Anonymous said...
As a WELS pastor, what I'm afraid of is printing my name on your blog and others, and then getting my reputation crucified on a public forum. I have heard the charges and insinuations of your blog and others; but when I talk to the men you have demonized, I realize they are Scriptural, orthodox teachers and preachers of the Word. They may feel there is nothing wrong with blended worship services--they may even utilize contemporary worship forms. They may even (gasp!) administer the Lord's Supper separate from the regular worship service. If you have ever lived outside the friendly confines of the Midwest, you know visitors can get very put out with the practice of closed communion. The early believers celebrated it privately among themselves. All of these things do not make them heterodox. These men have a love for the Word and a love for people, and they want to see their people in heaven someday. I have never attended a Church and Change conference, but there have been several presentations over the years I would have loved to sat in on. C and C offers a great deal when it comes to the nuts and bolts of practical every-day ministry. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! And no, I will not give you my name!
October 26, 2008 6:53 PM
ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Another Ugly from Anonymous
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is Obama Qualified To Run for President?":
"Inelible (sic) to run."
For all the railing you do on spelling, you might want to check yours.
Cheers.
***
GJ - Literate readers have noticed that I correct many posts up to five times: clarifications and spelling.
I send corrections to many different websites, in a friendly way, and I always sign my name. I find it odd that people leave grotesque errors on their websites for months at a time. For WELS Church and Change, it makes sense. They care as little about English grammar as they do about the grammar of faith - theology. I borrowed the last term from the sainted Paul L. Holmer, who taught ethics and philosophy at Yale.
Is Obama Qualified To Run for President?
See this link for the video, about the lawsuit to produce Obama's birth certificate.
There are claims he was born in Africa. That would count him out.
We know for certain (from his book) that Obama went to school in Indonesia. Lawyer Phil Berg claims that could have been possible only if Obama became an Indonesian citizen, after being adopted by his step-father. Coming back to America would have made Obama a naturalized citizen, not a natural born citizen, hence ineligible to run for president, even if he was born in Hawaii.
Old, Annoying Quotations about the Word of God
"The Word of God is efficacious not only when it is being read from the Bible, but also when it is being spoken or preached, and when it is recalled by memory. The Word of God, properly speaking, is really not the letters which we see or the sound which we hear, but the divine thoughts, the truths designated by these signs."
E. Hove, Christian Doctrine, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1930, p. 27.
"'When the Word is read at home it is not as fruitful or as forcible as in public preaching and through the mouth of the preacher whom God has called for this purpose.' (Luther, Erlangen edition, 3:401)."
Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 290.
"The efficacy of the Word, unlike that of the seed, always has a result. The man to whom the Word of God comes, and who repels it, is not as he was before. Where long and persistently refused, hardening at last comes, Exodus 8:15; 9:12; John 12:40; Hebrews 4:1, and the Word becomes a 'savor of death unto death,' 2 Corinthians 2:16. Every word heard or read, every privilege and opportunity enjoyed, leaves its impress either for good or for evil. It is not so properly the Word, as man's abuse of the Word; not so much the efficacy of the Word, as the sin taking occasion of the efficacy that produces this result, Romans 7:8."
Henry Eyster Jacobs, Elements of Religion, Philadelphia, Board of Publication, General Council 1919 p. 155. Exodus 8:15; 9:12; John 12:40; Hebrews 4:1; 2 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 7:8
"Since the Word of God is this weapon [sword], it behooves us to make use of it at all times and to this end become acquainted with it both by means of public preaching and by earnest Bible study at home. Cursory reading must be supplemented by careful memorizing of proof-texts and strong passages. Only in this way shall we be able to make the proper use of the Word of God as a true weapon of offense at all times."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the New Testament, 2 vols., St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, II, p. 292. Ephesians 6:17
"God has chosen despised and frail human beings for the ministry of the Word that the divine power of the Word might become apparent—
a power impossible to suppress even in the weakest of persons. Moreover, if the mighty of the world were to preach the Gospel, people would be captivated more by the authority of the person preaching than by the Word itself."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed. Ewald M. Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1959 III, p. 1118 W 25, 255; SL 6, 484; brief comments in 1532-34 #3571; Isaiah 40:10
"Quenstedt (I, 170): 'Whether the Word be read or not, whether it be heard and believed or not, yet the efficacy of its spiritual effects is always intrinsically inherent in it by the divine arrangement and communication, nor does this divine efficacy only come to it when it is used. For the Word of God, as such, cannot even be conceived of apart from the divine virtue and gracious working of the Holy Spirit, because this is inseparable from the Word of God.'"
Heinrich Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, trans., Charles A. Hay and Henry E. Jacobs, Philadelphia: United Lutheran Publication House, 1899, p. 506.
"Hollazius (993) uses the following figures: 'It possesses and retains its internal power and efficacy even when not used, just as the illuminating power of the sun continues, although, when the shadow of the moon intervenes, no person may see it; and just as an internal efficacy belongs to the seed, although it may not be sown in the field.'"
Heinrich Schmid, Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, trans., Charles A. Hay and Henry E. Jacobs, Philadelphia: United Lutheran Publication House, 1899, p. 506.
"Only little weight is attached to the ministry of the Word, to worship services, the Sacraments, to confession and absolution, and to the observance of Christian customs; a thoroughly regenerated person does not need these crutches at all. Pietism stressed the personal element over against the institutional; voluntariness versus compulsion; the present versus tradition, and the rights of the laity over against the pastors."
Martin Schmidt, "Pietism," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., ed. Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, III, p. 1899.
"But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has God's command and glorious promises. Romans 1:16 The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise, Isaiah 55:11: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please...And it is of advantage, so far as can be done, to adorn the ministry of the Word with every kind of praise against fanatical men, who dream that the Holy Ghost is given not through the Word, but because of certain preparations of their own...."
Apology Augsburg Confession, XIII. #11. Number/Use Sacraments Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 311. Tappert, p. 212. Heiser, p. 95. Romans 1:16; Isaiah 55:11.
"And it is of advantage, so far as can be done, to adorn the ministry of the Word with every kind of praise against fanatical men, who dream that the Holy Ghost is given not through the Word, but because of certain preparations of their own, if they sit unoccupied and silent in obscure places, waiting for illumination, as the Enthusiasts formerly taught, and the Anabaptists now teach."
Apology Augsburg Confession, XIII. #13. The Sacraments. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 311. Tappert, p. 213. Heiser, p. 95.
"This power {the Keys} is exercised only by teaching or preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, according to their calling, either to many or to individuals. For thereby are granted, not bodily, but eternal things, as eternal righteousness, the Holy Ghost, eternal life. These things cannot come but by the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, as Paul says, Romans 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Therefore, since the power of the Church grants eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministry of the Word, it does not interfere with civil government; no more than the art of singing interferes with civil government."
Augsburg Confession, XXVIII. #8. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 85. Tappert, p. 82. Heiser, p. 23. Romans 1:16
"Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining it in memory, and do not think that it is optional with you of no great importance, but that it is God's commandment, who will require of you how you have heard, learned, and honored His Word."
The Large Catechism, The Third Commandment, #98. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 609. Tappert, p. 378. Heiser, p. 175. Exodus 20:8-11.
