How To Waste Offering Money on Church and Change

Church and Chicanery Pastor Jeff Gunn needs mammoth grants to get his stealth congregration going. "For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also."

WKW Mission Projects 2008

Here is the link.

World Mission Projects
1 Cameroon Mission Assistants NEW
($39,600)
Lay workers assist Missionary Daniel Myers by managing the mission=s finances and assisting with Bible studies and evangelism efforts.

2 Zambia Mission Assistants NEW
($39,500)
Lay workers assist mission guests, oversee finances, and teach English as a Second Language classes.

3 Albania-English/Outreach/Fellowship
($33,400)
Emily Bey and Laura Jahnke raise awareness of the Lutheran church among the young and middle class people of Tirana and surrounding area.

4 Russia Business Manager NEW
($34,600)
A lay worker manages the mission’s finances, freeing the missionaries to spread the gospel.

5 Russian Church Deconesses NEW
($13,000)
Russian deaconesses reach out to Russian congregations, which are made up of 90% women and many children.

6 Brazil-Dourados Ministry Assistant
($23,800)
Chris & Cara Ewings assist with outreach, member retention, and youth ministry.

7 Brazil-Gravatai Ministry Assistant
($15,000)
A lay worker assists with outreach, member retention, youth ministry, and bookkeeping.

8 Brazil EFL Teacher NEW
($22,200)
Grace Bey and Haley Clark teach English as a Foreign Language classes.

9 Dominican Republic EFL Teacher #1 NEW
($18,100)
Julie Majerus teaches English as a Foreign Language classes to reach out to the people of Santiago and bring them into contact with the Lutheran church.

10 Dominican Republic EFL Teacher #2
($15,100)
Polly Clark teaches English as a Foreign Language classes to reach out to the people of Santiago and bring them into contact with the Lutheran church.

11 Dominican Republic Worship Assistant NEW
($3,700)
A lay worker assists with compiling a collection of worship resources that is appropriate for the Dominican culture.

12 Mexico-EFL Teacher/Vicar
($35,000)
A Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary vicar reaches out by teaching English as a Foreign Language classes and gains world mission experience.

13 Mexico–EFL in Torreon NEW
($50,000)
Taylor Bentz and David Sigrist reach out to the community by teaching English as a Foreign Language classes.

14 Native American Missions–Christian Counseling
($94,000)
An Apache lay worker offers Christian counseling and family services in Whiteriver, Ariz.

15 Taiwan English Outreach
($35,600)
Christa Krause and Kristin Lehman assist the local Chinese church by teaching English as a Foreign Language classes.

16 Southeast Asia English Teachers NEW
($31,400)
Two lay workers teach English classes to college teachers and students, and assist with outreach.

17 Southeast Asia English Teacher Coordinator NEW
($55,500)
Lay workers promote and coordinate English classes and teach English as a Foreign Language and assist with outreach.

18 Southeast Asia Middle School Teachers #1
($34,000)
Four lay workers teach English as a Foreign Language and serve as witnesses for Christ to high school students, teachers, and staff.

19 Southeast Asia Middle School Teachers #2
($22,000)
Four lay workers teach English as a Foreign Language and serve as witnesses for Christ to high school students, teachers, and staff.

20 Southeast Asia College Teachers
($21,700)
Four lay workers teach English as a Foreign Language and serve as witnesses for Christ to college students, teachers, and staff.

21 Indonesia Business Manager
($65,200)
A lay worker manages the mission’s finances, freeing the missionary to spread the gospel.

22 Thailand-English Outreach & Self Support
($55,000)
Eric Duwe and Katie Lehmann reach out through English, teaching how to manage a small business that helps support local churches.

BOARD FOR WORLD MISSIONS TOTAL: $757,400


Home Mission Projects
1 Lay Minister-Roswell, N.M.
($15,000)
A lay minister expands the evangelism efforts of Redeemer Lutheran and trains the members to do outreach.

2 Fellowship Coordinator–Phoenix, Ariz. NEW
($36,000)
A lay worker manages the CrossWalk assimilation system.

[GJ - Jeff Gunn's stealth congregation.]

