn’t dislike anybody” and believes gays are some of “most loving people in the world,” despite his strongly held conviction that homosexuality is a sin.

“I believe the scripture says that being gay is a sin. But, you know, every time I say that, Chris … people say, well, you are a gay hater and you’re a gay basher,” Osteen told Wallace during the interview. “I’m not. I don’t – I don’t dislike anybody. Gays are some of the nicest, kindest, most loving people in the world. But my faith is based on what I believe the scripture says, and that’s the way I read the scripture.”

Believe it or not, the Bible does NOT say you’re meant to float on a cloud, doing nothing but playing a harp forever. Your destiny is far greater and more glorious. Find out why God REALLY created you. Get details in the autographed bestseller, “The Divine Secret: The Awesome and Untold Truth About Your Phenomenal Destiny.”

Osteen also discussed Pope Francis during the Huffington Post interview, saying he appreciates the pontiff’s inclusive nature.

“I think the pope is fantastic, his tone, his humility,” he said.

“We may not agree 100 percent on doctrine and theology, but the Catholic Church, our church, it’s open for everybody. I like his tone, not pushing people away.”

A caller during the live interview asked Osteen to give his definition of spirituality and religion.

“I do think that religion has turned a lot of people off. Part of it is because it was all about the rules and was political. I think now people have a hunger for God, they want to have a relationship, but they don’t want to be called religious. I’m not trying to get them to join my religion, I’m just trying to plant a seed of hope in their heart.”

As WND reported, Osteen was once the victim of an elaborate hoax that suggested he was quitting his church and abandoning his faith. Osteen was in fact not quitting, despite several phony websites, news stories and even a YouTube video declaring otherwise.

The pastor wasn’t immune from criticism during his Huffington Post interview.

A caller chastised him for preaching about the power of praying for “things.”

Osteen agreed in part: “I don’t think you should spend your life praying for things, but I do believe you should thank God for what He’s given you. I think the scripture teaches us that we can pray for our dreams, pray for the big things. He’s not a small God; this God is incredible.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/joel-osteen-god-approves-of-homosexuals/#ocCWMtaP0DWFd9fT.99

The Gems Volume Is in Print. The Sermons of Martin Luther, Lenker Edition - Are Now Complete - Surprise Coming!

Gems Mined from Luther's Sermons is now in print at Amazon. This volume is a collection of the best quotations from all eight volumes. Of course, not all of the best could be included. However, they represent great Biblical insights unequaled today, after the plague of Fuller Seminary chatterboxes.

I will start sendingout  expected volumes today.

No wonder the synodocrats hate Luther.

 Christina E. Jackson

I often read the Lenker edition of Luther’s Sermons to my wife Christina, especially in Columbus. We were constantly struck by the way the Reformer addressed the issues of life and the carcinogens of Fuller’s Church Growth Movement. That pattern turned into a plan to put the best quotations into a database nicknamed Megatron. Four of the eight volumes were filled with inked exclamations about the topic addressed. Many more resources were added from various denominations and programs of Enthusiasm.

Help in research did not begin or end in Columbus. We turned the libraries inside-out in Waterloo Ontario, at Yale Divinity and Yale Medical, at Notre Dame and Augustana, at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, and the Vatican owned seminary near her work at an engineering firm. Sometimes I helped her in medical and engineering research, but she always helped in me theological research and publishing.

The decades of enjoyment in reading Luther led to consternation as the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation approached. The old Lenker set was hard to find and expensive. Christina encouraged me to reproduce it in an expensive edition, and the Kindle ebooks will be free. She cheered on the year’s work and helped in editing. The LCMS member who worked on all the volumes kept saying, “This paragraph is a gem!” and marked it. So Virginia Roberts’ exclamations turned into a new version of what Chris and I began together, 30 years ago – these Gems Mined from Luther’s Sermons.

If people wonder why so many books and articles have come from my cramped study, they only need to credit – or blame – Christina, who always encourages more projects and cheers them on. There are many ways to find gems –

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-12 KJV

 Anniversary present - a real rose preserved in plastic and edged in gold.

The Surprise!

God willing, there will soon be a another way to have, to hold, and to study Luther's Sermons.

I have asked our finishing editor, the incomparable Janie Sullivan, to stitch together the nine volumes into one PDF. I will post that via Dropbox, so people have a free version to use and share.

Why the all-in-one volume? I found the PDF of Thy Strong Word was quite useful in finding and quoting sources for other books or booklets, especially Making Disciples.

A PDF is portable so it can be read on all digital devices.

The all-in-one can be shared freely. This old geezer is staggered that a set of books can be made available all over the world, simply by posting the DropBox link.

This PDF will help preserve a beautifully illustrated - the only illustrated one - set of Lenker.

