Concordia, St. Louis, Enrollment Plunge?

Concordia needs to recruit more UOJ Stormtroopers.

Bruce Church sent me an email about Concordia, St. Louis. Enrollment has gone from 150 grads and 150 vicars to 100 incoming pastoral students. That is a 33% drop.

I wonder if that Leonard Sweet conference in 2007 was a cry for help, the death rattle of a dying, misdirected seminary.

Lutherans are ashamed of Luther's doctrine and disinterested in the Book of Concord.

The newest mission counselor for WELS (which, translated, means Church Growth salesman) is indifferent about the Confessions.

The attitude about doctrine is illustrated by one WELS pastor, who earned a D.Min. in Church Growth from Fuller Seminary. No wait, it was from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, the Midwest version of Fuller. He bought a case--yes, a case--of books by occultist Paul Y. Cho, to sell at a WELS conference.

What happens to these people? Many of them do very well in a material sense, so they stop trusting in God's Word. Why should they when marketing has worked so well with them? Many of them tumble for women or men and become such an embarrassment that they are forced out of the ministry. One prominent member of the North American Society for Church Growth, Lutheran Section, was arrested for soliciting in a men's public restroom.

Some of the Church Growth zombies do everything right and fail. They also lose faith because nothing worked for them. They blind themselves against the Word. They harden themselves against the Word. And then they ask why God has abandoned them.

The fatal enrollment figures at Concordia (probably at both of them) will bring pressure to merge the two schools. Both could easily be combined at St. Louis with Bethany and the Sausage Factory thrown in. They could be the Lutheran equivalent of this seminary:

Colgate-Rochester-Crozer-Bexley-St. Bernard. This mega-merged school has a total of seven faculty members. Some distinguished alumni of the school/schools are:

"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Howard Thurman.
Leonard Sweet, author, preacher, scholar.
Dr. Johnny Douglas Turner, author of Rebuilding the Walls: A Call to Teaching in the African-American Church and The Sacred Art." (Wikipedia. The seminary's website lists people I have never heard of.)

Pope Snubbed on Purpose, Reports Virtue Online

"You said there would be a family outting soon, so I thought that would be a good time to...Oh? You meant a family picnic? My bad."
Benedict Rips Episcopal Church's use of 'local options'

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
4/21/2008

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, was not in town when Pope Benedict came to New York. She was invited, but she had previously scheduled appointments. Bishop Mark Sisk Bishop of NY and Bishop Christopher Epting, deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations for the Presiding Bishop, represented her, according to Neva Rae Fox of the Episcopal News Service.

According to a Roman Catholic priest who was there and who emailed VOL, other Episcopalians present, in addition to Bishop Sisk, were the Archdeacon and Vicar General of the diocese of New York, as well as Fr. Barry Swain SSC of Resurrection NYC, Fr. Andrew Mead of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue NYC and Fr. Michael Brandt of St. Michael's NYC.

Mrs. Jefferts Schori was at St. Mark's Cathedral and at the opening of the new Episcopal Church Center of Utah (ECCU) in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was not in New York City as the leader of The Episcopal Church to greet His Holiness. The snub was apparently not deliberate. Some Protestant dignitaries who did not show up to meet the Pope also had representatives.

The Pope did meet Bishop Sisk, but he was dead last in the line to be called up to meet His Holiness, a signal in itself just how much respect the Roman Catholic hierarchy has in New York City for the Episcopal Bishop. Sisk recently went on record trying to put his predecessor, Bishop Paul Moore, on a pedestal for his social justice stands even though he was involved in scandals that included both adultery and homosexuality.

Here is how it went.

It was at St. Joseph's Church on New York City's Upper East Side, that Pope Benedict XVI met with a number of Christian leaders. Bishop Sisk was there and presented to him, but at the very end of the line.

The first to be introduced were a number of Orthodox hierarchs who were called up by name; then, clergy of various Protestant denominations were called up individually by name. A minister representing Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, was in attendance. The ELCA bishop of the Atlantic Synod was also there. There were a number of clergy of obscure Protestant denominations, a Presbyterian Stated Clerk from the PCUSA, a Missouri Synod leader and then Sisk. He was the very last one to be called up. There are unconfirmed reports that the Rev. Andy Meade of St. Thomas's was there as was the Vicar General of New York.

It was the Pope's remarks to the ecumenical leaders, clearly aimed at The Episcopal Church, that stole the show. He singled out for particular condemnation the notion of "local option" in changing sacred doctrine. The Pope made it clear that dialogue is only possible within the context of revelation and the apostolic teachings of the Church. (One should bear in mind the rejection of General Convention Resolution B001, which asked TEC to uphold certain basic doctrines of the church, but could not muster enough votes to do so.)

Why did he do this? Who informed him? Many readers will recall that this Pope, when he was simply Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was the one who sent a congratulatory note to some 4,000 orthodox Episcopal priests meeting in Dallas at Plano One in 2003. This was occurring right around Frank Griswold, then Presiding Bishop, thus humiliating the PB in the biggest single snub of his career. Ratzinger, now Benedict XIV, and 81, clearly has a long memory. Furthermore, it should be noted that VOL, according to Google Analytics, is read every day by more than 130 Italians. Some 30 readers are clustered in and around Rome and the Vatican.

That the Pope understood what "local option" has done to the Episcopal Church speaks volumes for the Pontiff's memory.

For those not in the know, "local option" is what revisionists and homosexuals like Louie Crew scream and whine when they can't have their way at one General Convention on homosexuality and cry "local option" until it is brokered in at the next General Convention.

