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 Treasures from Luther's House Postils - full color - is only $3.65 when ordered directly from the Ich-abode. Copies might used as extra Christmas presents - sent stealthily to OJ fans. The Kindle version of Treasures is only 99 cents.

But Wait! There's More!

 A coffee hobbyist showed me how much could be put on one Kindle, so I asked Janie Sullivan to create a Kindle with all the House Postils and the Treasures. $2.99. That means 1,000 pages of Luther with Norma Boeckler's beautiful illustrations.

I will be checking to make sure both versions are in the free PDF folder for downloading from Dropbox. You do not need Dropbox to download those files.

My author's price is always about 40% of Amazon's non-profit price, because they add an extra amount for their profit.

I am thinking about how to treat the Ichabod Lutheran Lectionary, and I think I have a plan to limit it and make it useful - dealing with disputed topics and not trying to cover everything. Writing condensed topics is hard, slow work, so trying to write another RGG would never end.

Likewise, a history of American Lutherdom has to be focused rather than flitting from name to name, date to date. For that reason I am treating that as earlier (General Synod) and later (Walther cult) Pietism, since both branches come from Halle University Pietism and Rationalism.

But first, I am working on two projects.

1. Updating the language of a public domain Luther's Galatians Commentary.
2. Writing CFW Walther, The American Calvin.

 Pilgrim's Progress - the most read book in the English language, after the Bible, and translated into 200 languages.

Educational Programs

We are finishing the Gospel of Mark in Greek this Wednesday.

I am planning on teaching Pilgrim's Progress (Ustream) from January to Ash Wednesday, about 8 sessions. There will be a separate Facebook page for the alerts and the links.

The Gospel of John in Greek (Ustream) will start after Pilgrim's Progress, aiming for beginners but welcoming the veterans. There is nothing like having some knowledge of this Gospel in Greek and then repeating the process, reading it all over again. We will start slowly and complete the entire Gospel in Greek.

Reasons for Veterans To Return to the Fourth Gospel in Greek

• First, there is the added knowledge of the Fourth Gospel, aka the Gospel of Faith, aka the Doctrinal Gospel.
• Second, starting over with a reading knowledge means no longer wobbling along like a kid on his first two-wheeler.

Lutheran seminarians, they are fooling you if you think an introduction to Greek in summer school is going to be worth much. It takes time with the Greek text, no written-in words, no ponies (jimmies) to use while pretending to translate. Grammar and vocabulary are derived from reading, but translating is not derived from memorizing lists of vocabulary words and obscure grammar rules.

Some Possible Future Projects

Pastor Jordan Palangyos has asked about future book projects, and I am thinking about some Biblical booklets that can be used in English and also translated and and printed in Ilocano.

 Glen Kotten is our ambassador to the Philippines. We met him and worshiped with Chris and Pastor Jim Shrader in Sioux Falls in October. His church is also helping with the Philippine mission.

Luther's House Postils and the Treasures - One Small Step for Amazon, One Giant Leap for Lutherdom

 This was the final goal, to have Luther's House Postils in color, merged into one place with the Treasures (quotations) from those volumes - on Kindle $2.95 - and on a free PDF.
At least it was the final goal, until Luther's Galatians came up as a new project.

Janie Sullivan and Norma A. Boeckler always humor me when I aim at publishing on the cutting edge of media. This was a big project, starting with:

1. Warren Malach asking for the three-volume Postils set, 
2. Alec Satin getting the basic text together, a major task,
3. Virginia Roberts helping with editing and the Treasures,
4. Norma A. Boeckler illustrating all four volumes in color and designing the covers,
5. Janie Sullivan drawing it together for print, Kindle, and free PDFs, and
6. HAL at Amazon finishing the work and approving.

As the educational expert from the Left Coast wrote, "The day may come when we will have much more suppression of materials. It is good to have them distributed in advance, in many places." (paraphrased) Various experiences led to making everything from here public domain and non-profit (not that much profit ever piled up). Alec Satin does this with free eBooks (Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry) and low cost printed books (Lutheran Librarian).