Norma A. Boeckler designed all the covers and illustrated all nine volumes. Today she wrote, "I have a large collection for the Gospel of John Commentary."

Wait There's More!

I have asked Janie Sullivan to set the Kindle version of Luther's Sermons (all nine) as FREE for FIVE DAYS. They will go to 99 cents after that. I would keep them free at all times, but Kindle has  a base price of 99 cents.

I will be doing this with all the other books, and there will be a DropBox folder posted for all the free book files (PDFs).

Janie Sullivan finishes each volume for Amazon and Kindle publication.

Getting the Roses Going, Mulching, Weeding,

I have two Chaste Trees, but they are slow to mature.

Two yard helpers asked about getting their bare root roses to come out of dormancy. They have late arriving rainbow roses. The first bare root rose I planted this year just sprouted leaves, so I know about looking at the same green canes every day, waiting like the poor souls in Casablanca.

I emailed these tips for making the leaves pop -

1. Keep the canes moist. Water them every other day, not just the soil, but the canes, which are like sponges. They dry out easily in the hot sun and drying winds.

2. Mulch the roses with leaves, cardboard, or grass. This holds the water in longer and feeds the soil creatures.

3. Prune a little off the tip of each cane. If some tips look brown in a few days, prune again. Pruning wakes them up.

4. Save rainwater for them. Second best is water stored for 24 hours or more - chlorine evaporates out.

I never use chemical rose fertilizer because the short-term and long-term effects are bad. Likewise, insecticides and fungicides are never considered. I have a little blackspot on roses, a fungus, but not enough to bother anyone. Those who spray never stop. spraying. 

Given that the Creator has an entire system for 

• fertilizing (molds and decomposition), 
• providing mutliple layers of insect protection (birds, beneficial insects, spiders, toads), and
• plants offering carbon to soil fungus in return for food and water -

why defeat divine engineering and management with haphazard human methods?

The LCMS has a pastor named Weedon, so I wondered if he would some day publish a book - Garden Success, by Weedon. He could have a whole series of books.

1. Beautiful Roses - by Weedon.
2. How I Lost 30 Pounds and Built a Blueberry Farm - by Weedon
3. Create Effective Compost Piles - by Weedon.

I have a soft spot for weeds. First of all, I learned how important they are for the soil. Deeply rooted plants are much better for the soil than covering the surface with organic matter. (Why not try both?) 

I have a lot of roses in the front yard, but no lawn. I now look on weeds and various bushes as essential soil improvers.Here are common weeds that I appreciate for their root systems, which open up the clay soil and provide most of the organic matter there:

• Hog Weed - a legume that stores usable nitrogen in its roots, which cannot be budged. If it is in the way, I cut the plant at the base. It will regrow and continue to help the soil.
• Dandelion - an herb with bad PR. The roots improve the soil and the flowers feed the insects. Birds use the parachute seeds for their nests, and the leaves are very nutricious for salads.
• Poke Weed can be enormous, but it is also easy to cut off at the base. Deep roots mean it mines nutrition from deep down up to the surface. Poke also feeds beneficial insects (flowers) and birds (berries). Poke opens up the clay soil for earthworm movement up and rain penetration down. In a long, powerful storm, other yards gush water and top soil. My deeply rooted plants store it. Deeply rooted plants that come back are building the soil so do not despise them. With my extended family of squirrels, I have nut trees growing everywhere, especially among the well-tended roses.
• Plantain and Fire Weed grow easily but do not get in the way.

Most Comfrey is pretty sloppy looking, but it is an organic gardener's favorite.
AKA Knitbone.

Some deeply rooted plants and bushes are:

1. Spirea
2. Mountain Mint
3. Comfrey
4. Joe Pye Weed

Roses are so cool because we plant two-year plants, so they bloom in a month or so. In contrast, we can spend almost as much for each non-rose bush. For instance, many roses sell for $15 over the Net. Many bushes are near or above that price. Most plants from the Net cost $6 or more, $10 at local stores. 

Most of these plants will spend the first summer getting established and begging for water. I divided some daisies and the new daisies responded by demanding water every other day. The mother plants are doing fine and ready to bloom. The difference - established roots.

 Once mature, unkillable.

My experience is that the plants on the Net or in a catalogue are fully established adult versions. They bloom like that in the third year. My advantage is that I had a wholesale nursery next door and got spirea and other plants for a song. They are only starting to reach their potential now. Meanwhile, roses are running circles around them.

Yesterday, I had three vases of fresh roses. Today I took them to three neighbors - great fun. The roses I took away from the bushes have been replaced by new ones. John 15 - the fruitful branches are pruned to make them even more fruitful.

Spirea with blooms - very colorful.
Before maturing - why I did plant that?

