Paul McCain, Compassion Incarnate

Paul T. McCain has left a new comment on your post "The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell":

Gregg, you need to tell the truth. The only reason I agreed to see you at the International Center was because you were without a position in the ministry an were selling insurance and tried to sell me a policy.

This was before you alienated absolutely every person and every Lutheran Synod, micro-Synod and Lutheran congregation in the USA.

Name even one single Lutheran pastor who supports you Gregg.

I feel sorry for you.

***

I'm glad to add Paul McCain to my list of readers. The Barry-McCain-0tten administration paved the way for SP Kieschnick, so people can be grateful for Paul's leadership. The Barry administration did nothing about DP Benke, so others took the fall when Benke backslid at Yankee Stadium. What did Barry do to end Pentecostalism and Church Growth in the Missouri Synod? Nothing. Thus, Kieschnick.

McCain was quite friendly to me when he was campaign manager for Barry. He bragged about working secretly with Otten, then denied it heatedly and publicly. People should remember that fact when McCain makes his next public denial. He got quite hostile with Otten when the editor was no longer useful to him. That says a lot about McCain.

McCain said he had plenty of insurance coverage, so I did not try to sell him anything, in spite of his claim.

Paul could not face the fact that ELCA women vicars were baptizing and celebrating Holy Communion at LCMS congregations in Ohio. I told him I read the reports at Trinity Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. I also said Barry was too soft on Church Growth. That really made McCain hostile.

Before Paul was elevated to the Purple Palace, he was against Church Growth. I still have a long letter from him commending my anti-CG articles in Christian News. I was just about alone then and still am doing solo work among the trembling, timorous Lutherans. Does McCain's CPH sell Church Growth books now? CPH published Werning, for pity's sake.

I am sure no one in Paul's circle of political friends is on the side of Luther, Chemnitz, or even Walther. I heard Paul brag about undercutting Robert Preus, then saw that he gave an award to Mrs. Preus after her husband died. Here's some advice from the Greeks - A chameleon can turn every color, except white.

Recently Paul has been giving advice to the pope on Cyberbrethren, so I am glad he had time to pity me. I have had a rich, full, exciting, dramatic, and fulfilling life so far. I never needed to deceive people to keep a menial job, so I really do not need the pity of one who does.

Phil Rehberger said...

Phil posted a rather upset comment. The trouble is, when Anonymous is used so often, people are going to assume the same no-name is playing games. Phil, you should see the comments I have blocked! One person does use many different pseudonyms as well.

If you write, "again," then you are implying repetition. What else does again mean? You implied you posted before under one name or another.

No, I do not have to prove everything I say with an APA reference. This is a blog, not a dissertation. The typical WELS gambit is, "Prove what you are saying." When it is proved, the subject is changed, slicker than goose grease. Often, the Holy Mother WELS rep will say, "Where did you get that?" Upon hearing the name, whatever name or source it might be, the source is attacked by the HMW rep. That is how WELS observes the Eighth Commandment. If you want to stay in WELS, you need to have thicker-skin. The Church Growth leaders savage all their opponents, usually behind their backs. The former seminary president was "senile" for opposing amalgamation. Corky K. was "brain-damaged" for opposing Church Growth. Slick Brenner was a "legalist" for defending sound doctrine.

I am not exagerating to say WELS has been in complete doctrinal denial, now paying the price with insolvency and synod-wide distrust of the leaders.

I am waiting for one WELS leader to repudiate Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and the false doctrine imported from both natural gas factories.

I would like the Fuller alumni to admit their study there, instead of deceiving the membership.

Ichabod is not required reading, so anyone may avoid it if the blog displeases. So far I have not found another site where so much information about WELS-LCMS-ELCA-ELS can be found.

Comments are the writer's option. One blogger turned off the option altogether because of abuse, probably from LQ veterans and Synod Minders.

Another Belly Laugh for the Readers

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fiend Flares in Anonymous Attacks":

By the way,
There are definitely more than one of us critics out there. I am one, since somewhere around August 4th. This will be somewhere around the 5th or 6th time visiting the blog and commenting each time. My comments have ranged from civil Christian encouragement to very hostile. They gradually got more hostile as I realized that the blog you run here really is a one-sided propaganda campaign, just as some of your other critics accuse you. (Of course, in your mind we are all one delusional follower of WELS.) None of my good comments or observations about synod leaders or decision made it onto your blog. Why is that? Too objective for you? Not venomous enough?

