Hopeful at Parker High

Hopeful signs for boys injured in tug of war at Lutheran HS

By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News

October 15, 2007

Two high school juniors who nearly severed their right hands in a game of tug of war during a pep rally Friday have undergone surgery and are doing well, police and school officials said today.
"From what we understand, blood is flowing to their hands — a very optimistic sign," said Randy Lowe, chief executive officer of Lutheran High School in Parker, where the incident happened.

Elise Penington, spokeswoman for the town of Parker, said the teens — identified by 9News as Henry Barrett and Mitch Helfer — were participating in the contest between juniors and seniors in advance of Saturday's homecoming game.

"There was like 40 to 50 kids on each side of the rope," she said. "A couple of them, these kids included, had just wrapped the rope really tightly around their hands."

Penington said police are calling the students' injuries a partial amputation.

"I don't know if that means that it was completely ripped off or just bones completely broken apart," she said.

Lowe declined to elaborate on the students' injuries, only saying that it was a "freak accident."

The gymnasium was packed with students at the time.

"The kids who witnessed it were pretty traumatized," Penington said. "It was a pep rally, so all the kids that were there that day were in there watching it."

Lowe and Penington said counselors with the Douglas County Crisis Advocacy Group have been available to students and staff since Friday. School officials met with parents on Saturday, she said.

The student body is doing "very well," Lowe said.

"It's a phenomenal group of young students that we have here, very strong in their faith life and that helps immensely," he said.

Saturday's homecoming game was rescheduled for today at 4 p.m., Principal Juls Clausen said.

WELS Pastor in ELCA-LCMS Feminist Holy Communion Service

Chapel, Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Breaking news. You saw it here first. Second, to be honest.

The material below was posted on LutherQuest (sic):

Dennis Boettcher (Boettden)
Advanced Member
Username: Boettden

Post Number: 996
Registered: 5-2004
Posted on Monday, October 15, 2007 - 4:24 pm:

--------------------------------------------------------
Ladies and gentlemen:

A former poster, now lurker to LQ was in contact with me this afternoon, and has the following information that he has agreed to be shared with you:

This gentleman did take the time to call CTSFW and speak directly with Dr. Wenthe. He spoke originally with the President's secretary, left a message, and Dr. Wenthe called him back 20 minutes later. Dr. Wenthe was open and honest with the caller. Here are the main points of Dr. Wenthe's response to the question posed on this thread:

Yes, there was an assembly this past August of the Society of the Holy Trinity. The assembly there was made up of clerics from the ELCA, the LCMS, and the WELS.

Dr. Wenthe agreed to this assembly, under the understanding that no women would preach, and all participants would observe all LCMS pastoral issues.

The assembly and CTSFW did not have a common understanding of the guidelines presented.

Dr Wenthe stated that CTS did not officially endorse this event, but they were only trying to be charitable.

The group did not follow the proscribed guidelines: an ELCA minister did officiate at the communion service, with an LCMS pastor preaching.

The Society of the Holy Trinity will no longer be welcome at CTSFW.

The LCMS pastor who preached at the servicve has been referred to his DP.

Throughout the entire conversation, the caller said that Dr. Wenthe was apologetic about ever allowing such an event happen on the CTSFW campus.

Thus far the notes I transcribed from my conversation with the LQ lurker/former poster.

***

GJ - I have been reading about the Society of the Holy Trinity on the ALPB website, where I noticed Paul McCain is excruciatingly polite to ELCA pastors. I became intrigued by all the pastors with STS after their names (ring-knockers?). That is oh-so-snooty for Society of the Holy Trinity, in Latin, as if they could parse amo, amas, amat.

If you look up the Society of the Holy Trinity website, you will notice that they call themselves a ministerium. Therefore, a WELS pastor [if LQ is correct] has joined another ministerium of sorts and participated in a pan-Lutheran Holy Communion service where ordained women took an active role.

Public ceremoney. Publicized by the culprits. This is not an Eighth Commandment case. If the facts from LQ are wrong, post something here or there about it.

ELDONA

Pastor John Rutowicz has left a new comment on your post "Lutheran Monastery, Oxford, Michigan":

15 October 2007

I got home from work this evening and through this list went to Gregory Jackson’s blog. Wow! I don’t know where to start. I think I’ve been accused of being a crypto-Easternizer or Romanizer. I can’t think of what would give Mr. Jackson that impression? What have I said or done that is even remotely Easternizing? But perhaps he means for the Easternizing accusation to be applied to ELDoNA generally. Although I would think the Malone Thesis would have put such a charge to rest.

