Breaking News - Church and Chicaneries Venting Their Rage at Proposals

The Ad Hoc Report suggests shutting down Perish Services.
Perish Services are the same Fuller/Willow Creek guys
who hired Paul Calvin Kelm, age 64.

Church and Chicanery is writing a Memorial for the '09 synod convention guys attacking Ad Hoc Committee's report. Joel Nelson is the alleged author.

Also, Paul Kelm is said to have written a pointed letter to the Ad Hoc Committee objecting to their findings.

Paul Calvin Kelm
Will you please go now?
You can go on a horse
You can go on a cow
But Paul Calvin Kelm,
Will you please go now?

Ichabodians, you better plan on attending the Saginaw convention. It will be a knock down, drag out political battle.

Kudu Don Patterson has enlisted Karl Gurgel, the ex-SP, Wendland - the chief at the Sausage Factory, and others for his campaign.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Breaking News - Church and Chicaneries Venting The...":

Wishful thinking on the knock down drag out part. We in WELS subscribe to Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself. You seem to forget that part GJ. You see, God commands us to love our neighbor and if you don't do that, you don't love God.

Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. BTW, are you sure your name isn't Richard?

***

GJ - I have seen Wisconsin Sect love beaming down on many different people. One layman was told he was no longer on the district evangelism committee after he criticized Church Growth, but he was not informed until he noticed he was no longer getting mailings for his position - after many years on that committee. Corky Koeplin (see the essay linked on the left) was called "brain-damaged" for questioning Church Growth and amalgamation. The former seminary president was called "senile" for disagreeing with amalgamation. Three faithful pastors in Toledo were driven from the ministry, one excommunicated by Bruce Becker for insisting on the efficacy of the Word. The Columbus leaders lied through their teeth, with Love Shack backing, to get Lutheran Parish Resources going, "the first Church Growth agency in WELS." The excited vicar who wrote those words should have added "unless we include WELS headquarters, the seminary, and DMLC."

WELS love is the reason I call 2929 The Love Shack. Fuller Creek love is reserved for fellow heretics, pastors who should be in prison, and gullible laity.

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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "Breaking News - Church and Chicaneries Venting The...":

It is amazing for someone who is no longer WELS and who is so doctrinally correct, that the direction to "mark and avoid" has been swapped for "mark and antagonize." The latter attitude in the heart is sinful spite. You talk about others whining and venting. Look in the mirror, dear Ichabod. The WELS is far from pure (no visible church body or congregation is) and will always be so ... but the Gospel is proclaimed in Word and Sacrament. As I recall those are the marks of the Church (big C) and believers are gathered there. I don't think that WELS is a place of either white-washed tombs or a body of folks that serve the devil below (as Brett likes to chide.)
Back to whistling while I work. This blog would be funny if it wasn't (sic) so sad. I'm praying for both Mr. and Mrs. Ichabod's needs this morning. Peace in Christ.

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GJ - I am basking in the warm rays of love from Anonymouse. The problem is: the Church and Chicaneries--like all Enthusiasts--deny the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. Luther's prayer for false teachers was "May God dash you to the ground." Amen. Let it be so.

His Holiness, The Antichrist, Adds a Hindu Spin to the Passion of Christ

Paul McCain, MDiv, got Father Neuhaus to put in a good word with the Antichrist.
Missouri's clarion witness to the Man of Lawlessness
has led to many LCMS pastors becoming priests.


VATICAN LETTER Apr-10-2009 (880 words) With photos posted April 9. xxxi

Eastern meditation: Pope's Way of the Cross adopts an Asian viewpoint

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- This year's meditation for Pope Benedict XVI's Good Friday Way of the Cross has a distinctly Asian perspective, referring to Hindu scriptures, an Indian poet and Mahatma Gandhi.

But the linchpin of this Eastern reflection is the passion of Jesus Christ. In that sense, it reflects Pope Benedict's view of Christianity's relationship with the non-Christian world -- that the Gospel enlightens and fulfills the beliefs of other faiths.

Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati wrote the meditation on the 14 stations, to be read as the pope leads the candelit "Via Crucis" at Rome's Colosseum.

The pope chose Archbishop Menamparampil, a 72-year-old Salesian, after hearing him deliver an impressive talk at last year's Synod of Bishops on Scripture. The archbishop took it as a sign of the pope's interest in Asia.

"His Holiness regards very highly the identity of Asia, the cradle of civilization. Moreover, our Holy Father has a prophetic vision for Asia, a continent very much cherished by him and his pontificate," he said.

The immediate assumption among many Vatican observers was that the choice of an Indian would serve to highlight religious freedom issues in the wake of anti-Christian violence in parts of India.

Archbishop Menamparampil has assumed a leading role in conflict resolution among warring ethnic groups in northeast India, and his Good Friday meditation reflects his conviction that violence is never the way to resolve problems.

But he doesn't explicitly mention anti-Christian discrimination. His aim here is not to list Christianity's grievances, but to present its hopes and its answers to universal questions.

The archbishop is chairman of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences' Commission for Evangelization, and has spoken many times about the receptivity of Asians to the Gospel. He has argued that the church's presentation of the Christian message tends to be intellectual and doctrinal, but that it works best in Asia when it is more personal, experiential and poetic.

He follows that approach in his "Via Crucis" meditation, focusing on the way Jesus deals with violence and adversity, and finding parallels in Asian culture.

Condemned to death before the Sanhedrin, for example, Jesus' reaction to this injustice is not to "rouse the collective anger of people against the opponent, so that they are led into forms of greater injustice," the archbishop wrote.

Instead, he said, Jesus consistently confronts violence with serenity and strength, and seeks to prompt a change of heart through nonviolent persuasion -- a teaching Gandhi brought into public life in India with "amazing success."

He cited another Christian success story in India, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, when reflecting on how Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross.

Simon was like millions of Christians from humble backgrounds with a deep attachment to Christ -- "no glamour, no sophistication, but profound faith," in whom we discover "the sacredness of the ordinary and the greatness of what looks small," the archbishop said.

It was Jesus' plan to lift up the lowly and sustain society's poor and rejected, and Blessed Mother Teresa made that her vocation, he said.

"Give me eyes that notice the needs of the poor and a heart that reaches out in love. Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service," he said, borrowing a line from the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Archbishop Menamparampil echoed one of Pope Benedict's favorite themes when he spoke about Jesus being mocked before his crucifixion. Today, he said, Jesus is humiliated in new ways: when the faith is trivialized, when the sense of the sacred erodes and when religious sentiment is considered one of the "unwelcome leftovers of antiquity."

