Giant Hissing Cockroaches

A WELS layman offered up this heart-warming image: a hissing cockroach. The one above is the giant variety from Madagascar.

Dr. Jackson,

It sounds like the latest WELS misadventures are really flushing out the cockroaches. If it isn't Kelm's stealth call to Parish Assistance, then it is the 2009 offering of Ed Stetzer at the C&C conference. I have been trying to keep up with it all, but I am getting a bit dizzy in the process. Tim Felt-Needs is really carrying a lot of water over at Bailing Water. His solutions posted are the typical law-based sleight of hand aimed at the laity and designed to take our focus from the synodical shenanigans. All of this reminds me of what happens when you fumigate a cockroach infested dwelling - they come out of the woodwork and scurry about. I wish that I could think of a better analogy. It just seems so fitting.

In Christ,
Randall Schultz

***

GJ - They are running around and hissing a lot, too. On the surface they act like the cat who found the bowl of cream. In reality, they are running around hissing because doom has come upon them. Their beloved Internet has foiled them. The more they brag, the more everyone knows about their pusilanimous behavior. That is why I provide links at every possible opportunity. And alas! They have software that tracks when they are linked, so the rise up in alarm and hiss even more.

Crown of Glory, Corona, California was Sweet on Leonard, but gushing red ink. They posted their disastrous offering reports. I mentioned that. Hiss! Hiss!

A district president wrote about the Stetzer Church and Change invitation. I tracked it down to the Stetzer website since Church and Change was lying - again. Hiss! Hiss! "You are worse than Jackson." Hiss. "8th Commandment." Hiss. Stetzer is lying. Hiss. The conference is canceled. Hiss. But that is the hiss-terical reaction of liars who want to bowl over someone telling the truth.

The aptly named Moose Report complained bitterly about Sweet not being welcomed in WELS. I quoted those publicly published words. Hiss. Hiss.

There are only a few WELS stealth congregations. Nothing to see. Move on. Hiss. Hiss. But now one of their own brags about all the Church and Change congregations. The list grows daily. Someone should quiet Tim Felt-Needs down. He is way too honest, glib, and smug about Church and Change.

There are too many quotations from orthodox Lutherans on Ichabod. The quotations make the cockroaches hiss.

I invent up the comments, even pretending to be a layman suffering from the predations of WELS pastors. Hiss. Believe me, I barely have time to copy and paste the latest felonies from WELS.

There is not as much adultery among the WELS church workers as I seem to think. Hiss. But look at the public examples, from Rev. Family Values marrying his secretary to the various lawsuits filed and arrests made. I always thought that Christian life resources would exclude adultery, but I am legalistic.

They used to hiss that no one ever, ever went to Fuller Seminary - not even the ones who bragged about going there. Not even the ones listed in a mailing from Fuller - all the WELS clergy who went to Fuller. Now they have trouble hissing out an explanation about where all this Church Growth garbage came from. Valleskey became president of The Sausage Factory while promoting CG. His only book is a double back-flip in favor of every silly Church Growth gimmick from Fuller. But he did not go to Fuller. He bragged to David Koenig of the CLC about going to Fuller, so Koenig hissed to me that I should not have told everyone. Did Valleskey hiss at him for telling? Giant hissing cockroaches probably hiss just for the fun of it.

Did the fainting lagomorphs of the COP stomp their paws about Stetzer? They expressed concern.

I believe Randall Schultz is right. Church and Change is on its way out. Everyone is sick of them. They are like disco music, without the melody. Just the thump, thump, thumping of disco, very tiresome and dated.

Time to bug out - Church and Change.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name III: Church ...":

If Sweet and Stetzer are inter-twined, then surely so are the WELS pastors who felt the need to attend the pan-enthusiam conference. If this is common knowledge, please tell me what kind of church disapline (sic) was dealt out to those wayward pastors? Is there a list of those pastors that could be made public so as to make their congregations aware of how they spend their "free time" ?

***

GJ - You have slandered Holy Mother WELS, just by asking that question. The names of the pastors involved can be obtained from Bailing Water. At least Mr. Water knows which ones to ask. They were described as heavy hitters, so I imagine they are quite well known in WELS.

Discipline was immediate and severe. They were allowed to invite Stetzer to be their next Church and Change speaker. If the mountain (Sweet) cannot come to Mohammed (WELS conference), then Mohammed can come to the mountain. And get this - if that discipline was not severe enough already - the COP frowned. Yes, they expressed concern. That is worse than waterboarding. Worse than hearing the favorite songs of Amy Winehouse. Worse than watching Time of Grace every Sunday.

The laity will have to act. The WELS clergy will not.

If Becker Is Elated, Then Why Did He Hide the Call from the Synod President?

Insurbordination can be fun, but German Lutherans still remember what Unordnung means.

This is direct from the official WELS email list, so do not accuse me of making up this treacle:

New Parish Assistance consultant

Filed Under: Parish Assistance

For the first time since August 2006, WELS Parish Assistance—which offers fee-based consulting services to help congregations analyze and improve their ministries—has three full-time consultants. Rev. Paul Kelm, who previously served as a Parish Assistance consultant from January 1998 to August 2004, accepted a call Oct. 14 to be the third consultant, a position that had been vacant for more than two years.

"We are just elated," says Rev. Bruce Becker, administrator for WELS Parish Services, the board that oversees the Parish Assistance program. "We will now be in a position to start accepting the requests for services from the congregations that have been waiting."

Becker says he's looking forward to working again with Kelm, who will be starting his consulting duties Nov. 1. "Paul has always been a fantastic consultant," says Becker. "He's also just come out of four years of parish ministry, which brought him back up to the realities of life in the parish—and that will only enhance his ability to serve as a consultant."

In addition to his previous experience as a Parish Assistance consultant, Kelm has also served as pastor at St. Mark, De Pere/Green Bay, Wis., and Faith, Pittsfield, Mass.; campus pastor, professor, and dean of students at Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee; administrator of WELS' Commissions on Evangelism and Adult Discipleship; project director of Spiritual Renewal, Milwaukee; campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, Madison; and tutor at the former Dr. Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn. [GJ - He also started an ELCA congregation.]

"This call is something that I think matches my gifts and my personality," says Kelm. "And my years here at St. Mark, in a large parish, have helped to shape some of the ways in which I can help congregations as well. I did enjoy [serving as a consultant] and expect to again."

For more information about WELS Parish Assistance, visit www.wels.net/pa

***

KJV 1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

KJV 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

KJV Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

GJ - One certain sign of people who despise the Word is their disorderly behavior.

Church and Change Tactics

Would I lie to you, baby?

The WELS Conference of District Presidents has already discussed the Church and Change shindig with Baptist Ed Stetzer as the main speaker.

Now the Church and Change supporters are screaming that it is a violation of the 8th Commandment to say there is a conference with Ed Stetzer. Maybe it was canceled. Oh sure - that is why the COP discussed the conference as a future reality.

Church and Change is a bit too coy for me. Too clever by half, as they say.

They are lying by not announcing Stetzer on the website. Stetzer is telling the truth by bragging about his WELS gig, which specifically says WELS Church and Change. Funny, his link is back to the main WELS.net site, so perhaps he or they want to imply official approval.

Ichabodians may recall that when I quoted Kelm's endorsement of a Kent Hunter conference, Frosty Bivens (The Sausage Factory) immediately rose to accuse me of violating the 8th Commandment. I produced the actual copy, ipsissima verba from Paul Kelm, and Frosty said, "How do we know he gave permission...? etc. etc." Later I asked The Church Doctor himself. Hunter said he asked for a written endorsement from Kelm and got it. So the only violator was Frosty Bivens himself, falsely accusing me to defend his Church Growth buddy Paul Kelm. I later learned that Bivens was another student of Fuller Seminary, like Larry Olson, David Valleskey, James Huebner, Reuel Schulz, Wally Oelhaven, Fred Adrian, and many others. Yet Bivens denied he ever went there, just as Valleskey did. So both of them falsely accused me of lying about them when I spoke the truth.