“It is our desire to make a clear distinction between ourselves and the Eastern Orthodox churches. Our fellowship does not intend to be a “half way house” between the Lutheran Church and Eastern Orthodoxy. We wish to separate ourselves from any appearance of “Easternizing.”

I wrote that because I wanted to clearly say NO to any thought of Easternizing. Frankly, I’m dumbfounded by the accusation. What more do we have to do to declare ourselves anti-Easternizing?

With regard to myself, I suppose Mr. Jackson believes me to be a Romanizer. There is a link on St. Boniface’s web site to St. Augustine’s House, and I am interested in recovering clerical garb and certain ceremonies for the Lutheran Church. First of all, I must say, the St. Boniface web site is not where I want it to be. A good, faithful layman made the site for us, but I have been neglectful in including content originally or maintaining the site. Very little has been done to the site for a couple of years now. I have planned to rework the site, but have not got around to it. The links were all my selections, and I do admit there may be a bit of confusion because of the title “Confessional Lutheran Links.” But right under that title is the disclaimer: “Neither Pastor Rutowicz nor Saint Boniface Evangelical Lutheran Church necessarily endorse all the positions taken on any of the following web sites. These sites are listed because it is felt that they have some value. The reader is responsible for his or her own use of these sites.” Mr. Jackson didn’t see fit to include that bit of information.

I visited St. Augustine’s House a number of years ago while I was in the LCMS (and I did not commune there). By no means do I endorse the ecumenical agenda of St. Augustine’s House. It is an interesting Lutheran location here in Michigan. Father Richard Herbel was very nice to me when I was there, even when I explained to him and the other guests that I had to maintain my separation of confession, and I could not commune with them. And though I could not enter fellowship with Father Herbel or St. Augustine’s House, I still think he is engaged in an interesting undertaking at a Lutheran monastery. That was my reasoning for having the link on the St. Boniface web site. Is it a sign of fellowship to have a link on a web site? Mr. Jackson has one to the ELCA.

I could have explained all of this to Mr. Jackson had he contacted me. I can’t be all that hard to find. The telephone operator could tell him the listing for the only Rutowicz in Niles, MI. Mr. Jackson is free to speculate about my loyalty to the Lutheran Confessions if he likes. He says, “Three out of the first four [links] are about clerical garb - a burning issue for crypto-Romanists.” My claims not to be a crypto-Romanist will, I’m sure, will be of no use to change his opinion of me. But perhaps some questions are in order to gauge the rationality of his opinion.
1) If I wanted to swim the Tiber, why wouldn’t I have done itwhen I left the LCMS? It would have been the perfect opportunity for it. And if I wanted to remain a married priest, there are Serbian Orthodox connections right down the road in South Bend.
2) If I wanted to go in one of those directions I certainly would have done so by now, just for the financial security alone. I make lousy pay working at a camera store, wishing I could spend much more of my time working as a pastor.

I find the accusations of Mr. Jackson irresponsible and bizarre. And would it be going too far to call them slanderous? Well, at least it will renew my zeal to rework the website. I will let all of you decide for yourselves the truthfulness of these accusations.

Pastor John S. Rutowicz
Saint Boniface Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELDoNA)
Niles, Michigan

***

GJ - Such protests! Overly much, I think. I cannot figure out why Missourians de-ordain someone they disagree with. I am suddenly Mr. Jackson even though I was ordained and serving congregations when Pastor Rutowicz was riding his trike around the playground. And I am still serving people through the Means of Grace. I offer the sacrament of Holy Communion at every service.

I list all websites so people can judge for themselves. I welcome debate, and the laity enjoy having some real information available instead of hagiography from headquarters.

The Cross of Life, Corona, California, WELS website was suddent de-Sweetened when I mentioned the pastor's school-girlish rhapsodies over the bilge of Leonard Sweet. Even the offering totals vanished. Poof.

Here is my point about the Niles website. Supposedly these pastors left the LCMS because they loathed unionism. Yet their archbishop, James Heiser, who wears purple at Concordia, Ft. Wayne, put an ELCA member on his board because the man gave so much money for the Repristination books being published. As His Grace explained to me over the phone, "I had to. He bought so many books." I have designed a baseball cap for ELDONA, "It's OK to pay, if you're E - L - C - A."

The monastery! Apostate ELCA and longing-to-join LCMS pastors at the ALPB link to that same monastery. The history? All liberal. All ecumenical. Chapel for Marian devotion. So why commend the monastery with WELSian exculpatory remarks? I do not understand how the monastery advances Lutheran orthodoxy. That is my opinion. This is a polemical website, not the PR department of ELDONA. A quasi-Roman monastery is not confessional Lutheran by any definition. If the page had been labeled Weird ELDONA, it would have made sense. But it was not.

