Luther Barely Beats Werning as Greatest Lutheran Theologian

Who is the most famous Lutheran theologian?

Martin Luther 25 (52%)

Martin Chemnitz 5 (10%)

C. F. W. Walther 3 (6%)

Waldo Werning 15 (31%)

***

GJ - I rest my case about who is leading WELS.

Which WELS Leader Said This?

"Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."

The answer is here.

His Eminence is quoted here.

Several thin-skinned WELS members need to work on reading comprehension. They are howling that Hybels is not on the clergy list. Someone who leads WELS, as Hybels certainly is doing now, is a WELS leader. Another WELS leader is C. Peter Wagner, who said, "Church Growth principles do not work."

Paul Kelm does DePere. Dan Kelm did Divine Savior, Indianapolis. Both are Willow Creek clones. Dan bragged that he modeled his service after WC.

This story is hilariously funny because Willow Creek skimmed all that money off clergy to teach them how to "do church." The Love Shack is only about 90 miles away, so it was only a matter of time before they were trained too. Proof is that American mission pastors in WELS were given 100% scholarships by WELS to be trained at Willow Creek.

If Hybels is training WELS clergy, he is a WELS leader. If C. Peter Wagner and Leonard Sweet are training WELS clergy, they are WELS leaders. So is Martin Marty, once dissed by WELS for being ecumenical-liberal.

More importantly, if The Love Shack admires and emulates these false teachers, the false teachers are definitely the true leaders of the Wisconsin sect.

After years of coveting Willow Creek, copying Willow Creek, cloning Willow Creek, WELS leaders should confess how many millions they have wasted.

The Missouri Synod, under Al Barry, had a large number of congregations belonging to the Willow Creek Association. Unionistic? They did something about it at the Purple Palace. After I mentioned this in Christian News, the list was no longer available (Ichabod effect - the apostates duck and hide).

Bishop Dearest! Are Lutheran District Popes Different?

From Virtue Online:

PENNSYLVANIA BISHOP CHARLES E. BENNISON INHIBITED!

Special Report

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
10/31/2007

The Bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison has been inhibited from ordained ministry and must cease all episcopal functions as bishop after November 3 diocesan convention. The Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori inhibited Bennison Oct. 31 from all ordained ministry pending a judgment of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. The Title IV Review Committee earlier issued a presentment for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy against Bennison on October 28.

The Committee found there was enough evidence to send Bennison to trial on two counts of the presentment centering on accusations that when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he did not respond properly after learning sometime in 1973 that his brother, John, who worked as a lay youth minister in the parish, was having an affair with a 14-year-old member of the youth group. John Bennison was married at the time, according to the presentment.

The bishop is accused of not taking any steps to end the affair, not providing proper pastoral care for the girl, not investigating whether she needed medical care, taking three years to notify the girl's parents, not reporting his brother to anyone, not investigating whether his brother was sexually involved with any other parishioners or other children, and seeking no advice on how to proceed. The presentment says Charles Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively."

A second Presentment account accuses Bennison of continuing to fail in his duties until the fall of 2006. John Bennison was ordained during this time. The bishop is accused of not preventing his brother's ordination, or his ultimately successful application to be reinstated as a priest after having renounced his orders in 1977, or his desire to transfer from the Diocese of Los Angeles to the Diocese of California. John Bennison was forced in 2006 to renounce his orders again, when news of his abuse became public.

The Standing Committee of the diocese met in special meeting October 30 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and consented to the inhibition, as is required by the Title IV, Canon 3, Section 45 of the Episcopal Church.

Bennison must cease "all episcopal, ministerial, and canonical acts" effective at 12:01 a.m. November 4, according to the inhibition Jefferts Schori sent to Bennison. The diocese is set to hold its 224th annual diocesan convention November 3. At that time, the Standing Committee will become the ecclesiastical authority in the diocese. Bennison will continue to be paid during the time he is inhibited. He will have an opportunity to respond to the presentment charges. A date for the trial will be set.

The exodus of Bennison, from both the Diocese of Pennsylvania and the ordained ministry, ends a decade of gross incompetence, ineptitude, clergy mistrust, alleged fiscal incompetence, sexual cover-up, and theological obfuscation, which eroded his base among his liberal backers even as Bennison inhibited and deposed a dwindling handful of orthodox clergy in the diocese.

Events grew so bad between himself and the Standing Committee that they repeatedly asked him to resign. Bennison equally and steadfastly refused to go. The frustration of his clergy reached fever pitch at last year's diocesan convention when repeated calls for his resignation and allegations of his brother's sexual dominated the convention.

In many circles, Bishop Bennison's pronouncements made him the brunt of laughter, disappointment, or anger. Bishop Bennison became the village idiot of ecclesiastical pronouncements. His list of theological heresies and apostasies guarantees him a place forever in Dante's Inferno, or as a cathedral gargoyle overlooking Philadelphia's Schuylkill River.

He wrote a Visigoth Rite for two (or more) persons of the same sex who wanted to tie the nuptial knot in Philadelphia's cathedral. He also could not affirm basic doctrines of the Christian Faith, when challenged to do so by Fr. David Moyer, Anglo-Catholic rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont.

Bennison said Jesus was a sinner (not sinless) who forgave himself - becoming the first bishop in the 2,000-year history of the church to make such a statement. (Not even Arius said such a thing.) It was Bennison who said the church wrote the Bible and can therefore rewrite it, and it was he who said that Jesus is "a Christ" but not the Christ. His latest inanity, that Jesus "winked at sin," was uttered two months ago. In the "Pennsylvania Episcopalian' (February 2006), Bennison doubts the "historical accuracy" of the four gospels and compares Mark, Matthew, Luke and John to the words on the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin calling both "propaganda"!

In any other setting, Bennison would simply have been written off as a buffoon in Holy Orders, but his insistence on bringing into the diocese such notable heretics as John Shelby Spong, and the Episcopal Church's First Consecrated Sodomite, Bishop, V. Gene Robinson from New Hampshire to ordain the next generation of priests, marked him out as both spiritually hazardous and dangerously heretical to the orthodox.

By most ecclesiastical reckonings, his statements alone would be enough to get rid of him. But in a church as theologically lackluster as the Episcopal Church, whose theology ranges from Trinitarian to Unitarian and whose sexual beliefs range from hetero to homo (and anything else in between), apparently not.

His disconnectedness and divorce from reality was highlighted at the recent Diocesan Convention when he said: "This was the best convention" (after they had voted down his budget and mandatory assessment) and "The Diocese has never been in better shape" (after he was asked to resign).

Those who were behind the call for his resignation were clear that the issues were not theological. However, even with accusations of fiscal mismanagement, misleading his leadership and the distrust of his clergy leadership, the Rev. Bill Wood chairman of the Diocesan Standing Committee said that they could not force him out "by canon law".

"We passed a motion asking him to retire or resign as our advice to the bishop," he said. "That's the best we can do," he told VirtueOnline in February. The hope was that a massive public relations campaign and a resolution by members of Concerned Episcopalians (the diocese's loyal opposition) to get rid of him at a specially called Diocesan Convention in March (to deal with the diocese's fiscal problems) might do the trick.

