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Plagiarism Common in the WELS Church Shrinkage Movement

Haste, haste; copy and paste,
Just make sure the doctrine's debased.

I have not received one howl of protest from the WELS Church and Change people for exposing more plagiarism from Kelm/Parlow beehive. See the post immediately below. I will feature any complaints from the Church Shrinkage gurus.

I believe they copy and paste because they have no doctrine of their own, no ideas, and no faith. They certainly do not believe in the power, authority, and effectiveness of the Word. They do not trust the Word and Sacraments. How bizarre, to turn away from the clear, plain words of God's Word in order to belch or bleat the intricate, self-inflating, pompous, man-glorifying words of ordinary, foolish human beings.

Plagiarism from the Church Shrinkage experts is not new. Those LCMS pastors featured in Who's Who in Church Growth (by C. Peter Wagner) simply copied what they got from Fuller Seminary. Werning used quotation marks, even when quoting pages of Fuller material verbatim. All of Kent Hunter's insights were repeated from Fuller.

Paul Kelm has always copied Reformed doctrine, something he learned when working for David Valleskey in California. Valleskey once "produced" a boxed spiritual gifts program, identical to Fuller's boxed program in name and substance. I doubt whether it was verbatim copying, but the message was pure Enthusiasm.

Kelm and Parlow are well known for placing the sermons of other men (all non-Lutherans) on their website, claiming them as their own. The comparisons were sent around WELS and came to me. When Bailing Water and Ichabod mentioned this, the sermons were footnoted. I wonder, did they say, "I stole this from a Baptist website"? Soon after this was laughed about, the sermons disappeared altogether. Now they must be requested.

One of the favored WELS CGM pastors in Charleston gave sermons verbatim from Willow Creek, even reproducing Hybels' inflections. He was not told to stop spreading false doctrine. No, not under Mischke-Kelm-Mueller. He was told to stop being dishonest. But the dog returned to his vomit and was removed from the ministry. He is still paid by WELS, not as a minister.

I used to copy all the Church Shrinkage quotations from WELS and from Fuller, printing them next to each other. Like Werning, the WELS Shrinkers copied all the concepts but often without using quotation marks or citations. Nevertheless, the WELS guys freely admitted promoting the methods and doctrines of the Enthusiasts.

Here is one WELS Mission Counselor's Newsletter from Jim Radloff, who was hotter than Phoenix asphalt for CGM. The contributors are Paul Kelm (WELS but never Lutheran), Mark Freier (officially not Lutheran now), Randy Cutter (WELS star, now Pentecostal), and various theological leaders from the Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Congregationalists, and Methodists. April 1992.

The Mission Counselor's Newsletter was the upgrade (bigger, slicker, worser) of TELL. When TELL was upgraded, the editor bragged that the purpose of the rag had always been to promote the CGM.

As many incompetent, false teachers in WELS will tell you, copying and pasting from Fuller and Willow Creek was a career enhancing move, even if they were canned. The Church Shrinkers always rushed in to save their hides. The Love Shack is full of them because the clergy blew off every chance to stomp the scorpion before it had babies. Now the babies have babies.

The Word alone will defeat the Church Shrinkers and their Father Below.

Parlow/Limmer Channel Bill Hybels: Another Case of Plagiarism

WELS Pastor Bill Limmer, Point of Grace, Milwaukee, Campus Ministry, copying and pasting his latest insights?

Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church - Not WELS.

Paul Kelm, WELS

John Parlow, WELS


----- Original Message -----
From: jp (this is how John Parlow sends his messages)

Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 2:47 PM
Subject: Letter from Pastor Limmer (not sure how Limmer got added, but he was)

Dear St. Mark Family,
I have never been an early riser all my life. And so for someone like me to be tossing and turning two hours before sunrise, after a fourteen hour work day at St. Mark...well that is worth trying to figure out. Jet lag? Nope. I have been in the same time zone for weeks. Family trouble? Nope. My family still graciously puts up with all my quirks. Anxiety? The world has its share of troubles, and I like many of you, have felt the need to pray more fervently for so many who are suffering. But after reflecting on that for a little while, I knew that wasn't the root cause of my sleeplessness.

Being the seasoned spiritual leader that I am, I finally resorted to a formula that has been a secret embarrassment to me for decades: "When all else fails...turn to God and ask for help." When I quietly breathed a prayer for insight from above, the Spirit whispered, "It is old fashioned excitement, Bill. You felt it in years past when Holy Week services were filled with a sense of anticipation and wonder and you are feeling it again now. It is a good thing. In fact, why not revel in the fact that you have been doing something for fifteen years and you love it so much that you can't sleep come ‘game day’." Duh.

