ObamAbe To Announce VP From Springfield, Illinois

Four score and seven years ago, my father, an Arab polygamist, brought forth, in this nation,
a future president of the United States of America.

Obama's Brother Lives On $1 a Month Income

Change I can believe in? No, I live on pocket change.

Barack Obama's 'lost' brother found in Kenya

Senator Barack Obama's long lost brother has been tracked down for the first time living in a shanty town in Kenya, reports claimed.

By Nick Pisa in Rome
Last Updated: 9:01PM BST 20 Aug 2008

George Hussein Onyango Obama, Senator Barack Obama's long lost brother was tracked down living in a hut on the outskirts of Nairobi Photo: Guy Calaf, Vanity Fair, Italy The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.

"No-one knows who I am," he told the magazine, before claiming: "I live here on less than a dollar a month."

According to Italy's Vanity Fair his two metre by three metre shack is decorated with football posters of the Italian football giants AC Milan and Inter, as well as a calendar showing exotic beaches of the world.

Vanity Fair also noted that he had a front page newspaper picture of his famous brother - born of the same father as him, Barack Hussein Obama, but to a different mother, named only as Jael.

He told the magazine: "I live like a recluse, no-one knows I exist."

Embarrassed by his penury, he said that he does not does not mention his famous half-brother in conversation.

"If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed," he said.

For ten years George Obama lived rough. However he now hopes to try to sort his life out by starting a course at a local technical college.

He has only met his famous older brother twice - once when he was just five and the last time in 2006 when Senator Obama was on a tour of East Africa and visited Nairobi.

The Illinois senator mentions his brother in his autobiography, describing him in just one passing paragraph as a "beautiful boy with a rounded head".

Of their second meeting, George Obama said: "It was very brief, we spoke for just a few minutes. It was like meeting a complete stranger."

George added he was no longer in contact with his mother and said:"I have had to learn to live and take what I need.

"Huruma is a tough place, last January during the elections there was rioting and six people were hacked to death. The police don't even arrest you they just shoot you.

"I have seen two of my friends killed. I have scars from defending myself with my fists. I am good with my fists."

Technorati Tags

Some kind soul told me about Technorati. I discovered this morning how to put another widget on the page, one from Technorati.

Norm Teigen's example challenged me to put videos on the blog.

I appreciate the comments, many of which come by way of email. Various people are doing their own research about what is happening in Lutherdom. I am happy to report what they have found.

Two clues suggest Ichabod is having a positive impact. One clue is the sunnyside up posting I get from time to time. After a huge drink of purple Kool Aid, synod minders buckle down and explain everything away. "Nothing to see here, please move along." The other clue comes from the sulphuric posts and threats I receive. Not to worry, they are even more encouraging. I block most of them because of their poor spelling, atrocious grammar, and mind-numbing repetition. Remember, Sir is spelled s-i-r, not c-u-r, the next time you write a Dear Sir comment.

Pastor Wears a Rob! - at St. Marks, DePere

St. Mark's may be creative, xeroxing the sermons of false teachers, but they are not well prepared. Their website says the pastor wears a rob at one service.

WELS and bad spelling go together, like Werning and Fuller. To be precise, bad spelling and Church Growth go together, like Church and Change. It's your church, but they will change it.

PS - Someone who knows reports that bad spelling and writing are pandemic among the children of the WELS hierarchy. The precious ones get passed for trying and move on up to higher education.

This reminds me of two students arguing which one went to a better college. One said, "We have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter." The other one said, "What's that?"

This actually happened to me -> The Columbus pastors were discussing how some people did not know the difference between the humiliation and the exinination (Latin for humiliation) of Christ. I knew the topic, but I wondered why they used synonymous terms instead of contrasting terms (the two states of Christ - exaltation and humiliation). I looked puzzled, so District VP Kuske said, "That's why ___ is teaching, because he knows the difference." They congratulated themselves on how intellectual they were.

Being ignorant and acting stupid are two ways to get ahead in WELS. John Lawrenz said this problem comes from the brain drain, when the intellectuals left WELS for Missouri. Besides, he noted the Protest'ant Conference (given the Left Foot of Fellowship by WELS) is considered brainy so brains are suspect.

PPS - Googling exinination produced this hilarious example from India:
Private candidates must bring with them proof of their eligibility certificate, marksheet, certificate of passing the qualifying exinination (sic) and a character certificate from a Gazetted Officer along with other documents mentioned in 4,5 and 6.

In WELS they humiliate students after accepting them.

Learn to spell Lutheran corner:

Wels Luthern (sic) Student Center
(605) 692-2201
919 9th Ave, Brookings, SD 57006 Map it | Get directions
Cross Streets: Between 9th St and Harvey Dunn St

St John's Ev Luthern (sic) Church Wels-Pastor's Office
202 8th St W
Hastings, MN 55033

Correction on Mark Schroeder Quotation

I was working on this post when my ready-to-go database, Megatron, found a very old quotation from the WELS SP Mark Schroeder. The article was from TELL, which was WELS' first Church Growth periodical. I decided to use the quotation because the sentence was in the mode of Church Growthers who talk about planning and setting goals, something they got from Management by Objective, a business textbook.

A friend of the Synodical President thought the post took the quotation out of context and presented a harsher picture than was necessary. He actually had the original article, bound in morocco with gold trim and a silk ribbon marker. I am kidding about that.

I apologize for using the quotation out of context and giving that solitary sentence a meaning not intended by the author. Unlike most of my quotations, only one sentence was recorded from that article.

So now I have the entire article, which I wanted to reproduce, but the "save as text" command yielded a blank document. I meant to indicate in the original post that I thought Schroeder was not in that CG crowd. So I find it instructive to read the article, many years later, knowing how many WELS leaders turned their backs on the Means of Grace while chasing the bright, elusive butterflies of Enthusiasm and business marketing (to no avail, I might add).

Here is my brief review of Schroeder's article, which is now 24 years old:

The complete article is more of a critique of Church Growth than anything, subtly using some of their arguments to lead into something else. Back in the 1980s, WELS (late for every fad) was discovering planning, committees, and evangelism programs. Schroeder said, those things are done but not always with good results.

The sentence I objected to is typical CG fare, but that thought was followed by - "But in the Book of Acts evangelism is an effort by all the Christians - a natural result of their faith and joy in Christ."

The final sentence in the article is an implicit statement of the efficacy of the Word: "Let it be said of our church and all of our members - Day by day they never stopped preaching and teaching the good news that Jesus is the Christ."

Some points of explanation:

1. We should never assume something that is not in the text itself. The text is the only thing we know for sure (Nils Dahl, Yale) so we should never turn away from what we know and weave scenarios no one has described in the text. One of my friends at Notre Dame assumed Mary was assumed into heaven since her death is not recorded in the New Testament.
2. Jonah did a lot of planning. He planned a way to escape God's mission, but God sent a storm to stop him and a whale to taxi him to his post. There is something to be said for being organized (counting the cost, as Jesus said) but one should not equate planning with success. I concede that Schroeder did not fall into the Management by Objective mindset in his article, that he moved the reader in the opposite direction.

If Schroeder had been more explicit about the efficacy of the Word rather writing about "planning and consulting" then his article would have been rejected. I heard he was asked to write it. CG types like to have people seem to endorse their fad, to make their illigitimate child look legal. The final sentence of his article is a rejection of CG, but they were too dumb to see that, or they wanted the appearance of an endorsement.

I have read so many CG books and articles that I can tell when someone has studied at Fuller or Willow Creek. Tragicly, Fuller got most of the WELS, LMCS, and ELCA executives trained in their abominations. The Fuller cancer is a doctrinal problem. The cancer must be cut out with the Sword of the Word. That will not be easy for anyone in a teaching or leadership position. The responsibility does not rest with the appointed or elected leaders alone, but with the laity and the pastors.

Too many pastors took the safe route to advancement and muted themselves when they should have objected to false doctrine. Good does not automatically overcome evil, but the strong do overcome the weak, as Luther pointed out. If the confessional Lutherans finally become much stronger, they will win with God's Word.

Mark Schroeder's election, I am told, was a victory for reform in WELS. Some progress has been made, I think. The WELS people I know (pastors and laity) are pleased with his leadership. That support has to be explicit rather than implicit, overt rather than covert.

Coming Soon - More Information on the Bogus Lutheran Clergy Shortage

New mission starts soak up the supply of graduating seminarians.
Mergers and closings of parishes make calls less likely.