When I asked Wood about Bennison's heretical utterances, and why they would they not be enough to get rid of him, he answered, "We are not doctrinal watch dogs".

The Rev. Glen Matis, past chairman of the Standing Committee and a current member, said it was a "matter of trust" that led to the standing committee's seeking his ouster. It was "beyond fiscal", he said, but there was still no proof that he had done anything illegal.

Too many of us, the decline and longed for ouster of the Bishop of Pennsylvania comes as no surprise, as we have watched with pain, shame, infinite credulity and wonderment at a man so infinitely unqualified to shepherd the people of God as a bishop of The Episcopal Church.

That he should have made his way up the ecclesiastical ranks to become the Bishop of Pennsylvania, speaks volumes about those who pick such men (and women), the unbelievable level of theological and spiritual dysfunctionality of clergy and laity alike who push their cause, fulfilling the truism that "like picks like," climaxing in the triumph of charm and conviviality over substance and the "faith once delivered to the saints."

Charles Bennison was and is the perfect composite of today's imperial Episcopal bishop - a man devoid of substance, filled with empty rhetoric, - "I am here to embrace and affirm" he once said. In truth he is a hollow man with only mediocre academic and social credentials, badly hidden behind a mask of spiritual vacuity and theological emptiness.

His rise, like his fall, was utterly predictable. He is the perfect example of the disconnected sociopathic bishop. It was only a matter of time before the Standing Committee and Bennison's liberal backers came to the same conclusion: that he was the proverbial bishop with no theological clothes.

His very beginnings as the son of a bishop speak volumes.

Bennison's claims to theological idiocy come naturally. He was rejected for postulancy by his father's examining chaplains, when he sought to go to seminary because he barely knew the books of the Bible. He only got in because his mother insisted and his father, also a revisionist bishop, was bullied by his wife. That should have tipped the hands of the search committee looking for a new Pennsylvania bishop, but Bennison had long since learned that smiles, charm and a brand name could replace sound doctrine. He easily wooed those "examining" him. He had come from the Cambridge, Mass-based Episcopal Divinity School, whose president at the time, the former Utah bishop Otis Charles would later dump his wife and five kids to "marry" a four times married man.

With standards fast declining in the now liberal controlled seminaries and where knowledge of the Bible and theology was fast evaporating, (seven of the nine seminaries no longer really believe the Atonement matters), Bennison sailed through effortlessly. Charles E. Bennison was on his way.

The first public signs of his disconnectedness would now become evident.

Though superficially connected with the content of Holy Scripture, and believing as he later articulated, that the church wrote the bBible and could therefore re-write it, Bennison went on a campaign of saying and doing anything he felt was in his own interests, those of his liberal peers in the House of Bishops, and occasionally, but not always, of those he considered the dioceses' power brokers.

Both his pastorates in California and Atlanta ended disastrously. He was asked to leave both parishes, but not before he managed to cut deals demanding their silence on why he was being dumped. Heaven forbid that anyone else who might employ him should ever find out the truth!

A couple formerly from St. Luke's parish in Atlanta where Bennison was the rector, and not bound by such an oath of silence, told VOL that their minimal experience with him was disastrous. "He was disruptive. He was not popular and he had a hard time with the bishop, Frank Allen. The problems could not be worked out. The vestry decided he needed to go." And go he did.

His penultimate landing, and a fitting weigh station to his final destination in Pennsylvania, was the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an institution described by one orthodox theologian as a "proto-Marxist, any orifice, feminist, institution", that neither St. Paul, St Augustine nor Athanasius, would ever recognize.

Needless to say, Bennison felt himself right at home. With a title of professor of "Pastoral Theology and Congregational Studies," he set about indoctrinating the next generation of students into the joys of theological pragmatism, with no historic base. (If the Bible could be re-written, why not re-write it to say whatever you wanted it to say, including matters of human sexuality, especially if it was congenial to the cultural zeitgeist). Bennison was at home in his new milieu. At the seminary, Bennison was happy to push the church's official pansexual line.

But his eye and goal was always to be a bishop - like his father.

An opening in the Diocese of Pennsylvania proved too alluring. The outgoing Allen Bartlett, a weak, liberal bishop, but more understanding of the orthodox parishes in his diocese, had cut a deal, allowing the "seven sisters" as they were known, a flying bishop in exchange for money and peace. The arrangement worked.

When Bennison presented himself to the various committees and groups that made up the complex diocese, he promised to continue the same arrangement with the Anglo-Catholic priests. Within weeks of being consecrated, he reneged on the deal saying that it violated his authority to have another bishop come in from the outside. The betrayal of the orthodox rectors hit them hard. They had voted for him, rather than the evangelical rector Dave Thomas. Now Bennison had turned on them.

It was the first sign of his disconnectedness, but only one of many during his tenure as bishop.

This began a series of long, expensive, drawn out legal battles over inhibitions, depositions, and property ownership with three parishes. It was a nightmare without end. And it will not be over, even if Bennison is shown the door. Fr. Moyer's lawsuit for fraud, concealment of evidence, and denial of due process will continue whether or not Charles Bennison is the bishop of the diocese. It should be noted that Bennison is charged with concealing evidence in both Fr. Moyer's lawsuit and in the presentment.

From the beginning, Bennison went on a spending spree, estimated by one priest at close to $20 million, which included a makeover of the cathedral, the purchase of Camp Wapiti, worthless education programs that yielded little or nothing, high-priced consultants and more, with the promise that it would all come back in a Capital Finance Campaign he would undertake. The campaign never materialized even though over $500,000 was spent on consultants. Bennison went on spending like there was no tomorrow. It was further evidence of his increasing disconnectedness that he did not hear the rumblings of discontent from his leaders over this free spending of diocesan funds, with many of these expenditures having no support from the Standing Committee. It is still unknown if there is $4 million or nothing left in the unrestricted funds held by the diocese.

Even in his disconnectedness Bennison was shrewd and cunning. He formed a finance and property committee that answered only to him and not to the Standing Committee. This hand-picked group allowed him almost carte blanche access to unrestricted diocesan asset. Bennison made the most of it. It is reported that the chairman of that committee once said, "It is my job to find money for the bishop."

At the same time, he began to bully and arm-twist the larger parishes for more money to pay for his spendthrift ways. He came down on them hard with threats and more, but many held their ground knowing the diocese had no mandatory clause demanding they HAD to give. They balked. Bennison lost.

Bennison tried unsuccessfully to change that. At the most recent Diocesan Convention, he tried to push through a mandatory assessment clause, but a coalition of conservative and liberal priests, smelling a financial rat let loose in the diocese eating at their precious assets, shot him down. A coalition of liberal and conservatives, uniting under the banner of Concerned Pennsylvania Episcopalians, successfully fought back the "mandatory assessment" (deep sixing a $4.8 million budget with it) setting Bennison back on his heels. It was the final straw for the Standing Committee and the beginning of the end for Charles Bennison, the disconnected bishop of Pennsylvania.