It is the most disingenuous and opaque form of church politics you can imagine. The conservatives who see it coming are powerless to prevent it. A case in point has been the issue of rites for same sex unions (one can't really call them marriages as that implies two people of the opposite sex uniting in holy matrimony).

The Episcopal Church has still not officially approved such rites, but experimental rites are being shamelessly used and allowed by revisionist bishops with never a thought about whether a resolution for General Convention will approve them.

Of course, those of us who have been watching this "gay parade" called General Convention long enough know that it is only a case of when, not if they will be ushered in. No one has any doubt. The Pope knows it and called it for what it is.

If the Bishop of New York did not see this, he was blind, deaf and dumb, perhaps in his case all three. Perhaps, he was still in recovery from the knowledge of his predecessor Bishop Paul Moore's sordid life and was still reeling from that when he got hit with a one two punch from the Pontiff.

The truth is the Episcopal Diocese of New York is one sordid, sodomite enclave. So much so that one is hard pressed to find a handful of orthodox parishes still remaining in the diocese! What sort of a church pays good money to have a colorfully displayed motor car display upholding homosexuality at a Gay Pride Parade proudly announcing its support for a deadly behavior, while the Roman Catholic cathedral on 5th Avenue closes its doors for the day!

As one blogger observed, "The Episcopal Church's actions for the past quarter century has been characterized as an abandonment of doctrinal norms to press for sociological relevance. From the unilateral ordination of women to the priesthood, based not upon Scriptural or theological analysis but upon political considerations (using theology to back-fill once the political decision was made) to the idea of "open communion," that is, giving the Eucharist to the non baptized in direct and flagrant contradiction of both the Epistles and the ancient tradition of the Church, the Episcopal Church has claimed that it was acting locally."

Benedict decried the "splintering" of Christian churches over "so-called 'prophetic actions' that are based on a hermeneutic not always consonant with the datum of Scripture and Tradition." Such actions, he said, cause Christian communities to "give up the attempt to act as a unified body, choosing instead to function according to the idea of 'local options,'" thus losing their connections to Christians in other times and places. Some, but not all, interpreted that as a veiled reference to controversy in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

He said that "only by holding fast to sound teaching will we be able to respond to the challenges that confront us in an evolving world." There is little doubt that the Pope's remarks must be seen in the light of his words of encouragement to the 4,000 faithful at Plano. He has not forgotten. Equally, there can be little doubt that he has been informed of the sexual "progress" the Episcopal Church has made with regard to the Robinson consecration and the post-consecration fallout.

Benedict said the power of the preaching of the Christian faith "has lost none of its internal dynamism. Yet we must ask ourselves whether its full force has not been attenuated by a relativistic approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies. ..." Secular worldviews, "in alleging that science alone is "objective," relegate religion entirely to the subjective sphere of individual feeling. Scientific discoveries, and their application through human ingenuity, undoubtedly offer new possibilities for the betterment of humankind. This does not mean, however, that the "knowable" is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor religion restricted to the shifting realm of 'personal experience.'

He would know that tens of thousands of faithful Episcopalians are leaving the Episcopal Church and parishes and whole dioceses are being litigated against with millions being spent on lawsuits. The notion of "mission" has nothing to do with the Great Commission, but everything to do with the push for very secular Millennium Development Goals at the expense of saving souls.

The Pontiff is pushing his own priests and bishops to get involved in evangelism even as Islam is on the rise. This pope has talked more about evangelism than any pope in living memory, mindful no doubt that Europe is becoming extremely secularized, As Europe goes, so goes the rest of the world. Maybe.

"I think he did us the honor of giving us a serious address that I think needs to be read and reflected upon," said Sisk. Asked whether he thought Benedict had singled out the Episcopal Church in his remarks, Sisk responded, "It's possible--but I would be rather surprised. I don't think he was trying to send shots across the bow at particular churches. I think he spoke in a respectful way and I didn't see that as a shot at the Episcopal Church."

Churches claiming "prophetic actions" such as the sexual innovations of the Episcopal Church do not sit well with the Pontiff. Such prophetic actions are not necessarily prophetic at all.


Mrs. Jefferts Schori's absence cannot be ignored. That she put the opening of a building ahead of the leader of one billion Christians speaks volumes. It might have something to do with the fact that she sees property issues as being of such great value that she has instructed her attorney to litigate, at every turn of the road, those faithful Episcopalians who would seek to leave and keep them.

The Episcopal Church is on a trajectory downwards. There is no stopping it. The only question is, will the Pontiff offer a safe harbor for Anglo-Catholics in the Episcopal Church or among Anglo-Catholic Continuers as the church continues to head gadarene like towards the cliff edge?

Those in the reformed Anglican tradition, however, will have to look elsewhere for a safe harbor.

END

B16 Takes Off, Shunned by Episcopal and ELCA Bishops, Not by DP Benke

Pope Benedict XVI and District Pope David Benke met, but the ELCA and Episcopal Presiding Bishops both shunned B16.

For once the Ecumenical Office of Ichabod was shocked. Normally the ELCA and Episcopal primates would crawl over broken glass to meet the real pope. Not this time. Doubtless B16's tough stance against homosexual clergy offended the two Protestant leaders of the Lavender Mafia.

Benke was there. He is the David Koenig (CLC) of the Missouri Synod. Like Benke, Koenig is also "ecumenical wherever he goes." Koenig is a true ecumenist. He loves every denomination except his own.

Something still puzzles me. ELDONA clergy were so full of wrath about Benke working with liberal denominations that they started their own faux-Eastern Orthodox sect in protest. The six letters in their acronym correspond roughly to their total number of member congregations. Heiser was so upset about Yankee Stadium that--many years later--he formed ELDONA. At the same time he formed a Center for the Study of Lutheran Orthodoxy with an ELCA member on its governing board. That was done "for the money."