False accusations of slander are in fact slander. Take a number, Pastor Rutowicz. Every time I deal with a doctrinal issue, the Eighth Commandment card is played. I am used to it. Your website is public, not private. The implications of your doctrine are public, not private. The Large Catechism explains this distinction. Please read the section on the Eighth Commandment.

I hope no ELDONA pastor joins Eastern Orthodoxy or Rome. I wish the high-church Missourians would quit slobbering over the non-essentials of worship and focus on doctrine. When the Archbishop features a photo of the Niles chalice and patten on his website, the priorities seem tilted to the East.

***

Pastor John Rutowicz has left a new comment on your post "ELDONA":

Pastor Jackson,

My apologies to you for not addressing you properly. I could not find your congregational web site for quite a long time now, and I assumed you were no longer serving in that capacity. It was obviously a false assumption. I had no intention of de-ordaining you. I would appreciate it if you would not refer to me as a Missourian since I left the LCMS several years ago now.

I accept your correction concerning the titling of the web page “Confessional Lutheran Links,” and then having a link to St. Augustine’s House. The page is poorly organized and I am guilty of neglecting it. But the point of having it at all was simply to educate my laity (and maybe others) that there are such things in the world as Lutheran monasteries, even if this was not an example of an orthodox one. In fact, I am not aware of an orthodox one.

You say that you’re dealing with a doctrinal issue with regard to St. Boniface’s web site. What is the doctrinal issue? The mis-labeling of the links? My neglect with regard to the site? You imply that I’m Romanizing. You put up a picture of James Heiser, myself, and Charles Hudson with the title “Missouri Going Eastern Orthodox.” Such statements are absolute rubbish!

I met you a couple of times a few years ago, and haven’t had any contact with you since. But to the best of my memory I’ve never even had an disagreement with you over anything. And yet you didn’t even have the decency to talk to me before saying false things about me. And for the record, I asked Heiser to feature the chalice and patten that had been bought by an elderly couple of our parish. We were rather proud of the fact that though we had practically nothing as a parish, we started out with beautiful communion ware. My people see it as offering their best to the Lord.

Pastor Rutowicz
St. Boniface - Niles

***

GJ - I am glad you have beautiful communion ware. You seem to miss just about everything I discuss. I don't expect you to read all 500 posts, but try for some perspective. Concordia, Ft. Wayne, has become an Eastern Orthodox factory of sorts. You know it. Many know it. And you know the professors promoting Eastern Orthodoxy.
Men do not study Pieper, jump up and say, "By golly, I'm going to be an Eastern Orthodoxy priest, the day after graduation." Influential professors have paved the way.

Do you expect people to see a group of seven congregations with a bishop and not think something different is happening? And why was ELDONA such a secret until it rose from the sea like Aphrodite? That makes people wonder. So does the overall content of your website. The two trends I see in the LCMS are Fuller and Eastern Orthodoxy, two bad answers for serious long-term problems.

I think of Concordia Seminary graduates as Missourians, even if they have left the LCMS. The Little Sect on the Prairie will not accept a former LCMS pastor. WELS pastors are accused of reading Missouri materials. Missourian means raised Missouri and trained Missouri.

WELS Report

The COP heard encouraging reports about the finances of the synod. For example, Congregation Mission Offerings (CMO) are up for the first three months of the new fiscal year about $650,000 over last year—as a result of the COP’s efforts last summer to respond to the financial difficulties facing us. Offerings from individuals in the Walking Together and Mission Partners efforts, and other gifts, were up by approximately $650,000. Additional dollars have been received due to investment results and a more favorable foreign exchange rate.

Because it is still early in the fiscal year, because some of the increases are due to earlier receipt of some gifts than last year, and because a multitude of factors could still impact our financial picture, we must be cautious about these results. Still, these are blessings for which we first thank God, and for which we also thank all of the members and congregations of the synod.

Download the complete report from WELS’ chief financial officer at www.wels.net/jump/financialreport.

Special debt retirement offering planned
The synod convention received reports on the synod’s capital debt of $22.4 million. The payments on this debt are budgeted at approximately $3 million per year—money which could be used to fund missions and other important synodical programs. For that reason, the convention authorized the Conference of Presidents to plan a synod-wide debt retirement offering.

The COP has now approved plans for this effort. It is our prayer that we will all join together to completely eliminate this debt by the time of the synod convention in 2009. All congregations and members of the synod will join together in the “WELS Year of Jubilee” offering. The effort will be planned and coordinated by the Ministry of Christian Giving without the use of an outside consultant.

