Enrollments
• Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, WI: 173
On-campus: 132 (seniors–40, middlers–45, juniors–46, PSI–1)
Off-campus: 41 (vicars–40, emergency service–1)
• Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN: 692 on-campus (education–509, pre-seminary–171, unclassified–12)
• Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, MI: 218
111 boys and 107 girls (seniors–56, juniors–56, sophomores–55, freshmen–51)
• Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, WI: 328
166 boys and 162 girls (seniors–80, juniors–75, sophomores–95, freshmen–78)
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GJ - Let's do the math. They once had four preps and two colleges, with higher enrollments and much lower tuition. Now they have closed two prep schools and one college, raised tuition to a Lexus level, and...
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MLS Veteran has left a new comment on your post "WELS Schools - Lower Enrollment, Higher Costs":
Wow, those enrollments at the 2 prep schools really are low.
Perhaps we are comparing apples to oranges, however,
Back in my day, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were almost no area WELS Lutheran High Schools.
Now, there are quite a few.
So perhaps many of the students who normally would have went off to high school away from home now attend a nearby Lutheran high school.
It really is a big decision for both parents and students to leave home at 13 or 14.
How many would really want their young 'uns to face the infamous "Zex" year?
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Schools - Lower Enrollment, Higher Costs":
After what poor MLS had to go thru just to stay alive for another year, who would be inspired to go there? Who knows when the threat of closing will pop up again and no doubt it will. It's hard to get someone interested in spending that much money with the 'powers that be' forcasting doom and gloom.
GJ - The Church Growth wolves want missionaries so they can travel all over the world to supervise them, have global conferences, and feel important. CG gurus do not like synodical schools at all. Schools are trending downward, to use the management-speak WELS loves to use.
ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Monday, January 21, 2008
WELS Schools - Lower Enrollment, Higher Costs
UOJ and Church Growth Presentations, Disguised as Evangelism, Martin Luther College
Or - The Blind Leading the Bland
Forty-one pastors, teachers, and staff ministers from across the synod are making presentations at Martin Luther College (MLC) in New Ulm, Minn., on Wed., Jan. 23, as part of the school's annual Evangelism Day.
MLC is presenting the one-day event in partnership with WELS Commission on Evangelism and WELS Commission for Parish Schools
Among the speakers is Rev. David Valleskey, former president of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, who will be one of the leaders of a workshop on "Preparing a Personal Witness."
Rev. E. Allen Sorum, seminary professor, will be giving the keynote address.
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GJ - Sorum is the WELS equivalent of Leonard Sweet. Valleskey is the Fuller-trained liberal who espouses UOJ and evangelism. Why bother? Everyone is forgiven and righteous, especially the guilt-free saints in Hell. (That's WELS doctrine, not Luther's.)
California Suit Against WELS
High School Rejected by Judge
A judge rejected the claim against the WELS California Lutheran High School that the school discriminated against two students because of alleged lesbian inclinations. The attorneys will appeal the decision. The Ninth Circuit is great for writing new laws people never imagined before.
The judge ruled that a religious school has a right to religious opinions. My question is: WWFS?
The specific nature of homosexual sin is different from heterosexual sin, but its essence is identical: a failure to be and behave as God’s revealed will demands. Divine law remains the perfect tool to expose and convict sinners of their sin, and the unconditional gospel remains the perfect tool to comfort and empower forgiven sinners to enjoy life in Christ. God’s Word remains “living and active” for us and others. There is no need or room for revulsion or pessimism as we share the pardoning and purifying Word with our sometimes weak and wounded family members in Christ.
Share proper information
It is likely that you won’t always have the perfect words to say, and it is almost certain that you won’t have all the answers. But you can do some homework and choose your words carefully. Don’t weigh in prematurely with an inflexible answer to the “nature vs. nurture” question. Consider the possibility that both genetic and environmental factors may be involved, just as they often are in heterosexual sin, alcohol and drug abuse, or a variety of other addictions. Be quick to acknowledge that issues of sexual orientation can sometimes be challenging, but God’s grace and power is more than sufficient to give his people power to cope with reality.
In fostering fruits of faith, keep in mind that sanctification is not to be equated with marriage and heterosexual activity. Christians who lack heterosexual impulses may please God with celibate chastity that might involve a lifelong struggle against homosexual tendencies. To counsel them to “go and get attracted to the opposite sex” betrays a misunderstanding of sanctification and invites unnecessary frustration for those already burdened.
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GJ - I am a little confused. No, not about that.
Frosty Bivens, a Fuller Seminary liberal, seems to be promoting the line that people are born homosexual (a fact I have never witnessed in a hospital nursery). Also, he has repeated a previous WELS declaration that there is no difference between homosexual and heterosexual sin. This moral equivalency argument was copied from ELCA, by the way.
Moral equivalence is a popular logical fallacy. The Communist Revolution was just the same as the American Revolution (minus the slaughter, torture, and tyranny). The Boston Tea Party was terrorism, we are led to think by the elite. I know some fish and crabs got over-caffeinated, but how many humans died in the Boston Tea Party?
Sinful inclinations are inherently sinful, even though they are internal or mental.
KJV James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
WELS cannot even hold to the doctrine of Creation. God created men and women to long for a permanent, married, heterosexual relationship. Without desire there would be few marriages and even fewer babies.
I hate to bring up Luther when discussing doctrine with Lutherans. Luther makes them angry while Sweet calms them down. Luther consistently emphasized the impact of mental sin, that prevention of mental sin by force only inflames the sinful nature. The only solution is the Gospel Promises for those who realize their sin. Frosty seems to approve of an unnatural mental sin, as long as it is repressed.
Frosty is a major cheerleader for UOJ, so he is not likely to understand the Biblical concept of godly contrition and justification by faith.
Notice how easily one moves from UOJ to Situation Ethics. Naturally one can find enough in his article to fool a traditionalist. This is just a half-way step to outright advocacy, which will arrive when the closets empty in WELS.
Confidential to Frosty - the judge says, "It's OK to be Biblical."
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Septuagesima Sermon
KJV John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 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. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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. 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. 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. 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. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Septuagesima Sunday
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
KJV Matthew 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Collect
Lord God, heavenly Father, through your holy Word You have called us into your vineyard; Send, we beseech You, Your Holy Spirit into our hearts, that we may labor faithfully in Your vineyard, shun sin and all offense, obediently keep Your Word and do Your will, and put our whole and only trust in Your grace, which You have bestowed upon us so abundantly; through Your Son Jesus Christ, that we might obtain eternal salvation through Him; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, world without end. Amen.
TLH Hymns:
331 – Yeas, As I Live Jehovah Saith
123 – O God Our Help in Ages Past
387 – Dear Christians One and All Rejoice
495 – From Greenland’s Icy Mountains
Justification by Faith and the Great Seduction
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
"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."
Solid Declaration, Article II, Free Will, 55?56, Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 903. Tappert, p. 531f.
When people discuss justification by faith, other matters often intrude. Paul addresses this in the epistle for today.
Someone—either Paul Kelm or one of his buddies—introduced those arguments in the last week. Here they are:
Is it the Church Growth Movement when we learn how to remove or reduce barriers to communicating the gospel clearly? If I better know the mind of an unbeliever, might I better be "all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some?" If I give thought to having adequate parking at our church knowing that if I don't the first-time visitor might drive off, does this mean I am a CGM flunkie? Or is it possible that I'm so in love with Christ and his powerful Word that I will bend over backwards to remove every possible barrier which might keep a person from coming into contact with the Word and hearing it clearly?