Anyone who expects common decency from the Church and Change bunch is delusional. They have deceived their way into power and they are not going to change their habits now.

As anyone can see, Church and Change deceived the leadership about the Kelm call and the Stetzer conference. Their added deception is to suggest there is no Stetzer conference.

I am thoroughly enjoying this because plenty of people are leaking information to me.

Posts from Church and Change Obi-Wans, robots, and Useful Idiots (with money) are always welcome here.

---

From Bailing Water:

John said...
I want to ask how an anonymous commenter can scream 8th commandment at me.

How did I break the 8th commandment? All I did was post that Ed Stetzer was speaking at the next C & C conference. I also mentioned that several WELS pastors sat at his feet back in April. How is this breaking the 8th commandment? You drew the conclusions.

Now you tell me. Is it a sin for Stetzer to present at the C&C conference (as long as he doesn't lead a prayer?) Does one principle over-ride another?

October 20, 2008 5:52 PM


Anonymous said...
My question is: Why would WELS members (clergy & laity) WANT to have Ed Stetzer as a keynote speaker?

Another question I have is: Why do the congregations that choose to not use Lutheran in their names WANT to be part of WELS?

October 20, 2008 6:10 PM


Tim Niedfeldt [Felt Needs] said...
No it is not a sin for Stetzer to present(not even if he says a prayer..just if the attendees participate in it).

No it is not a sin to point it out if you don't like it.

No there is no 8th commandment thing being broken in this instance.

and finally although I appreciate knowing someone is out there who might support something i say, I will not go so far as to say that there is 8th commandment breaking going on (and its fair to say I've taken a word or two of criticism). Sometimes there are strong words, fervent words, sarcastic words..all said out of zeal and maybe frustration at times. I think this is all in the realm of acceptability in a public forum. Now I can name a few places on the internet where the 8th commandment hardly exists.

I think that whole 8th commandment thing is thrown around too much...as if disagreement or presentaion of a topic is putting someone else down. Its the same as those who throw out the "I'm offended" trump card in church meetings..honestly have we truly forgotten how to be men?

maybe if we as a society had not created a few generations of sissys (my generation being one of the worst) we could talk, debate, argue, criticize, and chastise freely without crying 8th commandment foul

If you can't stand the CPU heat get out of the blogosphere.


Tim

WELS Conference of Presidents Know All about Stetzer

For a large fee I will speak to your WELS sheep.

"The next Church and Change Conference will be having Ed Stetzer, a person not of our fellowship, be one of its speakers. He is part of the "missional" movement. The members of the COP in looking at his theology and aggressive style of presentation have some serious reservations about his appearance at this conference and have asked President Schroeder to express our concerns to the leaders of Church and Change."

NW DP Englebrecht

***

GJ - The quotation above was sent to the pastors in that district, so it is public knowledge.

The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name III: Church and Change Conference 2009

Church and Change board member Bruce Becker is also the Administrator for Parish Services. He issued a stealth call to Paul Kelm, without telling the Synod President. Now there is a stealth conference.


What happened to the Means of Grace?


As of October 20th, Church and Change Has Not Announced Their Speaker, Baptist Ed Stetzer

The Assemblies of God loved him! Why shouldn't WELS?

Church and Change booked Ed Stetzer for their next conference, apparently after a bunch of WELS pastors went to a pan-Enthusiasm conference.

WELS Church and Change must have paid him a substantial fee in advance, or they would not be on his list of speaking engagements.

However, an extensive search of the Church and Change site reveals no conference planned for 2009, no mention of Stetzer, no inkling of the joy they found at the pan-Enthusiasm conference.

Stetzer will be with New Age Methodist Leonard Sweet right after his WELS gig. Readers may recall that Church and Change booked Leonard Sweet, but that blew up in their faces. Stetzer's appearance at a Sweet event shows how these frauds are inter-twined.

Stetzer links back to WELS.net, not to Churchandchange.ugh.

WELS Belles - Girly Men Who Cannot Admit They Are Lutheran

I too skeered to say I am Lutheran.

Some people at Bailing Water have provided names of WELS congregations where the confession is hidden. I will add this list to my previous one. Some are repeats, but some are new:

Church and Change Congregations from Tim Felt-Needs:

St. Mark's Depere
St. Marcus, Milwaukee
Crosswalk, Laveen, AZ
Crossroads, Chicago
Christ the Rock, Round Rock, TX
Sure Foundation, Brooklyn, NY
Victory of the Lamb, Franklin, WI
Hope Lutheran, Oconomowoc, WI
Solid Rock Ministries, Appleton, WI
Christ the Rock - Round Rock, Texas
http://www.ctrtx.net/
Point of Grace, Milwaukee (copy and paste veteran from DePere)
Also, a newly forming Solid Rock Ministries - south of St Mark De Pere - Pastor Jim Skorzewski

This Doufus ELCA Congregation...No - Wait. WELS!?

Let's adulterate the Word with...coffee

Welcome

Sometimes, just the thought of church is painful—words repeated without meaning, everyone acting like their lives are perfect, feeling judged, or just being bored. What if there were a place you could worship and ask questions without feeling like you had to hide your real self?

That place is here, at St. Andrew - Waunakee. You don't have to hide anything here because God already knows you. He knows that you have problems, inside and out, and He offers you free of any cost the solution to those problems: His Son Jesus. Do you know where your problems come from? Do you know what Jesus did to take care of them? God wants you to know that. He wants you to know HIM.

At St. Andrew – Waunakee, we gather on Sunday mornings to connect with God and with each other. It’s come as you are, because God doesn’t care what you’re wearing or whether you need just a little more caffeine.

Worship Sundays at 10:30 AM

Casual About Church, Serious About God
St. Andrew - Waunakee
5757 Emerald Grove Lane
Waunakee, WI 53597
Phone: (608) 831-8540
Contact Via Email

The sponsoring church admits to being WELS on its home page. The pastor has an M.T. degree from the Sausage Factory. That seems appropriate - M.T. - no such degree, but certainly empty.

---

Trading Markets.com

No need to dress up for some Wisconsin churches

Sun. October 19, 2008; Posted: 02:49 AM

Do you want to trade professionally? Click here.

WAUNAKEE, Oct 19, 2008 (The Wisconsin State Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- BKS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating --

A couple of months ago, St. Andrew Lutheran Church wanted to do something different to attract parishioners, especially those put off by the rituals and trappings of traditional churches.

So it ripped up its pews and filled the sanctuary with an eclectic mix of earth-tone love seats, sleek armchairs and coffeehouse tables.

The communion rail came down, and the pulpit went out the door, replaced by a stone-slab table with a base made from a neighbor's fallen tree. The newly added cappuccino machine and coffee grinder look just like the ones at Kwik Trip -- indeed, they were donated by Kwik Trip.

"There are plenty of churches in Waunakee and plenty of Christians who already have churches in Waunakee. We wanted to target the people who aren't churched," said Kristen Koepsell, worship director.

This relaxed approach, in which God doesn't care about your posture or your caffeine addiction, has taken hold in numerous churches, although St. Andrew may be taking it to a new level. Many churches now offer at least one service with a looser, more conversational format, often involving a live band.

"There's a trend toward people being more interested in approaching the spiritual and sacred on their own terms," said Robert Glenn Howard, a UW-Madison associate professor in communication arts and religious studies.

This suggests a de-emphasis on the institutional components of religion, including the formal setting itself, Howard said. The Internet is fueling part of this change. People expect their voices to be heard -- they're used to contributing to online forums -- so there's a shift away from a top-down, centralized approach, he said.