3 Worship/Evangelism Assist–Yorba Linda, Calif. NEW
($59,400)
Amy Reede serves as a resource and consultant for Hispanic outreach in southwest U.S. and produces Latino worship material.

4 Hmong Outreach-Clovis, Calif.
($66,000)
David Wachong Thao and Xing Yang reach out to the Hmong in the St. Peter community while continuing their ministerial training.

5 Student Outreach Coordinator–Milwaukee, Wis. NEW
($21,300)
A lay worker at Point of Grace provides service and social activities to area WELS college students and reaches out to others from three area campuses.

[GJ - Remember the email copied from Willow Creek? He landed at Point of Grace.]

6 English as a Second Language-Colorado Springs, Colo.
($6,000)
Fount of Life members reach out to the Hispanic community through English as a Second Language classes.

7 Japanese Outreach–Findlay, Ohio NEW
($2,000)
Lay workers assist with reaching out to Japanese families who temporarily live in the area, then follow up after they have moved back to Japan.

8 Minnesota English Academy-St. Paul, Minn.
($36,000)
Lay workers reach out to many cultures through the Twin Cities English as a Second Language program.

9 Summer Enrichment Camp-South Minneapolis, Minn.
($20,000)
College students oversee a summer school program and vacation Bible school program for inner-city children in grades K to 6.

10 Hispanic Outreach Director-St. Peter, Minn.
($23,500)
Rodrigo Concha, a Martin Luther College student from Chile, reaches out to Hispanic people in Southern Minnesota.

11 Chinese International Ministry Coordinator
($59,500)
Mrs. Tingjuan Wang coordinates visits by WELS pastors and professors to China, and promotes the Chinese ministry to WELS congregations.

12 Hmong Evangelist-St. Peter, Minn.
($55,000)
Assistance is provided to Pastor Pheng Moua as he serves Immanuel Hmong congregation.

13 Lao Evangelist–Inver Grove Heights, Minn. NEW
($36,000)
Assistance is provided to a Pastoral Studies Institute student as he reaches out to the Lao community in Lakeville.

14 Asian Evangelist-Appleton, Wis.
($59,500)
Thomas Thao, a Hmong lay worker, continues to reach out while studying for the ministry.

15 Hmong Evangelist-Sheboygan, Wis.
($58,500)
Wattzai Lee is a key lay worker reaching out to Hmong in this area.

16 Outreach Burst–Palm Coast, Fla. NEW
($35,000)
Lay workers reach out to the community of Christ the King.

17 Senior Follow Up-Myrtle Beach, S.C.
($11,000)
Lay workers help members of Amazing Grace with outreach activities before and after Easter worship services.

18 Groundbreaking Celebration–Covington, Ga. NEW
($20,000)
Lay workers will reach out to the community of Abiding Grace, publicize the event, and assist with follow up.

19 Hispanic Outreach-Austin, Texas
($5,000)
A lay worker teaches English as a Second Language to a growing Hispanic community and assists in training members of Risen Savior to teach.

20 Administrative Assistant-Round Rock, Texas
($48,000)
A lay worker assists with involving volunteers involved and coordinating outreach events at Christ the Rock.

[GJ - How much to plagiarize the sermon series from Mars Hill?]

21 English/Spanish Classes–Edna, Texas NEW
($33,500)
Lay workers assist with reaching out to the community through bilingual Bible study and worship.

22 Lighthouse Youth Center
($35,000)
Rev. Jim Buske and volunteers provide for the spiritual, physical, and intellectual needs of inner-city youth in Milwaukee, Wis.

23 Prison Ministry-Milwaukee, Wis.
($38,000)
A successful WELS Prison Ministry program is expanded to the rest of the country.

24 Hispanic Seminary Students-Milwaukee, Wis.
($37,400)
Seminary students receive cross-cultural ministry experience while assisting Risen Savior and Lutheran Southside Ministries with Hispanic outreach.

