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
October 2008 (13)
September 2008 (20)
August 2008 (19)
July 2008 (20)
June 2008 (22)
May 2008 (24)
April 2008 (30)
March 2008 (25)
February 2008 (26)
January 2008 (18)
December 2007 (19)
November 2007 (25)
October 2007 (28)
September 2007 (32)
August 2007 (37)
July 2007 (15)

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.