If his financial mismanagement was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, his earlier theological statements uttered from pulpit and newspaper alike, revealed an even deeper disconnectedness.

From his earliest statement to an orthodox congregation in Paoli, Pennsylvania, "that the church wrote the Bible and the church could re-write it", to even more outrageous statements that "Jesus was a sinner (not sinless) who forgave himself" and "Jesus winked at sin", the disconnectedness, bewildered liberals and angered orthodox clergy alike, who felt that Bennison was now in better company with Arius than Athanasius.

Bennison's so-called diversity of viewpoints (allowing all voices to be heard) slowly saw an extinguishing of the orthodox voice, and in its place he openly supported the acceptability and blessing of deviant sexual behavior, promoting these behaviors as "civil rights." A clergy couple caught promoting Wicca (white witchcraft) got little more than a wrist slap from Bennison. The husband finally departed the priesthood while the wife stayed on in her parish.

Then there was the case of Fr. Edward Garrigan, the longtime rector of St. Paul's Church in Doylestown who was caught publicly masturbating in Peace Valley Park in front of two park rangers. He pled guilty and was fined $300. When Bennison was confronted with the evidence, he said, "In terms of his guilt, I was not able to make a determination. I do not know what happened in the park that day." Really.

That didn't stop Bennison from going after the property of St. James the Less. The orthodox Anglo-Catholic parish priest, Fr. David Ousley was forced out of his parish after 22 years, and a school was closed, because Ousley couldn't take any more of Bennison's heresies and simply wanted out.

Bennison's inarticulate heresies and apostasies, which he believed to be embracing of all, appeared regularly in his own diocesan newspaper, "The Pennsylvanian Episcopalian." They were truly alarming, providing endless grist for this writer, but few if any of his clergy publicly said or did anything to oppose him or raise an outcry for his removal.

Fear settled over the diocese. Diocesan headquarters was a revolving door of consultants and staff. Hardly anyone stayed on the staff too long. If you were a financially poor congregation that depended on diocesan funds, you risked losing that diocesan money if you dared to oppose the bishop. If you were a financially independent parish and tried to refuse Bennison the right to visit, or refused to share Eucharist with him, you risked being inhibited and deposed. There was always uncertainty how it would go, as several orthodox parish priests found out.

One priest who went out on a limb and publicly challenged Bennison was the Anglo-Catholic rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Rosemont, Pa., the Rev. Dr. David L. Moyer.

Moyer asked Bennison point blank if he would or could affirm a number of basic doctrines of the Christian Faith like the bodily resurrection of Jesus, Christ's atoning sacrifice for sin and more. Caught in the headlights, Bennison knew that by saying that he did, he risked being called a liar, and by saying he didn't, he risked being called a hypocrite. Bennison punted.

After his illegal and fraudulent "deposition" Fr. Moyer was received into the Diocese of Pittsburgh, later received by the Archbishop of Central Africa, Bernard Malango. At one point, during his fight with Bishop Bennison, Fr. Moyer was so concerned for the souls and spiritual welfare of his people that he took a number of them to an Anglo-Catholic parish in Allentown in the Diocese of Bethlehem for church initiation. Bennison described that event as "abandoning the Communion of the Church."

Moyer was subsequently inhibited and deposed by Bennison, but the bishop's use of the wrong canon to get rid of Moyer cost him dearly. Two multi-million dollar lawsuits were filed by his attorney, John H. Lewis, Jr., against Bennison. Moyer is still in his parish, where he was recently consecrated a bishop in the Traditional Anglican Communion - the largest body of traditionalist Anglicans outside of the Anglican Communion.

For his outrageous actions towards Fr. Moyer, Bennison found himself publicly rapped by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Frank T. Griswold's private correspondence with Bennison revealed an unhappy PB, pleading with Bennison not to pursue his course of action against Moyer for fear that it would further isolate and alienate not only Griswold himself, but the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion. Ironically, Griswold's letter telling Bennison to stop the proceedings against Fr. Moyer was concealed by Bennison from the Standing Committee.

Citing the 13th century Mystic poet Sufi Rumi, Griswold abruptly told Bennison to find a way through the problem and "to meet me on a plain beyond good and evil" with the issue resolved. It never happened. Griswold made threats to act against Bennison, but he never went through with it. A stalemate ensued. It was back to business as usual.

On another occasion, Bennison tried to ram a "sin of heterosexism" resolution through the House of Bishops. It failed, but he was, he said, ready to marry two homosexuals in the cathedral.

"Bennison's statement goes against everything the Christian Church has taught," said the retired Bishop of South Carolina Dr. C. FitzSimons Allison, the brainiest bishop in the House of Bishops.

Quoting scripture, Allison said that, "'He who knew no sin, became sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God.' Bennison's statement contradicts Holy Scripture, the 39 Articles, denies the creedal affirmation, violates his oath of office as bishop and his baptism vows, his confirmation and ordination on the basis of no biblical evidence. His sole authority is his own solipsism.

"If the HOB believes in the historical faith and their consecration vows, he [Bennison] should be censured, tried and deposed," said Allison. Of course it never happened. The HOB has no stomach for heresy trials as the Righter Trial revealed and Bennison rightly surmised.

Earlier, British theologian, the Rev. Canon Dr. Michael Green, author and evangelist told delegates to the U.S. Anglican Congress in Atlanta that Canadian Bishop Michael Ingham and ECUSA Bishop Charles Bennison were so apostate that their Sees should be declared "vacant."

Green, who teaches at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, told more than 300 bishops, priests and laity that Spong went unrebuked for his consistent denial of every single Christian doctrine and that Bennison and Ingham are simply tarred with the same brush.

"These bishops have caused nothing but pain and a massive draining away of godly people. They have caused schism and despair and their Sees should now be declared vacant," said Green.

One incident, that pointed up the disconnectedness of Bennison from any kind of reality, took place when four orthodox Primates of the Anglican Communion, representing more than 40 million Anglicans worldwide, showed up in Philadelphia to inaugurate the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, a counter movement to the national church's Episcopal Relief and Development Fund.

The four primates gathered at a country club to address a group of local orthodox Episcopalians. Bennison showed up uninvited. The four primates were immediately herded into a separate room with a guard placed at the door so Bennison could not barge in and introduce himself. The Primates wanted it clear that they considered Bennison a heretic and wanted no fellowship with him at all.

Bennison stayed in the main room where most of the people were assembled and proceeded to lecture them on inclusivity and diversity and why he had come to "embrace all". At one point during his peroration, he placed his hand on this writer's shoulder and said, "This is my friend David Virtue!" causing eyebrows to rise around the room.

Everybody was stunned, so indeed was this writer. While I have always been cordial to Bennison on the occasions we have met, I have never regarded him as my "friend."

Mounting anxieties about Bennison's leadership were finally filtering through to the Standing Committee, itself a body of liberal clergy and laity disposed to believing in Bennison. The die was cast for asking him to go.