Reformation Sunday
The Festival of the Reformation
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time
The Hymn #262 by Luther Ein’ feste Burg
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 Rev. 14:6-7
The Gospel Luke Matthew 11:12-15
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #269 by hermann Herzliebster Jesu
The Reformation Gospel
The Hymn #309 by Kingo Old Hundreth
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 #283 by Grundtvig Reuter
Prayer by Veit Dietrich
O almighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son hast promised us forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from eternal death: We pray that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt daily increase our faith in Thy grace through Christ, and establish us in the certain hope that we shall not die, but peacefully sleep, and be raised again on the last day to eternal life and salvation; through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The Reformation Gospel
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
My wife and I went to his church. We sat at his dinner table. I disagreed with him later when he went all out for the Church Growth Movement. He was a Missouri and then a WELS pastor. Now he is virtually an atheist – free thinker who publishes at a forum called Freedom From Religion. (“Young Calvinist – Old Atheist” – still true.)
The Reformation marks the time when God took extraordinary men and women and refreshed the Church with the everlasting Gospel. Some claim that the Christian Church would have rotted away without the Reformation. Naturally, God did not allow man to destroy the everlasting Gospel, and that is simply not possible.
There were many odd little events which went together, showing how God works. Many know Henry VIII’s second wife as “Ann of a Thousand Days.” She was executed, but not before she changed England in two crucial ways. One was the birth of her daughter Elisabeth, who became the first Protestant monarch of Britain. The second was her ability to turn Henry VIII toward Protestantism. She was the key person who read Protestant works and influenced him. He pursued her a long time, so she had more than three years to win him over.
Protestant-Catholic battles in England led to the settlement of America as a Protestant haven from the Stuart kings, who tried to make England Catholic again. About 3/4ths of my ancestors were English. French wars against the Huguenots (Protestants) led my French Protestant ancestors to come to America (the Noel clan). The loss of crucial French Protestant naval skill led to the dominance of England on the seas after the horrible St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
Another odd series of events involved Erasmus. He was the most noted scholar in the time before the Reformation. He was like the man who gathered all the kindling but refused to start the fire. Or, as some noted, he started the wagon rolling down the hill and jumped off. He stayed loyal to Rome, but his Greek New Testament and his writings were the basis for the Reformation and the Bible being produced in a modern language.
Gutenberg, in Germany, took a wine press and turned it into the printing press. That meant religious books could be printed cheaply and spread across the civilized world. Caxton in England also invented printing. Of course, long before, China had printed paper money, but that does not count for Westerners.
The Everlasting Gospel
For the Gospel to be what God has delivered to us, the message must be exactly what God has revealed.
God allowed Martin Luther to experience spiritual turmoil throughout his life, so he was always dealing with the Word. He never had any outward peace in his life, but God gave him happiness in many other ways. Luther lived in the midst of civil and spiritual warfare, but he had trustworthy friends, an Elector who protected his life, a wife and children.
Luther deserves credit for emphasizing once again that the Gospel is free from law demands. Others knew how to teach the comfort coming from the Gospel of forgiveness, but Luther was relentless in separating the Law from the Gospel, as the Apostle Paul did. Like Paul, he kept the worship forms and only changed things gradually. He was often pushed into some changes, because other attempts were making everything chaotic. His German translation of the Bible and German worship service followed attempts by others to modernize those two areas of church life. That is why Krauth called the Lutheran Reformation – The Conservative Reformation.
Calvinism
The Calvinists tried hard to be different for the sake of being different. They took many Lutherans with them then and still do today. Calvinism and its more liberal branch, Arminianism (decision theology)
Comparison of the two - http://www.the-highway.com/compare.html
Those two branches added several dangerous elements to the Gospel, adulterating its message. One was human reason. Any effort to appeal to human reason (or emotions) is going to denigrate the Gospel. After all, who can explain the mysteries of the Faith? No one can explain Creation, the Trinity, the Two Natures of Christ, the Sacraments, the Virgin Birth, the miracles, the Atoning death of Christ, or the Resurrection. Once human reason is used to judge the revealed Word, the Scriptures must be subordinated to the understanding of man. That is one path leading to atheism.
The other path is the Law requirement embedded in the Gospel. That comes in hundreds of ways but it has the same effect. Someone determines that no one can be a Christian and….fill in the blank. I do not mean that the 10 Commandments are obsolete. They just add a lot of commandments and those laws vary from region to region, sect to sect. One does not allow any kind of dancing. Another says that looking at any type of dancing is a sin. These were big issues among the Swedish Pietists. Dance studios had their front windows soaped over to prevent people from seeing inside. My teacher, as a child, peaked through a hole in the window covering and looked inside. He was disciplined. Later, reflecting upon that is going to make someone toss out everything with the dancing rule (or looking at dancing rule).
People weigh down the Gospel with “have tos” and turn the “have tos” into the path of salvation.
As Luther taught, the Gospel alone gives us the power to battle against temptation and sin. The Law by itself is good and useful, but powerless to make us better, to strengthen against sin.
The Efficacious Word
One overlooked contribution of Luther was, and continues to be, crucial in the Christian faith – the effectiveness of the Word.
Luther and his followers were united in the Hebrew Old Testament concept of the Word, which was naturally the New Testament teaching as well – the Holy Spirit works only through the Word and never apart from the Word.
God has chosen to convey Christ to us through the visible and invisible Word, so we are never in doubt about how to abide in Christ (John 15) and be fruitful.
We are never in doubt about how to evangelize – by sowing the Seed, which is the Word (Mark 4, Matthew 13).
Are we weak in faith? The Gospel will strengthen that trust in the Promises.
Do we wonder about forgiveness? The Word teaches us in hundreds of ways that the Savior seeks us, carries us home on His shoulders, and rejoices that He has found us.
People become anxious that they are not good enough, but the Scriptures teach us that the Good News is aimed at the weak, the anxious, the poor in spirit.
Non-Lutherans disparage the Sacraments and teach against them. The question about Holy Baptism is answered in the Small Catechism. “How can water do such great things?”
How can water do such great things?--Answer.
It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says, Titus, chapter three: By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.
Most congregations which teach against infant baptism will dedicate babies, using the Word of God. One minister explained this to me, so I said, “You baptize without water. We baptize with water.” He did not like what I said, but history shows that groups teaching against the Sacraments become increasingly rationalistic and abandon the Scriptures entirely, while maintaining the outward forms.
If I had told my vicarage supervisor that his congregation would be headed by a retired Episcopalian bishop (as an interim pastor) while promoting homosexual marriage, he would have had a stroke. How did that develop in only 30 years? A series of pastors and seminary professors taught against the Word until the Scriptures had no significance at all.
A former member of the ELS wrote, “The synod became more important than the Word of God.”
Jesus said something about that. “You set aside the Word of God to hold to the traditions of man.”
The Word of God belongs to God and always works with His Holy Spirit. We cannot discuss the Word the way we talk about Shakespeare or Herodotus. For instance, Herodotus has some wise observations and some that are just ridiculous.
