I read about Pastor Jeff Gunn (stealth Lutheran mission, Phoenix) loving Baptist Phil Yancey, a favorite of Fuller graduates.
That reminded me of a WELS layman who phoned me a few years ago. His WELS pastor had the congregation studying the Yancey book. The same pastor suggested members join a Baptist church if they moved away and a WELS church was not in the area. Later, he back-pedaled - after I mentioned that in a doctrinal newsletter.
Why Are WELS and Yancey So Cuddly?
I will discuss Pietism more in another post. WELS began as a union denomination and never really left Reformed doctrine behind. Krauth pointed out that Lutheran-Reformed denominations always turn Reformed in time. WELS is a good example. The ELS, LCMS, and ELCA have the same tendencies.
Yancey's claim to notoriety is being raised in an abusive Fundamentalist church, where they were legalistic, stupidly strict, and short on the Gospel Promises. That is the basis for The Jesus I Never Knew. Pietism, with its Reformed doctrine and emphasis on works, tends to throw aside the oppression in a generation or two.
Are you still with me? Those who grew up in the Wisconsin sect can easily identify with a Fundamentalist past: repeat-after-me doctrine, illogical rules, sadistic treatment of the vulnerable. All are a part of the Wisconsin educational system.
The idea that no one is going to heaven except a TBW (True Believing WELS) member is positively Mormonesque. They deny it, but they live it and spout it with regularity.
I love the passage in Tom Sawyer where Twain had strict Presbyterian Sunday School children restricting the numbers of the saved so severely that it was hardly worth the trouble to try the faith.
Scouting and WELS Pietism
- Stage One: Thou Shalt Not Be a Boy Scout, Lest Thou Be Excommunicated. (Seriously).
- Stage Two: Thou Shalt Hide Thy Scouts from Thine Brethren and Sistern (St. Paul, Columbus).
- Stage Three: That Was a Dumb Rule Anyway.
Gov. Huckabee's son was a Scout who tortured and hanged a dog at the BSA camp, and later became an Eagle Scout. Perhaps scouting is not so effective in promoting goodness.
Lutherans in Name Only
The LINOs of the Church Growth Movement resonate with Baptist doctrine and worship, not with Lutheran doctrine and worship. There is something worse going on.
I respect traditional Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, even though I do not agree with their doctrine.
The Church Growth people are outwardly Reformed, tending toward the Baptists or the Pentecostals, but they are really their own cult. They mock all worship. They ruin the congregations and denominations where they take over.
The CGM people are man-centered, besotted with secular management theory. Fuller is now in its Unitarian stage, the last one in apostasy. They are not interested in the Christian faith but in a religious big business. Their favorite gurus are prime examples: Robert Schuller and Paul Y. Cho. Both men puffed up false teachers.
Fuller cannot talk religion anymore, so they promote secular management books. They were promoting Peter Drucker's Management by Objective 15-20 years ago. Now all their favorite books are management books. I hope Fuller starts an MBA program. That would be ideal. "I have an MBA from Fuller Seminary, with certificates in tongue-speaking and Project Management.
Just google your pastor's favorite books and you will see where his heart is.
