NPH Fires Back

Irrelevant photo, but funny anyway.

Mark Buske has left a new comment on your post "Run--Do Not Walk--To View the Latest WELS Typo":

Pastor Jackson,

I was excited the other day when you posted my comment about the Triglotta in electronic format with Bente's Introductions.

Then I open my RSS reader today and find you criticizing NPH for not checking our spelling. Interestingly enough, the page you point to is at www.logos.com and is not an NPH page. We didn't use the lovely phrase, "taylor-made;" that's from Logos.

The "after-shock" price you quote is actually the combination of all the volumes in print, and not if the customer purchases the disk separately.

Anyway, thank you for the publicity.

Mark Buske

NPH Marketing Director

***

GJ - Round One. I have to admit. He is right. Logos edited that page. Techies cannot spell. The title of the page in the browser is NPH, so I am sure Buske is leaving some phone messages at Logos headquarters right now. "You are making us look like idiots!"

Round Two - the huge, inflated price is the printed material price, as he said:

"The equivalent print volumes of these resources are valued at $2,115.59!" I would dispute the 59 cents, without fear of contradiction.

The post-production price is somewhat higher than the grand total pre-publication price:

$2,115.59 printed;
$524.95 post-pub CD-ROM;
$399.95 blue light special, pre-pub CD-ROM.

If someone wants all these resources, the CD-ROM set is ideal for portability, research, etc. I love reading real books, but I favor the computer for research. If NPH would favor me with information about how well Logos print-to-CD works with copy and paste, I will be glad to post that information. The WELS students might want to offer their experience.

Congregations should be buying these resources for their seminary students, pastors, and teachers.

My suggestions for divinity students and pastors:

1. Luther's works first.
2. Triglotta and Bente second, (but just as important).
3. Lenski third.
4. Boxer shorts if there is any money left. (Old NWC joke: "All you need is Lenski, the Triglotta, and boxer shorts....")

Charity Begins in the Senate - With Your Taxes

The back of Biden's head has been declared a hairplug-free zone.

Biden Gave Average of $369 Annually to Charity in Last Decade

upi via email no link | 9/12/8

Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 11:36:40 AM by NativeNewYorker

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Delaware Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for vice president, and his wife reported giving less than half of one percent of their income to charity during the past decade, below the national average, tax records show.

A Biden spokesman said the couple has given more to charity than they claimed on their taxes.

Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $319,853 in adjusted gross income and paid $72,787 in federal taxes last year, including $2,721 in alternative minimum taxes. They claimed $995 in deductions for charitable giving, about triple what they deducted in any of the nine previous years. Over the past decade they reported giving an average of $369 to charity.

Their deductions for charitable giving -- about two-tenths of one percent of their income -- is lower than the national average of about 3.1 percent, according to JustGive.org, a nonprofit organization that connects donors with charities.

``That lack of charitable giving at that level of income would definitely be outside the range of what we say is normal,'','' said Russell James, a professor at the University of Georgia who researches charitable giving.

Biden spokesman David Wade said the deductions on the tax forms ``are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity.'' The Bidens ``contribute to their church, and they also contribute to their favorite causes.'' He said the Bidens also do volunteer work with military families and for other causes.

***

GJ - Biden's train trips to and from DC cost taxpayers $200 a day.

What Moves Missouri?

The LCMS is a puzzle. How did such a large group of putative Lutherans lose their way?

Several causes might be listed.

1. German Lutherans felt a great cultural and language kinship with the German Reformed, but also as doctrinal allies against Romanism. Opposing the Antichrist was a hallmark of Protestantism at one time. The declaration of the pope's infallibility (Pope Pius IX) shocked and appalled Europe in the 19th century.
   
2. The old Synodical Conference was extremely weak on the efficacy of the Word. This blindness led the synodical partners large and small into UOJ, receptionism, Pentecostalism, and eventually the Church Shrinkage Movement.
   
3. In the early 20th century, the liberal/conservative split about Biblical authority had the conservative Lutherans viewing the Reformed as allies once again.
   
4. This partnership continued during the Seminex crisis. The Preus-Marquart contingent would show up at Biblical inerrancy conferences where the only thing the rainbow coalition agreed upon was infallibility.
   
5. Once de-sensitized about the Reformed, Missouri had no qualms about sending their leaders to Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. Salesmen like Kent Hunter and Waldo Werning served as Synodical Conference recruiters for the cause. Since the executives of all the Lutheran groups were recruited first, they had no trouble urging their minions to sign up, rewarding them with promotions, protecting them from the scandals they stirred up so effortlessly.
   
6. Once in the third stage of false doctrine, the various synods made sure their Church Shrinkage buddies moved into seminary positions so that anyone questioning Fuller Seminary was attacking Holy Mother Synod. Only then did they study the Church Shrinkage Movement. They frowned a bit but found it - just wonderful. WELS had the best sense of humor, having its most Enthusiastic proponent of Fuller doctrine study Fuller doctrine and declare, "Let us spoil the Egyptians in Pasadena." But, the tide is turning. Fads come and go. The Church Shrinkage Movement has destroyed more congregations than the Chicago Fire. Lazy-minded Boomer pastors are dying and retiring, letting the younger pastors clean up their messes.
   

Holy Father, Holy Smoke

I was looking at the Christian News website, which stays the same for months at a time.

One page has a big to-do about the Pope and District Pope Benke, who has the guts to admit he is ecumenical everywhere he goes. Yes, I know Benke is an apostate. But I prefer honest apostates to dishonest ones, those closeted Calvinists who run off to Fuller and Willow Creek, bragging to their friends, denying it to the public.

Benke is an official bad guy at Christian News, for those who read it even less often than I do. Benke is ecumenical, hanging around with ELCA (like ELDONA) and Romanists (like ELDONA) and other thoroughly bad dudes like Neuhaus.

Speaking of ecumenism, another page quotes LCMS Pastor Don Matzat, an avowed Pentecostal, so deep into Enthusiasm that he must have swallowed the Holy Ghost, feathers and all. Christian News is glad to quote him:

“While the pre-millennialists, the Calvinists, the Arminians, the mystics, the prosperity teachers, the Pentecostals, and the Charismatics all have their theology widely promoted in over 3,000 Christian Bookstores around the nation, we who claim to have the pure Gospel, seemingly feel that our truth is neither worth promoting nor relevant to the popular issues being so widely discussed and debated. Rather than promoting what we believe for the welfare of the wider church, we pick fights among ourselves, ignoring the Christian world and the issues debated…The only legitimate vehicle that exists whereby Missouri Synod Lutherans are enable to speak a word to various Christian issues is Christian News. For this reason, God bless Herman Otten”
(Rev. Don Matzat, LCMS pastor, St. Louis MO).

The bizarre content of this quotation is worth preserving forever, since Otten sent me one Matzat book where Don boasted that the Holy Spirit spoke to people in dreams (always favorable to his cause), told people to give him big checks, and otherwise worked everywhere except through the Word. Otten marked the false doctrine in the book, so Herman was not unaware of the Don's precession into Pentecostalism.

Even better, Matzat (the good guy on this page) is the counselor, helper, and supporter of Benke, the bad guy on the front page.