25 Hispanic Evangelist–Milwaukee, Wis. NEW
($16,000)
Ismael Sialer continues his ministerial education while assisting the pastors of Risen Savior with outreach to the Hispanic community.

BOARD FOR HOME MISSIONS TOTAL: $832,600

Northside Lutheran Ministries
($72,000)
Rev. Bill Kirchner reaches out to Milwaukee's inner city, helped by Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary students.


Faith In Action
Faith In Action Outreach Teams
($260,000)
Youth In Service (high school students), Travel Canvass Witness (college students), and Member Ministry Assistance (lay men and women) assist congregations throughout the United States with their outreach programs.


GRAND TOTAL OF ALL PROJECTS: $1,922,000
Through your support and our matching funds program, God can make a world of difference through you.

[GJ - And the less spent on the Means of Grace, the better. People might find out that God works exclusively through the efficacious Word.]

Otten's Nemesis Dies

Father Richard J. Neuhaus, son of a conservative LCMS pastor, was a liberal Missouri pastor, an AELC leader, an LCA and then ELCA pastor, and finally a Roman Catholic priest.

Father Neuhaus died of cancer today.

Neuhaus and Robert Wilken kicked Otten and Marquart out of the student newspaper at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Neuhaus became well known for editing the Lutheran Forum Letter, which became more conservative as the LCA became more radical.

We corresponded for a period of time and met at the Ad Fontes Conference in York, Pennsylvania. He became the best known convert to Romanism. Others, like Wilken, have followed.

Neuhaus was a caustic critic of the Church Growth Movement, calling it "tacky." He was talented and gracious, so it is a pity that he abandoned the confessional standards of his father.

Finkelstein on the Willow Creek Franchise Called Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel

Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel (WELS) joined Hybel's Willow Creek Association, too. They liked the discount on training. Discount? For training? Yes, the whole staff has been converted to Enthusiasm, so WELS can spend millions converting more Lutherans to Enthusiasm.

Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, A Willow Creek Franchis...":

I visited the website of the Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel & Student Center, a WELS Campus Ministry at UW-Madison. I browsed the events calendar and discovered that, in fact, this series has been ongoing -- for months -- and that this series is intended as a presentation of basic Biblical theology. Here are the other Sermon Titles:

September
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Is Jesus the Only God?" (Part 1 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "How Human Was Jesus?" (Part 2 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "How Did People Know Jesus Was Coming?" (Part 3 of 12)

October
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?" (Part 4 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Why Did Jesus' Mom Need To Be A Virgin?" (Part 5 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "What Did Jesus Accomplish On the Cross?" (Part 6 of 12)

November
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?" (Part 7 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Where Is Jesus Today?" (Part 8 of 12)

December
- Description: The Real Jesus: "Why Should We Worship Jesus?" (Part 9 of 12)
- Description: The Real Jesus: "What Makes Jesus Superior To Other Saviors?" (Part 10 of 12)

WHAT?? Is there nothing suitable from Lutheran sources from which a pastor could draw that would assist him in meaningfully preaching Law and Gospel and teaching sound theology? Of course there is, so much so that even the most uncreative and unskilled Lutheran Pastor is left without excuse. Unapologetic and open use of Reformed sources such as this is inexcusable, and earns Lutheran pastors who do so the title of “mingler of religion and churches.” On another blog (Bailing Water) I posted the following letter, written by Walther to a man who wanted to know whether is was advisable to use Methodist hymnals in a Lutheran church. Walther's answer applies as much to Methodist (or Reformed) preaching and teaching materials as it does to Methodist (or Reformed) hymnals.

----------------------------------------

Honored Sir,

This morning I received your worthy letter, written on the 19th of the month. In your letter you ask for my opinion on whether it is advisable to introduce the singing of Methodist songs in a Lutheran Sunday School. May what follows serve as a helpful reply to your questions:

No, this is not advisable, rather very incorrect and pernicious.