The archbishop said the challenge today is to remain attentive to God's "quiet presences" found in tabernacles and shrines, the laughter of children, the tiniest living cell and the distant galaxies. His text reflected the idea that Jesus' own life embodies Indian values, including an awareness of the sacred through contemplation.

"May we never question or mock serious things in life like a cynic. Allow us not to drift into the desert of godlessness. Enable us to perceive you in the gentle breeze, see you in street corners, love you in the unborn child," he wrote.

Archbishop Menamparampil seemed equally comfortable drawing from the Western and Eastern Christian traditions. He illustrated the "mystic journey" of personal faith set in motion by Christ's death on the cross with a verse from a psalm and an eighth-century Irish hymn.

He ended with a meditation on Jesus' entombment, borrowing insights from the Eastern spiritual distinction between reality and illusion.

"Tragedies make us ponder. A tsunami tells us that life is serious. Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain pilgrim places. When death strikes near, another world draws close. We then shed our illusions and have a grasp of the deeper reality," he said.

He quoted a prayer from the Hindu holy writings, the Upanishads: "Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality." He said this was the path taken by the early Christians, who were inspired by Jesus' life to carry his message to the ends of the earth.

That message remains a simple one today, he said: "It says that the reality is Christ and that our ultimate destiny is to be with him."

END

St. Marcus Hagiography

Miracle at St. Marcus
On the Frontlines of reform with writer Sunny Schubert

Henry Tyson shows how urban education can succeed in the right setting.
"I never wanted to be involved in helping the poor. My mother was born in Africa and was always very sympathetic toward the poor and people of other races. But the whole inner-city thing came about during my senior year at Northwestern," says the superintendent of Milwaukee's St. Marcus School.
"I was majoring in Russian, so in the summer of my junior year, I went to Russia. I absolutely hated it - just hated it. So when I got back to school, I realized I had a problem figuring out what to do next," he remembers.
About that time, he was having a discussion with a black friend, "and she basically told me I didn't have a clue what it was like in the inner city. She challenged me to do an ‘Urban Plunge,' which is a program where you spend a week in an inner-city neighborhood.
"We were in the Austin neighborhood, on the West Side of Chicago. It was a defining moment for me," he says. "I was so struck by the inequity and therefore the injustice of it all. I couldn't believe that people lived - and children were growing up! - in such an environment, such abject poverty."
"I knew after that week that I wanted to work with the urban poor. I felt a deep tug, like this was what I was meant to do. In my view, it was like a spiritual calling."
Tyson's Journey
It was the start of several journeys for Tyson: an educational journey into the failing milieu of inner-city schools; a physical journey that would carry him to St. Marcus Lutheran School on Milwaukee's north side, and a spiritual journey that would lead him to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
The programs he oversees at St. Marcus are the embodiment of everything he learned along the way. Tyson's students are proof of the ability of poor black children to perform just as well academically as their affluent white peers when placed in a highly structured and challenging environment, and testimony to the power of the Christian Gospel to transform lives.
Tyson, meanwhile, has become a powerful spokesman for the successes of the 20-year-old Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. He is an eloquent and elegant speaker with a direct gaze that conveys the strength of his convictions. It doesn't hurt that he is Hollywood-handsome as well, looking like he might be actor Colin Farrell's older, smarter brother.
AmeriCorps Volunteer
The 36-year-old bachelor was 4 when his family moved to the United States from Britain, but three years later, his parents sent him back to attend Felsted School in the south of England. That decision, he says, was based partly on tradition - I had five older siblings, three of whom were at Felsted - and partly because they were disappointed in American schools. Years later, he would come to share that disappointment.

After graduating from Northwestern, he joined AmeriCorps and was assigned to work with Habitat for Humanity in Chicago. "I became involved with several Habitat families, and through them I became aware of how bad many of the Chicago public schools were."
Then his boss invited him to dinner, where Tyson met fellow guest Arne Duncan, who would eventually become the reforming CEO of the Chicago public schools and President Barack Obama's pick for U.S. secretary of Education.
That night, over dinner, Duncan convinced him that education "was a more involved, systemic solution than housing" for the problems facing the urban poor.
Tyson enrolled in DePaul University, earning a master's degree in secondary education. "I had a good experience at DePaul, but I did not learn what I consider to be the critical elements of great urban education there. I'm a firm believer that great urban educators aren't educated on college campuses - only in great urban schools."
Which the Chicago high school where he began teaching emphatically was not. His fellow teachers lacked passion and commitment. The students were out of control. The classrooms were chaotic.
After a year, he moved to a suburban high school, which was somewhat better. But then a former colleague, Kole Knueppel, called him up. Knueppel had moved to Milwaukee to become principal of St. Marcus Lutheran School.
"You've got to come up here!" Tyson remembers Knueppel telling him. "We're going to do great things!"
Testing His Ideas
St. Marcus was about to undergo a $5 million renovation that would allow the student body to expand from 220 to 330. But best of all, St. Marcus would give Tyson the freedom to put his ideas concerning urban education into practice, and he would be surrounded by fellow teachers who shared his passion and commitment.
That was six years ago. Today, Tyson is superintendent of St. Marcus. Knueppel has moved on to head Hope High School, St. Marcus' "sister" choice school.
"When I got hired at St. Marcus, the first thing they did was send me to New York to look at a KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) school." He has visited other excellent urban schools in Houston and Chicago as well.
"What I saw in those schools revolutionized my thinking. When you walk into a great urban school, you can tell the difference immediately."
The kids are focused. The teachers are teaching with passion. It's happy and calm.
The school day is crazy-long. There's direction. You see college stuff everywhere. And if you talk to a student, they make eye contact. They talk confidently, and they're polite."
That's what St. Marcus is like. At first glance, it looks like any school, albeit cleaner and neater than some. But the difference between St. Marcus and an average public school becomes apparent when students are between classes.
There is no jostling, no yelling, no slamming each other into lockers. The students, wearing uniforms of blue pants, blue blazers, white shirts and red ties, walk swiftly and quietly to their next class.
And they are excelling. Tyson pushed for them to take standardized tests, which are not required for private schools, and they are testing far ahead of their demographic peers.
Like their teachers, they are serious about learning. They arrive at St. Marcus as early as 6:30 a.m., and middle-school students often stay as late as 8:30 p.m. Tardiness, truancy and any kind of disruptive behavior are met with instantaneous discipline.
In the early grades, the teachers eschew educational fads like the new math or "whole language" reading instruction. Instead, they focus on the basics. In the upper grades, the curriculum is rigorous. Students are expected to complete three to four hours of homework every night. Along with academic subjects (including Latin), they have daily religious instruction.
"The transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" is a crucial element of St. Marcus' success, Tyson says, and in his own life.
"I have never been a good Christian," he says. "Christ said only God is good. I am a miserable, broken sinner saved by grace, which brings me a tremendous amount of joy."
He and his colleagues are driven to share that joy with their students.
"We teach these kids that ‘God made you, God loves you, and God has a purpose for you. And when they know that, they will do anything to serve him."
"Love is absolutely the No. 1 ingredient" at St. Marcus, Tyson says. "The kids don't go nuts on us because they know we love them. There are all kinds of things you can do to kids in terms of discipline when they know that they are loved."
Long Hours, Hard Work
Likewise, St. Marcus teachers are willing to put in 12-hour days in service to God and their students.
"Any school that is successful has very extended hours," Tyson says. "That single point right there is absolutely critical. As long as the schools want to stick with the 6.5-hour day, we will never be successful.
"I never have to fight with my teachers. I think there are a lot of teachers out there who would jump at the chance to teach at a school like this. When you give a teacher the opportunity to change lives, the job becomes a consuming passion."
"Teaching is impossibly difficult. Period. You get better with practice. That's one thing that's wrong with our teacher training programs: Students don't spend enough time in the classroom, not enough time practicing.
"Urban education is not rocket science. Our model is largely stolen. People who are serious about school reform need to ask themselves why St. Marcus is more successful than most inner-city public schools at about half the cost," Tyson says.
"What we do here works. We should be replicating what works, but society has chosen not to."
Sunny Schubert is a Monona freelance writer.

