Schwan Giving in the Past

WELS/LCMS Meltdown

Here is the link with the former Schwan Foundation figures:

Texas Concord website

More will be posted tomorrow about the current WELS finances.

The headline may be seen as having a double meaning, like WELS Giving Up.

The Unloving Book of Concord

Some people are allergic to the Book of Concord

From the Book of Concord, Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, On the Righteousness of Faith:

59] Therefore we unanimously reject and condemn, besides the above-mentioned, also the following and all similar errors, as contrary to God's Word, the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, and our Christian faith:

60] 1. When it is taught that Christ is our righteousness before God according to His divine nature alone.

61] 2. That Christ is our righteousness according to His human nature alone.

62] 3. That in the passages from the prophets and apostles, when the righteousness of faith is spoken of, the words justify and to be justified are not to signify to declare free from sins and to obtain the forgiveness of sins, but to be made actually and really righteous because of love infused by the Holy Ghost, virtues, and the works following from it.

63] 4. That faith looks not only to the obedience of Christ, but to His divine nature as it dwells and works in us, and that by this indwelling our sins are covered before God.

64] 5. That faith is such a trust in the obedience of Christ as can be and remain in a person notwithstanding he has no genuine repentance, in whom also no love follows, but who persists in sins against his conscience.

65] 6. That not God dwells in the believers, but only the gifts of God.

66] These and like errors, one and all, we unanimously reject as contrary to the clear Word of God, and by God's grace abide firmly and constantly in the doctrine of the righteousness of faith before God, as it is embodied, expounded, and proved from God's Word in the Augsburg Confession, and the Apology issued after it.

67] Concerning what is needful furthermore for the proper explanation of this profound and chief article of justification before God, upon which depends the salvation of our souls, we direct, and for the sake of brevity herewith refer, every one to Dr. Luther's beautiful and glorious exposition of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians.

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GJ - The condemnation of false doctrine is just as important to the Confessions as the positive witness to the truth. We do that all the time in giving road directions: "But if you see the Dairy Queen, you have driven too far."

Schmauk pointed out that those who condemn the confessions quickly abandon the Scriptures as well. The unionists and apostates like to scream "Nasty! Nasty! Unloving!" when their favorite false doctrine is condemned, but they are the ones who prey upon the weak, make fun of sound doctrine, mock the Means of Grace, praise the false teachers, drive out the faithful, and harvest only the weed seed of their evil ways. Then they plant their weeds and tell everyone, "Look how strong they grow. Look at how large they are. We are changing the church for the better."

Church and Change: Neutered But Healthy

WELS Has Dropped Church and Change from the WELS.net Website

On vacation I checked the WELS.net website for the Church and Change link on the jumpword list. The link was missing, as noted earlier. I have checked several more times and still find it missing. The 2007 Church and Change Conference was hosted by the WELS website via this link and the registration forms. It may be a coincidence that President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller's son Adam is active in Church and Change.

Four things have happened since SP Gurgel left the country:

1. Church and Change was de-linked or neutered on the WELS website.
2. Income went up dramatically.
3. The schools are all closing jeremiad was stopped.
4. AnswerMan stopped being so belligerent and easy to lampoon.

I wondered about how AnswerMan was posted on the WELS site. The questions and answers were full of spelling errors exactly like those on the Church and Change official website. I figured the same student intern was keyboarding. It could have been a Fuller Seminary graduate, too!

Shortly after the Michigan Lutheran Seminary victory at the last convention, WELS dropped another stinkbomb on Michigan. Someone from the Love Shack told the local paper that MLS was still hanging by a thread. It was a repeat of the thumb-in-the-eye approach that charmed the Michigan District before the convention. SP Schroeder showed up at MLS and things calmed down again.

SP Schroeder is making some progress. The ultimate results depend on the courage of the pastors and laity to root out heresy.

Church and Change is neutered but still happy and healthy. Watch whether another conference is launched and check who is invited if that happens.

Another conference to watch is James Tiefel's pan-denominational worship conference. Everything is Outside the Framework of Fellowship when WELS is promoting unionism. That includes worship, you narrow-minded legalists. Tiefel is quite talented. He managed to produce the worst new Lutheran hymnal, with feminist creeds and hymns, schwaermer hymns, Church Growth hymns, Pietistic liturgy, all in a Lutheran Book of Worship package.

Worse than ELCA's?

Worse.

The Epiphany of Our Lord - Sermon

Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
It yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.
Martin Luther

The Epiphany of Our Lord

KJV Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

KJV Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

The Lutheran Hymnal:
126 – Arise and Shine in Splendor
127 – As with Gladness Men of Old
131 – The star proclaims the King
134 – Songs of Thankfulness

Several wrong assumptions need to be dispelled to understand the Star of Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.

Wrong Assumption 1: Primitives
People often assume that the ancients were primitive, without the technology we enjoy today. Much of that history is lost to us, but we can still make some observations. The pyramids remain a mystery to man. Every so often I find a new book explaining how they were built. Whatever the solution to that enigma might be, we still have to marvel at the mathematical and engineering skill required to make such perfect and enduring monuments. Of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, only the pyramids remain. Until the Eiffel Tower was built in modern times, no other building was taller than the Great Pyramid. The Egyptians were advanced in math, and so were other ancient cultures.

People are often astonished that anyone knows what is happening in the sky at night. First of all, no matter how beautiful the stars and planets may look to a city dweller, there is no comparison to the view in an area with almost no electrical lighting. I was reading about a farm in Minnesota where the farmer loved his work because of the sky at night. “The stars seem to come down and envelop you,” he said. Add this factor – there was no artificial light at night in the ancient world. Beauty was one thing. The stars were also the only roadmap for the ancients. Anyone navigating at night would use the stars, so they were important and impossible to ignore.

When I was gardening and dabbling in astronomy, I quickly learned the relationship between the sky at night and the weather. The full moon in the Midwest was almost always accompanied by a high-pressure zone: crisp clear weather, blue skies, and possible frost. Rain was rare during a full moon but often followed. Therefore the old wives tale of planting at full moon was valid. Unfortunately, the full moon and clear skies were not the combination I wanted. The moon washed out the galaxies and nebulae. Not surprisingly, amateur astronomers are called moon-cursers.

Wrong Assumption 2: No religion
Another wrong assumption is common in the media today. Media people are often secular and range from liberal to Left-wing. They cannot comprehend others viewing the world from a religious perspective. When I attended the Martin Marty lectures at Notre Dame, he mentioned how the New York media could not imagine what a born-again Christian was. They wanted an explanation for Jimmy Carter. Marty, contacted in Tennessee, said, “I can’t find anyone here who was not born-again.”

The ancients only saw things from a religious perspective. I wonder if people think about how an atheistic philosophy has taken over our thinking. If Lutherans were honest, they would admit their own leaders work from a perspective of no religion, the Word without power, people justified without faith, marketing the Gospel as if it were a new car or box of soap.

The ancient world was extremely frightening. All the rationalism in the world (like our own) will not exorcise the terrors of those days. Sometimes Velikovsky’s interpretations were far off, but he was good at pointing out the easily remembered terrors of those days. The world was recovering its population lost in the Genesis Flood. They remembered the chaos and terror associated with the Plagues of Egypt.

When the Mississippi flooded in the 1960’s and again in the 1990’s, the entire Midwest was under a threat no one could blunt with government programs and sandbags. That was minor compared to earlier cataclysms. Hurricane Katrina and the new flooding remind us of our great heritage of engineering and how easily it too is washed away and buried.

