"How are you?" said one. "How are you?" said the other. "Well!" said the first. "Old Scratch has got his own at last, hey?" - An illustration from Dicken's Christmas Carol.
The Wisconsin Synod never stops plagiarizing from Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. Their illiterate leaders have managed to insert Satan's nickname into another project. Scratch is an English nickname for Satan. And Jesus called Satan The Father of Lies. That is appropriate, coming from the Church Growth Movement.
Church from Scratch is the rib-tickling name of the WELS website.
Whose name is first to appear on the links page? Paul Kelm - he has written a paper on Christian freedom.
Here are some of the links listed:
General Ministry
http://www.wels.net/
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
http://www.churchandchange.org/
A WELS organization committed to address ministry in contemporary culture. Hosts great conferences and provides ministry ideas on the website.
http://www.crosswalkinlaveen.org/
God is doing some really neat things in the area of small groups, large gatherings, etc, through Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries in Phoenix, AZ.
Messiah Church in Nampa, ID has a neat statement of faith. [GJ - Ichabodians will note that the neat statement of faith was originally written by that anti-CGM pariah, me. But they have tweaked it so that their added words fall harshly on the unwaxed ear. "In an age of materialism, we believe that real treasure comes from our raith in the Savior." Is raith the future pluperfect subjunctive of faith?]
http://www.crossroadschicago.org/aboutus.html
Progressive ministry in the heart of Chicago; also has a great statement of faith.
www.apostlessj.org/Church/MinistriesActivities/ASV.html
Excellent example of a vision for a church plant/daughter congregation.
http://www.marshillchurch.org/
This is Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. From a Calvinistic background. The preaching is excellent and very law/gospel oriented, speaking powerfully to the culture around them. Mark Driscoll is the senior pastor
http://www.xenos.org/
This is Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus, OH. From an evangelical background. A congregation of thousands made up entirely of house churches. Very good mindset material and studies. Great on leadership/eldership.
***
GJ - I attended a Sunday service at Xenos in Columbus. The minister got in the pulpit and talked about himself for 40 minutes before God or the Scriptures were mentioned. The proper verb is mentioned, because the talk had nothing to do with worship, the Christian faith, God, or anything spiritual. The audience cooed and fluttered during the minister's preening, egomaniacal monologue. Not surprisingly, the minister at Community of Joy (Phoenix) gave the same kind of talk with the same results. Willow Creek had a more somber audience but the same baloney. They all sound alike.
Notice the trend, which is just as prominent in the Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic). Apostate Lutherans covet non-Lutherans so passionately that they become anti-Lutheran in thought, word, and deed.
The authors of this bizarre website have bios that remind me of fingernails scratching a blackboard:
Matt Doebler
Matt has served as a parish pastor in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod for the last eight years. After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1997, he was called to St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Collins, WI where he served for four years. In 2001, he accepted a call to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. In the spring of 2006, he accepted a call to assist in planting Christ the Rock Church in Round Rock, TX. He is the proud husband of Christine, a Pilates/fitness instructor who uses her contacts in the fitness world to make connections for Jesus. He is also the proud father of three great kids, Madeline, Samuel and Caleb. They are great assets to him in the ministries into which God has placed him. Matt has been trained as an equipper in the Christ Care program from Stephen Ministries. He and Chris have also participated in the Church Planters training from Acts 29 Network.
[GJ - Acts 29 is a unionistic group, which is seen as a threat to Southern Baptists. That makes sense, because WELS is a unionistic sect, known as a threat to Lutheran doctrine.]
Ken Knapp
Ken retired early from the paper/hydro industries to do more ministry. Historically, he's served in most of the offices of a local congregation. His greatest passion is for nurturing life-long discipleship, and thus he logically serves on the WELS Commission on Adult Discipleship (CAD). Ken envisions a church functioning in our culture with the passion and effectiveness of an "Acts 2" church. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, A Womb to Tomb Guide for Nurturing Faith in and through the Family through the CAD.
GJ - I can think of better, rhyming names for the newest apostasy book -
- From Cell to Sell.
- Have an Itch? - Try Old Scratch!
- Faith without Belief - The Paul Kelm School of Evangelism.
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Comments on this topic, from Bailing Water:
Anonymous said...
It's incredible. One day, blog moderation is disabled, another day it is enabled. What a joke. Make up your mind and decide what it's going to be, because it gives the impression that you weed out comments that hurt your opinions.
June 6, 2008 12:00 AM
John said...
Hey mr. anonymous,
Why don't you start your own blog. You can set your own topics and moderation settings.
There are times when I'm out of town and can't moderate comments. There are also topics that bring out comments that are off topic and not necessary. I guess if you don't like what I'm doing don't come back. (moderation on)
June 6, 2008 12:15 AM
Anonymous said...
Yeah you tell him John. If you can't stand the heat stay out of John's kitchen. Wus
June 6, 2008 5:24 AM
Anonymous said...
I agree Go John!!...it is so funny to see these WELS bots get so irritated and defensive when the truth is pointed out.
June 6, 2008 8:51 AM
Comment deleted
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
June 6, 2008 9:13 AM
Anonymous said...
WELS has discovered a new sin - the sin of turning off the comments when out of town. Have you no shame, Bailing Water?
I had to vent a little.
Bespoke.
June 6, 2008 9:20 AM
Anonymous said...
Isn't that what the WELS does best- invent new sins so that Bailing Water can point them out?
WELS bot
June 6, 2008 10:29 AM
Anonymous said...
WELS bot,
How about we focus on the topic at hand.
What do you think of the church growth churches listed and their influence on the WELS?
June 6, 2008 10:47 AM
Anonymous said...
I think it is shameful. And I believe that the only answer is to give a firm and brotherly admonishment founded on scripture to show why these things are destructive. I believe this is what is being done by people who do not use blogs to do so.
WELS bot
June 6, 2008 11:02 AM
Anonymous said...
The WELS cannot err.
These churches are WELS.
These churches cannot err.
Whirr-buzz-click-click,
WELS bot #4738
June 6, 2008 11:13 AM
Anonymous said...
There are two things that bother me. If WELS is a confessional church - then it should confess. To leave out the name Lutheran in a church title is to try to have it both ways. Second, by leaving out the name Lutheran and using the names like:Crosswalk; Willow Creek, Cornerstone ,etc. you are giving a false impression to those twenty-somethings who assume it is a non-denominational church.
June 6, 2008 11:39 AM
Anonymous said...
Please tell me how the WELS allows this WELS pastor to claim support of these heterodox churches?
June 6, 2008 1:03 PM
Anonymous said...
This pastor from scratch goes unchecked because the WELS is steeped in Church growth methods.
June 6, 2008 10:24 PM
