Broccoli Kitten

Nom. Nom. Nom.

Broccoli Kitten, Captain Pugwash, enjoys the, um, broccoli. Thanks to kimberlyjennery for the video. Original is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIFNEd...

Logging In May Help the Internet Worship Services

Grey Goose reported that logging in improved the quality of the service. You might want to establish an identity with Ustream and log in each time.

To log in the first time, go to:

http://www.ustream.tv/

Click on sign up, which will take you to the sign up.

Pick a user name and password. I click the remember me box when I log in. Then the cookie remembers the user name/password and logs me in, which I have to do to broadcast.

I am guessing that a log in is rewarded with better streaming because they want to track users better for ad revenue. Don't worry, they can track you by Internet Protocol address anyway. If you do not want to be tracked, move to a cabin pickup in the state forest near Sedona and use cash at all times.

*Grey Goose remembers when logging in meant tossing another log in the Franklin Stove.

Second Midweek Advent Service

Filbert tree in Midland, Michigan. Photographed by Norma Boeckler.

Mid-Week Advent Vespers

The Week 3 service will be Tuesday, December 16th, at 7 PM.
The Week 4 service will be Christmas Eve, Holy Communion, 7 PM.

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Phoenix Time

The Hymn #73 III.9
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 95 p. 143
The Lection John 15:1-10

The Sermon Hymn #479 III.92
The Sermon
I Am the Bread of Life
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn #283 III.90

KJV John 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

I Am the Bread of Life

As I said before in another sermon, “I Am” has a definite meaning in the Bible. “I Am” is the identity and meaning of God, the Name of God spoken by the Angel of the Lord, the Son of God.

As the orthodox Lutherans wrote, the Burning Bush is a figure of the Two Natures of Christ. The bush burned without being consumed, so it had two natures, one of fire, one of vegetation. The two appeared as one yet they were not combined. All those attributes are true of the Incarnate Son of God. Everyone saw One Person and yet He had (and still has) two natures, divine and human. The two natures are not mixed together or combined but united in that One Person, Christ.

Those who doubt the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion should dwell on this passage. Officially it is not a communion passage because it took place before the Last Supper. Also Zwingli used one verse in this chapter to deny the Real Presence.

If we look at this passage in the context of explaining what we already know from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then this sermon is an excellent commentary on Holy Communion.

Just as we have the Good Shepherd in John 10, which really means the Unique Shepherd (The Living Jackson Translation), in this passage we have Jesus saying He is the True Bread.

The manna from heaven prefigured or foreshadowed the True Bread from heaven. Often in John Jesus is described and describes Himself as “from above” and “from heaven.” So the manna from heaven in Exodus the forerunner to the True Bread from heaven – Jesus Himself.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

The opposition groups (non-Lutheran Protestants, often called Reformed by the Lutherans, grouping them all together) teach against the Real Presence and make Holy Communion symbolic, or just a memorial meal, or just a spiritual presence.

Holy Communion is symbolic. Holy Communion is a Memorial Meal. And Christ is spiritually present. But Holy Communion is far more than that and cannot be reduced to just one aspect of the Biblical revelation.

We cannot escape from the divine meaning of “I Am.” When Jesus says, “I Am the True Bread from heaven,” He is also identifying Himself with the elements of Holy Communion, as He did at the Last Supper. He did not say, “This will be My Body; this will be My Blood.” He said, “This is My Body and Blood.” What He declared was already true even though He was not crucified and risen.

What God provides is not determined by man’s sense of time, as we can see with justification by faith. Many were justified by faith in the Messiah long before the atoning death and resurrection of Christ. They received what God promised, not bound by man’s concept of a timeline.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

There is some ironic humor in this. Throughout John people hear the divine, spiritual words of Jesus and they want material relief from His Promises. This response could be seen both ways – asking for material and for spiritual fulfillment. We should note that Jesus of hunger and thirst together, basic needs, but also references to the two sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

So many leaders try to frighten people into obeying them by threatening hellfire against them. Here are Jesus’ words to the contrary:

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Those who listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd follow Him, and He goes before them. He knows His own and they know Him.

John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

This section is so simple and plain. Anyone with a basic understanding of language can grasp what Christ is saying, yet the thoughts are profound. Seeing and believing in Christ means having everlasting life and being raised up on the last day.