Only one poorly and angrily written comment of mine was posted by you. Why is that? So you can give the impression that all your critics are morons? Because we didn't go to Yale on daddy's ticket - only to find out that the Synod won't bow to us?

***

Brave Anonymous knows my motivation and even my finances, but he would lecture the masses on the Eighth Commandment. I borrowed the money to attend Yale and earn a master's degree. I worked. My wife worked. Even little Ichabod worked, albeit prenatally. After he was born at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where President Bush was also born, little Ichabod went with me to work at Yale Medical School. My parents did not pay for my education, as if that mattered.

I also worked and borrowed to finish a Ph.D. at Notre Dame. They were kind enough to give me a full scholarship, but I had to buy such luxuries as food, didies, and medicine. The facts will produce more outrage from courageous and contagious Anonymous, but I post his comments to let the public know how the synods are run.

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

Seldom do I recommend a book hot off the shelves, but The Tipping Point is an unusual study. The author offers theories about why mass movements happen and why they stop suddenly.

The book has certain titles for people. I end up being a Maven, someone who collects and dispenses information. Another is the Connector, like EastCoast, who knows everyone - and I mean everyone.

The Synod Minder's plea for sources is amusing. I published a 650 page book with roughly 1500 references - Thy Strong Word. The book is being read all over the world. The book is posted free on the Internet.

WELS is still selling Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure.

Around 5,000 copies of Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant sold. The book is being reprinted now.

Unlike the people who run the "conservative" synods, I have a number of earned degrees in theology. That means I defended my ideas and research before people who were not my blood relatives and did not agree with me doctrinally.

I have attended many conferences and schools, so there is a good chance that I have met or listened live to people on various required reading lists: Laurens van der Post (Prince Charles' guru - long conversation with him), Billy Graham, James Kennedy, Paul Y. Cho (shook hands with him), Krister Stendahl (also worked with his son at Yale), Herb Chilstrom, James Crumley, David Preus, Robert Preus, Jack Preus, Herman Otten, Paul McCain (invited by him to the Purple Palace), Nils Dahl, Robert Wilson, Elie Wiesel, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon (shook hands with him), Chuck Colson (shook hands with him at Wheaton), and many laity and pastors from various synods. Two of my professors at Notre Dame (Schussler-Fiorenza) are in endowed positions at Harvard University. My ethics professors were the sainted Paul L. Holmer and someone he taught, Stan Hauerwas. Stan was at Augustana and is now at Duke. I knew him at Notre Dame. Experts say he is the leading theologian in America now. Hauerwas and the late Roland Bainton are my examples in publishing a lot everywhere. I knew Bainton at Yale, attended his lectures, and got his help for my dissertation.

I probably left out quite a bit. I am just saying that I enjoy being a Maven. I will never tire of it. When I post something, it is the result of a lifetime of research, publishing, and various theological conferences.

Fiend Flares in Anonymous Attacks

AAF has left a new comment on your post "The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay Bridge":

Dear Mr. Ichabod,

I am a recent reader of your blog. I think you're really on to something, but there is a term you keep using that concerns me. You often describe WELS headquarters as the "Love Shack"? Isn't that a reference to an illicit trysting place from a song by the B-52's? As a pastor, are you saying it is okay to use immoral song lyrics to point out corruption? In other words, does the end justify the means? Are you also saying it's okay to listen to that kind of music?

An Adoring Fan

***

GJ - This adoring fan sounds like the same guy again, full of accusations and falsehoods. Add a dirty and delusional mind. I quoted no lyrics from this group he seems to know too well. The Love Shack is my nickname for WELS headquarters because they talk about love so much and never show it to anyone but Fuller alumni.

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Vissaronavich has left a new comment on your post "The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay Bridge":

Again, to be credible, you need to cite your sources. I would be interested to see the approach, methodology, and conclusions of "the one study" that found as many "Lutherans" outside of the Lutheran church as inside it. Could you post a link or reference?

Thank you.

***

GJ - New name, but "again?" He has forgotten his cover. It is funny to see an anonymous person demanding that my blog follow his rules. The answer for that is to establish a blog and put your name on it, BraveHeart. The study is old, came from LCA/ALC sources, about 30 years ago. The situation is probably worse now.

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PM has left a new comment on your post "The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay Bridge":

"Every group has a cult-like persona. Even the mildest comments threaten synodical infalliability, which must be maintained to promote synod worship."

Substitute "Greg Jackson's" for "synodical", and "Luther" for "synod", and the quote still applies. Notice that the word "infallibility" is misspelled. Is this a sign?

