The Episcopal Church Sues Its Own

Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Schori with the Archdruid of Canterbury. He really is a Druid priest. The expressions tell me that Mrs. Schori got a proper British thrashing.
Episcopal church sues deposed San Joaquin bishop

By Amanda Fehd, Associated Press Writer

Article Created: 04/25/2008 02:04:24 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO _ The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin is suing a deposed bishop who led a secession last year prompted by the church's ordination of women and gays. The diocese said in its lawsuit, filed Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court, that John-David Schofield breached his duties to the church and demanded he turn over diocese property and vacate his offices.

National church leaders removed Schofield as the head of the Fresno-based diocese, after he led parishioners to align themselves with the conservative Province of the Southern Cone, an Argentina-based member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Last month, Jerry Lamb, a bishop loyal to the U.S. church, was elected to head the San Joaquin diocese. Schofield, however, maintains he is an Anglican bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin under the worldwide church.

The U.S. Episcopal Church is also part of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a global fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, but the U.S. province has faced increasing scrutiny for its liberal-leaning stance. Most Anglicans are traditionalists who believe Scripture bars gay relationships.

Lamb said in a statement Friday that there was no other viable way to recover church property but to seek court intervention.

"Regardless of the necessity of proceeding with the litigation, the diocesan leadership and I remain committed to reconciliation with clergy and parishes that are still trying to understand their relationship with the Episcopal Church," Lamb said in the statement. A call to Schofield's office seeking comment was not immediately returned Friday.

The complaint demands that Schofield vacate his Fresno offices, return control of a church investment trust and foundation and return bank and brokerage accounts, money, and financial, historical and property records.

"Defendant Schofield's attempt to divert the Diocese of San Joaquin itself and its property for the use and benefit of another church in violation of the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons breached his fiduciary duties as the Bishop and ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese of San Joaquin," the complaint said.

***

GJ - The issue is who owns the property, who controls the money. Some have left the property and other claims behind. There seems to be a good legal case for the Presiding Bishop having no material claims to any property or money, but she has millions to spend against the dissenters. Individuals congregations have far less money and really hate the tension caused by such actions. Even a departing diocese is going to debate the extent of their legal defense.

Mass Firing of NYT Staff

From Punch to Pinch: read my newspaper or I will cry.

I read the most delightful story about the New York Times getting ready for a mass firing of staff. One version of the story has the Sulzberger family driving the paper's stock price down so they can buy it back and privatize it. They are minority owners but they still have control of the company. That is why the nitwit young editor Pinch (son of Punch) Sulzberger is able to steer the Timestanic into the iceberg at flank speed.

In journalism class we have been studying the newspaper and media market for the last semester. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Strib) is trying an initiative to boost circulation. I predicted it would have no lasting effect.

One factor in newspaper circulation decline is the non-reading lifestyle of younger adults. Reading the Moline Daily Dispatch was a family activity in our home in the 1950's. We also read the Sunday Chicago Tribune or Des Moines Register. Except for church, there was nothing to do on Sunday. Weekday evenings were not filled with events and activities. A common question was, "Who has the paper?" But now, I no longer see the Phoenix morning newspaper in the driveways of my neighbors, who are mostly older.

A more significant factor in newspaper decline is the Left-wing bias of the media. Watergate made journalism glamorous for reformers and gave hippies a chance to mount a podium for decent pay. I try to catch the glance of the pathetic dude promoting Arizona Republic subscriptions at the grocery store. I let the guy ask me about the latest offer, where they include a free truck, a year's worth of gas, a trip to Sweden, and more - all for subscribing to the Arizona Republic for one month. Actually, they did fill gas tanks for free in return for signing up. They give their pitch and I tell them why I will not even use their paper for birdcage liner. Even if I had a bird. Some laugh. Some call out, "Have a nice day."

The Left-wing has captured the denominations as well. Fuller Seminary cleverly got their agenda across by promoting Church Growth while denouncing the Bible as fallible. By training the entire leadership of Protestant America (and some Roman Catholic leaders) they got a unified message of man-centered marketing across. Demanding freedom to be heard in each denomination, they made sure anyone dissenting from their new-old message would be fired, shunned, and slandered. Thus denominations are fading as fast as the New York Times.

