Universal Objective Justification Primer

Someone asked who has published against UOJ.

Here are the basics of the false doctrine commonly known as UOJ:

1. God declared the whole world righteous when Christ died on the cross, or else when Christ rose from the dead. (UOJ)
2. Everyone is forgiven, without faith. All the pagans of the world are forgiven.
3. Those who believe in Christ are forgiven again (Subjective Justification).

Walther got this pernicious doctrine from the Pietists, who converted him. He established it with F. Pieper and their acolytes. However, this doctrine is not found in the 1905 LCMS Catechism, proof that it was not widespread or even institutionalized.

The LCMS Brief Confession in 1939 made UOJ an article of faith.

J. P. Meyers (WELS) taught UOJ mixed with Decision Theology in Ministers of Christ.

Norm Madson (ELS, then CLC) taught UOJ. The common thread seems to be education at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

In the 19th century, the Norwegians taught UOJ and the Swedish Augustana Synod argued against it. The General Council taught justification by faith but did not seem to argue against UOJ specifically.

Lenski rejected UOJ in his New Testament commentaries.

Robert Preus earlier emphasized UOJ and denied it was the same as the Atonement.

Preus' last book, Justification and Rome, never mentions UOJ and clearly states that people are only forgiven when they come to faith.

Before that LCMS Pastor Vernon Hartley published against UOJ. No one was able to refute him. (I met with him before he died.)

The advocates of UOJ admit that the term is new, that the Book of Concord teaches only justification by faith. They also admit that the New Testament term justification only means justification by faith.

Typical WELS/ELS Reaction

WELS/ELS Attack Dog

A friendly reader said, "You are their worst fear. You have a good education and you are independent of them." That may explain a recent, anonymous, threatening comment.

Why are you picking on a pastor's wife who runs her own blog? You are shameless. Maybe someone should start one so they can attack your wife. Better yet, I think someone should start a blog to denigrate your son and your your (sic) grandkids.

Apparently it is a sin to quote a public blog verbatim. Earlier I was criticized for not distinguishing the blog comments from the inspired words of CHARIS. I even got a gender wrong. Horrors. I hastened to correct those errors, but the rage continues.

My wife does not publish a blog. My son does not publish a blog. My grandchildren do not publish blogs. If I quoted my wife's comments about the adulterous WELS pastors and the murdering WELS church workers, the anonymous reader would be even less pleased. I find the threats lame but typical. LCMS President Jack Preus commented about the WELS KGB, his term.

Quoting someone is not picking on an individual, except in WELS/ELS circles (and some mini-micro synods).

I found years ago that WELS did not want me to quote their favored Church Growth leaders, their favorite Pentecostal teachers, or Luther. Who is left, I wonder?

Feel free to quote me verbatim, Anonymous. Tell the world how you disagree with Luther and the Book of Concord, why you cling to justification without faith, unionism, and others fads of your sect.

The WELS/ELS style is the personal attack, especially against family members. Their idea of reform is meddling with someone's divine call.

***

John J. Wonders has left a new comment on your post "C.E.O. Ministries":

I don't understand the purpose of your post. If you have questions or want to know more about C.E.O. Ministries, just get in touch with us. We have nothing to hide.

***

GJ - If I had questions, they were answered by copious information provided on the Internet. I wanted people to know that WELS offering money was used to provide a nest for the vipers of Church and Change, who are nothing but stand-ins for Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. No wonder so many WELS pastors have left the Lutheran Church for Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism. They are only following the doctrinal lead of their teachers at the seminary.

I noticed for the first time that Church and Change is loaded with leads into WELS Parish Services, the synodical division once headed by President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller. Does anyone need more proof that The Love Shack needs a thorough house-cleaning?

The WELS Council of District Popes even passed a resolution against the heart and soul of Church and Change/WELS Pentecostal Services. I would quote it verbatim, but that would be picking on the District Popes.

Valleskey, Bivens, Olson, Huebner, Roth, Werning, Kelm, Hunter:Behold Your Work

Doctrine of Fellowship Misapplied?

February 17th, 2006 | 12:45 pm | Posted in General

Church Door Symposium Cancelled!

Due to the brotherly concerns expressed by numerous clergy and Synod officials around the issue of church fellowship, the 3rd Annual Church Door Symposium has been cancelled. Although the Executive Director and the members of the CHARIS Board of Directors disagree with the judgments that hosting non-WELS speakers represents a violation of Scripture and WELS doctrine, concern for maintaining harmony in the church, coupled with concern for the continued success and vitality of CHARIS and Wisconsin Lutheran College, override any reasons for taking a stand on this issue at this time.

Moose Commentary: I’m not quite sure how hosting non-WELS speakers constitutes prayer fellowship and a violation of Scripture. Pretty soon we’ll get to the point where just talking to people who are non-WELS will be breaking fellowship.

It is an unfortunate fact that great confusion exists among clergy and laity alike around applications of the church fellowship principles.

Moose Commentary: “Confusion” is an understatement.

