Books Are Being Shipped

Below - Norma A. Boeckler, artist. Virginia Roberts, editor.
Above - Janie Sullivan, Christina Jackson, Gregory Jackson.
Out of space at the gallery - Terry and Lori Howell; a Lutheran pastor.


Eight people were the key to getting 9 volumes of Luther, 27 titles in all, out in public at the lowest possible price.

Someone Doubts 27 titles, But Observe

1. The Lenker set of Luther's Sermons, illustrated in color by Norma A. Boeckler, 8 volumes, plus the Gems.
2. Black and white, Economy Edition - The Lenker set of Luther's Sermons, illustrated by Norma A. Boeckler, 8 volumes, plus the Gems. Complete set, shipping and taxes, $70.
3. Kindle Ebooks - The Lenker set of Luther's Sermons, illustrated in color by Norma A. Boeckler, 8 volumes, plus the Gems. Most titles are 99 cents.

 John N. Lenker, Hamma Divinity School graduate, translated and organized other translators to create the eight-volume set.

But Wait - There's More

If all goes well, God willing, there will be one master PDF with all nine volumes included, each volume paginated separately. That will allow for quick, easy searching. Copy and pasting sections would probably go better in Kindle, but this is a 3,000 page library of Luther.

Naturally, this PDF file will be full color. I will stow the Word version in various secure, undisclosed locations, for another generation to use.


Rogue Edition of The Gems Mined from Luther's Sermons

When people want The Gems, they will get the full color edition, which is only $10. However, to promote the Sermons and the full color Gems, I had a black and white edition published for $2.40.

CPAs understand why. If a congregation wants to generate interest in Luther and give people an introduction to Luther, they can get 10 Gems for $24 in black and white. Otherwise, that number would cost $100.

"Why So Many Links?" Someone Forgot To Ask
One of my graduate students taught me Search Engine Optimization. When people click on links, the URL rises on the search engine results.

Also, reviews do the same for book titles. Even if someone checks in at that book's page and says, "This is a good book to read," that will count.

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.

Volume VI of Luther's Sermons Is Done - Volume VII Is Being Readied for Amazon and Kindle eBooks

Back cover, Volume VII

Volume VII is done already, and VIII is being edited. That has been the normal state since this began. My brain keeps saying, "Out of memory, not enough for this function, reboot now."

To finish VIII and the Gems faster, I will send out expected volumes when they are also done. Exceptions are those who earned a dedication for a given volume.

From abandoning the Chief Article

Observe that these volumes are non-synodical, non-political. They are being published simply to highlight and support the primary office of the clergy - preaching.

From Luther's preaching came his insightful Bible studies, his faithful hymns, and the confessional material found in the Book of Concord.

Back cover, Volume VI

Publishing Updates on the Sermons of Martin Luther

Norma A. Boeckler is currently illustrating Volume VI of Luther's Sermons. I get to make another try at editing the volume before it goes to Janie Sullivan and Amazon-Kindle.

Volume V was delayed a bit by Amazon, so I am just getting to the orders now, and sending the third box to Africa. This time they will get all of Luther's Gospel Sermons from the set (I-V). Soon, all will be done with the Gems volume added.

Virginia Roberts is editing Volume VII, and I am sending her a partially edited Volume VIII to her for editing.

Planned already and already started:

1. Luther's Two Catechisms.
2. An Ichabod Lutheran Dictionary.
3. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of John.

This is going to be a doctrinal teaching year, so Romans 1-5 in English and Greek will be taught weekly after Easter, using Ustream. Other potential classes on video will be Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, etc.

I will create a Facebook page or pages for the video classes, so they can be used later.

 Loehe's other seminary is Wartburg
in Iowa: ELCA with a vengeance.

Giving Away Books and Roses

Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant is apparently
the only book of its kind,
comparing three major confessions of faith.

I drove to headquarters to have a meeting with the supervisor of the area I teach - very basic English. I brought along - for show and tell - one volume of The Sermons of Martin Luther. This very kind lady is Roman Catholic, which set off a discussion about Luther versus the Church of Rome. However, the discussion changed when I mentioned how I wrote Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant - primarily so married couples who were Catholic/Lutheran would understand each other's background.

Once again, I repeated my observation that I did not know what priests and pastors were saying to accomplish this, but - "Catholics cannot wait to marry Lutherans and vice versa." She laughed and said, "Like my uncle."

Then she said, "That book. That is the book I want." So I am sending two copies. Maybe three. Books last and they get shared, too.

That is how all my publishing efforts work. I give away books and everything else written, by blogging and Ustreaming. When people want a quantity of books, I sell them at the author's cost. My supervisor could not believe a huge book like The Sermons of Martin Luther could be printed for such a low cost. Yes, publishers think they are minting money, which is why they want new hymnals all the time.

 Veterans Honor is the perfect red rose -
if only the stems were stronger.

Free Roses
Everyone is delighted with roses. I have taken bunches various places, only to see the staff divide them up and take individual ones for their own desks. That prompted two doctors to talk about God's Creation. As one said to me, "And I mean six-day Creation, too." I said, "But of course. Creation by the Word of God. John 1:3." He went to seminary, so he knew what I was saying.

My class last night requested a bunch for the fragrance of the petals. One is planning roses for her engagement and marriage, and she was saving dried petals for the lingering perfume. I began growing roses at the time growers were being challenged to focus more on fragrance. Now there are few with little or no fragrance, many with enough to fill the room.

One student wanted to pay me for roses, and I said "No, I give them away, no matter how many." That works out well. Nothing else promotes a feeling of well being so efficaciously and quickly. One of the four Esses brought over two of my vases. "Mom finally took out the last rose." Our grizzled veteran takes roses to his mother's grave, so he often gets them as well. When he calls my yard a jungle, I ask him how many roses he has.

 Easy Does It turns into various orange colors,
more productive than any other rose I have grown.

Roses start conversations in the neighborhood. Every single person is astonished that roses thrive without toxic chemicals. "I just follow the principles of Creation."

Rose season for 2018 has just begun. I will finish installing the collars around them for winter protection. I am already pacing off positions for the most productive new roses. My list includes -

• Easy Does It
• Mr. Lincoln
• A strong, white rose - one that is good in a vase.

 The white John Paul II is photogenic
and looks great initially when cut,
but does not last in the vase.