Forget Kieschnick - welcome Napoleon Hill. Set yourself down ri-chere, Napoleon.
Church and Chicanery reminds me of Skull and Bones at Yale, but without the glamor. Both are secret societies where the best evidence of influence comes from tracing the network of leaders.
Various people and Google have helped me see how Church and Chicanery gradually took over WELS, with the help of Mischke and Gurgle, until their apostate guidance was overthrown (partially) by electing SP Mark Schroeder. The 2009 WELS convention confirmed how little the membership cherished the decades of doctrinal error and unashamed unionism.
Mark Jeske is obviously one of the main leaders of Church and Change today. All the threads lead back to him and a few other leaders - the Appleton gang and the Don Patterson network, plus WLCFS.
The message we watched today was another treat for people with attention deficit problems. Back and forth, from the church to the office, Jeske spoke about Paul. That is typical Reformed sermonizing - avoiding the Gospel of Christ to speak about Biblical figures as examples to follow. Paul's suffering was compared to individual suffering today and rated with metallic standards, from aluminum to platinum. Sure enough, I found a "platinum level of suffering" on the Net - from another Reformed minister. Funny how Mark and this minister both came up with the exact same term, which Jeske called his own.
The most disturbing part of this message came when Jeske spoke about prayer as "using the power of the universe" to help us in personal matters and in business. That language is right from Napoleon Hill (occult) and Paul Y. Cho (occultic ex Assemblies of God minister, Korea). Norman Vincent Peale kelmed the same concept from an occult author. No surprise - Peale still appeals to WELS.
Jeske also invoked UOJ terms, saying that the resurrection of Christ "guaranteed our justification." That is from the Walther Easter absolution sermon, the core of Missouri, WELS, and ELS claiming "Everyone in the world was absolved of all sin the moment Christ rose from the dead." I have never found a Church Shrinker deviating from UOJ because Enthusiasts love both aspects of their false doctrine.
Church Growth is so much easier when the Law is obsolete and sin is no longer mentioned. That has also made it so much easier for CG gurus to jump into bed with their eager disciples.
Years ago the Evangelical and Pentecostal CG gurus were veering into the occult. After all, Cho was an honored lecturer at Fuller Seminary. Many Pentecostals today speak the same occultic language as Cho and Peale.
I can understand why the Chicaneries are so arrogant. They have repudiated all their ordination vows but they stay on top, even after episodes of shocking self-destruction. Like Jeske, in his faux-confessions, they admit to being cross at times, but they hate and avoid the cross. They offer glory, success, and the wages for eternity of their Father Below. (See The Pilgrim's Progress, by Bunyan.)