Debating with God is foolish. His Word says “teach and baptize all nations,” not “withhold baptism…and anyway, it is just a law, not a sacrament.” Episcopalians call their confession a three-legged stool, the legs being the Word, tradition, and human reason. This allows the Word to be set aside in two different ways, by human reason and by tradition.
KJV Isaiah 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Does the New Testament teach orthodoxy?
Now another term is tainted. Orthodoxy used to mean straight teaching for Lutherans. Now Lutherans are joining the Eastern Orthodox, so the word may become ambiguous in time.
Orthodoxy is often mocked today, especially by those who want to belong to the conservative branch of Lutherans. Moles are more dangerous than people attacking from the outside.
Jesus warned that the wolves dressed themselves as sheep:
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
The Word of God will not fade away, but last longer than everything on earth:
KJV Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Paul warned against wolves attacking from the outside and perverse men within the fold – all destructive. The New Testament says nothing about protecting the organization, the “face of the church,” as the ELS seminary president expressed himself.
KJV Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
KJV 1 Timothy 1:3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
Just as he wrote to the Galatians:
KJV Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Paul described false teachers as flatterers and belly servers:
KJV Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
The most important work of a minister is read at installations and ordinations, and nothing is mentioned by Paul about synod public relations:
KJV 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
With the Word comes the cross. Teaching the Word in its purity and truth means bearing the cross. In the old days, cross and crown were associated together. The believer belongs to the royal priesthood and will reign with Christ in glory, but here on earth he will bear the cross.
Now we have the cross resting in a mug of coffee, to suggest that a God without wrath sent His Son without a cross into a world without sin.
The Reformation continues.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
"This Little Light of Mine -
They're Going To Help It Shine."
What I Learned from the Net
at Martin Luther College.
The Board for Home Missions has two representatives from the South Central District: one is a former vicar of Patterson's (Pastor Caleb Schoeneck, in Texas)...the other is a member of Patterson's church (Paul Mattek).
However, Church and Change is withholding that fact from its website.
No one needs to wonder how VP Patterson could get a free vicar to do the pastoral work while he runs for higher office and chases after false teachers to adulterate the Holy Word of God. The juicy vicarage grant was not intended for an established congregation like Patterson's.
Anyone can see from the Internet information I gleaned - Patterson has allies at every level of the WELS structure. That is how the money flows. Kingdom Workers here (Doebler's Rock and Roll Church), BHM there, Synodical Conference here, Sausage Factory there.
Church and Change gurus like Rev. Bruce Becker are fed, clothed, and housed with staff salaries from the offerings of faithful WELS members. The laity imagine they are exporting the efficacious Gospel of the Lutheran Reformation, not importing Baptist false doctrine, which opposed Luther at every turn.
On Reformation Sunday, remember that VP Patterson and Paul Kelm both gave papers at The Sausage Factory about how to improve seminary education.* The last time doctrinal apostates took over a Lutheran seminary, the laity woke up and made some changes.
WELS already has voted in a new Synodical President, Mark Schroeder, so the most difficult part is over. What must follow is a dedication to sound doctrine, an insistence on the Confessions, at every level of the synod.
*The last vicar at Holy Word was Seminary Professor Tiefel's son.
The Laity Are Waking Up,
- And -
DPs Are Reading This Blog
From Bailing Water:
Anonymous said...
I talked with my pastor who is and has been outraged with what has been going on. He is not strong enough (or perhaps outraged enough) to publicly take a public stand ALONE. He would like to see a large group of pastors take a stand TOGETHER against all this stuff. The beginnings of taking a stand together was happening in the Issues in WELS group...but they have disbanded or suspended for some reason. It makes it appear that all is well in WELS. Our District President does not seem opposed to the Church and Change stuff. I will try to talk with him once more.
Can we all get our pastors together so they can take a public stand?
QUESTION: If a pastor leaves WELS before retirement age, does he lose his entire pension? Is it $$$ that is preventing some from leaving or taking a chance that taking a firm stand against things will get them ousted?
Ichabod Election Predictions
Based on reading extensive reports, my predictions for 2008:
McCain/Palin will win the presidential race. They are ahead in Missouri, which is traditionally a bellwether state.
Some other reasons are:
1. The Ayres-Obama connection is peaking at the right time, but far behind the reporting of Ichabod. O'Reilly (Harvard J-school) was weeks behind my humble blog, which has a research staff of one.
2. ACORN is pursuing their fraudulent schemes, but they should be counter-balanced by the conservative vote they will scare into the polls on election day.
3. Michelle Obama and Biden did not help the ticket, but Palin revived the McCain campaign.
4. Hispanics do not vote for Blacks, and Obama has made this a racial campaign.
5. Catholics and Evangelicals are energized to vote pro-life, and the GOP ticket is strong where Obama-Biden are genocidal. Biden is worse than pro-abortion. He is Catholic pro-abortion.
6. There are minor (for the media) doubts out there. Obama has no real history and many mysteries in his past. Some think he was born in Africa and not eligible for the presidency. All his associations are either Black communist (mentor in Hawaii, Frank Marshall Davis; Jeremiah Wright in Chicago) or white communist (Ayres and Dorn in Chicago) or radical Islam (endless list, including Rezko).
7. Hillary and Bill know that an Obama win will end her hopes for the White House. There is not enough Botox to make her a viable candidate 8 years from now. Hillary needs a McCain win to keep her hopes alive for 2012.
The economy works against McCain, and no one has tried to lose more than McCain. Still, the Bradley effect matters. Many liberals will say they are for Obama in the polls but vote otherwise in secret. Union money is for Obama. The unions have backed losers in most of the presidential elections.
House and Senate
The House and Senate will gain Democrat seats. America does not like giving the presidency and Congress to the same party. It seldom happens and it is seldom a good outcome, including GOP dominance.
I hope Coleman defeats Al Franken in Minnesota. Norman Teigen could just tip the scales there. Franken winning would prove that a lying tax-cheat bigot can beat a liberal Republican with a record. Minnesota had a professional wrestler for a governor, so anything is possible there.
Insurance Companies in Distress
EastCoast asked me about insurance companies the other day. I have some connections. I am still licensed in life and health insurance. I am not involved in selling because there are so many teaching jobs available I turn down the excess.
A few months ago I could have signed up to sell annuities from AIG. I knew it was a big company, but no one knew at the time that they were ready to go belly up from mortgage investments. I was not so sure that any given company was a good bet. I want my insurance company to live longer than I do.
Now the feds are going to prop up insurance companies, too. They already shoveled $100 billion toward AIG alone. This is madness. The piglets will rush to the sow.
All insurance companies sit on a pile of assets. In the Great Depression they had a lot of mortgages, which were distressed and kept down earnings for many years. The Empire State Building was finished just before the Depression, and it was built with insurance money. That was another lead balloon.
Property and health insurance companies also stash their cash in various investments. I recall a time when the property insurance companies bought all the way up during a stock market boom. Then it popped and they raised rates to cover their losses in the market.
Some of the market crashing is probably due to fears of Obama winning. Much of it is from massive fear, getting out of positions to gather cash or cash equivalents (federal obligations).
Everyone is going to lose from the meltdown. Universities have lost endowment totals. Insurance companies will be as strapped as banks. General Electric is both a finance and manufacturing company. Some think GE is more dangerous than a bunch of AIGs at once. I do not know enough to say.