A former head of the Standing committee admitted to a reporter with United Press International that it was not just about the money, other "non-fiscal issues" were involved. Indeed they were. Many clergy tell stories of being lied to, publicly embarrassed, and their voices entirely disregarded.

Charles E. Bennison had been given the option of resigning or retiring. He had refused either option saying, after much prayer, it was God's will he should stay on.

Now that he has been inhibited, he still faces a million dollar lawsuit from Fr. Moyer for wrongful dismissal. His woes are not over.

The truth is, Bishop Bennison is not unlike a score of revisionist ECUSA bishops who long ago forfeited their right even to be called "bishop" for their theological and moral positions, and their failure to see Holy Scripture as authoritative for the church.

The depth of his disconnectedness is truly appalling and unparalleled. He is disconnected theologically, disconnected from the church's moral teachings, disconnected now from his priests, disconnected from how a diocese should be run, disconnected on how money should be spent, and ultimately disconnected from God.

Bennison is among the worst of the House of Bishops. The depth of his disconnectedness and venality was and is truly appalling and unparalleled.

With his departure, the diocese will have to repair itself. It is unlikely they will choose a new bishop of orthodox conviction, but at least for the moment, the remaining orthodox priests and parishes in the diocese can breath again.

END

November 1, 2007 - All Saints Day

Press statement by the The Rt. Rev. Dr. David L. Moyer

It is indeed a very serious thing in the life of the Church when a bishop or priest is inhibited from his ministry. Charles Bennison is in my prayers that this situation brings him to repentance, and back to the faith and order of the Church Catholic.

It is ironic that Charles Bennison will be put in trial before the Church for a pastoral failure to report his brother's sexual misconduct and to protect a young teenage girl and others from his brother where Bishop Bennison denied me a Church trial as I sought to report his theological misconduct and protect my people and others from him.

The Presentment shows the same pattern of conduct of the concealing of evidence that my attorneys discovered occurred in his actions against me.

Whatever happens to Charles Bennison in church proceedings, my litigation will continue unless resolved with a satisfactory settlement.

Willow Creek Repents A Bit - Will WELS-ELS-LCMS?

Bob Burney, Townhall

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.

Just as Spock’s “mistake” was no minor error, so the error of the seeker sensitive movement is monumental in its scope. The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a “mistake.” The extent of this error defies measurement.

Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:

Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.

Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.

Should this be encouraging?

Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone, it appears, still might not get it. Unless there is a return to simple biblical (and relevant) principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along as the latest piper plays.

What we should find encouraging, at least, in this “confession” coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.


Bob Burney is Salem Communications’ award-winning host of Bob Burney Live, heard weekday afternoons on WRFD-AM 880 in Columbus, Ohio.

Luther on Affliction

"He allows the affliction to remain and to oppress; yet He employs different tactics to bestow peace; He changes the heart, removing it from the affliction, not the affliction from the heart. This is the way it is done: When you are sunk in affliction He so turns your mind from it and gives you such consolation that you imagine you are dwelling in a garden of roses."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., Lenker, III, p. 285. John 14:23-31.

WELS Avoids Defenestration Terminology

[205] PREACHING: CRMs/Resigned pastors (10/6) POLICY

Whereas 1 the Conference of Presidents (COP) has a number of items in our Guiding Principles and Past Practices regarding men with CRM status, and
Whereas 2 Questions continue to arise regarding the preaching privileges of men with CRM status, and
Whereas 3 It is the conviction of the Conference of Presidents (COP) that it is not in the best interests of the church to have “licensed” or “itinerant” preachers, therefore be it
Resolved a That the names of men who have CRM status not be listed in the Yearbook, and be it further
Resolved b that the names of men who have CRM status are regularly reviewed by the COP at its face to face meetings, and be it further
Resolved c that the appropriate District President list the month and year when names are posted on the COP CRM list, and be it further
Resolved d that men with CRM status are informed by their District President that their CRM status will lapse after three years on the COP CRM list, and be it further
Resolved e that men are informed, when their CRM status lapses, that they can petition their District Praesidium for one three year extension to their CRM status (a privilege which will not be granted automatically), and be it further
Resolved f that men with CRM status may preach in their home congregation and when needed as supply preachers so that their preaching skills may stay sharp, and be it finally
Resolved g that this supercedes and replaces [53] and [194] which shall be struck-through



Reporting Resignations:


[155] WEB REPORTING OF CHANGES OF MINISTRY (03-04)
The following is our adopted practice of reporting resignations or terminations of Divine calls. No detail has been posted on the web regarding resignations. (confer Policy Book, April 2001 #45)
Whereas 1) at times it is necessary for called workers to resign or to have their Divine Calls terminated; and
Whereas 2) it would be good for us to be as uniform as possible in reporting these resignations and terminations
Whereas 3) it is important for us to report in such a way that the truth is told and reputations are not harmed; therefore be it
Resolved, a) that we work with six basic terms: personal, health, cause, inability to serve, position eliminated and for the good of the ministry; and be it further
Resolved, b) that these terms be generally defined as follows:
1. personal reasons – financial, family & other non-table of duties matters
2. health reasons – physical, mental and emotional
3. cause – persistent adherence to false doctrine, scandalous life (not blameless); willful neglect of duty;
4. inability to serve; established inability to perform the duties of office
5. position eliminated.
6. for the good of the ministry.
Resolved, c) that this be communicated by the District Presidents as they feel the need within their Districts.
Resolved, d that each District President use only these terms in reporting resignations and terminations.
Since resignations and terminations are going to be posted on the web through the Synod President’s Newsletter, we recommend that when a termination takes place because a position has been eliminated it simply be reported as “position eliminated.” In their District President reports, such actions may be listed with both terms. Terminations for other reasons would be simply listed as “Divine Call terminated.”

GJ - I suggest that defenestration be used when a district pope has meddled with a divine call and forced a pastor out of the ministry in order to feed the DP's ego needs.

More Unintentional Humor - WELS Will Train People To Handle Money

Christian Giving Counselors Guide You In Giving Towards the Lord's Work

Each of the 12 WELS districts has Christian giving counselors who know well the principles of Christian stewardship and can assist churches or individuals with promoting or making gifts to support WELS gospel ministry. There is no fee for the services of a counselor. He is qualified to assist you with one or more of the following services:

Assistance to Members
Giving you the latest information about WELS ministry opportunities or projects of special interest
Giving you counsel in developing a plan for regular, faithful Christian giving
Advice on which gifts are best for family and which are best for ministry
Ways to reduce taxes and increase giving
Advice in putting together or reviewing your Christian estate plan
Providing information about donor advised funds, trusts and annuities and how they can be used to accomplish charitable giving
Helping you find the professionals you need to accomplish your Christian giving
Giving you information about how you can participate in designated giving, including becoming a Mission Partner with a synod ministry
Assistance to Churches
Preaching (if counselor is trained as a pastor): especially applicable for worship services emphasizing stewardship, Mission Partners, Walking Together, or opportunities within WELS
Presentations during Bible class or a special time during the week:
Synod work and opportunities
Stewardship and financial planning
Making planned gifts
Estate planning
Mission Partners
Assistance in setting up a planned giving committee that could educate members on the best ways to make planned gifts to WELS. One function of this committee could be to set up and manage an endowment fund.
Benefits of a Counselor
Confidential counsel with a fellow Christian whose only desire is to help you
Continued growth in understanding and living the scriptural principles of Christian stewardship
The joy of generously supporting the Lord’s work in your congregation, synod, or a WELS agency
Where He Fits Into Your Gift-Making Process
WELS Christian giving counselors are not attorneys, and they do not give legal advice. They offer information of a general nature about legal matters and provide counsel regarding Christian principles of stewardship.