"I Love Arizona" Song and Flash Movie

Use this link.

Stetzer Betrays Church and Chicanery: The Unchurched Do Not Dig Willow-Fullerism!

We need another conference for retraining.


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Totally Awesome Contest with Prizes At the Popcor...":

Ed Stetzer's surprise: The unchurched prefer traditional churches: http://scotkinnaman.com/2009/04/13/880/

"The ruminations of a Lutheran cleric on liturgy and the Divine Service, Lutheran culture, sermons, devotional writing, and tidbits from some of the projects I am working on."
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LifeWay Research finds unchurched prefer cathedrals to contemporary church designs
Written by Tobin Perry

NASHVILLE, Tenn.– People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.

The findings come from a recent survey conducted by LifeWay Research for the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN), a group of church-focused facilities development firms. The online survey included 1,684 unchurched adults – defined as those who had not attended a church, mosque or synagogue in the past six months except for religious holidays or special events.

“Despite billions being spent on church buildings, there was an overall decline in church attendance in the 1990s,” according to Jim Couchenour, director of marketing and ministry services for Cogun, Inc., a founding member of CKN. “This led CKN to ask, ‘As church builders what can we do to help church leaders be more intentional about reaching people who don’t go to church?’”

When given an assortment of four photos of church exteriors and given 100 “preference points” to allocate between them, the unchurched used an average of 47.7 points on the most traditional and Gothic options. The three other options ranged from an average of 18.5 points to 15.9 points.

“We may have been designing buildings based on what we think the unchurched would prefer,” Couchenour concluded. “While multi-use space is the most efficient, we need to ask, ‘Are there ways to dress up that big rectangular box in ways that would be more appealing to the unchurched?’”

“Quite honestly, this research surprised us,” said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research and LifeWay Christian Resource’s missiologist in residence. “We expected they’d choose the more contemporary options, but they were clearly more drawn to the aesthetics of the Gothic building than the run-of-the-mill, modern church building.”

Stetzer suggested that the unchurched may prefer the more aesthetically pleasing look of the Gothic cathedral because it speaks to a connectedness to the past. Young unchurched people were particularly drawn to the Gothic look. Those between the ages of 25 to 34 used an average of 58.9 of their preference points on the more ornate church exterior. Those over the age of 70 only used an average of 32.9 of their 100 preference points on that particular church exterior.

The Gothic style was preferred by both unchurched Roman Catholics and unchurched Protestants, according to the survey. The average unchurched Roman Catholics gave the design more than 56 of their preference points.

“I don’t like modern churches, they seem cold,” said one survey respondent who chose the Gothic design. “I like the smell of candles burning, stained-glass windows, [and] an intimacy that’s transcendent.”

More than half of the unchurched indicated the design of a church building would impact their enjoyment of a visit to church. Twenty-two percent said the design of the church would strongly impact their enjoyment of the visit and 32 percent indicated it would have some impact. More than a third said it would have no impact whatsoever on their visit.

Stetzer noted that despite these survey results, most of the churches that look like a cathedral are in decline. Just because someone has a preference for the aesthetically pleasing, Gothic churches doesn’t mean they’ll visit the church if that’s the only connection point they have to the congregation, he said.

“Buildings don’t reach people, people do,” Stetzer said. “But if churches are looking to build and are trying to reach the unchurched, they should take into consideration the kind of building. Costs and other considerations will play into the decision, but the preferences of the unchurched should be considered as well.”

What the unchurched look for in other parts of the church
The survey also looked at what the unchurched thought about other elements of church design. While still favoring a more traditional look, the preferences of the unchurched were less pronounced on internal elements of church design. Respondents allocated more than a third of their preference points to the most traditional worship space option they were given – which received more than twice as many preference points as the most contemporary choice.

The more church design mattered to unchurched respondents, the more likely they were to prefer the more traditional and ornate worship setting. Those who said church design would affect their worship experience allocated an average of almost half (47 points) of their preference points for the most traditional worship space.

The unchurched also preferred the traditional-looking church foyer, although the preference allocations were more even for this question. All of the foyers received an average of at least 20 preference points. While older unchurched people (70 years old and older) were the least likely to prefer the more traditional exterior, they were more likely to prefer the traditional foyer than the youngest segment surveyed.

Places for the unchurched to connect
Finally, the survey looked into what sociologists call “third place” gathering spots. First place gatherings are where a person lives. Second place gatherings are where a person works. Third place gatherings are where a person comes “to hang out,” according to Stetzer.