Some were not able to read all eight volumes of Luther's Sermons merged on Kindle (though Janie and others could), but I found this House Postils set plus the Treasures could be read easily as one unit on my version of Kindle. That means 1,000 pages of Luther's household sermons, plus some of the best passages from those sermons.

Why Spend Money To Publish and Make No Money on Kindle?

First of all, I am appalled at those who rob fellow Lutherans by charging outrageous prices for their Kindle versions. They could make a modest profit and facilitate an enormous interest in Luther and other great authors. We are publishing at the lowest price possible, sending books out at the author's price (no profit and a much lower price than Amazon's set amount) - and also for free. Yes, we gladly send out free books.

And if we want to read their own hateful bilge, like David Scaer's Surviving the Storm, we would not have to miss a meal to read it on Kindle. (Waldo Werning's niece asked WW before he died, "Are you training someone to take your place?") We have the answer - Yes, David Scaer - Waldo reborn - from The Fort, sometimes pronounced with the St. Louis Irish dialect.

The main reason for Kindle, now that I have had some fun - is the world-wide distribution. We heard from Africa, "Your PDF does not open on my cell phone." This made Mrs. Ichabod laugh, because we only have a flip phone. As digital devices get cheaper and more widely used in the Third World, Kindle is the natural bridge to those people.

Kindle Version - Treasures from Luther's House Postils - 99 cents.

The Treasures from Luther's House Postils - Full Color - Print, Kindle, and free PDF

Why print, Kindle, and free PDF the Treasures by itself?

This volume had to come at the end, after the three volumes of sermons were published. The quotations cite the page number and volume of each one of the selected passages from Luther. The idea is to provide a lot more reading of Luther rather than quips snatched out of the air and left without a source. ("I dunno. I heard that he said that.")

Secondly, some might want to own or give away the full color, illustrated printed quotations for only $3.95. The sermons are like phone books (remember those?). The Treasures are slender, in large print, and far less expensive to obtain in color.

The free PDF of the Treasures alone is easy to share with someone not familiar with Luther.

The free PDF of all the House Postils plus the Treasures is found here at this Dropbox link.

Between the Gems Mined from the Lenker Luther Sermons and the Treasures from the House Postils, a pastor or seminary student has a wealth of passages to quote. He might want to make Luther familiar to those otherwise assaulted by the wisdom of Fuller Seminary, Willow Crick, and the professors too lazy to earn a real doctorate.

Treasures from Luther's House Postils

 Norma A. Boeckler designed the covers and interior of Treasures from Luther's House Postils.

Janie Sullivan has the files for Treasures from Luther's House Postils. I asked her to take her time since she has just moved into a new apartment. This will yield:

1. The large format, full color collection of quotations from the household sermons of Luther;
2. A Kindle ebook version for 99 cents;
3. A free PDF of the book;
4. A merger of the three volumes of sermons and the Treasures  in a low-cost Kindle and a free PDF.

I asked my father why he made long johns with vanilla icing and regular bread donuts (circular) with the same dough and the same icing. He said, "Because people have their favorites. The more we offer, the more they like the selections."

• The Lost Dutchman's Goldmine
• Gems Mined from Luther's Sermons
• Treasures from the House Postils.

Even Jay Webber, bereft of any knowledge of Luther, solemnly announced that Luther's Galatians was "an important book." Yes, it is so important that he utterly ignored its content in his epic fail essay. In contrast, John Bunyan said the Galatians commentary was his most read book, after the Bible.

I have several projects in mind for the near future, including CFW Walther: The American Calvin. However, having a modern and inexpensive Galatians - full-sized - struck me as a priority. The public domain translations are very much in KJV English, which is no problem for me, but a barrier for many people. Also, a public domain version in plain English would be easier to translate.

Since the Gospel is the Pearl of Great Price, Matthew 13, it only seems right to collect Luther's pearls from this great book. He said his books could be burned, except for the Small Catechism and Galatians. I read every page of it to Mrs. Ichabod, and we both enjoyed it.

I said yesterday, "I don't have much in valuables, but I can offer a goldmine, gems, treasures, and pearls from Biblical, Lutheran doctrine." Mrs. Ichabod thought that was a good alternative and far more lasting.