From Lutheran Notes:

Apparently, they weren't getting enough sem students based on the old report, so they hyped it even further then when I saw it last. In 1992 is was around 500 vacancies, but in 2008 the report says there are 1155 vacant pastoral positions! The report also says by 2010, 25% of pulpits will be empty. That's surprising given that in 2008 19 graduates at Concordia Sem in St. Louis couldn't be placed right away, and 13 were not placed at the Fort.

***

GJ - Ablaze! is a fizzle. But I know what they are saying in cologne-filled boardrooms across Lutherdom: "We need more Church Growth programs!"

Reunion with Rome

Luke, I am your father!
No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

[On Anglicanism] "Its Articles, Homilies, and Liturgy have been a great bulwark of Protestantism; and yet, seemingly, out of the very stones of that bulwark has been framed, in our day, a bridge on which many have passed over into Rome...It harbors a skepticism which takes infidelity by the hand, and a revised medievalism which longs to throw itself, with tears, on the neck of the Pope and the Patriarch, to beseech them to be gentle and not to make the terms of restored fellowship too difficult."
Charles P. Krauth, The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology, Philadelphia: The United Lutheran Publication House, 1913 (first edition, 1871), p. x.


Traditional Anglican Communion Primate Seeks Union with Rome

Correspondence Revealed Between Rome and TAC

An Exclusive Interview with the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion the Most. Rev. John Hepworth

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
8/12/2008

Virtueonline met with Archbishop John Hepworth near Philadelphia recently. He is on a world trip visiting his constituency. He agreed to be interviewed.

VOL: With negotiations as delicate as they are between the TAC and Rome, why are you prepared to talk to VirtueOnline at this time?

HEPWORTH: There is much inaccurate information about the TAC. I would like to state our position as clearly as I know how to the Anglican and Roman Catholic world. I also want to clear up some misconceptions and misperceptions about the TAC. I chose VOL because I wanted the widest possible circulation. This interview has been cleared with Rome.

VOL: Readers of VirtueOnline are aware that the TAC has petitioned Rome for full sacramental and organic union. As a priest and bishop operating outside the Roman communion, can you describe the process of discernment that led you personally to the conclusion that union with the See of St. Peter was necessary?

HEPWORTH: Yes. The process began with ARCIC and the derailment of ARCIC over the ordination of women even back in the time of Pope Paul VI. He warned the Archbishop of Canterbury that it was a great obstruction to unity. The catholic part of the Anglican Communion had invested much time and optimism in a process towards organic unity. The Continuing Anglican movement - the Affirmation of St. Louis - determined positively to continue that process even though the Anglican Communion refused to continue it. The Affirmation was agreed to affirm the catholic truths about the sacraments and other basic catholic doctrines.

VOL: Can you describe the process of discernment through which the TAC as a body was led to the same conclusion?

HEPWORTH: The TAC, 20 years ago at its formation, determined the pathway of St. Louis and determined in the first place that for the catholic ecclesiastical movement in the West to continue down the patriotic and biblical pathway was to discern truth in communion with the See of Peter. We have pursued communion with Rome as the source of unity in the church way and the biblical way as truth is affirmed.

VOL: What do you see as the possible responses from Rome to your petition, and how would the TAC respond to each one?

HEPWORTH: Our letter (see below) in fact was both as Rome and we have understood it. It is a petition for full communion especially Eucharistic communion in Christ with the See of Rome. In fact, the letter reminds the Holy See of the advice we were given 18 years ago with the counsels of Christian unity and it makes a series of statements about the faith of our bishops in whose teaching authority resides and asks the Holy See in the light of that what our course should be now. We are awaiting what their advice should be. I see a number of stages including a period of discernment which we are happy to accept.

VOL: Contacts in the Roman Catholic Church have suggested that for your move towards Rome to succeed, strong ties at local levels between TAC bishops and Roman Catholic bishops need to be forged. Do you have a program in place to do this?

HEPWORTH: Yes. The program necessarily differs from place to place. There are places where we exist on equal terms, that is where Romans and Anglicans are equal. In other places where there is virtually no Roman Catholic presence such as Torrres Strait and parts of Africa where mission territories were divided. The program is essentially where the bishops develop strong personal friendships and that is happening. The parishes develop joint programs with local Catholic parishes and that is happening. Thirdly, the acceptance of our ordination candidates to study in Catholic institutions and, most daringly, the forming of joint TAC Roman Catholic religious orders, one of which has preliminary acceptance by the Vatican.

VOL: Contacts in the Roman Catholic Church have suggested that the statements issued by you in acceptance of Roman Catholic dogma are weak on the primacy and infallibility of the Pope. How would you respond?

HEPWORTH: In the paragraph, "we accept the ministry of the Bishop of Rome" and the quote from Vatican II and from John Paul II's encyclical to the separated churches is sufficient indication that we are accepting contemporary statements of Catholic Doctrine and he explicitly made that statement ex cathedra.

Secondly we signed the catechism of the Catholic Church which includes contemporary Catholic teaching on the papacy and we state in the letter we signed that we accepted this as the most perfect statement of Catholic faith in the world at the present time and that it is the faith we "aspire to hold and teach."

VOL: It has been reported that at the gathering of all TAC bishops in England last October at which the TAC formally petitioned Rome for union, that all the bishops signed a copy of the Roman Catholic Catechism on the altar as an expression of their complete acceptance of Roman Catholic dogma and doctrine. Others have reported that this was not the case, that they signed the petition to Rome but not the Catechism. Did the bishops all sign the Catechism, and is there complete acceptance by the TAC of Roman Catholic dogma and doctrine?

HEPWORTH: First. We not only signed the catechism, we also signed the compendium which is the Q & A section of the catechism on the altar and a video of the signing was made for the Holy See and we state in the letter that it is the faith we aspire to hold and teach. We all signed it on that altar in the middle of a mass for Christian unity.

VOL: To what extent is the TAC reaching out to other "continuing churches" to try to achieve unity among the largest possible number of continuing Anglicans prior to union with Rome?

HEPWORTH: We have made public the fact of our engagement with Rome and our desire for unity for just on 18 years since our first official visit to the Vatican. This fact has been more a matter of contest among the other continuing churches than of a growing together. We stated in our last meeting in the Vatican that we wish to place no lines in the sand. We sought their advice on what we need to do to achieve unity rather than setting out an agenda for doctrinal debate. My own belief is that this separates us at the moment from other continuing churches. Our decision has been to pursue unity with Rome in the first instance and to gather those Anglican groups inside and outside the process as it continues.

VOL: To what extent has the TAC found support among local Roman Catholic bishops and to what extent has the TAC found itself rebuffed or put off by Roman Catholic bishops? Can you cite examples?

HEPWORTH: Initially, we found less enthusiasm than we would have expected and the question frequently asked is, why don't we do this as individuals? We have patiently explained the failure of recent large scale individual movements to Rome such as in England and Australia in the 1990's when many priests went to Rome and then returned to Anglicanism. They were disillusioned at the local level. We believe in a corporate engagement with mutual support that would be the most successful pathway forward. Increasingly, we have found significant support from Roman Catholic bishops. For instance, the president of the Australian Bishops Conference has indicated support. Several cardinals have indicated their support. A number of local Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S., such as the Archbishop of Colorado, have publically indicated support.

VOL: Several Roman Catholic sources have indicated that the TAC will not be able to achieve the status of a Uniate church, but that some form of Personal Prelature might be a possibility, provided that the prelate assigned jurisdiction over the Prelature is one chosen by Rome from among existing Roman Catholic bishops. Would the TAC find this acceptable? –and if so, do you have an idea of which existing Roman Catholic bishops you would most like to see holding the Prelature?

HEPWORTH: First we have carefully avoided using the word uniate because it specifically refers to a process in the Eastern Church which is not a parallel in the situation in the West. Secondly, in our meetings with the Holy See we have been asked not to narrow the discussion by alluding only to those possibilities in contemporary canon law. Thirdly, it is only proper that we await the reply of the Holy See and our bishops give it careful consideration. We have the opportunity as we have promised to discuss the Holy See's response to our general synods of our national churches around the world.

VOL: You are aware of the pontifical Pastoral Provision that governs acceptance of formerly Episcopal clergy and faithful in the American Roman Catholic Church in a form that allows them to continue familiar Anglican liturgical practices and build "Anglican Use" parishes. These parishes must operate under the jurisdiction of the local Roman Catholic diocese within whose boundaries they are located. Several Roman Catholic sources have suggested that the way in which Rome may respond to the TAC's petition will be to extend the Pastoral Provision globally. If this were done, the TAC would not come into communion with Rome as a body, but as individual parishes being absorbed into the existing Roman Catholic Structure. Would the TAC find this acceptable? Why or why not?