The Jewish opponents did not like to hear this, because Jesus took away the righteousness of works and taught the righteousness of faith in Him. So they tried to demean Him. Either people heard His Word and trusted in Him or they became increasingly angry and hateful toward Him.

43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

This simple verse is another deadly attack against decision theology and all the man-made hoopla they are selling today via the religious hucksters. “No one can come to Me unless the Father draw him.”

How are people drawn to Jesus? Through the Word alone.

The Father, through the Holy Spirit, works to appoint preachers, to send the Word around the world, and to work on the hearts of all listeners. Through the Word, the Father’s will is always accomplished.

The more we stick to the plain meaning of the Word, the less we take credit for anything done. God accomplishes everything through the Word.

So if we want to be fruitful for the Kingdom, we cling to to the Word, we abide in Him and He abides in us.

One way to abide in the Word is to receive Holy Communion, which is provided each Sunday. Holy Communion is the True Bread from heaven, Christ present in both natures. We come before Christ and receive individually the Visible Word of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Many brag that they commune with nature, but we boast that we commune with Christ, since He is our True Bread from heaven.

Heroes of the CopyCat

Here is a series using the graphic seen at St. Mark, Depere. Maybe this church borrowed the St. Mark graphic and added Hebrews 11 to it. Or--St. Mark erased the Hebrews 11!

Crossroads Church meets Sundays
Traditions Service 9:30am
Encounter Service 11:30am
610 Carmans Road Farmingdale, NY 11735.

This is also at Vista del Sol Baptist Church, on iTunes:

Heroes #4 - The Work Of Faith Vista del Sol Baptist Church 6/24/2007 “Noah … trusted God. When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed him even though there was no sign of a flood … wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family. Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to disbelief of the rest Free
Heroes #3 - The Choices Of The Faith Vista del Sol Baptist Church 6/17/2007 Moses was one of the greatest men of faith in the Old Testament. He was a man who learned how to resolve the basic issues of life, and as a result he became one of the HEROES of the faith. Don’t miss the lessons you can learn as Walter teaches on the li Free
Heroes #2 - Faith For Life's Journey Vista del Sol Baptist Church 6/10/2007 Walter will continue the HEROES message series with a talk on Abraham whose life demonstrates what living by faith really means. Free
Heroes #1 - An Unlikely Hero Vista del Sol Baptist Church 6/3/2007 Jesus is the ultimate HERO but in His divine design for your life, he also has placed the power and potential within you to be a HERO. As we study heroes from Hebrews 11 you will learn how to live out His purpose for your life. Free

OK, I am not TV savvy - I never watch the main networks. I finally saw an ad for the NBC series, Heroes. That is the source of the graphic. I imagine one church added Hebrews 11 and St. Mark erased it (Ichabodophobia?). It is typical of the Reformed to seek attention by aping popular entertainment. As the goat said when eating a can of movie film, "I liked the book better."

St. Mark has a reputation for borrowing material, so I wonder if more than the graphic got copied from those non-Lutheran congregations.

PS - I am not sure that Rock and Roll produced the original series of sermons, since I found the graphic elsewhere. I have not tracked down the wording used, but I have enough to do without listening to a Church From Scratch. I did notice Radloff preaching one of the sermons at Christ the Rock. He produced the Mission Counselor Newsletter for The Love Shack. That was an upgrade (or downgrade) of TELL, the new version an absolute pangyric to the Church Growth Movement. More than TELL? Yes, even worse.

Church and Chicanery - Invasion of the Body Snatchers

"Become missional. Make disciples."

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, remake 1978, remake 1995) illustrates how aliens can replicate our bodies and take over the planet. The body snatchers look like everyone else, so they grow in number while an ever-decreasing number of alert humans try to point out the danger. At the end of the 1978 version, Donald Sutherland's approach is comforting, until he points and hisses.

When I saw a clip of Stetzer angrily citing the Great Commission (Reformed version), I realized how much the Church Shrinkers are pod people. Babtist Stetzer was a little boy when McGavran began his scam at Fuller Seminary. An earlier but unheralded McGavran effort began in Eugene, Oregon in 1957, when I was still in short pants. An endless parade of Church Shrinking pod people have been mouthing the same platitudes ever since.

The cartoon posted above was shown at a WELS pastors' conference about 15 years ago. The pastor, who despised the Church Shrinkage Movement, was taken aside and sternly admonished by Wally Oelhafen, District Mission Board chair. Yes, Wally is the father of "I Am So Glad Jesus Rode a Hog," that advert for Harleys disguised as a sermon.