The world at the time of Jesus was highly technological. The Roman Empire absorbed the engineering and math of conquered territories. They got their best technology and engineering from the Greeks. There is a saying that “The Romans had the drains, the Greeks had the brains.” They were also religious and weighed down with the sense of sin. The ancients were looking for a savior, for the savior.

The Wise Men or Magi were men who combined mathematical skills with a religious perspective. My hero, Martin Chemnitz, did the same. He was hired to forecast astrological tables. I imagine he did that with his mathematical and astronomical skills. (Chemnitz abandoned astrology.) We do not know exactly what star the Wise Men saw, but if it was a planetary conjunction (my best guess from the research) then they concluded the king was coming to Israel. He was more than a king, in their minds, as we know from the Gospel:

KJV Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

“Come to worship Him” – we remember those words from so many Sunday School presentations, but they are really startling out of context.

King Herod did not welcome the competition. He wanted to kill this new king, even if it meant killing the first-born males. Herod thought he would be toppled from his throne. In fact, the Roman Empire was starting its decline. During those centuries of decline the Empire persecuted the Christian faith and then became Christianized. Finally, when all the glue came out of the joints, the church took over governing the remains of the Empire.

The Wise Men were not looking for any king, as we can see from Matthew:

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

This passage has amused the liberals, who seem to know evolution but not science. According to the experts, the planetary junction that took place would have had the same characteristics as described in Matthew 2. That does not prove Matthew’s 2nd chapter. The Gospel does not need proof. But it is fun to see that the very things mocked a few years ago have been accepted as credible today. Yet, we could have a video of the Star of Bethlehem and a diary of all three Wise Men and not convince a single doubter. The Gospel converts. The facts do not.

The light was shining in the darkness, and the darkness could not extinguish it (John). The harmony of Isaiah 60, Matthew 2, John 1, and Genesis 1 is remarkable. God created light before He created the sun and stars. Therefore, light existed before God made the source of light. Luther pointed this out in his Genesis commentary.

KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.


To this day we use those expressions in everyday speech:

I was in the dark about that.

Oh, now the light goes on.

I don’t know. Enlighten me.

I wandered in the darkness, but finally saw the light.

“I was blind but now I see” – Amazing Grace.

Prince of Darkness – two different books in print and on sale at Barnes and Noble.

People have associated darkness with evil and ignorance, light with truth and goodness.

Jesus is the light shining in the darkness.

KJV John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

KJV John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

KJV John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

KJV John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

KJV John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. 37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. 42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
(Two Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) pastors published a newsletter, While It Is Yet Day, to promote false doctrine. The CLC Board of Doctrine was blind to this, of course.)

St. Paul also used the comparison of light and darkness. Here is just one example:

KJV 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We believers have a very small book, the Bible, where the Holy Spirit speaks concisely and clearly about the truths God reveals to us. The Bible conveys Christ to us. One of the surest signs of false doctrine is the speaker ranting against the Bible:
A. The Bible is incomplete. Roman Catholics teach that the pope must fill in the gaps with the Deposit of Faith, those extra revelations passed down through the magisterium and revealed with a flourish when needed (The Immaculate Concept of Mary, The Assumption of Mary). Mormons also teach the Bible is incomplete and needs their extra documents.
B. The Bible is unclear. Apostates ape the Romans when they say there are g-r-e-y areas of the Bible. When someone asks about a controversial subject, such as women teaching men, the pastor says, “Well, that is a g-r-e-y area of Scriptures.” He is saying that God speaks unclearly and indistinctly, so muddled that the gurus on the Board of Doctrine must powwow to decide what God would have said if He only had their ability to communicate.
C. The Bible contradicts itself. The cults and all apostates love this argument. They know how to smooth out the problems. Liberal Biblical critics are always finding problems, often they are problems discussed and settled 15 centuries ago.

The Bible is very small in comparison to other books. We often wish we knew more, but that would not satisfy our curiosity. We really need to know this small book much better - and use it to judge all other books. The Word of God is the light. The Scriptures judge all other books. No book judges the Word of God.

Some may think this section about the Bible is elementary, but they are not accounting for the Old Adam at work in religious circles. The wedge is a material wedge. “All that is fine, but what about how the organization is doing?” Then the Word of God is supplanted, not kicked out. That would be too gross and obvious. Instead it is slowly displaced with something else, man’s wisdom. “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” That is forgotten. Suddenly Drucker’s thoughts are better than God’s thoughts. I thought it was hilarious that a rave review of Saddleback Church (Church Growth, Purpose Driven) included the point that Peter Drucker saw it as ideal. Drucker? He is the management expert who invented Management by Objective. When Drucker is the light, only darkness will follow.

Supplanting works well. In chemical factories, I learned, nitrogen is used to supplant oxygen. If the atmosphere is 100% nitrogen, there are no fires, no explosions. Saran Wrap is created by blowing up a big bubble with nitrogen. When the bubble hardens a bit, Saran Wrap. The trouble is, one man fell into the bubble and turned blue. They pulled him out and he was fine.

What we have today is an adroit case of supplanting the Light of God’s Word with the darkness of man’s reason. That is why we must cling all the more tightly to the truths of the Gospel. Human reason sees the false teachers prospering and the orthodox persecuted (no matter what the confession). The more secular the congregation, the more popular it is with everyone. The media will praise anything that makes money. How they can create a story from “Teacher faithfully teaches God’s Word today”? They like scandals and huge building complexes.

The Wise Men risked their lives to see the infant Jesus. They traveled a great distance and went to the very man most hostile to the Savior. And yet, this was God’s plan too. Herod had the chance to believe in the Savior and receive forgiveness. Instead, he feigned interest so he could kill the baby. People ask about why more are not saved. God gives opportunity lavishly and people reject Him with wrath, derision, and hypocrisy (the vice that pays homage to virtue).

The Wise Men hungered for salvation and brought gifts to Him to show their gratitude. What can we offer? Luther’s Christmas play/hymn says it best:

13. Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

The entire hymn:

"From Heaven Above to Earth I Come"
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

1. "From heaven above to earth I come
To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
Whereof I now will say and sing:

2. "To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all the earth.

3. "This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Savior be
From all your sins to set you free.

4. "He will on you the gifts bestow
Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom, bright and fair,
You may with us His glory share.

5. "These are the tokens ye shall mark:
The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid
By whom the heavens and earth were made."

6. Now let us all with gladsome cheer
Go with the shepherds and draw near
To see the precious gift of God,
Who hath His own dear Son bestowed.

7. Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes!
What is it in yon manger lies?
Who is this child, so young and fair?
The blessed Christ-child lieth there.

8. Welcome to earth, Thou noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
Thou com'st to share my misery;
What thanks shall I return to Thee?

9. Ah, Lord, who hast created all,
How weak art Thou, how poor and small,
That Thou dost choose Thine infant bed
Where humble cattle lately fed!

10. Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
It yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.

11. For velvets soft and silken stuff
Thou hast but hay and straw so rough,
Whereon Thou, King, so rich and great,
As 'twere Thy heaven, art throned in state.

12. And thus, dear Lord, it pleaseth Thee
To make this truth quite plain to me,
That all the world's wealth, honor, might,
Are naught and worthless in Thy sight.

13. Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

14. My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep;
I, too, must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest ancient cradle-song:

15. Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad new year to all the earth.