First of all, what does the Bible teach about the order of salvation?
The Law does not save but the Holy Spirit does work through the Law. In salvation, the Law works to soften the hearts of the audience, so they hunger and thirst for righteousness. Many people think of Law preaching as aimed at gambling, intoxication, and all the obvious carnal sins. Most of those people are ministers. They actually think Law preaching will have Gospel fruits. The longer they hammer at the Law, the better the results will be.
There are several problems with this. One is that the Law does not bear fruit. Only the Gospel promises will bear fruit. More importantly, people do not have their faith strengthened by hearing the Law alone.
The Law is comprised of condemnation, threats, and punishment. Luther addressed carnal sins from time to time, but he condemned two great matters in the sermons I have read. One is lack of faith in God’s Word. The other is false doctrine.
Lack of Faith in God’s Word
I wrote before, that this saying came up more than once in Isaac B. Singer’s stories – “If God wants vinegar to burn, it will burn.” That is a vivid way of saying, “God can do anything through His will and Word.” Humans doubt. That is the Old Adam at work. We resist giving credit to God for His infinite power while trusting in our own.
We also doubt God’s wisdom and love.
KJV Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Questioning God’s love and power is rebellion against His Word, a sin that leads to many other sins. Doubt in God’s Word is the foundational sin.
Luther was surrounded by carnal sin in his time—not that it is absent in ours. The Medieval preachers had scared people to death with Hell and Purgatory for centuries. Preaching against carnal sin had no effect on the congregations, except to make people respond to Law preaching with Law responses. It is just like a requirement in school. If the instructor says, “A 700 word paper with two references,” the results will be 700 word papers with two references. When the Medieval priest said there was a price to pay (reparation, still in effect) for a given sin, the listener said, “OK, how much do I pay?”
The effect of preaching only the Law could be seen in the Medieval Church. The religious were so corrupt, greedy, and immoral that some think Christianity was ready to collapse forever.
Luther aimed at his era in two ways. He assailed their doubt in God’s Word and preached against false doctrine. One writer said this is what caused the Reformation – identifying false doctrine. Other writers and preachers spoke about the Gospel Promises, but they did not identify the errors of the visible Church. Law preaching against false doctrine made the Vatican furious and the Reformation, already simmering for 100 years, exploded.
The effect of the Law is to soften hearts and to make people crave what the Gospel alone can provide – forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
Gospel Promises
We are born sinful and cannot save ourselves. We do not even have the inclination to believe in the true Word of God. There is a natural belief in the divine. Most people believe in some sort of Creation, some system of right and wrong.
Proper Law preaching shows people that false systems of salvation are bound to crush people or give them false hopes. The study of world religion shows that. All the world religions concentrate on what man does for God to receive salvation. The Christian faith alone teaches what God does for man, without a charge.
Gospel in the Old Testament
Someone sent me a book, The Jewish Trinity. The point of this complicated book is to show how often the Trinity appears in the Old Testament. The author appears to be a Jew trained in rabbinic thought. The English translations, especially the NIV, bury the strange Hebrew constructions of plurals (Elohim – gods) with singular verbs. The obvious parallel is John, where Jesus said, “The Father and I, we are One.” The author’s point is to show how the Trinity was not new to Jews at the time of Jesus, explaining why the disciples believed in Jesus and the people easily moved from implicit faith in the Trinity to explicit faith in the Trinity, Jesus as Savior.
So correct Judaism is really Christianity before the Incarnation. Many accepted that in the time of Jesus and afterwards. A reaction built up and Judaism officially rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. Nevertheless, the clues are there in the Old Testament and Jews continue to take that final step into explicit faith in Christ. As I have seen in the stories of Isaac Singer, Polish Jews believed in eternal life and a personal Messiah.
Justification and the Gospel
The passage from the Formula of Concord teaches clearly what the Scriptures reveal. All that the Church needs is faithful preaching of the Gospel Promises and attentive listening to the Word. The Holy Spirit will always work through that Word, creating and sustaining faith. Through faith we receive the Gospel Promises.
What are those promises? The chief Promise is forgiveness and salvation. “Believe and you will be saved. Believe and you will be forgiven. Believe and you will have eternal life.”
Believe and be saved
KJV Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
KJV Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
KJV Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Believe and you will be forgiven.
KJV Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
KJV Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Believe and you will have eternal life.
KJV John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
Faith in Christ means faith in God’s Word. Doubt about God’s Word means doubt about Christ, the power and love of God. The only purpose of God’s Word is to bring Christ to us, to show us the way of salvation, and to build up our faith so that we do not depart from eternal life.
Justification by faith leads to the fruits of the Christian faith. The famous Roman passage is often used to address justification, but notice how it also discusses the ongoing benefits of salvation:
KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
The Formula of Concord passages is plain and clear for anyone to understand. If the preacher proclaims man’s word, it is not God’s Word. Man’s word is not accompanied by the Holy Spirit. There are many successful gatherings where God is barely mentioned in the entire service. The minister and people are celebrating themselves and not worshiping God.
Likewise there are faithful ministers everywhere who preach the true Word of God to people who are indifferent, lazy, or just plain hostile to the Gospel. Adulterers hate the Word of God because they have lost faith but crave the appearance of being godly. The last thing they want to hear on Sunday is the way of salvation. Also, Satan hates the way a mortal man, a weakling with so many faults, can defeat him—the Prince of this world—with the Word. “One little Word will fell him.” So Satan rages against faithful Christians, faithful ministers, faithful congregations. People see the turmoil and say, “O look at how troubled they are, for all their talk about being true to the Word. We have better insights, true peace, and the biggest parking lot in the city.”
We are not to doubt the work of the Holy Spirit in any setting, but attach ourselves to the true Word and cling to that. Those who remain on the True Vine (John 15) bear fruit.
God brings judgment to the false teachers. They have their moments acclamation, but God plagues them with inner doubts. That is why false teachers fly into a rage when their doctrine is questioned. That is also why they spend so much energy lying about everything. First one thing must be covered up, then another and another. In time they become so used to lying that their habits edge them over the cliff into personal ruin. Satan enjoys ripping the scales from their eyes at the last minute. Far better to remain in a cottage than reign for a moment in Satan’s cathedral.
People give themselves away. If someone would drive away from a church from the lack of a good parking place, that person will stay for material reasons too. If a minister believes in material means for saving people, he will place all his trust in the material and none of it in the Word.
Strangely—or not so strangely—false teachers hate being quoted. Even more they hate having their pearls of wisdom placed next to the statements of Luther, Chemnitz, and others. They do not trust God’s Word to do God’s work according to His will, but they trust their word and their wisdom will accomplish what God is unable to do without them. The shallowness of this false-gospel is too obvious.
God has given us a wonderful treasure in this Gospel, that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and for each and every one of us. The Holy Spirit distributes this treasure through the invisible Word of preaching and teaching, the visible Word of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
· Some want to distribute garbage from the dumpsters of Fuller Seminary and some are eager to grasp it.
· Some have the real Treasure of the Gospel offered to them in a dozen ways and turn it away, or turn from it over time.
