You Saw Me Crying in the Chapeltorium

Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "MLC Yet Again":

Ah Rev Jackson, how I longed over your absence to comment even though I knew my words would be twisted to your preconceived notions. A few thoughts from a student who is not only at MLC, but was at synod convention when this was discussed, and also has talked at length with the people deciding how to build it.

a) The Chapel fund was primarily (at its beginnings) not just a chapel fund. There were extraneous things (new boiler, updating the grounds, improving existing facilities) all which would one day point to a new chapel. All of these extraneous things are completed, all that was left was to build a chapel.

b) The synod in convention approved that a chapel be built ONLY with existing monies. No new money could be solicited.

c) No new monies have been solicited since the budget crisis arose. Of course, good natured lutherans still gave to the chapel fund, many on admonishment changed the designation of their funds, but others still saw it a fitting gift.

d) It is illegal to spend the money on something else unless the person donating or the estate therein changes the designation. This approach was tried. The money managers came back and said the overwhelming theme was "Keep the money until you can build a new chapel"

e)MLC does not need a chapel for aesthetic purposes only. The "chapeltorium" is a fine place to worship God. However it is also a fine place for Children's Theater, or the many other things that happen there which move worship to the gymnasium at times. Yes indeed we are a small school, but we have scheduling issues too.

f) Finally, what would you rather spend the money on? Certainly the synod's work of missions and ministerial education is more than fitting. But did anyone begrudge David for the wealth he gathered for the temple? Or Solomon for constructing it? What about Haggai when he wanted to construct a house for the Lord.

Are there plenty of things to spend money on? Yes...there will never be a shortage. But we should never work against God's people as they build houses fitting to him, where the architecture, lighting, seating, and decor of our rich heritage which has been fine tuned to point to Christ can all come together.

***

GJ - I don't twist words. I just quote people. That gets them all twisted up. Mouse gets his Breezies in a bunch just from Lutheran quotations. Even worse, I quote the CG gurus of WELS.

Yes, we need a lecture on spending designated money for the wrong purposes. I suggest a postcard to the Love Shack Curia would be more fitting. "The $8 million? You lie! We only took $7 million."

Gurgel fired the treasurer who told him this was wrong, then blamed the treasurer for the spending spree. Then it was explained as an Excel typo. "Oh, we just forgot to add the one and carry the nine and divide by six."

Mike, do not stir up the facts. The Law fills the room with dust (Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan, never read by Sweet-hearts). Too many unpleasant things may come to light.

Listen up, chapel fans. Buying a building at a failing college is not considered wise. At the rate they are going, this chapel will cost $1 million for each student using it. (Hyperbole, humorous exaggeration to make a point.) Prairie spent $500,000 on a music building while planning to close. And they closed Prairie.

Ring Knockers in WELS, LCMS, ELS

Rob on Point

Are there "ring-knockers" in WELS?
This discussion thread ties to poll at right by same name.

Are there "ring-knockers" in WELS?

Posted by Rob at 10:55 AM



1 comments:
Rob said...
In my first career about a third of management graduated from the same college. Graduates of this college wore over-sized class rings, and to stand out they wore their class rings on the hand opposite from most college graduates, on the same finger as wedding rings. In a meeting if they wanted to assert their authority over graduates of other colleges, they tapped their class rings lightly on the table in front of them. Thus, their nickname, "ring-knockers."

Although their college was established in 1845 their college did not gain universal acceptance as an accredited institution until the 1970s. Graduates of this college were no better or worse professionally than the rest of us. Occasionally a ring-knocker in upper management would manipulate the hiring process to yield middle managers in his division who were 100% "ring-knockers". Once again, his division was no better or worse than other divisions filled with graduates of MIT, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, and Berkeley, although worker-bees dreaded the thought of working in a division that was 100% ring-knocker because of the way ring-knockers treated subordinates.

***

GJ - This is definitely true of all the synods. There is always one little group of people who are entitled, or feel entitled. Also, larger sects have the situation where one seminary is opposed to the other: Gettysburg vs. Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne versus St. Louis, Bethany versus Mequon.