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #85
Text: Luke 2: 1-18
Author: Martin Luther, 1535
Tune: Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1855, alt.
1st published in: "Geistliche Lieder" Leipzig, 1539

Our Great Heritage - Of Universalism

UOJ Stormtroopers Precision March: "They Are Never Out of Step, Whether in WELS, Missouri or the ELS," Says Pope John the Malefactor

I googled upon the website of Heritage, ELS, in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Here is part of their confession of faith, apparently conjured by the Little Sect on the Prairie in 1992:

Because Jesus was true God, He was able by His divine power to save us all; because He was true man, He was able to be our substitute under God's Law. Christ was tempted in all things as we are but was in every respect without sin. See John 1:1 and 14, Col. 2:9, Matt. 1:23,1 Tim. 2:5-6.

By His perfect life and His innocent sufferings and death Jesus has redeemed the entire world. God thereby reconciled the world to Himself, and by the resurrection of His Son declared it to be righteous in Christ. This declaration of universal righteousness is often termed "objective justification." One has this justification as a personal possession and is personally declared by God to be righteous in Christ when he or she is brought to faith in Him as Savior. This is often called "subjective justification". If the objective fact of Christ's atonement is not personally received by faith, then it has no saving benefit for the individual. We reject as unscriptural any teaching that people can be saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ. See 1 John 2:2, 2 Cor. 5:19, John 1:29, 2 Pet. 2:1, John 3:16-18, 2 Cor. 5:19, Rom. 4:25, 1:17 and 5:1-2.

5. THE MEANS OF GRACE...

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GJ - I broke off at the Means of Grace because the entire world is already saved and declared righteous. Why add grace to grace?

True, Jesus is the Savior of the world because there is no other savior. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." That is not the same as claiming Jesus saved the world. The Universalists say that, or they used to say that.

Even the Universalists have fallen into apostasy. They used to believe in universal salvation. But they merged with the Unitarians and became ultra-Left political activists. Their websites seldom if ever address the topic of God, but then neither do the Lutheran Church Growth websites.

Someone must wonder, as I did, "Why did the Little Sect adopt a new confession?" They used to wave the Brief Confession of 1932, but that has the Missouri Synod brand on it. Besides, the Waltherians of the Little Sect could use that against the ELS. Then we need to remember that the ELS is the Amen Corner for WELS. Justification Without Faith is bad enough coming from Missouri. The Wisconsin sect goes beyond the absurdity of UOJ and the ELS must follow.

***

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Our Great Heritage - Of Universalism":

WELS has published Pastor John Buchholz' 2005 Convention essay on Justification in video format here. The entire UOJ belief is promoted in the first segment. Interesting that they still teach that unbelievers partaking of the Lord's Supper for the forgiveness of sins, take it to their damnation because they do not discern Christ's body and blood. But yet in the false doctrine of UOJ they declare all unbelievers forgiven of all sins and justified while they are not of the body of Christ and at enmity with God. Martin Luther stated it this way in one of his sermons on Galatians, “It is given of pure grace. Note, faith justifies the individual; faith is justification. Because of faith God remits all sins, and forgives the old Adam and the Cain in our nature, for the sake of Christ his beloved Son, whose name faith represents.” ... “Then nothing else is necessary to justification but to hear and believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. But that is not a work of the natural man; it is a work of grace. He who presumes to attain justification by works, only obstructs the way of the Gospel, of faith, grace, Christ, God and all good."

ELS Hops on the Bandwagon

Graphic Used To Promote Cell Groups at Cottage Grove
From ELS Bad Boy - Trouble in Paradise

Abiding Shepherd's website-A review
I spent a bit of time looking over the website for Abiding Shepherd in Cottage Grove, the first congregation of the ELS to implement (and bold enough to call them) contemporary services.

In assessing the site the only thing Lutheran about it is they at least maintain the name Lutheran in their church name. That's more than many WELS congregations, periodicals, etc. do. At one LWMS rally I actually heard one report from the national rally that it is more advantageous to not use the name Lutheran and if we insist on retaining the name Lutheran, we are being selfish.

The name of Jesus is mentioned once on the site (at least I could find no other mention). This is on the "mission statement" page, and the mention of Jesus Christ is found in the now defunct mission statement. This is only one of two places the name Christ is mentioned (on this page as "Jesus Christ") The other mention is on Family Education Night under the Bible Study link. Here it mentions "Christ's sacrifice" as part of the study on the Chronicles of Narnia movie. This will probably be an interesting study, even if led by a layman instead of the called shepherd, er, spiritual administrator. Ugh. Business models for the church.

Yuck. Ick.

If the contemporary service is anything like this contemporary church website, I don't think there is much of substance here. Hopefully the website is incomplete and the good stuff is coming right around the corner.

September 20
NOT ROBBIE & responding to ABnormal
Sorry Norman, I didn't mean for any name to show up on any comments. Rest assured this is neither Rob or Bob Lawson. This is not Bob anybody.

Regarding comments from abnormal:
Jay Webber claims to understand the PMS as it is written. His paper presented at conference did not come across as a wauwatosan understanding. All of the so called middle of the roaders absolutely disagree with the wauwatosan understanding of the PMS and that folks like the two Presidents (ELS & Sem) are dead wrong. I tend to believe that the majority of the synod rejects the wauwatosan understanding considering Webber was elected to the Doctrine Committee.
Contemptible Services should be a basis for synodical discipline.

You want me to show from Scripture that these abominations are wrong? Easy enough:
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

But according to one of the ELS presenters at "church and change" a movie is worth a million words. These people give lip service to the means of grace, but that's all it ends up being, lip service. I think some folks misread verse 5 and think it says "that your faith should be in the wisdom of men in powerpoint."

Putting the best construction on the vicar situation, I can only assume the powers that be hoped they could send someone to that congregation to try to get the pastor back on the right track.

***

GJ - In Cape Cod, Webber advocated communing ELCA relatives of ELS members because it was easier that way. The ELS doctrine board is a perfect place for that attitude.

The ELS has always been more inclined toward open communion. The Wisconsin sect caught up with their own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" open communion. Nothing is stated in the bulletin with DADT. It is a popular solution for the vexing problem of Biblical and Confessional principles, which are barriers to the numerical growth craved by apostate leaders.

Nathan Krause is the pastor of Cottage Grove. I used to watch students fall asleep in the classroom when I was at the Sausage Factory. One student used to prop his chin up on his Trigotta and fall asleep. Today I looked over the pictures of the 1987 class and recalled enough material for a novel.

John Parlow of Green Bay was in the class of 87. Tour his office. Exciting? You betcha. Here is what a Missouri Synod seminarian said about Parlow and sound doctrine in WELS:


I guess another thing is what constitutes a "persistent errorist"? I know for a fact that some WELS pastors in Green Bay are persistent errorists by their love for unbiblical contemporary worship and adherence to The Purpose Driven Life and other church growth books. They allow women to read Scripture, perform children's messages during the Divine Service, and serve the elements. They have women "staff ministers." The church in particular that I refer to is St. Mark's, which has a dual parish (one church in Green Bay and the other in DePere). I know also that "percentage-wise" more WELS churches have unbiblical contemporary worship services than LCMS churches. Is it because the WELS has PAPER ORTHODOXY that you are confident to say that it is 100% orthodox and the LCMS 100% heterodox?

You wrote in a post last week (I think) that the WELS takes care of its problems, and that's what makes it different fom Missouri. If this is true, the one responsible for St. Mark's in Green Bay is not doing his job. I guess my point is that not even the WELS is always able to combat false teachings. Should it be that because the WELS does not take care of the problems happening at St. Mark's that you should leave and join the ELS? However, that would be problematic also since the ELS is in fellowship with the WELS.

His LCMS News blog is an excellent site.