ELCA Sponsors You-Remember-the Bible-from-Last-Week Initiative

Your Seminar Leader Is Getting Dressed
ELCA 'Book of Faith' Initiative Gets its 'Opening' Resource

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Diane L. Jacobson likes the analogy, but she doesn't take credit for it. She heard "Opening the Book of Faith: Lutheran Insights for Bible Study" described as the GPS (global positioning system) of the "Book of Faith" initiative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Jacobson, professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., is director of the ELCA initiative. She said Dr. Robert A. Bendiksen, retired professor of sociology and archaeology, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, called the new publication the GPS of the initiative during a recent "faith forum" in the ELCA La Crosse Area Synod.

***

GJ - ELCA must be clawing its way out of the hole dug by the Lavender Mafia. When a denomination has lost its way completely, the worst thing possible is to bring up that long-forgotten norm of faith and treat it as a rabbit's foot.

The efficacious Word will harden the cynical leaders even more and drive the membership away to a place where the Scriptures are honored as the revealed Word of God.

At what point will the Missouri and WELS leaders refuse to participate in unionistic activities with ELCA?

Matthew 7:15-23 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

One Way to Study Luther

I told Mrs. Ichabod, "I can get over 300 books unlocked on CDs from Nelson." She said, "Do you want to buy them?" I laughed at the thought of buying 300+ mediocre books from Thomas A. Nelson.

They have Luther's Works (American Edition) on CDs for $200.

They also have Lenski on CDs for the same price. ELCA let it go out of print, for some reason.

I believe CPH has Gerhard on CD for a decent cost.

I read so much on the computer that I consider reading a real book to be a pleasure. The last thing I would do is start reading Luther on the computer. I told Mrs. I that I would rather get Luther's Sermons on St. John and read them as books. Luther wrote those sermons when he was asked to substitute for someone who did not get back in time. Luther said he would rather garden, but turned out one of the best theological books ever written.

The three best ways to study Christian theology are:
1. Luther.
2. The Book of Concord.
3. Lenski.

I admit that Lenski is not something to pick up and read. However, there is no better guide for troublesome passages.

If someone is brave enough to preach on the historic readings instead of the pope's three-year lectionary, Luther's Sermons (five-volume, Grand Rapids) are superb and a real bargain. That is still my favorite Luther set.

A Roman Catholic priest wrote me to say he still has my Luther set that I gave him. He still reads it all the time. I think he wanted to say he was really a Lutheran at heart. Many Roman Catholics are. I hope I played some role in leading him to the truth. It has not worked with Lutheran leaders - I am sure of that.

Lutheran Bomb Throwers

Bomber Bill Ayers, professor at UIC,
has a wealthy and politically powerful father.
Bill married another bomber, so we have this old, but heart-warming scene of the two bombers with their devil-spawn.

The University of Illinois in Chicago gave Obama's mad bomber pal a cushy teaching job and tenure?

That is not exactly a shocker. For one thing, the most violent radicals come from rich families. After a life on the run, they enjoy the finer things in life. They are all steak-radicals. They want to overthrow society while they continue to eat steak and enjoy a plush vacation home in addition to their tony urban digs.

Secondly, the elite in America are tolerant of the radical Left, often generous in supporting them. They are not so fond of traditional conservatives.

I have seen many examples of a Bill Ayers in the histories of various denominations. Find someone determined to overthrow the denomination's confession and you will find a well-connected father in the background, time after time.

The father is a pledge of fidelity that sonny boy is OK. In denominations, a father in the church business is handy for pulling strings and hiding scandals, too. A few clergy uncles and a rich layman in the background help too.

One famous example is Fuerbringer (go-fer in English, as Tim Buelow once explained to me). The father was a fine pastor, excellent professor, president of Concordia, St. Louis. His two books are excellent little histories of the LCMS. Moreover, the Fuerbringers were related to Walther. Ludwig Fuerbringer was so serious a student that he turned down speaking engagements so he could study more. He mentioned Luther's sermons as the basis for his pastoral counseling. (Imagine that today. The Sausage Factory has students reading Reformed garbage, always cautioning while promoting.)

Eventually, Ludwig's son, nicknamed Fibby, became president of the same institution. What could be better? However, Fibby was the well connected bomb thrower, just the opposite of his father. Fibby installed all the apostates in the school, not without help from other apostates. Soon the whole faculty was full of LCA-types, with only a few exceptions.

Rehwinkel tried to get the old faculty to say something. They muted themselves. Rehwinkel was sent around the world to keep him from "causing trouble." That reminds me of District Pope Robert Mueller saying to me, "You cause trouble everywhere you go." He also said, "You are one of our soundest pastors." Proof that the Word is efficacious.

