Mark JeskeAnd Avoid Him

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.

Mrs. Ichabod and I made a point to watch Time of Grace on DayStar, the liberal Pentecostal ecumenical cable service. I do not think Jeske was broadcasting in the Phoenix market until we left.

I am not sure of the date of the original sermon. Easter lilies were on the altar, so it was probably Easter.

The show was strange, alternating between Mark in an office and Mark in a business suit speaking at St. Marcus. If I had attention deficit syndrome, I would have enjoyed that. But I don't. He was speaking about the same thing in both settings, so I am not sure if the sermon explained the office chat or the chat explicated the sermon.

There really was no sermon. Mark decided to deliver a shallow history lesson on the Greeks, starting with ancient Greece, but including the Parthenon roof blow and the Elgin marbles theft. The WELS Church and Change leaders, including Pope Jeske hisself, follow the Reformed error of lecturing on historical subjects and sermonizing on self-help topics. Apart from a sentence or two of necessary background, comments on Greece were not needed. The Greecian lecture so overwhelmed the alleged sermon that no room was left for the Gospel itself.

I never heard a reference about being Lutheran, nary a quote from Luther - the greatest Biblical expositor of all time. That is another Emerging Church trend. Even proud Babtists like Andy Stanley--who needs to retrain WELS pastors each year--hides his confession in calling his hive Northpoint Community Church. Now Mark is both WELS and LCMS, collecting money from both. Would that happen with a Book of Concord KJV pastor? No - he would be scorned by both - or so I imagine.

The first two Evangelicals I met here were: 1) A member of a community church (WELS? LCMS? no pan-denominational) and 2) A pastor's wife, at another community church. They could have watched Jeske and felt right at home.

Supposedly, Mark's father, Jester, argued that the service should be so Lutheran that non-Lutherans would squirm during the service. With Mark, only the Lutherans squirm.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mark JeskeAnd Avoid Him":

Rev. Jackson.

Jeske used to show his sermons on Time of Grace. What we see now is a class. Rather, a few bits of a class.

Each class appears to be a part of a series. One can get the DVD of the full classes in the series for a mere $30.00.

I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to pay to see full series of the mess that is Time of Grace.

I sure wouldn't want this guy as my pastor. I want a shepherd who wants to be a full time shepherd.

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GJ - In this particular show, Jeske looked exhausted. The office chats, unfortunately, featured close-ups of his eyes that cried out, "I need a vacation!"