The specifics of the offering will be presented to the district conventions next summer. Materials and worship resources will be provided to congregations at that time. The plan is that all congregations will participate in this celebration of God’s blessings, culminating in a month-long emphasis in late November and early December of 2008.

Congregations will be given a number of options for participation. Some may choose to carry out the celebration over a series of four weeks; others may choose a single day as an emphasis. Still other congregations will be given the option of beginning their efforts already in January 2008, using the entire year as a way to gather regular monthly offerings from their members. For congregations beginning the effort in November, members will be able to give one-time gifts or to spread their gifts over the following months. The offering will conclude with a celebration at the synod convention in 2009.

If God blesses us with the elimination of this debt, we will have $3 million annually to use for the expanded mission and ministry efforts approved by the convention. Please ask God to bless our efforts as we respond joyfully and with commitment to the many blessings he has showered on us and on our synod.

Top News Stories
Latest numbers show a change in prep school enrollment
The latest numbers from WELS’ two preparatory schools—Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS), Saginaw, Mich., and Luther Preparatory School (LPS), Watertown, Wis.—show a moderate decrease in enrollment from previous years. Two hundred thirty-four students are enrolled at MLS, down from 242 in 2006-07. LPS also experienced a decrease from 382 students in 2006-07 to this year’s 339.

“The enrollments in the prep system have decreased every year since 2001-02,” says Tim Dolan, director of recruitment at LPS. Much of this decline, he says, is a result of fewer available candidates and decreasing enrollments in WELS elementary schools.

Paul Prange, president of MLS, also cites tuition increases as a source of declining enrollment: “The trend is very clear. Since 2003, where we had the drastic lowering of subsidy and the significant increases in tuition, the enrollments of MLS, LPS, and Martin Luther College seem to be directly correlated to the tuition increases,” he says. “We’re all down.”

To combat these declining numbers, the prep schools are working to show families the value of a Christian education, as well as encouraging pastors and teachers at Lutheran elementary schools to “find their replacements” in the public ministry.

Peter Kruschel, administrator for WELS Ministerial Education, says that although prep school enrollment is down slightly, “I think that we’re probably at the low end and [enrollment numbers] should either remain stable or go up slightly.” Prange agrees: “We have a quality [ministerial education] system,” he says. “People are going to realize the value of it and say, ‘This is worthwhile . . . this is something I’m going to encourage my kids to do.’ That’s the kind of optimistic sense you get all around the synod, and that’s going to help enrollment.”

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GJ - The Laffer curve works with tuition, too. When tuition is too high, people do not want to mortgage the farm to pay for kids in high school, with college and possibly seminary in the future.

Air Quality Affected by Church and Change BMs

Eye-witness...or rather... a nose-witness account:

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "More BMs at Church and Change":

I work on the opposite side of the airport in Milwaukee from where the C&C conference is being held. This morning, I was wondering what that horrible stench was that had infiltrated our ventilation system. Please pardon my banal sense of humor. It must have been that the wind was coming from the west and there was a huge BM at the C&C conference.

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GJ - Becoming Missional is the Cloaca Magna of Christianity.

In case you were not blessed with Latin courses and ancient history in school, the Cloaca Magna was the sewer system in Rome.

Why No One Confuses Parlow (WELS) with Luther

Mark your calendars for…

“Let the Praises Ring”! St. Mark’s 3rd Annual Praise Band Concert!

If you were unable to attend last year, here’s your chance to get in on a night of great music and heartfelt worship as musicians from the St. Mark praise band share their gifts with you.


September 9, 2007

THE GOSPEL JOURNEY

We all start out at white belt level.

Luke 5:1-11

This is my obi, the Japanese word for a belt worn by a martial artist. This is a black belt which denotes a master’s level in the art. One thing you notice when you instruct people in the martial arts is their impatience and frustration. Many people will ask you, “How long until I am a black belt?” I always reply, “I don’t know. Everyone moves at a different pace. It’s a process. Don’t worry about the people around you in the class. Just be willing to move from where you are to the next step, one step at a time. It’s a process.”

It could be today that impatience and frustration is your take on Christianity in general and Christian growth specifically. You look around at these people and some have their Bible and they are flipping back and forth and they say Christian words and you don’t know what they are talking about. And you say, “I’m just not there.” And then you know some Christians once (theme from the Twilight Zone) and you said, “I’m not sure I want to be one of those. They are speaking Christianese all the time.” You think to yourself, “I just can’t be that,” because the implication is when it comes to the Christian walk: white belt to black belt in one week. You sit here and think, ‘I’m interested. I’m curious but . . . I just am not ready for that.”
I’ve got some great news. That’s not really the paradigm. That is not what is taught in the New Testament. Turn with me in Matthew 4:18-22. At first that doesn’t look spiritual but irresponsible. “See you Dad! Tell Mom we love her. We got to go! Hope you can get the boat in yourself and clean the nets without us.” And the old guy is over there staggering in wonderment. They just left their father with the family business that he probably saved for them.