I am in favor of ecumenical unity based on money. People should gather around what they worship. Why did Marvin Schwan donate to three synods at once? He wanted their shouted praise. What do Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie agree about? - their love for money, Church Growth, and Leonard Sweet.

J. P. Morgan used to take Episcopal bishops and his mistress on the same train, when they went to church conventions together. Those Episcopalians are so-o-o-o lax.

ELCA - Full Communion with United Methodists

Leonard Sweet, United Methodist/New Age Theologian, Is a Favorite in the LCMS and WELS (Church and Change)

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 21, 2008

United Methodist Church to Consider Full Communion with ELCA
08-049-JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) will consider a proposal for full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) when it meets April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The proposal, "Implementing Resolution for Full Communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church," has been years in the making.

Assuming adoption by the UMC General Conference, the ELCA Church Council requested that a formal proposal for full communion with the United Methodist Church be presented at its November 2008 meeting. The council will consider transmitting the proposal for action by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The assembly meets in Minneapolis Aug. 17-23.

The two churches have had a relationship of "Interim Eucharistic Sharing" since 2005. That relationship called for members to pray for and support each other, to study Scripture together and to learn about each other's traditions.

Full communion means the churches will work for visible unity in Jesus Christ, recognize each other's ministries, work together on a variety of ministry initiatives, and, under certain circumstances, provide for the interchangeability of ordained clergy.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, will preach April 29 at the UMC General Conference and participate in the conference's ecumenical day activities. Staff of ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations will also attend the meeting.

Calling the full communion vote "an important day in the life of our two churches," the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, executive, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, said the UMC General Conference vote is expected to be an affirmation of the unity for which Jesus Christ prayed in the Gospel of John 17:21.

"The dialogue between the United Methodist Church and the ELCA has been one that has had my deep interest and support," said McCoid, who was born into a Methodist family.

"Church unity is an important matter for the Christian family. The full communion agreement will deepen the opportunities for shared ministry in so many places, as we look forward to the future," he said.

If adopted by both churches, this will be the first time the ELCA has entered in a relationship of full communion with a church body larger than itself, said the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, Lutheran co-chair of the current round of the Lutheran-United Methodist Dialogue and bishop, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver.

"In the past decade we have discovered that these agreements provide a very effective framework for joint mission and ministry," Bjornberg said. "While many ELCA and UMC congregations have cordial relations, I sense this new agreement will provide a clear path toward deeper and more effective witness to our gospel
faith."

Both the ELCA and UMC are reforming movements, one of European origin, one American, "which complement each other in the areas of personal piety, social reform and public witness," Bjornberg said. "Our similarities are many, and our theological
differences are variations on the common theme of God's powerful and transforming grace in Jesus Christ," he added.

The ELCA and UMC have been in formal theological dialogue since 1977, which led to the relationship of Interim Eucharistic Sharing.

The ELCA has five full communion relationships. Full communion partner churches are the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ. If the UMC General Conference adopts the proposal, this will be the first full communion agreement for the UMC outside of the Methodist tradition, McCoid said.

The ELCA is one of 140 churches in the Lutheran World Federation and is the third-largest Lutheran church in the world with 4.8 million members. The United Methodist Church is a worldwide church with nearly 8 million members in the United States.

***

GJ - Note well that the president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, was in awe of Leonard Sweet at a special conference last year. Yes, they taped the love-fest and linked it to their website.

Before that, WELS invited Leonard Sweet to their Church and Change conference. That caused enough turmoil for the conference to be canceled, Church and Change to be utterly destroyed and rooted out forever. That means Church and Change got its own link on the official WELS website and registered people via the WELS website for the last conference. No wonder WELS has a reputation for being harsh, vindictive, and legalistic - but only against confessional Lutherans!

Sweet was the president of the seminary that produced Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the race-bating spiritual mentor of Obama. Sweet's website gushes about Sweet but there is no information about marriage or children. Mrs. Ichabod thinks he is, but I am not sure. Bruce Church reports that Sweet is on his second marriage.

Now that Lutherans have abandoned Luther, the Book of Concord, the efficacy of the Word, and the Means of Grace, they might as well be in full communion with anything and anyone in robes.

Rev. A. Nony Mouse Revealed?

Mission Impossible Mouse

My informant from the ELS has identified Rev. Roger Kovaciny as A. Nony Mouse.

He is speculating, because Mouse does not have the courage to identify himself.

I had several candidates in mind, but my source has some key points to support his case:

1. "Kovaciny is a coward."
   
   
2. Kovaciny is famous for mindless pursuit, once he has a target. One WELS pastor told me years ago, "If Kovaciny has not viciously attacked you, you are nothing in WELS." At one point he was ordered by the DP to stop writing to me and about me. Later he started again with emails. I kept forwarding the emails to ELS President George Orvick and the WELS SP. The emails stopped.
   
   To which I might add:
   
   
3. Mouse has trouble with basic facts, which is typical of Kovaciny.
   
   
4. Mouse is very anti-anti-Church Growth. He was Floyd Luther Stolzenburg's finger puppet in Columbus and raised money at Floyd's Masonic Church Growth hive (Emmanuel) when he was working for Thoughts of Faith. Kovaciny had Jay Webber's and John Shep's approval. I always wondered if those poor Ukrainians would have named their church Emmanuel if they had known the truth about Stolzenburg. The ELS and WELS did, but all you have to do with them is drag a $100 bill through the Love Shack and they will declare, "He's orthodox!"
   