However, he is the one you want to talk with before you meet with an attorney. Your counselor can help you get your thoughts and plans in good order before your appointment. He is a fellow Christian you know you can trust to give you good, solid advice.

Contact Your Counselor
To contact your counselor, take a look at the directory below. The file is saved in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You may need the most recent version of Adobe Reader to view it (this is a free download). Note that highlighted links within the file are interactive.

Vonfessional Lutherans Are God Exegetes

Wauwatosa Delirium

And I came away with an overwhelming sense that to truly be a Wauwatosa theologian, you've just plain got to be PRETTY DOGGONE smart. You need to know the vonfessional languages, you need to understand philology, you need to be VERY well versed in Scripture, you need to be a god exegete, you need to know the controversies that have preceded and the way they have been dealt with.

***

GJ - WELS pastors never tire of praising themselves. They do tire of spell-checking. See that ABC checkmark above the window for text? A little right of center? Try that. Perhaps the comment poster does not have spell-check. There is always the job of self-editing.

Spel Chek has left a new comment on your post "Vonfessional Lutherans Are God Exegetes":

The comment you excerpted was praising Professor Brug. The writer was not praising himself.

GJ - Using the slang "you" makes the statement ambiguous. Often "you" means "I" instead of "one." I understand the writer to be saying that only the Wisconsin pastors are smart enough to Wauwatosi. They are also the only ones who want to.

I know from experience that the Wisconsin pastors are trained to consider themselves far superior to all others, to scorn Missouri pastors, and to look down on ELS pastors. All good Wisconsin anecdotes about Missouri lead to the conclusion that Missouri gets everything wrong, except when a Missouri pastor expresses his awe about WELS. "You don't realize what you have here." (So I was told more than once, about a Missouri pastor observing a WELS gathering.)

More proof of what I was saying:

There's no way anyone with the watered down Missouri type system is going to become a Wauwatosa type theologian unless he does a LOT of study elsewhere. Wauwatosa theology involves a combination of Exegetical skills, and being able to "get it" as to what really is at stake. Luther, to speak anachronistically once again, was a "Wauwatosa theologian" --demonstrated so vlearly at Marburg,....

The 95 Theses of Martin Luther

Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther
on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
by Dr. Martin Luther (1517)


Published in:

Works of Martin Luther:

Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds.

(Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol.1, pp. 29-38


Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.

3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.

12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.

14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.

15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.

17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.

18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.

19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.

20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.

21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;

22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.

23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.

24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.

27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].

28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.

30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.

31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.

32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.

33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;

34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.

35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.

36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.

37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.

38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.

39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.

40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].

41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;

44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.

45. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.

46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.

47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.

48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.

49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.

52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.

53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.

55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.

57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;

61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.

62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.

68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.

70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.

71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!

72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!

73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.

74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.

75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.

76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.

77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.

78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.

79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.

81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.

82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"

84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"

85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"

86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"

87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"

88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"

89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"

90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

Werning Tied with Chemnitz for Greatest Lutheran Theologian

Who is the greatest Lutheran theologian?

Martin Luther 21 (75%)

Martin Chemnitz 2 (7%)

C. F. W. Walther 3 (10%)

Waldo Werning 2 (7%)

***

GJ - Werning is certainly one of the most influential (destructive). I will have to run another poll on the most influential, for weal or woe.

Try Some Parish Work

Paul McCain, pictured right, has issued this solemn pronouncement:

I monitor a lot of blog sites. Thanks to "Google Reader" you can scan new topics and see what's buzzing about the Blogophere. On the Lutheran blogosphere I will, routinely, bump into a blog post about blogging. Actually, it's usually a kind of self-indulgent sort of twaddle that truly strikes me as the most boring of all blog posts: the blogging about blogging post. I just read another one recently.

Advice to Lutheran bloggers: blog about what you know best. Don't bore us with blog posts about why you blog, or how you blog, or when you blog, or how you don't really care about what others say about your blog but then proceed to explain in several paragraphs of passive-aggression how you are, boo-hoo, misunderstood and under appreciated, or try to convince us of how "you are controversial" and "oh, this is going to make somebody upset."

One of his nail-bitingly inspirational posts was about about his Mac computer.

McCain knows how to do Reformation, too:

Let's review:

(1) The Gospel had been obscured to the point of being lost in many ways.
(2) The Reformation had to take place.
(3) Rome could have prevented it by repenting of its damning error.
(4) Yes, it is sad that it had to happen, but not sad that it did happen.

I'm not advocating some sort of "all praise be to Luther" fest either. Hermann Sasse wisely noted once that when the Luther statues started going up, that was about the same time that Luther's theology began to recede into the background in favor of rationalism, while Luther the hero was preserved.

But, don't let me hear any of this sniveling, "Oh, boo-hoo, the Reformation happened" bunk on this day. Let me hear a glorious celebration of the great blessing and gift of the Reformation of the Church, a glorious celebration of the Gospel of Christ!

Here is McCain's resume:

1. Little or no graduate work.
   
2. Three years in the parish, working as Barry's campaign manager, to save the synod from Bohlman liberals.
   
3. Nine years in the do-nothing Barry administration, letting DP Benke, pictured upper left, skip discipline.
   
4. A short hitch at Concordia Historical Institute.
   
5. Hanging on at Concordia Publishing House, encouraging DP Benke to publish!

Someone who professes to love the LCMS or confessional Lutheranism so much should really get a congregation to serve. The Missouri Synod is plagued by too many pastors who are living well on offering money instead of preaching the Word and administering the sacraments. Most of CPH's work could be managed by full-time pastors with smaller congregations. St. Louis has an abundance of needy congregations. The money saved could be used to offset the Ivy League cost of seminary education. Boomer pastors have cleverly moved the cost of education onto the backs of future pastors.

My favorite two blogs are written by Lutheran laymen, one WELS, one ELS. I would like to see Lutheran pastors get more formal education and publish peer-reviewed books. Blogs are not peer-reviewed. The laity blogs are handy and fun to use.

Efficacy of the Word in the Book of Concord

Luther's Seal, by Norma Boeckler
Efficacy In The Book Of Concord

[GJ - The quotations below, many of which are used in Thy Strong Word, are all the significant uses of efficacy in the Book of Concord, where the term efficacy is explicit. The quotations are listed according to page number in the Book of Concord. The Biblical and confessional term--or word group--includes efficacy, efficacious, effectual, effects, works, energy. The ultimate question of Church Growth--What works?--is answered by the Scriptures and the Book of Concord: the Word alone works, the Word alone is effective, God wills that His Holy Spirit is always effective in His Word.]