“In the last few years churches have begun creating third place environments where the lost can come and just hang out,” Stetzer said. “This study asked the question, what kind of places do the unchurched like to come to do this?”

More than three times as many people chose a sit-down restaurant (47 percent) rather than any other single response. Other locations that topped the list include: a bar or nightclub (15 percent), a local coffee shop (13 percent), and a sporting event or recreational activity (5 percent).

According to the survey, the reasons they meet with friends where they do is because these places are relaxing (62 percent), casual (55 percent), and fun (29 percent). When asked to describe in their own words design features of the kind of place they’d like to meet a friend, 16 percent of respondents referred to a quiet environment. Another 14 percent mentioned comfortable seating as a factor, and 12 percent said that the spaciousness and openness of the setting was important.

“CKN wanted to give churches another tool for churched and unchurched people to connect well to each other,” Stetzer concluded. “One of the things this study revealed is the importance of space in relationships. Insights into these preferences enable churches to include space in which community can be built.”

The online survey was conducted on Feb. 4 and 5, 2008. The representative, national sample was controlled for a variety of factors including age, race, gender and region of the United States. The sample of 1,684 unchurched adults provides 95 percent confidence that sampling error does not exceed 2.4 percent for the total sample.

Easter Tuesday

Peter Paul Rubens, Doubting Thomas


KJV Luke 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them. 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

Easter Tuesday's reading reminds us about the agreement in the Gospels about the resurrection of Christ. Simon Greenleaf, as a lawyer, tried to reveal all the inconsistencies. He attacked the Word to undermine the Word but found himself converted by the efficacious Word. However, how we have people embracing methods and being converted by these marketing and business methods to faith in themselves, their dreams and visions.

On Easter Sunday the Eleven were gathered in the locked room. This group title does not necessarily include every single disciple. Nor does it exclude those not numbered in the Eleven. A modern example is a meeting of the Council of Presidents, even if some of them are missing, without the meeting name being changed due to missing men or some extra visitors.

The disciples rushed back from Emmaus to tell the Eleven about the first appearance of the risen Lord. They told the disciples about the appearance to Peter. During their excited (but still frightened) dinner discussion on Easter Sunday, Jesus suddenly appeared before them. John and Luke tell the same story in different words, with different details. The locked doors are in John; the new arrivals from Emmaus are in Luke. John's Gospel unifies the Four Gospels by including essential details and the sermons of Jesus, never repeating what the readers of Matthew, Mark, and Luke already know.

This account in Luke has the wonderful effect of confirming John's Gospel and preparing the faithful for Doubting Thomas Sunday, when Easter Sunday and the following Sunday are discussed in the Fourth Gospel. In Luke's Gospel we find the same anxiety and confusion which John's account addressed. The risen Lord taught them the meaning of His Passion. He also displayed again His divine ability to appear at will. He was not a ghost or spirit. He ate with them.

All these details were essential in teaching correctly about Christ.

Easter Monday

Supper at Emmaus, by Bassano

KJV Luke 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Those who appreciate the liturgy and the historic pericopes read the selection above on Easer Monday. It is the very first appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. Two disciples were walking toward Emmaus when Jesus met them, but they were restrained from recognizing Him at first.

One man gave the name Cleopas, so the two were from the outer circle of followers, perhaps the 70, not from the 12. Cleopas' answer revealed that all of Jerusalem was talking about the resurrection, not just the followers. This is an important clue about the rapid growth of the early Church. How could the stranger not know what everyone from Jerusalem was discussing! As Lenski wrote, the answer did not address the actual question, so Jesus asked again, "What were you actually discussing?"

So we have this beautiful early description of the events immediately after the resurrection, plus a summary of Jesus' ministry from a follower. The statement sounds like a creed, poetic in nature:
1. Jesus of Nazareth was a great Prophet
2. In Word and deed before the the people and God.
3. Our leaders delivered Him over to a sentence of death.
4. They crucified Him.
5. We hoped He would ransom Israel.

They had great faith, but they were confused and perplexed. They knew the empty tomb had been discovered, angels speaking to the women, and the tomb's condition confirmed by some of the disciples. No one had seen the risen Lord up to that point. They had many of the facts but could not put them together.

Jesus responded:

O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

This is one of several important passages, showing us that Jesus carefully taught His followers after the resurrection. They were eye-witnesses of the risen Messiah and also well trained in the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection. If anyone wants to know how important Lent and Easter are for worship, simply count the chapters concerning the Passion and Empty Tomb, and estimate the percentage of each Gospel devoted to that narrative.

Jesus expounded the Scriptures - The New Testament did not yet exist, so Jesus taught them from the Old Testament, showing us the unified truth of His message. This unity is clearly reflected in the Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation.

The disciples asked Jesus to stay with them, still not knowing who He was. As the meal started, He was revealed before their eyes. As Lenski noted, they complained earlier about the implication of the Empty Tomb "but Him they did not see." They were telling the risen Christ that no one had actually seen the risen Christ at this point. Now they knew at once, suddenly, that Christ Himself had been walking with them and teaching them from the revealed Word. Jesus left as easily as He did from the sealed tomb, as easily as He entered the locked room later that day, where the disciples were gathered "for fear of the Jews."

John Calvin claimed, "The finite cannot contain the infinite," and yet the Incarnation is proof he was wrong. The human nature of Christ was and is united with His divine nature, but His divine nature is never inhibited by His human nature. Thus a Holy Communion service can be held in sealed bunker in a secure, undisclosed location, when the Word consecrates the elements.

They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning in use, as He was talking to us on the way, as he was opening to us the Scriptures?" The two disciples immediately returned to Jerusalem, where they learned Jesus had also appeared to Peter. How could they not share this news?

First the women discovered the Empty Tomb.
They told John and Peter, who had a race to the Tomb, which they also found empty.
Jesus appeared to the two on the way to Emmaus.
He also appeared to Peter.

The next appearance is read on Easter Tuesday.

Word and Sacrament

Word and Sacrament, by Norma Boeckler

John has left a new comment on your post ""Mine Is the Glory" - Jeske":

Is WELS perfect? Of course not.
But then, neither is ELS, LCMS, CLC, or any other brand of 'Confessional' Lutheran available.

Let us not forget that neither WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, nor ANY OTHER 'Confessional' Lutheran church saves.

No pastor saves, either.

None of the above is The Means of Grace.