"It's all part of the idea that the most important thing is for the individual to connect with the divine, and it doesn't really matter if you do that with a 19th-century hymn or a rock 'n' roll song," Howard said.

The Waunakee church, 5757 Emerald Grove Lane, was built in 1990 as Lord and Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church. But the congregation never really took off. "We weren't reaching out into the community very well," said Dick Bernards, a former president.

So two years ago, St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Middleton took over the church's assets and began operating it as a satellite location with the same name.

St. Andrew is now considered one congregation with two buildings. This gave church leaders the opportunity to try something different in Waunakee without risking a lot, said the Rev. Randy Hunter, who serves both churches.

"It's not intended to be disrespectful of anyone's desire to worship in a more formal setting, but we know that for many people, that's just not their thing," he said.

The Middleton location continues to hold a traditional worship service, while the Waunakee site experiments with a laid-back structure.

Hunter's sermon is videotaped at an early Sunday service in Middleton, then broadcast on large screens later in the morning at Waunakee. After the sermon concludes, Waunakee parishioners talk about it in small groups, then a layperson brings them back together for a brief discussion.

The congregation's motto is "Casual about church, serious about God." Communion is still offered every week.

"The message is the same, it's just repackaged in a way that may be a little more inviting for some people," Hunter said.

Gene Berg, a founding member of Lord and Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church, said he likes a traditional worship service but is giving the casual approach a try. He appreciates that prayers and religious readings are still part of the Waunakee service.

"I'm getting there. I'm warming up to it," he said.

St. Andrew spent about $40,000 on the remodeling, including the services of a professional design consultant. Many parishioners pitched in, including Sarah Homan, who helped select the contemporary furniture by visiting local coffeehouses and Barnes & Noble.

Inspiration for the stone table with the tree-trunk base came from a desire to replicate the simplicity of ancient worship services, Homan said. "We really went back to the Bible, to books from Genesis to Revelation that talk about wood and stone altars," she said.

In many ways, the changes are a return to basics -- the opposite of a modern approach, Hunter said. "It's keeping it real. You can't hide behind a pulpit or a robe."

The Waunakee sanctuary seats 65 and so far has been averaging about 50 people each Sunday, including some unfamiliar faces.

"Personally, I'll gauge our success by how many new people come through the door who haven't been going to a church," Hunter said. "If it becomes a place where current members just want to hang out because it's cool, then I don't think we will have succeeded."

To see more of The Wisconsin State Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Wisconsin State Journal Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

***

GJ - The spirit of mockery is thriving in this corner of the Wisconsin sect. Doubtless the District Pope is busy disciplining anyone who...criticizes the caffeine congregation. The essence of Deformed theology is using a hook or gimmick to attract people to the Gospel - adulterating the message of the cross. What better way than to have a cross resting in a cup of coffee as the official logo?

Some people were offended at the government sponsored "art" called Piss Christ. That photo showed a tradition cross or crucifix in a glass of urine. As gross and stupid as that was, the faux-art was nothing compared to this faux-Gospel sponsored by WELS.

The message is - Means of Grace worship is boring, painful, meaningless. All the Church-and-Change congregations have the same rant in their ads, even former ones like CrossRoads in South Lyons, Michigan. Look at the words again, copied below:

"Sometimes, just the thought of church is painful—words repeated without meaning, everyone acting like their (sic) lives are perfect, feeling judged, or just being bored. What if there were a place you could worship and ask questions without feeling like you had to hide your real self?"

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "This Doufus ELCA Congregation...No - Wait. WELS!?":

This article made me cry and I am in pain after having read it. There should be public outrage and outcry from both laity and clergy. I cannot believe that President Schroeder and the Conference of Presidents puts a stamp of approval on this. I am not able to place offerings in my envelope directed to synod with a clear conscience.
May God help us all.
Perhaps I stand alone; this is not the WELS I was instructed and confirmed in. How can we, the laity, and the pastors I used to look up to just stand by and watch this?
I am needing to step away and not just look away.

St. Mark's DePere Hails Kelm Copy-and-Paste Call to The Love Shack

Kelm: "I thought I requested a bigger office."

Partners!

Pastor Kelm accepts his call.

Pastor Paul Kelm accepted his call to serve our Synod as a parish consultant. We thank God for his services among us and pray that God blesses him in his new ministry area. Pastor Kelm and his wife, Lynne, will remain as partners at St. Mark.

St. Mark Newsletter

***

GJ - Some particulars about the Kelm call, from a variety of trustworthy sources:

1. Synod President Mark Schroeder previously advised the DPS not to call anyone to this position. I don't know the reasons he gave, but many WELS members and pastors wonder why the synod needs to waste more money on a Fooler-Sem program. Huebner, Olson, and Kelm were trained at Pasadena to be parish consultants. Truly - what a joke. Kelm is famous for recycling Reformed doctrine and programs and calling it creative.

2. The DPS Administrator Bruce Becker, who is on the board of Church and Change, did not tell President Schroeder that they extended the call to Kelm. As three different sources have told me, President Schroeder found out by reading the call list when it was published. Most would call this gross insubordination.

3. Church and Change has booked Baptist Ed Stetzer to be their next keynote speaker. Will the fainting bunny-rabbits, known as the Council of Presidents, raise any objections?

4. Wayne Mueller left The Love Shack but teaches the Arizona-California-Las Vegas District. Kelm returns to The Love Shack. Net loss of Church Growth/Church and Change leaders - Zero.

I expect the passive pastors of WELS to do nothing about the Kelm call and the next Baptist conference sponsored by Bruce Becker. If the laity want anything to happen, they will have to act on their own.

---

Facts and figures from the same newsletter, which I have copied, lest they disappear:

By The Numbers
f.y.i.
Weekend attendance (October 12): 1026

To Date (July 1, 2008 - October 12, 2008) Needed contributions (year-to-date) - $404,750.00 / Actual contributions (year-to-date) - $373,128.07

Other items of interest: Received to date for Building Fund - $901,990.81 / Expenditures from Building Fund - $1,484,569.38 / Line of Credit with Thrivent - $590,000.00

GJ - They are in the red, both in the regular budget and building fund. The Love Shack needs that kind of vision, leadership, and churchgrowthiness. Rev. Kelm will soon show WELS congregations how to accomplish the same marvels in their own parishes - for a fee.

Tireless Ichabod Research Team Reveals Shocking New Keynoter for Church and Change Conference - Baptist Ed Stetzer

Baptist Ed Stetzer: Another phase of Church Growth idiocy for the masses - and WELS - and Missouri. Becoming Missional.

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. [GJ - No bio tells where he got these so-called doctorates. Oh wait, I finally found a real bio at Trinity, where Olson studied. Here's Ed - Ed Stetzer is affiliate professor of research and missional ministry at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He earned his BS at Shorter College, his MAR at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, his DMin at Beeson Divinity School, and his MDiv and PhD at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. A DMin is not a real doctorate. An MDiv is just a seminary degree. Big deal. Southern Baptist is a very liberal Baptist school. They would not answer whether they believed in the Virgin Birth, when asked by the president of their denomination!] Ed is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN.

Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at fifteen other colleges and seminaries. He also serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board.

Ed is currently interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN.

Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence.

He has written the following books:
• Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (2003),
• Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (w/ Elmer Towns, 2004),
• Breaking the Missional Code (w/ David Putman, 2006),
• Planting Missional Churches (2006),
• Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson, 2007),
• 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, 2007), and
• Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation)





Most are open to the public but you should check with the web page or house for more information.