The Lavender Mafia pushed aside the former leaders of ELCA. No jokes or puns, please. The elderly ring knockers were defenestrated. At one point the biggest insult in the new ELCA was to call someone a "former synod official." They even had an acronym for that term. Of course, the old liberals who welcomed quotas and apostasy were outraged and quickly became LCMS heroes for complaining about the fruit of their labors. Bishop McDaniel comes to mind.

***

GJ (PS) - There is also the reverse of ring-knockers in WELS. Anyone who went through the Bethany program is called a Bethany Bomber. WELS got rid of the Bethany program for late-starters when they realized that too many member were coming into the WELS program as Lutherans.

One WELS pastor pointed out that the entire leadership of WELS is from one prep - Northwestern.

Bonanza of Logical Fallacies

Jarod Anthony has left this bonanza of logical fallacies on your post "Martin Luther College Chapel, or Build It and The...":

It is true that true worship can be conducted anywhere. But it is naive to assume that doctrine and practice don't go hand in hand. If a Lutheran church worshiped in a place with a stage and glass podium front and center, with no altar, no font, etc. I would hope that even though they have the freedom to worship anywhere they would have the good sense to build a worship space that does not display priorities that are un-Lutheran.

So, I think you're missing the point at best, or at worst simply creating an argument where there is none. The notion of building a worship space that models the worship that happens in *most* WELS churches is not a denial of Biblical Lutheran principles. Otherwise I suppose my church back home that is building is thereby denying Luther, the Bible, and the Confessions.

Ironically, you take the same position as Church and Change who say, "Worship is in spirit and truth, so it doesn't matter how or where we do it." Granted, they also lose the doctrine part, and I know you are about as far opposite from C&C as one can get...but my point is that we have to look at worship as a whole, both the spiritual part, and the practical, visible part.

Of course, how Lutheran the worship at MLC will be will depend on how MLC uses that worship space and what the people who preach in it say.

Also, to the WELS Lay Student... Few may not understand the designated gift paradox, but that doesn't do away with the problem or challenges. If a person doesn't understand the notion that "if I give X amount of dollars for a chapel at MLC, it would be unethical for them to spend it on anything else." The same is true if your grandmother gave you $1000 for your college education and you used it to pay off your credit card. I would hope you would honor your grandmother's wishes, regardless of how dumb your friends might think it would be.

***

GJ - "Sir, it is a small school, as I have said, but there are those who love her." That was said about Dartmouth College, long before it become the model for Animal House.

I enjoyed the straw man (or men!) argumentation, the guilt by association, the ad hominem, and other fruits of a fine college education.

So how did this designated gift come about? Someone handed MLC a check for $7 million, pointed a gun at the head of the president, and said, "Build a chapel or else"? No, I think the gift was solicited and then used as a float for many years.

The comments are a bit hyper. If a $7 million chapel for a tiny college were such a good idea, the wise men of WELS would smile and say nothing. If someone tells me that the moon is made of styrofoam, I do not sling angry accusations at him. I would just say something enigmatic, like, "That explains a lot."

Obviously I have touched a nerve. Others must think the same thing. When my cash flow is poor, the last thing I want is a Rolls Royce as a gift.

If WELS wanted to put more money into the Means of Grace, the Love Shack Curia would resign, then either teach or preach. A mass resignation or firing would provide boatloads of cash for real ministry rather than the ministry of administration.

MLC Yet Again

A. Nony Mouse has left a new comment on your post "Martin Luther College Chapel, or Build It and The...":

Wait a second, there are a couple of important facts that you have to remember about this $7 million.

1. All of that money was given as part of a special gift in 2000, well before the financial crisis even began.

2. All of the money was designated by the givers specially for a chapel at MLC. It would be unethical and illegal for the synod to use that money for anything else but a chapel at MLC.

I agree that building a chapel during this crisis gives a bad impression. In fact, that's exactly the reason that the money has been sitting around unused for 7 years. But at a certain point you simply have to carry out the will of the givers and use the money to do what it was given for.