   
5. Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Phillip B. Giessler, Litt.D.":
   
   Wow. If it wasn't for Herman Otten and his rag, no one would know who Greg Jackson is. Now you're even biting the hand that made you. Sad.
   
   That is typical Kovaciny.

I doubt whether the real Mouse will reveal himself. I know some of LutherQuest (sic) posters get into a rant whenever they are low on their meds. One of the many Bailing Water editors was accused of being "Greg Jackson" (horrors) when he said something mildly critical of WELS. He thought that was funny. So did I.

Some of the UOJ fanatics on LQ fulminate at the mention of my name. One blocked a congregational donation to Christian News because the paper was still publishing my material. "Expelled"? Who'da thought!

Expelled - The Ben Stein Movie

I have been watching the Intelligent Design debate for a number of years. The anti-religious see ID as a stalking horse for Christianity, a ruse to fool the rubes into thinking they are scientists. Recently, a college student loudly declared that to be a fact in my class.

"Expelled" deals with the effort of modern science to stop all debate and discussion of Intelligent Design. Therefore, the movie is more about modern science than ID itself.

The Man
Ben Stein and I go back many decades. When I used to read Time magazine cover-to-cover, I often found articles about his late father, the economist for Richard Nixon, Herb Stein. (I shook Nixon's hand once, at Moline International Airport, but that is another story.) When Herb died, I sent Ben a letter of condolence via email. He wrote back. Another time I praised his review for "Borat," which gave me even more reasons to avoid the movie. Once again, Ben wrote me, even though I simply posted my comments in the letter section of a website.

I was reading Ben's stories in American Spectator in the 1980's. They are running commentaries on society, lack of thankfulness, his family, and his Hollywood career. Stein became famous for his "Buhler, Buhler, anyone?" satire of teaching in "Ferris Buhler's Day Off," a classic comedy. His TV show, "Win Ben Stein's Money," showed how the emotional side of Stein when he was losing his own money over trivia tests. He went to Columbia University and Yale Law, where he was valedictorian. Stein is rare for being a well known media talent and a genuine intellectual. Most actors have not graduated from college and only think they know everything. Stein is well trained in law, history, and economics.

The Movie
Expelled begins with titles taken from black and white films of the Berlin Wall. The credits are cleverly "painted" on the Wall. This theme becomes important, but appears rather mysterious at the beginning of the film.

Stein is the narrator, pretending to be a lot more innocent than he is about intellectual issues. This style is quite effective, because he asks important questions instead of debating with scientists. He lets them make their points and encourages them to communicate their philosophy.

The Movement
ID is not necessarily religious. Scientists have had to face the extreme shallowness of Darwin and the infinite complexity of Creation at the same time. Some say that nano-technology has made them face the design features of the living cell. Others claim that scanning electron micro-scopes have revealed an elegance to micro-structures impossible to deny.

Science is never going to prove or disprove Creation. The film is very good in avoiding that trap. We should be thankful that Stein, one of the writers, is a Jew rather than a Calvinist. The film shows how the atheistic and the ID views are two different philosophies engaging the same set of facts. At one point my favorite theme is expressed in different words - reality is a net we use to hold the facts. Primitives in Africa see a silver dart in the sky and see it as tiny, strange thing. A Westerner sees the same moving dart and says, "About 60 people are on that jet."

Darwin
"Expelled" does not try to run Darwin into the ground. People try to make Darwinism fail with personal attacks against the man. Darwin was trained in theology, but he was also highly regarded as a scientific observer. He did not invent evolution. He longed to be famous. His famous book told people just what they wanted to hear at a time when Christianity was losing its hold on Europe. The Origin of Species was a watershed in science. Instead of Creation being normative for science, evolution became normative for science and mainline religion. Darwin is carved in stone on Riverside Church in NYC, the liberal congregation funded by John D. Rockefeller.

Atheism
"Expelled" is good at portraying the atheism of leading scientists. Dawkins is the most prominent. Atheism is not indifference about religion but a genuine hatred of all religion as dangerous. The Humanist Manifesto, I and II, makes this clear. Atheists have trouble calling themselves atheists. They prefer to be called scientists and humanists.

Evolutionists see religion behind ID. Robert Jastrow (not mentioned in the film) was quoted in Yale Divinity's magazine as saying, "Evolution is like claiming a tornado went through a junkyard and produced a working model of a Boeing 747 jet." Jastrow is a famous astrophysicist and not religious.

Scientists and journalists have been expelled from their jobs for harboring kind thoughts about ID, even for mentioning ID in the classroom. The extent of this should not surprise anyone acquainted with Pope John the Malefactor, the Wisconsin Synod, or Kieschnick. Stein seemed to be genuinely astonished at the extent of the persecution.

Hitler and Sanger
Evolution, abortion, and genocide go together like Church Growth, Waldo Werning, and David Valleskey.

One of the best features of this film is the clear connection between evolution and "genetic purity." The Nazis loved evolution and used Darwinian concepts to promote their policies. Killing the infirm and feeble-minded was one of their programs, graphically shown.

Margaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood. She spoke to the KKK (famous photo) because they loved her teaching. PP is the biggest abortion provider in the US. ELCA pays for clergy family abortions, but that does not bother WELS, the ELS, or Missouri. Government-funded abortions have carried out Sanger's dream of eliminating as many Blacks in America as possible. Either Dear Abby or Ann Landers (sisters) advocated abortion on demand to reduce the cost of welfare.

ELCA goes to court to suppress the teaching of ID and Creation. The mainline denominations have been wonderful in supporting Darwinism. The Church of Rome accepts a blended view of Darwinism - evolution until man had a soul.