HEPWORTH: I have strongly indicated that this would be unlikely to work whether we accept it or not. Because very few Catholic bishops have, up until now, been prepared to implement such a scheme and it has no presence outside of the U.S. and therefore it doesn't cover the TAC.

VOL: In the event the Pastoral Provision is extended globally and TAC parishes come into communion with Rome through its provisions, how would you safeguard individual parishes that might find themselves in a hostile environment in which the local Roman Catholic bishop takes steps that prevent the successful creation of an Anglican Use parish?

HEPWORTH: That is purely speculative.

VOL: When and if Rome accepts the TAC into communion, do you have an idea how Rome will deal with the potential problems posed by divorced, remarried members? Do you feel that Rome would accept annulments put in place under TAC jurisdiction?

HEPWORTH: It would be utterly wrong for me to speculate on issues that might occur. In the meantime the TAC has modeled many of its processes on its marriage discipline on Roman canon law with the advice of local Roman Catholic authorities.

VOL: When the former Bishop of London went to Rome, he was "conditionally re-ordained" a priest rather than having to undergo re-ordination. Do you see that as a possibility for the TAC's clergy?

HEPWORTH: The way in which pastoral provision currently works allows Anglican clergymen to tender evidence of the validity of Anglican ordination. In fact, the re-ordination is a response to the circumstances within Anglicanism which vary for good and ill in the last century as Cardinal Kasper recently said, and re-ordination is a necessary assurance to the good consciences of those with whom unity is sought.

VOL: Some fear, if conditional re-ordination is not allowed, that sacramental rites performed by TAC clergy prior to their re-ordination would be considered invalid. Do you see the difference between "conditional" and unconditional re-ordination as important?

HEPWORTH: No. It is important to individual Anglo-Catholics who in practice have responded to apostolica curae by seeking to involve other than Anglicans in their ordinations, not necessarily as a criticism of their own orders but as an act of pastoral generosity towards the wider catholic church.

VOL: Are all of the lay people as enthusiastic as you are about going to Rome?

HEPWORTH: There is a gradation of enthusiasm across the whole TAC and that extends across our clergy and people. There are places where there is restless enthusiasm and impatience for the process to be at an end, and in other places some fear and hesitation as to what it might mean. A significant part of my work as primate is the apostolic care of those who are fearful.

VOL: Is it possible that there will be some people who will vote not to go to Rome, that is, individual priests and congregations?

HEPWORTH: We have already lost 4 congregations around the world to other Continuing bodies, which is far fewer than I might have anticipated a year ago. We are trying to be generous to the consciences of those who feel they cannot do it while at the same time being equally generous to the consciences of those who cannot wait.

VOL: Every church in the TAC is an independent congregation. Do you see some going to the Anglican Province of America (APA)?

HEPWORTH: He has two congregations of our diocese in Eastern US that is a process not presently full.

VOL: The bishop is everything. The lay people go where they are told. They are being told, but have they been asked?

HEPWORTH: Yes. The bishop isn't everything. The bishop is part of a college and has responsibility for teaching the faith. We do not allow votes in synod on doctrine. We are close to the position of GAFCON where bishops reassert their authority to teach the faith, but our people in synod are responsible for the conduct and existence of the local church. We have taken to our synodical and parish processes this decision and the bishops only proceeded last October when they were confident of their support for their clergy and people.

VOL: Can you still be authentically Anglican and a catholic in the Roman Catholic Church?

HEPWORTH: We have sought to be Anglican and catholic, to take the centuries old and cherished traditions, theology, liturgy into communion and we are reminded that there are indeed over 20 rites in communion with the Holy See in addition to the Roman rite. What we have done is to acknowledge in our letter which says the Catholic faith in all its fullness and wholeness is seeking to maintain the tradition in which we have come to this faith. You can separate the corpus of faith from the surrounding traditions and culture of that faith community such as we see among Maronite Catholics, Greek Catholics, so why not Anglo-Catholics?

VOL: In your opinion, are the theological fluctuations within Anglicanism among many traditional Anglicans who are either being forced out of the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church, many of whom see unity with Rome as their goal, make your case stronger?

HEPWORTH: Cardinal Levada's generous letter to me (see below) mentioned the troubles in the Anglican Communion as a factor influencing the work of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in responding to our petition. We have always understood that we were one group among many Anglican groups searching for an orthodox future. The disintegration of catholic faith within Anglicanism is a profound historical tragedy, but on the other hand it opens possibilities for unity that have not been there before.

VOL: What is your relationship like with Forward in Faith?

HEPWORTH: Bishop John Broadhurst (chairman of Forward in Faith International) and I have agreed to have a meeting in October of TAC/FIF and other bishops who see unity as a pathway for Anglican Catholic future and this will be held in England in October.

VOL: Thank you Archbishop Hepworth.

Proof Supplied - In Abundance

UOJ Stormtrooper, foiled again.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church Growth False Teachers - As Subtle as a Zeph...":

Would you care to give concrete examples of WELS teaching decision theology and the sacraments as ordinances? And please don't offer any opinions, inuendos (sic) or half-truths. Let's see the plain and clear evidence. Put up or shut-up.

***

GJ - Are they required to read Ichabod at the Sausage Factory? People keep returning so they can denounce what they have just read. I can tell this is a WELS post because the spelling is atrocious. They need a course in the preps - "Here is where you turn on the spell-check tool. Microsoft is very confusing, I realize, so we have this class designed to show you save, save as, spell-check, and new document. We will spend several weeks on spell-check so Ichabod will stop laughing at the crown jewels of our educational system."

Ichabodians, notice how testy this poor fellow is? "Put up or shut up." He is pretty ignorant, too. Which is a higher form of ignorance - not knowing or pretending not to know? Thy Strong Word, available for free, has hundreds of examples. I have published hundreds of articles in Christian News. I have furnished lists of quotations on Ichabod. I had a conference paper which was a best-seller for WELS. Everyone took it and copied it after the conference, but no one defended it. I actually sold the paper for a period of time. And, during this entire time, my name was on each publication.

Here is just one example of Deformed doctrine taught by two Church Growth stars of the Sausage Factory - Valleskey and Bivens. They produced a new members book so bad that Northwestern Publishing House refused to publish it. NPH has some scruples, after all. Bivens and Valleskey, both acknowledged veterans of Fuller Seminary, wrote about "spiritual-breathing" which they got from the false teacher William Bright. The Valleskey/Bivens new member book has been used all over WELS, without anyone being disciplined. Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-filled Life? That is the title of the Bright book, about spiritual breathing, cited with approval by Valleskey and Bivens. Does anyone wonder why WELS has had break-outs of Pentecostalism among its members and clergy? I don't.

Notice, too, Ichabodians, that the anonymous post makes several charges without supporting them with a shred of evidence. That is typical of WELS. If I pick up the phone and someone starts screaming at me without saying hello, my CPU says, "WELS clergy, three sheets to the wind."

Obamessiah Concedes

Asked by Rev. Rick Warren when babies deserve legal protection, Obamessiah answererd, "That's above my pay grade."

Our refusal to protect the unborn is the greatest shame of our country.

The Anointed One also thought Clarence Thomas' elevation to the Supreme Court was a mistake. Obama went to one of the most expensive private high schools in America. Thomas was raised, strictly by his grandfather, in extreme poverty in the South.

Ichabod Wishes Norm Teigen a Speedy and Complete Recovery

The most interesting Lutheran blogger will be facing surgery very soon. We wish Norm a speedy and complete recovery, God watching over him and his extended family.

ALMIGHTY, Everlasting God, the eternal Salvation of them that believe: Hear our prayers in behalf of Thy servants who need healing, for whom we implore the aid of Thy mercy, that being restored to health, they may render thanks to Thee in Thy Church; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Church Growth False Teachers - As Subtle as a Zephyr?

I have a big church. Stop by for a bite some time.
From Bailing Water:

WELS Leadership allows the resident CG gurus free reign

In response to a question on why the WELS leadership doesn't discpline the CG gurus in the WELS....
-----------------------
Anonymous said...

The problem with the CG movement is how subtle and insidious it is. It can be easily "covered up" by pastors and churches who hide their false motivation and lack of faith in the Means by saying the right words. Because of this, it can be very difficult for leaders to identify and discipline CG supporters. A CG pastor might indicate by his worship styles and practices that he doesn't trust the Means of Grace, but when a DP talks to him and he says, "Don't worry, I trust the Means, I'm just trying something new", what exactly can be done? There isn't really any hard evidence of false doctrine.