· Still others grasp the Gospel at the last minute and find salvation in the moments before death.
KJV John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 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.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Brief Autobiography - Gregory L. Jackson
Apologia pro vita sua - In Defense of His Life
An ELCA pastor wanted to know about my spiritual journey, so here is a brief version:
I was born a Lutheran, at Moline Lutheran Hospital, in 1948, but baptized at Plymouth Congregational Church in Moline, Illinois. My family changed to the equally generic Disciples of Christ congregation when I was eight.
I did not like my family's church so I asked a friend about his congregation, which was Salem Lutheran Church. So, at the age of 16, when my family got out of the car to go to First Christian (Disciples of Christ) I walked across the street to Salem. "Where are you going?" they yelled. I said, "Salem." I joined Salem by adult confirmation. I thought the liturgical service was great. The hymns were far better than the sentimental slop at First Christian. Salem was officially LCA but still Augustana Synod. The pastor was J. Erik Holmer.
My search for college was shallow and brief. I had visited Augustana, where my mother graduated. I applied and was accepted. Tuition in 1966 was $1,000 per year.
I met my future wife the first day of classes. Chris and I have been married for 38 years.
I did not care to attend the newly merged Chicago Seminary and my wife's relatives lived around Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. We were married about 15 minutes after graduating early from Augie, November, 1969. We honeymooned in Springfield, Illinois, and headed for Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. Our huge first year class had 10 students, one of the biggest ever. Tuition was $150 a year, but I had a scholarship from Salem for more than that.
Seminary was easy, so I took a double-load of classes and independent study. Chris earned a master's in German literature from the University of Waterloo. I began my own translation of the New Testament to learn more Greek. My intern (vicar) supervisor was Henry Opperman. Like Holmer, he was quite conservative. He was ULCA and had a low opinion of the Augustan Synod. I was able to finish college and seminary in a total of six years. I was the seminary conservative. Just as I was graduating in 1972, gay activism was starting at the seminary.
I wanted to earn a doctorate and thought about the University of Toronto, not far away. I really wanted to attend Princeton, but Opperman suggested Yale. He knew Paul L. Holmer from Yale, from serving on the same board. The seminary shunned Holmer when he came for an accreditation visit. I wonder why! I was dispatched to be the greeter. The rudeness of the seminary appalled me. My wife and I invited him to our basement apartment. He said, "How would you like to attend Yale?" He talked up Yale and mentioned many authors I knew. I thought it sounded great. He said, "See you next year." I was accepted just when I had given up hope. I was actually in the local bishop's (district president's) office, asking about a call in Canada. My wife phoned to interrupt. I was accepted.
More good news followed when we learned our first-born son was on the way. That was just before leaving Canada. So we went to Yale Divinity with no job, a huge tuition bill ($2,000 for the year) and a baby. No insurance. No problem. Yale gave us a plan that covered the delivery, and Canada made up the co-pay. Canada loaned us money. Yale loaned us money. I got very good at borrowing.
My Yale professors were very conservative in their treatment of the Biblical texts. They emphasized the content of the Scriptures rather than the liberal theories about (or against) the Bible. I worked at an Augustana Synod church down the hill, literally, from Yale Divinity. Harold Wimmer was a liberal in every respect. He loathed conservatives of all types. Holmer encouraged me to stay for a PhD, but Martin was born and I thought immediate graduate school was just too expensive. I got on the call list and accepted a call to a bi-lingual church in Cleveland, Ohio.
Our daughter Bethany was born in Cleveland and soon showed signs of trouble. She began weakening at the age of 6 months. We got the diagnosis of neurological degeneration at the same time I was accepted at Notre Dame for a PhD program. The hefty tuition bill of $3,000 per year would be paid by a scholarship. The LCA was somewhat helpful about helping graduate students - not enough to whelm anyone. I got a part-time call in Sturgis, Michigan, about 50 miles from Notre Dame.
Two things made me far more conservative during those years. One was facing the constant struggles of our daughter Bethany. Life and death issues place a lot more focus on religious topics. As one of the few Lutherans at Notre Dame, I was expected to know all about Luther. I knew Bainton from Yale and loved studying Luther. Trying to discuss Luther with people who knew next to nothing made me more studious. My dissertation involved an Augustana Seminary professor, so I had to study American Lutheran issues for a period of four years.
By the way, several Waterloo Seminary and Notre Dame professors were bewitched by Paul Tillich. From them I learned to loathe phony left-wing theologians, Tillich most of all, Karl Barth almost as much.
Notre Dame and our daughter Bethany made me increasingly conservative as the LCA became increasingly liberal. I believe the end of hopes for a merger with the LCMS helped the LCA go radical faster. Also, the LCA got the worst radicals from Seminex.
Having a disabled member of the family has been a 30+ year experience: first Bethany, who lived six years; then Erin Joy, who lived seven years; now my wife, who became disabled in 1994.
The ELCA pastor asked about women's ordination. It was approved in the LCA in 1970, once Franklin C. Fry died. (He would not even discuss the topic.) Very few women parish pastors were ordained until the 1980's. We knew the first one in Michigan. She did not last long in the parish, but I was followed by a woman in Sturgis and by another in Midland.
I finished the PhD in 1982, when I was serving in Midland. I was not looking for a teaching job. My research skills were sharpened by Notre Dame and I knew what real Lutheran doctrine was. The rush toward merger was sickening because the worst aspects of all parties were being featured. What disgusted me most was the pro-abortion stance of the LCA (far worse in ELCA now), plus the constant support of Communist revolution, and the emerging Lavender Mafia. Homosexual activists took over the Michigan Synod, LCA, before I left. I proposed two memorials at my last meeting. The pro-life memorial got 50 votes. The anti-sodomy memorial got even fewer votes.
I entered LCMS colloquy but had my doubts after seeing the Indianapolis convention where Bohlmann was re-elected. I switched to WELS, which had good and bad results. I knew WELS would be parochial, small-minded, petty, and probably anti-intellectual. I was far too optimistic. The sanctimony of WELS is beyond belief, especially when measured against its constant plagiarizing of Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek doctrine.
The good I learned from WELS was Lutheran doctrine. Every lie, dirty trick, false claim, and slander sent me back to the Book of Concord, Chemnitz, Walther, Pieper, and Luther above all. When Wayne Mueller claimed in writing that there was no Church Growth in WELS, I began documenting all the quotations. WELS pastors sent me seminary material. Sure, they ducked like rabbits who spotted a hawk's shadow when anything happened, but at least I had the documents.
Erin Joy died when we were in Columbus, Ohio, in the WELS parish. When I opposed Paul Kuske's efforts to put a clergy adulterer back into the ministry, WELS spread the story that I went insane when Erin died. (Various friends told me what they heard from the famous WELS grapevine.) I would argue that only insane synod leaders would put an amoral man back into the ministry. That was also when my wife became disabled.
I was disgusted with the pathetic leadership of the Michigan District of WELS, the constant lies of the praesidium, and the cowardice of the pastors. I resigned from my call and went to St. Louis for three years. I got along with life insurance sales but went back into the parish in the Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic). This CLC is just the backside of WELS, just as enchanted by the Church Growth Movement and UOJ as the Wisconsin sect is. I was fired over a Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner, which gave me the chance and the need to start an independent congregation.