Dizzy yet? There's more.

Matzat accused Waldo Werning of false doctrine in Christian News. Holy smokes - that is worse than Werning accusing Cascione of false doctrine, or Cascione accusing Werning. What do all three have in common? Christian News - a beacon orthodoxy in a sea of false doctrine.

That reminds me of a famous sermon quotation from Northwestern College: "I dreamt I was floating on a mattress in a sea of iniquity - and I was THIRSTY!"

In Memory

9-11-01

The Story of the National Anthem

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Gratuitous Lenski Comments

Lenski - is that a Lutheran name?.

Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Run--Do Not Walk--To View the Latest WELS Typo":

A few things Pastor

1) I have Lenski's full set in print and I like them as well but my biggest problem with him is that he treats matters of exegetical work as matters of doctrine (as if people are going to hell if they translate a participle as means instead of manner)

2) Having the WLQ translated was a great help. It is not nearly as "synod line" as you make it out to be.

3) The people's bible is a "non-professional" commentary it is for the common lay person so of course it is based on the common lay-persons (sic) Bible.

4) Your comment on the sermon studies was funny but not to the point, I highly doubt Parlow's heisted sermons are on the CD.

Finally, the price is so high because they are also selling licenses to Logos software with each copy. Logos is an expensive piece of programming that WELS pastors have been blessed to have access to but ANYTHING on Logos costs a pretty penny--I bought the Concordia last year and would get the Triglott but I already have it in print.

***

GJ - Among Upper Midwest Lutherans, WLQ is valuable as a theological journal. I would find it handy for quoting some of the more outrageous errors of WELS. One is Brug's pronouncement about nothing in the New Testament opposing women's ordination (a frequent theme in their conference papers). Another is Valleskey's ghastly essay endorsing the Church Shrinkage Movement. Valleskey even claimed that the Deformed "downplay the Means of Grace." Then, using the same doctrinal discernment, we could say, Luther downplayed salvation through works. When I asked Sparky Brenner (professor, Sausage Factory) about this grotesque essay, Brenner told me "Write WLQ a letter" and "Gawrisch has not been healthy" and is behind in his editorial work. I wondered whether the theological faculty had any role in disseminating false doctrine and invented church history. As Reu noted, hiding doctrinal differences is the mark of a unionist. Brenner and his wife were in shock that I questioned Holy Mother WELS. Apparently they were not bothered that the path to teaching at Mequon was smoothed by study at Fuller Seminary.

WLQ is great, but Lenski is...?

To be True Blue WELS, one must respond to Lenski's name with a gratuitous comment or two. The normal one is "He is not good on justification." That is because Lenski taught correctly about justification by faith, but WELS is utterly and consistently wrong on justification. Lenski was firm about his scholarly findings, but I would not accept the hyperbolic Straw Man fallacy offered by young Schottey. All the conservative seminaries had great respect for him and honored him. His work continues to be in demand today, everywhere except in his original synodical home (now ELCA).

Lenski knew the doctrinal history behind each passage of the New Testament, so he discussed that in light of his exegesis. Lenski knew that the efficacy of the Word was the sole (or soul) foundation for all pastoral work, a Biblical insight lost today among the management gurus and snake-oil salesmen of synodical fame.

My Lenski set is behind me in my working office. I use Lenski, Luther, or the Book of Concord for sermon ideas.

I disagree with Lenski's opinions about the New Testament manuscripts. All the professors of that era were bewitched by three con artists: Wescott, Hort, and Tischendorf. Wescott and Hort's so-called rules for the text are best explained by the effects of alcohol or drugs. They are hilariously wrong. Tischendorf just happened to find two manuscripts that suddenly became the best NT ones. And yet, we know more about Obama's hidden background than we do about the birth of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. According to the genius types who gave us the NIV, all the manuscripts from the 1100 year-old Byzantine Empire, which was Christian and Greek, are bad because...because...there are so many of them and they agree with each other. And we know where they came from. No fun there.

I appreciate Schottey's willingness to post comments in his own name.

---

Brian P Westgate has left a new comment on your post "Gratuitious Lenski Comments":

What were Lenski's opinions on the New Testament manuscripts? Basically in line with Wescott, Hort, and Tischendorf? I've never heard that discussed before.

***

GJ - If you read plenty of Lenski, you will find sections where he decided what should be in the text or excluded from the original. He got carried away at times. He seemed very much in line with the three frauds listed above. Why not have everyone play around with the text? That is how the current version is put together now. Three out of five votes will get a verse excluded from the NT - just like blackballing in a fraternity. I use BibleWorks software: KJV, and Byzantine NT. Twenty years ago I was soft on the NIV, until a student began pointing out how many blatant translation errors were there.

I enjoy Lenski's literal translation in his commentaries. They affected how we talked around our home after reading certain passages. "Be thou continually brushing thy teeth" was one Lenski-ism. I like Lenksi for discussing the meaning of the grammatical distinctions, not just showboating about grammatical rules. When I heard a discussion in class--at the Sausage Factory--about whether a genitive was objective or subjective, I said to another person, "Did Paul ask himself which one he was using or did he just write?"

Lenski's daughter, Lois Lenski, became famous for children's books. We buy them when we can find them.

Run--Do Not Walk--To View the Latest Logos Typo

Skillfully edited, no doubt.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Good News at Northwestern Publishing House":

If you hurry, you can still get the massive The Northwestern Publishing House Electronic Library while it is still available for the launch.

[GJ - The pre-release price is $400. The everything printed price is $2115. I checked twice. Hey folks, a CD costs about 80 cents to produce.]

***

GJ - First - the typo. "It's almost as if these commentaries were taylor-made (sic) for electronic release!" Mrs. Ichabod is the granddaughter and daughter of tailors. Even though English was her third language, she laughed out loud about the latest typo. Everyone makes mistakes, but one expects a publishing house to do a little editing after the initial thrill of posting a page is over. OK, Mark, Logos goofed, but they have not fixed it yet. Spell-checking all of WELS is taxing on my resources.

[September 12, High Noon. The books are still taylor-made, so I suggest buying them for a saylor, or Norman Maylor, or a needy jaylor. Maybe for someone who lives in a traylor.]

Second, these disks are not a deal, even at the pre-publication price.

WELS commentaries based on the NIV? Two strikes against the People's Commentary.

The Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, also known as The Pope Speaks? Save your money, kid.

Sermon Studies? I downloaded a whole set of sermons from Kelm/Parlow. They must be good, because I found copies of them all over the Net.

Franzmann? - I liked the portions I used, but he is another UOJ fanatic.

Triglotta with Bente? - That is the one CD I would recommend to anyone.

NPH has Lenkski in print or on CD, $300 for now. That is worthwhile, a true classic.

Luther's Works 55 volumes on CD is only $200. That is a steal - a useful format, portable, and the best theologian of the Christian Church. Let's see - People's NIV Commentary or Luther? Not an agonizing decision.

This will probably sell a few copies of the good stuff from NPH. We only have two eyeballs and one brain. Why waste time on the ruminations of the minor figures of Lutherland?

In short:
1. Luther first, last, and always.
2. The Triglotta and Bente, because the Book of Concord is a conference of the finest theologians in the Christian Church.
3. Lenski is the best, most consistent, and reliable writer on the New Testament as a whole.