You asked specifically about teaching decision theology and sacraments as ordinances. Would CG pastors in the WELS ever admit (to themselves even) that they believed or taught these things? No way. But do they teach them by the way they worship? Absolutely. (But of course, CG teaches that worship style has nothing to do with doctrine, and thus they can't understand how their worship actually is teaching these things.)

With that said, though, I certainly wish our leaders had the courage of Luther to say of the CG pastors, "They have a different spirit," and to remove them from fellowship.

***

GJ - Someone would have to explain to me how difficult it is to uncover these false teachers. Paul Kelm has been showing his true colors for decades, has been "in trouble" for decades, and writes constantly for FIC. Valleskey and Bivens made careers out of promoting the Church Growth Movement, while bragging about and denying their study at Fuller Seminary.

The Wisconsin Synod is not a Lutheran denomination. WELS is a Pietistic sect with some Lutheran nuances here and there.

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

The Hymn #9 – Ellacombe
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 Galatians 3:15-22
The Gospel Luke 10:23-37
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 295 M. Loy Erhalt uns Herr
Love Your Neighbor

The Hymn #207 Kingo – Werde munter
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 # 283 Grundwig – Reuter

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto [his] disciples, and said privately, Blessed [are] the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen [them]; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard [them]. 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked [on him], and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [on him], 34 And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Thy holy gospel, know Thy fatherly will, and behold Thy Son, Jesus Christ! We pray Thee, most merciful Father: Let the light of Thy holy word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Thy word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal salvation; through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Click here to find the melodies - http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/online/tlh_online.html

"O Day of Rest and Gladness"
by Christopher Wordsworth, 1808-1885
1. O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright,
On thee the high and lowly
Before th' eternal throne
Sing, "Holy, holy, holy,"
To the great Three in One.
2. On thee at the Creation
The light first had its birth;
On thee for our salvation
Christ rose from depth of earth;
On thee our Lord victorious
The Spirit sent from heaven,
And thus on thee, most glorious,
A threefold light was given.
3. Thou art a cooling fountain
In life's dry, dreary sand;
From thee, like Nebo's mountain,
We view our Promised Land;
A day of sweet reflection,
A day of holy love,
A day of resurrection
From earth to things above.
4. Today on weary nations
The heavenly manna falls;
To holy convocations
The silver trumpet calls,
Where Gospel-light is glowing
With pure and radiant beams
And living water flowing
With soul-refreshing streams.
5. New graces ever gaining
From this our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining
To spirits of the blest.
To Holy Ghost be praises,
To Father, and to Son;
The Church her voice upraises
To Thee, blest Three in One.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #9
Text: Ps. 118:24
Author: Christopher Wordsworth, 1862, cento, alt.
Tune: "Ellacombe"

"The Law of God Is Good and Wise"
by Matthias Loy, 1828-1915
1. The Law of God is good and wise
And sets His will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
2. Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts
That we may see our lost estate
And seek deliverance ere too late.
3. To those who help in Christ have found
And would in works of love abound
It shows what deeds are His delight
And should be done as good and right.
4. When men the offered help disdain
And wilfully in sin remain,
Its terror in their ear resounds
And keeps their wickedness in bounds.
5. The Law is good; but since the Fall
Its holiness condemns us all;
It dooms us for our sin to die
And has no power to justify.
6. To Jesus we for refuge flee,
Who from the curse has set us free,
And humbly worship at His throne,
Saved by His grace through faith alone.
Hymn #295
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ps. 19: 8
Author: Matthias Loy, 1863
Tune: "Erhalt uns, Herr"

"Like the Golden Sun Ascending"
by Thomas Kingo, 1634-1703
Translated by George A.T. Rygh, 1860-1942
1. Like the golden sun ascending,
Breaking through the gloom of night,
On the earth his glory spending
So that darkness takes to flight,
Thus my Jesus from the grave
And Death's dismal, dreadful cave
Rose triumphant Easter morning
At the early purple dawning.
2. Thanks to Thee, O Christ victorious!
Thanks to Thee, O Lord of Life!
Death hath now no power o'er us,
Thou hast conquered in the strife.
Thanks because Thou didst arise
And hast opened Paradise!
None can fully sing the glory
Of the resurrection story.
3. Though I be by sin o'ertaken,
Though I lie in helplessness,
Though I be by friends forsaken
And must suffer sore distress,
Though I be despised, contemned,
And by all the world condemned,
Though the dark grave yawn before me,
Yet the light of hope shines o'er me.
4. Thou hast died for my transgression,
All my sins on Thee were laid;
Thou hast won for me salvation,
On the cross my debt was paid.
From the grave I shall arise
And shall meet Thee in the skies.
Death itself is transitory;
I shall lift my head in glory.
5. Grant me grace, O blessed Savior,
And Thy Holy Spirit send
That my walk and my behavior
May be pleasing to the end;
That I may not fall again
Into death's grim pit and pain,
Whence by grace Thou hast retrieved me
And from which Thou hast relieved me.
6. For the joy Thy advent gave me,
For Thy holy, precious Word;
For Thy Baptism, which doth save me,
For Thy blest Communion board;
For Thy death, the bitter scorn,
For Thy resurrection morn,
Lord, I thank Thee and extol Thee,
And in heaven I shall behold Thee.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #207 from
Text: Acts 2: 32
Author: Thomas Kingo, 1689, cento
Translated by: George A.T. Rygh, 1908
Titled: "Som den gyldne Sol frembryder"

"God's Word Is Our Great Heritage"
by Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig, 1783-1872
Translated by Ole G. Belsheim, 1861-1925
1. God's Word is our great heritage
And shall be ours forever;
To spread its light from age to age
Shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way,
In death it is our stay.
Lord, grant, while worlds endure,
We keep its teachings pure.
Throughout all generations.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #283
Text: Ps. 16:6
Author: Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig, 1817


The Parable of the Good Samaritan has been interpreted many ways, but first we should see the introduction, which may not seem to fit. Still it should be emphasized.

Blessed [are] the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen [them]; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard [them].

Whenever we hear the Words of Jesus, we should think those words over. Powerful and wise men lived and died without knowing and seeing what we often take for granted – the Gospel of Christ.

The smallest phrase from the Bible carries Christ to us, and us to Christ, so we should value each Word.

A lawyer stood up to test Jesus with a question. This questioning is an old Jewish custom and is embedded in some of their practices, such as the Seder meal. The idea was to stump the rabbi, so it provided training for the questioner and for the rabbi. In contrast, when the president of the LCA answered questions at one convention, he had them written down so he could read them in advance and prepare and answer. He avoided the most pointed questions, which included one of mine. The same thing happened when merger approached. I had to write my question for another official, so I asked if the two Lutheran insurance companies would be made into an “integrated auxiliary of the new organization.” Some people gasped and the main point was avoided.

What must I do to inherit eternal life? That is a good question.

Jesus asked him a question. How do you read it? The lawyer gave a summary from the Old Testament – love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

The lawyer asked the big question, trying to justify himself, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with a parable.

The parable has many familiar details. The man was on the road to Jericho when he was beaten and robbed. For social activists, this means we should make the road to Jericho safe, not just bind up the wounds of victims. (For some reason, nothing of the sort is suggested by Jesus. As everyone knows by now, the apostates do not make the road safe for victims, but for thieves, and they definitely do not bind up the wounds of anyone. They do talk about it frequently.)

There are three responses to this man’s predicament. He was a Jew, traveling from Jerusalem, beaten, robbed, and left half-dead.

A priest came by and passed him on the other side of the road. So did a Levite, who also crossed over, although the parable said that he “looked at him.”

These are religious people who know the Torah, yet they do nothing to help one of their own.

Lastly comes the Samaritan, who is not called the Good Samaritan, but “a certain Samaritan.” The wording is a clue that this person symbolizes the Savior.

The irony of this story comes from the religious duties of the priest and Levite, the hatred of Samaritans toward all Jews. Samaritans and Jews had rival temples (John 4, Woman at the Well) and Scriptures very similar to each other. The Samaritan Old Testament is valued as a reference today so scholars can compare readings.

The people we assume will help pass by on the other side. The one with no obligation to help out, has compassion, stops to help, and his help goes far beyond the usual.

And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Oil and wine were used for healing at that time, but Luther sees in those references the proclamation of the Law (wine) and Gospel (oil). Wine disinfected the wound and oil helped the healing. Many times Luther’s explanations seem far-fetched at first, but perfect upon reflection. That is how Christ comes to us today. The Law shows us our sins, killing the germs (causes) but the Gospel provides the healing with God’s forgiveness.