Ed's 2008 and 2009 Speaking Dates


November 6, 2009
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church and Change Conference
Milwaukee, WI


October 11-19, 2008
Fall Pastor's Vision Trip Central & Eastern Europe Region
Krakaw, Poland

October 20-21, 2008
Colorado State Convention Annual Meeting
Denver, CO

October 22, 2008
The What if Conference- LifeWay Adult Ministry Institute
Nashville, TN

October 24, 2008
Chapel Speaker
Union University
Jackson, TN

October 28, 2008
2008 Arkansas Baptist State Convention
Bentonville, AR

October 29, 2008
LifeWay Chapel
Nashville, TN

November 5-7, 2008
NOC08-The National Outreach Convention
San Diego, CA

November 10, 2008
Maryland/Delaware Pastor's Conference
Dover, DE

November 12, 2008
Refuel - 2008 Illinois Pastor's Conference
Springfield, IL

November 13-15, 2008
American Society of Church Growth Annual Conference
Biola University,
La Mirada, CA

November 17-21, 2008
Guest Professor
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Chicago, IL

Nov. 30, 2008
The Summit Church
Raleigh Durham, NC

Ed's 2009 Speaking Dates
2009
January 8, 2009
Nazarene National Pastors Conference
San Diego, CA

January 14, 2009
Breakout Session
North Central States Rally
Indianapolis, IN

January 19, 2009
Mississippi State Evangelism Conference
First Baptist Church Clinton, MS

January 26-27, 2009
New Mexico Evangelism Conference
Hoffmantown Church, Albuquerque, NM

January 28,2009
Dallas Leadership Network- Innovation 3 Conference
Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, Carrollton, TX

February 2, 2009
National Discipleship Meeting
Assemblies of God Headquarters
Springfield, MO

February 11-12, 2009
Association of State Executive Directors Annual Meeting
San Antonio, TX

February 16, 2009


Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary/North Carolina State Evangelism and Church Growth Conference

Wake Forest, NC

February 18, 2009
Empower Evangelism Conference
First Baptist Church Euless, TX

February 23, 2009
Church Planters.com Conference

February 24, 2009
North Carolina Pastors Conference
Ridgecrest, NC

March 2-3, 2009
Michigan State Evangelism Conference
Detroit, MI

March 7, 2009
Topics:
1-Reasons 18 to 22 Year Olds Drop Out of Church - Can the Church Close the Door?
2-Connecting Young Adults
Missionary Church North Central District
Reaching Next Generation
Granger, IN

March 9-12, 2009
Guest Professor, Church Planting
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Dmin Teaching
Chicago, IL

March 18, 2009
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Spring 2009 LifeWay Conference - Chapel
Wake Forest, NC

March 19, 2009
Protestant Church Owned Publishing Association Spring Conference- Protestant Pastor's Today
Nashville, TN

March 23-27, 2009
Guest Professor, "Entering the Missional Churches"
Biblical Seminary Dmin Teaching
Hatfield, PA

April 2, 2009
Webinar Presentation, "Mission, Missional, Missions"
The Mission Exchange Webinar
Nashville, TN (via web)

April 18, 2009
Acts 1:8 SENT Conference (Southern Baptists of Texas Convention))
First Baptist Church, Houston, TX



April 20-22, 2009
Exponential 2009- Nat'l New Churches Conference
Orlando, FL

April 21, 2009
National Conference on Preaching
Tampa, FL

April 24, 2009
Small Church Leadership Conference 2009
Nashville, TN

April 27-28, 2009
Missouri Synod Lutherans- North American Mission Executives
St. Louis, MO

May 1-2, 2009
Video Presentation
BGCO Missional Church Training
Nashville, TN

May 11-12, 2009
Campbellsville University, Church Planting Class
Louisville, KY

May 20-21, 2009
Church of God Church Planting/ Revitalization - Lab
Madisonville, KY

May 22-30, 2009
Pastors Mission Vision Trip to Europe

June 1- 5, 2009
Guest Professor, "Practical and Strategic Issues in Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth"
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Dmin
Wake Forest, NC

July 11-13, 2009
Sunday School Week- Ridgecrest
Ridgecrest, NC

June 14, 2009
Gracepoint Church
San Antonio

July 20-24,2009
Sunday School Week- Glorieta
Glorieta, NM

July 27, 2009
Breakout Speaker
The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Church Annual Meeting-Equip 09
Columbus, OH

September 21-28, 2009
Pastors Vision Trip-Third World Location TBA

October 12-14, 2009
International Mission Board Pastors Conference
Richmond, VA

November 6, 2009
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church and Change Conference
Milwaukee, WI

November 7-8, 2009
Len Sweet's Mountain Advance
Canaan Valley, WV

November 9, 2009
TN Baptist Pastor's Conference
Jackson, TN

November 12-14, 2009
American Society of Church Growth
Orlando, FL

November 30- December 1-2, 2009
Theological Symposium
Ridgecrest, NC

Ed's 2010 Speaking Dates
2010
January 4-8, 2010
Southeastern Seminary M.Div class
Southeastern Seminary

March 8-11
Missional Leadership D Min class, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

























Wow. I am tired. It may be 10pm here, but mt body still thinks it is 5am in Rome. Good night. 24 minutes ago
Home sweet home (or at least Nashville Sweet Airport). Almost home to see my princesses! about 2 hours ago
http://twitpic.com/gymw Hypothetically, if you took a pic of the Sistine Chapel before remembering you're not allowed to, this would be it. about 4 hours ago
Guide to the Blog

The Meanings of Missional (5 Parts)
Multi-site Churches
Young Adult Dropouts
Calvinism and the SBC
Book Review: The Story of Christianity
Good Intentions: Bob Smietana
Einstein quotes for missions and church planting
Kostenberger on the Church’s Mission in the 21st Century
Global Church Advancement - Church Planting and Renewal Conference
VIDEO - Billy Graham Preaching in 1958
Left Behind or Left Befuddled?
TeAmerica is now ConvergeUSA
Planting Churches in Budapest and Beyond
Video and Vision for Europe
Lost and Found Powerpoint at Catalyst
In Europe for God's Global Mission
Megachurch Interview: Daryl Largis
Keys to Kingdom Church Planting
Megachurch Research - Terminology
We Interupt This Blog from Altanta
Megachurch Interview: Brady Cooper
Warren Bird's Megachurch Dissertation
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Ayers Ghosting for Obama - More Tests

This map, copied for Bruce Church, shows how close Obama's home is to Ayers' residence. Louis Farrakhan is close by as well. Convicted felon Tony Rezko arranged the purchase of the Obama mansion, apparently with money from a rich Muslim.


Test shows Ayers penned Obama's 'Dreams'

by

Jack Cashill

As I have contended in previous articles, there is considerable and growing evidence that Bill Ayers made a significant contribution to Obama's "Dreams from My Father."

Among other indicators, I have cited the stunning parallels in nautical metaphors and postmodern themes, as well as the nearly miraculous transformation of Obama from struggling hack to literary giant in just a few years.

On Friday evening I received a welcome call from a member of Congress who has found the evidence as convincing as I have and has intervened to have writing samples tested through a university-based authorship program.

Although no such program is fully reliable, all preliminary comparisons that I have run have tested positive.

Two comparable nature passages – from "Dreams" and Ayers' memoir, "Fugitive Day," respectively – scored very nearly identically on the Flesch Reading Ease test.

On sentence length, a significant and telling variable, 30-sentence sequences from "Dreams" and "Fugitive Days," each dealing with "community organizing," scored very nearly identically again, "Fugitive Days" averaging 23.13 words a sentence and "Dreams" averaging 23.36 words a sentence.

By contrast, the memoir section of my own book about race, "Sucker Punch," averaged 15 words a sentence and tested significantly higher than either book on the Flesch Reading Ease test.

I also tested verb repetition in all three books, using as a base the first 60 distinctive verbs in "Fugitive Days." In "Dreams," an eye-popping 55 of those verbs appear. In "Sucker Punch," 37 do, this despite the fact that I am closer in age and education to Ayers than Obama is.