Annuities are a good idea in certain cases. I arranged for some for my mother, and they turned out very well. Ben Stein said they worked well for his father. It is possible to get a good, secure return and leave the remainder for the estate (refund annuity, or options like the 10 year certain).
The main thing is starting with a secure insurance company. I would not even consider one lower in ratings than Northwestern Mutual or Mass Mutual. Huge insurance companies can tank as fast as a large bank. There are rumors about Met, for instance. What a salesman promises is second to a company's financial future.
Many insurance companies will consolidate, following the example of banks. In the past I have seen enormous companies get merged into credit-worth ones: Executive Life, Mutual Benefits, Equitable, General Life. Executive Life paid big dividends based on junk bonds alone, until they nose-dived.
Investments are down. Home prices are down. Prices will stay down. Look at oil. Probably the big speculators were all tied up in futures contracts betting on oil going up. Once demand went down globally, those contracts were losers. So oil prices are going down, down, down. Mrs. Ichabod asked about "the danger of inflation." We are in deflation, which is really more dangerous.
Another Sad Tale from WELS
This story is from someone I have known for about 20 years.
He joined WELS and encouraged his entire family to leave the Lefty Lutherans.
At one point my doctrinal bulletins became too much for his true-blue WELS wife, so I took him off my list at his request. I understood the reaction. I knew friendly WELS pastors who stopped talking to me because I kept addressing the same doctrinal issues they avoided.
Later this layman wrote me to say their WELS congregation's staff went off to Willow Creek to be trained.
A fortune was spent on the building.
Everything changed at the church, which was now 100% church growthy.
I am not sure, but I think he was indicating in his note that he was leaving the Lutheran Church for good, perhaps going to an Eastern Orthodox church
Attendance had increased at their former congregation.
True, some congregations have driven away their Lutheran members and attracted some generic Reformed members. Nevertheless, the denomination's statistics look like Wall Street's on a bad day.
Thank God For Church-and-Change
Being Exposed
devoured by Church and Change buddies
(free vicars for Patterson, grant for Doebler, etc).
The triangles leaving the fish's rear end
symbolize Church and Change pooping on the synod
at every opportunity, fouling the water.
From Bailing Water:
Anonymous said...
Thank God people are finally rising up and speaking out against C&C. We need more and more people- and especially pastors- to speak up and denounce these errant ways. Insist that none of your church offerings be used to fund this group who is using our own money to fund their apostasy. Have courage and let your pastor and church leaders know how you feel about this. Go over their heads and let your synod leaders know how wrong this is and that you won't have it. They need to hear it from we, the people. Don't let the C&C crowd think they can slowly seep into your church. You'll wake up one Sunday morning and not recognize the church you've belonged to for years. Be strong and courageous. Don't sit idly by.
October 25, 2008 2:00 AM
Must It Always Be Lutheran Only? - Of Course!
The Minnesota Lutheran
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Must it always be "Lutheran only?" Of course!
Today I was asked by a local pastor in our community (of a different denomination) if I would be interested in getting together with his congregation for a joint worship service later this summer.
Some people might think to themselves, "What a great idea!" It sounds like it would be great for our congregation's visibility in the community. It sounds like it would be a wonderful chance to come together with other Christians. It sounds like it would be a chance to get together on opening the doors to the unchurched in the area.
You probably know where this is going. I politely thanked the pastor for the offer, but said I would have to decline.
Yes, it is true that I would be attacked by other pastors in our denomination for such participation--but truth be told, I would expect them to take me to task.
"But why?" you say. "Why is there all this insistence on doctrine and purity?" "Why do we have to be so full of ourselves?" I once heard the church compared to a painting, and every denomination has a brush with which the picture is painted. In fact, if the church were the painting, God would be the artist--and we would do nothing. Other churches outside the Evangelical Lutheran Church are sadly defacing the artwork of God.
How could a preacher give his people hope on Sunday morning without being able to share the wonderful news of their Baptism? There are denominations who cut out that beautiful section of the canvas. How could a preacher speak of the wonders of faith, when faith is all about your commitment? Rather, the beauty of the Church is the object of faith, Christ, which receive only as a gift of the Holy Spirit. How could a preacher promise to feed God's sheep, when bread and wine is merely bread and wine? In fact, the church is painted in the very real blood of Christ, which we drink as we eat his body in the Lord's Supper.
If we start to look for the ways that we intersect with other denominations, and cast aside the rest as leftovers, then we diminish the beauty of the Church and empty it of its gifts. In other words, as the title of this post asks, "Must it always be Lutheran?" My answer: Why would we ever not want it to be Lutheran!
Posted by RevRuesch at 6/28/2007 07:55:00 PM
2 comments:
Pastor Rance said...
Good post, Matt. It's one of the issues that other denominations (and some Lutherans) don't understand. I get really tired of hearing how we need Lutheranism to be "relevant" for today's world (which really means to compromise our doctrine for the sake of adding numbers). What could be more relevant than the truth of Word and Sacrament? Keep 'holding the line', brother!
10:11 AM, July 02, 2007
Anonymous said...
Pastor, you really hit the nail on the head. This is my pet peeve that it's important to even many Lutheran churches these days to leave 'Lutheran' out of the name. Note the increasing 'community', or 'this or that Ministries, or even just plain ol' Christain in leu of EV. LUTHERAN. You may read the website of one of these churches and have to dig deep before you may find something like.. they are 'affiliated' with such and such synod. As a member of WELS, I see the same thing in our synod as well. I encourage you to continue fighting the good fight, Pastor. More people appreciate it than will ever say it.
10:05 AM, September 30, 2007
***
GJ - Oh my, all the tall-tales I heard from WELS leaders about fellowship principles. I guess they are best viewed from a distance. District Pope Mueller explained, without laughing out loud, that WELS taught these to ELCA leaders, who said, "We could use some of those." That was at the conference where WELS Synodical Pope Mischke posed with Bohlmann and ELCA Archbishop Herb Chilstrom.
In the Wisconsin sect I heard five years of explanations - why every variety of unionism was good, proper, healthy, and Ev-an-gel-i-cal. That word is stretched out in WELS to make it more efficacious. The stretch version means - "Do whatever you want, boys." And they did.
But the Church of the Lutherean Confession (sic) was better? No, far worse. The other Tiefel, Paul, cousin of James, wet his pants in excitement, every time he praised someone Deformed, Roman Catholic, or worse. His double, Dave Koenig, was worse. The CLC (sic) protected them, excused their boorish behavior, and rewarded them in every possible way. The CLC layman Dave Menton declared it was a mortal sin to write for Herman Otten, until he wrote for Herman Otten. Then he posed for pictures with Otten. Anyone who knows the sect would say, "That is so-CLC."
This blogger wrote well about the central issue. Worshiping with non-Lutherans is the same as despising the Promises of the Gospel.
Young Church Growther --> Old Atheist.