Someone was urging him to leave Missouri for WELS or the Little Sect on the Prairie. My advice: Don't. The groups smaller than Missouri combine tyranny with the worst doctrine and practice. They strut around like God's Counsellors but they hardly know their catechisms. The micro-minis are even worse than the ELS and WELS.

PS - The nickname Sausage Factory is the ELS joke about Mequon. Webber says that WELS stands for our Weaker Evangelical Lutheran Siblings.

Virginia Diocese Needs to Bust a Schwan Grant

Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Schori Has No Authority To Seize Property

DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA IN FINANCIAL CRUNCH OVER LAW SUITS

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
1/4/2008

The Diocese of Virginia is taking out a $2 million "line of credit" to pursue lawsuits against a dozen parishes that have fled their ecclesiastical grip. Revenues from remaining parishes have fallen short of expectations as parishes cease to pledge or fall behind on their payments.

The diocese also plans to sell "real properties" to raise cash. The Virginia Episcopalian, the official publication of the Diocese of Virginia, is reporting in its current edition that the Executive Board has "authorized the treasurer to open a $1 million line of credit to cover anticipated legal expenses for the near-term. That line has since been increased to $2 million and about $1 million has been accessed."

In addition, the Executive Board of the Diocese of Virginia authorized diocesan staff to plan "the sale of non-strategic diocesan real property" to raise needed cash.

The Diocese also revealed that nine churches have not paid any of their pledges, which Mike Kerr, Treasurer of the Diocese, estimated as a loss to the diocese of $50,000. In addition, other churches have not paid their pledges in full causing the diocese to run a deficit of expenses over income from those pledges.

Baptist Church Growth Service: So Much Like WELS-ELS-LCMS-ELCA

From a Baptist layman:

Speaking of my mom, we all gathered together at my brother's house in southern Ohio the last weekend of 2007 for a Christmas celebration together, part of which was attending my brother's church there in Cedarville. This church has a long history of quality and solid foundations, affiliations with the Baptist University there, and a general, overall practice of doing things as right as Baptists can. The service we attended was among the worst I've ever suffered through. We sat down, and I leaned over to Donna and said that pretty much everything that I saw was what I call the "Television Church," and that I hate every bit of it. Huge projection screens covered every wall. The organ console (which I suspect was covered in a layer of dust) was buried by not one, but two drum sets with every trap that any enthusiastic 18-year-old drummer could ever wish to bang on. "Musicians" appeared shortly before the "service" began, having donned jeans with untucked dress shirts and hair that hadn't been visited by a comb in days. There was an electric guitar and bass guitar, two drummers (I cannot call them percussionists) a violinist, and piano player, all over-miked in a room that didn't need amplification at all. Every one of them had his own audio monitor floor speaker, again completely unnecessary.

Then the event began. The violinist was so attrociously out of tune that I wanted to get up and walk out. The individual mics were obviously EQed and mixed by someone who had lost his hearing at some Greatful Dead concert in the 1980s. Awful, awful, awful. Oh, forgot the soloist. She never really sang by herself, but "led" us forcefully along. And I use the term "us" very loosely as I didn't participate. They sang campfire chorus after campfire chorus, each one more insulting to anyone with any musical training than the one before. I tried to ignore the inane "melodies" and just read the lyrics, and they didn't make any sense either. Everything was insulting to anyone with any sense of music or the English language.

Finally they morphed into the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness, and I thought there may yet have been hope. As you may know, this hymn is in 3/4 time. These knuckleheads sang it in 4/4 time, making the whole experience something akin to dancing with a camel under water, gimping along with an extra beat every measure. Meanwhile people both on the platform (or shall I call it a stage -- the whole thing was a show, not a worship service) and in the congregation (audience) were waving their hands in the air and swaying back and forth. I couldn't help but think of the stoners in California in the 1960s. They just looked stupid. Meanwhile the words are projected on the huge screens.

Then the pastor took the stage with his wireless mic running down his cheek and proceeded to deliver what I would consider a mediocre, 3rd-grade Sunday School lesson about Mary and Martha attending to Jesus, and Martha's getting upset that Mary wasn't helping serve. It was filled with uneducated conjectures and historically inaccurate suppositions about what they may or may not have been doing. All during this, pictures vaguely relating to the story were shown on the massive screens. They looked like a Target Store advertisement. I suppose this was intended to keep the attention of the audience since his oration certainly couldn't. This was followed by another musically useless and intelligence-insulting ditty that everyone was supposed to sing.

Donna and I made a beeline out of there lest anyone ask our opinion and force us either to lie or actually state the obvious of which everyone seemed oblivious. I managed to get my mom alone later, and she said that she had to bite her lip to keep from crying all during the chaos. I felt differently. I was insulted at having been battered by all that uselessness, and rather angry at having been forced to suffer through it all.

And there you have it. I've experience the Church Growth Movement, and it created quite a movement of a completely different kind within me. I really see little hope for the Church if this one is at the cutting edge of what's going on right now. Most of the College students attend that church, and whether they shape or are shaped by it, that is what they will think is appropriate and proper, and then go out and pastor or participate in their own churches accordingly. It sends a cold shudder down one's spine.

----------
The WELS layman added:

So there is a certain revulsion against the invasion of TV Techniques into even those Reformed areas that used to be respectful of what they did in a building they called Church. If only Lutherans who have the same reaction could get it together enough to call a halt to the nonsense.

***
Another WELS layman:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Baptist Church Growth Service: So Much Like WELS-E...":

I own THREE drum sets and I am DEEPLY upset with your comments!!! Not really:)

I have had similar experiences in some WELS churches. It usually takes me about a week to get over the angry, confused and creepy feeling, because I know the implications of what occured and where it is all going. (My wife hates it when I project the logical outcome into the future from these such things)

I do have a theory about the 3 ring circus approach with all the visuals etc. Have you ever noticed how much more you can get out of reading a book as opposed to watching the same thing on video? I find that I get a much better understanding of DETAIL when I read it.

I surmise that video in churches is a good way to DISTRACT the people so that a DUMBED DOWN version of what should be communicated can be more readily diseminated to the masses. It is also easier to slide in false doctrines to the auditory senses when the visual senses are distracted. Add the tacky, sentimental music and you can manipulate peoples emotions by using what passes as worship music. Work the emotions and you can tell them just about anything you want and their critical judgement falls flat like a badly played violin.

WELS Too

***

GJ - I have noticed some educators favoring Attention Deficit Disorder by having things all over the classroom. Creating a lack of focus is not a good idea in education, worse in worship. Of course, these services are not intended to be worship. Willow Creek even promoted that idea. Sunday is for tickling and entertaining.

A printed bulletin can easily replace the movie screen and Jumbo-tron for text.

The tackiness is the direct result of abandoning the Means of Grace.

***

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Baptist Church Growth Service: So Much Like WELS-E...":

WELS Too (anonymous):
I had a similar discussion today with my wife when I explained the logical conclusion of slowing creeping contemptible worship. Her reaction was about the same as your wife's. Emotional appeal is at the heart of the contemptible worship methods. I believe that much of the laity in the WELS is really in the dark about the historic liturgies. I wonder if many of them think that it is just another way to "do church". Also, much of this can be snuck into the church under the big umbrella of evangelism. After all, if it increases membership, what can be bad about that? Isn't one soul worth it? Who can argue with a smiley pastor and musicians that make a joyful noise?

Anonymous Throws a Hissy Fit

Greg Jackson is a self-important, little man has left a new comment on your post "Incensed Crypto-Papist Avoids the Doctrinal Issues...":

Dr. Greg Jackson wrote (who holds his doctorate from Notre Dame, that fabulous Roman Catholic institution): "I could not find any argumentation in the comment, only arrogance and scorn."