Ayers' involvement in Obama's memoir is not nearly as improbable as it might sound. Ayers served as something of a literary guru for his radical Hyde Park neighbors in Chicago.

Rashid Khalidi attests to this in the very first sentence of the acknowledgements in his 2004 book, "Resurrecting Empire."

"There are many people without whose support and assistance I could not have written this book, or written it in the way that it was written," he writes. "First, chronologically, and in other ways, comes Bill Ayers."

(Column continues below)




A friend of the PLO, even back in its terrorist days, Khalidi was as tight with Obama as he was with Ayers. Obama acknowledged as much when he toasted Khalidi on his departure from Chicago in 2003.

It would seem as natural, in fact, for Obama to have made use of Ayers' famed "dining room table" and the literary help that came with it as it was for Khalidi.

In fact, based on comparisons of style and word selection, Ayers seems to have had a much greater impact on Obama's work than on Khalidi's.

New evidence suggests that there was a good deal of literary back-scratching going on in Chicago's Hyde Park. Obama, for instance, wrote a short and glowing review of Ayers' 1997 book, "A Kind and Just Parent," for the Chicago Tribune.

Obama, whose photo is shown with the review, describes Ayers' book as "a searing and timely account of the juvenile court system."

In that same book, perhaps with a self-congratulatory wink, Ayers cites the "writer" Barack Obama as one among the celebrities in his neighborhood.

Ayers' likely ghosting of "Dreams" matters not so much because of what Ayers was, but rather because of what Ayers is: a man still intent on destroying an America that, in his own words, post 9-11, "makes me want to puke."

The congressman's real concern is that Ayers may have influenced Obama's political philosophy as much as he seems to have influenced his literary style. Consider the following passage from "Dreams":

Some [tourists] came because Kenya, without shame, offered to re-create an age when the lives of whites in foreign lands rested comfortably on the backs of the darker races; an age of innocence before Kimathi and other angry young men in Soweto or Detroit or the Mekong Delta started to lash out in street crime and revolution.
– Barack Obama, "Dreams from My Father"

Although Obama's memoir is generally more restrained and politic than Ayers' "Fugitive Days," passages like the one above make one wonder which is the real Obama.

The reference to "angry young men in Soweto or Detroit or the Mekong Delta" reflects Ayers' worldview of America as a "marauding monster," one that terrorizes its own citizens of color just as it does those in the third world.

Ayers does not define himself as being part of this monster but rather sees himself and his colleagues as saboteurs "behind enemy lines."

Curiously, Obama used the exact same phrase – "behind enemy lines" – to describe his own status while working in corporate America.

Obama's best defense here is that he did not write these passages and may not have understood their implications. For one, given his age, "Mekong Delta" was not likely a part of his vocabulary.

Ayers and his radical friends, however, were obsessed with Vietnam. It defined them and still does. To reflect their superior insight into that country, they have shown a tendency to use "Mekong Delta" as synecdoche, the part that indicates the whole.

In his 2001 memoir, "Fugitive Days," for instance, Ayers envisions "a patrol in the Mekong Delta" when he conjures up an image of Vietnam.

Ayers' wife, Bernadine Dohrn, pontificated about "a hamlet called My Lai" in a 1998 interview, but to flash her radical chops, she located it "in the middle of the Mekong Delta," which is in reality several hundred miles from My Lai.

In "Sucker Punch," though I write extensively about Vietnam, I make no reference to the "Mekong Delta." I have never written those words before this article.

Similarly, Ayers would have had a much deeper connection than Obama to "Detroit," whose historic riot took place, shortly before Obama's sixth birthday.

Ayers was posted to Detroit the year after the riot and experienced its fallout firsthand. In 2007, on his blog, he "commemorate[d]" the 40th anniversary of what he predictably calls the "Detroit Rebellion."

For obvious reasons, the media and the Obama camp have held Obama blameless for knowing anything about anything before 1970.

"Why is John McCain talking about the sixties?" one Obama ad asks. "McCain knows Obama denounced Bill Ayers' crimes committed when Obama was just eight years old."

The fact that the Weather Underground did all of its bombing in the 1970s, a conscious deception on the part of Obama and his handlers, is not at issue here.

What is at issue is that, if my thesis is correct, Obama has maintained an intimate working relationship with a self-described "communist" whose actions Obama now calls "despicable" and "detestable" only because he has to.

This Is Old News about Obama and Ayers, But Part of the Evidence

Domestic bomber and killer Bill Ayers, unrepentant. His book mentioned below was Obama's favorite, as listed in the Chicago Tribune. Ayers mentioned Obama as a neighbor in that book. Some think Michelle brought Obama together with Wright and Ayers, but that overlooks Frank Marshall Davis, the known Communist mentor of Obama in Hawaii. Davis had great Lefty society connections in...Chicago.

I read this before, but it is worth posting with the rest.

Should a child ever be called a “super predator?”

A panel at the University of Chicago debates the merits of the juvenile justice system

Children who kill are called “super predators,” “people with no conscience,” “feral pre-social beings"–and “adults.”

William Ayers, author of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court(Beacon Press, 1997), says “We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn’t suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?”

Ayers, who spent a year observing the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, is one of four panelists who will speak on juvenile justice at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the C-Shop of the Reynolds Club, 5706 S. University Ave.

The panel, which marks the 100th anniversary of the juvenile justice system in the United States, is part of the Community Service Center’s monthly discussion series on issues affecting the city of Chicago.

The event is free and open to the public.

Ayers will be joined by Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the University of Chicago Law School, who is working to block proposed legislation that would throw more juvenile offenders into the adult system; Randolph Stone, Director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago; Alex Correa, a reformed juvenile offender who spent 7 years in Cook County Temporary Detention Center; Frank Tobin, a former priest and teacher in the Detention Center who helped Correa; and Willy Baldwin, who grew up in public housing and is currently a teacher in the Detention Center.

The juvenile justice system was founded by Chicago reformer Jane Addams, who advocated the establishment of a separate court system for children which would act like a “kind and just

parent” for children in crisis.

One hundred years later, the system is “overcrowded, under-funded, over-centralized and racist,” Ayers said.

Michelle Obama, Associate Dean of Student Services and Director of the University of Chicago Community Service Center, hopes bringing issues like this to campus will open a dialogue between members of the University community and the broader community.

“We know that issues like juvenile justice impact each of us who live in the city of Chicago. This panel gives community members and students a chance to hear about the juvenile justice system not only on a theoretical level, but from the people who have experienced it.”

http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/97/971104.juvenile.justice.shtml
Last modified at 03:50 PM CST on Wednesday, June 14 2000.

------------------------------

University of Chicago News Office
5801 South Ellis Avenue - Room 200
Chicago, Illinois 60637-1473 (773) 702-8360

Oh! Bomber Speaks

Obama and Ayers Shared the Same Small Office for Three Years; Building Now Demolished

Verum Serum

Crossing Paths Daily: Obama and Ayers Shared an Office

(Update: For Three Years)

John on October 16, 2008

It’s nice to be the guy getting tips for once instead of the guy sending them. Yesterday I got two great tips from Morgen, a reader who had found my earlier posts digging into the Obama Ayers connection. Both tips appear to check out and the second one is, I think, big news.

First, the smaller one…

This Chicago Annenberg Challenge website from 2002 shows the total amount of funds given to Bill Ayers’ Small Schools Workshop from 1995 to 2001. The amount is not the $175K I had reported earlier. According to this page, the total given under Barack Obama’s direct supervision was $1,056,162. Adding that amount to the money given by the Joyce Foundation and Woods Fund during Obama’s tenure brings the grand total to $1,968,718. Just shy of two million dollars! That’s a lot of scratch, to put it bluntly. And don’t forget, this doesn’t count the 3/4 million that went to John Ayers during the same time period.