Considering the above, isn't it incumbent upon a pastor who presents the Word through the media to inform folks hungering for the truth where they may learn more (catechesis), and where they may receive the Means of Grace through the proper preaching of the Word and the rightful administration of Baptism and The Lord's Supper?

***

GJ - The synods have promoted synod-worship most of all, so their ministers preach the synod rather than the Gospel. A letter in Christian News recently claimed the Church Growthy CLC (sic) was "the real Missouri Synod."

The apostates of synod-worship promote personality cults rather than teaching the Means of Grace. Instead of trembling before the Word, the Word trembles before them. They order God to obey their wishes and sing, "Mine is the glory."

Notice the Church and Chicanery Attitude of Mockery

Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "Handy Source for Hymnal Lyrics":

Since you subscribe so literally to the Book of Concord, I want to make sure that you are blessing yourselves with the sign of the cross when you say your daily prayers (both morning and evening) as Luther commands us (you shall) in his small catechism found here:

www.bookofconcord.org

And I also want to make sure that you are upholding all three Sacraments that are identified in The Apology to the Augsburg Confession at the same web address mentioned.

Please report back. If this is not the case, you are not a part of the Confessioanl (sic) Lutheran Church.

***

GJ - This self-appointed expert on the Book of Concord is clueless about being a confessional Lutheran, starting with his ability to spell the word confessional.

Sarcasm is best delivered by people who comprehend the subject matter well enough to edit themselves.

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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "Notice the Church and Chicanery Attitude of Mocker...":

Why shouldn't they mock you? You mock others constantly. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

***

GJ - The mocking attitude is toward the Confessions, but that escaped the notorious stealth poster. I enjoy the misspelled, intentional slights. As one Lutheran said, "When you get flak, you are directly above the target."

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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "Notice the Church and Chicanery Attitude of Mocker...": [obscene language - deleted]

***

GJ - These poor fellas are wigging out. They must not appreciate seeing their leader--Kudu Don Patterson--in his bunny suit. Hint: it was a PhotoShop.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Notice the Church and Chicanery Attitude of Mocker...":

Disciples of their Father Below will respond to challenges with anger, scathing remarks attempting to elicit pain, quotes from other false teachers (blind leading the blind), crude humor and foul language.

Much different when Christians are challenged as they will respond with God's Word, quotes from the Lutheran Confessions and statements from accepted orthodox Lutheran Church theologians which address the issue under contention.

There is no excuse and no Scriptural or Confessional defense for Church Growth methods and practices. The result is a great falling away from the one true faith.

New WELS Convention Link

Attend the convention to guess which person is Anonymouse.

Here is the new WELS convention link.

Totally Awesome Contest with Prizes At the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock

Pastor Ski and his pricey executive assistant have posted a video on Facebook offering prizes for those who name their video blog and their parish newsletter.

Is Ski grooming himself to take over at Time of Grace when Jeske can no longer apply for grants and subsidies for his generic TV show? See below.

"Mine Is the Glory" - Jeske

Pastor Jeske's Blog

2/18/2009 - Glass Houses

You shouldn’t throw stones at people who live in glass houses. I take no joy in observing the tribulations of Rev. Robert Schuller and his famous Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. [GJ - At Concordia U. in Mequon, he pointed out that he was the last surviving Lutheran on TV, one of the rare times Jeske has admitted being Lutheran.]

It isn’t really a cathedral, a term which is properly used for the official church residence of a bishop in a hierarchical church body like the Episcopal Church or Catholic Church. What it is is a daring architectural tour de force, taking advantage of Orange County’s legendary persistent sunshine. Schuller had told the architect, Philip Johnson, “Make it all glass!” And he did. The huge campus with its “Tower of Hope” has become an O.C. tourist destination.

The church is also home to Rev. Schuller’s Hour of Power television program, which he began at Billy Graham’s urging in 1970. Alas, the program is now mired in controversy after the elder Schuller recently forced out his chosen heir, his son Robert Anthony. The son allegedly was departing from the “possibility thinking” philosophy of the father. A string of guest speakers now appears on the show, since the elder Schuller at age 82 apparently is not up to the stress of televised messages. The word is that the church is deep in debt, tens of millions of dollars, and has begun selling off large portions of its huge campus.

The very qualities that enable some individual ministers to ramp up their ministries to global scale—drive, intensity, focus, salesmanship, ego—can also cripple the business when transition time comes. Television is an intensely personal medium and no transition is easy. There is now nothing left of Rex Humbard’s suburban Akron “Cathedral of Tomorrow” and huge TV ministry from the 1970s.

Some day Time of Grace will move on without me and will become, I hope, an even better program. I promise you that I will not hang on past my time and sabotage the succession. My personal goal will be a succession like the “Tonight Show,” in which Jack Paar, then Johnny Carson, then Jay Leno, and now Conan O’Brien, have kept the show vital and alive.

Today's Grace Moment
4/13/09: Grace Is Undeserved
In my favorite “Dennis the Menace” comic strip, Dennis is walking away from the Wilsons’ house with his mouth full of chocolate chip cookies. His little friend Margaret is telling him, “Dennis, Mrs. Wilson didn’t give you those cookies because you’re nice. She gave them to you because she’s nice.”

Ever wonder why God should like you? There’s something the Bible wants you to know about God: it says in Psalm 103, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.” God’s grace to you and to me is undeserved—he gives us forgiveness just because he’s nice.

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1/19/2009 - Change
Another blue mailbox disappeared from my neighborhood this week.

No, I don’t think it was stolen by vandals. My guess it was stolen, er, removed by the United States Postal Service. In their own quiet way they were sending a message to those of us who live around here that we weren’t mailing enough first-class letters to make the stop worthwhile for the carriers. I wouldn’t mind it so much but it’s the fourth to go away; there’s only one left anywhere close to my house.

I’d call this a change I don’t believe in. And yet I feel the USPS’ pain—e-mail and cell phone texting have certainly made writing letters almost an old-fashioned nostalgia exercise. Online banking and automatic withdrawals mean fewer and fewer people pay their bills with a first-class stamp.

The pace of societal change is accelerated by the internet in ways nobody ever anticipated. Who would have thought that online news would threaten to put newspapers out of business? Our hometown daily, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has watched its paid circulation shrivel, while at the same time its (free) online readership has exploded.

Sagging demand for many kinds of goods and services is causing business contraction. When it affects other people you call them layoffs. When it hits your family it’s called a disaster. I know, of course, that this has been going on for millennia. Think of all the leather harness and saddle makers and livery stables who were put out of business by the automobile.

