Blarney from Apostate on Bailing Water Blog

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

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 Gospel is not strong with these members.

"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 Beauty of Spring, by Norma Boeckler

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.


WELS congregation. Seriously.

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.