The other details of the parable are significant.
1. The Samaritan took the half-dead (but treated) man to an inn – on his own beast. Christ carries us – we do not meet Him halfway, as the synergists claim.
2. He took care of the man at the inn. Christ does not say, “Be of good cheer,” while leaving us to bleed to death. He stays with us and cares for us in the healing.
3. He gave money to the innkeeper for addition time and care. This shows how God provides a generous amount of care for us, in various ways, directly and indirectly.
4. The Samaritan says to the innkeeper, “Take good care of him. Whatever you spend I will repay when I return.” This shows Christ handing over care to another person but repaying whatever kindness shown.

Some Protestants object to the Means of Grace, because there are so many ways in which the individual receives the forgiveness of sin through the atoning death of Christ. And yet, isn’t that the very lesson of this parable – many different ways Christ helps us?

This is closely related to the strange passage – And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations (Luke 16:9). Now this makes perfect sense, putting it in the framework of this parable. “The Samaritan is an alien, not a friend of our people, but he stopped, took care of my wounds, carried me to an inn, stayed there to care for me, and paid the innkeeper (with unrighteous mammon) for additional care and promised even more when he came back to settle the bill.” And the next verse - He that is faithful in that which is least (money) is faithful also in much (money): and he that is unjust in the least (money) is unjust also in much (doctrine).

Good works necessarily follow faith in Christ. If someone does not show mercy to others, does not help others, then he should question his own faith.

Many people say, “I belong to…” or I am descended from these famous (within my synod) synodical officials, but the issue is, “Do you believe in the Word of God?” The Bible divides the world into two distinct groups, and two only – the believers and the unbelievers. There are no levels of quality within that group of believers.

If a group of people own gold, there is no difference between those who hold their gold in the sock drawer, in safe, or in a bank. It is the same gold. In the same way, the believer holds Christ in his heart, so it is the same Christ, whether He is held in a baby’s heart, a theologian’s heart, or a coal miner’s heart.

Genuine faith in Christ leads to good works.

Let’s return to the parable itself. Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which one of the three proved to be a neighbor to the one who fell among thieves?” That was the original question asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

The lawyer said, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

The main lesson, then, is that we should show mercy in the same way as the Samaritan. That is how the Bible teaches us.

The Word commands us to do good works (Parable of the Last Judgment), but also gives us the power and motivation to do good works. When we see how Jesus ministers to us through the Means of Grace, in so many different ways, even having other people take part (innkeepers) but repaying them, then our hearts are moved to show some of the same compassion He shows for us on a daily basis, freely and fully forgiving all our sins.

This love should not be telescopic in nature, freely shown to people in Borneo, but kept from those closest to us. Modern fads have us “saving the world” through meaningless gestures, such as having cloth grocery bags! The Word of God has us showing compassion to those closest to us, to our neighbors, family members, co-workers.

We are the innkeepers, not the Samaritan. Jesus is the Savior in charge of all ministry, but He lets us share in it and promises to pay us back when He returns. That is so true. Everything we do in His name is rewarded richly, so the least sacrifice is rewarded many times over, not as money paid back, but as satisfaction, enjoyment, pleasure in seeing the happiness of others. All the sacrifices of parents are stored up as a giant annuity which pays forever as the children grow and reflect the care, time and attention, and doctrinal teaching they receive.

Marva Dawn, LCMS Theologian

MARVA J. DAWN

Internationally renowned theologian, author, and educator Dr. Marva J. Dawn serves as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Under Christians Equipped for Ministry (CEM), she has preached and taught at seminaries, clergy conferences, churches, assemblies, and universities throughout the United States and Canada and in Australia, China and Hong Kong, England, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Singapore, and Scotland.

A scholar with four masters degrees and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics and the Scriptures from the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Dawn is also a popular preacher and speaker for people of all ages.

She is the author of numerous articles and over 20 books, several of which have won awards and\or been translated into Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and other languages.

Marva and her husband Myron, a retired elementary school teacher, live in southwestern Washington State.

Saddleback Meltdown

Saddleback Church Hosted a Discussion,
Where McCain Mopped the Floor with Obama

I did not want to watch the Saddleback Church discussion for several reasons, but Mrs. Ichabod put it on and left it there. Obama speaks one word at a time, so he is either trying to remember his lines or suffering from too many years of pot. Yes, known potheads have this way of speaking in a slow, mechanical, wooden way - one word at a time.

McCain consistently answered well. Obama, who was on before McCain, was truly awful.

I predicted before that Hillary would be the nominee. Her name will be placed in nomination at the convention. It may be a long-shot, but the Clinton-friendly National Enquirer just obliterated John Edwards from politics. The file on Obama is several feet thick. Anything can happen with opposition research.

Women's Ordination in the LCMS

LCMS Leader Marva Dawn

From the Swede Files:

In the LCMS, we now have an officially sanctioned organization called the Women’s Leadership Insitute. In a newsletter about their spring/summer conference, held back in April, you’ll find the following:

Women are the very lifeblood of the church. Their leadership gifts in every aspect of the work of the church are needed today more than ever before, the Rev. Dr. Paul L. Maier emphasized in his two keynote addresses at the conference .

Speaking first on ¯Women Leaders in the New Testament and the Early Church, Maier, who is 2nd Vice President of the LCMS and professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, reviewed the ¯whole cavalcade of women leaders who ¯spill out from the pages of the Old and New Testaments.

Precedents set both in the New Testament and the first centuries of the church are enormously important for the subsequent history of women’s leadership in Christianity, he continued. Despite the examples of women like Huldah, Deborah, Mary, Blandina, Paula, Helena and dozens of others, Maier noted that "Christianity has had a checkered record when it comes to involving women in the life of the church. One reason for this, he said, is that the church is also set in society, a society that did not even give women a right to vote in America until the 1920s!

It’s been a long road, Maier admitted in his second talk, ¯How Women Can Use Their Leadership Gifts in the LCMS, but progress has been made. Today ¯women may vote and hold any office in the church except that of the ordained ministry.

You can find this article at: http://www.wlicuw.org/Portals/wli/docs/Public/WLI_E-Letter_Spring_2008[1].pdf

Worth noting also is one of the presentersthe WLI conference held in June, a woman named Dr. Marva Dawn. Dr. Dawn’s presentation was “Empowered through Scripture for Leadership. For those unconvinced that this has anything to do with women’s ordination, a quick visit to Dr. Dawn's official website is recommended The site says she is “a popular preacher and speaker for people of all ages.” She is also the co-author of the book, “The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call.”



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The Ice Cream Video in Branson, Missouri

We just came from Yakov Smirnoff's show in Branson, with our special t-shirts signed by the star himself. We went to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream and found the Food Channel waiting to videotape comments about ice cream.

Thank You, Valuable Sources

Getting Sisera's attention, in the good old days.

I get valuable material from many different sources. I recall one WELS pastor, calling up and screaming at me about my modest little doctrinal email.

At one point he asked me where I got my information. I told him, "WELS pastors and laity."

He repeated my statement, stunned beyond comprehension.

The screaming accelerated until he slammed the phone down in mid-rant.

Most contacts have a much better grip on reality - and their emotions.

All communications are confidential. My sources do not know each other unless they get together and talk. That happened recently. They thought it was pretty funny. So did I. But I did not let on to one or the other who was filling me in - or what each one said.

Every person has a different perspective. The more cautious have this boiler-plate statement, "I don't agree with everything you write." I always wonder, "How would that be possible?"

My chief aim is to arm pastors and laity with doctrinal and factual information.

And I do enjoy entertaining the glum prisoners of mainline Lutheranism.

Nun But the Brave

Please make that horrid Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant book go away...and my tattoo. Thank you."

AZ Central

Six years ago, Christa Parra was 21 years old, unhappy and confused.

"What should I do with my life?" was a constant question she asked herself.

Parra needed an answer, so she went to a place where she felt comfortable and welcome. She knelt down in one of the pews of her parish church, SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral in west Phoenix, to pray. "What should I do?" she asked God.

Minutes later, Sister Gabrielle Marry came sweeping down the aisle of the church near 27th and Maryland avenues. She approached the young girl, whom she didn't know, and asked, "Have you ever thought about becoming a nun?"

The question stunned the young woman.

"I was dumbfounded," says Parra, now 27. "I wanted to get married and have children."

Although she had no desire to become a nun, Parra accepted Marry's invitation to visit the Loreto sisters' convent. Eventually, Parra began taking spiritual instruction from Marry.

Little did she know that her visit to the cathedral that day would prove fateful. It started her down a path that would lead to the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wheaton, Ill., the U.S. province house of the Loreto sisters.