Augsburg Confession

J-158

"Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: 'The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, etc.' Matthew 23:2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men."
Augsburg Confession, VIII. What the Church Is, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 47. Matthew 23:2. Tappert, p. 33. Heiser, p. 13.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession

J-159

"For Christ wishes to assure us, as was necessary, that we should know that the Word delivered by men is efficacious, and that no other word from heaven ought to be sought. 'He that heareth you heareth Me,' cannot be understood of traditions. For Christ requires that they teach in such a way that [by their mouth] He Himself be heard, because He says: 'He heareth Me.' Therefore He wishes His own voice, His own Word, to be heard, not human traditions."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XXVIII. #18. Eccles. Power, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 449. Tappert, p. 284. Heiser, p. 134.


The Large Catechism

J-160

"Besides, it is an exceedingly effectual help against the devil, the world, and the flesh and all evil thoughts to be occupied with the Word of God, and to speak of it, and meditate upon it, so that the First Psalm declares those blessed who meditate upon the Law of God day and night. Undoubtedly, you will not start a stronger incense or other fumigation against the devil than by being engaged upon God's commandments and words, and speaking, singing, or thinking of them. For this is indeed the true holy water and holy sign from which he flees, and by which he may be driven away."
The Large Catechism, Preface, #10, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 570f. Tappert, p. 359f. Heiser, p. 167.

J-161

"For let me tell you this, even though you know it perfectly and be already master in all things, still you are daily in the dominion of the devil, who ceases neither day nor night to steal unawares upon you, to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against the foregoing and all the commandments. Therefore you must always have God's Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle, and the Word does not sound, he breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware. On the other hand, such is the efficacy of the Word, whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, that it is bound never to be without fruit, but always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness, and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts. For these words are not inoperative or dead, but creative, living words."
The Large Catechism, Third Commandment. #100. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 609. Tappert, p. 378f. Heiser, p. 175f.

J-162

"Thus it appears what a great, excellent thing Baptism is, which delivers us from the jaws of the devil and makes us God's own, suppresses and takes away sin, and then daily strengthens the new man; and is and remains ever efficacious until we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory."
The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, Of Baptism. #83. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 751. Tappert, p. 446. Heiser, p. 209.



Formula of Concord

J-163

"Therefore, before the conversion of man there are only two efficient causes, namely, the Holy Ghost and the Word of God, as the instrument of the Holy Ghost, by which He works conversion. This Word man is [indeed] to hear; however, it is not by his own powers, but only through the grace and working of the Holy Ghost that he can yield faith to it and accept it."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, II, Of the Free Will, #19, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 791. Tappert, p. 472. Heiser, p. 219.

J-164

"And although God, according to His just, strict sentence, has utterly cast away the fallen evil spirits forever, He has nevertheless, out of special, pure mercy, willed that poor fallen human nature might again become and be capable and participant of conversion, the grace of God and eternal life; not from its own natural, active [or effective] skill, aptness, or capacity (for the nature of man is obstinate enmity against God), but from pure grace, through the gracious efficacious working of the Holy Ghost." Luther, Psalm 90.
Formula of Concord, SD, II, #20. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1921, p. 889. Tappert, p. 525. Heiser, p. 243.

J-165

"Thirdly, in this manner, too, the Holy Scriptures ascribe conversion, faith in Christ, regeneration, renewal, and all that belongs to their efficacious beginning and completion, not to the human powers of the natural free will, neither entirely, nor half, nor in any, even the least or most inconsiderable part, but in solidum, that is, entirely, solely to the divine working and the Holy Ghost, as also the Apology teaches."
Formula of Concord, SD II. #25. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 891. Tappert, p. 526. Heiser, p. 244.

J-166

"For this reason we shall now relate, furthermore, from God's Word how man is converted to God, how and through what means [namely, through the oral Word and the holy Sacraments] the Holy Ghost wants to be efficacious in us, and to work and bestow in our hearts true repentance, faith, and new spiritual power and ability for good, and how we should conduct ourselves towards these means, and [how we should] use them."
Formula of Concord SD II. #48. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 901. Tappert, p. 530. Heiser, p. 246.

J-167

"Now, all who wish to be saved ought to hear this preaching [of God's Word]. For the preaching and hearing of God's Word are instruments of the Holy Ghost, by, with, and through which He desires to work efficaciously, and to convert men to God, and to work in them both to will and to do. This Word man can externally hear and read, even though he is not yet converted to God and regenerate; for in these external things, as said above, man even since the Fall has to a certain extent a free will, so that he can go to church and hear or not hear the sermon."
Formula of Concord, SD, II, #52. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1921, p. 901f. Tappert, p. 531. Heiser, p. 246.

J-168

"Now, although both, the planting and watering of the preacher, and the running and willing of the hearer, would be in vain, and no conversion would follow it if the power and efficacy of the Holy Ghost were not added thereto, who enlightens and converts the hearts through the Word preached and heard, so that men believe this Word and assent thereto, still, neither preacher nor hearer is to doubt this grace and efficacy of the Holy Ghost, but should be certain that when the Word of God is preached purely and truly, according to the command and will of God, and men listen attentively and earnestly and meditate upon it, God is certainly present with His grace, and grants, as has been said, what otherwise man can neither accept nor give from his own powers."
Formula of Concord SD II. #55-56. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 903. Tappert, p. 531f. Heiser, p. 246.

J-169

"The other eating of the body of Christ is oral or sacramental, when the true, essential body and blood of Christ are also orally received and partaken of in the Holy Supper, by all who eat and drink the consecrated bread and wine in the Supper—by the believing as a certain pledge and assurance that their sins are surely forgiven them, and Christ dwells and is efficacious in them, but by the unbelieving for the judgment and condemnation, as the words of the institution by Christ expressly declare...."
Formula of Concord, SD, VII. #63. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1921, p. 995. Tappert, p. 581. Heiser, p. 270.

J-170

"For the true and almighty words of Jesus Christ which He spake at the first institution were efficacious not only at the first Supper, but they endure, are valid, operate, and are still efficacious [their force, power, and efficacy endure and avail even to the present], so that in all places where the Supper is celebrated according to the institution of Christ, and His words are used, the body and blood of Christ are truly present, distributed, and received, because of the power and efficacy of the words which Christ spake at the first Supper. For where His institution is observed and His words are spoken over the bread and cup [wine], and the consecrated bread and cup [wine] are distributed, Christ Himself, through the spoken words, is still efficacious by virtue of the first institution, through His word, which He wishes to be there repeated."
Formula of Concord, SD VII, #75. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 999. Tappert, p. 583. Heiser, p. 270f.

J-171

"Also, Tom. III, Jena, Fol. 446: 'Thus here also, even though I should pronounce over all the words: This is Christ's body, nothing, of course, would result therefrom; but when in the Supper we say, according to His institution and command: 'This is My body,' it is His body, not on account of our speaking or word uttered [because these words, when uttered, have this efficacy], but because of His command—that He has commanded us thus to speak and to do, and has united His command and act with our speaking."
Formula of Concord, SD VII, #78. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1001. Tappert, p. 583. Heiser, p. 271.