As they used to say at Northwestern College, those three (plus boxer shorts) are all you need to be a good pastor.

Closeted Calvinists Embedded in the Church Shrinkage Movement

John Calvin, trained as a lawyer,
still appeals to Lutheran apostates.

Librarian types like to distinguish between Zwingli and Calvin, but their doctrine was quite similar. Zwingli was first and rather crude in his pronouncements. Calvin came later and wrote more refined prose. After Luther died, the crypto-Calvinists took over Luther-land and chased the genuine Lutherans away, as much as possible. They did this by claiming to be the real Lutherans, the ones who cared about the Church. They lied and manipulated.

Zwingli and Calvin are the same because both divorced the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word. They were Enthusiasts, a cohort condemned in plain, clear language by Luther in the Smalcald Articles.

The gurus of the Church Shrinkage Movement are closeted Calvinists who hold the same doctrine. The closeted Calvinists reject the efficacy of the Word and teach against efficacy wherever possible. Where are the sacraments among the closeted Calvinists? Has Pastor Jeff (Gunn) ever had a communion service? The question alone should sound Klaxon alarms throughout the sect.

Examine the chief theologians of WELS and Missouri. Valleskey wants to grow figs on thistles, in the name of "spoiling the Egyptians," a phrase stolen from Larry Crabb, who stole it from Augustine. Does anyone write his own material in the CGM?

Kent Hunter (DMin, Fuller) argues that shepherds do not have sheep, rather sheep have sheep. Thank you, Church Doctor, but where is that in the Gospels? Second Pasadenians?

Paul Kelm (DMin, St. Louis) writes that the Word is efficacious, but not effective. His course at Wisconsin Lutheran College, required for graduation, was full of required Reformed reading. WLC had the gall to require the course and to overlook the artificial insemination of its students. Closeted Calvinists do not believe in The Word, but they do believe in unlimited quantities of their word.

Waldo Werning--official xeroxer of the Church Shrinkage Movement--has never seen a Zwinglian concept he does not like.

Larry Olson is still listed in WELS as a Dr, even though he admitted in Christian News that he did hardly anything at Fuller to earn the prestigious DMin degree. How does a paucity of effort make someone a Dr. of Theology? Of course, he is not. Like Kelm, he wants people to think he is. So Church and Change lists him as Dr. Lawrence Olson when no one in academic life accepts a degree invented to get people back into seminary for continuing education.

Recently there was a Gratuate (sic) Faculty Conference at MLC, where he works, posing the question: Can anyone spell in WELS?

This Will Make Your Monitor Blur

Governor Palin hugs Chloe, who has Down's Syndrome.

Meeting Chloe Nolan

National Review ^ | 9/9/08 | K-LO/ElRushbo

Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 5:49:20 PM by pissant

This exchange is from today's Rush Limbaugh Show:

CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love Kids with Down Syndrome." So when they pulled in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that —

...

So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, "Hey, can you come with us?" I was like, "Do we have a choice?"

RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.

CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, "May I hold your daughter?" and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.

Schroeder Post Corrected

I was browsing through old posts and saw that my original post about Mark Schroeder (WELS Synod President) and TELL was in error, especially since someone sent the whole document. (For some reason, I do not keep copies of TELL.) I had more than than single sentence from my database, so I could not let the original post stand.

I corrected the original post, as I recently pointed out to a friend.

I hope this will encourage WELS to retract its "spoiling the Egyptians" position on the Church Shrinkage Movement, UOJ, and various other errors.

Good News at Northwestern Publishing House

One for the good guys.

Mark Buske has left a new comment on your post "Triglotta at NPH":

NPH did release the rights to the printed version. CPH, I believe, is planning to do this as an on-demand title, but I'm not sure they are ready with this yet.

The electronic version being talked about in previous posts includes Bente's Historical Introductions as noted and uses the Libronix Library System by Logos (www.logos.com).

Mark Buske
NPH Marketing Director

---

GJ - Signed comments are always welcome. They will be reproduced verbatim, especially when alerting people to important doctrinal books.

Old Synodical Conference

Some readers probably think the purpose of the old Synodical Conference was to restore the teaching of the Book of Concord and Lutheran doctrine.

Maybe not.

New research from the Ichabod global network has some surprising information for everyone.

Everything will start to make sense:

1. UOJ, its crafts and assaults.
2. Receptionism.
3. Church Shrinkage Movement.
4. Sinuflecting to Rome, often via Constantinople, with a pit stop at ELDONA.

Good News in the ELS

Pope John the Malefactor, world traveler, did not extend the Left Foot of Fellowship to anyone last month, according to his newsletter, published at the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie.

The ELS should apply for a Schwan grant for an auto-focus camera. No?

Ichabod Does Spell-Check for the Entire Internet

The pastor no longer "wears a rob" (sic) at St. Mark's DePere (WELS), but an alb.

I think Bailing Water caught this first.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ichabod Does Spell-Check for the Entire Internet":

I have not seen an alb at St Mark's; pastors wear suits.

***

GJ - Has anyone heard a Lutheran sermon at St. Mark's? That is the real question.

Come On, Baby, Light My Fire

Cringe inducing, from Augsburg1530
Posted on June 18, 2008 by Mollie
I go to a church that is a member of the Southeastern District. We’re Ablaze!

An Ablazing Event!
The congregation of St. John’s, Farmville VA has received a firetruck and repurposed it to be a witness tool in the community. They will be dedicating it for mission on Sunday, June 29 at the 10:00 A.M. service. Pastor Joel Giese says: “The idea is simple. People, children especially, like fire trucks. They will come to see the truck and we have the opportunity to speak about Jesus. As the vehicle moves to and from events, it acts like a rolling billboard. I believe it will spark interest. The best part is that it is easy and fun. Who knew that easy and fun could be used to describe Evangelism?!”

***

GJ - What do all these gimmicks have in common? Deformed theology. According to their best theologians, God's Word is dead until we make it come alive by making it appealing, germane, and reasonable.

Obama in Muslim Garb

Obama went to Africa and posed for this photo.

The Eighth Commandment

284] All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it.

The Book of Concord, Large Catechism, Eighth Commandment

Woman Turns to Islam After Lutheran Seminary Experience

This Woman Was Disappointed by an ELCA Seminary

Anyway, times were changing. I found a Lutheran seminary which accepted me. After graduating from the university, I packed up and headed to Chicago to begin my training for the ministry.

I had some very positive experiences in Chicago. I got along well with my two roommates, and made other friends. I studied Latin with a Polish priest who couldn’t hide his excitement when he learned that the newly-selected pope was Polish. I listened to lectures by scholars at the nearby University of Chicago, and even landed a job dusting the apartment of one old professor. I heard Handel’s Messiah performed in an old cathedral by a professional choir. I soaked up the atmosphere of life on the Southside of Chicago.

But my studies were disappointing. One professor told us that while Christian scholars had determined that the Bible was not infallible, we should not tell our parishioners this. When I asked questions, I was told to “simply believe.” Then there was the seminary social life–parties, drinking. I packed up and left Chicago after one semester, extremely disillusioned.