It may not be going to fix this crisis, but I would rather have it used for something rather than burying it in the ground and getting nothing from it.

***

GJ - I suppose burying the money in the ground was metaphorical. Buildings generate more costs: insurance, maintenance, heat, electricity. One might say that is a definite way to bury the money, and more with it.

I heard a rumor that the chapel money was spent. I suppose putting up a building would help end that rumor.

Will this be another Schwan Chapel, like Bethany's?

Santa Lucia, With Some Improvements
(Apologies to Al Capone and all Neopolitans)

The copper roof shines in my eyes,
Pizza has paid for this, and so has good ice cream.
Come give some major gifts!
Santa Marvin Schwan, Santa Marvin Schwan!

O dear Little Sect, on the Great Prairie,
Where Marvin Schwan was pleased to smile!
Come give some major gifts!
Santa Marvin Schwan, Santa Marvin Schwan!

Poor Mouse, Rants and Raves Again

A. Nony Mouse has left a new comment on your post "Rev. A. Nony Mouse Hates These Sayings":

You can condemn, mock and criticize others to your heart's content, but if someone criticizes you, you put on your site a gazillion quotes. You can't even post the criticisms people send in to you. The buzz in some circles is that Jackson has really gone off the deep end. For proof, they say, just check out Ichabod.

***

GJ - Yes, those quotations really sent poor Mouse into the stratosphere, just as I thought. He knows why I post quotations. I am sure he is the first to yell "8th Commandment" when someone points out his lack of sound doctrine, but he knows my evil motivation from afar.

I quote the great Lutheran theologians because the Leonard Sweet-hearts like Mouse never will. Luther embarrasses Mouse. So does Pieper. And Walther. And Hoenecke. Anyone literate in theology is a cross for Mouse to bear.

I often quote Mouse because he is so funny. I am happy to pass on the reports from his drinking buddies in WELS. I doubt whether they get their buzz from Ichabod. Happy hour is probably their font of buzz.

Mouse always elicits interesting comments from the laity, who provide a stark and shocking contrast to the repetitive fulminations of the nameless one. The laity make sense.

Oh yes, here is an imaginary conversation during Happy Hour in Milwaukee:
Mouse: Jackson has really gone off the deep end, hasn't he?
Rat: Oh yes, quoting Luther, a bad sign. Are you coming to the Church and Change conference?
Mouse: I can't afford to miss it. Good career move.
Rat: Definitely. I want to be seen there.
Mouse: I need to blow some smoke in people's eyes. Do you still have a copy of "We Still Believe?"
Rat: Dude, it's all over the Net.
Mouse: Oh yeah, thanks.

Martin Luther College Chapel, or Build It and They Will Enroll

Was it only a few weeks ago that WELS longed to close down Michigan Lutheran Seminary, their prep school in Saginaw? Not enough money. Now they have $7+ million for a chapel.

WELS has a history of plowing money into a campus before closing it down.

The person or persons, perhaps parson or parsons who make the same remarks about the $7+ million chapel should study Lutheran doctrine. I am not surprised Mouse agrees with Mouse or with another Mouse. These guys cannot post their own names. Apparently they are just as ashamed of their own names as they are of Luther's.

A. Nony Mice - read this slowly, without your lips moving. There. Maybe read it over several times until you get it: Worship has nothing to do with bricks, mortar, garb, and incense. Proper worship can be conducted anywhere because the only priority is sound doctrine.

I would love to be an African sitting in a grass and mud hut, on the Internet, reading about WELS' passion for my pagan soul, while figuring out how this bankrupt sect has millions for a new chapel when the nearest chapel is put together with buffalo dung.

No, we would not want the McGavran/Leonard Sweet fans to graduate from college and not enjoy a really posh chapel. The chapel will make them orthodox.

Rev. A. Nony Mouse Hates These Sayings. But Loves To Pose with Katy Perry

We can quote Luther, or we can plagiarize Groeschel.

Trials

"One Christian who has been tried is worth a hundred who have not been tried, for the blessing of God grows in trials. He who has experienced them can teach, comfort, and advise many in bodily and spiritual matters."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1381. Genesis 27:28-29.