Rather than contribute to this confusion, the leaders of The CHARIS Institute have decided to cancel this year’s symposium. Our prayer is that we will find a way to resolve this confusion about church fellowship so that CHARIS can again host outstanding scholars on relevant subjects in the future without controversy.

May God guide us to live and work in the freedom of His Gospel so that we can be salt and light to a dying world.

Moose Commentary: 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.

Here is the link I have quoted.

7 Responses to “Doctrine of Fellowship Misapplied?”
The Rev. David M. Juhl
February 17th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Kent Hunter and Waldo Werning are two Missouri Synod pastors who are far from being Confessional Lutherans.

See Kent Hunter’s work for yourself here:

http://www.churchdoctor.org

Jon
February 18th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
I quote from: “A Tale of Two Synods: Lessons from the Dissolution
of the Synodical Conference” by Dr. Mark Braun.

“Do the previously mentioned allegations [referring to other topics mentioned in Braun’s document] actually violate scriptural passages on fellowship and the 1959
WELS “Statement on fellowship?? Or do they demonstrate our discomfort at stepping outside the busy, all-encompassing “WELS–world? we have created of congregation, school, social activities, familiar customs, and extended family and friendship
networks? Rather than risk the censure of our ministerial “brothers,? it may be safer and simpler for us to avoid any such contacts with other Christians entirely, even though they offer us opportunities to encourage others in their faith, testify to the truth, and—most controversial—even learn something
useful from them.”

Elle
February 18th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
It’s interesting that it was cancelled because of the cited fellowship reasons as opposed to the expected content of the presentations. Why did they say that listening to someone who isn’t WELS is a bad thing when what they perhaps ought to have said was that they took issue with what would have been presented?


Daniel Sellers
February 18th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Dr. Wearing isn’t exactly a guy you want to hang around with. There are accusations floating around that he has taught false doctrine about the Trinity and a faulty Christology.

Mike Thom
April 26th, 2006 at 8:50 am
For a better understanding of the Scriptural basis for not inviting men such as Werning and Hunter, you might read some of the articles posted at www.welsincrisis.blogspot.com.


Mike Thom
May 18th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
The basic idea of Romans 16:17 and 2 John 10 is that God does not want Christians sitting at the feet and learning from false teachers. The passages do not say that we should avoid them only when they are teaching their false doctrine. To invite them to speak at events sponsored by WELS groups is ignoring this word of God.

***

GJ - The original Moose Report did not distinguish between the inspired words of CHARIS and the blog commentary (norma normata). I have copied the CHARIS passages reverently in italics.

I still marvel at the feigned sorrow of CHARIS, the prayerful hopes. Apparently the breach has been healed by all the Church Growth disciples bending their knees. The 2009 Church and Change Conference is approved and planned. Eager hearts await Brian Lempe delivering another one-two punch to the devil.

Here are some boasts from Church and Change:

Innovation in methodology is yesterday's news in the WELS. Pastors, teachers, synod administrators, worker training leaders, home and world missionaries, worship leaders, computer buffs, and countless local laymen and laywomen, have been tweaking (and/or radically changing) ministry methods for years. In every WELS generation God has raised up men and women, for reasons known only to Him, who are interested in pushing the envelope of "gospel delivery systems." And this, long before concepts like "English" or "radio ministry" or "Parish Assistance," or "paradigm" or "long distance learning" entered WELS thinking or culture.

No surprise - Church and Change was artificially inseminated with WELS offering money:

History of Church and Change

In 1995, a group of about 10-12 men gathered at Wisconsin Lutheran College to discuss current methods of sharing Jesus which were commonly being used in the WELS at that time. Many at the first meeting felt that those methods of sharing Jesus were not “keeping up with” the rate of change in society. The message of the Bible was not, therefore, penetrating society very well.

In 1998 two men who had attended the first meeting planned a Church and Change conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The next year there was a second conference in Green Bay. About 20 people attended each year.

In May 2001, WELS Parish Services applied for and received a Forward in Christ grant to conduct a three-year pilot program to address the issues surfaced by the previous two Church and Change conferences. The three-year pilot program was designed to be a grassroots gathering of individuals who were pioneering new innovative methods of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with a changing culture.

Church and Change is known for its hilarious goofs, which they never seem to catch. Here is a two-fer:

Everyone in this directory has give (sic) their (sic) approval to be listed here.

Illiterate in theology. Illiterate in English.


Just Plain Funny:

Gifts of Talent

Church and Change is seeking to compile a list of WELS singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, comedians, jugglers, entertainers, groups and others who are serving their Savior with their personal gifts. If you are such a person and would like to be featured on this website, please click here.

GJ - WELS jugglers? Do they refuse to juggle with LCMS jugglers? Do they walk away from the stage and juggle behind the curtain? Do they invite ELCA and Willow Creek jugglers to teach them how to juggle?

I Know This Makes Sense to Someone...

