The NPH book will be republished on Lulu.com.
When I gave the Cure chapter at a conference, Wally Oelhafen and Fred Adrian wigged out, with Kovo screaming and tossing the paper.
QED: the Cure chapter on the Means of Grace is good.
John has left a new comment on your post "Liturgical Worship Dates Back to the Old Testament...":
I believe that they don't just water down the Word, they totally remove it from their 'worship' by dropping the liturgy. They also try to justify this by saying that all of this is adiaphora.
If something becomes a point of contention, doesn't it cease to be adiaphora?
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GJ - One elderly man said, "WELS makes everything adiaphora. Soon there is nothing left."
I doubt whether I am the first one to notice how often the word Lutheran has disappeared from the names of congregations, synodical agencies, and even the hymnal.
"Luther didn't want his name used," they shriek or cavil. Church and Chicaneries do not stop to explain why the name Lutheran fills them with fear and loathing.
The Reformer (you remember him from Reformation Sunday) said, "The Antichrist gets his power from substituting for Christ." The Church of Rome substitutes everything Christian for some quasi-Christian but really anti-Christian. The Antichrist substitutes himself for Christ, and there are many little Antichrists to help Holy Father in Rome.
That is how Church and Chicanery earns its nickname. They do not lead by saying, "We hate Luther's doctrine" (but they do), or "We hate the historic, Biblical liturgy," (but they do) or "We trust in our own works," (but they do). They offer a church that is relevant, relational, and not boring. In A-town they spend oodles of money to "shine the Gospel light" while gathering current WELS members and calling it a big, booming mission success.
The Chicaneries hate the Gospel and love themselves, so they take away the instruments of the Gospel to glory in themselves. Those instruments are the Means of Grace, which Chicaneries despise. God appointed those instruments for the benefit of mankind, so we know exactly where we obtain His grace and forgiveness.
Here is more information and a PDF or two about Ski's installation.
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Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Adulterating the Word Means Replacing God's Word":
John states: "I believe that they don't just water down the Word, they totally remove it from their 'worship' by dropping the liturgy. They also try to justify this by saying that all of this is adiaphora."
I completely agree with this. It has long been acknowledged by Lutherans that our liturgy and hymnody so consistently carry worshipers through the teachings of Scripture, and with such depth and force, as to be of equal or greater benefit than the preaching. It is said of our hymnody,
"But especially in sacred song has the Lutheran Church a grand distinctive element of her worship. 'The Lutheran Church,' says Schaff, 'draws the fine arts into the service of religion, and has produced a body of hymns and chorals, which, in richness, power, and unction, surpasses the hymnology of all other churches in the world.' 'In divine worship,' says Goebel, 'we reach glorious features of pre-eminence. The hymns of the Church are the people's confession, and have wrought more than the preaching. In the Lutheran Church alone, German hymnology attained a bloom truly amazing. The words of holy song were heard everywhere, and sometimes, as with a single stroke, won whole cities for the Gospel'” (Krauth, C.P. The Conservative Reformation. pg. 154).
And this is what the Church Changers eliminate from Divine Worship, leaving only the preaching left as a source of the message of Law and Gospel. Not only do they know this, not only do they admit it, they point to the preaching in defense of themselves, saying, "See, we still have the Word -- we've got good preaching."
The fact is, passing off their Sunday morning entertainments as Divine Worship, they empty the Service of an essential source of the Gospel's message, and its most consistent source -- the liturgy and our time-proven hymnody. In doing so, they claim the right of adiaphora, but I can think of no justifiable reason for eliminating the teaching sound doctrine from the Divine Service -- not even to replace it with seeker friendly entertainments.
John's right. By dropping the liturgy, the Church Changers are not just watering down the Word, they are eliminating the sound teaching it conveys. They know it. But for the love of numbers, they don't seem to care.
Freddy Finkelstein
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Adulterating the Word Means Replacing God's Word":
I have to agree with my friend "Freddy." I was a member of a WELS church who's pastor boasted of attending Willow Creek and spoke of his reasons for doing so....to learn how to reach more people etc.
In the end, a good friend of mine still attending that particular church will say, "But he still preaches Law and Gospel." My friend is even concerned about the new "pop culture" that has infused the services. My response is: I hope he is still preaching Law and Gospel! But where do we get the idea that the sermon is the only place to make clear the Law and Gospel? It is, or used to be, reflected in the way we Lutheran's worshipped and shouldn't be limited to 15 minutes of the service. I believe that every moment of a public meeting and worship service should be completely devoted to exclaiming the truth of Scripture in every way, song, action and confession. If it doesn't, at minimum it falls short of it's duty and calling. If this is done knowingly, we are abandoning the Grace of God, on an "as needed" basis in an effort to make our actions and efforts more relevant and in the process we replace God's. Remember "anti-Christ" also means "instead of" not just "against."