Oelhafen routinely dumped Waldo Werning books on the desks of mission pastors. Did anyone ask about Werning's pastoral qualifications? Lutheran qualifications? Years later, Church and Chicanery was inviting a Werning to speak to WELS...posthumously.

What made all the WELS Church Shrinkers excited? "We have to make disciples." Joel Gerlach - make disciples. This aberration even slopped over into the tiny CLC, with Paul Tiefel's and David Koenig's fuminations about making disciples. Valleskey - make disciples. Two Toledo pastors sent a letter around about this error and they were pushed out of WELS. The CG pod people hiss their slogans but they also attack anyone who figures them out.

The most common slogan of all these con artists is - Make disciples. Yet Matthew clearly says - Teach all nations. The object of the verb is "all nations."

KJV Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Reformed version suggests man can make disciples.

The original text emphasizes God's work in the Means of Grace - teach all nations, baptizing...

The new/old confidence game argues that church must appeal to people who hate church. The televangelists deliberately set out to mimic the entertainment style of evangelism. At first they all looked like slightly religious versions of The Tonight Show. Now they look like rock concerts for white people with attention deficit synodrome. When Ski and the other WELS pastors worshiped with Andy Stanley in Atlanta, there were nine or so screens across the stage.

Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman, described this method in 1984, when it was already hoary with age.

Church and Chicanery tries to convince people they care deeply about the unchurched. So where do they send Ski? Into an area where Wisconsin members are especially dense - with 40 WELS congregations already established. Why not send Ski to a place where almost everyone hates what the Wisconsin Synod stands for? Why not appoint him to The Love Shack? He could drink coffee there.

"A hot tall skinny upside down with whip caramel macchiato?
Aw-right!"

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Anonymous (Joe Krohn?) has left a new comment on your post "Church and Chicanery - Invasion of the Body Snatch...":

The original text says "make disciples." Even Kretzmann translates it that way, and so does your beloved Lenski.

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GJ - The object of the verb is "all nations." The verb means "to teach." The Pietists think disciples are a higher level of believers, ones who reproduce and bring in the big bucks. Lutherans reproduce the normal way and spiritually reproduce through Holy Baptism.

I am not surprised to have the daily Church and Change anonymous rebuttal show up. I have yet to see one that illustrates any knowledge of Biblical, Lutheran doctrine.

Joe Krohn's Rock and Rock Church blog supports UOJ and Church Growth. Boy, I never saw that coming!

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church and Chicanery - Invasion of the Body Snatch...":

Your Greek knowledge is lacking. The verb that is translated as "make disciples" is matheteusate, an imperative aorist active 2nd person plural of mateteuo. If it is used in an intransitive manner, its root meaning is "to be a pupil" with the implication of being an adherent of the teacher: "be or become a pupil/disciple."

If it is used in a transitive manner, its root meaning is "to cause one to be a pupil, or teach."

Now, what is the difference? I don't see one. When you teach, you make disciples; when you make disciples, you do so by teaching. It's like saying you have six of one and half-a-dozen of another.

If a student is studying biology, they sit at the feet of a teacher who teaches biology. You could also correctly say that they are becoming biologists because they are learning about biology.

The same holds true for making Christians/disciples. They are being taught at the feet of Jesus; they are being taught scripture. Yet, you can also correctly say that they are becoming disciples of Jesus because they are learning the teachings of Jesus; they are becoming disciples through the teaching and use of Word and Sacraments, the instruments used to make disciples.

It would appear you are splitting hairs and arguing for arguments sake.

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GJ - I won't take the time to untangle all the logical fallacies above. I am just as dumb as the translators of the KJV. I plead guilty to that. And some would say the KJV is just an edit of Tyndale, who is very close to Luther. Guilty as charged.

Here are some old translations of the passage, from poor deluded souls who never went to Fuller, Willow Creek, or Rock and Roll Lutheran (sic):

KJV Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

YLT Matthew 28:19 having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing them -- to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

VULGATE Matthew 28:19 euntes ergo docete omnes gentes baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti

Luther German Matthew 28:19 Darum gehet hin und lehret alle Völker und taufet sie im Namen des Vaters und des Sohnes und des heiligen Geistes,

The anonymous poster proved what I said - the Church Shrinkers are heavily invested in manufacturing disciples.