You must be talking about your Ichabod blog, because that's all I ever see on it--arrogance and scorn.

***

GJ - I agree with you, Anonymous. That is all you have ever seen on it. I believe you are also the same person who complained about all the doctrinal quotations posted on Ichabod. How you must suffer!

Martin Luther also attended a Roman Catholic school.

PS - Unlike Werning, Valleskey, and Bivens, I have never denied attending any given school. I will even admit to being at the Sausage Factory in Mequon. As everyone knows, we will all be judged by the schools we attended and our DNA, not by the doctrine we believe, teach, and confess.

Osiander

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Reasons for WELS-LCMS-ELS Apostasy":

Methinks you frequently stumble into a position that is dangerously close to Osiander, cf.

Try reading "The Fire and the Staff" by Klemet Preus for a clear explanation.

***

GJ - Note the dog-eared approach above. First of all, it is anonymous. How bizarre to call someone a false teacher anonymously! I post these things to show Ichabodians the state of the Lutheran Church.

Secondly, there is no foundation for the accusation. I can only look over Osiander and guess. Common courtesy would dictate a real name and some reasoning. Since nothing is cited on my side or from Osiander, I cannot respond.

I have not read Klement Preus. (I took his class in Persuasive Preaching at Concordia, Ft. Wayne.) Once again, no citation is provided for our edification. I do agree with his father's conclusions in Rome and Justification. I suggest Anonymous read Robert Preus and the Book of Concord.

I made it clear in Thy Strong Word that I disagree with UOJ for Biblical and confessional reasons. I also listed the Biblical passages and Book of Concord passages which support justification by faith alone.

Why Abridge Thy Strong Word

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How To Buy Thy Strong Word":

I'm not sure why you want to abridge your Thy Strong Word. If you go to Lulu, they can print up a single-copy 650 page 6"x9" book for $17.53, or for less if you buy in quantity. Then you can sell it for $25, and still make $6 or $7 profit on each copy:
http://www.lulu.com/en/products/paperback/

Of course, you could probably get it printed up elsewhere cheaper.

I'm just sayin'

Bruce Church

***

GJ - I have a few copies left and the entire book is on the internet.

The reason for a new edition would be to eliminate some of the highly technical parts and make it English-only.

Profit is not the idea. Making the doctrinal material available is the goal.

Besides, my feisty editor wants more work to do.

Incensed Crypto-Papist Avoids the Doctrinal Issues. Feel the Love?

I'm a little papist, still smiling,
Here is my censer, here, KISS MY RING!
(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

Father Hollywood has left a new comment on your post "Baby Steps - Or Alien Doctrine?":


As the dean of the SSP, all I can say is the tin-foil-hat conspiracy stuff is quite a hoot. If anyone wants to know what the SSP is *actually* all about (rather than this straw-man silliness and worst-construction paranoid speculation), feel free to e-mail me at larrybeane@gmail.com.

But if you're really more into "beautiful mind"-type fantasy, and have no shut-ins to visit, no texts to study, and no prayers to say - but want to spend time slandering other Lutherans and breaking the 8th commandment, well, consider these other points:

+ "Polycarp" and "pope" both begin with the SAME LETTER.

+ Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Society of St. Polycarp confess the NICENE CREED and use CANDLES at their services.

+ The SSP includes pastors from both St. Louis and Fort Wayne seminaries, both of which are LINKED to prominent Lutheran expatriot pastors, such as Neuhaus and Fenton. Coincidence? I think not...

+ The current SSP dean attended a seminary whose president and several professors have doctorate degrees from Notre Dame University (Notre Dame is openly ROMAN CATHOLIC, and its name is a *secret code word* for MARY!).

+ Many SSP members belong to the LCMS, whose hymnal uses the word CATHOLIC (a *known practice* of ROMAN CATHOLIC and EASTERN ORTHODOX churches).

+ Crosses (such as those used as bullet points in this very post) are found in ROMAN CATHOLIC churches around the world.

Pax Domini, (which is LATIN, the *secret language* of ROMAN CATHOLICS),

Rev. Larry Beane, SSP
larrybeane@gmail.com

***

GJ - I gave the readers choice quotations from the material posted by this cult, plus the links, so they can harvest their own conclusions. I could not find any argumentation in the comment, only arrogance and scorn. Father Hollywood is welcome to post again if he has something to say about introducing Marian worship into the Lutheran Church.

Moose Attack

GJ - The following comment, reverently reproduced in italics, is broken up into bite-sized bits to facilitate the digestion process:

Rachel, author of The Moose Report has left a new comment on your post "The Slandering So-Called Slander-Victims of WELS":

"Mrs. Moose is an ardent Sweet supporter, now in denial."

I must be in denial, because until you quoted my 2005 post on your blog, I had no idea I was an "ardent supporter."

GJ - I will reproduce her original paragraph from the Moose Report, in bold. The 2005 Church and Change conference invited Leonard Sweet (New Age Methodist) Kent Hunter (LCMS Church Growth Guru), and Waldo Werning (LCMS, Church Growth promoter):

This symposium was on evangelism. Apparently it is breaking fellowship by bringing in those who have effective evangelism programs that actually work because they are not WELS. Our synod is losing members faster than they are gaining them. You’d think they’d be open to new ideas. There is a serious danger here in this fellowship misapplication. Those planning to attend have lost the opportunity to learn about other evangelism methods to win souls for Christ.

"I fail to comprehend how noticing a familiar name is a slanderous attack on the entire Moose herd. Disavowing published support for Sweet is bad enough, but calling me a false witness for quoting her is only going to draw attention to what the entire Moose coalition represents."

I have a coalition now? Not bad for a WLC grad who holds a B.A. in music.

GJ - WELS members are trained in avoiding the issue.

Are you a pastor of a congregation? If you are, I am surprised at your tactics. For someone who is to be "above reproach," why do you find it neccessary (sic) to provoke and make fun of other Christians, mostly Lutherans? What does that accomplish for the Kingdom? And yes, there ARE other Lutherans despite all the apparent conspiracy theories. The definition of "apostate" is one who abandons his religion. The WELS has not abandoned the Bible nor the Lutheran Confessions, attend a Sunday service and you'd know that.

GJ - Lutherans should start reading Luther and the Book of Concord. In most sermons Luther pointed out what the false teachers were promoting and denounced it. The Book of Concord rejects false doctrine throughout. WELS has been dumbed down so much that people do not realize the point of polemics and cannot grasp humor and satire. I accomplish nothing for the Kingdom. The Word of God does everything. WELS has officially and defiantly rejected Biblical doctrine and the Lutheran Confessions. Not even the mildest Lutheran would walk across the street to hear Leonard Sweet or Kent Hunter or Waldo Werning.

Even if you disagree with how things are done in the WELS, what kind of witness is it for orthodox Lutheranism (and orthodox Christianity for that matter) to speak to and about people in such an unloving way? Or to speak in such a tone as to insinuate that you alone are above reproach? I guess one advantage to being a synodical conference of one is that you can say whatever you want.

GJ - The love gambit is well worn among the unionists. They want love, not sound doctrine. Luther said, "Don't speak to me about love. Love does not convert. The Word of God converts." The true Church consists of all those who trust in Christ alone as their Savior. How strange to be so obsessed with a man-made organization, especially one where two church workers have murdered their wives and a DP went to state prison. Try "above reproach" on the officials who covered this up and still deny the facts.