Now here’s the second and bigger break, again big hat tip to Morgen for his work on this…

Bill Ayers and Barack Obama shared an office. Ayers’ Small Schools Workshop, the one Obama directed all that money to is located at 115 S. Sangamon Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607 [Note the link is to a year 2000 version of their website]. Here’s a screen grab from the website’s footer:



In 1998, the address for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, where Obama presumably worked, was 115 S. Sangamon Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607. Here’s a copy of their 1998 tax return with that address:



The CAC moved to a new address sometime in 1999 or 2000, but the shared office probably persisted for at least three years. I can’t say for sure because 1998 is the earliest tax information available online. [Correction: I can say for sure that they shared the same building for the years 1995-1998. Here is a 1995 progress report from the CAC with the same address.]

Now remember, the NY Times described Obama and Ayers as having “crossed paths.” Ben LaBolt, Obama’s spokesman said:

Mr. LaBolt said the men first met in 1995 through the education project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and have encountered each other occasionally in public life or in the neighborhood.

I’m going to suggest that two guys working in the same building for a period of years probably crossed paths pretty often. For all we know, they had lunch together on a daily basis. Maybe, in an effort at conservation, they were even carpool buddies. After all, Ayers is a guy from Obama’s neighborhood.

Would someone at the Times like to contact Mr. LaBolt for a follow-up?

Update: Made the correction above. Also, Obama was a state senator from 1996-2004. However, he still likely spent some significant time at the Sangamon street address, especially in 1995. But even after his election he would presumably be working on his CAC duties at the Sangamon office, not from some other location.

According to this letter dated 1995, Obama’s office was on the 3rd floor:



And according to this memo dated 1996, Small Schools Workshop was also on the 3rd floor:



Do you think maybe Obama and Bill Ayers ran into each other once in a while?

From Zomblog

Barack Obama’s review of William Ayers' book

Zomblog

Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 7:26 pm

On December 21, 1997, Barack Obama wrote a short review of William Ayers’ book A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, which had recently been published by Beacon Press. Here’s a photo of how the review appeared in the Chicago Tribune:


(Bloggers, journalists and media members are all free to re-post this image with no restrictions. If you would like a hi-resolution version, right-click or control-click here.)

Obama’s review of Ayers’ book says, “A searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair.”

I had seen mentions of the existence of this review in a very few media outlets, including CNN, National Review, American Spectator, and a handful of others. But because the review was published before the Chicago Tribune began digitizing and archiving its articles online, there was no direct Web link to the review itself — only citations of it. So, out of curiosity, I took it upon myself to visit a library in San Francisco, and using the library’s Lexis-Nexis access and its archive of microfilm versions of major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, I finally tracked down a copy of the actual review itself.

Turns out the review was very short — what I had thought (from reading the citations in the online articles) were just short quotes from it was in fact the entirety of the review. But it was accompanied by a photo of Obama, standing by his statement. The review was part of a column called “Mark My Word,” in which Chicago notables praise their favorite current books.

Just a few weeks before this review was published in the Chicago Tribune, Obama and Ayers appeared together on a panel about juvenile justice organized by Michelle Obama on November 20, 1997:

Children who kill are called “super predators,” “people with no conscience,” “feral pre-social beings” — and “adults.”

William Ayers, author of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court (Beacon Press, 1997), says “We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn’t suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?”

Ayers, who spent a year observing the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, is one of four panelists who will speak on juvenile justice at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the C-Shop. The panel, which marks the 100th anniversary of the juvenile justice system in the United States, is part of the Community Service Center’s monthly discussion series on issues affecting the city of Chicago. The event is free and open to the public.

Ayers will be joined by Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, who is working to combat legislation that would put more juvenile offenders into the adult system; Randolph Stone, Director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic; Alex Correa, a reformed juvenile offender who spent seven years in Cook County Temporary Detention Center; Frank Tobin, a former priest and teacher at the Detention Center who helped Correa; and Willy Baldwin, who grew up in public housing and is currently a teacher at the Detention Center.

I find it very hard — no, make that impossible — to believe that Barack Obama had “no idea” who William Ayers really was, or that he had a past as a notorious domestic terrorist (as Obama’s campaign has claimed) while serving on panels with Ayers and simultaneously praising Ayers’ book in a major newspaper.

This story is likely to continue growing, and I thought that the image above would provide a good “visual” for the Obama-Ayers connection.

[UPDATE: On page 82 of the book itself, Ayers mentions Obama. So there’s no question they knew each other.]

It's a Lovely Day in the Neighborhood: Boom! What Was That? Ayers Is Grading Homework Again

Obama and Bill Ayres, Bernadette Dorn (married to Ayres) and Michelle Obama


Obama's brief review of Ayers' book.



Ayers referred to Obama and to Farrakhan as his neighbors. Woe, thrice-woe, Bruce Church. I do my homework.

Thomas Paine? I Thought He Was Dead

Neuhaus on TV

Richard John Neuhaus (LCMS, then AELC, then LCA, then ELCA, then Roman Catholic)is on TV talking about his new book, As I Lay Dying, about coming back after almost dying. Mrs. Ichabod said, "That's a rerun from 2002." OK.

Some surprises about his early life:

1. He grew up in Canada, but went to the States for an education.
2. He was kicked out of high school for his behavior and never graduated.
3. He bought a gas station and ran that for a period of time.
4. He attended a Concordia College and graduated without his high school diploma.

He wanted to serve in the inner city and went to St. John's in NYC, soon after ordination. He did not look for an academic career.

Neuhaus did not mention how he and Wilken (now Roman Catholic too) got Otten and Marquart kicked out of the editorship of the student paper at Our Lady of Sorrows Seminary in St. Louis (formerly Concordia).

I met Neuhaus at the Ad Fontes conference in Pennsylvania. We had corresponded quite a bit already. I fed him news about the LCA in Michigan. He spoke with LCA President Crumley at the conference. That was just before Neuhaus became a Catholic. Crumley seemed to be having a problem with that. Crumley knew I had joined WELS even though I had barely met him once. The bigwigs keep track.

Neuhaus spoke against Church Growth at Ad Fontes. Some of the LCA clergy were mouthing all the CG terms, like "user-friendly liturgy."

Neuhaus is a clever man with many talents. I think it is a pity he fell in with the apostates of Missouri and finally with Rome.

More information here.

Hyde Park Is a Happening Place: Farrakhan, Bombers Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dorn, Obama, LSTC (ELCA)

Farakahn with a Useful Idiot. Farrakhan was honored by the parish magazine of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was trained at a seminary headed by Leonard Sweet. Small world. Farrakhan is a neighbor of Bill Ayers and Obama. Hair-splitter Bruce Church says Farrakhan is in Kenwood, but that is in the general area.

Read more about Hyde Park - chilling.

Hyde Park is the area around the University of Chicago. Lutheran School of Theology (ELCA) is also there.

Kent Hunter earned a ThD at Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, before or after getting a drive-by DMin at Fooler Sem. That is why Church and Change wanted him to be a featured speaker with the fossilized Waldo Werning and the blow-dried Leonard Sweet.

The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

The Twenty-second Sunday After Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

The Hymn #259 by Luther Denby
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 Phil 1:3-11
The Gospel Luke Matthew 18:23-34
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #261 by Luther Erhalt uns Herr

The Reformation Gospel

The Hymn #314 by H. Jacobs Herr Jesu Christ, du
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 #294 Munich

KJV Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

KJV Matthew 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity

O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Reformation was like the raging forest fires which we have witnessed in the last few years. Some years ago an article warned that the forest service was letting too much kindling build up in forests, by putting out so many small fires. The small fires do not hurt established forests. Natural fires clean out the underbrush. But people like to live in and around the forests, so they want the fires extinguished, an understandable concern. As the article warned, the build-up grew so great that the entire forest burned. I recall the warning of “crown fires,” where the largest trees burst into flames and left the area wiped out of all vegetation.