Young Church-and-Changer-->Old Atheist.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Church and Change Jeff Davis
Church and Change, 2007
107 CREATING A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY IN YOUR CHURCH
Jeffrey Davis (jeff@joyfulgiving.net) What is a generous church? How do we teach God’s people to excel in the grace of giving? When a congregation is transformed by Jesus’ message that “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), what does it look like? Preaching and teaching about money is not something we should ignore. Jesus, on numerous occasions, addressed the issue of money and possessions. He knew that God’s people throughout the ages would face challenges and temptations of wealth. The formula for creating a culture of generosity is very simple – through God’s Word preach it, teach it, and celebrate it! This workshop will share ideas and give examples for churches intent on creating cultures marked by strong financial stewardship and biblically guided generosity. Jeff’s ideas for God’s leaders on creating cultures of generosity within Lutheran congregations will be helpful and biblically based.Jeffrey Davis has served the Lutheran church as teacher, administrator and presently, as consultant. He is owner of Cornerstone Stewardship Ministry, a consulting firm that teaches stewardship.108 A POSITIVE VIEW OF BELIEVERFS (sic) IS REALISTIC…AND PRACTICAL!
Heart In Focus - Personal Finances Training Course
This repeating course guides individual members in the basics of wise faith-focused finances for their daily lives. The course will cover the Christian attitudes behind healthy financial decisions and practical advice for giving, saving, debt removal and financially wise lifestyles. Special workshops lead by Cornerstone Stewardship Ministry leader Mr. Jeff Davis and Adult Discipleship Administrator Rev David Kehl are offered throughout the WELS Districts upon request. Heart in Focus workbooks are now available at Northwestern Publishing House to train local leaders to lead this course as an ongoing part of an annual spiritual growth curriculum.
WELS Kingdom Workers
BOARD MEMBER
Jeff Davis
csconsultants@charter.net
"How about a juicy grant for Church and Change Doebler?"
FIC Author too? I thought these guys had no influence?
The bills will come
It's Christmas shopping season. Giving is part of our Christian life, but so is responsible management of our resources.
Author: Jeffrey Davis
Christmas is a time for gift giving. Many children of God love to give gifts as they imitate the greatest gift given to the entire world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Most view the Christmas season as a time to give and, in some cases, to lavish gifts upon their friends and relatives.
Yet how many times after Christmas do we receive our credit card statements or view the checkbook ledger only to realize that we spent much more than we intended? Then we realize that the added interest on the purchases increases what we spent. Often the credit card balances are already so high that we are unable to pay off the debt, and we end up only adding to our balance and going deeper into debt.
Member of http://www.stpaullakemills.org
Puto ut Kelm fio. I think I am becoming Kelm.
devoured by Church and Change buddies
(free vicars for Patterson, grant for Doebler, etc).
The triangles leaving the fish's rear end
symbolize Church and Change pooping on the synod
at every opportunity, fouling the water.
Blatant copying and pasting from Bailing Water:
Friday, October 24, 2008
WELS making use of ELCA's faith program
The WELS has formed a quasi-partnership with an ELCA program: http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=1147&contentID=57776&shortcutID=20408
Faith stepping stones: It is a reformed program with a dash of WELS flavor added.
http://www.wlcfs.org/equip/fss/fssfaqs.asp
Meet the ELCA leader of the stepping stones: http://www.faithink.com/About/richmelheim.asp
ELCA churches love it:
http://www.peacelutheranweb.com/plc/faithtoolbox/ftbstepstones.asp
WELS pastors and others that have given consent to this program: http://www.wlcfs.org/aboutUs/boardOfDirectors.asp
And these reformed leaders like it also:
http://www.steppingstonesministry.org/html/aboutus/news_acknowledgments.html
It has evolved from faith inkubators:
Faith Incubators pushes the new Gospel of Social Transformation
http://www.exorthodoxforchrist.com/peter_drucker_&_rick_warren.htm
“Faith Inkubators” was started by Rev. Rich Melheim (ELCA) who started a mentor-based program at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater, MN.
By the Fall of 96 over 1000 congregations were experimenting with the program as living laboratories. “The movement currently involves 2/3 ELCA and 1/3 LCMS congregations and has its first UCC, Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic test sites.” Yes, “Faith Inkubators” is a pan denominational, globalist, relational, catechism.
“Faith Inkubators” strives for transformation through “PROCESS”. Each child is assigned an adult mentor or “Guide” on their learning, serving, playing, praying, and growing journey. Pastors still teach content but a third of everything is taught through interactive small group learning activities. This writer evaluates the programs as enlisting spiritual guides, values clarification, and spiritual gift assessments. Melheim says he developed the program’s small group structure from Carl George’s Meta Church Model; its philosophy from William Glasser (a secular humanist and an expert in behavior modification); its business sense from MIT’s Peter Senge (author of “The Fifth Discipline”) and his own research. Theological “tips” come from Dr. Pat Keifert of the Leadership Network (www.leadnet.org).
The Leadership Network, who endorses Willow Creek as a model for American Churches of the 21st Century, is also advising the LCMS Council of Presidents on how to restructure congregations and the LCMS.
***
GJ - What are we learning today? WELS members and pastors must work harder and faster than Church and Change.
Step One - Be informed. The material is on the websites and in the official reports.
Step Two - Study the Book of Concord. These are all old heresies.
Step Three - Ignore the screaming. The personal attacks are the Church and Change way of deflecting attention from their apostasy.
And The Ironic Humor Award Goes To...Curtis Peterson and FIC.
Wait! There's More!
Why Don't We Stop Calling Ourselves Lutheran?
Author: Curtis A. Peterson
Look up the whole article
In an effort to reach the unchurched, some Lutherans are opting to avoid labeling themselves as Lutheran when starting new churches. In one midwestern community a Lutheran mission took the name "Family of Faith Christian Church." Others call themselves community churches or take some other non-denominational name.
There is a reason for the name
When you think of it, no other mainline church body bears a person's name. Some names designate a form of church government--Presbyterian, Congregational, Episcopal. Others focus on a distinctive doctrine--Baptist, Holiness, Pentecostal. Many fast growing congregations adopt generic names such as Faith Fellowship, Grace Community, Fellowship Bible Church, or are named after the community (Elmbrook, Willow Creek Community Church).
***
GJ - The cover art shown is The Northwestern Lutheran, but now it is FIC. Forward in Christ is a real Lutheran magazine title! WELS is the only denominational with a stealth hymnal and stealth magazine.
More irony awaits the curious reader. Curtis Peterson loved the Church Growth Movement in the LCMS, but left to join the Wisconsin sect. Right away he was in a big church in Milwaukee and on a national board (world missions, I think - with Valleskey). No one else who joined by colloquy was graced with such preference. In fact, some long-time parish pastors might have wanted a little action like that.
Mrs. Ichabod and I were at his church, 21 years ago. He was later unhappy about my criticisms of Church Growth and reacted to them in a paper or two.
I think he is no longer a minister, at least not in WELS. (Not in WELS = de-rezzed, as in Tron, the Movie.)
Now WELS has done everything to submerge the Lutheran name. Ironic? Peterson would be thrown out today for being narrow-minded, legalistic, and disloyal to Church and Change.
---
Someone found this information about Peterson:
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Curtis A. Peterson holds a B.A. from Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and a M.Div and STM (l966 and l983 respectively) from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
In almost 30 years in the ministry in both the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods, he was an activist with many published articles supporting the orthodox Lutheran cause in the "Battle for the Bible" in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and author of several articles in the Wisconsin Synod between l987 and l995. He also delivered several essays at pastoral conferences during those years.