1. Our church is so rich in hymns that you could justifiably state that if one were to introduce Methodist hymns in a Lutheran school this would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. The singing of such hymns would make the rich Lutheran Church into a beggar which is forced to beg from a miserable sect. Thirty or forty years ago a Lutheran preacher might well have been forgiven this. For at that time the Lutheran Church in our country was as poor as a beggar when it comes to song books for Lutheran children. A preacher scarcely knew where he might obtain such little hymn books. Now, however, since our church itself has everything it needs, it is unpardonable when a preacher of our church causes little ones to suffer the shame of eating a foreign bread.

2. A preacher of our church also has the holy duty to give souls entrusted to his care pure spiritual food, indeed, the very best which he can possibly obtain. In Methodist songs there is much which is false, and which contains spiritual poison for the soul. Therefore, it is soul-murder to set before children such poisonous food. If the preacher claims, that he allows only "correct" hymns to be sung, this does not excuse him. For, first of all, the true Lutheran spirit is found in none of them; second, our hymns are more powerful, more substantive, and more prosaic; third, those hymns which deal with the Holy Sacraments are completely in error; fourth, when these little sectarian hymnbooks come into the hands of our children, they openly read and sing false hymns.

3. A preacher who introduces Methodist hymns, let alone Methodist hymnals, raises the suspicion that he is no true Lutheran at heart, and that he believes one religion is as good as the other, and that he thus a unionistic-man, a mingler of religion and churches.

4. Through the introduction of Methodist hymn singing he also makes those children entrusted to his care of unionistic sentiment, and he himself leads them to leave the Lutheran Church and join the Methodists.

5. By the purchase of Methodist hymn books he subsidizes the false church and strengthens the Methodist fanatics in their horrible errors. For the Methodists will think, and quite correctly so, that if the Lutheran preachers did not regard our religion as good as, or indeed, even better than their own, they would not introduce Methodist hymn books in their Sunday schools, but rather would use Lutheran hymn books.

6. By introducing Methodist hymn books, the entire Lutheran congregation is given great offense, and the members of the same are lead to think that Methodists, the Albright people, and all such people have a better faith than we do.

This may be a sufficient answer regarding this dismal matter. May God keep you in the true and genuine Lutheran faith, and help you not to be misled from the same, either to the right or to the left.

Your unfamiliar, yet known friend, in the Lord Jesus Christ,

C. F. W. Walther
St. Louis, Missouri
January 23, 1883

Taken from from Appendix A of Mark DeGarmeaux’s (ELS) article, Sacramental Worship, Sacramental Preaching: Treasures of our Lutheran Church

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, A Willow Creek Franchis...":

Well put Freddy. I wish more people could make your clear assertions, and help clean up this slothful mess made by persons not wanting to put forth the effort necessary.

---

Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Rock-N-Roll Advocate Copies and Pastes Felt-Needs'...":

“I can only top it with this passage from Matthew 15: [6] Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

I've also posted about this recently on BW, as well (A Christmas Miracle). The CG Church Changers don't know the definition of “tradition” -- neither how the Confessions use it, nor how it is being used by Jesus in this reference. Jesus in this reference is skewering the Pharisees for elevating practice not commanded by Scripture as meritorious before God. Likewise, we Lutherans refer to the Romans. The Confessions, however, clearly distinguish between this tradition (which is rejected) and rites (which are embraced), and clearly qualifies adiaphora in practice. Rather than point out these facts, leaders among the CG Church Changers are more than content to allow their followers to wallow in ignorance, to accuse Confessionals of hypocrisy and Roman Traditionalism by misquoting Scripture, and to regard themselves more mature, more creative, and truly forward looking, Lutherans.

Nonsense. Rather than look forward, they are looking back to the methods of Evangelicals that today are manifest failure -- manifest. Twenty years ago, these CG leaders among us were taking the same gamble that Evangelicals were – putting their faith in methods over the Means of Grace. Today, Evangelicalism is imploding, and their worthless CG practices are a big part of the problem. Today, WELS is facing ruinous debt due to CG spending.