J-172

"Now, it is not our faith that makes the sacrament, but only the true word and institution of our almighty God and Savior Jesus Christ, which always is and remains efficacious in the Christian Church, and is not invalidated or rendered inefficacious by the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister, nor by the unbelief of the one who receives it."
Formula of Concord, SD VII, #89. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1003. Tappert, p. 585. Heiser, p. 272.

J-173

"1. That the human race is truly redeemed and reconciled with God through Christ, who, by His faultless [innocency] obedience, suffering, and death, has merited for us the righteousness which avails before God, and eternal life. 2. That such merit and benefits of Christ shall be presented, offered, and distributed to us through His Word and Sacraments. 3. That by His Holy Ghost, through the Word, when it is preached, heard, and pondered, He will be efficacious and active in us, convert hearts to true repentance, and preserve them in the true faith. 4. That He will justify all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith, and will receive them into grace, the adoption of sons, and the inheritance of eternal life." ..."God in His purpose and counsel ordained [decreed]:
Formula of Concord, SD, XI. #15. Of God's Eternal Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1069. 2 Corinthians 5:19ff. Tappert, p. 619. Heiser, p. 288.

J-174

"And this call of God, which is made through the preaching of the Word, we should not regard as jugglery, but know that thereby God reveals His will, that in those whom He thus calls He will work through the Word, that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved. For the Word, whereby we are called, is a ministration of the Spirit, that gives the Spirit, or whereby the Spirit is given, 2 Corinthians 3:8, and a power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16. And since the Holy Ghost wishes to be efficacious through the Word, and to strengthen and give power and ability, it is God's will that we should receive the Word, believe and obey it."
Formula of Concord, SD XI. #29. Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1073. 2 Corinthians 3:8; Romans 1:16. Tappert, p. 621. Heiser, p. 289.

J-175

"For few receive the Word and follow it; the greatest number despise the Word, and will not come to the wedding, Matthew 22:3ff. The cause for this contempt for the Word is not God's foreknowledge [or predestination], but the perverse will of man, which rejects or perverts the means and instrument of the Holy Ghost, which God offers him through the call, and resists the Holy Ghost, who wishes to be efficacious, and works through the Word, as Christ says, 'How often would I have gathered you together, and ye would not!' Matthew 23:37."
Formula of Concord, SD XI. #41. Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1077. Matthew 22:3ff.; 23:37. Tappert, p. 623. Heiser, p. 290.

J-176

"Moreover, the declaration, John 6:44, that no one can come to Christ except the Father draw him, is right and true. However, the Father will not do this without means, but has ordained for this purpose His Word and Sacraments as ordinary means and instruments; and it is the will neither of the Father nor of the Son that a man should not hear or should despise the preaching of His Word, and wait for the drawing of the Father without the Word and Sacraments. For the Father draws indeed by the power of His Holy Ghost, however, according to His usual order [the order decreed and instituted by Himself], by the hearing of His holy, divine Word, as with a net, by which the elect are plucked from the jaws of the devil. Every poor sinner should therefore repair thereto [to holy preaching], hear it attentively, and not doubt the drawing of the Father. For the Holy Ghost will be with His Word in His power, and work by it...."
Formula of Concord, SD XI. #76-77. Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1089. John 6:44. Tappert, p. 629. Heiser, p. 293.

Inevitable Growth, Matthew 13:33

Mustard Seed, by Norma Boeckler

Inevitable Growth in Matthew 13:33

KJV Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

One often-neglected parable simply compares the Kingdom to yeast hidden in dough until the dough is leavened. Those who have worked with yeast or sour dough can easily imagine what Christ teaches in only 19 words.

Just as we see in the True Vine, Christ gives us such a lively picture that we can no longer see the same image again without thinking of His words. The typical picture at the time of Jesus was one of a woman blending sourdough with the flour to make bread. The amount in the parable is a very large batch, a bushel basket of dough.

In Kitchener, Ontario, the women at St. Peter Lutheran Church often talked about Herman. Someone started sourdough, named it Herman, and passed samples to various women in the congregation. Herman grew and spread throughout the congregation, a parallel with the visible growth of the Gospel through the Means of Grace. Sourdough is an easier way to cultivate and preserve yeast than the yeast we buy in stores today. Yeast, once hidden in the dough, reveals its power in time.

More than one person has forgotten leavened dough in a warm place with a heavy metal lid over the pot to keep it moist. Rushing in to check the dough, the baker finds the dough risen, the lid pushed off the pan. Dough may even crawl out of the pan and rise on the kitchen floor. Yeast is humble and tiny but powerful in its mission over time. Professional bakers will save old dough in the freezer to add to the new batch, simply because it adds to the quality of the finished product.

Dough without yeast cannot be made into a worthwhile product. Our lives without the leaven of the Gospel are as spiritually lifeless as unleavened dough. The progress of the Gospel’s leaven is slow but unstoppable. If we remain in Christ, the Gospel permeates every aspect of our lives. We see many examples of this in the lives of faithful elderly Christians. They have spent so much time with the Word that their speech is permeated with Biblical wisdom. They know too well that they are sinners, but their patience, generosity, gentleness, and wisdom are remarkable to younger generations. When an elderly saintly person dies, we are to look upon the sight as an example of Christ displaying to us in advance a foretaste of heaven.

One woman in her nineties had endured extreme hardships, including a previous husband who had kicked her mercilessly while she was pregnant. She was filled with cancer and barely able to function at the end of her life, yet she was filled with love, joy, and peace. Her highpoint each week was receiving the Lord’s Supper. She had an uncanny ability to predict the day I would visit to give her Holy Communion. When she appeared to be wrong once, her kindly second husband gently kidded her for several days. She smiled with great joy when she learned that I had driven almost to her house, then turned around, after remembering a medical appointment. For her, death meant giving up her infirmities while enjoying the fulfillment of all the promises made in Christ. She was an excellent example of the Gospel yeast working through her entire being, until she was completely leavened.

In our society, too, we receive the benefit of the slow working of the leaven of the Gospel. Although our sinful condition remains, sincere believers reject and suppress sin through the Holy Spirit working in the Law. More importantly, the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel to make people more generous, patient, loving, forgiving, and selfless. The leaven of the Gospel in the preaching of Wilberforce in England moved the English to reject human slavery.

J-235
“Here again we see divine power, again wholly spiritual, and while operating altogether invisibly, producing any number of tangible effects, every one of them wholesome. The Gospel cannot but succeed, and the one work of the church is to preach, teach, and spread it in the world. The parable teaches faith, patience, hope, and joy.”
R. C. H. Lenski, Matthew, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1932, p. 516. [Emphasis in original]



The Mustard Seed in Matthew 13:31-32


KJV Matthew 13:31 (Mark 4:31-32; Luke 13:19)Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

J-236

“This parable shows the Kingdom in its visible growth. A number of thoughts are directly involved or necessarily implied. The power of this Kingdom is divine. It is a living organism, and its life and power are undying—all other growths of earth have the germs of decay and death in them. The growth continues all through time (Matthew 24:14).”
R. C. H. Lenski, Matthew, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1932, p. 513.