"In order to keep your faith pure, do nothing else than stand still, enjoy its blessings, accept Christ's works, and let him bestow His love upon you. You must be blind, lame, deaf, dead, leprous and poor, otherwise you will stumble at Christ. That Gospel which suffers Christ to be seen and to be doing good only among the needy, will not belie you."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 110. Third Sunday in Advent. Matthew 11:2-10.

"We have the comfort of this victory of Christ--that He maintains His Church against the wrath and power of the devil; but in the meantime we must endure such stabs and cruel wounds from the devil as are necessarily painful to our flesh and blood. The hardest part is that we must see and suffer all these things from those who call themselves the people of God and the Christian Church. We must learn to accept these things calmly, for neither Christ nor the saints have fared better."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 263. Sunday after Ascension, Exaudi. John 15:26-16:4.

"Therefore God must lead us to a recognition of the fact that it is He who puts faith in our heart and that we cannot produce it ourselves. Thus the fear of God and trust in Him must not be separated from one another, for we need them both, in order that we may not become presumptuous and over­confident, depending upon ourselves. This is one of the reasons why God leads His saints through such great trials."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 21. First Sunday after Epiphany. Luke 2:41-52.

"Secondly, God permits His saints to suffer these trials as an example for others, both to alarm the carnally secure and to comfort the timid and alarmed...But when we see and hear that God has in like manner dealt with His saints and did not spare even His own mother, we have the knowledge and comfort that we need not despair in our trials, but remain quiet and wait until He helps us, even as He has helped all His saints."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 40f. First Sunday after Epiphany, Second Sermon. Luke 2:41-52.

"Now it is the consolation of Christians, and especially of preachers, to be sure and ponder well that when they present and preach Christ, that they must suffer persecution, and nothing can prevent it; and that it is a very good sign of the preaching being truly Christian, when they are thus persecuted, especially by the great, the saintly, the learned and the wise."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 97. Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 8:23-27.

"Not only is Christ hidden from the world, but a still harder thing is it that in such trials Christ conceals himself even from His church, and acts as if He had forgotten, aye, had entirely forsaken and rejected it, since He permits it to be oppressed under the cross and subjected to all the cruelty of the world, while its enemies boast, glory and rejoice over it, as we shall hear in the next Gospel."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 67. Second Sunday after Easter. John 10:11-16.

"There is another temptation also in the time of trouble which was punished severely among the people of Israel and which alas is common as compared to the other temptation and equally irrational. That temptation occurs before God's Word is heard; this after we hear the Word, namely thus: when we know that God has promised help in the time of any trouble, but are not content with it, go forward and will not abide His promise, but prescribe time, place, and manner for His help; and then if He does not come as we expect and desire, faith vanishes."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 366. Epiphany. Matthew 2:1-12.


How the Church Fares

"Yet this is also true, that Christ often delays the bestowal of His help, as He did on this occasion, and on another, John 21, when He permitted the disciples to toil all the night without taking anything, and really appeared as if He would forget His own Word and promise."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 154. Fifth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 5:1-11.

"The word translated 'desolate' literally means 'orphans.' By use of this word Christ would intimate the condition of the Church. In the eyes of the world, and even in her own estimation, she has not the appearance of a prosperous and well ordered organization; rather she is a scattered group of poor, miserable orphans, without leader, protection or help upon earth. All the world laughs at her and ridicules her as a great fool in thinking that she is the Church and comprises the people of God. Furthermore, each individual is so burdened and oppressed in his need and suffering as to feel that no one else lies so low or is so far from help as he."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 304f. Pentecost, Third Sermon. John 14:23-31.


Lutheran "Community Churches" - Crossroads, CrossWalk, DoubleCross, etc.

"Shall we permit this to be done! is the name of Christian unity! and by a latitudinarianism that is our own heritage, which rises ever anew from the embers of the past to find such veiled support and strength in the citadel of Zion that Confessionalism is told to whisper low in Jerusalem lest she be heard on the streets of Gath."
Theodore E. Schmauk and C. Theodore Benze, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions, as Embodying the Evangelical Confession of the Christian Church, Philadelphia: 1911, p. 941.