He served congregations in Burlington, N.C., Rock Falls, Ill., Garland, Tex. and Gretna, La., in the LCMS and in Milwaukee, Wis. in the WELS.
A Foundation member, he is now retired, resides in Wisconsin and calls himself a humanist and a freethinker.
A leader of the foundation, Dan Baker. Here is his heart-warming story:
Dan Barker
Co-president, Freedom From Religion Foundation
Minister Turned Atheist
Dan became a teenage evangelist at age 15. At 16 he was choir librarian for faith-healer Kathryn Kuhlman's Los Angeles appearances. He received a degree in Religion from Azusa Pacific University and was ordained to the ministry by the Standard Community Church, California, in 1975. He served as associate pastor at a Friend's (Quaker) Church, an Assembly of God, and an independent Charismatic church. Dan was a Protestant missionary in Mexico for a total of two years.
Dan maintained a touring musical ministry for 17 years, including eight years of full-time, cross-country evangelism. An accomplished pianist, record producer, arranger and songwriter, he worked with Christian music companies such as Manna Music and Word Music. For many years, Dan wrote and produced the annual "Mini Musicale" for Gospel Light Publications' Vacation Bible School curriculum.
For more than two decades, Dan was accompanist, arranger, and record producer for Manuel Bonilla, the leading Christian singer in the Spanish-speaking world. He accompanied on the piano such Christian personalities as Pat Boone, Jimmy Roberts (of the Lawrence Welk Show), and gospel songwriter Audrey Meier, and was a regular guest on Southern California's "Praise The Lord" TV show (Spanish). One of Dan's Christian songs, "There Is One," was performed by Rev. Robert Schuller's television choir on the "Hour of Power" broadcast. To this day, he receives royalties from his popular children's Christian musicals, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (1977), and "His Fleece Was White As Snow" (1978), both published by Manna Music and performed in many countries.
Following five years of reading, Dan gradually outgrew his religious beliefs. "If I had limited myself to Christian authors, I'd still be a Christian today," Dan says. "I just lost faith in faith." He announced his atheism publicly in January, 1984.
Dan was PR Director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation from 1987 to 2004. He was elected co-president of the Foundation with Annie Laurie Gaylor in 2004. He is a contributing editor of Freethought Today and is involved with the Foundation's state/church lawsuits.
Books
Losing Faith In Faith: From Preacher To Atheist
Dan's autobiographical story of deconversion, and a critical analysis of Christianity and the bible. FFRF, Inc., 1992.
Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists Foreword by Richard Dawkins
A lot has happened in the 16 years since Losing Faith in Faith. Updating Dan's story of deconversion, Godless tells of lessons learned on the debate circuit, taking a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, and more bible criticism and debunking of theistic arguments. Ulysses Press, 2008.
Just Pretend: A Freethought Book For Children
Overtly freethought. Compares God and Santa, myth with reality, and celebrates atheism and freedom of thought. FFRF, Inc., 1988. (2002 new edition)
Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide For Young Skeptics
Teaches the scientific method to children. Prometheus Books, 1990.
Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong: A Guide For Young Thinkers
Teaches humanistic morality to children. Prometheus Books, 1992.
Dan also has written a variety of educational booklets, brochures and "nontracts" for the Foundation.
See Dan's Online Writings
Media Appearances
Dan has appeared on many national television talkshows, including the Phil Donahue Show (twice), Sally Jessy Raphael Show (three times), and twice with Oprah Winfrey. He has also appeared on the national Morton Downey, Jr. Show, the Maury Povich Show, "NightTalk with Jane Whitney," "A Closer Look, with Faith Daniels," the "Shirley Show" (Toronto), Pat Robertson's CBN "Straight Talk," ABC's "Good Morning America" with host Joan Lunden, "Religion & Ethics News Weekly" hosted by Betty Rollin on PBS, the "Hannity & Colmes" talkshow on the Fox-News TV network, and Court TV's "Pros & Cons" show hosted by Nancy Grace.
Dan has been a guest on many regional TV talkshows and dozens of radio interviews across the continent. He regularly speaks and performs freethought concerts around the country at Unitarian-Universalist congregations, Ethical Culture, universities (including Harvard), and humanist conventions.
***
GJ - Sports fans. I have been saying this all along - young Church Growther, old atheist. Look at the WELS stuporstars of yesteryear. They are Pentecostals, Baptists, atheists, freethinkers. Church Growth principles at work.
Psst! I Heard This On the Grapevine
Lutherans used to having sayings like Cross and Crown, showing how the path of the Christian was to bear the cross and share the crown of glory in eternal life. The Cross and Crown graphic is common in many older churches. The term crown is the word we use for Stephan, the first martyr, so many think the phrase crown of life was a deliberate wordplay.
But now we have a cross resting in a coffee mug and advertising aimed at coffee drinkers.
Besides that, the pastor is known for sheep-stealing from other WELS churches. The District Pope does nothing about it. The pastor (Latin for shepherd) goes to WELS members and says, "Join my church."
There in a capsule is the whole mindset of the Church Growth Movement, Church and Change. They do not convert. They sheep-steal. They undermine the discipline of other congregations, especially their own synod's, by claiming to make disciples.
The Church Growth Movement has had no positive impact on American Christianity. Millions of dollars have been spent. The only growth has been in apostasy (all denominations) and lawsuits (ditto).
I Was Sad That I Had No Shoes, Until I Met a Man With No Bio
Pastor Ski has a verbose blog, but no bio on the Church and Change website. That is carrying the stealth mode to a new level of security. Perhaps if we read Church and Change's website by the light of a full moon...
[Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Ron Ash, Chairman of Church and Change...":
The above-mentioned "congregation" that is being daughtered by St Peters is Solid Rock Ministries and Pastor Jim Skorewski has accepted the call to be its pastor....
PS It's not Pastor Timothy Glende anymore. It's "Pastor Tim"]
***
Solid Rock?
Built on a bluff the WELS doth hide
While Babtist churches are calling...
We know he worked at St. Marcus, home of the non-Lutheran Time of Grace program (Mark Jeske). We also know another person from St. Marcus is on the board of Church and Change.
Ski flew to the Drive 08 conference to hear Baptist Andy Stanley, son of the Baptist minister who went to Korea to study under Paul Y. Cho.
The Church and Change minders are saying in their anonymous comments, "Do not be hysterical. We are few. We are weak. We are inconsequential (or something close to that word). Just tolerate us for experimenting a little. All we want to do is win people for Christ. Why are you narrow-minded bigots against us open-minded pioneers?"
District VP Patterson took a group of WELS pilgrims to the Exponential Conference to hear Stetzer, and he has all kinds of synod positions as well as a fat synod grant to pay for his vicars. And--poof--Stetzer has Church and Change on his list of speaking engagements, a fact still hidden on the Church and Change website, a fact denied by Church and Changers though debated by the WELS DPs, who frowned.
So we have two clusters from Church and Change going to hear two famous Baptist salesmen.
Stanley calls his church Northpoint Community Church, a wee bit deceptive itself, as one person noted.
