A Brief Message from Luther

KJV Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The bold font is verbatim from the WELS congregation in Laveen (Phoenix, Arizona), CrossWalk.

The words of Luther, from the Book of Concord, are in italics.

Studies show that many men—and more and more women too—will not even set foot inside a church today. Way too much of church is boring and irrelevant.

99] Likewise those fastidious spirits are to be reproved who, when they have heard a sermon or two, find it tedious and dull, thinking that they know all that well enough, and need no more instruction. For just that is the sin which has been hitherto reckoned among mortal sins, and is called ajkhdia, i.e., torpor or satiety, a malignant, dangerous plague with which the devil bewitches and deceives the hearts of many, that he may surprise us and secretly withdraw God's Word from us. Large Catechism

1] That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification, Rom. 4, 25.

2] And He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, John 1, 29; and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all, Is. 53, 6.

3] Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit [freely, and without their own works or merits] by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood, Rom. 3, 23f

4] Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us as St. Paul says, Rom. 3, 28: For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. Likewise 3, 26: That He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Christ. Smalcald Articles.

Many of us feel like we don't have time. We don't want to be constantly asked for money. And frankly, many of us believe church is for wimps. Beyond all that, the number one reason most of us don't like to go to church is obvious—there are way too many hypocrites there!

We will now return to the Gospel, which not merely in one way gives us counsel and aid against sin; for God is superabundantly rich [and liberal] in His grace [and goodness]. First, through the spoken Word by which the forgiveness of sins is preached [He commands to be preached] in the whole world; which is the peculiar office of the Gospel. Secondly, through Baptism. Thirdly, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourthly, through the power of the keys, and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, Matt. 18, 20: Where two or three are gathered together, etc. Smalcald Articles.

If you hate going to church, CrossWalk was built with you in mind.

The Third Commandment.

Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day.

What does this mean?--Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it. Small Catechism.

At CrossWalk we're casual in our approach, yet what we have to communicate is extremely serious stuff. We strive to make every message and every service relevant and applicable to real life, as well as excellent in quality. At the same time, you can come to church in your jeans, or your shorts (or even in your jean shorts) and feel perfectly comfortable in one of our services. Grab a cup of coffee and a bagel on your way in and settle in for a high-octane hour of power-learning about God.

100] For let me tell you this, even though you know it perfectly and be already master in all things, still you are daily in the dominion of the devil, who ceases neither day nor night to steal unawares upon you, to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against the foregoing and all the commandments. Therefore you must always have God's Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle, and the Word does not sound, he breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware. 101] On the other hand, such is the efficacy of the Word, whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, that it is bound never to be without fruit, but always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness, and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts. For these words are not inoperative or dead, but creative, living words. 102] And even though no other interest or necessity impel us, yet this ought to urge every one thereunto, because thereby the devil is put to Right and driven away, and, besides, this commandment is fulfilled, and [this exercise in the Word] is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant. Large Catechism.

KJV Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

***

GJ - Our daily cross to bear - those who use cutesy cross titles for their organizations so they can preach a God without wrath sending His Son without a cross into a world without sin. And they call themselves Lutheran, albeit stealthily, covertly, furtively, whispering low in Jerusalem lest they be heard in the streets of Gath. 2 Samuel 1:20.

From the Social Director of the Love Boat

The Love Boat

If you hate going to church, we understand.

Studies show that many men—and more and more women too—will not even set foot inside a church today. Way too much of church is boring and irrelevant. Many of us feel like we don't have time. We don't want to be constantly asked for money. And frankly, many of us believe church is for wimps. Beyond all that, the number one reason most of us don't like to go to church is obvious—there are way too many hypocrites there!

If you hate going to church, CrossWalk was built with you in mind. At CrossWalk we're casual in our approach, yet what we have to communicate is extremely serious stuff. We strive to make every message and every service relevant and applicable to real life, as well as excellent in quality. At the same time, you can come to church in your jeans, or your shorts (or even in your jean shorts) and feel perfectly comfortable in one of our services. Grab a cup of coffee and a bagel on your way in and settle in for a high-octane hour of power-learning about God.