Strategy - Conference Breakout 111.... Develop the Courage Not to Plan Your Ministry
Dr. Steve Witte

Do you carefully plan your ministry and invite God to bless those plans? Do you find it difficult to say “no” to our own “great” plans, while waiting for God to reveal his own perfect plan which he has prepared in advance? It is not always easy to determine which ideas or strategies are based on our own selfish ideas and passions—and which ideas come from God himself. Consider your ministry planning model. How much room is there for God in it? In this workshop consider a planning model based on prayer, patience and preparation—mixed with a healthy dose of common sense.

The Glove Shack

In a prophetic move, this blog predicted that the WELS headquarters building could be modified slightly for commercial purposes. Instead of The Love Shack, it would be called The Glove Shack

Who Told You?

Hanging Around

One of the funny effects of Ichabod is reflected in the typical clergy response to the truth: "Who told you?"

One person asked about The Love Shack being sold. "Who told you?" Are WELS pastors worried about people reading Ichabod?

No, the rumor came from The Love Shack. They decided--in the midst of a massive real estate meltdown--that they might entertain offers to sell 2929. That was printed in the latest PR release, before the shocking news came out in Ichabod. I think 2929 is what they would get for the building - $29.29.

One time a WELS pastor sent statistics around to various ministers. The synodical president phoned, "Who told you?" He said, "The figures are from the WELS statistics book." WELS pastors call it The Book of Sins. Larry Olson's congregation never grew, so WELS made him the Waldo Werning Professor of Church Growth at Martin Luther College. Yes, WELS pastors looked up Larry's statistics every year...and laughed.

When a news reporter asked the former SP about the WELS pastor living in adultery, the SP pounced on a pastor at convention and demanded, "Did you tell?" No denial of the facts. No discipline.

Deming: From Doughnuts to Theology

Larry Olson Caught Sneaking into Fuller Seminary

W. Edwards Deming pioneered the concept of quality parts, something he discovered while working on the US Census. He was ignored in the US, so the Japanese car-makers adopted his concept. The idea was simple - If the parts are high quality, the finished product will work well. Before that the auto makers had the parts manufacturers compete for price, so quality suffered. When they made the vendors compete for quality, the final product ran well and lasted much longer.

Detroit finally caught on. People wanted cars that worked. Now a car can easily reach 100,000 miles without significant problems.

Deming Doughnuts
My father applied the concept in his bakery. He used the best flour and paid extra for its shipping from California. The aroma from the 100-pound bags was intoxicating. He used the best cocoa to make chocolate icing. He insisted on cane sugar rather than beet sugar. Both sugars are identical in chemistry, but beet sugar has an odd smell and does not make icing as well as cane sugar does. He used top quality coconut, huge pecans and walnuts, the best peanuts. The shortening was cleaned often and recycled when old. (No, not recycled in the bakery, but by someone who picked it up and sold it to a chemical company.)

I have never had doughnuts like the ones we made in downtown Moline. They were legendary in the Quad-City area.

Deming and Theology
The Deming theory applies to theology. If a student of religion starts with junk-parts, the final result will be junk. The opposite is what Walther quoted: "The nearer to Luther, the better the theologian."

The Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation started with Luther. For Catholic theologians, he was Public Enemy Number One. For Protestants, he was the gold standard. John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, the most read book in the English language (after the Bible), Luther was his favorite. He said Luther's Galatians commentary was his most read book, after the Bible.

How many Lutheran MDiv students have read the Galatians commentary? How many faculty have? Add them together and the total for the whole Synodical Conference is probably close to zero.

Among the febrile dissenters in the LCMS and ELS, how many are Luther-centric? I read the unshocking claim that Fenton, who repudiates Lutheran doctrine, was a bigwig in creating the newest McCain product, the Lutheran Service Book. Fenton has joined Eastern Orthodoxy. For many in the LCMS, the cure for their ailment is either the Church of Rome or Eastern Orthodoxy. What does that say about the state of seminary education?

No one can imagine graduates of the Mequon Sausage Factory joining Rome. Why give up total infallibility for Rome's weaker version? Mequon graduates are quite enchanted by the junk-theologians of Fuller Seminary. Their former president recommended the Pentecostal Baptist C. Peter Wagner in their official WELS magazine. One of their other Fuller alums, Reuel Schulz, praised Wagner into heaven in his TELL article. Both men made it clear that Lutherans needed to study the great theologian, C. Peter Wagner.

I will add some Wagner quotes below. Here are some non-Lutheran objections.

Wagner believes he is a faith healer. He claimed in one book that a demon lived in an article in his house. Some of his statements would make anyone question his sanity. One of his books was originally called Look Out! The Pentecostals Are Coming!

The time spent studying the crackpots of Fuller Seminary is lost to the study of classical theologians. I would much rather read the serious theologians of any age than the frauds of Pasadena and Willow Creek.

Any Protestant student of theology is going to invest his time wisely with Luther because the Reformer is the greatest and most lucid expositor of the Bible. The editors of the Book of Concord should be next on the list - for Lutherans especially, but also for Protestants in general.