And all the cutting edge Church and Changers want to use Community Church or hide Lutheran and WELS from their gullible followers. That is pure coincidence.
The WELS world and American mission people have hidden their attendance at Fuller and Willow Creek from the membership, to the point of lying openly about it. Now they are so brazen that they brag about it here and there. No one will ever know how much money has been wasted on Fuller tuition, trips to Willow Creeks, Church Growth books, Baptist and Pentecostal seminars. And it has not even worked for them.
Stetzer Pilgrim, Church Growth Guru Get To Revise WELS Seminary Curriculum
Stetzer Pilgrimage leader Patterson edits for FIC and tells the seminary how to improve its curriculum. "We need a big ol' bathtub up front the chapel, jus' like those fast-growing Babtists." His latest vicar is the son of seminary professor James Tiefel.
Seminary training
Awhile ago a WLS alumni wondered about the changes taking place in the Seminary curriculum. The curriculum developers are looking to make sure that the sem and its students are kept current on the cutting edge methods that are being used by "others" are also studied and used by new WELS pastors.
The president of the sem, faculty, students and others sat at the feet of the leading Church and Change promoters to hear what the Baptists are doing and how we should be following their lead.
Official Seminary Report:
Seminary faculty, the school presidents, representatives from current students, from pastors, from teachers, from laypeople, from various areas of ministry, from governing board members, and from district presidents will all gather on these two days to discuss these presentations given by Pastor Paul Kelm, President Paul Prange, and Pastor Don Patterson.
Was Prange used to balance the non-Lutherans or is he another Church and Change Cheerleader?
Kathie Wendland, Church and Change
Women Leadership - Conference Breakout 202....
WELS “Women Leaders – No Longer an Oxymoron”
Kathie Wendland
Join us for a reprise of the WELS Women Leadership Conference originally held July 7, 2007, at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Discuss the keynote address Kathie presented at this conference and the three Bible studies led by pastor/laywoman teams. Teaching styles and methods more prevalent among women will be used. This will be a Bible study of leadership styles used by women in Scripture, a sort of an “ugly, bad, and good” look at them.
Email: ehwend@lakefield.net
Matt Doebler, Church and Change, Stetzer Pilgrimage
WELS has money for aping the Baptists: "10) Christ the Rock – Round Rock, Texas. Pastor Matthew Doebler. The ministry has been enriched by a generous grant ($13,000) from the Kingdom Workers National Project program."
Website - Ministry Resource
Matt Doebler
Develop a website, which shares ministry resources (such as special services, Bible studies), for different areas of ministry. Find someone who has web-developing skills. Does not need to be an expert. Basic skills are needed. Find a free or cheap web server. Figure out your goals. Who is your target audience? What do you want to share? Find some dependable contributors who will submit quality material. This will save you some time on reviewing everything that you are given to publish. Use MS Word format for submitted material and "save as ... web page". Can import easily into web pages. Other technical issues, consult an expert. Keep updating periodically - an unchanging web site is a dead web site. Promote by any means possible. I have tried the WorldWide Winkel & conferences
Email: doeblermc@yahoo.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women - Aerobics and Bible Studies to Mix!
Matt Doebler
Offer a Bible class, which strengthens the body & spirit. Find an aerobic woman who enjoys working out and studying the Bible. Aerobic training is a plus, although she could just use videos. It could be 2 leaders - 1 physical and 1 spiritual. Find a Bible study, which can be broken up into 20-minute sections (one section per session). Break the class up into 20 minute Bible study and 40-50 minute aerobic workout with toning. Use a gym or larger classroom for workout and studying on the floor. Meet weekly. Keep to 7 or 8-week sessions.
Email: doeblermc@yahoo.com
Stelljes, Church and Change: Pilgrimage to Baptist Stetzer
Drama - Conference Breakout 503.... Oh, the Drama of It All!
(Drama in Worship for Beginners)
Pastor John and Angela Stelljes [GJ - This implies Angela is also a pastor.]
Props, people, lights, scripts, cues, transitions. . .and God’s Word. If you’re thinking about doing drama in worship but don’t know where to begin, this workshop is for you! In the midst of the drama that comes with doing drama learn some tips, tools and techniques for focusing on the one thing needful.
If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!
Email: butterfly.peapod@gmail.com
----------------------------------
Drama - Conference Breakout 504.... Dramalogue
(Advanced Drama in Worship)
Pastor John and Angela Stelljes [GJ - This implies Angela is also a pastor.]
You’ve written sketches for the church? Perhaps you’ve played a shepherd boy more than once. Want to share what you’ve learned about drama in worship with others? Come join us for an in-depth dialogue of what works and what really doesn’t
when using drama in worship. Bring scripts and experiences
to share.
If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!
Email: butterfly.peapod@gmail.com
WELS Pastor Ron Ash, Chairman of Church and Change
Church and Change Bio - Ron Ash
Chairman, Appleton, WI
Ron started his ministy by serving three congregations in Colorado. He has since served for 30 years at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Appleton, WI. During this time he has been Circuit Pastor, Chairman of the Board of Regents at FoxValleyLutheranHigh School, Secretary of the Fox River Valley Conference, on the Governing Board at LutherPreparatory School, and Circuit Chairman. He has been a promoter of creating innovative ministries for a changing world. His wife, Renate, and he have three children.
[GJ - The assistant pastor is Tim Glende, from St. Paul, Columbus, the congregation which took in Floyd Luther Stolzenburg when he was kicked out of the LCMS ministry. Floyd helped organize a Church Growth seminar, attended by the St. Paul's staff, and started "the first WELS Church Growth agency - Lutheran Parish Resources."]
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Ron Ash, Chairman of Church and Change...":
The above-mentioned "congregation" that is being daughtered by St Peters is Solid Rock Ministries and Pastor Jim Skorewski has accepted the call to be its pastor....
---
PS It's not Pastor Timothy Glende anymore. It's "Pastor Tim"
From their website, St. Peter Cares:
History
St. Peter congregation was founded by a group of Lutheran immigrants from [GJ- From? From? Please let us know.]. It was organized on October 5, 1868.
From Bailing Water:
Anonymous said...
A small clip from a WELS church bulletin in an area about 20 miles from St Mark Depere..... Is this the direction WELS wants to go???
"Some people from our church have approached our pastors about starting a daughter congregation in the Appleton area. These WELS people would fund the entire project for a certain number of years. It will not be financed by our congregation. This daughter congregation would have its own pastor and a part-time music director. The main feature of this church would be: 1) contemporary worship only; 2) small group ministry; 3) lay-driven; 4) Appleton area focused; 5) and will reach out to the unchurched. This congregation will be directed by a separate executive committee. It will have a different name than St. Peter and will worship in facilities outside our campus and not at FVL.
We will have two open hearings to discuss the concept of a
daughter congregation between the services on June 8 & 15, 2008, in church.
We will vote on this proposal at our June 23, 2008 voters’ meeting."
May 19, 2008 4:55 PM
Anonymous said...
Thanks for the laugh!
The 40+ WELS congregations in the Appleton area really need help getting the word out????
May 20, 2008 1:22 PM
miket said...