New DPs in WELS

Luther's Sacristy Prayer
Lord God, You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor
in Your Church,
but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task.
If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago.
Therefore, I call upon You:
I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you;
I shall teach the people.
I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word.
Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me,
for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.

Wayne Mueller To Guide Conference in Glendale: Don't Fail To Miss This One

Birds of a feather do flock together: Wayne's son Adam at Church and Change, Jeff Gunn of CrossWalk fame, Larry Olson (DMin, Fuller Seminary) etc.

10/21/2008 - 10/23/2008 - Arizona/California District Pastoral Conference, Grace, Glendale, Arizona. From the district calendar.

Adam Mueller is a big cheese at Church and Change, the official agency of apostasy in WELS. I kept a graphic about Church and Change, where Olson, Gunn, and Mueller appear on the same page.

Someone will a terrific sense of humor invited me to this conference, which is just a few miles from our home. I should invite this humorist to stay at our home, enjoy our pool and hot tub, and brag about it at Grace, Glendale.

I will definitely come to the conference if Wayne Mueller denounces the Church Growth Movement, Church and Change, and Justification without Faith (UOJ).

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wayne Mueller To Guide Conference in Glendale: Don...":

I dare you to go. You don't have the ___ to show up.

***

GJ - I had to delete A. Nony Mouse's crudity. That is how the WELS Church Shrinkage pastors talk and write. Obviously this poor soul was hovering over the Ichabod site, waiting for something to say. Perhaps the Luther quotes will convert him to the faith one day. Wesley used to say, "If you can't convert them, at least make them angry." Part I is completed...

I went to a WELS conference in Tucson 10 years ago. Valleskey avoided me and later complained I should have talked to him. When he gave his famous "spoiling the Egyptians" essay in Pennsylvania, reprinted in WLQ, I had to walk at flank speed to keep Valleskey from running away from me. He denied attending Fuller when I asked him directly, although I knew he studied at Fuller. He bragged about it at Apostles. At the Pennsylvania conference, I sat down with him at dinner, where he again avoided talking to me. One of the CG drones, Schuman, ran interference for Valleskey.

Two Alerts

Pope John the Malefactor Is Not Doing His Homework Assignments

Pope John
The ELS Newsletter, The Pope Speaks, has not yet been published for September. We are looking for the latest victims of the papal purge. Not even Holy Father in Rome has given the Left Foot of Fellowship to such a large percentage of the ministerium. Perhaps the delay comes from B16 asking for advice on how to be a walking disaster while getting re-elected.

UOJ
A contact so deep undercover that he communicates through another undercover source--lost yet?--has notified me of a UOJ document he will soon expose. Stay tuned. That is all I know.

Worship Wars II: There Must Be Saxs Among You

The muted sax is perfect for the Agnus Dei.

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Leonard Sweet Disciple - On WELS Worship Wars":

Pastor Mark Schewe of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church actually stepped down from the pulpit during one Service in order to play the saxophone with other church members and then taking the pulpit again following their session. Nothing quite says "Public Minister of the Word" like squealing on a saxaphone until your cheeks turn red.

Brett Meyer

***

Pastor Rick would approve, but my cheeks would be cherry red with shame.

Video News Story about Obama as a Muslim

Obama as a Boy, Dressed Muslim, Says His Brother

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Obama as a Boy, Dressed Muslim, Says His Brother":

That's not Muslim dressing, that is the traditional garb of Indonesia, and as an ethnic, cultural article of clothing, has no direct ties to the Muslim faith. This is a wholly inaccurate, and culturally ignorant assertion to make.

***

GJ - I reported what the story said. The source is Obama's own brother, not an anonymous name-caller. The brother said Obama was a Muslim and dressed as a Muslim. Obama has denied ever being a Musliim, but his brother disagrees. In this case I will trust the named source. A Muslim is someone who professes the faith of Islam, regardless of dress.

Another Obama as a Muslim Video

Because this clip is translated, it is impossible to verify the content. Stay tuned to see if the news outlets deal with this, whether it is true or false.

Obama: "My Muslim Faith" - Corrected by Clinton's Flack

Is Obama a Muslim? His father and step-father were Muslims. He enrolled in a Muslim school in a Muslim country - Indonesia. His identity papers in Indonesia identified him as a Muslim. Islam allows someone to lie about his faith as long as he is still true to it. If the Democrats had vetted him more carefully, these issues would not be raised after the nomination.

In this clip he referred to "my Muslim faith," a slip he did not even notice. Stephanopoulos had to correct him before he tried to correct himself. My first posting had an 11 second clip. This new one is 17 seconds and shows how inept Obama was at trying to rescue himself from his verbal pratfall.

He is also famous for referring to traveling the "57 states." That is an odd number. Some people suggest he was thinking of the organization of 57 Muslim states. That may be a stretch since this Harvard lawyer cannot speak without a teleprompter.

There are still questions about Obama's birth certificate. More important is - what does he stand for?

Most of the evidence points toward Obama being a Muslim believer, past and present. Many Black Americans, without Arabic-African fathers, have turned to Islam.

You read it here some time ago - McCain will be president.

Sermon - The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

The Hymn #267 by Luther – Waer Gott nicht mit uns
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 Ephesians 3:13-21
The Gospel Luke 7:11-17
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 479 Fahre Fort

God at Work

The Hymn #307 Old 124th
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 # 376 Toplady

KJV Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

KJV Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst send Thy Son to be made flesh, that by His death He might atone for our sins and deliver us from eternal death: We pray Thee, confirm in our hearts the hope that our Lord Jesus Christ, who with but a word raised the widow's son, in like manner will raise us on the last day, and grant us eternal life: 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.

God at Work

Ephesians 3: 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.


People think of St. Augustine (354-430) as a religious leader of the distant past, but he was once a famous, hedonistic pagan. His mother Monica gave him Christian instruction as a child and prayed for his conversion to the faith. Augustine’s unique intellectual gifts made him a powerful intellectual leader and the finest orator at a time when rhetoric was the pathway to fame. He was so brilliant that he felt the Scriptures were beneath him. In addition, Christianity was one of many religions of his day and not very successful in the marketplace of ideas. Monica never ceased her prayers. Another burden in her life was an unbelieving husband. One day, as Augustine felt the weight of his sins, he was overwhelmed with a sense of contrition. Weeping under a fig tree, he heard a child’s voice sing out a Latin song, “Tolle, lege. Take and read.” The song had no religious content, but Augustine felt compelled to pick up the Scriptures where he read the damning words of the Law and the comfort of the Gospel:

KJV Romans 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

J-131
Augustine wrote: “I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away.” Augustine then went to tell his mother Monica, who “leaped for joy triumphant, and she blessed Thee, Who art ‘able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.’” (Ephesians 3:20) [24]

Monica prayed to have a believing son, but God gave her something she never imagined, a son who became one of the greatest of all teachers of Christianity. Augustine became a bishop and served the African church, writing such classics of the faith as his Confessions and The City of God. It is impossible to study Christian thought apart from Augustine or find a topic he did not write about, using the gifts abundantly given him by God. At the last bookstore I visited, not long ago, I saw a well known highly respected biography of Augustine in paperback, a testimony to the kind and loving Father Who blessed Monica far beyond her ability to think or ask. That power gave her, like many heart-broken mothers afterwards, the faith to pray, the hope to find comfort in waiting, and the patience to wait for the effectual working of the Triune God, who can use a child and a secular song to fashion a bishop and theologian out of a rogue.