Wagner Was Right About One Thing
"I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with the church-growth principles we've developed, or the evangelistic techniques we're using. Yet somehow they don't seem to work."
C. Peter Wagner Ken Sidey, "Church Growth Fine Tunes Its Formulas," Christianity Today, June 24, 1991, p. 47. [Psst - Don't tell WELS or Missouri, or Paul Tiefel and David Koenig.]

"In the words of C. Peter Wagner, Professor of Missions at the Fuller School of World Missions, Jesus at Bangkok was the 'prototype of an ideal social attitude,' the 'man for others' whose resurrection and lordship meant no more than that others should be inspired by His example."
Ernst H. Wendland, "Missiology--and the Two Billion," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, January, 1974 71, p. 11f.

"The preacher, in fact, was a fascinating combination of eloquent and illiterate (by his own testimony). In the services I saw fervent singing, joyous clapping of hands, dancing in the Spirit, speaking in tongues, testimonies, prophecies, preaching of the Word, and as a climax the handling of deadly poisonous snakes and drinking of strychnine. I discussed this with several members of the congregation. When I asked why they handled snakes they replied, simply, 'Because Jesus told us to do it as a sign.' Another sign of the kingdom." [Footnote - See C. Peter Wagner, What Are We Missing?, formerly Look Out, The Pentecostals Are Coming, Carol Stream: Creation House, 1973, 1978.]
C. Peter Wagner, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel, New York: Harper and Row, 1981, p. 23.

"Church growth is that science which investigates the planting, multiplication, function and health of Christian churches as they relate specifically to the effective implementation of God's-commission to 'make disciples of all nations' (Matt. 28:19-20 RSV). Church growth strives to combine the eternal theological principles of God's Word concerning the expansion of the church with the best insights of contemporary social and behavioral sciences, employing as its initial frame of reference, the foundational work done by Donald McGavran." [Constitution, Academy for American Church Growth]
C. Peter Wagner, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel, New York: Harper and Row, 1981, p. 75.

"Yet this writer is confident we won't go astray in adopting a 'spoiling the Egyptians' approach to the various Church Growth Movement sociological principles and the research that produced them."
David J. Valleskey, "The Church Growth Movement: An Evaluation," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Spring, 1991 88, p. 116. Exodus 12:36.

Bob: "..I'd like to share with you a book I came across the other day. It's interesting, easy to read, and may be the answer to our problem..." "Its title is Your Church Can Grow, and it's filled with all sorts of practical hints that could help us turn things around here." Author: "Bob didn't realize it at the time, but in his browsing he had stumbled upon one of many similar books written from the perspective of the church growth movement, books with such titles as How to Grow a Church, Ten Steps for Church Growth, Church Growth: Strategies that Work, and Leading Your Church to Growth."
Prof. David Valleskey, "The Church Growth Movement, Just Gathering People or Building the Church?" The Northwestern Lutheran, May 5, 1991, p. 184.

"The term 'spiritual breathing' originated with Dr. William Bright in his booklet, 'Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-filled Life?'"
David Valleskey, Forest Bivens, New Life in Christ, September, 1981 p. 1.

"For several years I've been a Pete Wagner fan. Although I don't see eye to eye with him on many important theological points (he approves of faith healing and speaking in tongues as long as it promotes church growth and he comes from a Billy Graham decision for conversion doctrinal background), he is the most eloquent spokesman of the Church Growth Movement. A prolific author on mission/evangelism/church growth subjects, Wagner is also an excellent teacher and a crystal clear writer."
Reuel J. Schulz, The Evangelism Life Line (WELS) Winter, 1980,

"Please stop exaggerating the amount of study that I have done at Fuller. After four years of study at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, which involved sixty-two different courses and a year of vicarage, I graduated in 1983. From 1987 to 1989 I took four courses where I was in a classroom with a Fuller instructor. That is the extent of my Fuller coursework...In addition, I have taken two courses at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and one at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. Because of Fuller's liberal (would you expect anything else?) policy on transfer of credit, and because of two independent studies I undertook, I could complete the degree by simply writing a dissertation."
Lawrence Otto Olson, D. Min., Fuller Seminary, "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23

"You may reply that by 'Fuller-trained' you mean anyone who has attended a worshop presented by the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, an agency which is independent of the Seminary. If that is the case, your attribution of 'Fuller-trained' is still simply not true. It would surprise me if even half of the two dozen people on your 'WELS/ELS Who's Who' list have attended a Fuller workshop; I personally know of only five who have."
Lawrence Otto Olson, D. Min., Fuller Seminary, "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

Larry Meets His Holiness, Face-to-Face
"Donald C. McGavran died at home home in Altadena, California, on July 10, 1990. He was 92 years old. Dr. McGavran is widely recognized as the founder of the church growth movement, a movement which has sought to put the social sciences at the service of theology in order to foster the growth of the church. In August of 1989 I borrowed a bicycle and pedaled several miles uphill up from Pasadena to Altadena. I found Dr. McGavran in his front yard with a hose in hand, watering flowers."
Lawrence Otto Olson, D. Min., Fuller Seminary, "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Professor, Martin Luther College (WELS), p. 1.