This month, Parra will become the order's first novice in 10 years.

Fewer people have been entering religious life. For many, a focus on materialism has replaced a focus on faith. For young women, more opportunities in social work and education exist outside the convent. And there is the fear of a lifelong commitment.

Parra has spilled a lot of tears on her journey. Again and again, she saw signs that she was called to be a nun, but she was anguished at abandoning her dream of having a family.

A devout Catholic, Parra loved attending Mass at SS. Simon and Jude while growing up in Phoenix. Parra's mother, Cathy Parra, says that if she ever wanted to skip Mass, Christa would call around, asking for a ride to church. As a senior at Alhambra High School, where she was a cheerleader, Parra was voted "Most Likely to Become a Nun"because of her fondness for attending Mass and her gentle spirit.

Still, the title surprised her boyfriend.

"He thought 'cutest couple' would have been better," Parra says.

They dated for several years after graduation. Parra attended Grand Canyon University where she majored in communications and Spanish. When she was 21, Parra was invited to visit the Loreto order's house in Peru. Just before her departure, she became engaged to her boyfriend, though her doubts lingered.

In Peru, Parra lived in a poor village for three months, teaching English and helping the nuns. One nun took her final vows while Parra was there.

It was a huge event for the order and the woman's village.

"It was like a wedding, with music and flowers and dancing," Parra says.

One night, the nun spoke of how she had been engaged and broke it off. Parra ran to her room and cried. After a sleepless night, she broke off her engagement over the phone.

"Never did I want to hurt him," Parra says.

The number of men and women entering Roman Catholic religious life has fallen drastically over the past several decades. There were about 180,000 nuns in 1965 in the U.S., and there are about 59,000 now. In that time, the number of Catholics in the U.S. increased to 64 million from 45 million.

An increasingly materialistic society is cited as one reason for the decline in sisters.

"The whole secular culture swallows up the idea of a consecrated life," Marry says. "There are a lot of young women out there, and they're afraid to listen to what God has to say. Some young women came and didn't stay. You can't have one foot in the world."

Other reasons are complicated, says Sister Rosemary Lynch, provincial superior for the Loreto sisters in the U.S.

"Young women today have many options, even if they do wish to serve," she says. "There are more opportunities to do similar things that we do: education and social work.

"And the whole idea of a permanent commitment, that this is what you're going to do for the rest of your life, is scary to young people. That has affected married life as well as groups like ourselves."

But the trend may be changing. According to a 2008 survey by the National Religious Vocation Conference, there was a 30 percent increase this year in the number of men and women in initial formation, the period before final vows. And the more than 300 religious communities polled reported a 60 percent increase in the number of inquiries.

Lynch says several women have inquired about the Loreto sisters, whose average age is 72. "There seems to be renewed interest out there, and that's very hopeful for us."

When Parra returned from Peru, she continued her spiritual exploration but couldn't stop thinking about marriage and family. She met another man, whom she dated for two years before they broke up.

She would tell the nuns, "You can serve God as a wife."

"She would give that to me all the time," Marry says. "I didn't argue."

Two years ago, Marry sent Parra to a priest for an eight-day silent retreat. He asked Parra to spend hours talking with God and to write down the conversations. During the retreat, the priest said that her list of questions and requests to God had missed the mark.

"I said, 'What do you mean? I was praying for five hours. I was kneeling!' I was so frustrated, I cried," she says.

The priest told her that a conversation is a two-way street, so she tried again. This time, she said she heard God's voice speak within her.

"Everything was suspended in time, and all I could do was listen," Parra says.

She heard, "Trust in me."

"Once I surrendered everything and got rid of everything I dreamed of and desired and wanted, I said, 'Do with me what you will.' "

The journey to a religious vocation is purposefully long and carefully considered. In the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary order, women start with months of inquiry, followed by a time as a candidate, during which they live in an institute community but continue their previous lives. Candidacy can last two years. After that, if a woman is considered to be ready, she moves on to become a novice. She lives as a nun, taking theology classes and performing social outreach. After two years, she takes temporary vows for up to nine years. Final vows are a lifetime commitment.

"Christa is not naive about what she's doing," Lynch says. "She's had work experience and education and social experience. We're very hopeful that this is truly her calling."

Parra, who had lived with her parents her whole life, moved into the Phoenix convent last February. She cried.

Her mom went home and ate a whole box of chocolate-chip cookies. Having their only daughter move out of the house forever, forgoing a husband and children, was difficult for her parents, but Cathy Parra said she and her husband are happy that Christa now knows what to do with her life.

"Of course, there was fear, but that went out the door when she moved (into the convent)," Cathy says. "Her spirit was always so gentle. And this environment nurtures that gentle spirit."

Every morning, Parra attends 6:15 a.m. Mass, where she sees her mother and two of her brothers.

During the day, Parra worked at her full-time job as a training consultant at Wells Fargo, which she left a few weeks ago. In the evening, she would go home to the convent, where the sisters were eager to share their lives with her. "They're just so happy to talk to me about my day, and we just laugh all the time."

During this past year, Parra still grieved for the life she knew she would never have. But her sadness mixed with a growing peace that she was following the right path. "All those times I was crying, it was the Holy Spirit moving within me," she says.

Parra's best friends from childhood are supportive. "At first they thought it was the result of heartbreak, but it's not. I'm not running away from guys or anything like that."

After graduating from high school, the friends all got matching flower tattoos. Parra laughs at the memory.

"I'll probably be the only nun with a tattoo."

Honey, I Shrunk the ELCA

Who let the air out of ELCA?

By merging three failing organizations in 1987, ELCA inflated their figures to 5.3 million baptized. They have lost 600,000 people in 21 years. The ELCA is just as involved as WELS and Missouri in the Church Shrinkage Movement, and it works. All three consult and plan together on joint evangelism and worship projects.

Direct from the maws of Satan, the ministry partner of Missouri and WELS:

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reported a baptized membership of 4,709,956 in 10,448 congregations in 2007. The ELCA Office of the Secretary analyzed membership and income data obtained from parochial reports that ELCA congregations submit at the end of each year...

The number of African American/Black members in the ELCA went down 0.73 percent, from 53,288 in 2006 to 52,896 in 2007. American Indian/Alaska Native membership dropped 2.01 percent, from 7,007 to 6,866. Asian/Pacific Islander membership declined 1.52 percent, from 22,545 to 22,202. White membership fell 1.43 percent, from 4,624,249 to 4,558,059 in 2007...

Latino/Hispanic membership increased 0.49 percent, from 39,563 to 39,760.

***

GJ - All the Hispanic, multi-cultural and diversity programs in ELCA yielded a net increase of 197 people? No wonder WELS and Missouri leaders meet with ELCA.

"Bishop Hanson, how did you get such magnificent results with only a few million dollars? We launched our Run for the Border program and got nowhere. And MLC lost all their groundskeepers."

Mr. and Mrs. Diablo

Two people are laughing right now.

The Book of Concord: More Than a Rabbit's Foot for the Sentimental

J-804

"You cannot of a truth be for true doctrine without being unalterably opposed to false doctrine. There can be no 'positive theology' where the God-given negatives have been eliminated from the Decalog."
Norman A. Madson, Preaching to Preachers, Mankato: Lutheran Synod Book Company, 1952. Preface.

For many Synodical Conference Lutherans, the Book of Concord is nothing more than a rabbit's foot, a lucky charm to be displayed, otherwise useless and unused.

Norman Madson, now justly famous for being related to Norman Teigen, has the best concise statement about opposing false doctrine.

Barry and Bush

The Barry/McCain administration, under which the LCMS groaned for nine years, was shielded from all criticism by conservatives because it was supposed to be conservative. Ojecting to Barry was akin to conceding to the horrid, Satanic liberals, who wanted women's ordination, open communion, fellowship with ELCA, and the execrable Church Growth Movement.

The same was true of President George H. W. Bush (and his son Quincy). Bush 1 had been on the board of Planned Parenthood, like his Bonesman father Prescott Bush. Bush 1 did everything possible to unravel the Reagan revolution. But no conservative could criticize Bush, because that would turn the country over to pro-abortion, tax-raising, enemy-appeasing liberals. Bush 1's retreat on every matter of principle, incuding "read my lips, no new taxes," caused his ignominious defeat by one of the most corrupt governors in Southern history. The Clinton years could easily support its own Book-of-the-Month Club.