Nonsense. Rather than look to Scripture and the Confessions and embrace the clear Confessional Principal, they look aside in jealous envy of the heterodox, and, with open contempt for our bonds of Fellowship, unapologetically join in association with them, and with crass disregard for the danger of their false theology, liberally integrate their materials into Lutheran teaching and practice.

Freddy Finkelstein

Rock-N-Roll Advocate Copies and Pastes Felt-Needs' Defense

Joe the Bass Player:
"Well, since my bloggers left me,
I found a new place to dwell.
It's down at the end of lonely street
At heartbreak hotel."


An Apology for a 'Rock and Roll' Lutheran Church
Fair and respectful dialog concerning change in today's Confessional Lutheran Church.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Last on the Ichabodians...

I ran across this (see below) today on Tim's blog. Classic. It really put things in perspective for me.

I'll be posting much less. I have so many other constructive things I can be doing. It amazes me how much time people can and do spend on these blogs. It would serve the Ichabodians well if they actually got out from behind their computers and actually had human contact with the outside world. Sometimes I think it was Satan and not Al Gore who invented the internet. It's a great way for him to get you isolated so he can lie to you.

I originally set this up as a counter to the Ichabodians as I truly thought that this was a big deal. But I realize that it has been the accuser all along messing with me. How easy it is to fall prey. I expected a lot of heat on this blog, but am pleasantly surprised at the lack of it which tells me that Tim was right on in his assessment of the two groups being on the fringe(CG vs. the Confessional Crusaders).

I challenge any one of them to come on here and back up their behavior with one scripture passage and leave their identity. Where in the Bible did anyone ever demean, slander, make fun of or ridicule anyone of faith? I dare say that if the one person who exuded perfect love came back to earth, not one of the Ichabodians would recognize Him even if He bit them on the cheek. (Yes, I mean that one!)

I can only top it with this passage from Matthew 15:

Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.





Posted by Tim Niedfeldt


Ventosus Veritas
This blog is a place for me to spew my long winded thoughts on anything from conservative Lutheranism, contemporary worship, educational theory, politics, computer programming, raising teenagers, and any other ol' thing that comes along


Crusader's Unite!
Blogs are an interesting creature. They are the next "AM Radio Mentality" generator of the 21st Century. I make fun of those whose world view is based upon what they hear from AM Radio Talk show hosts. Even though I may agree with many things of those most conservative talk show types, that is only a place to start investigating the issues at large. Well the issue is similar in the Blogosphere and I believe it is definitely a problem with the Confessional Crusaders.
I took an opportunity to make the lives of the confessional crusaders more interesting and fulfilling the last few days. I had taken some time off for a couple of months during a lull in topics but thought, "Hey what better time to stir up some debate than Reformation time."
However the latest round of bantoring (sic) certainly was illuminating about Confessional Crusaders. Here is what I have learned.

1.) The confessional crusaders actually feel as if their position is the same minority position within the WELS as the contemporaries do. The weird part about it is that we each feel that the other group is the dominant group. I guess what that means is that we are two different fringe groups. There is uber confessional, there is contemporary, and there is this massive majority in the middle who might just say "whaaat are you talking about???" If this is the case however, I would contend that that large mass in the middle would be far far far more friendly towards the uber confessionals. They get the hanging chad. I think both groups are disappointed in the apathy of that group in the middle.

2.) I've realized that the scope of the issues is very small yet the Crusaders have manufactured a crisis. This goes back to the "AM Radio mentality". The Crusaders point to the same 1% crowd of churches and pastors and actually believe it represents a tidlewave (sic) of Synodical change. It's like believing Ralph Nader is a serious election threat. Actually its (sic) probably more like the hype around Global Warming. Sure you can reduce emissions or increase them. You can panic your way into living on bark and berries in the woods but whether its 10 years from now or 100 you'll finally realize there was no threat at all. Same deal for the Crusaders. I wonder if they all have priuses. They're a scared little bunch of people of whom some seem hyped up by some Area 51 type conspiracy theories.