The Wall
The captivating film develops the Berlin Wall theme by showing how we must build a wall between the facts and the concept of ID, to be acceptable to modern science. Although the film moves along quickly, it also seems much longer than it is because of all the information provided.

If I get a chance I will post a few quotations on this issue from my ready-to-go database (L. Olson), Megatron.

Mrs. Ichabod and I seldom go to a movie without our grandchildren. This movie is worthwhile for everyone to see. Do not be surprised if some scientists are there in the audience. They are the ones with paper bags over their heads.

Cantate - The Fourth Sunday after Easter

Cantate, The Fourth Sunday After Easter

Live Lutheran Worship Service, Sundays, 8 AM, Phoenix Time

The Hymn #250
The Invocation p. 15
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual James 1:16-21
The Gospel John 16:5-15
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #199
The Sermon

Of Sin, Because They Believe Not on Me

The Hymn vss 1-4 #315
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn (Luther) #261

The flowers on the altar, donated by Mrs. Norma Boeckler, are given in memory of Henry Ellenberger, who died at the age of 95.

KJV James 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

KJV John 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst through Thy Son promise us Thy Holy Spirit, that He should convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: We beseech Thee, enlighten our hearts, that we may confess our sins, through faith in Christ obtain everlasting righteousness, and in all our trials and temptations retain this consolation, that Christ is Lord over the devil and death, and all things, and that He will graciously deliver us out of all our afflictions, and make us forever partakers of eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Of Sin, Because They Believe Not on Me

This is one of the most important Gospel texts in the entire church year. Some pastors complain about preaching from the one year historic texts, the same ones used by Martin Luther year after year, so these modern ministers with all the benefits of research, computers, Bible software, and the Internet, say they need a three-year cycle of readings, following the Church of Rome and ELCA. Of course, they often do not preach on these texts very adequately either. Many conservative Lutheran pastors want ELCA to do their homework for them and buy ELCA sermon books! That’s like asking the Mafia to explain the legal system – and following their advice.

Why is this text so important? This passage tells us in one verse what the Holy Spirit will do. The world is filled with books about the working of the Holy Spirit. Everyone seems to have an opinion without consulting the Holy Spirit Himself. The Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit. To use the analogy of one pope, the Gospel has two natures, the human nature of the author and the divine nature of the Holy Spirit, and yet it is without error or contradiction. We should listen to these simple words with complete confidence that God is speaking to us through the Fourth Gospel, accurately transmitting the words of Christ about the future work of the Holy Spirit.

Also, if we have problems with the text, we should ask that the Holy Spirit inform our reason with faith in the Scriptures, and not judge the Word of God with our human reason.

These are the key verses:
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

“Reprove” the world is a little old-fashioned. We are more likely to say “convict” the world. It is more than simply accusing or indicting the world. The Holy Spirit will bring judgment against the world for its unbelief.

I would like to digress on this topic a little. Notice that God Himself is judging on the basis of unbelief. Many false teachers and their fellow-travelers will say, “I do not believe all of the Scriptures, and I interpret them my way, but that is fine, because I am doing good work. Christians do not have the time and energy to agree on doctrine. It is better for them to work together and be tolerant of minor differences in belief.” This feeble excuse is nonsense. Man may say it does not matter if people deny baptismal grace, or the Real Presence, or the efficacy of the Word, but God does not tolerate and overlook doctrinal indifference.

The passage destroys any notion that the main issue in God’s judgment is whether we are good people. This plea is common among those who have no belief. For instance, in a Biography show about the Rat Pack, the head of the Atlantic City mafia was defended because “he was the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.” To be in the Mafia, he had to be a killer who also ordered the murder of opponents. Similarly, Frank Sinatra was also defended as someone who was kind and gentle, although he would “throw you out the window and over the roof if you were on his bad side.” Today we often hear that false teachers are “nice guys.” As more than one pastor has said, “He is not a false teacher; he is a nice guy.” The opposite of false teacher is “orthodox teacher” and not “nice guy.”

The movement called Pietism was very devious in getting people to measure others in terms of outward characteristics rather than upon what they believed and taught. We live in a country and an age largely defined this way and not according to God’s Word. The Pietists say, “We have to overlook his attacks against God’s Word because he works hard and he is a nice guy.” The proper attitude is, “We will overlook his human frailty because he believes in the Word and teaches only in harmony with it.”

Not surprisingly, the self-styled nice guys make sure that the orthodox are driven away, silenced, and shunned as lepers for being “unloving, divisive, and judgmental.” But here in this text, God does the judging and His judgment is final, even if man messes around for a period of time.

When the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, because it does not believe, God is saying, “Give away billions of dollars. Work among the poor. Establish quotas. Endow foundations. All of this is sin without faith in Christ. The more upright you are in your own eyes, the more sinful you will be, even if the entire world admires you. However, if you believe in Christ, your sins will be erased and forgotten. Then everything done in faith will glorify God.”

The campaign against faith has been stepped up lately. In the secular world, all faith (Judaism included) is interpreted as hatred, insensitivity, and narrow-mindedness. In the visible Church, the same attitude prevails. Someone who persistently argues for the Word of God will find himself shunned as an unloving bigot.

