From a Man Who Actually Uses His Own Name

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "This Poor Guy Cannot Read, Cannot Count":

Thanks, Mr. Brom Bones, for crediting me as a regular contributor. Oddly enough, Ichabod is the first and only blogspot that I consider worthy of commentary. I am not a big fan of "flaming" on blogs. I always remember what G.K. Chesterton once said - "Men quarrel because they do not know how to argue."

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GJ - I have not allowed or posted Fiend comments that are even more derogatory than the ones I published already. I will post some silly, negative comments just to show the public how degenerate the visible Lutheran Church is. For those who want to roll in the dirt with dogs, there is always LutherQuest (sic).

Intelligent opposition is welcome, even if it is anonymous.

LemKeel Again - On MLS

Lemkeel said...
I can't believe it (though I'm not surprised) that Mark Schroeder LPS president is going to be WELS new president. He, in my opinion, is a large part of the problem, not the solution. His job was in jeopardy (president of prep) and so he started campaigning for new presidency, this time of the synod, and he put together a bunch of nonsense to make it look like he knew what he was talking about, and the people who don't use their brains said, "Hey, he's made a bunch of points, he's obviously thought about it and we haven't so let's elect him president!" These same people don't want to lose MLS, but have no idea why it should stay open and don't know how to think, and they're the majority in the WELS so... The Wisconsin Synod is about to downward spiral into self-destruction more so than it is. With Wayne Mueller elected Pres., there was hope because he actually knew what was going on and had a vision for the future of WELS. Mark Schroeder is going to put the synod in a worse condition than it already is. I can't wait.

August 1, 2007 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...
I would assume that this indicates that MLS will definitely receive enough votes to stay open? Wasn't Schroeder a huge proponent of keep MLS open?

I thought LPS was in much better shape financially than MLS. Is this not the case (lemkeel, I assume you are an alumni of LPS ?)

August 1, 2007 7:58 PM
Lemkeel said...
Yes, I graduated from LPS. My thinking was that if MLS closes, LPS would eventually follow. If people are willing to lose one prep school, the other one is likely to follow shortly thereafter. LPS is in about the same financial shape as MLS, except there's slightly more students enrolled at LPS. However, there currently aren't enough students enrolled at LPS to meet the financial needs to maintain the school, hence the tuition increases. Both schools take funding from the synod budget each year, but because enrollment is down in both schools, the schools themselves are hurting due to lack of tuition funds. Additionally, because the synod is in debt they're looking for ways to make cuts, and prep schools should be the first to go. Mark Schroeder for the past few years has been involved in fund raising activities at LPS, a bad sign. He realized that his role as president of Prep was in jeopardy simply because he knows that his job in a prep school is dispensable (able to lose synod functioning and/or close) much more so than the college or seminary. That's what I was implying...

Not Everyone Keen about MLS

Lemkeel said...
This is disappointing. You'd think the delegates would strongly consider the WELS CFO's warnings against keeping MLS open or funded by the synod... but they came into the convention already with a decision. They listened to the many letters and phone calls of the parents of the prep schools and decided to let their emotions make the decision. The irony here is that the delegates voted to keep MLS open with the thinking that the synod's problems would begin to be resolved. In fact the problems are going to get worse. By voting to keep MLS open or continue to receive synod funding, the delegates only delayed the inevitable. MLS will eventually close or lose synod funding, and LPS will soon follow. The fact is that enrollment will NOT increase in either prep school because tuition is too expensive. The money that goes into the prep schools should be diverted to the college to encourage enrollment there by reducing the cost of tuition for students. It's cheaper to go to an instate university to be a teacher/pastor where in fact the students get a more well-rounded education. I have no idea how parents can afford to spend 25K for each of their kids at prep and then 50K for each kid at MLC. That is ridiculous, or should I say ludicrous.

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GJ - I am assuming this is a WELS layman.