So I would say I learned Lutheran doctrine at Notre Dame and Lutheran orthodoxy in Columbus. I did not learn Lutheran orthodoxy because anyone in Columbus represented or taught that stance. It was just the opposite. The clergy did everything possible to undermine Lutheran doctrine in any form. That made me study where it all went wrong. That led me to intensive reading in Luther and writing several books.
It was strange to have the District Pope acting like I had VD because I published Lutheran doctrine. The same District Pope encouraged every possible manifestation of apostasy, from Crossroads Community Church and Pilgrim Community Church to Lutheran (sic) Parish Resources in Columbus.
Being independent is a challenge filled with many blessings. God provides. He even provides until He provides. We left Canada with a baby on the way and no job. We left Holy Mother WELS with a disability and short-term health insurance. At every step there has been insurance coverage for my wife. Her coverage is the best it has been and she is fairly strong after a series of setbacks in 2007.
I suggest to pastors that they follow God's Word and let Him do His work. If He wants a pastor to stay in that place, nothing will move that minister. If He wants that pastor to move, nothing will keep him there. Jonah found out the hard way.
Education
1966 - Moline High School, Illinois
1969 - Augustana College, Illinois, BA in Latin and Greek
1972 - Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, MDiv in Biblical Studies
1973 - Yale University, STM in Biblical Studies
1982 - University of Notre Dame, PhD in Theology and Biblical Studies
1995 - Chartered Life Underwriter, American College
1999 - Computer certifications: CCNA, CIW Associate, Linux+, A+, N+, i-Net+
2006 - MA, Distance Education, University of Phoenix
2009 - Twenty hours toward an MA, Journalism, Regent University
Former professors: Otto W. Heick, Paul L. Holmer, Robert Wilson, Abraham Malherbe,
Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenza and Frank Schussler-Fiorenza, Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder.
Attended lectures by:
Martin Marty, Sydney Ahlstrom, Roland Bainton, Helmut Thielicke, Robert Preus, Klemet Preus, Kurt Marquart, David Scaer, Elie Wiesel, and Henri Nouwen.
Met or listened to:
Paul Y. Cho, Billy Graham, Grady Wilson, D. James Kennedy, Laurens van der Post, Jaroslav Pelikan, Richard J. Neuhaus (and his father), Jack Preus, Herman Otten, Al Barry, Herb Chilstron, James Crumley, Robert Marshall, and David Preus.
Books
Spiritual Well-Being of the Elderly (contributed)
A. D. Mattson, Augustana Historical Society (dissertation)
Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure, Northwestern Publishing House
Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant
Angel Joy
The Wormhaven Gardening Book
Thy Strong Word
Jesus Priceless Treasure
Jesus Lord of Creation
Brenda Kiehler
Periodicals
Articles published in The Lutheran (LCA), Purpose (Mennonite), Lutheran Standard (ALC), Lutheran Forum, Christian News (banned for teaching Justification by Faith), Nortwestern Lutheran (WELS), Lutheran Spokesman (CLC - sic), Lutheran Journal, John Milton Magazine, Lutheran Digest, Canada Lutheran (LCA).
Ordained in 1973. Pastoral work: 1973 - present, except for 1992 - 1995.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Brief Autobiography":
Oh please! Who cares? I want to puke!
GJ - The ELCA pastor cares. But thanks for the excellent coda to my Jonah reference.
Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Schori's Christmas Card
To the Clergy and 2007 Convention Delegates,
The members of your Standing Committee thought you should be aware of this.
The Presiding Bishop has done something which defies explanation. This is the Christmas card she sent to Bishop Iker and presumably other TEC bishops. Given the increasing polarization in TEC (and the Anglican Communion) today, the only reason we can see for her to make this choice is that she is only interested in pushing the polarization just that much further.
The Presiding Bishop is an intelligent woman, so this reinterpretation of Scripture to exclude masculine images must be intentional. This card illustrates in many ways the core problem of the General Convention Church. Scripture cannot be made to conform to us, we must conform our lives and our faith to Scripture. We will continue to stand for the traditional expression of the Faith.
The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
***
GJ - Notice how the mocking attitude is found in each denomination. The Episcopalian Presiding Bishop cannot keep herself from lording it over the traditionalists, and the radicals cheer her on. How much different is that from SP Kieschnick in the Missouri Synod, Mark Hanson in ELCA, and Church and Change in WELS?
These are Jefferts-Schori's views on Creation and salvation, from Time Magazine:
What is your view on intelligent design?
I firmly believe that evolution ought to be taught in the schools as the best witness of what modern science has taught us. To try to read the Bible literalistically about such issues disinvites us from using the best of recent scholarship.
Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?
We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.
To My Friends and Enemies
95] From this our explanation, friends and enemies, and therefore every one, may clearly infer that we have no intention of yielding aught of the eternal, immutable truth of God for the sake of temporal peace, tranquillity, and unity (which, moreover, is not in our power to do).
Nor would such peace and unity, since it is devised against the truth and for its suppression, have any permanency. Still less are we inclined to adorn and conceal a corruption of the pure doctrine and manifest, condemned errors.
But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ.
Closing of the Book of Concord
Formula of Concord - Election - Means of Grace
76] 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. 77] 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; and that is the drawing of the Father.
Formula of Concord - Election
The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, On Election
29] 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 Cor. 3, 8, and a power of God unto salvation, Rom. 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.
30] For this reason the elect are described thus, John 10, 27f : My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life. And Eph. 1, 11. 13: Those who according to the purpose are predestinated to an inheritance hear the Gospel, believe in Christ, pray and give thanks, are sanctified in love, have hope, patience, and comfort under the cross, Rom. 8, 25; and although all this is very weak in them, yet they hunger and thirst after righteousness, Matt. 5, 6.
Jefferts-Schori Extends Left Foot of Fellowship to 87 Year Old Bishop
OKLAHOMA: Oldest Bishop in the Episcopal Church Served Deposition Papers
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
1/19/2008
The oldest bishop in the history of The Episcopal Church, who has served as both priest and bishop for more than half a century, has been served a notice of deposition by Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop, for abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church.
The Rt. Rev. William A. Cox, 87, now a resident in Tulsa, Oklahoma, told VOL that he has been served the papers and has 60 days to respond as to why he should not be tossed out of the church. The purging of orthodox bishops from The Episcopal Church is now in full throttle.
"I resigned from the Episcopal Church House of Bishops last year and was offered a safe spiritual haven to minister by the Archbishop of the Southern Cone," Cox told VOL. "He has included me as one of his own under his jurisdiction."
Cox said he got the letter from Mrs. Jefferts Schori 10 days ago. "She told me that the Title IV Review Committee said I had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church." The letter was dated January 8.
Dear Bishop Cox,
Following your letter of March 28, 2007 advising me that you were resigning from the HOB and intended to continue active "episcopal ministry" under the ecclesiastical authority of the Presiding Bishop of the Province of the Southern Cone I asked the Title IV Review Committee to review the matter and to consider whether or not your action demonstrated that you had abandoned the communion of this church within the meaning of canon IV.9.
On May 29, 2007 the Review Committee sent to me the enclosed certification that you had abandoned the communion of this church.
I must now give you notice under canon IV.9 that if you fail to demonstrate to me within two months from today that you have not abandoned the communion of this church I shall be required to present the matter to the HOB at its next meeting in march 2008 for consideration as to whether or not you should be deposed from the ordained ministry of this church.