This was how their family made a living. Suddenly they just go marching off with some guy in a robe because he walked by and said “Follow me.”Some of you feel that way about the Christian walk. You think, “Could you just slow down.

Could I just do this a little bit at a time?” Absolutely. You see once Christ has brought you to fatih, following Jesus is a process of moving from wherever you are to just the next place. For many of us it is a simple baby step. What God wants for you is not for you to come in here today and learn how to spell Jesus properly and then surrender your whole life to him. That’s not realistic. That’s not the normal way God works in people’s lives. What God wants for you as a follower is for you to take the next incremental step as he grows you in your relationship with him. The fancy term for that is sanctification.

Fortunately for us, Matthew who wrote what we just read was writing to Jews who understood if you ever ran into the Messiah, you drop everything and followed him. Luke tells us the same story but he is writing to people like us who weren’t Jewish looking for a Messiah, who would never in a million years drop everything and follow a guy who said, “Follow me.”

Luke gives us more detail about what happened on this afternoon. This account sets up for us an incredible context for what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Turn with me to Luke 5. The story actually starts with teaching. Read Luke 5:1. The people would fish at night and then in the morning they would clean their nets. They would then stretch their nets out and let them dry. When they were dry they would roll them up and store them and then go home and sleep half the day because they had been up all night. These guys had finished their nets and they are listening to Jesus teach. Who knows how long Jesus taught? The people were pressing against him so Jesus says to Simon, “Would you mind if I used your boat as a floating pulpit?” Simon Peter says, “Okay.” So they get into the boat and push off a few yards and Jesus continues to teach and Peter continues to listen.

Read Luke 5:4. You see this story didn’t begin with a stranger saying, “Leave all you have and follow me.” Jesus now tells Peter, “Let’s go fishing.” Peter says, “Jesus, you might be a really smart carpenter but apparently you don’t know anything about fishing. You don’t fish during the day. No offense Jesus but we’ve been fishing when you are supposed to go fishing and we didn’t catch anything. What’s the point of going fishing when you are not suppose to go fishing? Besides we have already cleaned out nets. Beside there is a crowd. If these people seeing me fishing in the middle of the day they will think I’m nuts. This doesn’t make any sense.”

This next verse is great because this is where many of us are – read Luke 5:5b. The implication is, “I wouldn’t do this for everybody. I wouldn’t even do this for my fishing buddies James and John. But, Jesus, I’ve been sitting here and listening to you. There is something about you. There is something about your teaching. In light of what I sense and hope about youI’ll do this.” Here’s the rest of the story – read Luke 5:6-10a. The word “then” should be bolded. Then after they sat and listened to him teach. Then after they let him borrow the boat. Then after they took a chance and took him fishing. Then after they saw what he was able to do. Then when he proved himself who they hoped he would be – read Luke 10b-11. Who wouldn’t follow a guy like that? What father wouldn’t say, “Boys, I’ll take care of the family business. You need to follow a Teacher like that. He’s the One we have been waiting for.”

The reason I love this story is because it is about us. It’s about different people with different backgrounds and different faith levels and different places in their spiritual journey with Jesus. The invitation to follow Jesus is just the invitation to take the next step, whatever the next step is. It begins at the white belt level with sitting and learning. Do you know why the story begins there? Because this is how the Holy Spirit draws us and puts us on the path with Jesus. Read Romans 10:17. Christianity is not some dark hole with a voice at the bottom yelling, “Jump, I’ll catch you.” You don’t reply, “I’m a Christian. I don’t know who is down there but here I go!”

That’s not the picture of Christianity. Christianity is an informed faith. All of our journeys with Jesus begin with us sitting down and listening for the first time about who Jesus really is and what he has done (expand). Listening and learning. And then at some point Jesus nudges us to take the next step. That’s what Jesus did with Peter when he asked him to go fishing. Just think about what hung in the balance that day for Peter. Everything in him said, “Bad idea. I’m going to ruin my reputation. It is going to cost me money.” In his little world there was a lot at stake. But he really had no idea what was at stake, right! He had no idea what God had planned for him. He had no idea who Jesus was. Jesus was Jesus the whole time. But it wasn’t until Peter agreed to take Jesus fishing that it gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal himself which caused Peter to fall on his knees and say, “I’m not worthy to be in your presence.” Hey, Peter you weren’t worthy to be in his presence before. What’s the difference? The difference is when Peter’s little faith intersected with Jesus’ faithfulness he suddenly discovered whom he was really dealing with. This is the stage of life some of us are in right now. Jesus says, “Hey, let’s take the next step.” And you might argue with God as if you are peers. Peter thought Jesus and he were peers. He was going to have this argument with Jesus about fishing. In his mind he is thinking,
“This could cost me some time and money. I’m not sure I can sacrifice this to take Jesus fishing.” Jesus must have been thinking, “You have no idea what is hanging in the balance, Peter. I’m going to have you write two books of the Bible and people will name their children after you. In two thousand years they will still be talking about you. And you are worried about a little bit of time and a little bit of money. Trust me.” He was just asking him to take a baby step. “We are already out here why not fish?”