Typical Liberal Defense: Name Calling, Intemperate Language

Anonymous said...
You've got an awfully large amount of free-time for a pastor. It's a good thing, though. Why, if you actually devoted time to shepherding God's people instead of spewing filth and venom - who knows - people might start to buy in on all this brotherly Christian unity crap.
Keep going, please, (I know you want to,) until all Lutherans everywhere bow the knee and worship Greg Jackson, their inerrant source of doctrine.

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That was his response to a sermon.

From Another WELS Layman

August 6th comment:

R Klatt said...

I spent too much time last week watching the streaming internet feed of the Monday-through-Friday national convention of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The main issues were the election of a new president, the closing of the prep school in Saginaw, and money. The synod is going broke, mostly because people in the pews aren't giving more and more and the administration is spending unwisely.
A new president was elected. That does not mean things will get better. The prep school was resolved to stay open. That does not mean it will not close. There will now be pressure, from the top down, on congregations to increase their regular offerings and further to contribute to a huge special offering. The top does not, or refuses to, realize that the bottom has heard so many cries of "wolf" recently that they are tired of the whole thing.

The long-time Lutherans in the pews realize there is something wrong. Many cannot put a finger on it. It is doctrine and practice. For thirty years, the Church Growth advocates in the synod administration have been watering down the published material, setting aside good practice and trying to turn every member into a minister to haul in more members so there will be more money. None of that belongs in a Lutheran church, in any church. That's why Lutheran churches in all the synods are failing. I would not now argue with the premise that Lutheran Christian teaching will no longer be around in 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, so there will be nothing to celebrate.

Because of the plethora of bad Bible translations, no one knows what the Scriptures say anymore. Preaching the Gospel has turned into worldly mutual consolation in a support group. There are Lutheran churches that no longer offer Holy Communion. So there are many little gatherings in odd little buildings on many little corners each led by some guy or gal who thinks he or she has found the key. Americans are largely consumed by a social religion, not a Christian one. That week-long convention did not help. The freedom Christians are given by the Gospel is freedom to reject the false and cling to the true. We can do the former only by doing the latter.

This Poor Guy Cannot Read, Cannot Count

Brom Bones has left a new comment on your post "Forward in Chicken Soup for the Soul":

A few of your recent posts seemed to be moving towards a more balanced assessment of Lutheranism. Unfortunately, in one day, you have returned to beating the same drum. Methinks I have a headache...

You will always look like a winner when you publish only those comments that support your point of view. Interestingly, you seem to have only one regular contributor (rlschulz). How about a real debate, not just a one-sided diatribe against WELS and other Lutherans?

An Anonymous Person Yells - Coward!

Brom Bones has left a new comment on your post "Another WELS Comment":

The fact that you rarely publish comments critical of your blog demonstrates the highest form of cowardice. Your unwillingness to debate in a balanced and logical way is evidence of your own sense of inadequacy.

Labels Are Handy

The labels at the end of a post link all the articles with that label. Use the label list to the left, to look up similar posts.

I am going to post some comments and label them. Some are from laity, so they will be labeled laity.

Some of them are from anonymous rock-throwers (really brave fellows). Several names are used, but I suspect the grand total is two. They will be labeled fiends.

Ichabod is aimed at restoring Luther's doctrine to the Lutheran Church. The glory has departed.

Leonard Sweet Lives! - in WELS

From a layman:

Here is a taste - an email from Rev. Aderman to the Church and Change group.

"James Aderman adermanj@fairviewlutheran.com


FYI

I see that Leonard Sweet has a new book out, The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion. The title sounds like some of the material we heard from him at the Church and Change conference almost two years ago. Anyone read it?

Blessings!

Jim

Link to Amazon:
Sweet's Latest Book

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GJ - This layman got himself on the Church and Change email group. Aderman is the WELS pastor who represents the cutting edge of Church Growth apostasy.

Leonard Sweet is a Methodist, cutesy-wutesy writer, as anyone can tell from the title of his latest abomination. Here is his self-inflating bio:

How Many Methodist Sermon Titles
Can You Find On This Page?

If you have not realized this already, Church and Change is the Jesus First of the WELS.