The early Christians were not lambs. They were lions—take-charge people who risked everything they had to serve God. They fought valiantly for their faith in God. They spoke their minds and stepped on toes, especially the toes of the religious establishment. They were true leaders—tough guys and gals who were both feared and respected in their communities. They weren't always "saintly," but they had an intense commitment to God and to his message. That's the kind of church CrossWalk is striving to become.

If you're looking for a church that will—

Meet you wherever you're at
Engage you where your soul meets real life
Teach you, not preach at you
Help you really deeply understand what's in the Bible
Challenge you to whole-hearted faith in God
And do all of that in a way that's not wimpy or hypocritical
—then, we challenge you to check out CrossWalk! You won't go away disappointed. That's our promise.


New Residents

Are you brand new to the Laveen and South Mountain Village communities?
CrossWalk is built for you. We have great people who can help you get plugged in and connect with your neighbors. We're a church that's passionate about our community. If you're new to Laveen and South Mountain Village, and trying to get your feet on the ground, join us this coming Sunday at CrossWalk. When you get here, just ask for Melody, our community resource guru, and she'll get you the info to find the services you're looking for.

If you can't wait until Sunday, and need information about your community today, call us at the CrossWalk office (602) 304-0072, and we'll help you find directions to what you need. Here are some great websites and phone numbers to help you get connected.

Community
Laveen Community Website - www.laveen.org
South Mountain - Laveen Chamber of Commerce - http://www.phoenixchamber.com/smlc/Index/

Schools
Arizona Lutheran Academy - Christian High School Education - www.alacoyotes.org, Ph: (602) 268-8686

Emmanuel Lutheran School - Christian Elementary School Education - http://www.elstempe.org, Ph: (480) 967-3991

Eagle College Prep - K-3 Elementary Charter School - www.eagleprep.org, Ph: (602) 672-2007

Laveen Elementary School District - K-8 Elementary Public Education http://www.laveeneld.org, Ph: (602) 237-7040
Roosevelt Elementary School District - K-8 Elementary Public Education http://www.rsd.k12.az.us, Ph: (602) 243-4800

***

GJ - Why would anyone favor the incense of Eastern Orthodox worship over the community resource guru of CrossWalk?

Mrs. Ichabod is motioning to me.

"Felt needs," she says.

Now I remember. If a church (dare we call it that?) appeals to the felt needs of a community, then people will stay for the Gospel.

But, if the message on the website is so attenuated that the Word of God is hidden away, then when will the efficacious Gospel be allowed to work?

KJV 1 Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

Triglotta at NPH

Texas Pastor has left a new comment on your post "Timotheus Verinus":

Northwestern Publishing House's online cataglog (sic) does offer the Triglotta on DVD for $50 including the Historical Introductions.

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GJ - Yup, he is a WELS pastor. Or he is using the phonetic Norwegian spelling for catalogue.

I am pleased that they are offering the Triglotta on a CD. I am inclined to order it myself. When I get it, I will publish a review on how it works. I am hoping that it makes searching, copying and pasting easy.

The Tappert is easier to carry but not as lethal against bugs. One swat with the Triglotta can take out small mammals. I do not fuss about Tappert being not so good. Tappert is better than no Book of Concord at all.

Bente's Introductions are great. There are many older publications that, by themselves, outshine the entire lifetime production of all the Lutheran Church Growth experts.

Borrowing from Luther, my favorite humorist - The Lutheran CG experts teach against the effectiveness of the Word, but they fill the world with all their words. If the Word is so ineffective, why do we need so much of their word?

Paul Kelm - take note.

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Texas Pastor has left a new comment on your post "Triglotta at NPH":

"cataglog"?!?!?! "cataglog"!?!?!?!

("Sedagive??!?!?! Sedagive?!?!!? --Obligatory "Young Frankenstein" reference)

Argh!!!!!

Many thousands of apologies for such a silly slip of the fingers...that's what I get for commenting too late at night and not proofreading...that bothers me so much because I can't even explain it away by neighboring keys! Argh!

But at least NPH DOES have the Triglotta (and you can still get the printed version at the bookstores at MLC and the Seminary). It's even possible that they have printed versions available to order if you call NPH. That's happened to me before when I order things and ask about other things. Items not in the catalog (or catalogue) are sometimes still available. Why they aren't in the catalog (catalogue), I have no earthly idea.