Those of us who work in the church better be ready to bend and change with the times. Not the message—the Gospel of Christ is non-negotiable. But I am speaking about our ways of gathering and organizing people and bringing them that great message.

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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post ""Mine Is the Glory" - Jeske":

The fact that Time of Grace reaches more people with the Word than the entire WELS on any given Sunday must make you crazy. I suppose you could upgrade your equipment and get a sponsor or two and double your Bethany Lutheran worship non-experience from two to four.

***

GJ - The Pope reaches more people than Jeske, but he isn't Lutheran either.

District VP Patterson Marks the Resurrection of Christ with an Easter Egg Hunt

"The Methodists loaned me their bunny suit."

Easter egg hunt thrills children at the Texas Capitol
Updated: 4/12/2009 5:47 PM
By: News 8 Austin Staff


The First United Methodist Church hosted its annual Easter Egg hunt and picnic Saturday.

Eggs scattered the lawn of the Capitol, just waiting to be picked up by excited children.

"Aren't they fabulous? Just to find pure joy in something like chasing a bubble or finding an egg," Paula Stiernberg, with First United Methodist Church, said. "Just running around at the Capitol enjoying their parents in a relaxed atmosphere, that's what just fills our hearts."

A picnic, face painting and cupcake decorating were all part of the day's festivities.

The congregation at Holy Word Lutheran Church also held an Easter egg hunt for the kids, following their Sunrise Service.

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Anonymous wrote: "Now it is all making sense. Wendland went there to give the sermon so Patterson could hide the eggs during the sermon."

Hide Your Wallets, Lockdown the Congregational Accounts - Gurgel Is Back!Kudu Don To Run for SP Job?

What Karl Gurgel did for MilCraft and the Schwan Foundation gifts, he can do for WELS...again!

Calls Accepted

Gurgel, Rev Karl R, Holy Word - Austin TX 04/04/2009
Retirement Call

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Hide Your Wallets, Lockdown the Congregational Acc...":

The new president of WELS/Church and Change - South - Rev. Gurgel.

***

GJ - Very few pastors have someone else preach for them on Easter Sunday. In fact, I have never heard of it happening anywhere. Yet VP Don Patterson invited the Church Growth Mequon Seminary president (Wendland) to preach for Easter Sunday. That was announced at the last minute.

Gurgel accepted the call to be on Patterson's staff the same week.

Patterson organized a group of WELS church workers for a trip to Exponential, a pan-denominational Church Growth fest featuring Babtist Ed Stetzer. Soon after, Stetzer was booked for the next Church and Chicanery conference.

So we are expected to believe that Patterson is not C and C? That he is not cooking something up with his political friends?

Watch the Patterson Network for continued entertainment.

Handy Source for Hymnal Lyrics

Brett Meyer provided this link.

This is also a good source:

http://lutheran-hymnal.com/index.html

Drew Lomax.

Database of Lutheran Hymns.

Easter Sunday

The Risen Christ, by Norma Boeckler

Easter Day, The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

Mid-Week Lenten Services are Thursdays at 6 PM.

The Hymn #192 Gerhardt: Awake My Soul 1.22
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 1 Cor 5:6-8
The Gospel Mark 16:1-8
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #199 Jesus Christ is Risen Today 1.83

Good Leaven and Bad Leaven

The Hymn #192 I Know That My Redeemer 1.80
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #207 Kingo: Like the Golden Sun 4.76

KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst deliver Thy Son for our offenses, and didst raise Him again for our justification: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may rule and govern us according to Thy will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Good Leaven and Bad Leaven
KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I used to think this epistle selection for Easter Sunday was especially puzzling.

But I was reading the novels of Isaac B. Singer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature. He concentrated on tales about Judaism from his Polish homeland. Cleaning up the old leaven was a tradition in Judaism in celebration of the Passover.

In 2009 Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday April 8 and ends at nightfall on Thursday April 16 in the Diaspora (Wednesday April 15 in Israel).


“The rule against leaven applies not only to its consumption but also to enjoying any benefit thereof and even to its possession. Therefore, before the arrival of Passover, all leaven must be removed from one’s premises. Nor should one have leaven in his legal possession. In a simple economy, not having any leaven in one’s legal possession was easily accomplished. If by chance a bit of leaven was left, it could be disposed of with relative ease. When the economy became more complex, a new solution had to be found--selling one’s hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of Passover.”

“The night before Passover, immediately after sundown, one begins the search for leaven (Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chayyim 431:1). The aim of the search is to be sure that no leaven has been left behind after the cleaning of the house.
The procedure includes these items: a candle; a feather, which acts as a broom; and a wooden spoon into which the pieces of bread will be scooped. First, a candle is lit, and the following benediction is recited:”
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover/At_Home/Leaven.shtml
Removing the old leaven and starting anew is considered a cleansing and rebirth in rabbinic Judaism.

Paul continued in the Jewish liturgical traditions he learned as a rabbi and Pharisee. For Paul, leaven was especially powerful as a symbol of the old and the new.

In the Scriptures, leaven can be both good and bad.

In this brief parable, often overlooked, the power of the Gospel is compared to leaven, which is alive and continues to work in a batch of dough, constantly growing and influencing the dough. A tiny bit of yeast can grow in bread dough and raise the entire loaf, in the first rise and second rise, finally one more time in the oven.

KJV Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Bad leaven has a corrupting influence:
KJV Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

In my father’s bakery, we used one pound bricks of yeast for bread dough and bread doughnuts. If the yeast was old and bad, nothing would make that batch of dough good, no matter what ingredients were used. If the yeast was fresh and alive, the large bowl of dough grew faster than a Hollywood monster. The final product was light, fluffy, and delicious. In my hands a new brick of yeast would literally explode in different directions, leaving particles here and there. An old brick would crumble like dry, rotten wood.

The leaven in the Bible was sourdough, which could spoil, probably worse than the refrigerated and cultured yeast of our day. Bad leaven would spread its corruption throughout a batch just as much as good leaven would improve it.

A Day of Contrasts – Old and New
The morning of Easter was a divide in history, first for the women and the disciples, then for the entire world. The women were walking to the tomb carved in rock. The door of the tomb was rock that rolled in a groove. If anyone has moved larger stones, it is unlikely that it was a large round boulder. More likely it was flatter and perhaps shaped to be more like a lid. Moving it would be a chore for a man, impossible for three women.

