Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Bye Bye Birdie Defense in WELS





Nothing grows faster or stronger than a weed - except cancer.
NKJ 2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 
17 And their message will spread like cancer.


We took a family friend to the musical "Bye Bye Birdie," about a reprobate who is drafted into the Army just before running into problems with his image and his fans.

In the musical and movie, the PR team is always working on new stories about Birdie, so they remind me of the CG gurus defending each other, so I kelmed (copied) the chorus in each response.

  • GJ - Northern Conference paper - Kelm was quoted by Kent Hunter (DMin, Fuller) to promote a pan-Lutheran Church Growth conference. Frosty Bivens stood up "to defend the good name of Paul Kelm."
    Chorus - For he's a fine, upstanding, patriotic, healthy, normal American boy!
  • GJ - To Doctrinal Pussycat Robert Mueller - Kelm is always promoting the Church Growth Movement.
    Mueller, Kuske, Oelhafen - "You are the only person in WELS complaining about Church Growth in WELS." For he's a fine, upstanding, patriotic, healthy, normal American boy!
  • Church and Change listserve - "We should not be inviting Leonard Sweet for a WELS conference." Kelm responded - I won't talk about it. For he's a fine, upstanding, patriotic, healthy, normal American boy!
  • GJ - Conference paper which became the final chapter of Liberalism - The WELS missions people were all listed as attending Fuller Seminary, in a blurb sent by Fuller. Adrian and Oelhaven, furious - "Going to Fuller does not mean we agree with them." For we are fine, upstanding, patriotic, healthy, normal American boys!
  • Ichabod - Kudu Don Patterson is the SP designate for Church and Change.
    Patterson Network - (Expletive deleted, expletive deleted, expletive deleted) For he's a fine, upstanding, patriotic, healthy, normal American boy!