J-131
"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us." [25]
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.179f.

J-132
"A very fine example of the power of prayer is provided by Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. She asked for nothing in her prayer for her son except that he might be liberated from the madness of the Manichaeans [pagans] and be baptized...But the more she prayed, the more stiff-necked and stubborn the son became, and her prayer seemed to her to have become a sin. But when the time for hearing her solicitous prayer had come (for God usually defers His help), Augustine is not only converted and baptized but devotes himself entirely to the study of theology and turns out to be such a teacher that he shines in the church to this day, teaching and instructing the church. Monica had never asked for this. It would have been enough for her if her son had been freed from error and had turned Christian. But God wants to give us greater blessings than we can ask for, as long as we do not weaken in our prayer."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald M. Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959 II, p. 1094. Genesis 17:19-22.


In world religion class we have discussed the problem of emphasizing the institution rather than the Gospel.

If we step back and look at the preaching of the Apostolic age and the Reformation, the only concern was the Gospel. There certainly were factions and groups, as Paul said there must be, but the emphasis was upon the Gospel.

The Christian faith is simple, plain, and easy to learn. Someone can study the Scriptures all his life and never learn more than a fraction of what God says, but the basics are clear.

God shows us the way we really are through the preaching of the Law. If the Law is taught clearly, according to God’s Word, we see ourselves in a mirror. That destroys our self-righteousness, our claims to be perfect, or the idea we can earn favor with God through our good works.

Just like medicine, we first need a proper diagnosis. I just read about Robert Novak hitting a biker and not knowing it. He said a mob started to form. Novak was taken to a hospital and learned he had a mass in his brain. Several other things happened before he realized what his diagnosis was. Until he accepted that, he did not consider surgery and the possible healing required.

Non-sinners (in their minds) may hear the Gospel and find it interesting, but they hear without comprehending, like Novak at first. When they know the true nature of man, they want the comfort of the Gospel.

The Gospel teaches us that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary for one reason only – to die for our sins and be our Savior.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Paul says in this verse (Eph 3:20) – The power of the Gospel is at work (effective) in all who believe.

The Gospel is always at work in believers, moving them to pray and do good works.

As I said many times before, God urges us to pray but also moves us to pray with His Gospel promises.

One is here in this lesson, which is one of the best known about prayer.
God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”

The hesitation everyone has in praying has its foundation in doubt, doubt about His Word, doubt about His power, doubt about His love.

Can human reason rise about these doubts? – not at all. Human reason and experience are the reasons for the doubt. We think we know and we draw conclusions based on our limitations and experience.

God extinguishes doubt with His Promises.

First of all, God is able to accomplish exceeding abundantly… Normally we would say that is not very good writing. Paul does a lot of that. But he does so in expressing how God is above anything we can imagine, in grace, in forgiveness, in love, in mercy, and in power.

There is nothing impossible for God’s Word.

The best example is God taking someone dead to the Gospel and producing a new Creation, a believer, given kinship with Jesus, and the promise of everlasting life that goes with the forgiveness of sin.

God does not stop with those abundant blessings, but promises far more in this verse alone.

How can someone not pray when God promises so much. How much from our perspective? “Above all that we ask or think.”

The power is at work among believers because the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian. The Holy Spirit accompanies the Word in reaching people. No one becomes a believer except through the Holy Spirit. Preaching takes place through the Holy Spirit guiding the minister and the audience both.

The Holy Spirit’s work draws attention to the Father and the Son, moving the believer to prayer and good works. The Holy Spirit moves people to pray and helps people pray.

When we ask God for anything, the Holy Spirit urges us through the Gospel Promises.

Are we not worthy to ask? Christ has made us His worthy brothers, so that God sees His beloved Son when we ask in His name.

Is God not able? The more we understand, the more we see what God has already done and can do.

Does God love us? Yes, the Word tells us that God loves us because we love His Son. His chief quality is to love and forgive us. So we should always expect the best from Him, even when things seem grim at the moment.

"A third answer to our enemies is: We are certain that wherever the Word of God is proclaimed, the fruits of the same must exist. We have the Word of God, and therefore the Spirit of God must be with us. And where the Spirit is, faith must obtain, however weak it may be."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 274. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Ephesians 3:13-21,

Trinity 16 Quotations

Plagiarize These Quotation, Since "The Closer to Luther, The Better the Theologian"

"In the first part of the text he shows the depth of his concern that the Ephesians should retain the Gospel preaching received from him, not allowing themselves to be torn away from it. To this end he employs two expedients: first, he consoles and admonishes; second, he prays and desires."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p.260. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21.

"Even His most inferior creatures--water, air, the earth and its products--are so generously bestowed that we can appropriate only an infinitesimal part of them. Yet in our blindness and stupidity we do not see, yea, we utterly ignore the fact that God is the giver of these. Now, how much more generous is God in spiritual blessings!"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 272. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21, Isaiah 29:13.

"But all this is portrayed here in order that we might learn that with God nothing is impossible, whether it be misfortune, calamity, anger, or whatever it may be, and that He sometimes allows misfortune to come upon the good as well as upon the wicked."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 143. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 7:11-17.

"But this I do not see, I think this moment is an eternal something before God; but it is in truth only a moment; and much joy follows as Psalm 8:5 also says: 'For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor.'"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 135. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 7:11-17; Isaiah 54:6-8.

"I saw these things to teach us to be careful not to join the caviler in judging presumptuously the work and Word of God. Notwithstanding our weakness, we are yet certain the kingdom of God is in our midst so long as we have His Word and daily pray for its efficacy and for an increase of our faith, as the follow words recommend: 'That ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man.'"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 275. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21; Isaiah 26:10.

"The Word is too sublime to pass under our judgment; it is the province of the Word to judge us. The world, however, while unwilling to be judged and convicted by us, essays to judge and convict the Word of God. Here God steps in. It would be a pity for the worldly to see a godly Christian, so God blinds them and they miss His kingdom. As Isaiah says (26:10): 'In the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.' For this reason, few real Christians come under the observation of cavilers; the latter, in general, observe fools and fanatics, at whom they maliciously stumble and take offense. They are unworthy to behold God's honor in a godly Christian upon whom the LOrd has poured out Himself in fulness of blessing."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 274. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21; Isaiah 26:10.

"A third answer to our enemies is: We are certain that wherever the Word of God is proclaimed, the fruits of the same must exist. We have the Word of God, and therefore the Spirit of God must be with us. And where the Spirit is, faith must obtain, however weak it may be."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 274. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Ephesians 3:13-21,

"He who desires to be a Christian should be strong in faith and praise God and His Word, and should say: 'I will acknowledge, praise and serve that God, and gladly do and suffer what He wills, Who can so readily and easily help.'"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 146. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Luke 7:11-17

"This and like miracles God does that the heart may learn how it should be disposed to Him and what it may expect from Him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 132. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 7:11-17.

