Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Is Love? WELS Overkill in Rockford Area":
The "facts" in the article "WELS overkill in Rockford area" are anything but facts. Whomever (sic) is ranting against God's work in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) obviously has too much time on his hands (in this viewers' humble opinion). Whatever happened to "Speaking the truth in love" and "putting the best construction on everything?" I see neither in the above article, and a good start would be, simply speaking the truth. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Is Love? WELS Overkill in Rockford Area":
The above anonymous commentators don't know what they are talking about. I live in the area. I have worshipped (sic) at all the churches mentioned above. It would be nice if people familiar with the area (Rockford & vicinity) rather than people who think they know it all. I personally abhor "church growth", and I know the pastor of New Life (and have met the other above-mentioned pastors), and know that New Life Evangelical Lutheran Church has solid Biblical Theology, and my wife and I am looking forward to joining this congregation soon for this very reason. I have studied theology, so I know what I'm talking about, and I have never been a member of Peace, Loves Park or Hope, Belvidere. The members who attend Bible Study at New Life are knowledgable (sic) of God's Holy Word, and we praise God that this is their focus: Knowing God's Word and Making it Known.
Richard D. Eischen
Rockford, IL
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GJ - Do these people have a problem with a WELS pastor earning a DMin at Fuller Seminary, having a friend deny it in Christian News, and teaching Church Growth doctrine at Mary Lou College in New Ulm? Larry Olson, from Loves Park, has made a career from Church Growth. Did they perform an exorcism at his old church when he left?
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Lov...":
"Whatever happened to "Speaking the truth in love" and "putting the best construction on everything?" I see neither in the above article, and a good start would be, simply speaking the truth. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.""
Everyone should cover for false teachings and misleading emphasis on CGM matters that do not count. I do not think so no matter how often the 8th commandment is trotted out.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Lov...":
Greg, you and I might both prefer "worshiped" to "worshipped" yet they are both accepted spellings.
Furthermore, it should be noted that Tim Gumm who has been at Loves Park for many years now is the "anti-Larry O." Things have been cleaned up there for years now.
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GJ - Anti-Larry Oh! is good, even though Olson is dubbed the harmless heretic by his fellow pastors. Left unanswered - Is Loves Park selling bonds legally?
13 comments:
"Whatever happened to "Speaking the truth in love" and "putting the best construction on everything?" I see neither in the above article, and a good start would be, simply speaking the truth. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.""
Everyone should cover for false teachings and misleading emphasis on CGM matters that do not count. I do not think so no matter how often the 8th commandment is trotted out.
Any other distorted, manipulative rationalizations?
These arguments if they can be called that point to the crux of the problem: too many WELS members do not know, cannot see, and do not care what is going on in their own synod. Instead of investigating the ‘attacks’ to confirm or deny them, they merely parrot hackneyed and irrelevant lines of defense. That is what WELS training does to people. They have lost their ability to think.
Here we see the 'rubber stamps' -- i.e., knee jerk reactions -- of WELS indoctrination.
WELS needs to be straightened out by God.
While WELS will deny it, WELS and Islam have many effects in common, e.g., rationalization of all kinds.
[This comment is also posted at the original Rockford entry.]
Richard D. Eischen wrote: "I live in the area. I have worshiped at all the churches mentioned above...and I am looking forward to joining this [New Life] congregation soon for this very reason."
The above statement only confirms what Jackson's source posits, namely, that the long-established churches have to move away from New Life because the WELS synod insisted on putting a Church Growth church so close between Peace and Hope. They have to move far enough away so that WELS members or prospective WELS members won't be able to justify the drive to New Life in terms of time and gas money. Hope and Peace will probably be praying for high gasoline prices and constant road construction near New Life!
Moreover, Anonymous at 10:30AM said the the facts presented in this blog entry are "anything but facts," but then doesn't point out the error. Basically, Jackson's source itemized while Anonymous 10:30 AM took the deduction without itemizing. If this blog entry and comments were tax returns, only Anonymous 10:30 AM non-itemized comments would be audited for fraud, while Jackson's source would not.
From BibleGateway.com:
"Heresy involves more than simply teaching an unorthodox doctrine. Just as the Christian message affects the whole life, heresy left unchecked penetrates deep into the community's and the individual's life and thought, leaving nothing undisturbed. But its subtle beginnings and secretive motives often make it undetectable until it has surfaced as a movement with increasing momentum. For this reason Paul identifies and unequivocally denounces the false teachers and their doctrine.The False Teachers"
Anonymous 2:21 -
I can see what your point was, as well as the command of your analogy and unnecessary adverbs:
-Basically
-itemized
-itemizing
-non-itemized
Whew...I could have chuckled all the way through my receipts. Witty.
Greg, you and I might both prefer "worshiped" to "worshipped" yet they are both accepted spellings.
Furthermore, it should be noted that Tim Gumm who has been at Loves Park for many years now is the "anti-Larry O." Things have been cleaned up there for years now.
Anonymous 7:31 PM,
I felt like spelling it out--hence the several mentions of item. Plus, I'm aware that some say "basically" is an unnecessary adverb, but that's just a faddish rule that you won't find in the word usage comments of respectable dictionaries--at least the ones I know of. Next the nitpickers will take out their ire on perfectly good words like "moreover" or "however."
http://www.answers.com/basically
I have a theory concerning the ignorance of WELS laity. There are several aspects which come into play here. I have known only a couple of WELS members who have read anything in the Lutheran Confessions beyond the Small Catechism. Most pastors will not take on the Book of Concord in an adult bible study setting. The active and involved members are often engaged in busy work. The congregational activities have become the new monasticism. Boards and committees suck up a lot of time and energy, like a powerful vacuum cleaner. Similar to the mainstream media, the information about the synod which reaches the laity is heavily filtered, spun, redacted, and edited. Like the Mueller statement that there is no CG in the WELS, we should never believe anything until it has been officially denied. When non-official sources offer information which is both contrary and enlightening, such sources are instantly scorned and spat upon. There are also cultural factors. Many adults today have a short attention span. They may not read much and also may have a hard time with deductive reasoning. A lifetime of TV viewing tends to produce this. WELS leaders often have a fixation with authority, their authority. Many of them have a difficult time admitting to their errors and the errors of their peers. This has produced the stealth infallibility that is rampant in the WELS. I honestly believe that most of the WELS laity are trapped. They are now being told that the financial problems in the synod are just the unfortunate consequence of a sour economy. It would be difficult for them to fathom the idea that this is nothing more than the chickens coming home to roost. The solution that is being given to them is to sacrifice and open up their wallets. After all, just look at all of the cutbacks that the synod is making. As has been stated so many times on this blog, the problem is false doctrine and the solution is biblical doctrine. Those who look to men and money are barking up the wrong trees.
"I have known only a couple of WELS members who have read anything in the Lutheran Confessions beyond the Small Catechism."
Well, that must mean that WELS members don't read the Confessions.
"Most pastors will not take on the Book of Concord in an adult Bible study setting."
And, obviously, that must mean that WELS churches don't study the Book of Concord.
"WELS leaders often have a fixation with authority, their authority. Many of them have a difficult time admitting to their errors and the errors of their peers."
Yep, our leaders are just too far gone-- way too corrupt. There's proof right there.
No one ever will accuse me of defending the C&C-ers, but come on.
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