History has shown the truth of this parable. The Christian Church began in its embryonic stage with the promise of the Messiah in Genesis 3:15 when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise and deserved nothing but condemnation for violating God’s clear command. When God became flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, the first believers were a few shepherds and some foreign astronomers. Surely no religious group was smaller, weaker, or less impressive at the birth of Christ. Multitudes flocked to pagan temples with gifts of gold and jewels. Judaism was reaching a highpoint as Jesus grew up, with a splendid temple in Jerusalem, built by Herod.

Jesus attracted crowds with His loving-kindness, spiritual wisdom, and astonishing miracles, but His impact was numerically small during His public ministry. The Christian Church grew miraculously across the civilized world during the brief lifetimes of the apostles, thanks to the timely construction of the inter-continental Roman road system and the use of ships. Persecution spread rather than hindered the Gospel by scattering the surviving believers in world cities like Jerusalem and Rome into new territories. Tertullian said, literally, “The more you mow us down, the faster we grow.” Historians have modified the statement to: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

The Roman Empire first executed Christians for their belief, then suffocated the Church with approval, marble temples, and a Roman bureaucracy. The Gospel persisted in Europe and, according to legend, in India, where Thomas preached. The growth of Islam during the Medieval Age threatened to devour Europe and the Church. The Turks were at the gates of Vienna in 1530, when the tide turned. The newly invented printing press sped Luther’s writings across the world on the heels of ferocious persecution.

The modern age, spurred by the freedom of Luther’s Reformation, has added every technological advantage to the spread of the Gospel, from television and radio to the Internet and video tapes. The Gospel shelters many souls, encompassing tribes in Europe that once worshiped trees and natives in Africa who once dined on their enemies.

The True Vine in John 15

Grapevine, by Norma Boeckler

The True Vine

The True Vine in John 15:1-8

Cultivation or husbandry is the subject of Jesus’ sermon on The True Vine.



Verse 1


KJV John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

To help us understand the relationship of the Father and Son, and our relationship to God, Jesus has given us a vivid, earthy sermon. Not many people raise grapes, but many have tried unsuccessfully to grow roses. Roses grow according to the same rules established by God for grape vines. This section is a perfect model for growing roses because the Lord of Creation uses His principles to explain His message. He is, as the Greek text shows us in its emphasis, the One True Vine. In other words, contrary to popular claims, there is no other vine, no alternative to salvation. “No one comes to the Father, except through Me.”

Verse 2

KJV John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

In one verse Jesus describes the principle of two-fold pruning, still applicable today. Bushes and vines always have deadwood. The deadwood is not only unproductive, but also injurious to the plant. Most people have poor luck with roses because they rely on luck and not the principles of Creation. Roses love to be pruned. When my sister-in-law Kris left me alone for an hour with her unproductive roses, I pruned two-thirds of each bush away. I also explained to her, when she came back, while she was still crying, “When these roses bloom, and they will in two weeks, prune the branch as soon as the rose starts to fade. It is trying to set seed. Pruning will make the branch send out a new bloom. Read John 15.”

Two weeks later, Kris phoned long distance, crying again, to say, “The roses are blooming! They are absolutely filled with blooms!” Later, when we lived on the same block with my brother, we ordered roses together and I planted them. Now the new roses are tall and productive. Two weeks before our niece Ida graduated from high school, Kris pruned her roses, cutting off the blooms. My brother Allen said, “What are you doing? Ida is going to graduate and you are cutting off the flowers!” Kris said, “Just wait.” When we arrived for the graduation, all the bushes were filled with roses. They were tall and stately plants with perfect blooms. Kris is now the neighborhood expert on roses, because her bushes are so productive.

The two-fold pruning is a warning to us. If we turn away from the Gospel and become unproductive, we will be taken away, cast into Hell. The bearing branches will be pruned (purged) so that they will be even more productive.[29] This pruning seems mysterious, if not cruel, until it is explained in the next verse.

Verse 3


KJV John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

The purging takes place through the spoken Word, which is never separated from the cross. An infinite variety of troubles and persecution will come from being faithful to the Gospel. While these afflictions seem harsh, and our Old Adam rebels and complains about them, they make us even more fruitful. Forgiveness itself is the greatest blessing of the Gospel, yielding the nine-fold fruits of the Spirit.[30] All the blessings of the Christian life come from the forgiveness of sin.[31]

Verse 4

KJV John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Jesus’ Gospel invitation is not to do but to receive. The tender rose bud receives food from the plant. The cluster of grapes receives the energy needed to grow. Being a Christian is not defined by working for God’s but by receiving His grace. When believers hear the Word of God and receive the visible Word of Holy Communion, they bear the fruit of the Gospel. No one would argue that a separated branch could grow and produce on its own. Likewise, we should not imagine a person being fruitful in the Christian faith apart from worship, studying the Word, and receiving the Sacrament of forgiveness.[32]

Christ promises that when we are in Him, the One True Vine, He is also in us. He is glued to us through the Word, at work in us, guiding and comforting us.


Verse 5


KJV John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Knowing our weakness and our need to hear the same message in different words, Christ addresses our tendency to define the Christian faith as qualifying for acceptance through our merits or good works. When we remain with the One True Vine, through the Means of Grace, Christ remains with us. We must never forget that. He is as close to us as the bud is to the plant. Being fruitful is a necessary consequence of receiving the blessings of Christ through trust in the Word. To clarify this relationship, Christ also condemns any inkling that He is merely one of many ways, various truths, and alternative life-styles.

Verse 6

KJV John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

The five-fold warning about removing ourselves from the Means of Grace parallels the effort of pruning deadwood.[33] Pruned branches are removed and burned because they harbor disease and harmful insects. The warning of Christ is not against lack of doing but lack of receiving, contrary to what most church executives today imagine. The person who does not remain in Christ is:

Thrown away, no longer of value to God;

Withered, that is, spiritually dead from separating himself from Christ;

Gathered, for the Day of Judgment;

Thrown into the fire, condemned for unbelief;

Burned, suffering in Hell for eternity.

Verse 7


KJV John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Our loving Savior encourages us to pray through His gracious promises. One of many blessings of the Christian life is asking God to help us in our emotional, material, and spiritual needs. The Son of God assures us that what we ask will be given to us.

Verse 8

John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Fruitfulness necessarily follows from remaining in Christ and His teaching not to glorify man, but to glorify God. One cannot divorce a relationship with Christ from adherence to His Word, contrary to those who teach that the production of good feelings eliminates the need for sound doctrine. Resting in the Word alone unites us with Christ, makes us fruitful, moves us to pray, grants us our requests, and glorifies God the Father. All comes from God, for God the Son is the True Vine and the vinedresser is God the Father.

If we cultivate roses with John 15:1-8 in mind, every aspect of pruning, budding, and blooming reminds us of the power of the Gospel.