Larry Loyal to Lutheran Education?
"The church growth movement has made inroads into nearly every denomination in America. Once considered only the turf of conservative evangelicals, you will now find church growth practioners in the United Methodist Church, in the Presbyterian Church in the USA, and among the Episcopalians. The LCMS has more pastors enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary, the seedbed of the movement, than are enrolled in the graduate programs at their Fort Wayne and St. Louis seminaries combined, and most of them include church growth as part of their studies."
Lawrence Otto Olson, D. Min., Fuller Seminary, "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism, p. 1.

Another Gusher for Church Growth
"In the autumn of 1985 and the winter of 1985-1986, a truly momentous step was taken by the five Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) congregations in the metropolitan area of Columbus, Ohio. The five pastors and lay representatives of those churches organized and incorporated Lutheran Parish Resources, Inc., the first Church Growth institute in the WELS."
David G. Peters, "Lutheran Parish Resources: Pilot Program in Church Growth,"
Mequon: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, April 27, 1987, p. 1.

King James Family of Bibles

Tyndale was executed for translating and printing Bibles. He died saying, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." His prayer was answered by the KJV.

Someone asked, "What is the King James family of Bibles?"

That is my expression, so it was probably confusing. I use and favor the King James or Authorized Version of the Bible. There are several reasons.

One is that the Bible is really the Tyndale Bible made kosher by the first Stuart king, James (who followed Elisabeth). Tyndale was closely connected to Luther and his translation.

Another reason is the New Testament text. The KJV and slightly modernized KJ versions use the traditional Greek text while the NIV boobs treat God's Word as their personal sandbox. Horsing around with the New Testament began with Wescott and Hort, the fraud Tischendorf, and a horde of apostate disciples.

Modernists were helped by scholars' almost total amnesia concerning the Byzantine Empire's history, a Christian and Greek-speaking empire that lasted 1100 years.

What? It lasted 1100 years?

Yes, Greek-speaking Christians (and the most literate ancient nation) did preserve the text with great precision. That is why we have so many Byzantine NT texts, a fact used against the traditional text.

Tischendorf "found" both of the new texts (Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) that were used to revise and change the New Testament. In other fields the scholars are suspicious of a man who finds an object so sensational that it makes him world famous. No one really knows the origins of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus.

I wonder how many people know that a committee votes regularly on the text of the Greek NT. If three out of five vote against a verse, out it goes. They make the politicians of the smoke-filled rooms seem saintly in comparison.

The LCMS and WELS abandoned the KJV for the ecumenical, dumbed-down, impossible to read aloud NIV. Big money was involved. The NIV is perfect for the Church Growth Movement ("make disciples") and women's ordination (pronoun abuse).

The updates of the KJV are - the New KJV, KJV II, etc. The KJV we use is actually a slightly modernized version of the orginal. A commission took out some of the extra commas and the more ancient words.

The KJV was made to be read aloud in church. It was intended for memorization. Now the flavor of the month translations have ruined memorization.

The KJV was overwhelmingly the dominant English Bible until the 1960's or so, a span of many centuries. One billion have been printed.

The English language is built upon two foundations - the KJV and Shakespeare.

L P Cruz, etc.

This UOJ Stormtrooper got his training at Mequon and never let anyone forget it. Dates were awkward and conversation stilted.

L. P. Cruz has an extended discussion of UOJ on his blog, Extra Nos.

I wanted to clarify a few things.

Christians should not add unnecessarily to the Biblical vocabulary. Some terms (Trinity, Means of Grace) are shorthand for decades or centuries of debate. We continue to use them because there is general agreement about their meaning, even though there are variations.

I object to modifying terms like justification and reconciliation. Chemnitz agreed with the ancient saying that we should return to the sources when the water is muddy. That included dropping the confessions of the time to study the Scritpure itself. (Note that the Wisconsin cheerleaders will yell "Wauwatosa," but this really means the opposite.)

Too many are tempted to trace every tributary of Christianity or parse the essays of their recently departed professors. For the Synodical Conference types, nothing is better than that to help avoid all issues.

A Sigh Is Just a Sigh
The fundamental things apply, as time goes by. Reconciliation is not justification. Using fake logic to fuse the terms will never work, if we still believe that Scripture interprets Scripture. Reconciliation is the Gospel message that converts the unbeliever and strengthens the believer. The New Testament is rich in synonyms for reconciliation: redemption (two different words), expiation, ransom, etc.

Nevertheless, the New Testament never says that God has declared the whole world forgiven, without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Grace. That is where the UOJ Stormtroopers (Cascione, Bivens, Valleskey, Becker, Pieper, Walther, Pope John the Malefactor, Dan Preus, Rolf Preus) utterly depart from the Scriptures. How do they defend their toxic doctrine? By quoting the writers who agree with them - a fallacy called Special Pleading.