(I do not express any opinion regarding your status as an ordained person in any other church.)
Faithfully,
Katharine Jefferts Schori.
"I have not responded," Cox told VOL. "The letter enclosed a memorandum from the title IV. 9."
Asked what he would do, the orthodox bishop told VOL, "I don't know. I will talk to my Attorney, Mr. Wicks Stephen, and consult with him and see what response we will make.
"I think it is clear from the letter, and it is my understanding, that the letter implies that since I am now under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Argentina that they are not going to transfer my papers."
When VOL asked if Mrs. Jefferts Schori had been in touch with him, Cox said she had never talked with him. "She was in Oklahoma recently but did not get in touch with me."
Asked about a trial for his previous actions, Cox said he doesn't believe that will now happen. "They will depose me along with bishops Andy Fairfield, David Bena, John-David Schofield in March when the HOB meets."
When asked why he performed the previous consecrations that got him into so much hot water, Cox explained, "I went to Kansas and ordained and did confirmations and later confirmed in Oklahoma when I saw that people who had differing views and who decided that they wanted to worship in a different communion became anathema to the people in The Episcopal Church. They were outsiders and so what they were doing was prohibiting me from ministering to these people they considered outcasts and outsiders. My understanding is that Jesus always went to the outcast and I could see no reason why the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, when he asked me personally to do that, as an act of Christian ministry, that I shouldn't do it."
Asked about the value of diocesan boundaries, Cox said, "These diocesan boundaries are not going to be worth much any more and when we all stand before the Judgment Throne, we will have to acknowledge that we are brothers and sisters in Christ."
Asked how he felt about the actions of the national Episcopal Church, Cox told VOL, "I have not allowed myself to become angry about what has happened. This is my 35th year as bishop. I served as Bishop Suffragan of Maryland (1972 - 1980), Assistant Bishop of Oklahoma, (1980-1988). I also served as assistant bishop to Bishop Ben Benitez (Texas) and later with Bishop Claude E. Payne when he became diocesan bishop. I have also served as a parish priest at St. Matthew's in Austin, Texas.
"I have served the Episcopal Church for 16 years as a priest and 35 years as a bishop. I have served my Lord faithfully and I am not ashamed of anything I have done."
Bishop Cox said he will turn 87 on January 24th.
Weather Report, Twin Cities
From Norm Teigen:
The wind chill is thirty five below zero in Minneapolis
It's cold this morning but there are signs of a slight warm up. The wind chill could warm up to twenty below zero. The warming house at Lake Nokomis [where the Pond Hockey tournament is being held] lost heat this morning because the diesel fuel was turning into jelly. The problem was remedied according to local TV news.
***
GJ - It is so sold in Minneapolis that the politicians have their hands in their own pockets.
Phoenix is sunny and 60 degrees.
Thou Shalt Not Steal
The Seventh Commandment.
Thou shalt not steal.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor's money or property, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business [that his means are preserved and his condition is improved].
***
The Eighth Commandment, Large Catechism, Book of Concord:
284] All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it.
***
A. Nony Mouse has left a new comment on your post "Thou Shalt Not Steal":
...and you're not stealing any images for your blog?
GJ - Right click, save picture as... I did not claim to have photographed these two Church Growth Enthusiasts. Their photos are not copyrighted. If they object in writing, I can always change them. My attorneys--Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe--advised that trademarks and copyrights need to be displayed for protection.
WELS objected to having their lavender cross copied. My attorneys said they needed to have a TM near it, for TradeMark. Of course, it does look a little silly to trademark a cross. Nevertheless, I removed the logo and replaced it with a dollar sign. Likewise, Steve Kurtzahn's touchy webmaster in the CLC had objections about their graphics, so I made a quick change. Those are the only two objections I have received...so far.
And, since you didn't ask, I write my own sermons.
Blog Power - St. Mark's DePere Takes Down Plagiarized Sermons
Bailing Water
St. Mark's is the big WELS Church Growth congregation, full of cell groups, women teaching men, all the cutting edge things learned at Fuller and Willow Creek.
I have contended that the Church Growth people despise the Means of Grace. If they trusted in the Word and sound doctrine, the two pastors would write their own sermons, not steal them from the Baptists.
Lutherans have lost their confidence in the Word, so God is taking away the little they have.
Pseudo-Mike, who sounds exactly like Paul Kelm wrote this:
Is it CGM when we learn how to remove or reduce barriers to communicating the gospel clearly? If I better know the mind of an unbeliever, might I better be "all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some?" If I give thought to having adequate parking at our church knowing that if I don't the first-time visitor might drive off, does this mean I am a CGM flunkie? Or is it possible that I'm so in love with Christ and his powerful Word that I will bend over backwards to remove every possible barrier which might keep a person from coming into contact with the Word and hearing it clearly?
So in love with Christ sounds weird.
If someone loves Christ, he loves His Word and keeps (guards) His Word. The Greek word for keep is the same one used for guarding something. We guard treasure; we do not steal someone's garbage. Skunks steal garbage.
KJV John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
KJV John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Someone cannot truthfully say he loves Christ when he downplays error or promotes error.
ELCA Questions Answered
by Norma Boeckler
From an ELCA pastor, who sent a very polite email, signed it, and gave the name of his congregation:
Also you are clear about who are the past greats in Lutheran theology. What I would like to know is this: Are there any living published Lutheran theologians whom you would endorse as completely orthodox in their teaching and consistent in their practice of fellowship? Similarly, what would you suggest a young man who has graduated from college and wished to study for the Lutheran ministry in the USA do? Is there any seminary that is safe to go to and if not does that mean it is impossible to study theology under the instruction of others and one must do it completely on one's own?
***
GJ - My view of theological writers is summed up in a few words - the deader, the better. I am sure there are some, but I pay no attention to current writers. I agree with Walther - Not many but much. I would rather read Luther and Chemnitz over again than pick up a new book. Here is another good saying - The closer to Luther, the better the theologian. I find it interesting that there is so much blather about everyone except Luther and Chemnitz. Gerhard is a fine theologian, but he does not compare to those two major contributors to the Book of Concord.
Which seminary? They are all over-priced. I wonder where the clergy have been while the tuition was jacked up everywhere. Debt-ridden graduates cannot afford to buck the system. They have an expensive degree which is useless in the business world.
I used to like the two Concordias, but their product has gone Fuller/Roman/Eastern Orthodox. The so-called Confessional Lutherans from those seminaries are really Recessional Lutherans, leading their members to Pasadena, Rome, or Constantinople.
Bethany and the Sausage Factory teach Universalism via UOJ. Their graduates seldom, if ever, think about issues. The Bethany graduates who think are expelled from the Little Sect on the Prairie.
No, I would not waste a fortune on the Lutheran seminaries. The alternative to a formal education at a synodical school would be one of university divinity schools, like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Duke. Sometimes a good deal on tuition is available. The faculty is going to be apostate for the most part. All my professors at Yale were conservative: Dahl, Malherbe, Wilson, Holmer. They were much more conservative than my LCA seminary and college professors, and they were also known as conservative at Yale. The dean vowed never to hire another Lutheran. Now those professors are retired or dead. Two Yale professors began each class with prayer, something that never happened in the LCA.