"Christians should not, and cannot, have their glory in the things the world esteems and honors; for the world will not, not can it, honor even God and His Word. Christ's followers, then, should not be terrified at such treatment as Paul received nor feel disgraced. Let them rather rejoice, deriving comfort and glory therefrom, as did the apostles. We read (Acts 4:13) of their boldness, and (Acts 5:41) that they rejoiced in being 'counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.' So it fared with Christ Himself, and Christians ought to be grieved if it be otherwise with them and if the world regard them in a kindly way. In proportion as the world persecutes them and heaps upon them its malice, should they rejoice. Let them accept persecution as a good indication, regarding themselves blessed, as Christ teaches in Matthew 5:11."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 266. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21, Acts 4:13; Acts 5:41; Matthew 5:11.

"When we pray with glowing hearts, external gestures will take care of themselves. They are prompted by the Spirit, and therefore are not to be denounced. If assumed, unbidden of the Spirit, they are hypocritical; as, for instance, when one presumes outwardly to serve God and perform good works while his heart is far way. The prophet says (Isaiah 29:13), 'This people draw nigh unto Me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their hear far from Me.'"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 268. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Ephesians 3:13-21, Isaiah 29:13.

"When the Spirit of prayer is enkindled and burns within the heart, the body will responsively assume the proper attitude; involuntarily, eyes and hands will be upraised and knees bended. Witness the examples of Moses, David and even Christ Himself."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 268. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Ephesians 3:13-21.

"So it is with the rain from heaven, with the grain in the field and with all God's creatures. They exist in such abundance, and we are daily so overwhelmed by their abundance that we fail to see them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 130. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 7:11-17.

"If I only kept in mind that He gave me eyes, truly a very great treasure, it would be no wonder if shame caused my death, because of my ingratitude in that I never yet thanked Him for the blessing of sight. But we do not see His noble treasures and gifts; they are too common. But when a blind babe happens to be born, then we see what a painful thing the lack of sight is, and what a precious thing even one eye is, and what a divine blessing a healthy, bright countenance is; it serves us during our whole life, and without it one would rather be dead; and yet no one thanks God for it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 129. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 7:11-17.

So Many Turtles on Fenceposts

Pastor Joe, the new senior pastor at Crossroads, says: "As Crossroads Community Church moves into its sixteenth year of existence, we look back at the people who have led us, the founding families and the Pastors Rick Miller, Kelly Voigt and Mark Freier, and say thanks for getting us here."

---

Crossroads Community Church in South Lyons, Michigan, was started by the Wisconsin Synod, with the blessing of District Pope Robert Mueller and ever-vigilant Paul Kuske. The first pastors were all WELS - Rick Miller, Kelly Voigt, Mark Freier. The congregation openly followed the example of Willow Creek Community Church, where so many WELS pastors were trained at synod expense. Mueller, Kuske, Zehms, and Stolzenburg also started Pilgrim Community Church in Columbus. Attendance at Pilgrim was lower than a meeting of the LCR clergy.

Crossroads is no longer Lutheran-in-name-only, simply non-Lutheran. The original pastors, trained at the Sausage Factory in Mequon, are no longer Lutheran. These old quotations from Crossroads, below, remind me of what CrossWalk in Laveen (Phoenix) is now saying about itself. Notice the mention of boring services, just like CrossWalk. Cell groups, just like CrossWalk. Sneaker Services, just like CrossWalk. Cell groups, just like CrossWalk.

"Church music doesn't have to sound 'different.' It can sound just like the music people listen to every day. At Crossroads you won't find a pipe organ, but you will find great music appealing to a variety of tastes...Who says church has to be boring? In many of our services the Crossroads Drama Team makes us laugh or cry, and take a hard look at ourselves."
Crossroads Community Church,
Pastor Rick Miller (WELS). [GJ - I would definitely cry at these mockeries.]

"Would you be interested in a church that offers...Practical and Relevant Messages? Contemporary Music and Drama? Friendly People Who Are Interested in You? A Non-threatening Environment Where You Can Investigate a Relationship with God? Maybe Crossroads Is For You!...Targeted for September, '92, Sunday morning 'seeker' service designed to introduce Christianity in the most practical relevant way possible!"
Crossroads Community Church,
Pastor Rick Miller (WELS).

"You may not have noticed, but Crossroads has changed its name!...Why the change [from Crossroads Christian Church]? First, we were told that the original name implied a denominational affiliation. Also, we believe that the 'community' label identifies us more closely with the philosophy of ministry at Willow Creek Community Church. We want to begin referring to ourselves more and more as a 'community' of fully devoted followers of Jesus."
Pastor Rick Miller, (WELS),
Crossroads Community Church,
News and Information for January, 1992,
p. 1.

"Since several brothers have asked about the status of Rick Miller, I provide the following information. Rick has asked for a release from his call at Huron Valley Lutheran High School in order to serve a group of people as their pastor and to help organize them as an independent Christian congregation. The group is composed of some former members of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Plymouth, of some former members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Livonia, and some people who have left LC-MS churches. The group has stated that it has a different philosophy and style of ministry, which includes drama, contemporary music and a thematic form of worship and liturgy, which allows for greater personal participation by its female members. The group has also stated that it would like to retain fellowship relations with our Wisconsin Synod.

As an independent group it does not plan to use the name 'Lutheran' in its title. It will be known as The Crossroads Christian Church...For the present, Rick Miller is still a pastoral member of the WELS...At that time [January 31, 1992, submission of a constitution] the fellowship question will be determined on the basis of the group's doctrinal statements and practices."
District President Robert Mueller,
President's Report to the Conferences,
Fall, 1991
p. 3.

"PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY AT CROSSROADS...Conduct seeker services... Provide small group leadership. At Crossroads, as people come to know Jesus they are encouraged to participate in groups of 8 to 10 people who meet weekly for 2 years of fellowship, holding one another accountable, discipleship training, encouragement and support. 1 Thess. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up."
Pastor Rick Miller, (WELS),
Crossroads Community Church,
1 Thessalonians 5:11.

"Several churches have found a creative and effective way of maintaining an active membership from year to year. Basically, they ask their members--each year--if they wish to continue as members for the coming year...Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (Irvine, CA) also has a 'Covenant of Membership' card. On their 'Covenant Sunday' Pastor Jim Hale encourages persons to come forward in the service and place their card on the altar."
Win Arn,
Win Arn Growth Report, copyright, 1986
709 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
818-449-4400
Same plan at Crossroads Community Church.

---

GJ - So, when so many turtles are on fenceposts, what should we conclude? Someone put them there. Yes, the covert network of false teachers in WELS (all trained at Fuller and Willow Creek) promoted these community churches. Missouri did the same and stil has a stealth network of Willow Creek Association churches (St. John, Ellisville, etc).

Young Calvinist - old Unitarian. The saying is true for individuals, congregations, and denominations. There was once a component of the United Church of Christ with some German Lutheran leanings, the Evangelisch of the E and R denomination. The Evangelisch merged with the German Reformed (R) and the E and R merged with the Congregationalists. Now the tiny mega-merged denomination, the United Church of Christ, accepts all religious books on an equal level with the Bible.