The Gospel message converts or hardens the unbeliever because the Holy Spirit always accompanies the Word and always accomplishes God's will (Isaiah 55). Speak the Gospel to a Mormon missionary or a JW and he will sneer. Describe the efficacy of the Word to a Lutheran leader and the same thing will happen.

Calvinism
Calvinims is wrong because the work of the Holy Spirit is divorced from the Word and Sacraments. That is a consistent theme in Calvin's work. Therefore, Calvinism cannot be rescued from the charge of Enthusiasm.

The rationalistic component of Calvinism leads to Unitarianism. "Young Calvinist, Old Unitarian." That is a common saying that fits regions, denominations, and nations.

Luther
I am not a brand-name Luther. I do not follow Luther for any other reason than this - he is the greatest Biblical expositor of all time.

Some day in the future, the Recessional Lutherans will have to explain how they led their gullible followers away from the Scriptures and into the fold of Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy. EO is just a coward's way of embracing Rome.

The UOJ Stormtroopers are raising up a generation of Unitarians.

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "L P Cruz, etc.":

I'm in the early stages of exploring Luther and the church that carries his name. It seems like many of the names you list as uopj storm troopers are guys I've read or heard about.(what is uoj??)I am just starting the book of concord (and the theology of the book of concord by Prues)...any other helps you would suggest in my search?
thanks
tv

GJ - Short definition Universal Objective Justification - Everyone in the world was declared forgiven the moment Christ died on the cross--or--the moment Christ rose from the dead. Everyone who died in the Flood - forgiven. Everyone in Hell is a guilt-free saint. Walther began this travesty, which he got from Pietism, in his Easter absolution sermon. Pieper and the Synodical Conference continued it. The Church Growth gurus like Valleskey and Bivens love UOJ.

Justification by faith means: those who hear the Gospel and believe in Christ as their Savior are forgiven their sins.

Those who are new to Lutheran doctrine should stick to a good Bible in the King James family of translations, the Book of Concord, and Luther's sermons.

Advanced Lutherans should stick to a good Bible in the King James family of translations, the Book of Concord, and Luther's sermons.

Theologians with a PhD should stick to a good Bible in the King James family of translations, the Book of Concord, and Luther's sermons.

Do You Believe?

The Archbishop of Canterbury - Inept

Here is a good essay about the Archbishop of Canterburgy. He is the doofus who suggested that Islamic Sharia law could be incorporated into English law.

This is the link.

The article is worth reading in full.

A primary requirement of a minister is that he be "apt to teach." The Archbishop is inept instead.

Spener - The Father of American Lutherans - Walther Too

Spener's Children Look Just Like Daddy

The founder of Pietism was Jacob Spener, a unionistic Lutheran who emphasized works at the expense of sound doctrine. Like all unionists, Spener was happy to ditch the sacraments in order to work with the Reformed.

The first large-scale establishment of Lutherans in America was directed by H. Muhlenberg, a Pietist from Halle. That became the General Synod, which divided in two during the Civil War era to create the more confessional General Council. The General Synod grew up during the colonial days.The General Synod had altar calls and temperance campaigns. There are still some ELCA congregations where only grape juice is used for Holy Communion.

The next wave of Pietism included various European groups: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and German Pietists. Yes, Walther was converted by a Pietist and never lost his Pietistic substance. He criticized Pietistic authors in print, but never Spener.

Spener was almost a god to American Lutherans in those days, much like Paul Kelm, Larry Olson, Waldo Werning, and Kent Hunter today.

The Pietistic urge led Lutherans to work with the Reformed in missionary and eleemosynary efforts. Lutherans were always willing to give up the sacraments and the efficacy of the Word for the thrill of working with the Reformed. The more unionistic a Lutheran group was, the sooner it became openly Reformed. Many Lutheran congregations of that era are United Church of Christ today.

Lutherans tried to combine the zeal of Pietism with the doctrine of the Lutheran Church. What they got from this union was the zeal of the Lutherans and the doctrine of the Reformed.

Nevertheless, the nature of false doctrine has always been to exterminate Lutheran doctrine. Missouri and WELS leaders have raised Pietism from the dead and led a campaign (largely successful) to wipe out Lutheran doctrine.

Here are the characteristics of ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC leaders:

1. Unionism. The synodical leaders have studied at Fuller and Willow Creek or have no objections to pastors "spoiling the Egyptians," stealing the Reformed garbage.
   
2. Salvation by works. They emphasize how much they have done.
   
3. Prayer as THE Means of Grace. They go along with the Reformed folly that God is unable to do anything unless He is fired up by prayer warriors. No, seriously.
   
4. Enthusiasm. They separate the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word and Sacraments. That is why they have no trust in the Word but glory in their programs and methods.
   
5. Rah-rah Enthusiasm. They copy the Reformed and Pentecostals by jumping up and down, piping their eyes (crying), and hyping their language.
   