Self-study or study with an expert is possible. In colonial days a young man lived at a parsonage and studied with the minister. They called these arrangements the School of the Prophets. Often the young man spirited away the parson's daughter in the bargain. I am sure the parson and his wife wept and winked at the same time.
Perhaps the entire synodical enterprise must come unglued for it to be reborn. I know ELCA has spawned more break away congregations in population than the entire Little Sect on the Prairie.
Some say the mini-micros are a good argument against leaving: LCR, CLCs, ELDONA. I believe there is no excuse for financial or personal support for wrongful activities. No more giving to synodical slush funds is a good start. Better would be non-attendance at events. Imagine a gathering where only half showed up. The pall over the meeting would be, well, appalling.
Favorite Toast in the Episcopal House of Bishops:
"Bottoms Up!"
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too.
San Joaquin Bishop Fights Back in Verbal Slugfest with the Episcopal Church
News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
1/15/2008
"I feel betrayed. This isn't Christianity. This is power politics. Whatever the American [Episcopal] Church does, doesn't apply to me. That's their laws for their people."
With these words, the Anglo-Catholic Bishop of San Joaquin kicked off what looks to become a major legal and ecclesiastical battle that will undoubtedly wind up in the secular law courts, a major public relations disaster for The Episcopal Church.
"Here I am standing up for the Bible and for the morality that comes out of the Bible and I am the one being inhibited and he [Gene Robinson] is the one being celebrated," said Schofield on public television recently. He acknowledged the potential lawsuits that will undoubtedly follow.
"This is an attempt to grab property, money and power. I think Jesus gets lost in all of that," he said.
Bishop Schofield intends to fight back at the church that cast him out. He sees a financial and legal battle looming. He and the majority of the diocese are prepared to fight.
This past week, Schofield got a letter from Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the Episcopal Church, and the Title IV Review Committee saying he had been inhibited and to stop preaching, saying mass and to cease all ministerial work in his diocese.
Schofield has refused. He and his diocese have voted to break with the American Episcopal Church and to align themselves with the Evangelical Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and their primate, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables.
For Schofield it is business as usual. He will not cease any of his ecclesiastical activities despite the threats, inhibitions and whatever else is thrown at him.
He is resolute because what is at stake are the souls of men and women. They supercede whatever institutional loyalties others might have.
After all, we might be called on to die for our faith. That means we lay it down for Jesus and the gospel and not for an institution like the Episcopal Church that has gone wildly astray. One would not lay down one's life for Gene Robinson or his behavior, or for Millennium Development Goals or some half-baked covenant that no one can agree on to try and keep everyone at the Anglican table.
Lukewarmness and compromise are things that St. John railed against in the Book of Revelation. He saw with clarity what happened when people abandoned their "first love", and the terrifying results, if their lampstand was removed unless they repented.
The Anglican Communion is a crossroads.
If GAFCON is the Church in Philadelphia, "I know your works, Behold I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut...you have kept my word and have not denied my name," then LAMBETH might be the church in Sardis, "I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead."
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death," wrote St. John.
Bishop Schofield has it right. Jesus HAS been lost in all the litigation. For all its sins, The Episcopal Church is withering and slowly dying. Weekly, more parishes leave and more dioceses will depart an erring church.
Bishop Schofield is only doing what St. John asked the churches to do then as now, "hold fast what you have until I come."
Friday, January 18, 2008
Distinguished List of Fuller Grads in WELS
the Dare-To-Succeed sermon series.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why Is the Lutheran Church a Two-Headed Calf?":
WELS is so bad that no one can deny how Fuller-centric it is.
Actually, basically everybody can.
***
GJ - OK, Rev. Mouse. You asked for the list. Here it is:
David Valleskey, former president of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, attended Fuller Seminary and bragged about it in his worship bulletin at Apostles.
Frosty Bivens, seminary professor, bragged about studying at Fuller and following CG methods at a circuit meeting in Midland, Michigan.
Larry Olson earned a D.Min. at Fuller Seminary, qualifying him to teach at Martin Luther College in New Ulm.
Norm Berg studied at Fuller Seminary, enlightening him for his work as Mission Board Chairman. He admitted that in a letter to me.
Joel Gerlach, former seminary professor, admitted studying at Fuller in his letter to Herman Otten.
Reuel Schulz was known for studying at Fuller.
Fuller Seminary sent out a letter to all WELS pastors, listing all the leaders of the sect trained at Pasadena. That caused enormous consternation but nothing else.
Wally Oelhaven and Fred Adrian both had hissy fits when I dared to criticize the Church Growth Movement in a conference paper. I thought they would explode. They admitted studying at Fuller, but that did not change their theology, they claimed. Wally promoted CG (especially the cloned tomes of Werning) every chance he got. Adrian supervised the vicar who went to the state prison.
James Huebner, Paul Kelm, and Larry Olson were trained as Parish Consultants at Fuller Seminary, according to Huebner.
One might assume from their public drooling about Church Growth that Robert Hartman and Ron Roth attended Fuller. A WELS pastor said that was true of the current head of the mission board.
I understand all the foreign missionaries were either sent to Fuller or forced to study Fuller material.
I copied hundreds of Church Growth quotations from WELS into Megatron, my quotation database.
Lutheran Parish Resources was started in Columbus by VP Paul Kuske and DP Robert Mueller to promote the Church Growth Movement. The Michigan District started two stealth CG congregations, both miserable failures. Kuske started Pilgrim Community Church (HA!) and Mueller started Crossroads Community Church. Kuske's flopped in record time. Crossroads is a non-Lutheran congregation now (HA! HA!). (Read your church history boys. The generic Protestant Lutheran congregations of the 19th century turned Congregationalist or worse in a few years.)
WELS started TELL specifically to promote the Church Growth Movement. That little rag morphed into the Mission Counselor's Newsletter, which was even more fanatical in its support of Fuller doctrine and methods.
Currently there is the Church and Change Apostasy Unit in WELS, cheerfully promoting women's ordination and false doctrine, with the blessings of the Wayne Mueller family, father and son. Is it an exaggeration to say Church and Change is devoted to Church Growth? The 2005 conference was canceled, amid showers of tears--from the Moose Report to the hallowed halls of the Sausage Factory--but scheduled again for 2007 and 2009. Will the WELS pastors have the guts to gut the monster? No. Leonard Sweet will return in triumph.
An ELCA pastor sent this bit of wisdom:
As someone who was forced to listen to Leonard Sweet for four hours, WELS was lucky that his presentation was dropped. He is all smoke and mirrors even from a liberal perspective.
The Marks of the Church
Joe Abrahamson has left a new comment on your post "From Michael Schottey":
Greg,
Among the many great and wholesomely thought provoking theological issues you raise and consider, you had to write:
"[GJ - Definitely. The Fuller grads would not give their lives for the Faith, but they will kill and lie to preserve the errors of Church Growth.]"
I'm saddened by this remark. Donatism marks true Christianity by a person's willingness to give his life for the faith. Lutheranism marks the Church by the right preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. (AC VII:1)
Please adjust your sights by the marks of the Church, so that your view of who might be willing to give his life for his faith does not interfere with God's own external means of Grace.
***
GJ - I do not see the connection. The question was whether I thought the Church Growth people were like the Pope, would rather see the whole world condemned that give up their errors. Would I say the same about Fuller grads?
