this morning i gave him a bath and then he threw food at me

Umineko-themed, of course. :3

1. Ange
2. Natsuhi
3. Shannon
4. Kanon
5. Rudolf
6. Kyrie
7. Hideyoshi
8. Eva
9. Battler
10. Erika
11. Dlanor
12. Beato

( Follow the not-fake cut! )

A New Testament teacher must be taught by God (Jeremiah 31:33-34); in his heart must be the light of divine truth and the law of divine commandments; then he will be able to teach others with good effect. The divine service of the New Testament consists not of much ceremony and opulent display, but it is inward; it consists in the inner peace and joy of the heart, as stated in Luke 17:21: "God's kingdom is within you." Therefore, a proper New Testament teacher looks first to the edification of the inner man. however, if that is to happen, the teacher must himself speak from his own inner man.

We are given here a further mark of the proper teacher: He does not regard the person of another man. Why? He knows that he serves God and must give an account of his service to Him alone, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5: "It is a small thing to be judged by you or by a human court." The reason soon follows: "It is the Lord who judges me, therefore do not judge before the time when the Lord comes."

Hence, when a teacher wishes to conduct his office rightly, he must have a strong and pure love for God. He must not strive to please anyone other than God alone, and must not fear to displease anyone other than God alone. This is why, before Christ enjoined Peter to tend His sheep [John 21:15], He asked him several times: "Peter, do you love Me?" Wherever this love does not exist, one cannot accomplish the goals of a proper teaching ministry. He who highly regards the favor or disfavor of men will stray from the guiding principle of his profession. Thus, St. Paul says: "If I were to please men, I would not be Christ's servant." [Galatians 1:10]. Whoever prefers men's approval to that of God will ultimately lose both; for in death man's favor cannot help him, and he has forfeited god's grace as well. There will be nothing to bring peace to his heart. God's grace endures forever; man's grace is inconsistent and fleeting. Whoever sets his heart on the eternity of divine grace will easily disregard the lowly grace of man.

--Blessed Johann Gerhard, Postil for Trinity XXIII, Postilla, Volume 2, page 235

In particular, it was not the external Synodical constitution that was to be the bond of unity. "Our Lutheran Church has no special ecclesiastical constitution to hold it together," wrote F. Pieper in 1880. Therefore the various Lutheran churches throughout the world have very different constitutions. "To the true unity of the church," he continued, "there belongs, as our Confession says, only the pure Word and the right administration of the sacraments. The fact that the sects put so much stock in external forms is due to the fact that they do not maintain the distinction between Law and Gospel." The whole point of the Synodical arrangements, Pieper wrote in his later essay on church government, is to implement, not to supplement the Word of God:

"Therefore also we elect as Visitors and Presidents not people who are perhaps clever with documents or are better versed than others in our 'Synodical Handbook,' but people who are well experienced in God's Word and are better able than others clearly to present and apply it with reference to existing circumstances. The supervising offices established by our Synodical order are not to supplement God's Word, but serve God's Word, so that it - God's Word - might hold sway."

--Kurt Marquart, "Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics" Volume IX, p. 213

The first Pieper quote is from his 1880 LC-MS Iowa District Essay, "Theses on the Distinction of Law and Gospel". The second and longer quote is from his 1896 LC-MS Synod Convention Essay, "Kirche und Kirchenregiment".

That same Holy Scripture which is able to make sinners wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15) is also "profitable" for all those things with which the "man of God," the preacher of the Gospel, needs to be "outfitted" for "every good work" of his office (vv. 16.17). Steeped in the Spirit-taught didaktois, 1 Cor. 2:13) words from the "mind of Christ" (v. 16), he becomes "apt to teach" (didaktikon, 1 Tim. 3:2) others, as a resourceful householder, ever drawing out of his treasury things new and old (Mt. 13:52).

This needs to be stressed today in the face of what often passes for theological education but actually unfits a man for the ministry in general and for preaching in particular - either by robbing him outright of any and every firm Word from God, or by sidelining serious preoccupation with revealed truth as "impractical". The historical-critical or pragmatic stones substituted for the Bread of Life cannot of course nourish or sustain their victims, let along build the church or advance her mission. Where real theology is destroyed or despised, heaps of "practical" courses are then piled up, designed to equip the future minister with the psychological and sociological "skills" necessary to manipulate people in the mass market of religion. No longer a man of God, shaped by wrestling with God (Gen. 32:24-31) in hallowed text and sacrament, by prayer, study, and trial (oratio, meditatio, tentatio), the "minister" is then but a hollow functionary plying his trade for profit and success.