Their first concern was, “Who will roll the stone for us?” They were still thinking of the old – sorrow, death, grief, and preparation of a corpse.

When they came to the tomb, the entrance was open. Non-Lutheran Protestants think the angels released Jesus from the tomb, but they are stuck in John Calvin’s confusion about the Two Natures of Christ. The divine nature of Christ was not and is not limited by His human nature. This is well stated in “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth,” by Paul Gerhardt.

“O Love, how strong Thou art to save, Thou beddest Him within the grave,
Whose Word the mountains rendeth.”

Could the Son of God, who turned water into wine, walked on water, stilled the storm, and raised the dead be imprisoned by a stone door? Previously in the Gospels Jesus displayed His divine ability to move at will, even when surrounded by angry mobs ready to kill Him.

Yet some artwork shows Jesus emerging from the tomb when the angels rolled the stone away.

In fact, the doorway was opened for everyone to see that the grave was already empty.

God provided an angel to tell the women not to fear grave robbers, but to rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, the Son of God.

NKJV Mark 16: 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, 6 "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 "But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

This is a three-fold statement about Jesus:
1. He was crucified.
2. He is risen.
3. He is not here – see the place where they laid Him.

Mourning turned to joy in an instant. This changed everything for the women and soon for the disciples.

Instead of grieving for a lost, condemned Teacher, they were following the risen Lord, the Redeemer of the world. This was a unique turn in history, repeated many times over for various converts in the future.

Paul was first a zealous Jew, persecuting the Christians. On the road to Damascus, he saw the risen Christ, who made him an apostle. The chief distinction of the apostles was their actual experience of the risen Christ. An apostolic witness could preach the Gospel and accompany it with his own experience of being with the crucified and risen Christ.

Paul had to feel this experience of old and new leaven especially since his life changed so dramatically on the road to Damascus.

Likewise, Augustine was the hero of the Silver Age in Ancient Rome, the greatest orator of his day, but not a Christian. His mother prayed for his conversion, and that happened with children singing a non-religious song, which led him to pick up the Scriptures (“Take and read,” they sang). The Word converted him. Augustine became a bishop and the greatest theologian of the Christian Church, until God raised up Martin Luther.

Many people have had that experience of old and new yeast, death and resurrection, when all the influences of the Word came together and created an instant conversion prepared carefully by the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word, coming from various directions.

Others have come to a better and clearer understanding of the Word because they saw people trying to trample it down, steal it, corrupt it, and replace it with something toxic but appealing in a superficial way.

For every Christian, the Gospel is eternal-life giving. Wherever the Gospel is spoken, eternal life springs up as people are justified by faith. God declares their innocent verdict on behalf of His Son’s innocent death and glorious resurrection, the Word of grace opening their hearts to the Gospel.

The resurrection of Christ is the constant reminder of His role as Lord of Creation. As the creating Word, the Son of God instilled in the universe all those laws that scientists continue to discover. One is the absolute certainty of death. All living things die. Some live for a short time. Others for more than a century. Before the flood, some lived for many centuries, but all died.

Jesus, human in all respects, also died. But God raised Him up from the dead. The laws of the universe do not bind the Lord of Creation. What is true for most is not true for those who follow Him. Not by their own merit, but through His merit, all believers inherit eternal life through forgiveness of sin.

Grief is still painful because of the love we feel for those we outlive. Our comfort in mourning comes from knowing that Christ conquered death with the cross and the empty grave.

Knowing about eternal life and believing in Christ can give us a better understanding of the material world. We love the blessings we receive from the Creator, but we also know that one thing must outlast us.

Strangely, people write up trusts to make sure their money lasts for a long time after death. Trusts often ruin the lives of those who benefit from them. Other people put their likenesses and names on bronze plates, because bronze plates last a long time. I like to read the names of people who were on the city council when a bridge was built. The granite or bronze plate is impressive – and all the names are forgotten. On TV some people say they live to pass on their special homes to the next generation: “My role is to preserve this home for those after me.” That is very touching, for someone who thinks a house lasts forever.

Some people worry about a particular church institution, a synod or a school or a church. One man created an enormous trust to benefit different three synods, and all of them face enormous financial difficulties today. Visible church institutions do not last. The Melanchthon Synod and Olive Branch Synods no longer exist in America. Dozens have faded away.

One thing must outlast us – that is the truth of the Gospel. Preserving the truth is God’s role. But He gives us one special task: to guard the Word. The truth revealed in the Scriptures and confessed in the Book of Concord, but many do not guard the Word.

If we continue to study the Word and abide in the Means of Grace, we play a small but significant role in preserving the truth of the Gospel. God will always maintain a faithful remnant, but that does not allow us to be passive and let the revealed Word be traded for a bowl of lentil soup.
Facing issues of life and death make us more aware of the importance of the eternal Word. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Word will never pass away.” Far better to cling to the eternal Word than to passing attractions.

KJV John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

Not long after she said, that Jesus went to her brother’s grave…

KJV John 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

Lazarus emerged in his grave clothes, foreshadowing the resurrection of Christ, and the Last Day.

KJV John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

The Gospel calls us out of the old and into the new. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the new leaven. All the old leaven of corruption must be swept away in favor of the new leaven of Gospel forgiveness and eternal life.

Dancing UOJ

The Cock Crows at Notre Dame

April 11, 2009
The Cock Crows at Notre Dame
By Andrew Sumereau
Betrayal is not too strong a word to describe the actions of Notre Dame in inviting President Barak Obama to speak and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the university. This betrayal explains why normally docile Catholics have been stirred to unprecedented protest and anger.

Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame who offered the invitation, has felt the wrath of thousands of Roman Catholics who see him as a Judas Iscariot. In a more sober assessment, Jenkins should be viewed as Peter the apostle, in his emotional denials to a watching and judgmental world, rather than as a Judas, the brazen traitor.


Sophisticated opinion might scorn such appraisals. "What is the big deal?" they question. Any university with serious aspirations and credentials should welcome the President of the United States to speak on campus, the thinking goes. Surely the president of a nation that observes the separation between church and state should not be prevented from addressing a university commencement just because his policies or issues are not in agreement with particular religious doctrines. It is patently wrong to prevent the airing of ideas from authoritative sources that may not concur with Church teachings. Great universities must engage in the great discussions of the day. Truth must never hide from controversy. It ought never be determined that questions of right and wrong have been settled, and only those that agree with the settled consensus be given a hearing. Finally, openness and tolerance of disagreement are the hallmarks of great centers of learning. Surely Notre Dame is just such a great center of learning.