That was supposed to elicit a "No" from me. The CGM WELS/ELS/CLC/LCMS/ELCA leaders do not give a fig about whether they destroy the true Church. They have their political buddies, their ecumenical embraces, and most of all - the loot. Their tentacles are wrapped around every fund in Lutheranism right now.
As you know from the archives, confirmands used to swear they would give up their lives rather than the truths of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. That was a regular part of confirmation.
The Church began with martyrs. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." More accurately, "The more you mow us down, the faster we grow." Now the visible church makes martyrs, as you know. That is a sure sign of apostasy.
Ichabod locutus est, causa finita est.
Joe Abrahamson Responds about Confessional Subscription
Joe Abrahamson has left a new comment on your post "Why Is the Lutheran Church a Two-Headed Calf?":
Greg,
I think the article is "Are We bound only to what the Confessions Teach?" (found in Our Great Heritage Vol. 1, p. 434-6)
According to the note in Our Great Heritage the article was printed in The Northwestern Lutheran (vol. 60, 1973; p. 353 and written by Arnold Koelpin.
It is a poorly written article that allows way too many interpretations.
My best construction on the article is that it was meant to address such issues as Abortion and Homosexuality which are not covered in the Book of Concord.
But the unfortunate conclusion that is left to the general reader is not a Confessional Lutheran response. The emphasis on what Scripture Alone teaches allows the reader to inject his own interpretation of Scriptures to be considered true over and against the Lutheran Confessions.
The article states:
"Practically speaking, what does this mean for us? To appeal to a common subscription to the Lutheran Confessions in support of unity may be evasive of the truth." (p. 435) I wonder which Confessional Lutheran subscribing with a quia subscription could ever argue in this way. If the Lutheran Confessions are a correct interpretation of the Scriptures (in a quia subscription, then there is no second-guessing what might be meant on a theological issue.
But if the subscription is quatenus "in so far as the Confessions agree with Scripture" then this article in Our Great Heritage would be more accurate. Perhaps the author (Koelpin) thought that all his readers were more likely to have a limited subscription to the Lutheran Confessions. If that is the case, this would be very sad, and very telling about what the author believed the readership in the WELS would consider normal.
The article goes even further by defining the so-called "Historical Subscription" to the Lutheran Confessions in a way that makes it normative for WELS. The article mis-quotes the Formula of Concord with the words:
"As the Formula of Concord states, these other writings (creeds and confessions) are 'mere witnesses and expositions of the faith, setting forth how at various times the holy Scriptures were understood in the church of God by contemporaries with reference to the controverted articles, and how contrary teachings were rejected and condemned." (p. 435)
The quotation from the Formula of Concord is from the Epitome (par. 8).
But Koelpin's selective quotation ignores the previous paragraphs which set down as the standard of judgment in all controversies the three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed (sec. 3); The first Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology, The Smalcald Articles with the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (sec. 4); and the Small and Large Catechisms of Dr. Martin Luther (sec 5).
Most of the problems (heresies) of Christianity have already been dealt with in the Lutheran Confessions. Especially and specifically the inerrancy of the Church and the Pope (who ever is considered by the congregations to be the head of the Church or Synod). The Means of Grace through the Divinely Instituted Ministry is established in these documents over and against any modern Church Growth attempt at replacing the Means of Grace. And almost any internal theological issues facing the synods of our contemporary period are already discussed and solved in the Lutheran Confessions.
I suspect that Donatism has reared its ugly head again. And the so-called Lutherans are looking for other marks of the Church than the "Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments rightly administered." (AC VII:1)
Sorry this is so long. I just felt a need to blather.
Joe Abrahamson
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GJ - Thanks Joe. (He is an ELS pastor.) If pastors start signing their names to intelligent comments, I may have to shut this thing down. The drama will be gone.
I remembered correctly. I would have posted a citation, but the books were given away, pulped, or used as kindling in my fireplace. They were very dry, so they burn well.
My problem with the decaying remnants of the Synodical Conference is this - adoration of recent documents, which are used as the norma normans of the sect. For example, I was talking to Jeb Schaefer (former editor, NWL). We were discussing the growth of women in authority over men in WELS. He said, "Have you read Whitey's essay on ritual law?" The clear implication of his question was that an essay by the former seminary president was the canon for judging all such issues. Once a seminary professor makes his solemn declaration, especially in in WLQ, the issue is settled for all time. Church Growth theology is fabulous (Valleskey). The Reformed only downplay the Means of Grace (Valleskey). The New Testament says nothing against the ordination of women (Brug).
Many in the LCMS think the Theses on Justification are the last word on justification. Thus they supplant the clarity and force of the Book of Concord. Anyone who criticizes them is abgeschnitten, cut off from the Kingdom.
Webber Uses Church of Rome Gambit: UOJ Always Taught by Lutherans
Jay Webber, M.Div. Ft. Wayne, has pasted some quotations on LutherQuest (sic), trying to prove that Lutherans have always believed in justification without faith.
Roman Catholics use the same arguments. The Church, they claim, has always taught the Assumption of Mary, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the infallibility of the pope.
Has the Lutheran Church always taught Receptionism? The error of Receptionism is based on the same fundamental problem of UOJ, denying the efficacy of the Word. The Christian Church has always taught the efficacy of the Word and justification by faith.
Notice that Webber has not quoted from the Book of Concord. The problem with the stray Luther quotations is manifold. One is the translation, which can always be debated. More importantly, Lutherans do not subscribe to the Weimar Edition or the Corpus Reformatorum. They subscribe to the Book of Concord. Otherwise pastors would be praying to Mary because Luther prayed to Mary in his otherwise fine commentary on the Magnificat.
Justification in the Bible and in the Book of Concord = justification by faith.
Another problem with Webber's argument is his failure to offer the other side of the question. That is a logical fallacy called special pleading. The UOJ Stormtroopers quote the same sources over and over, then quote one another, creating an impression of unanimity. In Thy Strong Word I mustered every UOJ statement I could find, and that has convinced more than one pastor that forgiveness without faith is a base falsehood. They were appalled at the UOJ position when it was laid bare.
I am suprised Webber did not quote the ELS statement on UOJ: the whole world is saved, too, a natural consequence of everyone being forgiven.
Robert Preus
Robert Preus, PhD, taught Webber, so let us pay attention to Dr. Preus instead of Master Webber:
From Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant (second edition):
However, Preus clarified the true meaning of justification in his final book, Justification and Rome, which was published posthumously. Preus wrote this definitive comment:
"But the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner takes place when the Holy Spirit brings him to faith through Baptism and the Word of the Gospel. Our sins were imputed to Christ at His suffering and death, imputed objectively after He, by His active and passive obedience, fulfilled and procured all righteousness for us. But the imputation of His righteousness to us takes place when we are brought to faith."
Preus immediately followed the statement above with a quotation from Quenstedt, one of his favorite orthodox Lutheran authors:
It is not just the same thing to say, “Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us” and to say “Christ is our righteousness.” For the imputation did not take place when Christ became our righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is the effect of His office. The imputation is the application of the effect of His office. The one, however, does not do away with the other. Christ is our righteousness effectively when He justifies us. His righteousness is ours objectively because our faith rests in Him. His righteousness is ours formally in that His righteousness is imputed to us.