Faithful churches and ministers will recoil from the false glitter (Mt. 4:1-11!) of this travesty, pray the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His harvest (Mt. 9:38), and do all in their power to hand on the faith to faithful men who will in turn be able to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2). A serious and solid theological preparation honors the primacy of God's Word and therefore of preaching in the church. The substance of the Gospel itself will then determine and integrate all exegetical, dogmatical, historical, and practical disciplines, without the fatal "theory/practice" schizophrenia of modern pragmatic church-marketeering. "Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty" (Zech. 4:6). The man of God renounces the technician's contrivance and manipulation (2 Cor. 2:17; 11:20; Gal. 4:7; Eph. 4:14), because he trusts the divine message he "stewards" but does not control (Augsburg Confession V) - and just so he unleashes in the Gospel not mere words but power (1 Thess. 1:5).

--Kurt E. Marquart, "Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics", Volume IX, page 204-205

We would prefer, when it is feasible, to happily stand together in a churchly manner with all who call themselves Lutheran - indeed, with all who call themselves Christians. We take no pleasure in struggle, indeed, would desire to live in the deepest peace with everyone. But this peace does not rest in our hands. Since we teach the religion of grace and stand only on God's Word, all good [Roman] Catholics and all weak Protestants, local and foreign Lutherans together, battle us. Our only choice is battle or denial. We choose the battle and cry to God that He be our strength and protection.

And we may do this with complete confidence. God is on our side, because we stick to His Word. Therefore, in this onslaught of hell, from the world, from false and misled Christians, we can hide ourselves behind God. Only in this way, but most certainly in t his way, can we be sustained in the struggle in which we stand. We are, as regards our own persons, entirely poor sinners. Indeed, we confess that we are sinners worse than others. Through our manifold unthankfulness, lukewarmness, and laziness in the face of the gift of the pure Gospel, we have merited more than others God's wrath and displeasure. In light of this sin, we humble ourselves before God, and we seek forgiveness for the sake of Christ. But we do not sin in teaching and confessing God's Word. Here God is on our side, and His face is turned against all who oppose and fight against us.

Therefore we shall and can be confident and joyous in the opposing position that we must take. We remain only on the correct path, namely trusting in God's grace and the Word of God. But to this belongs humility, the humility that entirely forsakes its own worthiness and its own wisdom. We must not forget: God is present with His grace only among the humble. He who would be something in the Church only apparently accomplishes something. And finally God casts him aside. God's power has the unique property that it is only powerful in the weak. Let us be so minded by God's grace that we are nothing, and that God's grace and God's Word are everything. God grant that we never advocate for something that is ours, but only and always for God's Word! In doing so we will certainly find no recognition in the world or by erring spirits. We will much rather, in the present as in the past, so also in the future, be arrogantly and proudly abused. But that does us no harm. Let us only see to it that we have hearts that are truly humble before God and have regard for neither possessions nor honor, but only for God and His Word. God grant this to us by grace for the sake of Christ, through the working of the Holy Spirit! Amen.

--Franz Pieper, "Contending for the Truth for All Christianity", 1908 Synodical Address

Taken from Matthew Harrison, "At Home in the House of My Fathers", p. 640-642

So it seems that this, my junior year of college, has decided to be my personal year of Bliss/Hell.  If any of you are confused as to how this combo is possible, believe me, it hasnt been easy.  The bliss part is pretty easy to explain now that i think of it.  It consists of me finding (what im pretty sure is) the girl of my dreams, having a nerdy fascination with my classes, and, to a lesser degree, my rediscovery of Capri-Sun.  Also i think finally getting my meds right has contributed.  The Hell part consists of having just about every friend circle become painfully brittle, having risk of failing a class, having to retake German 1, and the reminder that i am definitely dependent upon my medicine to get through each day.

in summary, if someone can help me make sense of any of this, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Madman

I was Joan of Arc! But it was also for a school thing, so it doesn't count.

Hope everyone had a good day!

all ya'll are gay