The Reformation happened after centuries of false doctrine building up. Instead of dealing with doctrinal issues by addressing them with the Word, as Chemnitz showed in his Examination of the Council of Trent, the Medieval Church of the West built up the office of the pope and made him a monarch. Pope-king is a hyphenated term often used and still promoted today in some quarters.

The pope was a king with territories, an army, and secular power. When all the kindling caught fire at once, Medieval Europe was ablaze and the powers trembled. The Peasants War, for instance, brought Germany to a halt and ended in a slaughter.

The cause belonged to God, and God caused the right people to come together for comparing sound doctrine to false doctrine. Luther was the most significant of the reformers, but he was not alone. Many people made it possible for him to have enormous influence. The Elector and the Muslim menace made it possible for Luther to live and the Reformation to take root.

The Medieval Church had a wonderful money-making scheme, which continues today. First of all, the Law was taught in all its severity. Everyone was well aware of sin. Medieval shows displayed the horrors of burning in Hell for eternity. People wanted relief from the burden of sin, so the Church offered them Purgatory. The concept began in pagan Greek authors, as the Church of Rome admits today. A cleansing after death appealed to human reason. At first people were supposed to be purged in Purgatory in a few weeks. The length of stay increased over the centuries. A famous scholar denied that Purgatory could be short, because they would make the visions of certain saints fraudulent. The longer Purgatory became, the more people wanted relief from this mini-Hell for the semi-saved.

The solution may seem to involve many responses, but it amounts to one – good works. Indulgences are just one form of good works. Some good works for reducing time in Purgatory include: paying for a Mass (or endowing many masses), attending Mass (daily communicants are the best), praying for the departed (the origin of the services called The Suffrages), all works of charity, paying reparations (repayment, literally) for sins, various worship services for Mary, the Queen of Purgatory, and saying the Rosary (named after the rose, the flower of Mary). My favorite good work is to donate all good works to those in Purgatory, but I am not sure if this heroic donation retains a residue of efficacious good works or is efficacious by itself to spring someone from Purgatory.

An indulgence is a grant of release from Purgatory, often a specific amount of time. Apparently it also applied to certain acts, since that issue made Luther angry enough to attack indulgences openly. Indulgences are still offered, such as a notice I saw at Notre Dame, for reducing time in Purgatory if the faithful watched the pope’s broadcast. There is a book on indulgences offered but I do not own it.

As we can see with the Rosary, prayer is very important as a good work for Catholics. Praying earns grace. Justification by faith means faith with works added (fides formata).

These good works of Catholics are all transactions, as any good work must be – one thing for another. The Reformed use good works in a similar way, and some admit it. Many Reformed will say, “God has done this for you (a presentation of the Gospel precedes). Now you must complete the transaction by making a decision. Life or death. Heaven or hell.” The work is making the right decision. Grace comes from prayer, and it is the only means of grace. The more one prays, the more grace available. In some cases, the Reformed argue that God is unable to act without prayer providing the energy

In contrast, the Gospel teaches that salvation is a gift, not earned by good works of any kind. The Gospel message itself produces faith, and that faith receives and hold fast the Promises of God. Gospel motivation is rather rare because Law motivation is much easier, to move people by threats or rewards. Law motivation is limited because someone has to promise better rewards all the time or stir up deeper fears.

The Gospel does not set limits since it is based on thankfulness rather than limitations. If people ask what they have to do, they will select the minimum they have to do. If they understand that God has accomplished everything so we can have forgiveness for free, then there is no limit to our responses.

When churches raise money by selling cakes, cookies, and pencils, they rejoice at their profits. This works so well that people send kids out with cheap junk to sell in the name of charity. The kids and the companies make money. It’s easy to see, easy to measure. Several Jewish families have been shocked that Protestant churches do not have membership dues. One man said, “We give newlyweds a deal. We lower the dues for the first few years so they get used to being members. They pay the full amount later. How can you do any planning, any budgeting without dues? You mean to tell me that you build a budget on some people pledging? I can’t figure that out.”

Gospel giving is entirely different. No one buys a pencil for a large sum of money, even if it is overpriced for these charity sales. But people gladly give generously because that is the effect of the Gospel. That applies to all areas of life. Responding in thanks to God is quite different from doing the minimum, which is a Law response.

Luther saw that the greatest danger of salvation based on works was the despair caused by this demonic doctrine. First of all, salvation by works taught that Christ did not do enough for our salvation, to win forgiveness through His innocent blood. Secondly, salvation based on indulgences meant that man could complete what God was unable to do. By paying enough money or doing enough good works, man could eventually earn eternal life without pain and sorrow, and be grateful he did not end up in Hell with the Lutherans.

Catholics have always been especially antagonistic toward Lutherans because of the tradition of comparing sound doctrine to false doctrine. One little girl invited herself to our Vacation Bible School in Columbus. Then she asked which denomination. She was Catholic and knew I was Protestant. When I said, “Lutheran,” she responded, “No, I can’t go to a Lutheran VBS.”

What makes the Biblical position so alien to people who call themselves Christian?

The Word of God takes salvation away from rationalism. Christianity is taught from faith to faith.

As a child I thought the apostles had the best vantage point. They traveled with Jesus, were taught by Him, and saw His miracles. However, the Gospels show that being eyewitnesses was not the same as being loaded with faith based on proof.

The famous definition of faith is supposed to include the Greek version (evidence o things not seen) and the Hebrew version (substance of things hoped for).

KJV Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Rationalism cannot prove the mysteries of the Christian faith because they are hidden from the eyes of most and revealed to those who trust in God’s Word.

Rationalism supports buying forgiveness with good works and money. That is why Luther said people purchase Hell (thinking they can buy forgiveness) when they can have forgiveness for free.

Faith is not making a decision, because making a decision is a rational process. The Reformed reveal this in the way they talk about the order of salvation. They skip Law and Gospel. They imagine that making the Gospel appealing will lead someone to make a decision.

One book about Creation and dinosaurs ended this way, “Now that you know the truth about dinosaurs, it is time to make a decision about Christ…”

Faith is a gift of God, created by the Holy Spirit distributed the Gospel message to people, among babies in infant baptism, among adults through the Word. The generation is passing away where a large share of children were trained in the Bible. Now they know pop culture but not the most basic Biblical passages.

The Gospel message was once sown among most Americans as they were growing up. Now they are mostly dead to Christ when they become young adults.

The content of the Biblical message is the power of the Holy Spirit. As the lesson is remembered the work of the Holy Spirit continues. Proper teaching is essential. Every Biblical story is distorted by someone.

The Sower and the Seed teaches us to broadcast the seed, which is the Word. The lesson has become a pun, because word for sowing has become the word for transmitting over the airwaves (via Internet, radio, TV). Church Growth people say the parable means we should “study the soil.” The parable says just the opposite.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us about Christ being the Good Samaritan, who finds us left for dead on the road, heals us, and provides for our continuing spiritual care. The vast majority of sermons I heard about that Gospel were Law lessons about doing good deeds, aimed at making everyone feel guilty for not doing enough. The same characters are in both versions. The first version is Luther’s – Gospel. The second one is Protestant and Catholic – teaching good works leading to salvation.

The Law is especially effective with those who maintain a works-righteous attitude, which is our natural state until we know the Gospel and believe the entire message of the Word.

For instance, one member stopped coming to church. I asked him why. He said, “There are all those hypocrites in church.”

I said, “What is a hypocrite?”

He said, “It is someone who says one thing and does another.”

I replied, “Well, that fits me too.”

Old Russell dropped his head, “I guess that fits me too.” Russell never missed church after that.

There were others who nursed grudges going back for years. They loved the grudges and would not give them back. The grudges were more important than the Gospel.