Well, as all Alaskans know, and since you seem to delight in using the metaphor, moose leave an area when there is "no good food" left. I wouldn't feed on what you are selling or promoting. I'm sure, as seems to be your way, you'll have a scathing reply to this comment. Quote me, misquote me, judge me, attack me, say whatever you want. You may hold Masters and Doctorates in everything under the sun, but simple Christian love demonstrated in words and actions has eluded you.

GJ - I did not pick the name Moose Report. I prefer to quote people verbatim. That is enough. In fact, many have complained about being quoted. Larry Olson (D.Min., Fuller Seminary) published an article in Christian News about that very topic.

Not Every Evangelical Is Fooled by Church Growth

It's not only Lutherans who have been victimized by the CG-PURPOSE DRIVEN heresy. Just substitute "Lutheran" for "Baptist" when reading the following, and the show goes on. Same false idea, same, modus operandi, same disillusionment by discerning layman, resulting in conscience bound departure due to betrayal by leaders and pastors who look to the next program, the next CGM guru, the next "numbers game" instead of "Thus saith the Lord".

Mary Thompson
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
IS YOUR CHURCH SUFFERING FROM R & R?

By Paul Proctor
January 2, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
The Lord sent me on a difficult journey several years ago. It has been a long, painful and frustrating excursion. But it has also been quite rewarding in that I have learned so much along the way. He called me out of The People's Church in August of 2000 for reasons I have already chronicled in a published piece by the same name. It wasn't a mere critique of a church gone bad from a disgruntled ex-member with an axe to grind, but rather the beginning of a calling of sorts to
expose what I discovered to be a growing movement and trend in church life that in reality robs people of their faith in Jesus Christ. In my ten or so years as an untrained writer and columnist with an undeserved high school diploma and a very basic knowledge of the scriptures that came largely through personal study and prayer, I started writing commentary for the internet barely knowing even how to
punctuate a sentence, much less how to structure one properly. It was more or less on-the-job-training; so frankly, I learned as I wrote what I witnessed. And not having the luxury of editors most of that time, it meant that any embarrassing errors I made involving grammar, punctuation or spelling were promptly published for all the world to see - and in many cases, still are.

In retrospect, I suppose that helped keep my ego in check, at least most of the time, especially when the praise and support of other Christians began coming in - not unlike the Apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh that tormented him throughout his ministry. By the same token, I guess those words of encouragement helped keep my discouragement, embarrassment and humiliation from overwhelming me when all the criticism and rejection followed.

I had been a musician all of my adult life and until the mid-nineties, had no inkling or desire to write about anything that didn't involve music - much less controversial matters of church and faith. To this day I'm amazed that anyone is interested in anything I have to say - and moreover, that the Lord would compel a fool like me to write it down. But I do nonetheless, for whatever it's worth.

After leaving The People's Church, I ended up at a smaller more traditional Southern Baptist fellowship where the pastor assured me numerous times over the four years I was there that he would not bring that church growth movement stuff I had agonized through at my previous church into his church, only to end up, much to my dismay, hearing him quote Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Life principles time and again
from the pulpit - eventually going so far as to offer a class on it to those who were interested in attending - that is, until I reminded him of his promise to me. It was as if every time I tried to settle in and serve the Lord in some capacity there, either as a teacher, a committee member or as a trustee, the CGM would reappear in one form or another and distract me into a confrontation and response in order to restrain its influence. As I would soon learn, many others who were reading my articles were also enduring the same kinds of struggles at their churches.

Whenever I questioned my pastor about his PDL proclivities, the justification was that, even though he didn't actively promote The Purpose Driven Life and Church per se, there were some practical things in Warren's books he thought would help our congregation. I suspect he was also under at least some peer-pressure, intentional or not, from local promoters and sellers of PDL products and materials which may have
included fellow pastors and representatives from LifeWay Christian Resources here in Nashville, where such things have been for sale for years - a company that once employed him as an editor - not to mention the fact that he was shepherding a handful of misguided church members who were absolutely taken by Warren's unbiblical notions and ideas. Still I remained, hoping to persuade him otherwise.

What finally sent me packing and back on my journey in search of a faithful church (not to be confused with a perfect church) was a Sunday morning message given in two services on November 21st, 2004, where he told of being impressed by a missionary and speaker he heard a few days earlier named Rick Leatherwood, who shrewdly used certain Proverbs from the Old Testament as a means of evangelizing Muslims by referring to the God of the Bible as "Allah," in hopes of winning them to Christ. After the service was over, I obtained a CD copy of my pastor's sermon, to make sure I had actually heard him correctly, so as not to jump to conclusions and falsely accuse him of something he didn't actually say. Citing the Apostle Paul as an example, this is an excerpt of what he preached that morning:

Paul had learned to become all things to all men. Rick Leatherwood has done that too. He does so many interesting things. And, he was trying to figure out, "How do I connect with these Muslims? They believe in the same God, sort of, that I do. They believe in the same God Abraham believed in. They believe in that God. Well, what can I do to connect with them? I can't just walk in and start talking about Jesus. They believe that Jesus was a real man but they don't believe He really died. So, I just can't walk in and start telling the good news about Jesus." So, he came up with the idea, he said, "They believe in God; why not tell them about God? And so the one way I can do that is to give them a copy of the book of Proverbs from our Old Testament." It tells all this wisdom about God, from God and how to know God. And so, what he did; he printed up these little booklets - and he's done it - he's got them printed in various Arabic languages. And he'll go up, and when he gets to know somebody, he said, "I'd like to give you a gift. I'd like to give you this copy of the wisdom of God." Because they believe in God, he can say, "I'm talking about the same God." After listening to the CD at home I called my pastor and politely told him: "Jesus is not the Son of Allah." He responded to my concerns by saying, that wasn't what he meant, followed by an apology for "offending me." You see, he cleverly turned an Absolute Truth issue into a Relationship issue and quickly apologized for having offended me rather than admitting that he had in fact contradicted the Word of God.

After a short but heated discussion, I closed the conversation stating, if I were he, I'd revisit the issue from the pulpit and clear up any confusion his remarks may have caused. When two or three Sundays passed without any mention of his mistake, my
wife and I discontinued our participation in worship there, but did continue in Sunday School with friends for a time, visiting another nearby church for worship, waiting on the Lord's leading elsewhere or our pastor's public confession and repentance - whichever came first. Almost three months later, on February 6th of 2005, my pastor made the following remarks in passing during his sermon that morning:

"Muslims claim to know God; but the god that they say they know, when you really study what they say; we did a study, some of you may remember, on Muslims and Muslim religion a few months back. When you really study what they believe, you see that the god they're worshipping is not the God you and I worship. It's a different God. It's not the God that Jesus revealed to us."

So, apparently this was, to his way of thinking, an acceptable substitute for confession and repentance; to ever-so-briefly re-visit the issue months later as if no real error had actually been committed - as if his unofficial follow-up sermon communicated what he really believed all along about God and Allah. I was left to ask myself: How could such a man ever call on sinners to confess and repent when he was so stubbornly unwilling to do so himself? We never looked back. And that brings me to the point of this article about my ongoing journey and the question I offered as its title:

Is your church suffering from R & R?
Both my previous churches obviously were; and amazingly, so have every one of the Southern Baptist churches my wife and I visited across three counties here in Middle Tennessee over the last three years.

Blame whomever and whatever you will; but somewhere along the way, they all to varying degrees, quit believing God - they lost their faith - their conviction - their focus and their Divine call to hear, believe, proclaim and obey the Word of God at all costs, whatever may come - and made the call to repentance and faith in Christ at best, secondary to the pragmatic pursuit of Results and Relationships - refashioning their religion into something more marketable - more practical - more
horizontal and humanistic, so as to please prospects and participants into jumping onboard, that they might artificially grow their congregations into something impressive instead of something faithful - boasting of "fruit" while yielding a great harvest of weeds.