6. They loathe Lutheran doctrine and the Lutheran name.
   
7. Like the crypto-Calvinists before them, they persecute Lutherans while pretending to be the real Lutherans who "care about the church."
   
8. Their knowledge of the Book of Concord is almost zero. What little they know, they hate. They also sneer at Lutheran hymns and the Creeds. Sermons? - No. Life coaching - Si!
   
9. They work together very closely, across synodical lines. For example, WELS always acts too goody-goody to be in the same room as Missouri, but WELS leaders love to sit at the feet of Kent Hunter and the fossilized Waldo Werning.

If the synodical leaders were committed to Lutheran doctrine, they would kick out the false teachers instead of rewarding them.

C.E.O. Ministries

Brian Arthur Lampe, CEO of CEO

"Brian Arthur Lampe delivers a one-two punch to the devil and his schemes with his high powered, enthusiastic, energetic life-applying Biblical motivational speaking. We are on a quest for authentic God. By including Brian Arthur Lampe, you will have more than just a rally or a Bible study. You and your congregation will be providing men, women, and youth with an encouraging process that teaches them how to live lives of authentic Christianity as modeled by Jesus Christ and directed by the Word of God." Christian Speaker Network describes Brian's denomination as Christian.


I am trying to figure out C.E.O. Ministries. Here is a promo from WELS' Church and Change (the outfit "shut down" by WELS):

Parent's Ministry - CEO
Brian and Tracy Lampe


Your baby is now a teenager, going through all of the teenage rites of passage. Between school, friends, God, and a social life, their lives seem to be a foreign country to you. The little boy or girl that once told you everything now has to be hounded to give you even a snippet of thought. Yet there are three things you should know about what is going on in your Christian teen's head that will make your relationship a little better…
Click the link to find out!

CEO also has programs for:
Men's Ministry
Students Ministry
Couples Ministry
Corporate Ministry
Email: Brian@CEO-Ministries.com
Website: www.ceo-ministries.com/parents.html

They are endorsed by WELS. Their March activity is linked from the WELS.net website.

It's also listed on Section Q, which is from CLR (formerly WELS Lutherans for Life).

John J. Wonders does their website. He describes himself as a "Clydesdale in training."

There is a link to Victory of the Lamb Lutheran Church, where women are invited to attend the Bible Babes group.

At St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego:

Check Us Out;

Whether you are a committed Christian or investigating Christianity we invite you to check us out this Sunday at our student center. Doors open at 9:00am. Food and beverages are served between 9:30-10:30a.m. and Brian Arthur Lampe turns it up a notch or two for Jesus!

St. Paul's does a lot with Prayer Warriors, which is a Reformed mania. The Church and Change, Church Growth people like to emphasize prayer in a typical heretical way.

Here is a profile for Brian Arthur Lampe:

Driver
UPS
(Religious Institutions industry)

September 2006 — Present (1 year 6 months)

Owner
CEO Ministries
(Religious Institutions industry)

September 2006 — Present (1 year 6 months)

Brian Arthur Lampe’s Education
Wisconsin Lutheran
1984 — 1987

Cross Lutherans

"Ignorant slander!"


Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Like Father, Like Son":

Have you ever been to Crossroads in Chicago? If you report about the vices of a congregation only in generic terms with no actual evidence or concrete information about it. It is mere ignorant slander.

For your information, Crossroads is a very law/gospel biblical based church that does a good job of providing spiritual milk every Sunday to a congregation of mostly visitors yet having a very good method of Bible instruction classes for members who need spiritual whole food.

Also, their "mission statement" is almost identical to the one you wrote at WLS.

***

GJ - I remember a Northwestern College student was asked the same thing about Willow Creek. "Have you been there?" Apparently this is a WELS thing. If someone has not been there, he cannot read the website or even have an opinion. The student was at Willow Creek, so the subject was changed immediately. That's a WELS thing too.

When I said WELS was deep into Church Growth, VP Paul Kuske (founder, Pilgrim Community) snarled, "Do you have proof?" I said, "Over 500 quotations from WELS sources, verbatim." He changed the subject.

Did Mike sit down with me and confront me with my terrible sin? That is how WELS protects all of its Church Growth fanatics. No, he did not. Instead, he sent a TWB (True WELS Believer) post.

Crossroads in Chicago has a website. The same congregation was mentioned in FIC (which is a Lutheran magazine, believe it or not). I was able to do my research by reading public information.

Here is the Crossroads Mission Statement:

To use all that we are and all that we have to reach our city with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to nurture our faith community with God's transforming truth.

Here is what I wrote, which I refuse to call a mission statement.

In an age of anxiety, we still believe that peace comes from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

In an age of confusion, we still believe that the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and infallible.

In an age of doubt, we still believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

In an age of guilt, we still believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to remove the power of sin, death, and Satan from our lives.

In an age of fear, we still believe that Christ rose bodily from the dead to lead us to eternal life.

In an age of self-centeredness, we still believe that God acts through the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.