Preus also quoted Abraham Calov with approval:
Although Christ has acquired for us the remission of sins, justification, and sonship, God just the same does not justify us prior to our faith. Nor do we become God's children in Christ in such a way that justification in the mind of God takes place before we believe.
Justification by faith, in the original sense, was taught in the official catechism of the Missouri Synod, and then was gradually changed:
#305 Why do you say in this article: I believe in the Forgiveness of Sins? Because I hold with certainty that by my own powers or through my own works I cannot be justified before God, but that the forgiveness of sins is given me out of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also true justification. Psalm 130:3-4; Psalm 143:2; Isaiah 64:6; Job 25:4-6 (Q. 124).
Let Us Prey...Upon the Means of Grace Lutherans
When One of Them Turned Disco
This is beginning to sound like the big arguments about 7 years ago, when Gregory Jackson and his disciples were shooting off their cannons against OJ on this board. That was a stressful time on this board; it led to LQ becoming a "private posting" board, and it also led to a number of posters being banned from LQ.
Methinks that it's not that hard for sinful, human beings to take a doctrine, like justification, and read into it more than what Scripture clearly says about it.
Boettden
Full Name: Dennis Boettcher, LCMS pastor
E-mail Address: pastordb@charter.net
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GJ - How many people say "Methinks"? Here is a recent Ichabod post:
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.
Notice that these UOJ Stormtroopers had to ban people from their precious website because UOJ was questioned? They were understandably stressed out from being challenged and knocked off their memorized positions.
Their defense of UOJ this round is:
1. Read our posts.
2. Read the official declarations of our Holy Mother LCMS.
Perhaps someone has quoted Luther on LutherQuest (sic). I doubt it.
From Michael Schottey
Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Justification by Faith - Lutheran Layman":
Rev. Jackson,
Its been a while, allow me to put myself out for public ridicule.
I have read your site for a while now, and although I have taken a elongated vacation from my own blogging and even commenting on "Bailing Water" et al. I have continued to read and absorb.
People like to say general statements like "You break the 8th commandment" or "what about your tone?" and its a knee jerk reaction that they're not ready to defend. Allow me.
I have never doubted nor contended against your love for the Word, nor of our Lord, nor of the sheep being led astray.
But what of the lost shepherds?
There is certainly a difference between Pastors "in error" and false preachers. Luther said that the Pope would rather see the whole world condemned that lose the errors of the mass. Are you really ready to say the same about the Fuller graduates? [GJ - Definitely. The Fuller grads would not give their lives for the Faith, but they will kill and lie to preserve the errors of Church Growth.]
My problem is not with your "defensor fidei" role. My problem is twofold.
1) Many of your anecdotes are, in essence, old hat. Yes, you come up with new and interesting news...but then you continue to harp on it again and again. For all you know the sins that you mention have been confessed and absolved. I understand that you want the information in the daylight, where all may be seen. But the weakness is in the blog atmosphere. I would suggest creating a document with all your evidence and leaving a link to it along the side of the site...that way people can easily find it and the men being implicated can as well. Because...
2) The purpose of the law is to show men their own sins...not simply to bring them to the minds of others. The goal should be to the repentance of all men, shepherds included.
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GJ - Many of my observations are breaking news, as a matter of fact, and they have had an impact on WELS. I like Michael because he signs his name, unlike Rev. Mouse and a few others, such as Pseudo-Mike. Some effects of this blog:
1. Church and Change is no longer linked from the WELS.net website.
2. The WELS pastor in Corona, California deleted his praise of Leonard Sweet.
3. The Moose Report denied supporting Leonard Sweet, disingenuously, but at least she did show some sense of shame and returned to her quilting. Alleluia.
4. The effort to close Michigan Lutheran Seminary failed, and this blog helped a little.
5. WELS laity and pastors are waking up to the fraud of forgiveness without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Grace - Universal Objective Justification, the favorite false doctrine of the Church Growth Movement.
As for #2, Michael needs to study the Large Catechism, which can be found in the Book of Concord. WELS is not bound to the Book of Concord, but that is another story.
Egregious public sin should be rebuked in public to warn others. For instance, when District President Ed Werner went to state prison for molesting girls in his own congregation, that should have been a news item in FIC - False-teachers in Collusion . Ditto When Scott Zerbe went to state prison. Ditto when Al Just went to prison for murdering his wife and Tabor did not go for murdering his. Repentance, Michael? Some WELS pastors still insist Al is innocent, that his wife really did die from rolling over on a steak knife in bed a zillion times. Mrs. Ichabod is not convinced. Neither am I. Neither was the jury. Tabor was a chief suspect in his wife's murder but was allowed to move to a new call out of the state.
The police chief regretted never nailing Tabor. The pastor's mistress went to prison, but he did not.
Floyd Stolzenburg was forced to resign from the LCMS ministerium, but WELS put him on the fast track to become a WELS pastor, thanks to the Michigan District, DP Robert Mueller and VP Paul Kuske. (I might add, plus the timid silence of all the pastors, a truly mute chorus.) Stolzenburg had a rich WELS buddy and a passion for spreading false doctrine. "Just the man we need in Columbus," they shouted. You may think I am making this up, but one WELS bigshot came to Columbus and suggested FS was the ideal man to run the new evangelism program. FS was recommened by VP Paul Kuske to become the pastor of Emanuel Lutheran, Columbus, after being turned away from many other calls (various denominations) that he pursued, according to his old LCMS DP. The LCMS DP said he was very unhappy that WELS took on Floyd.
So you see, Michael, that is not old news but a continuing carbuncle in the Body of Christ. Floyd even connected himself with the Little Sect on the Prairie, sponsoring Roger Kovaciny in the Ukraine with Jay Webber. Someone got a Schwan grant to match what Flody's congregation gave to Thoughts of Faith for a new church building. I wonder what the faithful would have said about the origins of that money. When I began featuring the Kovaciny-Stolzeburg-ELS connection in my doctrinal bulletins (pre-Ichabod), the references to Kovaciny at Emanuel's website disappeared. Coincidence?
Meanwhile, those WELS and ELS leaders--so concerned about the 8th Commandment--have spent the last 30 years slandering anyone who got in their way. The pastor to the Love Shack staff was called "brain-damaged" for questioning the Church Growth Movement in his essay. The former seminary president was called "senile" by the same bunch. I see no evidence of repentance.
The result of these methods is to confirm false teachers and adulterous pastors in their sin. They know the synod will back them and undermine their critics. The bigger the scandal, the more likely WELS will cover it up and attack anyone who asks about it. Moreover, faithful pastors are discouraged from doing their jobs and silenced.
When people post on the Internet about the homosexual predators of the Catholic priesthood and their enabling leaders, I answer, "True, but the Lutherans are not better, and their ministers can marry." In fact, one of the worst offenders in the Catholic hierarchy, Archbishop Weakland, was sought out by WELS to be a featured, public speaker for Wisconsin Lutheran College. Explain that one.
People have suggestions about how I can write even more material for free, but I have to make a living. I am a tent-maker, like Paul. I doubt whether anyone else has provided as much raw data on the Internet as I have. The links are on this page for very large websites full of quotations, histories, and opinions. My name, address, and phone number are attached to all my material. For some reason, the Church Growth fanatics choose to remain anonymous.