In spite of all this, the numbers steadily drop and revival continues to evade the Southern Baptist Convention whose members stare at their baptisteries year after year, longing for more Results - and then at each other, longing for more Relationships - this, while ignoring the Provider of both Who patiently waits for their confession, repentance and obedience, that He might bless. Eve took the forbidden fruit because she wanted Results. Adam took it to protect and sustain his Relationship with Eve. Today, the church of the 21st century shamelessly continues to pursue both at God's expense in a desperate and disobedient attempt to satisfy "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life." (1st John 2:16)
May God have mercy on us all in 2008.
© 2008 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserved

***

GJ - I noticed that the lies and the sneakiness are the same, whether in a Lutheran synod or in an Evangelical congregation.

Baby Steps - Or Alien Doctrine?

Ripley Concluded Something Was Wrong When She Felt Footprints

L P Cruz has left a new comment on your post "Chameleon Lutherans":

Dr. Greg,

I am just curious as to what you think of Society of Saint Paul? Is this baby steps to the Tiber do you think?

LPC

Oops I meant Society of Saint Polycarp I think by LCMS pastors here is the link

Society of Saint Polycarp

***

GJ - Baby steps? This website is a perfect example of the Missouri Synod underground in favor of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. I will quote some of most febrile passages below in italics.

The Rule of the Society of St. Polycarp

Pastor Larry Beane-Dean For questions or comments: Contact Pastor Bean.

7. As the Lutheran Symbols confess the Blessed Virgin Mary to be "the pure, holy, and ever-virgin Mother of God" (Theotokos, Gottes Mutter), as well as "that the blessed Mary prays for the Church" (Ap. XXI, 27; SA I, IV, Latin; FC SD VIII, 24), it is altogether fitting, proper, and consistent with the Faith of the Church Catholic to honor the Blessed Virgin in liturgical celebration. Members of the Society will seek to restore the traditional Marian feasts of the Church of the Augsburg Confession (i.e., the Feasts of the Purification, Annunciation, and Visitation) as a testimony of the grace of God through her, that we might imitate the Blessed Virgin in word and example, and in thanksgiving for the Incarnation of the Son of God through her humble submission to the will of God. Members of the Society will also promote the observance and celebration of saints' days and commemorations. This is wholly in keeping with the evangelical and catholic tradition of the Church of the Augsburg Confession, whose Symbolical Books acknowledge the saints as fitting exemplars of the catholic Faith worthy of imitation, as well as our heavenly intercessors (AC XXI, 1; Ap. XXI, 4-9).

8. As the Church of the Augsburg Confession understands herself as a part of the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, particularly as she exists in the West, members of the Society will take seriously the commitment to the proper ecumenicity this demands. Members will pursue dialogue with:

- Fellow Lutheran Christians to foster and promote Lutheran unity.

- Our separated brethren in the Roman Church, with which the Lutherans at the Diet of the Augsburg in 1530 clearly sought reconciliation.

- The Eastern Orthodox Church, following the example of the exchange between the Lutheran theologians of the University of Tübingen and Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople (1573-1581).

***

GJ - In spite of the obligatory Lutheran orthodox sounding words not quoted, this page is far more than baby steps toward Rome and Constantinople. More like a double back-flip with a half gainer.

The Mariolatry cited above gives the scheme away. As Schmauck said, the more people veer away from the Confessions, the more they insist they are the true Lutherans. Chemnitz, the primary editor of the Book of Concord, said we should not give Mary more titles than the Scriptures reveal. This group would have Mary replace Jesus as the object of worship, which is the fetish of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Here's more:

On Theosis and the Mystical Union

Pastor William Weedon

I have made no bones about the fact that I think there is enormous congruity between what the East calls theosis and what the Lutherans of the 16th and 17th centuries termed mystical union. The loss of that whole mystical union way of thinking has been a sad loss, in my estimation, for the Lutheran Church, and it has disfigured us. The exclusive description of justification in forensic terms has been reduced to the imparting of information: God declares you righteous for Christ's sake. That's indeed the truth, but it is not all of the truth.

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GJ - Where did we hear about theosis before? Oh yes, the ELDONA/Augustana (sic) conference. And the term Church Catholic? That was a favorite of Richard J. Neuhaus before he poped.

Pastor William Weedon is quite active, but not alone. Rev. Fenton (who repudiated Lutheran doctrine and joined the EO) posts on Weedon's blog.

Here are team members of Weedon's blog on the Lutheran Confessions. Thanks to some HTML skills, I was able to copy their links so Ichabodians can see what floats their boats or lights their incense:

Blog Authors

• Rev. Paul Gregory Alms



• Rev. Dr. Albert Collver



• Rev. William M. Cwirla



• Rev. Ryan Fouts



• Rev. Paul T. McCain



• Rev. David Petersen



• Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast



• Rev. Dr. Holger Sonntag



• Dr. Gene Edward Veith



• Rev. David Jay Webber



• Rev. William Weedon

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GJ - Few things shock me about Lutheran apostasy these days, but I was astounded that
McCain (LCMS) and Webber (ELS) would associate with a Romanist like Weedon on a site supposedly dedicated to the Lutheran Confessions.

These Recessional Lutherans have given me an idea. I will start Roman Catholic blogs with names that will draw people in from their Google searches: Scapular Devotions, Holy Mother Church, Quenching the Purgatory Fires, Boys Town, and Luther's Errors. The blogs will make people believe I am a Ultramontane Roman Catholic, but I will spice them up with material that will turn them into Lutherans. That is better by far than pretending to be a Lutheran while turning people into papists.

Anonymous asked: How are you determining that these men are "team members"? There is no reference along these lines on either of the sites you link from the post. Also, are each of these individuals writing for Weedon's blog, or merely linked by him? Since no one can control who links to their blog, it would be unfair to criticize the men on your list merely for being a link from Weedon's blog. Please be more precise.

I just make this stuff up! Here is the verbatim information about the blog:

Blog Name Team Members
Concordia | The Lutheran Confessions orthodoxy hunter; Paul T. McCain; David Jay Webber; Paul Gregory Alms; ABC3+; Rev. Ryan Fouts; Petersen; Holger Sonntag; wm cwirla; GEVeith

Orthodoxy Hunter is not linked on the main page or listed, but McCain says she is a new friend who designed his new Google blog.

The Slandering So-Called Slander-Victims of WELS

According to the US Supreme Court, crying Slander! in a crowded blogosphere is the same as committing slander.

I found this paragraph from the aptly named Moose Report a good example of WELS defending false doctrine by deceitfully crying "Slander!" Frosty Bivens did the same thing when I quoted his pal Paul Kelm. Actually, I have heard this dodge used so often that I can no longer count. Werning is quick to scream "Slander!" too. The Church Growth zombies violate the Eighth Commandment even more than they cite it.

Third, and this really gets me, Gregory Jackson adds a note stating “I see a familiar name associated with the Moose Report.” It’s bad enough that he mars my blog and falsely testifies that I “support” Sweet, but he adds an unnecessary comment to slander those associated with me, which could easily mean any of my brothers who are faithful WELS members, or even my sainted father.

I’m quite irritated, just FYI.

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GJ - I said "a familiar name" because there is a cluster of WELS blogs associated with Mrs. Moose. People link the blogs they like, so anyone with an IQ above room temperature can detect some doctrinal affinities from checking those out.