Orthodoxy Is, Is Not


The Word and the Cross

(Luther makes the following general comment on Romans 2:6­10): "Patient continuance is so altogether necessary that no work can be good in which patient continuance is lacking. The world is so utterly perverse and Satan is so heinously wicked that he cannot allow any good work to be done, but he must persecute it. However, in this very way God, in His wonderful wisdom, proves what work is good and pleasing to Him. Here the rule holds: As long as we do good and for our good do not encounter contradiction, hatred, and all manner of disagreeable and disadvantageous things, so we must fear that our good work as yet is not pleasing to God; for just so long it is not yet done with patient continuance. But when our good work is followed by persecution, let us rejoice and firmly believe that it is pleasing to God; indeed, then let us be assured that it comes from God, for whatever is of God is bound to be crucified by the world. As long as it does not bring the cross, that is, as long as it does not bring shame and contempt as we patiently continue in it, it cannot be esteemed as a divine work since even the Son of God was not free from it--(suffering for the sake of the good He did) --but left us an example in this. He Himself tells us in Matthew 5:10, 12: 'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake..Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.'"
Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, trans. J. Theodore Mueller, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1976, p. 55. Matthew 5: 10, 12.

An Efficacious Chapel

From The Love Shack, WELS Headquarters:

MLC chapel project update

On Sept. 28, the Martin Luther College (MLC) Governing Board approved a recommendation to move forward with a project to build a chapel on the school’s campus in New Ulm, Minn. The proposal now goes before the Conference of Presidents for input and the Synodical Council (SC) for final approval.

Funding for the project would come from $7.2 million given by individuals as part of synod’s 150th anniversary celebrations, specifically to build a chapel. Funding for the project comes from gifts already on hand.

The initial effort was delayed although the need remains. The campus currently has no chapel. Among other things, a chapel would allow for greater flexibility in the use of choirs and instrumentalists—and allow MLC to model worship more effectively as it trains future worship leaders.

The SC meets in November. If it releases the funds the chapel building committee would take the next steps, including procuring blueprints and engaging contractors. The goal for completion is August 2009.

***

GJ - Read Rev. A. Nony Mouse's comment. Actually, everyone knows that WELS teaches against the efficacy of the Word alone. Therefore, the Wisconsin Synod is a heretical sect. WELS is jealous of the Bethany (Little Sect on the Prairie) Chapel, called The Copper-top Chapel.

I attended an organ concert at the MLC chapel-auditorium. I was not offended by its utilitarian nature. I doubt whether $7 million+ will improve the doctrine of WELS. Mouse is probably not aware of Pieper's comment that the Word is efficacious whether in a marble cathedral or the humblest chapel. Mouse should not call attention to his ignorance by being so sarcastic, but that is his WELS training showing.

***

Let's hear it from F. Pieper, originally from the Wisconsin Synod:

"Let us learn more and more to look upon the Lutheran Church with the right kind of spiritual eyes: it is the most beautiful and glorious Church; for it is adorned with God's pure Word. This adornment is so precious, that even though an orthodox congregation were to consist of very poor people ­let us say nothing but woodchoppers - and met in a barn (as the Lord Christ also lay here on earth in a barn, on hay and straw), every Christian should much, much rather prefer to affiliate himself with this outwardly so insignificant congregation, rather than with a heterodox congregation, even if its members were all bank presidents and assembled in a church built of pure marble. Let us be sure that our flesh, and the talk of others does not darken the glory of the orthodox Church, or crowd it out of our sight."
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 47.

Lutherans for Loot

From Norm Teigen's Blog:

Saturday, September 29, 2007
Christian Life Resources

Christian Life Resources is endorsed by the WELS and the ELS although there is no administrative controls from these church bodies that I can see.

The organization seems to be in business to perpetuate itself. Income is $1.4 million. The leader of the group, Robert Fleischmann, pulls down $68,976 a year. That's a big salary in my book.