Here’s where we are. We are all within the two ranks, white belt and black belt; between the two bookends. You are here today, you are new to the fiath, and you are not really a religious person or church person. In fact, in your world the fact that you get up on Sunday morning and fight the Packer traffic and come to church; that is as monumental as Peter saying to Jesus, “Let’s go fishing.” For some of us that’s just normal but for you it is a big step.

Congratulations! You’ve taken another baby step in this relationship Jesus has given you. You might say, “I’m not ready to change a lot yet.” That’s okay. You are here. You are listening. You are studying. You are right where God wants you. You just need to keep sitting and you just need to keep listening. You are where you are; don’t worry about where other people are. God is excited to see you moving down the path. But the day will come when he will nudge you and say, “I need your boat. We’re going to get a little more closely associated. It may be time to speak to one of the pastors and get some questions answered. Maybe its time for you to attend the CLASS seminars or get plugged into a small group.” God is going to want you to start reading this on your own. Some of you haven’t pick this up forever. In fact, the only Bible you have weighs forty pounds and sits on a table. Jesus wants you to pick this up and start reading it on your own. Learn more about this Savior who starred death in the face your you and death fled. Read it. It’s a baby step but it is an important part of the Gospel journey, it’s part of the process that Jesus carries you through.

For others of us, you have been reading for a long time and now for the first time in a very compelling way the Lord Jesus is saying, “Let’s go fishing.” He’s put his finger on one specific area of your life, not the whole deal, one specific area of your life and said, “I want you to trust me with that right there.” You say, “Oh, not that.” He’s not saying, “Die for me. Go into the ministry. Go over seas.” No. He is saying, “I want you to see me work in this one area of your life. I want you to trust me in this part of your life so your little faith and my faithfulness can intersect because when that happens I know you will be different. But you are going to have to trust me.”

And still some of you are like Peter and right now you are having arguments with God. “God, I’m 40 and if I narrow the people I date down to that point I there’s nobody to date. It’s over!” “Trust me,” God says. “If I start treating my wife like . . . If I start giving like that . . . If I start having a good attitude toward my parents I . . Lord, you want me to move out . . . .” God says, “Just try me. Trust me. Drop those nets. I know when you trust me you will be moved to know that the God of the Universe who is all over this book and sometimes seems so distance; the Savior who died for you showed up tangibly in your life with some spiritual or physical blessing. And when that happens, you will drop to your knees and say, ‘Lord, I’m not worthy. And yet you really care about me and we are like this (cross fingers) and Wow!’” And suddenly it not as difficult to trust him with other parts of your life; the next time it won’t be so hard to let down your nets, it’s easier to trust him with any and every part of your life. The Christian life is a journey closer and closer to the Son. At some point it moves from I’m learning to I’m asking to I’m doing. But here’s the good news. When it comes to the Christian life you don’t go from white belt to black belt in a week. It takes training. It is process. You mature in our faith gradually. And as you do, Peter would tell you, “Don’t be afraid to trust Jesus as he nudges you down the path. You don’t know what hangs in the balance – believe me!”

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow with Luther":

Wow. I counted one sentence of gospel in that entire sermon. There's no way anyone could read that sermon and still think that Parlow is a Lutheran pastor.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow with Luther":

How relevant. Nothing but the law. Just what we need.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why No One Confuses Parlow (WELS) with Luther":

Interesting. The fastest growing WELS congregation is led by a Reformed preacher.

Luther: Law and Gospel - from Thy Strong Word

J-914

"A penitent heart is a rare thing and a great grace; one cannot produce it by thinking about sin and hell. Only the Holy Spirit can impart it."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1212.



J-915

"Now God drives us to this by holding the law before us, in order that through the law we may come to a knowledge of ourselves. For where there is not this knowledge, one can never be saved. He that is well needs no physician; but if a man is sick and desires to become well, he must know that he is weak and sick, otherwise he cannot be helped."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 370. Second Sunday after Easter, Second Sermon John 20:19-31.