Notice what a difference there is. In the eyes of the unbelieving world, excessive public charity is the only virtue, especially when it is trumpeted around through paid flacks. (Note to English user: flak is a hostile response, based upon the acronym for the German anti-aircraft “kanon.” A flack is a public relations professional.) The news media will never take notice of the woman who drives a school bus, cares for her mother with old age dementia, takes care of her children, and helps others. Nor should we expect unbelievers to honor what God honors. We should only smile that the most virtuous public servants of this age—Ted Turner and Jane Fonda—could barely remain on the same stage with each other, even though it was the love of their lives when they first married. Be silent with your doubts. No pair has done more for the United Nations, the Viet Cong, and cellulite than Ted and Jane. Ted lost his faith when his sister died of lupus, so he tells us. God’s Word teaches us that all of his public charity is a sin because it is done without faith. Now Ted is going to cure the world of malaria, with help from mainline denominations.

Faith is not such a small thing, because God teaches us that only faith matters. Faith receives the power of God in His Gospel promises. Those promises are fruitful in the life of the believer. We do not need to measure or plan, only to enjoy the abundance of the Means of Grace.

Recently, someone said I was the strangest gardener he had ever seen at work. He said to a visitor, “He plants all kinds of seed altogether all over the place.” I admit to sowing seed according to Mark 4 rather than Martha Stewart. And yes, I carved a shallow row and throw all kinds of seed together. I had hundreds of sunflowers blooming outside the chapel, zinnias in bloom all over the yard, scarlet runner beans climbing the pool fence, followed by warty gourds. This is exactly how a believer bears fruit in his daily life. In spite of all the problems that arise, faith in Christ yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Look at the Epistle for today.

James 1:21 - and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.


The Word is engrafted and able to save our souls. That is one of the classic passages of James, used often among Lutherans, to show how the Word works. When two plants are grafted together, as we see with hybrid roses, the two become one. Hybrid roses are grafted onto wild rose roots because the roots are considered stronger and hardier. No one says, “That is a Peace roses,” but “That is a Peace rose.” We seldom think about the graft itself, but the purpose is to blend the characteristics together. “Receive with meekness” is another way of saying – Believe in the Word of God.

Many people rebel against the Word and say, “I don’t believe that passage.” That is not believing with meekness. They seldom think that is the first step in rejecting the Word altogether. Rationalism—explaining the Word of God, based on human reason—is another step in that direction. A rationalistic explanation of Jesus walking on water is that He knew where the sand bars were. Another one is that He knew the secret passage into the locked room where the disciples were, a subtle rejection of the Two Natures of Christ.

Pastors reject the efficacy of the Word when they refuse to oppose the enemies of the Gospel. They think God will abandon them and leave them without material means to live, so they go along with apostate trends and say nothing. Soon enough, no one believes anything. Many of us have seen this happen in 50 years. What was normal in all Lutheran churches would be grounds shunning (or worse) today – using the liturgy, singing the Lutheran hymns, reciting the Creeds, studying Luther.

Fruit does not mean apple or orange in the Bible, but “yield”. A plant fruits when the flower gives way to the seed or seed pod. The fruit may be grain, vegetables, or rose hips. The Gospel promises always produce a yield that we can anticipate in some way but never determine for ourselves. We can be confident in the results coming along, but never in how God will apportion them or when He will distribute them. Missionaries have worked in pagan lands to convert one single person to Christ in a lifetime of work. Who are we to speed up results by telling unbelievers, as one Fuller professor of missions did, “You may not be able to believe or accept the atonement of Christ. And that’s ok.” (Why pay a supposed Christian to reinforce unbelief by teaching unbelief as a virtue?)

Therefore, when the Holy Spirit convicts someone of unbelief, (Law preaching), He is paving the way for the Gospel. This is what happened to the wife of the founder of Fuller Seminary. Mrs. Fuller was a proud, virtuous Unitarian. Her friend used the Word of God to slay her unbelief and plant faith in the Gospel. It happened all at once and it still gives me goose-bumps. If only the Lutheran graduates of Fuller Seminary could state their confidence in the Word alone as beautifully as Grace Fuller did.

"Mrs. Barnhill looked at me and said, with such a loving look in her gray eyes, 'Oh, Grace, Christ said, 'No man cometh unto the Father but by Me,' and, my dear, you have no way of approach to a holy God unless you come through Christ, His Son, as your Saviour.' "The Scripture which she quoted," Mrs. Fuller continues, "was the Sword of the Spirit, and at that moment Unitarianism was killed forever in my heart. I saw the light like a flash and believed at that moment, though I said nothing. She had quoted God's Word, the Spirit had used it, and, believing, I instantly became a new creation in Christ Jesus. She might have talked and even argued with me about it, but instead she just used the Word."
J. Elwin Wright, The Old Fashioned Revival Hour and the Broadcasters, Boston: The Fellowship Press, 1940, p. 54. [Old man Fuller founded the seminary. His son turned liberal while studying under Karl Barth. And now the school is as Unitarian as Grace Fuller was before her conversion.]

The second phrase seems to be strange and needs some study. I have to admit that I look this passage up every year, so I understand what Luther saw in the text. The Holy Spirit speaks very plainly and clearly to us, but there are just enough difficulties to make us study the text and become very sure of the Word in time, as long as we approach the Scriptures with humility and a willingness to learn.

Second phrase:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Conviction still governs this phrase. In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying, “You thought THAT was righteousness. No, I tell you, THIS is righteousness.” So what is this righteousness – that Jesus is going to the Father and will be seen no more. As Luther explains, this phrase is a reference to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. The preaching of the resurrection of Christ was the foundation of the apostolic Church. The eyewitnesses of the crucifixion and burial of Christ said, “No, He is dead.” The apostles were those who witnessed the risen Christ. They said, “We have seen Him risen from the dead. He is the Savior and the true Son of God.” In this sense the resurrection of Christ was for us and not for Him. His empty tomb proclaimed to them and still teaches us that death has no dominion over the believer. So we see the complete meaning of Romans 4:24-25, which is often misinterpreted today by advocates of Kokomo justification (forgiveness without faith; the world absolved of sin without the Means of Grace):

KJV Romans 4:24 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.