Though, you are correct, an electronic Triglotta does not replace the fun of the massive hard copy that doesn't fit in any bookbag or briefcase known to man. I'm sure I wouldn't have been allowed to bring my Triglotta to jury duty last week as it would most likely be considered something "that could be a weapon."

Timotheus Verinus

Spener began Pietism with his Pious Wishes essay, which was a long introduction to an orthodox book. Nice piggy-back, PJ.

From a WELS layman:

I don't know if the book advertised in the link has been a staple at NPH. It is The Complete Timotheus Verinus, advertised as a refutation of Pietism.

I think I see more doctrinally-square books on the pastoral list. Then, again, I haven't looked for a couple of years, and it's hard to tell from the listings in many cases.

Timotheus Verinus

Translated into English for the first time, this an essential work for those studying the orthodox Lutheran response to Pietism. Author, Valentin Ernst Loescher (1673-1749), the most capable opponent to the Pietists, was moderate and patient during the bitter conflict that divided German Lutheran. The two parts of this book are his defense of Orthodoxy against the violent attacks of the Halle theologian. Part one -- systematic presentation of pietistic theology and Loescher's evaluation of it. Part two -- response to a Pietist refutation of Part one, and makes a plea for honesty in the judgments of embroiled theologians. In sum, these volumes represent the only complete and mature analysis of Pietism by someone who experienced it firsthand. Part One (1718) is translated by James L. Langebartels and Part Two (1721) by Robert J. Koester. Hardcover. Size, 8 5/8 x 11 1/4 inches. 488 pages. Published 1998.

NPH is not selling the Triglotta, only the Tappert.

Someone wrote, so I don't have to:

PIETISM,

which stems from a tendency to deemphasize doctrine and to emphasize the personal spiritual life of believers, grew out of a reaction to what was seen as dead, academic orthodoxy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Lutheran Germany. It became a problem for the church after the publication in 1675 of a tract entitled Pia Desideria, by the renowned Philipp Jacob Spener.

Valentin Ernst Loescher was one of the last of the orthodox theologians. He was born just two years before Spener's tract was published, and thus grew up in a sea of pietistic sentiment and teaching in the German church. By the time he had found his theological voice, Pietism was in full flower. As a result, his very moderate criticism of the movement got him censured by the Powers That Be, in this case the theologicans at the University of Halle. His response to this was to publish a series of newsletters and columns whose aim was to expose the errors of Pietism and restore the proper balance to the church. These have been collected in a volume entitled The Complete Timotheus Verinus, (Northwestern Publishing House) which means the true Timothy.

Loescher's approach to the issues is instructive. Rather than publish a caustic polemic against the Pietists, his approach was above all objective and quietly firm. He first began by describing the classic heresies of Arianism and Crypto-Calvinism, going into great historical detail as a means of sensitizing the reader to the fine little details wherein the devil ever-so-slightly twists the truth. In so doing, one is prepared to investigate the little details--which Loescher quickly emphasizes are much less in error than Arianism--which comprise the Pietist approach to Christianity.

Next, Loescher writes about the seed of this religious evil. Here is where he gets personal. Now tell me which of THESE you identify with:


"...This seed exists in the following heart malignities, which are a part of original sin, and have their full force and activity in unbelief.

1. In the contempt and disregard of the arrangement prescribed, or at least advised by God. For example, Naaman despised the sevenfold washing in the Jordan which the man of God had ordered for him (2Ki 5:11, 12). The human heart, according to its sinful birth, is permeated with this desire to know and to want everything better, holier, stronger than God has orderd it, or than it can be...The Holy Spirit calls those infected in that way, those who are free from order [See Thes. 5:14].
   
2. In the so-called perfectionism. In this state of mind the man wants to know, have or do perfectly (from the residue of the damnable longing of our first parents,when they wanted to be like God), with fixed standard, restriction, and precaution, what he can only know, have, or do by himself as bungled work. This finally ends in a fanatical independence in everything.
   
3. In lavishing the mental powers on one matter, while forgetting and neglecting other matters, on which one oght to lavish as much, if not more, mental powers. E.g., the fruits of the sanctified life are urged so much that we think less of and at last even forget the means and support of our salvation.
   