3.)I believe the Crusaders are for some reason or another afraid of Christian Freedom. I can't put my finger on why that is, but they need rules and laws and regulations around the various principles of the Bible so they can go to their Bible Principle Application Matrix and locate the proper answer to all life's situations. You can see that if something is not delineated in Scripture they will pore (sic) through Luther's works and hope that Luther had an opinion and wrote on it. If he did, phew (sic) we're (sic) saved by scripture part II. Their frustration must be similar to the frustration level of the pharisees after they had tried to trick Jesus so many times with a loaded question. Jesus always answered the questions with a principle not an application. I think that if you are not confident in your Christian freedom that the inclination will be towards legalism, rules and ritualism. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing necessarily wrong with anything traditional or ritualistic. What's wrong is prescribing that as the only acceptable application of a loosely defined principle. I actually wonder if they are a bit afraid of the Bible itself. They will often quote an article of a confession but will rarely go into the Word to examine all the scripture that Luther did to write the confession in the first place. I appreciate that the confessions state the doctrine of the Bible but honestly I'd rather see those confessions laid out in scripture. I think you can better appreciate the confession right at the source. I'd say its like depending only on the Cliff notes.

4.) Crusaders blindly believe you cannot have "meat" in a contemporary setting. There is no convincing them that really there may be no difference at all. I'll confess that not every contemporary setting may be the same or offer as much. However when I go to church and have a confession of sin...I had a confession of sin. When I received an absolution, I received and absolution. When a sermon was preached it was a Law and Gospel sermon. I receive the Sacraments. My old church would be so confusing for them as the contemporary service uses all the elements from the other 4 traditional services but changes up some of the songs and adds the multimedia. In a situation like that, based on the differences, that the meat that is lacking in contemporary is just the music style. Thats (sic) just not the meat for me. Apparently the truth of the Bible we enjoy in the WELS just can't be presented in any other fashion or it ceases to be truth at all.

5.) So since we contemporaries are all smug in our service style and such we'll just let them prattle on about how our services are like the reformed and evangelicals etc. etc. bad theology is a foregone conclusion etc etc.. I have learned that it is not a point worth winning. Its like listening to my daughter complain about being fat because she is in size 8 jeans.. There is no convincing her she's not...the reality doesn't change..yet winning the point is just not important either. The point is contemporaries are content to be off doing their thing and not caring much about the choices others make. They can be traditional and such. There is no need to convert them or anything. How about they just don't go to a contemporary church and instead go to a traditional church. I will say I'm not in favor of churches replacing their traditional services. A contemporary service should always be an add-on not a replacement. For the mission churches that are all contemporary. Well thats (sic) the choice they made to start with so I guess if thats (sic) not what you want don't join the mission. I don't understand why they can't leave the 1% society alone.

6.) Crusaders feel that all the mission work and personal growth is done in the service. The service must be traditional because that is the only presentation of the Word so it must be done in its historic way. Anyone in a mission church knows how false this is. It is done by getting out and talking to people. Its having Bible studies with them in their homes. Its getting them into Bible study groups. Its the Bible studies after church. Its the getting into the Word with people as often as possible. It's getting into the community in a visible way so you can even have the first conversation with someone and get them into Bible class. The process takes months or years maybe. Who knows when someone who is searching may actually come to church. We've had people go to months of Bible study before they would come to a service. Its the opportunities to get into the Word. There is more than just the service. This is something you could only show a Crusader. They might say "The kids were running around, the sound guy was drinking coffee, the band was loud, etc..." but often when you suggest they stay for our bible study on Acts, or hit up the Women's bible study or the Men's Breakfast Bible Study, or the Small Group study or the Bible instruction bible study...queue the crickets here... Bring a friend?....still the crickets...

Well I think the Crusaders should unite. Quite honestly I want them to be heard in the synod. Then truly there would be some Bible study going on and it would sorely benefit them. Although the crusaders would show up with their Triglotta and say all the Bible study has been done already so why bother. Ok that was a joke....kinda.

***********************

Blessings to all of you; Ichabodians included.

Grace, Peace and Mercy in Christ Jesus!

Joe Krohn
Posted by The Bass Player at 2:33 PM 0 comments