A Kiss To Save Millions of Babies

At the convention, Levi Johnston, kissed little Trig, being held by Bristol Palin.

When the whole family came on the stage to thunderous applause, Trig looked around in wonder, as if thinking, "Being the baby of the family is really awesome."

LutherQuest Vet Bolts for EO, Sells Luther Short

Better than bubble wrap (below), but still...

Profile of Dr. Charles R. Hogg, Jr.

Username: Robb
Full Name: Dr. Charles R. Hogg, Jr.
E-mail Address: pastor_hogg@hotmail.com
Last Logged In: September 05, 2008
Registered: September 05, 2004
Total Posts: 292
Status: Intermediate Member
Denomination: Former LC-MS; now Antiochian Orthodox
Positions Held (elder, pastor, layman, teacher, etc.): Pastor, Professor
Church Website URL: http://stnickgr.com

The set is still available as of this moment. More details:

> All volumes except 26, 27, 47 & 53
> Some underlining, mostly in pencil
> Entire set, new, is $1278

I'm asking $500, you pay shipping.

Thanks!

***

GJ - Notice below, a long blog about the Virgin Mary, which includes a note about reading the articles in Lutheran Forum (the crowd that will lecture at The Surrendered Fort) by Hogg, the EO convert listed above. Also mentioned is Fenton, who denounced Lutheran docrine and joined Eastern Orthodoxy. Fenton worked with Paul McCain, MDiv, on the Missouri hymnal.

Most importantly - Weedon is considered high on the list of Confessional Lutherna bloggers. Oh my. Richard J. Neuhaus was a Confessional Lutheran up until he joined Rome with his Confessional Lutheran brethren, who joined Rome. Here is a list of fellow bloggers on yet another Confessional Lutheran blog: Rev. Wright II Alan Ludwig Pr. H. R. Rev. Rick Sawyer Rev. Jacob Sutton The Rev. BT Ball Pr. Georg Williams Brent Kuhlman Fr. Timothy D. May, S.S.P. Rev. Paul Beisel Rev. Gifford A. Grobien Rev. Rick Stuckwisch Rev. Erich Fickel Rev. Richard A. Heinz Pr. Ralph Tausz Rev. Fr. Robert W. Schaibley David Jay Webber Pastor Foy Rev. Kent A. Heimbigner, Ph.D. Rev. Robert Franck.

What Happened (Weedon Blog)

I was chatting with a friend today. He thinks I'm obsessed with the Blessed Virgin. Fancy that. Actually, I was telling him that what is striking is how often and simply the great fathers of the 16th and 17th centuries speak of the Mother of God's perpetual virginity or the closed womb birth and such from the pulpit and in their other writings. To them it was just taken for granted.

Why was it taken for granted then, but not taken for granted now?

I don't know the answer for certain, but I have a hunch about what happened. It's this: the Churches of the Augsburg Confession retained Latin. That means that they didn't bother to translate the old Latin office hymns. They wrote new hymns in German, of course, but they just kept on singing the old hymns in Latin right alongside the new ones (though the Sequences, unlike the office hymns, were subject to frequent "correcta" - always with copious Scriptural annotations). And those hymns simply shaped their theological endeavor.

In the Magdeburg Book the hymn "Creator of the Stars of Night" is listed as being sung at Vespers throughout Adventtide. It is sung in Latin, of course, and - as throughout the book - Scriptural allusions are provided in the margins. So when in the third stanza they sang of the Lord proceeding from the "closed" Mother, the margin listed the reference to Ezekiel 44:2. They sang it every night at Vespers in Magdeburg during Advent! They grew up shaped by that. Where did Gerhard learn the allusion of Mary's virginity being typified in the burning bush, in Gideon's fleece, in Aaron's rod that budded? It was all in the hymnody! The LATIN hymnody. The hymnody they didn't translate and just kept using. UNTIL.

Until rationalism and pietism swept through the Lutheran Churches, and then Latin was the first thing axed. And suddenly all the hymns that had nurtured and sustained a way of reading and thinking about the Scriptures were no longer there. Only the post-Reformation hymns that had been composed in German largely remained. And it wasn't too long after this that we see a marked change in how the Scriptures themselves were being read and understood.

As I said, this is all Weedon's suppositions - I have yet to do all the "hard data work" as dear Dr. Nagel would call it - but I truly suspect it explains a LOT of what happened. Take up your old German Gesangbuch and look for the hymns that we regard as standard from the Latin. They're not there. It's a loss I think we've still not reckoned with, and it explains why Lutherans of the 21st century simply don't know how to DEAL with what their forebears in the faith simply took as axiomatic.
posted by William Weedon at 4:52 PM

28 Comments:
Paul T. McCain said...
Maybe your friend was right?

5:42 PM
William Weedon said...
Well, I DO believe miracles still happen... ;)

6:45 PM
Anonymous said...
I went to Fenton's new church today. I looked for you on IM but you're not logged in. I ducked out before anybody talked to me and I didn't accept any of their bread. I was supposed to reject it, right?

7:52 PM
Rev. Benjamin Harju said...
Bill,

Good post. I think with the disappearance of the hymns, the sad darkness of the Reformed and general Protestantism seeped in to fill their place. Now with the Liturgy itself with all good hymns being chucked in many of our parishes, just imagine the chaos that looms ahead for us in the future. I'm afraid that the loss of the Semper Virgo and the Closed Womb delivery of Jesus will seem like small potatoes compared to what's coming our way in 50-100 years.

BTW, your new ID image is nice, but it's big. Now, maybe it's because I can only get a 26K connection at best, but it sure does take a while to download. I'm sure it's because my connection speed is so poor out here. It still looks nice, though.

8:42 PM
Rev. Benjamin Harju said...
Dear Anonymous,

The only reason you would need to refuse their bread is if you wish to refuse their love and friendship. That's the point behind their baking it by hand, blessing it, and giving it to those with whom they cannot admit to the Sacrament.

Thinking of my own parish situation, it sure would be confusing and disheartening if a new face showed up, but darted out so no one could say "Welcome" or "Hi, and you are?"

Why did you visit their parish? Did you intend to behave this way from the get-go? I wouldn't be pleased to find out one of my parishioners did something like this in one of the other churches in town.

But maybe this all sounds worse than it really is? Perhaps I just have the wrong idea here.

What is going on here?

In Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Harju, Pastor

St. John's LCMS, Hastings, IA
St. Paul LCMS, Oakland, IA

8:53 PM
Anonymous said...
The bread they were offering me was the same bread they were receiving in communion. Wouldn't accepting it be like communing at the alter of a non-Lutheran church? I didn't go with plans to refuse the bread. I didn't know they were going to do it until I read it in the ordo. As for darting out right at the end, I did plan that as my current pastor actually recommended that I don't visit at all because he thought J.F. would corner me and try to convert me on the spot. J.F. headed downstairs and I bolted for my car.

8:59 PM
William Weedon said...
Dear Jenn,

Pastor Harju is quite right about the bread - though it LOOKS like the Eucharistic bread, it is called "antidoran" - "instead of the gift" - and is offered merely as a gesture of friendship.