Before the Intrepids Ran Away Like Little Girs - Intrepid Lutherans: Dear Pastors Jeske and Ski: You are clearly in the wrong - 38 signers

Intrepid Lutherans: Dear Pastors Jeske and Ski: You are clearly in the wrong - 38 signers:

"Lest anyone should assume that these ELCA pastors are staunch confessional Lutherans trapped in the apostate ELCA, the website from Rev. Wheeler’s church removes any doubt regarding his confession:
Cross Lutheran Church is a diverse community of believers. We welcome and celebrate all people of every age, race, economic background, sexual orientation, and gender. Our mission is to share the Good News of God's Love in Jesus Christ. Our goal is to represent Christ by serving our community and the world, and by advocating for justice. We are a Reconciled in Christ Lutheran Church.

(“Reconciled in Christ” is an ELCA movement that openly welcomes practicing gays and lesbians into the full community of the church.)

We do not hesitate to call these ELCA pastors “apostates who hate Jesus.” This is not a judgment on the inner attitudes of their hearts, but rather on their public confession. By their own confession, they have abandoned God’s Word as the Truth. It is not possible for them to have a ministry that is in any way, shape or form “Lutheran” while denying the Word of Christ and embracing the doctrines of demons.

What exactly shall we learn from Rev. Wheeler? How should we in the WELS “change” to be more like this apostate ELCA congregation? What trendy Lutheran ministry techniques or theology shall we glean from these apostates? How do you dare participate in a conference on Lutheran ministry side by side with those who hate Jesus? God has only one message for these men: “Change or die!” That is, “Repent or perish eternally in your sins!” How can God’s servants have any other message for them?"

 Jeske helps fund ELCA, and ELCA agrees with UOJ,
so where's the beef, chief?

'via Blog this'

Two WELS Members Thanked Me about the Articles on WELS as an Abusive Sect. They Know from Their Own Experience

How cold is WELS?
This cold.

Two people wrote the same day about WELS' abusive behavior. They thanked me for the articles, doubtless because no one else gives a hoot. Every so often someone will be supportive within the sect, but it remains a cardinal sin to say WELS is less than perfect.

This behavior is the result of taking over JP Meyer's idiotic dogma, where he managed to be even worse than Stephan and Walther. WELS is a culture of anti-faith, more concentrated and fermented than Missouri.

How can anyone read this twaddle without laughing out loud? WELS has no Gospel, therefore, no Gospel fruits.

WELS is very legalistic about petty things, like the necessity of accepting initiation abuse without complaint. Naturally, it is a grave sin to read this blog.

But with the legalism over trivia comes Antinomianism to the greatest degree. Trafficking in child porn is instantly forgiven (to make WELS look better). Teacher/clergy adultery is rampant, and so is alcoholism. Two loyalists admitted to me that Martin Luther College summer school was Peyton Place on Viagra.



Check out at 48.05, where Mirthless Mark speaks in awe about GA, the "walk toward the lagoon," which was full of raw sewage. "Bless the sewage. Love the pain." That sounds like Opus Dei, the abusive cult in Roman Catholicism.

The victims of abuse are victimized twice over, because WELS wolves make sure everyone makes them (the victims) the problem. If a young single woman complains about the behavior of a married pastor on the staff, she has SINNED! and is hated out of WELS. He is not pushed out, though he had a previous episode.

If a pastor was kicked out for adultery, that part of his resume is conveniently omitted entirely when he slithers back in. What call?

I know about this first-hand, and the CLC (sic) is no better, even worse. The funny part is the massive effort to write hate-mail, almost always anonymously. One of our members was startled by the venom in the messages.

WELS wounds and damages its members, teachers, and clergy. Run for the doors.

After years of that, they simply stopped writing. They have my email at the top of the blog. I get offers from Africa daily, usually for $5 million left in my name! These pious clowns from WELS believe it is a sin to tell the truth with my name attached, but they are being angels as they engage in whisper campaigns where their only proof is "I heard that..."

Here are a few of the claims that have come back to me:

• "Nobody reads the blog." Answer - 6.5 million views.
• "He has no credibility." Answer - WELS members and pastors thank me - and they provide inside information.
• "He knows no Greek - it is pathetic." I am teaching my second Greek class online. I taught the entire Gospel of John in Greek.
• "He does not know Hebrew." Answer - The first edition of Thy Strong Word included Hebrew and Greek exegesis.
• "He was kicked out of WELS for false doctrine." Answer - I resigned from WELS because they endorsed the false doctrine of Church Growth and rewarded clergy adultery. WELS sold two of my books at one time: Liberalism and Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.

The Church Growthers are real haters, and so are the UOJ salesmen. They are two sides of the same bad coin.

Once upon a time WELS had the original Gausewitz Catechism in English and German. They have been engulfed and captured by the apostates. It is a raging anaerobic infection.