4. In unlimited love for secret, peculiar, and lofty things. This usually degenerates into mysticism and the like evils, or even into the expectation and longing for great things and world transformations. From this, millenialism arises.
   
5. In mixing the powers of soul and spirit, i.e., our own moderate inclinations and the divine impulse in us. From this, the so-called rigidism usually arises in earnest minds.
   
6. In the excessive freedom which one allows to the power of the imagination, from which finally comes the rule of fantasy, which is the mother of enthusiasm.
   
7. In the confusion of the things which ought to be grasped and treated distinctly. This confusion adheres strongly and commonly among men. Such rudeness, if we know and examine ourselves correctly, is in all our hearts,and is the real seed from which the so-called pietism grows, the disorderly and dangerous attitude in the impulse to godliness.

Loescher p. 11-12.

***

GJ - I bought my copy a long time ago and enjoyed it. This book is not easy reading, but the parallels to Church Growth excitement, falsehoods, and divisiveness are staggering. Any reader can substitute CG cellgroups for the groups described here and the observations will be just as germane.

I commend the translators - quite a job. Now the ministerium needs to apply the lessons and not just hint at the problems. I see a lot of positive beginnings already.

The phrase is Contend for the Faith, not Contented with the Synod.

Faith vs Fear

Run! run! They didn't grow up in Waukesha,
or study at Watertown, or go to New Ulm. Faster!

Some people from WELS expect a creature to burst from my stomach and skitter into a corner, only to start multiplying, like those from the movie franchise Alien, Aliens, Alien Cubed, and Alien Resurrection.

However, others in WELS are not like that at all. The difference may be explained by faith in the Word and confidence in Biblical doctrine. The opposite of faith is fear.

Sectarians teach their disciples to fear anything different from the template issued by Holy Mother Synod. To stoke this fear, they engage the grapevine in spreading scary stories that make the Alien franchise look tame.

To make matters worse, these law-mongers teach people to trust in themselves, to emphasize their talents, merits, social skills, and DNA. Any teaching of the law alone--but especially man-made law--makes people more timid. Man-made law makes people afraid they are not good enough, and the law-mongers enforce that feeling by providing law solutions for their victims.

[woman in travail] "The woman is here in such a state of mind that she is fearful of great danger, and yet she knows that the whole work lies in the hands of God; in Him she trusts; upon Him it is she depends; He also helps her and accomplishes the work, which the whole world could not do, and she thinks of nothing but the time that shall follow, when she shall again rejoice; and her heart feels and says, A dangerous hour is at hand, but afterwards it will be well. Courage and the heart press through all obstacles. Thus it will also be with you, when you are in sorrow and adversity, and when you become new creatures. Only quietly wait and permit God to work. He will accomplish everything without your assistance."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 81. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23

Improbability Drive on Max

One long-time friend wrote, "Have you seen the blog Bailing Water?" I suppose so. I mention it frequently. I asked him if he had seen mine.

I talked to some blog readers today. There is definitely an effort to tell me that Church Growth is no longer the cat's meow in WELS. We all seem to agree with C. Peter Wagner, whose only correct statement has long been ignored by WELS, Missouri, and ELCA: "Church Growth principles do not work."

Who is going to say now that I never agreed with a single Church Growth expert? David Valleskey used to say in a huff, "They are Christians. We can learn from them, too." I learned this one pearl of wisdom from C. Peter Wager: "Church Growth principles do not work." He was quoted saying that in Christianity Today, that journal of middle-of-the-road generic Protestantism.

The question is - what works? The Biblical answer is - preaching and teaching the Word work, because the Holy Spirit is never divorced from the Word. The Greek word for effective or efficacious could easily be translated as - it works.

A businessman says, "What are your numbers?"

The Word of God asks, "Do you trust God's Word enough to be faithful and let Him work His will in His time?"

My favorite satire book, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, has a space ship with an improbability drive. Every so often, something completely improbable happens, such as being injected into the vacuum of space and being picked up at the exact same moment by a spaceship, The Heart of Gold. All the expected things do not happen because of this improbability.