But say it I must, say it I must:
You have the cool, clear
Eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth;
Yet there's that upturned chin
And that grin of impetuous youth.
Oh, I believe in you.
I believe in you.
I hear the sound of good, solid judgment
Whenever you talk;
Yet there's the bold, brave spring of the tiger
That quickens your walk.
Oh, I believe in you.
I believe in you.
And when my faith in my fellow man
All but falls apart,
I've but to feel your hand grasping mine
And I take heart; I take heart
To see the cool, clear
Eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth;
Yet, with the slam-bang tang
Reminiscent of gin and vermouth.
Oh, I believe in you.
I believe in you.
(Sung to the mirror in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a musical made from a satirical book of the same name. The author retired.)
Yes, But Theology - From Paul Kelm's Playbook
"'Church growth.' I've seen people cringe when they hear those words. I think I know why. They react negatively because they feel 'church growth' implies an obsessive fixation with numbers and statistics."
Pastor James Huebner, Spiritual Renewal Consultant, Notebook, School of Outreach IV, Seventeen Ways to Keep Your Church from Growing, p. 178. ["In 1982 Pastor James Huebner became the eighth pastor in the 150-year history of Grace Church. Since then the membership has more than doubled..."]
"We can't do a thing to make his Word more effective. But surely we can detract from its effectiveness by careless errors and poor judgment. It just makes good sense to utilize all of our God-given talents, to scour the field for appropriate ideas, concepts, and material (sic), to implement programs, methods, and techniques so that we do not detract from the effectiveness of the gospel we proclaim. Church growth articles, books, seminars, and conferences can offer such ideas and programs."
Pastor James Huebner, Spiritual Renewal Consultant, Notebook, School of Outreach IV, Seventeen Ways to Keep Your Church from Growing, p. 178.
Sadly, this is another WELS leader who is not "apt to teach." He scorns the efficacy of the Word alone. He is a unionist who sings the praises of Fuller's doctrine. He might have said we detract from the Word when we teach false doctrine, but they might have wounded a few toes, including his own. These galoots are all elected, Ichabodians. Some voters at convention must have developed a taste for Deformed theology during their formative years.
***
GJ - Huebner told me an interesting story about his first call. He said, "Tiefel thought he was getting Grace, but I said - No - I am getting Grace." Tiefel was the only professor at The Sausage Factory to worship away from the Mequon/Thiensville congregation. He is reported to have said about traditional liturgical worship at Lindloff's church - "I can't worship there." So now we know why the feminist hymnal was so bad.
The last I heard, Tiefel attended Grace.