Even the mildest comments provoke an inordinately vituperous reaction from Herr Doktor on his precious little blog. Much like the street corner preacher who views the passing world as his audience, he becomes more vociferous when someone disagrees. Here is a challenge, dear Ichabod - can you make your case with specific, reasoned examples, rather than resorting to veiled references, ad hominem attacks, and your own brand of name-calling?

***

GJ - As my grandpappy used to say, "When the arrow hits the mark, the feathers will fly." All three posts sound remarkably alike.

Oh! Oh! I misspelled a word. Welcome to the world of publishing. I go over my posts three times, normally, always finding things to fix and clarify. No published book has ever been error-free. No one can edit himself successfully. I do not think an extra letter from my fat fingering is Freudian, but PM does.

The final sarcastic paragraph is a marvel. Why discuss an article when snide comments are so satisfying?

All three comments came in rapidly with three different anonymous "names." I posted them to show people how Synod Minders work.

The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay Bridge

According to Norm Teigen's blog, the Minnesota Bridge collapse is being blamed on an ELS member, Carol Molnau.

Finding Fault


That would be unfortunate, but typical, since government likes to have one person accepting all the blame. One engineer's study of the reports shows that the bridge was a wonder. What Kept the Rust Pile Up So Long? - should be the question, not - What Brought the Bridge Down?

What Brought the Bridge Down?

Mrs. Ichabod has always had an inordinate fear of bridges falling down. Every time she hears of one collapsing, she says, "See?" We often used the Zilwaukee bridge, which fell during construction, due to faulty handling of materials. We tried to avoid it when going to Saginaw. If we happened onto it, I would say, "Oh no. The Zilwaukee Bridge!" My wife's work at an engineering firm made her more conscious of potential disasters everywhere.

My first thought about the tragedy was that rust and poor maintenance were to blame for the I-35 bridge tragedy. I was more certain when they said de-icing equipment had been installed on the bridge. It doesn't take a slide rule to conclude that, after living in Minnesota and using that bridge.

I have always favored fixing a problem early, rather than ignoring it. Politicians would rather focus on glamorous ribbon-cutting ceremonies (their names on a bronze plate) than start boring repair work that snarls traffic. WELS ex-president Gurgel favored exotic and expensive foreign missions over school maintenance. Now he is an Asian missionary when he should have been sent to Saginaw to teach required English.
Justification for the expense of sending him? It's just a vacation! (Thanks, ELS Bad Boy.) Why be frugal and address a problem when "spicey breezes blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle?"

The same things have developed in the Lutheran Church. One or two Synod Minders (see the Fiends label) have tried to deflect people away from the issues with name-calling, the straw man fallacy, ad ignoratiam, and ignoratio elenchi. Do not worry, readers, I was trained in these in the Michigan District, where logical fallacies were daily discourse.

The synodical leaders (big, small, and micro-mini) share one thing in common, besides their love for false doctrine - incompetent management. They cannot help it. They won office by being politicians. They stay in office by being politicians. They have had success, using devious means and massaging every issue. Besides, people love liars. They do not want to hear the cost of facing the truth about apostate leadership. Every group has a cult-like persona. Even the mildest comments threaten synodical infallability, which must be maintained to promote synod worship.

Ralph Bohlmann used to write, whenever his leadership was questioned, "Satan must really be laughing now." I always thought, "Not until that letter was sent." I got one of those simply by stating why I did not join the LCMS ministerium. Like many other synodical politicians, he equated leadership with divine favor. Fidelity to God's Word was not an issue.

Maintenance of the I-35 Bridge and preservation of Lutheran doctrine are quite similar. Hundreds of little matters need to be addressed before disaster strikes. For 30 years the so-called conservative synods have gleaned their truth from ELCA (LCA/ALC) and Fuller Seminary. When pastors and laity should have addressed the issues, they cringed and trembled. A few objected and their cohorts let them get mowed down, whether they were fellow laity or brother pastors. Just as most of the hetero priests left to wed Sister Mary Immaculata, so have most of the faithful ministers and laity left the apostate synods to study and worship independently. Some are left, but it is more difficult each year.

One study showed just as many Lutherans outside of the church as were nominal members. In other words, half of all the people who define themselves at Lutherans will not go to a Lutheran church. I recall these outside-the-synod members did not attend anywhere.

I predict that the synods will collapse as surely as the Minnesota Bridge. The question today is - What is keeping the aging rust-piles up? Holmes wrote about a similar phenomenon, the end of New England Puritanism.

The Deacon's Masterpiece or The Wonderful "One-Hoss Shay": A Logical Story
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
"Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay..."


Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to a day,
And then of a sudden it -- ah, but stay,
I'll tell you what happened without delay,
Scaring the parson into fits,
Frightening people out of their wits, --
Have you ever heard of that, I say?

Seventeen hundred and fifty-five.
Georgius Secundus was then alive, --
Snuffy old drone from the German hive.
That was the year when Lisbon-town
Saw the earth open and gulp her down,
And Braddock's army was done so brown,
Left without a scalp to its crown.
It was on that terrible Earthquake-day
That the Deacon finished the one-hoss shay.

Now in building of shaises, I tell you what,
There is always a weakest spot, --
In hub, tire, felloe, in spring or thill,
In pannel or crossbar, or floor, or sill,
In screw, bolt, throughbrace, -- lurking still,
Find it somewhere you must and will, --
Above or below, or within or without, --
And that's the reason, beyond a doubt,
That a chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out.

But the Deacon swore (as deacons do,
With an "I dew vum," or an "I tell yeou")
He would build one shay to beat the taown
'n' the keounty 'n' all the kentry raoun';
It should be so built that it couldn' break daown:
"Fer," said the Deacon, "'t's mighty plain
Thut the weakes' place mus' stan' the strain;
'n' the way t' fix it, uz I maintain, is only jest
'T' make that place uz strong uz the rest."

So the Deacon inquired of the village folk
Where he could find the strongest oak,
That couldn't be split nor bent nor broke, --
That was for spokes and floor and sills;
He sent for lancewood to make the thills;
The crossbars were ash, from the the straightest trees
The pannels of whitewood, that cuts like cheese,
But lasts like iron for things like these;

The hubs of logs from the "Settler's ellum," --
Last of its timber, -- they couldn't sell 'em,
Never no axe had seen their chips,
And the wedges flew from between their lips,
Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips;
Step and prop-iron, bolt and screw,
Spring, tire, axle, and linchpin too,
Steel of the finest, bright and blue;
Throughbrace bison-skin, thick and wide;
Boot, top, dasher, from tough old hide
Found in the pit when the tanner died.
That was the way he "put her through,"
"There!" said the Deacon, "naow she'll dew!"

Do! I tell you, I rather guess
She was a wonder, and nothing less!
Colts grew horses, beards turned gray,
Deacon and deaconess dropped away,
Children and grandchildren -- where were they?
But there stood the stout old one-hoss shay
As fresh as on Lisbon-earthquake-day!

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED; -- it came and found
The Deacon's masterpiece strong and sound.
Eighteen hindred increased by ten; --
"Hahnsum kerridge" they called it then.
Eighteen hundred and twenty came; --
Running as usual; much the same.
Thirty and forty at last arive,
And then come fifty and FIFTY-FIVE.

Little of of all we value here
Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year
Without both feeling and looking queer.
In fact, there's nothing that keeps its youth,
So far as I know, but a tree and truth.
(This is a moral that runs at large;
Take it. -- You're welcome. -- No extra charge.)

FIRST OF NOVEMBER, -- the Earthquake-day, --
There are traces of age in the one-hoss shay,
A general flavor of mild decay,
But nothing local, as one may say.
There couldn't be, -- for the Deacon's art
Had made it so like in every part
That there wasn't a chance for one to start.
For the wheels were just as strong as the thills
And the floor was just as strong as the sills,
And the panels just as strong as the floor,
And the whippletree neither less or more,
And the back-crossbar as strong as the fore,
And the spring and axle and hub encore.
And yet, as a whole, it is past a doubt
In another hour it will be worn out!

First of November, fifty-five!
This morning the parson takes a drive.
Now, small boys get out of the way!
Here comes the wonderful one-hoss shay,
Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay.
"Huddup!" said the parson. -- Off went they.

The parson was working his Sunday's text, --
Had got to fifthly, and stopped perplexed
At what the -- Moses -- was coming next.
All at once the horse stood still,
Close by the meet'n'-house on the hill.
First a shiver, and then a thrill,
Then something decidedly like a spill, --
And the parson was sitting upon a rock,
At half past nine by the meet'n'-house clock, --
Just the hour of the earthquake shock!

What do you think the parson found,
When he got up and stared around?
The poor old chaise in a heap or mound,
As if it had been to the mill and ground!
You see, of course, if you're not a dunce,
How it went to pieces all at once, --
All at once, and nothing first, --
Just as bubbles do when they burst.

End of the wonderful one-hoss shay.
Logic is logic. That's all I say.


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