Back to Barry/McCain

After slaying the dragon Bohlmann, with the help of many conservative pastors--and the covert work of Herman Otten--Barry turned against the conservatives and waxed ashamed of them. At a meeting I attended, Barry admitted he was reluctant to meet with conservatives, but did, "because I am the president of all the members." At least he did not call us his "little, brown brothers" in his patronizing tone.

Barry and McCain pulled the rug out from under Robert Preus. Bohlmann was supposed to be the back-stabber who undid Robert, but Barry finished the job, and McCain was gleeful about it. Remember, Ichabodians, that McCain was only three years out from seminary graduation at that point, "hardly dry behind the ears" as my grandfather used to say.

Perhaps three long years in the parish taught McCain that he belonged in synod politics, probably because most of that parish time was in synod politics, getting Barry elected with the help of Otten. McCain has never returned to the parish, remaining in the shadow of the Purple Palace.

Barry/Kieschnick

The Barry years prepared Missouri for Kieschnick, just as Bush 1 set the stage for Clinton 1. (I have not conceded the nomination to Obama yet. The war drums are still sounding in the Democrat Party.) Barry let the Church Growth Movement roar ahead, sat through a woman teaching men and usurping authority over men, and continued to work with ELCA (as WELS does to this day). Doctrinal discipline was aimed at conservatives, not apostates. District Pope Benke got caught with the lid off the cookie jar, but he only got his wrist panked. The Benke issue re-emerged and helped crush the feeble remains of LCMS conservatism under Kieschnick, ending Wally Schulz's visibility, Dan Preus' brief and nondescript term of office.

St. John's Ellisville, LCMS (more or less)

St. John's in Ellisville, close to the Purple Palace, was already famous for being a Church Growth haven during the Barry/McCain years. I recall Schulz being a member there and complaining about the pastor coming out in a business suit, talking about "having an exciting service today," more like a waiter than a minister. Schulz quit Ellisville and joined a conservative congregation.

Barry/McCain did nothing about Ellisville, and now the congregation is an embarrassment to the Christian Faith, not just to the Lutheran Church. So pardon me, Ichabodians, if someone publicly genuflecting to the Book of Concord prompts an ironic smile on my face.

Absolution

The new cover for Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant,
designed by Norma Boeckler

J-853

"If we call Sacraments rites which have the command of God, and to which the promise of grace has been added, it is easy to decide what are properly Sacraments...Therefore Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution, which is the Sacrament of Repentance, are truly Sacraments. For these rites have God's command and the promise of grace, which is peculiar to the New Testament. For when we are baptized, when we eat the Lord's body, when we are absolved, our hearts must be firmly assured that God truly forgives us for Christ's sake. And God, at the same time, by the Word and by the rite, moves hearts to believe and conceive faith, just as Paul says, Romans 10:17: 'Faith cometh by hearing.' But just as the Word enters the ear in order to strike our heart, so the rite itself strikes the eye, in order to move the heart. The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same..."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XIII,#3. Number/Use Sacraments. Louis: Concordia Triglotta, St. Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 309. Tappert, p. 211. Heiser, p. 94.

J-854

(1)"Yea, as I live, Jehovah saith, I would not have the sinner's death,

But that he turn from error's ways, Repent, and live through endless days.



(2) To us therefore Christ gave command: 'Go forth and preach in every land;

Bestow on all My pardoning grace Who will repent and mend their ways.



(3) 'All those whose sins ye thus remit I truly pardon and acquit,

And those whose sins ye do retain Condemned and guilty shall remain.



(4) 'What ye shall bind, that bound shall be; What ye shall loose, that shall be free;

Unto My Church the keys are given To ope and close the gates of heaven.'



(5) The words which absolution give Are His who died that we might live;

The minister whom Christ has sent Is but His humble instrument.



(6) When ministers lay on their hands, Absolved by Christ the sinner stands;

He who by grace the Word believes The purchase of His blood receives.



(7) All praise, eternal Son, to Thee For absolution full and free,

In which Thou showest forth Thy grace; From false indulgence guard our race.



(8) Praise God the Father and the Son And Holy Spirit, Three in One,

As ‘twas, is now, and so shall be World without end, eternally!”

Nicolaus Herman, 1560, "Yea, As I Live, Jehovah Saith," #331, The Lutheran Hymnal, Trans. Matthias Loy, 1880, alt. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941. Ezekiel 33:11. (This is easily sung to Old Hundredth.)

Holy Communion, from Thy Strong Word

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From Thy Strong Word:

Holy Communion in the Large Catechism

J-862

"And all these are established by the words by which Christ has instituted it, and which every one who desires to be a Christian and go to the Sacrament should know. For it is not our intention to admit to it and to administer it to those who know not what they seek, or why they come."
Large Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar. #2. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 753. Tappert, p. 447. Heiser, p. 210.

J-863

"For it is not founded upon the holiness of men, but upon the Word of God. And as no saint upon earth, yea, no angel in heaven, can make bread and wine to be the body and blood of Christ, so also can no one change or alter it, even though it be misused. For the Word by which it became a Sacrament and was instituted does not become false because of the person or his unbelief. For He does not say: If you believe or are worthy you receive My body and blood, but: Take, eat and drink; this is My body and blood."
The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #16-17. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 757. Tappert, p. 448. Heiser, p. 211.



J-864
"On this account it is indeed called a food of souls, which nourishes and strengthens the new man. For by Baptism we are first born anew; but (as we said before) there still remains, besides, the old vicious nature of flesh and blood in man, and there are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint, and sometimes also stumble."
The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #23. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 757. Tappert, p. 449. Heiser, p. 211f.



J-865

"Therefore it {communion}is given for a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so as not to fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger. For the new life must be so regulated that it continually increase and progress; but it must suffer much opposition. For the devil is such a furious enemy that when he sees that we oppose him and attack the old man, and that he cannot topple us over by force, he prowls and moves about on all sides, tries all devices, and does not desist, until he finally wearies us, so that we either renounce our faith or yield hands and feet and become listless or impatient. Now to this end the consolation is here given when the heart feels that the burden is becoming too heavy, that it may here obtain new power and refreshment."
The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #24-27. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 759. Tappert, p. 449. Heiser, p. 211.

J-866

"For here in the Sacrament you are to receive from the lips of Christ forgiveness of sin, which contains and brings with it the grace of God and the Spirit with all His gifts, protection, shelter, and power against death and the devil and all misfortune."
The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #70. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 769. Tappert, p. 454. Heiser, p. 214.



J-867
"Therefore, if you cannot feel it {the works of the flesh, Galatians 5:199ff. above}, at least believe the Scriptures; they will not lie to you, and they know your flesh better than you yourself...Yet, as we have said, if you are quite dead to all sensibility, still believe the Scriptures, which pronounce sentence upon you. And, in short, the less you feel your sins and infirmities, the more reason have you to go to the Sacrament to seek help and a remedy."

The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #76-78. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 771. Tappert, p. 455. Heiser, p. 214.



Against the Word, Against the Real Presence


J-868
(1) "Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide, For round us falls the eventide;

Nor let Thy Word, that heavenly light, For us be ever veiled in night.



(2) In these last days of sore distress Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness

That pure we keep, till life is spent, Thy holy Word and Sacrament.



(3) Lord Jesus, help, Thy Church uphold, For we are sluggish, thoughtless, cold.

Oh, prosper well Thy Word of grace And spread its truth in every place.



(4)Oh, keep us in Thy Word, we pray; The guile and rage of Satan stay!

Oh, may Thy mercy never cease! Give concord, patience, courage, peace.



(5) O God, how sin’s dread works abound! Throughout the earth no rest is found.

And falsehood’s spirit wide has spread, And error boldly rears its head.



(6) The haughty spirits, Lord, restrain Who over Thy Church with might would reign

And always set forth something new, Devised to change Thy doctrine true.



(8) A trusty weapon is Thy Word, Thy Church's buckler, shield, and sword.

Oh, let us in its power confide That we may seek no other guide!



(9) Oh, grant that in Thy holy Word We here may live and die, dear Lord;

And when our journey endeth here, Receive us into glory there.”

Nikolaus Selnecker et al.,"Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide," The Lutheran Hymnal, #292, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.

J-870

"Calvin was dissatisfied with Zwingli's interpretation of the Lord's Supper, but his own interpretation was also wrong. He said that a person desiring to receive the body and blood of Christ could not get it under the bread and wine, but must by his faith mount up to heaven, where the Holy Spirit would negotiate a way for feeding him with the body and blood of Christ. These are mere vagaries, which originated in Calvin's fancy. But an incident like this shows that men will not believe that God bears us poor sinners such great love that He is willing to come to us."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 185.