Mrs. Moose (DMLC grad?) links her brother, Revvin Rev. He links Pastor Rick Johnson, who is the Crown of Life, Corona, California pastor known for being a Leonard Sweet-heart. When I mentioned this on my blog and went back to his blog, the slobbering reference to Sweet was gone - overnight. So were the offering statistics (like the Red Sea, man) that he posted. He said someone let him know about the offering posting, so he got rid of it. He forget to mention the Sweet pangyric which disappeared at the same time.

Bloggers check out other blogs, so I figured that perhaps Revvin Rev or the brother-in-law let Pastor Rick Johnson know his offerings were totally exposed to the public. Pastor Rick Johnson said it was "unclassy" to mention his offerings. Publishing on a web or blogsite means making it public.

Mrs. Moose is an ardent Sweet supporter, now in denial.

The Crown of Life pastor, a known CGM fan, is a Sweet supporter, but silent about it now.

I fail to comprehend how noticing a familiar name is a slanderous attack on the entire Moose herd. Disavowing published support for Sweet is bad enough, but calling me a false witness for quoting her is only going to draw attention to what the entire Moose coalition represents.

Ichabodians must be asking, "Why is a hippy, Methodist, New Age gasbag like Sweet so appealing to WELS people, who cannot find the Large Catechism in the dark?"

Answer - Sweet has been promoted by Church and Change. According to a recent post, they were bold enough to give seminarians free tickets to their 2007 conference.

Why is Church and Change so in love with the doctrine of a hippy, Methodist, New Age gasbag like Sweet?"

Answer - Sweet is closely connected to the Church Growth gurus of America: Robert Schuller, Fuller Seminary, etc.

Loehe Missionaries Founded the LCMS - Not Walther

+ Wilhelm Loehe +
2 January AD 1872

Verbatim from Aardvark Alley

Christened Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe, he established a reputation already as a young pastor for being "too" theologically conservative and "too" politically progressive. This led to his being moved to at least twelve positions until he received his own parish in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria in 1837. Beginning his career with difficulty, he accomplished much from such a small place. Even though he had aspirations of a more prominent position in a major city, church and government officials never allowed that to pass.

The Catholic king of Bavaria was de facto leader of the Lutheran Church. His main desire was to keep the churches from becoming places of political unrest. Thus arose strict restrictions, such as an assembly of more than five people needing a police permit. He prohibited mission circles and other "subversive enterprises," thus relegating church activities to not much more than Sunday services only.

In 1840, Loehe read a newspaper account from America by Pastor Friedrich Wyneken. It told of German emigrants not having church or pastoral care &mdash nobody could baptize their children, teach, visit the sick, or bury the dead. Pastor Loehe felt compelled to aid the German Lutherans in America and published an article in a church periodical asking for help. Beginning in the spring of 1841, several young men responded to Loehe's letter, expressing the desire help the settlers with their own skills and occupations. In the summer of 1842 he sent them to America at his own expense. He called them Nothelfer ("helpers in need") or "auxiliary saints", and trained them to be "emergency pastors."

Even while he had no theologians to assist his plans, Loehe published a map entitled "Overview for the German Lutheran Mission Work in the United States." It illustrated a system he developed for advancing pastoral care and outreach among German speakers in the United States. More young men followed and by his death, at least 185 came to America. Loehe paid for many of them himself and was always trying to raise money.

After only six years of marriage, Loehe's wife died, leaving him to raise their four children alone. Even among such hardships, his dreams remained clear and his desire to serve the Lord strong. Indeed, recent years have brought recognition for his farsightedness. This contrasts sharply with the handed-down opinions of many contemporaries who, while recognizing him as a founder of social institutions and mission education in Neuendettelsau, regarded him as divisive, narrow-minded, or combative. Changes in attitude began taking place especially after 1985, when several thousand of his letters were published, many previously unknown to scholars in Germany.

Seeking to support and strengthen missions and pastoral ministry in the United States, Loehe established a large parish cooperative throughout Germany. As support grew, he could publish his 1845 "Letter from the Home Country to the German Lutheran Emigrants" which 946 people, including 350 theologians, signed.

With the home churches finally behind him, he could at last send pastors! Loehe saw to the training of twenty-two pastors for work in America. Due in large part to his direct influence a seminary was established in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1846 as well as a teachers' institute in Saginaw, Michigan. Some of the men he sent to the U.S. helped to establish The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. Today, two LCMS seminaries, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri continue equipping and forming men to send out into the Savior's harvest fields.

Besides his interest in the United States, Loehe also assisted in training and sending pastors to care for emigrants in Brazil and Australia, both of which still have relatively small but vital Lutheran populations. He will continue to be remembered for his confessional integrity and his interest in liturgy and catechetics. He also never forgot the physical needs of those less fortunate and his works of Christian charity include the establishment of a deaconess training house, homes for the aged, an asylum for the mentally ill, and other caring institutions.

Please see Loehe etexts translated through Project Wittenberg for his Sonntagsblatt Appeal, his 1842 Instructions of Adam Ernst and Georg Burger, letters between C.F.W. Walther and Loehe About the Fort Wayne Seminary, and Loehe's Report of Walther's and Wyneken's Visit.

Von Schenk Question

Would you happen to know why so many confessional Lutheran pastors favor Berthold von Schenk and why all I get is a chuckle and the 8th Commandment in return when I complain about it?

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GJ - I was not aware of him, except I heard about his group when working on my dissertation at Notre Dame.

Oddly enough, I just volunteered to write a review of his book, which will appear in Christian News in the near future.

From my first reading of the book I would say that someone defending and following Von Schenk is anything but a Confessional Lutheran. Remember that Rev. Richard J. Neuhaus (LCMS, Seminex, ELCA, Church of Rome) called himself a Confessional Lutheran until he poped. His Confessional Lutheran friends have also poped.

How To Buy Thy Strong Word

Church Growth Results: It's Your Faulty for Not Inviting People to Our Sneaker Services, Where We Ape the Reformed and Mock the Means of Grace

saxoniae has left a new comment on your post "Reasons for WELS-LCMS-ELS":

I stumbled upon your online version of Thy Strong Word when googling for articles about Robert Preus after reading his Getting into the Theology of Concord and the two volumes on Post-Reformation Lutheranism.

I liked it! I plan to go to Scholia/Repristination Press and buy it -- they produce a great Advent devotional (Tim Pauls) and their translation of Chytraeus' Catechesis was very good. I've noticed you're one of the few people who ever mention David Chytraeus.

Would you happen to know why so many confessional Lutheran pastors favor Berthold von Schenk and why all I get is a chuckle and the 8th Commandment in return when I complain about it?

***

GJ - I am not sure if His Beatitude, The Right Reverend James Heiser, Bishop of Malone, Texas, and Adjoining Counties, is still selling Thy Strong Word through Repristination Press. Heiser thinks being a bishop is everything, but having an ELCA member on his board is fine - because of all the orders placed by the ELCA member. And yet, a whole new nano-sect (ELDONA) must be started over Yankee Stadium unionism. Is that a contradiction or ironic humor?

I have a few copies of Thy Strong Word left. Post your email as a comment (not to be published) and I will send information about buying it.

My plans shifted back to more publishing and teaching in 2008. Man proposes; God disposes - as the Germans say. Thanks to an industrious editor, I can do a new version of Thy Strong Word. That would be a more popular edition, cut down in size, available on Lulu.com.

I am being double-trained online starting January 7th. I will start at a new online university so I have to learn their system, which will be time-consuming. Secondly, I will start a master's in journalism on the same day. To teach writing at more schools I need a master's in the field. No, do not weep for me. I think it will be fun and edifying.