There is an upcoming convention. The program is designed to get the attendees to promote the organization's Pro-Life Activities. The national director says that the message of the group is to advise people to vote in such a way that God's will comes first and that human interests come next.

Who is best qualified to tell people what God's will is in the political arena? The CLR would have one believe that that organization can educate people to make the right decisions.

Sounds like a political action group to me under the guise of religious sentiment.

***

GJ - This group began as WELS Lutherans for Life, pulling away from the original LCMS Lutherans for Life to "avoid fellowship issues." That is a hoot. Long ago WELS was active with Lutheran World Relief, a pan-Lutheran organization. WELS district popes sat on the LWR board (but did not pray with them). WELS has given money to the United Nations. WELS and Missouri work with ELCA all the time.

Pause to regain self-control after a laughing fit. OK. I am better now.

Ichabodians can look up the statistics on Guidestar. They can look up the Schwan Foundation, Lutheran News, etc. Guidestar provides a PDF of the non-profit's tax return. I had two national news organizations phone me about the Schwan Foundation's connections with gambling investments. They Googled the general topic and tracked me down.

I would post some of the information from Guidestar, but they are touchy about how it is used. If you want to find it, you can do the research.

Lutherans for Loot has plenty of money socked away. The way I figure, they take a pan-Christian posture now to attract more financial support. They can gather tax money too, under various guidelines. The leader of the group, Pastor Robert Fleischman, was in Columbus for a meeting many years ago. He came over to my church to keep me from mentioning his work in Christian News. I guess it was an intervention. I asked Fleischman if he was the minister who instantly fell in love with his future wife and married her a short time afterwards. He confessed and did not deny, he was the one. I trust they are still happily married and just as much in love.

Church and Change Has Its Own Website

WELS has its own agency of apostasy, linked on the official WELS.net website - Church and Change. Is this strange? Church and Change has its own website, but registration for its conference is direct from the WELS website.

People think that their church leaders enforce doctrinal fidelity. In fact, the church leaders make sure the Scriptures are seldom followed. WELS has gone one extra step in encouraging apostasy, by helping people sign up for the expensive Church and Change Wingding, to be held October 15th.

Linking Church and Change on the WELS website is like having Jesus First linked on the LCMS website. Some may recall that Missouri linked ELCA and AAL as Ministry Partners on their website, then got huffy when I exposed the page in Christian News.

The non-ELCA synods are famous for pretending to be conservative to the point of being hide-bound. They are little models of ELCA. The difference is that ELCA is honest about its non-beliefs.

The WELS AnswerMan fielded a question today on closed communion, saying it was the policy of WELS and Missouri. Everyone knows just the opposite is true. Most Missouri congregations have wide-open communion. Other LCMS congregation welcome ELCA drive-by communicants, as long as they say something to the pastor. WELS' position is, "Don't ask. Don't tell." The ELS is famous for communing ELCA members and all kinds of weirdness not associated with doctrinal orthodoxy. Mind-numbing hypocrisy is rewarded in The Little Sect on the Prairie. David Jay Webber, the Lion of Scottsdale, long ago advocated communing ELCA members and had no qualms about associating his ELS work with that of Floyd Luther Stolzenburg. In the ELS, that is considered principaled leadership. "If you have the principal, we have the interest."

Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant Printed and Arriving

Lulu tells me that the copies of CLP I ordered have shipped. When they get here I will send them out immediately.

I can imagine The Love Shack Curia saying, "Who is Lulu? Get all the information you can find out about her."

Ahem. Lulu.com is fabulous Internet site for publishing books, calendars, and all kinds of materials. Thanks to the tireless efforts of my editor, Mark Ochsankehl, I have more material being readied to post there. For instance, there will be a discussion or teaching guide for CLP. I have also published a short guide for college students, who keep telling me, "I wish I would have known this sooner!"

Martin Chemnitz Press Storefront at Lulu.com.

Michigan District - Giving Not Up

WELS Through August.

WELS is up over 2006 by $444,049 at $12,493,206.