“If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.” The righteousness of God is imputed or charged to our account if we believe in Him and His resurrection. There is a common test for this today. Most mainline or liberal theologians do not believe in the resurrection, deny its importance, and desire to teach us their wisdom. They do not receive forgiveness because they do not believe and work hard to murder souls through their false doctrine.

In contrast, whenever the resurrection of Christ is taught, people believe in Him and receive the declaration of forgiveness. Therefore, Jesus is raised for our justification.

The third phrase may also stump people a little - 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

We seem to hear two messages. One is that Satan is the prince of this world.

KJV Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Satan is called the Prince of this world three times in John. He does rule over this world, but he is also condemned and defeated. A defeated and cornered army group can still fight back and do enormous damage. In fact, that has often happened at the end of a war, when the fighting gets more furious simply because the end is near.

Satan was defeated through the cross and resurrection of Christ, but he still has some time to work his will on earth before the end. To use an expression from Revelation, he is tethered, like a horse, on a short rope, but dangerous still. I knocked on a door when a guard dog was tied to a chain. I didn’t worry. The chain obviously did not reach where I was. The dog snarled madly nearby. But he also knew how to stretch the confining chain enough to connect with my leg. He was limited in his work but not harmless.

So we should take Satan, not as all powerful but still as ready and willing to capture a few more souls before his work is done. The fury and success of his work now should warn and comfort us. It is a warning that he will leave no believer alone. It is a comfort because his time is drawing to a close.

The Holy Spirit works to teach us these lessons in a clear, plain manner, so that anyone with an elementary reading ability can study the Gospel of John. At the same time, the Gospel is so profound that any scholar can spend a lifetime with the Gospel and never complete his learning from the Word.

KJV John 3:16 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.

Chemnitz Quotations
But when we are speaking of the subject itself, it is certain that the doctrine of gracious reconciliation, of the remission of sins, of righteousness, salvation, and eternal life through faith for the sake of the Mediator is one and the same in the Old and in the New Testament. This is a useful rule which we must retain at all costs: The doctrine, wherever we read it, in either the Old or New Testament, which deals with the gracious reconciliation and the remission of sins through faith for the sake of God's mercy in Christ, is the Gospel."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 459.

"Therefore God, 'who is rich in mercy' [Ephesians 2:4], has had mercy upon us and has set forth a propitiation through faith in the blood of Christ, and those who flee as suppliants to this throne of grace He absolves from the comprehensive sentence of condemnation, and by the imputation of the righteousness of His Son, which they grasp in faith, He pronounces them righteous, receives them into grace, and adjudges them to be heirs of eternal life. This is certainly the judicial meaning of the word 'justification,' in almost the same way that a guilty man who has been sentenced before the bar of justice is acquitted."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 482. Ephesians 2:4

"Yet these exercises of faith always presuppose, as their foundation, that God is reconciled by faith, and to this they are always led back, so that faith may be certain and the promise sure in regard to these other objects. This explanation is confirmed by the brilliant statement of Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:20: 'All the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen, to the glory of God through us,' that is, the promises concerning other objects of faith have only then been ratified for us when by faith in Christ we are reconciled with God. The promises have been made valid on the condition that they must give glory to God through us."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 495. 2 Corinthians 1:20

"Therefore this apprehension or acceptance or application of the promise of grace is the formal cause or principle of justifying faith, according to the language of Scripture."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 502.

"We must note the foundations. For we are justified by faith, not because it is so firm, robust, and perfect a vritue, but because of the object on which it lays hold, namely Christ, who is the Mediator in the promise of grace. Therefore when faith does not err in its object, but lays hold on that true object, although with a weak faith, or at least tries and wants to lay hold on Christ, then there is true faith, and it justifies. The reason for this is demonstrated in those lovely statements in Philippians 3:12: 'I apprehend, or rather I am apprehended by Christ' and Galatians 4:9: 'You have known God, or rather have been known by God.' Scripture shows a beautiful example of this in Mark 9:24: 'I believe; help my unbelief.'"
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 503. Philippians 3:12; Galatians 4:9; Mark 9:24.

"For we are not justified because of our faith (propter fidem), in the sense of faith being a virtue or good work on our part. Thuse we pray, as did the man in Mark 9:24: 'I believe, Lord; help my unbelief'; and with the apostles: 'Lord, increase our faith,' Luke 17:5."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 506 Mark 9:24; Luke 17:5.

"But because not doubt but faith justifies, and not he who doubts but he who believes has eternal life, therefore faith teaches the free promise, which relies on the mercy of God for the sake of the sacrifice of the Son, the Mediator, and not on our works, as Paul says in Romans 4:16: 'Therefore it is of faith, that the promise might be sure according to grace.'"
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 507. Romans 4:16

"Thus when we say that we are justified by faith, we are saying nothing else than that for the sake of the Son of God we receive remission of sins and are accounted as righteous. And because it is necessary that this benefit be taken hold of, this is said to be done 'by faith,' that is, by trust in the mercy promised us for the sake of Christ. Thus we must also understand the correlative expression, 'We are righteous by faith,' that is, through the mercy of God for the sake of His Son we are righteous or accepted."
Melanchthon, Loci Communes, “The Word Faith.” Cited in Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. p. 489.

Phillip B. Giessler, Litt.D.