J-916

"For the heart is ever hostile to the law and resists it with inward disobedience."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 140. Fourth Sunday after Easter, Third Sermon John 16:5-15.

J-917

"Therefore the Holy Spirit rightly and justly convicts, as sinful and condemned, all who have not faith in Christ. For where this is wanting, other sins in abundance must follow: God is despised and hated, and the entire first table is treated with disobedience."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 141. Fourth Sunday after Easter, Third Sermon John 16:5-15.

J-918

"It breaks in not piecemeal on certain works and actions, but reduces to nothing and condemns everything that reason and worldly wisdom propose. In short, He convicts and censures them in and for the very things they do not wish to be convicted in, but rather praised and lauded, as teaching and doing well and right."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 138. Fourth Sunday after Easter, Third Sermon. John 16:5-15.

The Law Always Condemns

J-919

"I have often told you, dearly beloved, that the entire Scriptures consist of two parts, of the law and the Gospel. It is the law that teaches us what we are required to do; the Gospel teaches where we shall receive what the law demands. For it is quite a different thing to know what we should have, and to know where to get it. Just as when I am given into the hands of the physicians, where it is quite a different art to tell what my disease is than to tell what medicine I must take so as to recover. Thus it is likewise here. The law discovers the disease, the Gospel ministers the medicine."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 31. Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 10:23-37.

J-920

"This is the situation with him: the greater his external restraint from evil, the greater his inward hatred of him who restrains. His character is in the scales; when one side goes up, the other goes down. While outward sin decreases, inward sin increases. We know from experience that those youths most strictly reared are, when given liberty, more wicked than young men less rigidly brought up. So impossible it is to improve human nature with commandments and punishments; something else is necessary."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 268. New Year's Day, Galatians 3:23-29.

The Law is the work of the Holy Spirit, but it is limited to condemnation and threats. For that reason, the Law can never provide the perfection it demands. Lutherans should be especially aware of this limitation, because the Reformed solutions provided by mission boards, evangelism experts, and synodical officials are all Law, but man-made law at best. Luther’s analogy, comparing Law and Gospel to diagnosis and treatment, is still good to use today. I was waiting with a family while the head of the household was in surgery. A former Roman Catholic began talking about her change from the Church of Rome to Pentecostalism. She was much happier as a Pentecostal. I knew that my chance to say something was quite limited, so I pointed out that the Law was the same as getting an x-ray, but all the x-rays in the world would not cure an ailment. Only the Gospel of forgiveness could provide healing. She brightened up when she heard this and I hope paid more attention to the Gospel in the future. Many people I know would have said, “You have to quit the Pentecostals and join my synod.” That would be a Law solution and the wrong one, as far as the immediate problem was concerned.

Because the Law always condemns, it can bear no fruit. The Law can be enforced on anyone and often produces comical results. For instance, mission boards love mission reports but seldom read them. Two pastors tested this principle by sending in phony, inflated, and hilarious reports for months. They had the audacity to tell the mission executive that they would not send any more reports because he did not read them. “Of course I have!” They taunted him into opening the file and reading them, provoking an angry response unbecoming to a minister of the Gospel. The Law by itself produces guilt and moves people to obey, but they cannot love God’s Law through hearing the Law alone. Consequently, correct Lutheran teaching includes both Law and Gospel, with the Gospel predominating.

J-921

Luther: "The lawmonger compels by threats and punishments; the preacher of grace persuades and incites men by setting forth the goodness and mercy of God."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, I, p. 79.

J-922

"What is said there concerning the servant is true here concerning the pupil. Paul employs the two figures to teach us the office of the Law and what it profits. We must, therefore, again refer to the Law and its works, to the fact that works are of twofold origin. Some are extorted by fear of punishment or prompted by expectation of pleasure and gain; others are spontaneous, cheerful and gratuitous, not performed to escape punishment nor to gain reward, but inspired by pure kindness and a desire for what is good. The first class are the works of servants and pupils; the second class, of children and free heirs."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 267. New Year's Day, Galatians 3:23-29.

J-923

"As for example when we feel in our conscience that God rebukes us as sinners and judges us unworthy of the kingdom of heaven, then we experience hell, and we think we are lost forever. Now whoever understands here the actions of this poor woman and catches God in His own judgment, and says, Lord, it is true, I am a sinner and not worthy of Thy grace; but still Thou hast promised sinners forgiveness, and Thou art come not to call the righteous, but, as St. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15, 'to save sinners.' Behold, then must God according to His own judgment have mercy upon us."
Sermons of Martin Luther, ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 153. Matthew 15:21-28.

