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.

***

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.