Anonymous (5/19 - 4:55 pm):
Your comment refers to a church growthy outreach proposal and asks whether this is the direction the WELS wants to go. Obviously, it is the direction that at least some in one congregation want to go. I trust that you are not ascribing the thinking of these few to the whole synod. I think most of the people in WELS would have concerns about starting the kind of mission described in that bulletin note.
The history of the WELS is full of cases of liberal pastors leading their congregations in directions not consistent with God's Word. Some of those pastors came to see the error of their ways; most are no longer WELS.
Seeing a bulletin note like this does not alarm me. What would alarm me is false doctrine that goes undisciplined. Do you know of anything along those lines that needs to be addressed?
May 20, 2008 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...
"The main feature of this church would be: 1) contemporary worship only; 2) small group ministry; 3) lay-driven; 4) Appleton area focused; 5) and will reach out to the unchurched."
Am I missing something? What is not consistent with God's Word in those four? The only false doctrine that needs to be addressed in this vain is elevating personal preferences to the level of Scripture and addressing those who are not in agreement with your opinions "false teachers'. That's called legalism and that is a sin -- period. That is also an issue that also needs to be addressed in the WELS.
I live in the Fox Valley, the number of people we are reaching in our 40+ congregations, the number sitting in His house regularly, and the number of adult confirmations are in most cases, not rising. The synod stats, which I have a copy of, indicates a need to at least look at different ways to gain an audience so that God's means can be shared.
Just shout'in
May 20, 2008 7:59 PM
Anonymous said...
Just shout'in,
Who promised that your congregations would grow?
May 21, 2008 6:01 AM
Anonymous said...
Wow, even Wels is wandering to Rick Warren (and his ilk...ever notice, ilk is never a good thing)
So how does Wels measure success?
Nickels and Noses or faithful preaching of the Gospel and administering the Sacrements? Since numbers aren't going up, do you leave the Gospel for a marketing plan??
Just askin'
May 21, 2008 7:37 AM
rlschultz said...
"Who promised that your congregations would grow?"
Very good question which needs to be asked in a situation like this or any other which relies upon "M&M's" - marketing and methods. Furthermore, where is numerical growth even made a requirement of the so-called Great Commission? So much of this type of approach demonstrates a lack of discernment.
The final, default argument for all of this nonsense is that they are just trying to save souls.
May 21, 2008 12:07 PM
Anonymous said...
John,
Your blog has been quoted extensively over on Ichabod the past day or two. If you want people to take you even in the least bit seriously, you need to talk to Jackson and tell him to stop. The guy is a jerk of a pastor and a false prophet (denies objective justification). There's a reason why he's all by himself.
[GJ - Feel the love? This must be a Church and Change board member.]
May 21, 2008 3:42 PM
Anonymous said...
Rev. Jackson has many more supporters than this person knows. What makes him think he all alone?
May 22, 2008 12:27 PM
Norman Teigen said...
Some of us in the ELS are concerned about the confessional integrity of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. I believe that this will be discussed in the upcoming ELS convention. At least, I hope that it is.
Norman Teigen
ELS layman
May 23, 2008 4:29 PM
Anonymous said...
Norm, how is this going to be discussed? I can't see someone getting up on the floor and saying: "We better check out the WELS!" How will this happen?
May 23, 2008 6:47 PM
Anonymous said...
Norm, how is this going to be discussed? I can't see someone getting up on the floor and saying: "We better check out the WELS!" How will this happen?
May 23, 2008 6:47 PM
Norman Teigen said...
I accept the challenge. I will go to Mankato and ask for the floor and raise the question myself.
Norman Teigen
ELS layman
May 24, 2008 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...
Norm, this wasn't a challenge. You yourself wrote on this blog: "I believe that this will be discussed in the upcoming ELS convention." My only question was, "How?" I wasn't challenging you in any way.
May 24, 2008 5:05 PM
---
Church and Change:
Women's Advent Candlelight Service
Pastor Ron Ash
Each lady decorates a table with a Christmas theme using their own decorations for a table of six. They provide a dessert and coffee for their table. The ladies draw up and conduct a worship service - all by candlelight.Cost is low - donated food; ladies provide decorations for their table; men volunteer to take down tables after event. It takes 60-70 ladies to put on this event.
Phone: (920) 733-7225
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Church and Change in The Little Sect on the Prairie
ELS Pastor Nathan Krause gave a presentation at the last Church and Change shindig.
Trouble in Paradise by ELS Bad Boy
September 22
Abiding Shepherd's website-A review
I spent a bit of time looking over the website for Abiding Shepherd in Cottage Grove, the first congregation of the ELS to implement (and bold enough to call them) contemporary services.
In assessing the site the only thing Lutheran about it is they at least maintain the name Lutheran in their church name. That's more than many WELS congregations, periodicals, etc. do. At one LWMS rally I actually heard one report from the national rally that it is more advantageous to not use the name Lutheran and if we insist on retaining the name Lutheran, we are being selfish.
The name of Jesus is mentioned once on the site (at least I could find no other mention). This is on the "mission statement" page, and the mention of Jesus Christ is found in the now defunct mission statement. This is only one of two places the name Christ is mentioned (on this page as "Jesus Christ") The other mention is on Family Education Night under the Bible Study link. Here it mentions "Christ's sacrifice" as part of the study on the Chronicles of Narnia movie. This will probably be an interesting study, even if led by a layman instead of the called shepherd, er, spiritual administrator. Ugh. Business models for the church. Yuck. Ick.
If the contemporary service is anything like this contemporary church website, I don't think there is much of substance here. Hopefully the website is incomplete and the good stuff is coming right around the corner.
contemptible service again
A real quick note. The fact that many do not see the connection to the 1 Corinthians verses I quoted in the previous post and the Divine Service is exactly why we have a problem in Lutheranism today. Those verses have everything to do with the Divine Service. Typically (admittedly, I can't speak to Krause's service, I've never been to it) the "service" of contemptible services focuses on man's service to God rather than God's Service to man through the Means of Grace. It is based on a theology of glory rather than the theology of the Cross. I would expect this of the reformed, but the Lutheran Confessions make it clear that even a sanitized version of a heretical service does not make it right to use it. More when I have more time.
---
Krause's Mission Statement:
BRING THEM IN!
LIFT THEM UP!
SEND THEM OUT!
[GJ - A plastic surgeon in Scottsdale has the same mission statement.]
Our mission statement until January, 2003 was "As God's children, united by faith, we are committed to praising God with our worship and our Christian lives, and to use the Gospel of Jesus Christ to nurture fellow believers and to reach out to others, all to the glory of God."
While this statement is still true and at the very core of our ministry here at Abiding Shepherd, the church leadership developed this simple statement that our friends and members could carry in their hearts as we meet throughout the week with each other and our community.
***
GJ - Confidential to Norm Teigen. The ELS is directly involved in Church and Change.
PS - Norm Teigen has been told this is "an experiment," so aping the Reformed is fine in an "experiment." WELS has been experimenting with Church Growth for three decades. Even with common law marriage, living together for seven years constitutes a marriage enforceable by law. I think the Little Sect has watch the common law marriage of WELS and Fuller/Willow Creek with envy and awe. Now they want to shack up with Deformed theology, too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)