Fibby did his work well. The LCMS exploded when people found out how expertly he administered the school. There were many other players in the Missouri drama, but Fibby's role was crucial.

Another parallel is David Valleskey's father starting him on the road to perdition with the promotion of Reformed doctrine in the name of evangelism. (Valleskey senior's parish is no more.) When Valleskey joined the Sausage Factory, one WELS observer said, "He will turn WELS upside-down." He did. We also have Wayne Mueller, WELS President-in-Waiting, having his son at Church and Change, the sect's remarkable agency for promoting every doctrine except Luther's. No one is going to dislodge Adam Mueller while daddy works at the Love Shack.

One pastor came back from the WELS convention and told me how Richard Stadler (feminist WELS pastor, pal of Herman Otten's sister Marie Meyer) was conferring with Wayne Mueller and Paul Kelm.

One reader wrote me about Paul Kelm working for Valleskey at Apostles.

When WELS wanted someone to put the stamp of approval on Manufacturing Disciples, the Reformed (NIV) reading of the Great Commission, they turned to the son of a faithful teacher. Mudslide's son promptly moonwalked into the Reformed camp, endorsing a fatuous position.

I have thought of writing a series of biographies: Conservative Fathers, Apostate Sons. However, it would be run to 20 volumes.

Oh-Bomber's Political Connection in ChicagoAn Education Guru at UIC

A tenured and highly paid position is perfect for the unrepentant bomber Bill Ayers, a significant political friend of Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama's Pal - Bombing Our Enemies Was Immoral, But Bombing Our Own Citizens...

Ayers’s spectacular second act began when he enrolled at Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1984. Then 40, he planned to stay just to get a teaching credential. (He had taught in a “Freedom School” during his pre-underground student radical days.) But he experienced an epiphany in a course taught by Maxine Greene, a leading light of the “critical pedagogy” movement. As Ayers wrote later, he took fire from Greene’s lectures on how the “oppressive hegemony” of the capitalist social order “reproduces” itself through the traditional practice of public schooling—critical pedagogy’s fancy way of saying that the evil corporations exercise thought control through the schools.

It hadn’t occurred to Ayers that an ed-school professor could speak or write as an authentic American radical. “There are vast dislocations in industrial towns, erosions of trade unions; there is little sign of class consciousness today,” Greene had proclaimed in the Harvard Education Review. “Our great cities are burnished on the surfaces, building high technologies, displaying astonishing consumer goods. And on the side streets, in the crevices, in the burnt-out neighborhoods, there are the rootless, the dependent, the sick, the permanently unemployed. There is little sense of agency, even among the brightly successful; there is little capacity to look at things as if they could be otherwise.”

Greene told future teachers that they could help change this bleak landscape by developing a “transformative” vision of social justice and democracy in their classrooms. Her vision, though, was a far cry from the democratic optimism of the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr., which most parents would endorse. Instead, critical pedagogy theorists nurse a rancorous view of an America in which it is always two minutes to midnight and a knock on the door by the thought police is imminent. The education professors feel themselves anointed to use the nation’s K–12 classrooms to resist this oppressive system. Thus Maxine Greene urged teachers not to mince words with children about the evils of the existing social order. They should portray “homelessness as a consequence of the private dealings of landlords, an arms buildup as a consequence of corporate decisions, racial exclusion as a consequence of a private property-holder’s choice.” In other words, they should turn the little ones into young socialists and critical theorists.

All music to Bill Ayers’s ears. The ex-Weatherman glimpsed a new radical vocation. He dreamed of bringing the revolution from the streets to the schools. And that’s exactly what he has managed to do.

In record time Ayers acquired an Ed.D. with a dissertation titled “The Discerning ‘I’: Accounts of Teacher Self-Construction Through the Use of Co-Biography, Metaphor, and Image.” There wasn’t much biography, metaphor, or image in the 180-page text. Ayers’s research consisted solely of a few days spent interviewing and observing the classroom practices of three nursery school teachers he knew personally. (In Ayers’s own autobiographical section of the text—de rigueur for Teachers College dissertations—he reminisced about growing up in a wealthy Chicago suburb, about his warm family, and about having been arrested in campus antiwar demonstrations. Of his bomb-making skills or his ten years in the underground he said not a word.)