Eric Gritsch's books about Luther.

Look for Your BM Icon

The innocent-looking icon is really a magic portal into the realm of occultic, Pentecostal, and just-plain-tacky stuff.

JR Woodward at Dream Awakener has a perspective on success that really helps my understanding of missional. His post "A Working Definition of Success" provides a working definition of what missional might look like. Here it is:

Not simply how many people come to our church services, but how many people our church serves.
Not simply how many people attend our ministry, but how many people have we equipped for ministry.
Not simply how many people minister inside the church, but how many minister outside the church.
Not simply helping people become more whole themselves, but helping people bring more wholeness to their world. (i.e. justice, healing, relief)
Not simply how many ministries we start, but how many ministries we help.
Not simply how many unbelievers we bring into the community of faith, but how many ‘believers' we help experience healthy community.
Not simply working through our past hurts, but working alongside the Spirit toward wholeness.
Not simply counting the resources that God gives us to steward, but counting how many good stewards are we developing for the sake of the world.
Not simply how we are connecting with our culture but how we are engaging our culture.
Not simply how much peace we bring to individuals, but how much peace we bring to our world.
Not simply how effective we are with our mission, but how faithful we are to our God.
Not simply how unified our local church is, but how unified is "the church" in our neighborhood, city and world?
Not simply how much we immerse ourselves in the text, but how faithfully we live in the story of God.
Not simply being concerned about how our country is doing, but being concern for the welfare of other countries.
Not simply how many people we bring into the kingdom, but how much of the kingdom we bring to the earth.

Saintly-looking Donald McGavran, the Dark Lord of the Church Growth Movement, was a member of the ultra-leftist Disciples of Christ, worked with the World Council of Churches, and advocated participation in Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in America.

Fuller Seminary even had a production called "Planned Parenthood for Churches." That title seems entirely appropriate for Fuller.

More BMs at Church and Change

The goal of Church and Change is to generate more BMs, more ex-Lutherans Becoming Missional.

I found this website--Becoming Missional--which is full of links to more BM websites.

BM is appropriately the next phase of the Fuller Seminary takeover.

Troubled Unionists at Church and Change

"We find this attitude of tolerance quite frequently among unionists. It is often used to assuage a troubled conscience, one's own as well as that of others; for the unionist declares that every one may continue to hold his own private convictions and merely needs to respect and tolerate those of another. This attitude is totally wrong, for it disregards two important factors: (a) in tolerating divergent doctrines one either denies the perspicuity and clarity of the Scriptures, or one grants to error the right to exist alongside of truth, or one evidences indifference over against Biblical truth by surrendering its absolute validity; and (b) in allowing two opposite views concerning one doctrine to exist side by side, one has entered upon an inclined plane which of necessity leads ever further into complete doctrinal indifference, as may plainly be seen from the most calamitous case on record, viz., the Prussian Union."
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 20.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Troubled Unionists at Church and Change":

Reading the Church and Change schedule...last night they opened with "Contemporary worship at St. Marcus." The thought of all those unionists, adiaphorists, and American-Evangelical wannabes swaying to "Awesome God" breaks my heart.

And for some reason they've got a huge picture of SP Schroeder on their homepage...apparently they feel they have a synodical mandate to meet. Wonder what SP Schroeder will do.

***

GJ - Not wannabes, but BMs. They are Becoming Missional, unhindered by doctrinal concerns.

Luther to George Major

George Major

"It is by your silence and cloaking that you cast suspicion upon yourself. If you believe as you declare in my presence, then speak so also in the church, in public lectures, in sermons, and in private conversations, and strengthen your brethren, and lead the erring back to the right path, and contradict the contumacious spirits; otherwise your confession is sham pure and simple, and worth nothing. Whoever really regards his doctrine, faith, and confession as true, right, and certain cannot remain in the same stall with such as teach, or adhere to, false doctrine; nor can he keep on giving friendly words to Satan and his minions. A teacher who remains silent when errors are taught, and nevertheless pretends to be a true teacher, is worse than an open fanatic and by his hypocrisy does greater damage than a heretic. Nor can he be trusted. He is a wolf and a fox, a hireling and a servant of his belly, and ready to despise and to sacrifice doctrine, Word, faith, Sacrament, churches, and schools. He is either a secret bedfellow of the enemies, or a skeptic and a weathervane, waiting to see whether Christ or the devil will prove victorious; or he has no convictions of his own whatever, and is not worthy to be called a pupil, let alone a teacher; nor does he want to offend anybody, or say a word in favor of Christ, or hurt the devil and the world.”
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 94.