The Law also catches up with people who think the eternal commands of God do not apply to them. They are lucky if everything falls on them at once, because they realize then that they have no excuse before God. Then they are like the man beaten and robbed on the way to Jericho. They know they hurt everywhere. They have nothing but pain and poverty. They want real relief.
The Gospel message is simple, plain, and easy to understand. The Gospel creates faith as the Promises are heard, unless someone hardens his heart against the Word.

Christ the Savior has died for the sins of the world. There is a price to be paid for sin, but He has already paid for it. My brother and I tried to check out of a motel and paid for the rooms after a family reunion. The clerk could find no bill. Finally the matter was resolved. My mother already paid the bill. How can someone pay the bill when it is already paid?

That is where people insult the Gospel message, by attaching a debt to be paid when Christ has paid the bill in full by His innocent death on the cross. Any doubt about forgiveness can only point to the cross. All sins have been paid for – except rejection of the Gospel up to the moment of death. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Universalists would take that away from the Word and say everyone is forgiven, everyone is saved, everyone is going to heaven. They take the Good News and turn it into No News, appealing to everyone except believers.

Faith, created by the Gospel Promises, receives and holds onto the Gospel Promises. The Means of Grace are the instruments giving us that forgiveness promised in the Scriptures. Holy Baptism begins the journey for most. Holy Communion strengthens and sustains our faith with another visible sign of the Gospel. The Word deepens our understanding and faith throughout life, so we continue to receive and enjoy the blessings of the Christian faith.

Quotations - Epitome, Formula of Concord, Book of Concord

Affirmitive Theses.

Pure Doctrine of the Christian Churches concerning This Controversy.

5] For the thorough statement and decision of this controversy our doctrine, faith, and confession is:

6] 1. That good works certainly and without doubt follow true faith, if it is not a dead, but a living faith, as fruits of a good tree.

7] 2. We believe, teach, and confess also that good works should be entirely excluded, just as well in the question concerning salvation as in the article of justification before God, as the apostle testifies with clear words, when he writes as follows: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, Rom. 4, 6ff And again: By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast, Eph. 2, 8. 9.

8] 3. We believe, teach, and confess also that all men, but those especially who are born again and renewed by the Holy Ghost, are bound to do good works.

9] 4. In this sense the words necessary, shall, and must are employed correctly and in a Christian manner also with respect to the regenerate, and in no way are contrary to the form of sound words and speech.

10] 5. Nevertheless, by the words mentioned, necessitas, necessarium, necessity and necessary, if they be employed concerning the regenerate, not coercion, but only due obedience is to be understood, which the truly believing, so far as they are regenerate, render not from coercion or the driving of the Law, but from a voluntary spirit; because they are no more under the Law, but under grace, Rom. 6, 14; 7, 6; 8, 14.

11] 6. Accordingly, we also believe, teach, and confess that when it is said: The regenerate do good works from a free spirit, this is not to be understood as though it is at the option of the regenerate man to do or to forbear doing good when he wishes, and that he can nevertheless retain faith if he intentionally perseveres in sins.

12] 7. Yet this is not to be understood otherwise than as the Lord Christ and His apostles themselves declare, namely, regarding the liberated spirit, that it does not do this from fear of punishment, like a servant, but from love of righteousness, like children, Rom. 8, 15.

13] 8. Although this voluntariness [liberty of spirit] in the elect children of God is not perfect, but burdened with great weakness, as St. Paul complains concerning himself, Rom. 7, 14-25; Gal. 5, 17;

14] 9. Nevertheless, for the sake of the Lord Christ, the Lord does not impute this weakness to His elect, as it is written: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8, 1.

15] 10. We believe, teach, and confess also that not works maintain faith and salvation in us, but the Spirit of God alone, through faith, of whose presence and indwelling good works are evidences.

New York Episcopals: Money To Sue You into Foreclosure, Not Enough for Staff

This would be a good time to get a drive-by DMin from Fuller.
Better, yet - one from Our Lady of Sorrows Seminary, St. Louis.

DIOCESE OF CENTRAL NEW YORK: Dwindling Finances Force Staff Layoffs

By David W. Virtue

www.virtueonline.org

10/17/2008

Citing declining income, the Bishop of the Diocese of Central New York, Gladstone "Skip" Adams has announced staff layoffs in a letter to his clergy, wardens and standing.

"It is clear that the financial realities of today's economy are creating challenges for our congregations in terms of assessment and investment revenue. Increased energy costs place additional pressures on already stretched budgets. These challenges obviously impact the financial resources available on the Diocesan level for staff, programming, and ministry," he wrote.

The diocese recently filed a lawsuit against the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York, in an effort to seize the church building, the parish hall, and the rectory. This is the third church Adams has moved to seize since 2006, and the second church he has actually sued.

One other church, St. Andrew's Church in nearby Vestal, New York, surrendered its property to the bishop rather than face a lawsuit. That church building was taken over by the Episcopal diocese shortly before Christmas of 2007 and is now vacant and for sale. The congregation is worshiping elsewhere and thriving.

For the bishop's full statement click here:

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/content/dcny_staff_reorganization_memo.pdf

***

GJ - The Episcopalians have lost 1/3 of their members since 1978. The foolish vindictiveness of filing suit against a congregation is apparent. The well-heeled members can find their own property. The confiscated property has little value, especially in today's market.

The Episcopalian bishops refused to stop illegal ordinations of women, supposedly to draw the line at women becoming bishops. Women's ordination was normalized. Next a thoroughly unqualified woman became a suffragan (assistant) bishop. They called her Bishop Babs. Still no action. Next women became bishops. The same rationale for ordaining women priests allowed for electing women bishops. Soon after, a woman bishop with very little pastoral or administrative experience, Katharine Jefferts-Schori, was elected Presiding Bishop. The lawsuits have multiplied since that time, not only at the national level, but also at the diocese (district) level.

Meanwhile, the new PB is seeing a vast exodus of Episcopalians from her organization. They are leaving by congregation, even by diocese. Her answer is to step up the lawsuits and deny there is any crisis.

Mutatis mutandis, the conservative Lutherans have pursued the same foolish course. Most pastors limited their criticism of blatant apostasy to a few quiet quips during the coffee break, assuming the position after the break was over. Now after 30 years of damage, they are willing to say a few mild things as a group. How brave of them. Maybe Church Growth is wrong after all. Sniffle, whimper (WELS). Save the radio station. Boo hoo (LCMS). After years of intense pressure and unlimited flattery from Paul McCain, DP Benke is willing to say Allah is not the true God. Who says diplomacy, greased with a book contract from CPH, does not work? Barry-McCain could have disciplined Benke instead of rewarding him with benign neglect. See footnote below.

The main difference is that the Episcopalian bishops are willing to face down the national leader and take their flocks out of her toxic shadow. These bishops have the option of joining with conservative Anglican confessions. They ask foreign bishops to come over and provide the leadership so lacking in America. Priests are taking their congregations out, often absent the property, and doing well, free of the baggage and issues of the apostate group.

FOOTNOTE: Howard Festerling (WELS) was making a brave stand for the efficacy of the Word. Bruce Becker, who recently called Kelm back to The Love Shack, got rid of Festerling. No one backed Festerling up. One WELS pastor answered, "Look what happened to you." Festerling had his mission taken away from him. He lived in the Toledo area later, but the ELS congregation he attended did not commune him. The ELS has no problem with Fuller doctrine, but affirming the efficacy of God's Word? That must be punished by excommunication.

The same dynamics were at work in Missouri. McCain-Barry did nothing about Benke, but Wally Schulz did, a few years later. McCain has a sinecure at CPH, promoting books. Schulz was fired from The Lutheran Hour. Missouri replaced Schulz with Ken Klaus (no relation to Santa), a man with a fake doctorate from the basement of a Methodist church.