With his Teachers College credential in hand, Ayers landed an ed-school appointment back in Chicago, where his father was CEO of Commonwealth Edison and nicely plugged in to the city’s political establishment. These days, Ayers carries the joint titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. One of his several books on the moral imperative of teaching for social justice is a bestseller in ed-school courses. Like many other tenured and well-heeled radicals, Ayers keeps hoping for a revolutionary upheaval that will finally bring down American capitalism and imperialism. But now, instead of planting bombs in bathrooms, he has been planting the seeds of resistance and rebellion in America’s future teachers, who will then pass on the lessons to the students in their classrooms.

Future teachers signing up for Ayers’s course “On Urban Education” can read these exhortations from the course description on the professor’s website:

“Homelessness, crime, racism, oppression—we have the resources and knowledge to fight and overcome these things.”

“We need to look beyond our isolated situations, to define our problems globally. We cannot be child advocates . . . in Chicago or New York and ignore the web that links us with the children of India or Palestine.”

“In a truly just society there would be a greater sharing of the burden, a fairer distribution of material and human resources.”

For another course, titled “Improving Learning Environments,” Ayers proposes that teachers “be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, a teacher teaching for social justice and liberation.”

Ichabod Is Read Around the World

B 16 has publicly apologized. When will WELS publicly apologize for Columbus, Ohio? for Tucson? for Grand Rapids? for Watertown?

My technology friends tell me Ichabod is being read around the world, but especially in the states of Wisconsin and California.

I hear from various readers. One was a Roman Catholic and is now joining a truly conservative Lutheran congregation.

Another is Bruce Church, who has interesting blog material he sends my way. This morning I noticed he is giving stuff to Norm Teigen as well. Norm's blog continues to be my daily favorite.

Norm Teigen represents what is being lost (or thrown away) in the Little Sect, WELS, and Missouri. Every organization has its faults, but I believe the old Synodical Conference was once the domain of kind, gentle, orthodox people. The pastors were genuinely self-sacrificing. Some were intellectual giants who labored in obscurity but produced remarkable material.

The apostates took advantage of the trust built up by real churchmen. The apostates used their own nastiness, aggression, and ruthlessness to drive out the earlier leaders and pastors. The single biggest uniting factor has been Church Growth for the last few decades. Other damaging factors are unionism, Pentecostalism, and homosexual liberation.

Whatever is bad is then driven out by what is even worse. ELCA proved that. As bad as the LCA and ALC were in 1987, their synodical officials were considered too conservative to be trusted in the new lavender ELCA. Who created the La Cage ELCA? - the worst offenders of the LCA and ALC. The worst offenders of the past began howling as soon as they were shelved and ridiculed by the new leaders.

I look back at the LCA congregation I joined when I was 16. I left the Disciple of Christ on my own because First Christian in Moline made me ill. (How ironic, since the entire Lutheran Church today is enthralled by a sociologist from the Disciples of Christ, Donald McGavran!) The LCA congregation I joined had only recently been part of the Augustana Synod, part of the LCA merger. The only services we had were liturgical. The sermons were Biblical, not self-help rants.

The Wisconsin Synod did not like the fact that my LCA experience and theological training made me aware of the fraud being perpetrated by the Love Shack and the Sausage Factory. The more they lied, the more research I did. Many documents were sent to me, sometimes anonymously, other times by pastors who lacked the spine to do the work themselves.

Now the ELS, WELS, and Missouri synod members are crying in their beer about the bad leaders they have elected and enabled. They enable these thugs by sending them money, attending their meetings, and apologizing for the crimes committed in the Name of God.

Let me make a comparison. Bill Clinton did not become president and stay president because he was a good leader. He was a farce as Arkansas governor. He was a crashing bore as a speaker. He was far worse than a womanizer and creek-jumper. Every time he fell on his face, people propped him up again. He had powerful international friends already when he was governor of a largely ignored Southern state. When someone that incompetent is put in power and kept in power, it is because of powerful friends.

When you see an adulterous pastor promoted by his pals, it is not because of the wisdom of Holy Mother Synod. It is because of its corruption. That corruption is so entrenched now that the leaders are not even embarrassed over their criminal cover-ups. As soon as anyone gets a peek at what they are hiding, the attacks begin.

If you enjoy Ichabod, you will laugh at the following. A number of people have been falsely accused of being "Greg Jackson." If that is not funny enough, one pastor threatened Holy Mother WELS with sending me the latest WELS theological pratfall. He is no longer a WELS pastor.

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.