Michigan District is down $73,679 at $1,208,772.

The Michigan District has trailed last year's contributions every month through August, except perhaps for January.

The State of Michigan is in a budgetary crisis. The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the vast shrinkage of GM jobs since 1994. Ditto Ford. The State of Michigan is a subsidiary of the auto business. One pastor said years ago, "If the auto is business is doing well, the congregational budget does well. If not, there is not much we can do."

Latest Excuse: From the Spin-doctors at The Love Shack

Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Church and Change - Still on WELS Website":

The official word as it was passed down to me is that A decision was made in the prior administration that gave "sponsorship" on the WELS website to publicize events for parasynodical organizations.

This is no longer the case in the current administration. However the proposal is that anything there currently was "grandfathered" so the new officials did not have to break the word of the old.

We shall see if the next convention is posted on the WELS.net and I may eat my words.

***

GJ - My, my. The excuses grow in complexity.

False doctrine has been grandfathered.

St. Augustine said that doctrinal error has three stages:
1. You must tolerate us, for we are a persecuted minority.
2. Equal footing with sound doctrine. Hence, Mequon now has a "balanced" faculty. Brenner was added to "balance" the Vallesky Cell Group.
3. False doctrine persecutes those who prefer sound doctrine. This CGM is now so old in WELS that it is grandfatherly.

The NIV renders Romans 16:25 as "Mark and delay..."

No, I have the 21st Century Gay-friendly Feminist NIV. The new reading is:

Register and attend!

Ichabod on Business

I will be gone on a business trip, just for two days. Mrs. Ichabod will remain home, resting for our trip to see the grandchildren.

In the meantime, keep up with Bailing Water and Trouble in Paradise.

Trinity 17

The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

The Hymn #292
The Invocation p. 15
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Ephesians 4:1-6
The Gospel Luke 14:1-11
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #207
The Sermon


The Offertory p. 22
The Hymn #287
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #288

KJV Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

KJV Luke 14:1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. 2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer him again to these things. 7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

True Unity in the Invisible Church

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

The Ephesians passage is brief, yet it is one of the most recognized of all the Pauline verses – concise, full of meaning, its message honored chiefly today in being ignored.

For instance, I know of church leaders who insist on being called the right name. Any variation on what they have chosen is quickly corrected, so often that it has become a synodical joke. Others are so haughty that someone would scarcely be able to speak to a minister so high above everyone else. This is common in the business world. If I send an email to someone in the educational world, I am surprised if I get an answer, if the message is even acknowledged. Getting through to someone and getting an answer has spawned an industry in how to do just that. People are just too important to do their jobs.

Lowliness, meekness, and longsuffering are all qualities of the Savior. The New Testament always urges us to take on the attributes of Jesus rather than those of the world. The Gospel promises provide the energy to do exactly that. Where does this break down?

The temptation is to lay down heavy doses of the Law, to cajole people to be humble, forebearing, and meek. That is like taking someone to a clinic for tests, then prescribing even more tests as a cure. An x-ray will diagnose a broken bone, but it will not heal a broken bone. When x-rays were considered magical, they were tried as a cure, but disastrous results.

Broken bones need healing. Pain requires medicine. We are in the peak cold season, when children return to school and share their germs. When the throat is raw, the ears aches, and the nose shuts down, any medicine sounds appealing. Is it cold and raining, traffic backed up? We will jump in the car to get that medicine.

Our greatest sin, according to Jesus, is unbelief. Jesus said, in parting with His disciples, “The Holy Spirit will convict of sin, because you do not believe.”

KJV John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

How often do people hear they are sinners, that the solution is to do something more, to do that action better, or to stop doing something bad? Luther correctly observed that the Medieval Age, as we call it now, consisted of a thousand years of terrifying people with the Law. They were convinced of their sin, but knew little about the Gospel.

This haughtiness we find so commonly in the visible church is the direct result of people not trusting the Word of God, in fact, not trusting God. They think everything rests on their own shoulders. Hence, they put on an act which they think is consistent with success. They know it has worked with others.