Phillip B. Giessler, previously a Missouri Synod pastor, previously the Major Domo of the Beck Bible revision boondoggle, previously married twice, is Otten's expert on Creation.

Otten said on the phone, "Phil Giessler was here the other day with his wife."

I said, "His third wife?"

Otten sputtered, "Third?"

I reminded him - "You said he left his first wife for his mistress and his putative son, when his wife made him choose. After he excommunicated himself and left Missouri, he ran out of money. You told me his second wife left him and told him the boy was not his. That would mean the wife he brought in was either a reconciliation or a third wife."

Otten, in a voice of wonder, "You are right!"

The GOP set a new record by having three presidential candidates with three wives: Gingrich (always in the wings), Thompson, and The Mayor. That is bad enough, but when the clergy are sporting their new wives, why should anyone pay attention to them?

God instituted marriage by His command. One indication of people accepting this as natural law is the world-wide institution of marriage. I got one man to marry the mother of his three children by saying, "If you love the Word of God, you will marry the mother of your children. Otherwise you are telling your daughters that you despise the Word." That truly shocked him. The Word fell on him like a boulder and crushed his pretensions. He asked to be married and to take instructions in the faith.

When someone pretends to teach the Word and violates the Word at the same time, he is leading by example - bad example.

I teach hundreds of college students each year. Most of the women are divorced or never married. The new line is, "We are married five years, together eight." Or, "I am in a new relationship." If I tell them I have been married 39 years in November, they gasp as if I told them I swallowed gravel for breakfast each day.

We should not wonder that things are going downhill fast when Christian News takes no notice of the serial monogamy of its writers. The guard dog has become a lap dog.

***

GJ - Don W. thought Senator Fred Thompson had only one marriage. According to Wikipedia and other sources, his wives include:
1. Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey (when he ws 17). To his credit, he married the mother of his child and worked his way through school.
2. Jeri Kehn, whom he met in a grocery store line.

I thought he had three wives, so the average between Don's figure and mine is correct.

Famous WELS Theologian Wins Award

Martin Marty (above) lectured on Martin Marty the Abbot (left) at St. Meinrad's.


ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 7, 2008


CHANTILLY, Va. (ELCA) -- The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) presented the Rev. Martin E. Marty, Chicago, with a special Wilbur Award for promoting open, public discourse on religion. Marty, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was honored April 5 during a banquet closing the RCC's 79th annual convention.

A graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Marty earned a doctorate in 1956 from the University of Chicago. He served as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Ill., and Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Elk Grove Village, Ill., before joining the University of Chicago faculty.

***

GJ - Mrs. Ichabod is motioning to me again. She can read the screen across the room.

Oh? Martin Marty is ELCA? But he spoke to WELS about evangelism in Florida. He was invited to Wisconsin Lutheran College to be the featured speaker there. How could WELS listen to an ELCA theologian?

Mrs. Ichabod started naming names: Archbishop Weakland, Kent Hunter, Waldo Werning (a cheap shot), and Leonard Sweet!

I guess the unit concept of fellowship in WELS is a wee bit disintegrated, except in the PR department.

What's that, Mrs. I? Yes, I attended the Martin Marty lectures at Notre Dame. But I was in the LCA at that time. So was Marty. Unit fellowship, Mrs. I.

Krister Stendahl Died

Pictured above: Krister Stendahl (l.), Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza, the Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity at Harvard, (top); John Stendahl, ELCA pastor, (center right).

Krister Stendahl, ELCA, former bishop in Sweden, former dean of Harvard Divinity, died at the age of 86, on April 15.

Stendahl spoke at Yale Divinity when I was there for an STM. He used Paul to teach that we should not convert the Jews. Abraham Malherbe, NT professor, said afterwards, "To the Jew first, then the Gentiles."

Krister's son John, now an ELCA pastor, lived down the hall from us. We heard a few interesting Stendahl stories. They changed into swimsuits on an American beach, Swedish style. Mrs. Stendahl got herself arrested for offending the locals as she changed. The Stendahls were home nudists, no matter who the guests were, so they surprised a few people.

Krister seemed to speak at every theological or cultural convocation. The Lutheran magazine reported his statements. Newspapers followed him faithfully. He seemed to pop up at life on other planet conferences and other strange convocations. Krister's more serious topics were women's ordination and Christian-Jewish dialogue. When he went back to be a bishop, he pushed his views and found himself out of a job after a few years. That was quite an accomplishment, to out-liberal the Swedish liberals. Stendahl came back to America to work, at Brandeis.

His son John has remained an ELCA pastor, carrying on the Jewish dialogue tradition. His congregation began with Seminex supporters and is now a Reconciling in Christ partner.

My New Testament professor at Notre Dame, Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenza, is now the Krister Stendahl Professor at Harvard. Her husband Frank is also at Harvard. He wrote an interesting article about Pope Benedict XVI (B16 to Norm Teigen). I took a class from Frank, and Frank knew the current pope quite well.

Elisabeth was quite nice to me, but I ruffled Frank's feathers. (Imagine that.) I quoted Tillich's biography (written by Tillich's friend) in class. Tillich was a pagan as well as a flagrant adulterer. The paganism charge stung Frank because he loved Tillich's theology. So did my doctoral advisor.

Frank had no problem with adulterous theologians. He stated the theory that Karl Barth wrote the big print of the Dogmatics while his mistress wrote the scholarly parts. He taught that Charlotte (the live-in mistress) got honored early in the volumes while Nellie (his long-suffering wife) was mentioned only at the end. He also noted how the Dogmatics dwindled to nothing once Charlotte died. Barth was a Marxist and sent his mistress to the big Communist international meeting.