Last night I prayed for Scott as I knew he would be putting on the finishing touches for the three Maundy Thursday Services. And today I'm contemplating the final rehearsals for our Good Friday services, and felt a sharp pang of sadness that it is not being broadcast all over the world. It was that touching to me. I was completely convinced that any and all who experience it will be moved to tears as I was, and as irresistibly drawn to the Crucified One. The Tenebrae services are at 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30 tomorrow.

Earlier in the day John, a few others and I reviewed the Easter message. (Remember we are at West High, 966 Shawano Ave. at 7:30 and 9:30 a.m.) As the group left my office, I sat with John and we grieved over the fact that we would only be having eight Holy Week services! All John and I could talk about was the redemptive potential of the next four days. Who knows what God might do--in how many lives?!

Friends, don't miss anything these next few days. Don't miss private promptings from God regarding what He wants you to reflect on this Holy Week. Don't miss a single opportunity to ask additional friends and family to come with you to the services. Don't miss the teaching moments with young children that this season affords. Miss a little sleep...but don't miss anything else. Deal?
Bill

[Milwaukee -- Cardinal Stritch Coll
(F) Rev Bill F Limmer
The Point of Grace, Milwaukee WI
414-963-2047
pastorbill@thepointofgrace.net
Wisconsin Lutheran Student Center Worship Facility]



---

But two and one-half hours earlier, this message had already arrived from Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church:


----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Hybels
To: enews@arrow.willowcreek.org
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 12:08 PM
Subject: Sleepless in Barrington (from Bill Hybels)

Dear Enews Family,

I have been an early riser all my life. It goes back to growing up in a family that owned a fresh produce business. But for someone like me to be tossing and turning two hours before sunrise, after a sixteen hour work day at Willow...well that is worth trying to figure out. Jet lag? Nope. I have been in the same time zone for weeks. Family trouble? Nope. We recently returned from one of the most enjoyable vacations we have ever had. Anxiety? The world has its share of troubles, and I like many of you, have felt the need to pray more fervently for so many who are suffering. But after reflecting on that for a little while, I knew that wasn't the root cause of my sleeplessness.

Being the seasoned spiritual leader that I am, I finally resorted to a formula that has been a secret embarrassment to me for decades: "When all else fails...turn to God and ask for help." When I quietly breathed a prayer for insight from above, the Spirit whispered, "It is old fashioned excitement, Bill. You felt it in years past when Good Friday and Easter services were filled with a sense of anticipation and wonder and you are feeling it again now. It is a good thing. In fact, why not revel in the fact that you have been doing something for thirty years and you love it so much that you can't sleep come ‘game day’." Duh.

Last night I sat through the final rehearsals for our Good Friday services, and felt a sharp pang of sadness that it is not being broadcast all over the world. It was that touching to me. I was completely convinced that any and all who experience it will be moved to tears as I was, and as irresistibly drawn to the Crucified One. The first service starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. (And then we get to do it three more times on Friday--at 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00 p.m.!)

Earlier in the day God had graciously given my Easter message to me, after which the team and I reviewed the Easter program one final time. As the group left my office, I sat alone for just a moment and grieved over the fact that we would only be able to do it seven times! At the end of my workday Greg Ferguson and I did our typical run, but at a ridiculously fast pace, because all we could talk about was the redemptive potential of the next four days. Who knows what God might do--in how many lives?!

So, that's why I'm pecking at my laptop well before the guys with broken exhaust systems deliver the newspapers . . .raw spiritual amperage. And at my age...it is a good thing.

Friends, don't miss anything these next few days. Don't miss private promptings from God regarding what He wants you to reflect on this Holy Week. Don't miss a single opportunity to ask additional friends and family to come with you to the services. Don't miss the teaching moments with young children that this season affords. Miss a little sleep...but don't miss anything else. Deal?

Bill

-------------------------------
To find out about this weekend's service or what's happening around Willow Creek Community Church, visit http://www.willowcreek.org.
To unsubscribe from E-news, send a blank message to enews@willowcreek.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you have questions about Willow Creek, you can e-mail info@willowcreek.org or call (847)765-5000. Thank you.

Interesting Email Story

A source has a pair of emails, which I will copy soon. I need a little more verification.

I appreciate the many sources feeding information to this blog. Infections need surgery or medicine. One influential person said, "You have information no one else seems to know. Obviously you have a lot of contacts." More and better than most imagine, believe, hope, or fear.

The Church and Change circle of WELS has been very quiet lately. The nasty personal note of the day is missing.

Bipartisan Bailout Plan Almost Completed: A Good Time To Invest in Canned Goods

"And I don't have to pay back my huge bonus for wrecking the bank."