In an age of constant change, we still believe in the unchanging Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

"If you hold to my teaching, then you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32

I really do not see how one compares to the other. Mine is explicitly sacramental, perhaps because Lutherans are. The Crossroads generic statement could be applied to any non-sacramental sect. Of course, that is the point. I see they also took my statement and added their PC stuff to it, but they do not call it their mission statement. The one above is labeled "Our Mission."

I noticed the guiding hand of Valleskey, Kelm, Olson, and Huebne in the content of the website.

Small groups? That the clarion call of Fuller Seminary and all Pietists - organize cell groups for growth. There is no better way to promote Pentecostalism and anti-sacramentalism.

Social activities? There is a long list of all the play-dates arranged for the congregation. I always thought that was the function of a club, not a church.

Mike, Mike, Mike. I have always objected to Lutherans running away from their identity in order to appease Fuller, Willow Creek, and Paul Kelm. The idea of avoiding the denominational name is from Robert Schuller, echoed by Fuller, Willow Creek, and Lyle Schaller (Methodist).

Just between you and me and a world-wide audience, what kind of a stupid name is Crossroads or CrossWalk? They are deliberately non-religious terms.

Why not emphasize Church Growth Eyes and the cross - CrossEyes?

Or the ambivalent message from these churche - DoubleCross?

Please do not tell me that it is an accident that Lutheran dropped out of the title of the WELS feminist hymnal, that Lutheran dropped out of the magazine title, that Lutheran dropped out of Crossroads, CrossWalk, and all the other Fuller clones.

***

Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Cross Lutherans":

Rev,

This is why I asked if you had been there. When referring to their "mission statement." I was referring to that which is posted in their bulletin each week. If you had ever attended you would have had oppurtunity to read that.

When reporting on a matter, it is always best to be a first hand witness or at least report the first hand accounts.

On the matter of Crossroads in Chicago, I would suggest that you either contact Rev. Borgwargt or at least his members (the core of which is displaced WELS from other areas). Rather than simply assuming that they are similar to other cases in the past you have witnessed.

I am a first hand observer and I can attest that they are not. And if you did speak to Rev. Borgwardt you would learn that I was just as skeptical as you were and peppered him with questions.

I'm not questioning your teachings or your faith...but I feel your journalism in this matter is perhaps not what it should be.

***

GJ - I am not reporting. Ichabod is a continuous jeremiad. Look up the word. The purpose of Ichabod is to denounce the apostasy of the Lutherans, with some attention paid to other denominations.

As I said before, I find the hiding of the word Lutheran contemptible. The continued downward slide of your sect is proven by the denomination bragging about the very thing it used to hide - stealth mission churches. The Germans have a word for this - shameless.

***

Chris Hurst has left a new comment on your post "Spener - The Father of American Lutherans - Walthe...":

Greetings Dr. Jackson,
I have been an Ichabod "lurker" for a few weeks now, but I think today is a good day to pose a question. I am a licensed pastor (not ordained because I don't serve a parish full-time) in the Evangelical Lutheran Conference and Ministerium (ELCM). We are a micro-synod based in PA. My question is, do you think that ALL influence of Pietism is bad? My personal opinion is that Pietism started as a good idea, but like all good ideas left in the hands of sinful men it failed to accomplish that which it set out to. For instance, I think that Pietism's emphasis on personal prayer is something that all of us should strive for. However, not at the expense of Word and Sacrament, which is where Pietism went too far. I'd love to hear your comments. Thanks and God Bless, Chris Hurst.

***

GJ - Those are good comments, Chris. That is the problem with starting a Lutheran mission in the South. The evangelist could easily say, "You are against whiskey and for prayer. We are against prayer and for whiskey."

Prayer should be taught as the fruit of faith, not as the cause of faith. I like Hoenecke's brief synopsis. He said Pietism teaches santification as the cause of justification, not as the result of justification.

Pietism was probably a reaction against the extremes of the later ages of Lutheran orthodoxy. I continue to find it strange that those who agitate in the LCMS want to quote everyone except Luther and the Concordists.

I graduated from Augustana College, Illinois, and helped sheve the Pietisten, the Swedish paper of the Pietists. Augustana never hid the fact that the group began as a unionistic, Pietistic mission. The early leaders soon soured on the results of unionism and came under the influence of orthodoxy. Probably the best influence upon Augustana (doctrinal and missions) was Passavant, a man who reject the extremes of Revivalism and embraced the Confessions.

The Pietists were not all bad. In Sweden they were disgusted by the corruption of the Church of Sweden, the wide-spread alcoholism. One man started a temperance movement because of a drunken fight that broke out between two women during his sermon.

However, Pietism was the source of Walther's UOJ - justification without faith.

The Church Growth people love pietism because they embrace unionism and hate the Lutheran Confessions.

Collect, Second Sunday in Lent

Lord God, heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Thy grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin, and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Thy grace, and in every trial and temptation find Thee a very present help and refuge, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.