J-871

"When the preacher who is administering this holy Sacrament repeats, along with the Lord's Prayer, the words of institution, he first of all is testifying that he does not desire to perform, from his own opinion, a human action and institution; rather, as a householder [steward] of the divine mysteries, he is, in accordance with Christ's command, desiring to administer a holy Sacrament. Accordingly, he sets aside visible bread and wine so that it can be the means and instrument for the distribution and fellowship of the body and blood of Christ. Further, he prays that, in accordance with His institution and promise, Christ would be present in this action, and that by means of the consecrated bread wine he might distribute Christ's body and blood. Finally, he testifies that by the power of the institution of Christ, the bread and wine in the holy Supper are not [merely] base bread and wine, but rather that Christ's body and Christ's blood are received sacramentally united and present with the bread and wine. He will herewith then point out this institution and ordinance of Christ to the communicants."
Johann Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 1610, ed. D. Berger, J. Heiser, Malone, Texas: Repristination Press, 2000, p. 301f.

J-875

"Human reason, though it ponder,

Cannot fathom this great wonder

That Christ's body ever remaineth

Though it countless souls sustaineth

And that He His blood is giving

With the wine we are receiving.

These great mysteries unsounded

Are by God alone expounded."

Johann Franck, 1649, "Soul, Adorn Thyself with Gladness" The Lutheran Hymnal, #305, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.



J-876

(1) "An aweful mystery is here To challenge faith and waken fear:

The Savior comes as food divine, Concealed in earthly bread and wine.



(2) This world is loveless—but above, What wondrous boundlessness of love!

The King of Glory stoops to me My spirit's life and strength to be.



(3) In consecrated wine and bread No eye perceives the mystery dread;

But Jesus' words are strong and clear: 'My body and My blood are here.'



(4) How dull are all the powers of sense Employed on proofs of love immense!

The richest food remains unseen, And highest gifts appear—how mean!



(5) But here we have no boon on earth, And faith alone discerns its worth.

The Word, not sense, must be our guide, And faith assure since sight's denied."

Matthias Loy, 1880, "An Aweful Mystery Is Here" The Lutheran Hymnal, #304, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.

J-877

"Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord

And drink the holy blood for you outpoured.

Offered was He for greatest and for least,

Himself the Victim and Himself the Priest."

"Draw Night and Take the Body of the Lord," The Lutheran Hymnal, #307, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.

J-878
"We eat this bread and drink this cup, Thy precious Word believing

That Thy true body and Thy blood Our lips are here receiving.

This word remains forever true, And there is naught Thou canst not do;

For Thou, Lord, art almighty."

Samuel Kinner, 1638, "Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Hast Prepared," The Lutheran Hymnal, #306, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.

Sacraments Define the True Church


J-879
"But the Church is not only the fellowship of outward objects and rites, as other governments, but it is originally a fellowship of faith and of the Holy Ghost in hearts. [The Christian Church consists not alone in fellowship of outward signs, but it consists especially in the heart, as of the Holy Ghost, of faith, of the fear and love of God]; which fellowship nevertheless has outward marks so that it can be recognized, namely, the pure doctrine of the Gospel, and the administration of the Sacraments in accordance with the Gospel of Christ. [Namely, where God's Word is pure, and the Sacraments are administered in conformity with the same, there certainly is the Church, and there are Christians.] And this Church alone is called the body of Christ, which Christ renews [Christ is its Head, and] sanctifies and governs by His Spirit, as Paul testifies, Ephesians 1:22..."
Apology Augsburg Confession, VII & VIII. #5. The Church. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 227. Tappert, p. 169. Heiser, p. 71.



J-880
"Of Ecclesiastical Order they teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called."
Augsburg Confession, Article XIV. Ecclesiastical Order. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 49. Tappert, p. 36. Heiser, p. 14.



J-881
"[We are speaking not of an imaginary Church, which is to be found nowhere; but we say and know certainly that this Church, wherein saints live, is and abides truly upon earth; namely, that some of God's children are here and there in all the world, in various kingdoms, islands, lands, and cities, from the rising of the sun to its setting, who have truly learned to know Christ and His Gospel.] And we add the marks: the pure doctrine of the Gospel [the ministry of the Gospel] and the Sacraments. And this Church is properly the pillar of truth, 1 Timothy 3:15."
Apology Augsburg Confession, VII & VIII. #20. The Church. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 233. Tappert, p. 171. Heiser, p. 73. 1 Timothy 3:15.



J-882
"That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith, where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake. They condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that the Holy Ghost comes to men without the external Word, through their own preparation and works."
Augsburg Confession, V. #1-2. The Ministry. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 45. Tappert, p. 31. Heiser, p. 13.



J-883
"This power {the Keys} is exercised only by teaching or preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, according to their calling, either to many or to individuals. For thereby are granted, not bodily, but eternal things, as eternal righteousness, the Holy Ghost, eternal life. These things cannot come but by the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, as Paul says, Romans 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Therefore, since the power of the Church grants eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministry of the Word, it does not interfere with civil government; no more than the art of singing interferes with civil government."
Augsburg Confession, XXVIII. #8. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 85. Tappert, p. 82. Heiser, p. 23. Romans 1:16.



J-884
"Now, it is not our faith that makes the sacrament, but only the true word and institution of our almighty God and Savior Jesus Christ, which always is and remains efficacious in the Christian Church, and is not invalidated or rendered inefficacious by the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister, nor by the unbelief of the one who receives it."
Formula of Concord, SD VII, #89. Holy Supper. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1003. Tappert, p. 585. Heiser, p. 272.

J-892
"Is the Lord's Supper the place to display my toleration, my Christian sympathy, or my fellowship with another Christian, when that is the very point in which most of all we differ; and in which the difference means for me everything—means for me, the reception of the Savior's atonement? Is this the point to be selected for the display of Christian union, when in fact it is the very point in which Christian union does not exist?"
Theodore E. Schmauk and C. Theodore Benze, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions, as Embodying the Evangelical Confession of the Christian Church, Philadelphia: 1911, p. 905f.



J-893
"Hence it is manifest how unjustly and maliciously the Sacramentarian fanatics (Theodore Beza) deride the Lord Christ, St. Paul, and the entire Church in calling this oral partaking, and that of the unworthy, duos pilos caudae equinae et commentum, cuius vel ipsum Satanam pudeat, as also the doctrine concerning the majesty of Christ, excrementum Satanae, quo diabolus sibi ipsi et hominibus illudat, that is, they speak so horribly of it that a godly Christian man should be ashamed to translate it. [two hairs of a horse's tail and an invention of which even Satan himself would be ashamed; Satan's excrement, by which the devil amuses himself and deceives men].
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VII, Lord's Supper, 67, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 997. Tappert, p. 581f. Heiser, p. 270.

J-894
"Dr. Luther, who, above others, certainly understood the true and proper meaning of the Augsburg Confession, and who constantly remained steadfast thereto till his end, and defended it, shortly before his death repeated his faith concerning this article with great zeal in his last Confession, where he writes thus: 'I rate as one concoction, namely, as Sacramentarians and fanatics, which they also are, all who will not believe that the Lord's bread in the Supper is His true natural body, which the godless or Judas received with the mouth, as well as did St. Peter and all [other] saints; he who will not believe this (I say) should let me alone, and hope for no fellowship with me; this is not going to be altered [thus my opinion stands, which I am not going to change]."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VII, Lord's Supper, 33, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 983. Tappert, p. 575. Heiser, p. 267.



J-895
"Therefore also it is vain talk when they say that the body and blood of Christ are not given and shed for us in the Lord's Supper, hence we could not have forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament. For although the work is accomplished and the forgiveness of sins acquired on the cross, yet it cannot come to us in any other way than through the Word. For what would we otherwise know about it, that such a thing was accomplished or was to be given us if it were not presented by preaching or the oral Word? Whence do they know of it, or how can they apprehend and appropriate to themselves the forgiveness, except they lay hold of and believe the Scriptures and the Gospel? But now the entire Gospel and the article of the Creed: I believe a holy Christian Church, the forgiveness of sin, etc., are by the Word embodied in this Sacrament and presented to us."
The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #31-32. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 759. Tappert, p. 450. Heiser, p. 211.

J-896
"The Reformed, and all Reformed sects, deny the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Through this they detract from God's honor."
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 36.



J-897
"Furthermore, consider this: All doctrines of the Bible are connected with one another; they form a unit. One error draws others in after it. Zwingli's first error was the denial of the presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper. In order to support this error, he had to invent a false doctrine of Christ's Person, of heaven, of the right hand of God, etc."
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 41.