When we attended the famous Church Growth congregations at Willow Creek and Community of Joy (Glendale), we never saw the senior minister, except on the stage. He was too important to mingle with the peasants after the service. When people mingle in the narthex after church and speak to the pastor, I wonder how many of them think about how pleasant that is, compared to looking at a celebrity who will not even greet the people who support him financially.

The old-fashioned pastors did in fact trust in God working through the Word. They did not think much of themselves. Luther said, “The older I get, the less confidence I have in myself, the more confidence I have in God.” Those traditional pastors thought that teaching and preaching the Word, visiting the sick and elderly, were all God’s work. God would bless it according to His will.

Simply put, the Word conveys Christ and all His benefits to us. The Word brings us together, Christ coming to us when we cling to the Means of Grace.

I just read an essay written by an atheist. She was encouraged by the news that Mother Theresa in India spent 50 years in despair, even as she grew in fame. Mother Theresa wrote to her confessor that she never felt peace in Christ. There we can see the impact of false doctrine. Someone who lived in the Law cannot find peace. A Catholic woman said she would never send her six children to a Catholic school because of the constant guilt forced on all the children. (Does that sound like your synod?) If Mother Theresa had been pointed to the sufficiency of Gospel instead of the need for works, she would have seen and experienced Christ in the true Means of Grace.

The Gospel of Christ creates faith in our hearts and sustains that faith through the Means of Grace.

I used to think a four-leafed clover was rare. Everyone said it was rare. They were so rare, no one ever looked for them. A gardening friend said, “They are all over the place.” He described how to find one. They are normally in patches of clover, especially where it grows tall. Once I knew where to look, I saw four-leafed clovers all over and picked them for others.

Complete and free forgiveness seems rare because people do not know where to look. They do not know because their guides are as blind as they are. They think, “We have the Gospel if the organization is prospering.” If the organization is not doing well, they begin flogging people with the Law. Nothing improves morale like a good flogging.

When Christ comes to us in the Word of God, in the hymns, liturgy, creed, lessons, and sermon, the blessings of the Gospel fill us with the working of God’s Word. God works. That is the essence of Christianity, the only faith where God gives to adherents rather than members working for Him.

Many times in the past, the Gospel seemed hidden from almost everyone. During the Age of Rationalism, preachers gave sermons on everything except the Gospel (sound familiar? – how to have friends, how to have more time, how to be successful). Nevertheless, the Gospel remained in the liturgy, creeds, and hymns. Over time a new generation of ministers began to believe again.

We use the term mysteries because so much is hidden from the unbeliever but revealed to believers. I knew two people from Hong Kong who laughed at the Gospel and scoffed at the Gospel. They heard the Word but did not understand. One day the Gospel converted them. From then on they were especially keen to hear God’s Word and to trust in its message. I recall so vividly one day when I gave one of my last sermons in the LCA. The couple from Hong Kong nodded in agreement when I spoke of the inerrancy and authority of the Scriptures. Two church council members frowned and shook their heads no.

That is one of the mysteries – how people can grow up with the Gospel and desert it while staying within the visible church, how people can grow up without the Gospel, betray their Asian families (from their perspective) by believing in the Word, and cling to its promises.

Church and Change - Still on WELS Website

The Church and Change convention registration is still on the WELS website.

Registration is a "WELSForm."

Church and Change was dissolved by Synodical Pope Gurgel. So they say. Several people insisted it was true because officials told them so.

One can only conclude that Church and Change, dedicated to apostasy and the destruction of all Lutheran doctrine, is officially supported by The Love Shack Curia.

WELS members - when your offerings go to support $1+ million for technology, that includes the promotion of Church and Change through the elaborate and expensive WELS website, WELS.nt.

I Told You So: UOJ Lurkers

Once the word got out, the poll on forgiveness went from 100% justification by faith to 60% justification by faith. Yes, 40% answered that "everyone is already forgiven."

I think there was a rush to stuff the ballot on the UOJ side, but that is good. The laity should know how many clergy Universalists are lurking in the Lutheran Church.
LutherQuest (sic) is full of them.