I don't think Fr. John would have tried to convert you on the spot, though he would certainly love to have you as an Orthodox Christian because of his conviction that Orthodoxy is the one true Church.

What did you think of the liturgy? It's remarkably similar, I suspect, to Zion's liturgy. The Divine Service of the Lutheran Church and the Liturgy of the Gregorian Rite of the Western Orthodox have a true kinship. And certainly Fr. John is a powerful preacher of the Gospel. Still where we differ, we differ, and no similarity in liturgy can gloss over the difference.

9:32 PM
William Weedon said...
Pr. Harju,

You may of course be correct, but we also see in LSB the Lutheran faith expressed beautifully in numerous new hymns written in modern English. That gives reason to hope as well. Time will tell. It's a battle of passing on vs. erosion.

9:33 PM
Anonymous said...
Doh! It's not the same bread? *facepalm* Oh well. At least now I know.

Yes, it's remarkably similar in liturgy. It felt a little informal but I think that's because I'm used to organ music and a grand-looking building with great acoustics. The hynms were all about martyrs and Mary. It seemed somewhat lacking in gospel by comparison. Also, there was unfamiliar terms used here and there so I didn't feel as though I could give any Amens. I merely observed for the most part.

9:47 PM
Omar said...
Interesting,

The disuse of Latin - in hymns or otherwise - must be why a Roman Catholic friend of mine(who's a convert from the Baptists) thought it strange that when I was examing Lutheranism I started delving into Latin. The two seemed mutually exclusive to him and Lutheranism had, in his mind, become synonymous with hostility toward Latin... sigh
If the early Lutherans wrote new hymns in the vernbacular without translating the old Latin hymns, they must have had a high regard for teaching Latin.

very, very interesting


Fr.Weedon,

How would the rise of Rationalism and Pietism in Lutheransim cause Latin to be regarded as less favorable? Was it Latin itself or more importantly theological points evident in these writings that were a thorn in the side of these streams?

Pax

10:25 PM
William Weedon said...
Omar,

The rationalists and pietists both disliked the Latin itself. They thought of it as being stuck to far into the Romanism that Lutheranism ought to have extracted itself from. The Lutherans thought entirely differently: the Latin was just the language that they'd grow up with and they treasured it and used it regularly.

10:30 PM
William Weedon said...
TOO far. Grr!

10:34 PM
The Unknown Lutheran said...
Pastor Weedon:

I too am accused of having a Marian obsession. The phrase "Icon of the Church" is stuck in my mind.
One can have a healthy obsession with the Blessed Virgin though, and I am sure you have such a healthy interest as all I have read from you or heard from you on IE never goes against the fact that Christ is absolutely central.

Anonymous:
You have nothing to fear from Fr. Fenton. Talk to him if you get the chance. He has no supernatural powers to convert high church confessional Lutherans :)
You hit the nail on the head by writing about the lack of gospel.
He needs to hear this. If you get the chance, tell him. The typical old school cn type Lutheran crowd would call me a hyper-euro and sacerdotalist and despite my absolute respect for the OHM, the Gospel, the Truth, spoken by a layperson is just as powerful as what is spoken by the ordained. If you know the Truth, speak it! Fr. Fenton or not.

I have a dream in which Fr. Fenton comes home to Wittenberg, where he belongs, where we need him as well.

11:17 PM
Fraser said...
Dear William,

Have you have read Charles R Hogg Jr's articles on this theme in Lutherna (sic) Forum?

Fraser

Man Wrapped in Bubble Paper

CrossWalk, Laveen, Arizona

Thoughts of Marvin

ELCA Archbishop Mark Hanson now presides over Bishop Shep.

I have a long post from someone about TOF. I will mention some things I know.

The Little Sect on the Prairie took control of Thoughts of Faith, which was largely funded by Marvin Schwan.

Little Printshop on the Prairie

A highlight of the convention was the program on two evenings when a representative of each church body told about its work – including the joys and difficulties it faced. Pastor "Martin Luther" Kim from South Korea stole the show with his exuberance and enthusiasm. He emphasized that he wanted to be called Martin Luther because our world is desperately in need of a second Reformation. He reported that his church has about 250 members, of which 50 are studying in the United States.
Rev. John Vogt

Thoughts of Faith, Inc.

Our 2008 synod convention adopted the recommendation that the church-related organization, Thoughts of Faith (TOF), "be brought into the organizational structure, direction, and control of the synod through its Board for Foreign Missions." For the 2009 convention a proposed structure will be presented. The date for the full implementation of the acquisition is January 1, 2010. Mr. Kermit Traska currently serves as the Executive Director for TOF.

John Shep began TOF as a para-church organization. The formerly empty website for TOF has plenty of content now. ELS Pastor Paul Schneider (Midland, Michigan) is president of the board. Schneider's congregation has Dow Chemical money behind it, so it is the only heir-conditioned Lutheran church in that city.

Roger Kovaciny, Jay Webber, and others gave Bishop John Shep the Left Foot of Fellowship, so he came back from the Ukraine.

Pastor John Shep is now serving a three-point ELCA congregation, not far from TOF headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. There are some interesting photo pages. He is involved in the Ukraine again. I recall that TOF was supposed to deliver Ukraine from the Commie Atheists, which is a good description of the current ELCA leadership. Update - the Vermont congregation has gone on its own, with Shep as the pastor, instead of being yoked with two others.

Has anyone noticed how ELS pastors become ELCA pastors? The Fuller-trained ELS pastor who was on the doctrine committee joined ELCA. I think that CG pastor was in Naples, Florida when Orvick dropped the hammer. Corrections are welcome.

David Jay Webber, once in the Ukraine, now serves in Scottsdale, Arizona and Queen Creek.

Roger Kovaciny resigned from the Little Sect on the Prairie. He denies being A. Nony Mouse, and I believe him. There were details that pointed to a WELS pastor. Kovo is translating in the Ukraine, somewhat on his own, with help from WELS/ELS Church Growth leader Floyd Luther Stolzenburg.

Stolzenburg was hailed as the savior of WELS in Columbus, after he was kicked out of the LCMS ministry for cause, divorced for cause, and sued for cause. He never joined WELS, but WELS treated him as a pastor with a proper divine call. Shep, Kovaciny, and Webber took money from Stolzenburg's Masonic CG congregation (a job supported by Kuske) and built a church in Ukraine, naming it after Floyd's. Awww, that is so sentimental and supportive of Floyd. Who says the love of money is the root of all evil? Oh, the Bible? Well, never mind. The NIV probably reads, "Mark and avoid poor people." That would explain the joint attitude of the ELS and WELS. They can agree on something after all. TOF even got matching funds from the Schwan Foundation to build that church named after Floyd's in Columbus. Friends, if you got turned down for a grant from Schwan - you just did not sink low enough.

Apparently John Lawrenz did some work at the Ukraine Seminary. The Holy Spirit ordered him to Asia, although John argued hard against it, according to the interview published on the Web.

One of the Schwan sons is on the TOF board. The Schwan Foundation is not as prodigal as it once was, so many projects have been tossed. If anyone suffers from thinking that money is a Means of Grace, think again. The eruption of Schwan money served mainly to get the old Synodical Conference (LCMS-ELS-WELS) into outrageous spending habits.