This is how Jenkins would like to frame the controversy. Taking the intellectual high road (he believes) in addressing the critics, Jenkins poses as a positively heroic scholar and patriot...


"... In every statement I have made about the invitation of President Obama and in every statement I will make, I express our disagreement with him on issues surrounding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research. If we repeatedly and clearly state that we do not support the President on these issues, we cannot be understood to 'suggest support'.


"...We need to do more to persuade all people that human life is precious and human dignity must be defended. This requires more effective dialogue and engagement with all public officials... However misguided some might consider our actions, it is in the spirit of providing a basis for dialogue that we invited President Obama.


"On May 17 we will welcome the ninth President who will receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame. It will be an important opportunity to bring the leader of our nation to Notre Dame, and, I hope, a joyful day for our graduates and their families."


(Father Jenkins to the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame:)


Sounds pretty reasonable. No?


In Jenkins' view, there is simply a "disagreement" and the president is simply "misguided."


Playing to elite opinion rather than the churchgoing rabble, he uses words like "dialogue" and "engagement" rather than condemnation in referring to the culture of death embodied in the policies of our new president. Being judgmental, after all, is without doubt the gravest sin to modern eyes and Father Jenkins knows this and counts on it. Besides, on social issues (whatever they are) the new progressive president effectively cancels out his misguided notions on life.


But if we are to believe the prelate, where exactly does the imaginary engagement of Obama occur? Is Jenkins inviting Obama to address a seminar on life issues? Will there be a rebuttal of the president's pro-abortion policies after his address? Will they "roundtable" and "brainstorm" and "dialogue" about abortion, stem cell funding, euthanasia, and infanticide?


Sadly, what the awakened and disgusted American Catholics see happening is lost on, or of no interest to, Father Jenkins and his supporters. The university officials are obviously much more interested in securing the good graces of the ninth president to address the school than in supporting Church teaching. As intellectuals they share denseness with thinly disguised contempt.


As Hilaire Belloc said one hundred years ago, "Real intelligence resides in the ability to make distinctions." In this case the distinctions are everything. Notre Dame means literally Our Lady. The University of Our Lady has been founded, promoted, supported and loved by devout Catholics of this country for a long time. The issues of life have been settled in the eyes of the church for over two thousand years and no amount of engagement will change that. Notre Dame should never bestow an honor on the likes of our current president.


The event all works perfectly for the President. Cocktails and chatter with some noted Catholic VIP's, photo-ops, good-humor, perhaps a few thoughtful frowns, some vague-but-pleasing Obama rhetoric, and off the president goes. On to the Naval Academy and another commencement ceremony with a new legitimacy and the unofficial imprimatur of America's great Catholic University.

***

GJ - One of my fellow students at Notre Dame was a Christian Brother. Years later he was president of their little college in Philadelphia. He had a chance to meet with President Clinton, so he urged the president to adopt a pro-life policy. Clinton, like Gore and Jesse Jackson, had once been pro-life. Clinton did not budge.

The Left has all the wrong answers. They hug Mother Earth but hate babies. The Catholic clergy I knew were all political liberals and doctrinal apostates. For instance, this particular Christian Brother was shocked that I believed in the Virgin Birth and resurrection of Christ. I remember him slamming a book on Lutheran beliefs and saying, "There is no use talking to you."

Catholic clergy think they can support the Left and budge them on pro-life issues. Impossible. I consider this Notre Dame scandal simply a grander version of how they honored Governor Cuomo, who came to argue for abortion and against the death penalty. The death penalty was "murder," according to the governor, nicknamed Pope Pious.

ASU will also honor Obama. That dust-up concerns giving a politician an honorary degree, which is against ASU policy in general. As I have mentioned to many students, I have never heard anyone say, "Wow! He has a degree from ASU!"

The best way to get rid of an ASU graduate on your doorstep is to tip him $5 and take the pizza box inside.

Mark 16 Easter Quotations

Mark 16 Quotations

"If I do not believe it, I will not receive its benefits; but that neither renders it false nor proves that anything is lacking in Christ."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 258. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.


"Only begin this [prayer, self-examination], I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 257. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"Therefore the Holy Spirit must come to our rescue, not only to preach the Word to us, but also to enlarge and impel us from within, yea, even to employ the devil, the world and all kinds of afflictions and persecutions to this end. Just as a pig's bladder must be rubbed with salt and thoroughly worked to distend it, so this old hide of ours must be well salted and plagued until we call for help and cry aloud, and so stretch and expand ourselves, both through internal and through external suffering,that we may finally succeed and attain this heart and cheer, joy and consolation, from Christ's resurrection."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 253. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"You may tie a hog ever so well, but you cannot prevent it from grunting, until it is strangled and killed. Thus it is with the sins of the flesh." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 247. Easter, Second Sermon Mark 16:1-8. "For when the heart clings to the Word, feelings and reasoning must fail."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 246. Easter, Second Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"He who follows his feelings will perish, but he who clings to the Word with his heart will be delivered."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 245. Easter, Second Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"To this I reply: I have often said before that feeling and faith are two different things. It is the nature of faith not to feel, to lay aside reason and close the eyes, to submit absolutely to the Word, and to follow it in life and death."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 244. Easter, Second Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"However, we see that although Satan causes many sects and factions to rise up soon they war among themselves and disappear again. What countless cliques and fanatical tyrants Satan has produced to oppose the Gospel during these fifteen hundred years, endeavoring to rend and destroy the kingdom of Christ!"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 235.

"The greatest, the most powerful, the noblest born, the most learned and the holiest person is not a whit better than the humblest, simplest, most despised on earth. All are brought into one company and fellowship. No one is preferred above another. No partiality is shown. No one is pictured or separated to special honor or advantage; but everything hinges entirely on 'He that believeth.' It matters not what people, nation or rank or what station in the world they may occupy."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 222. Ascension Day Mark 16:14-20.

"The preaching of this message may be likened to a stone thrown into the water, producing ripples which circle outward from it, the waves rolling always on and on, one driving the other, till they come to the shore. Although the center becomes quiet, the waves do not rest, but move forward. So it is with the preaching of the Word. It was begun by the apostles, and it constantly goes forward, is pushed on farther and farther by the preachers, driven hither and thither into the world, yet always being made known to those who never heard it before, although it be arrested in the midst of its course and is condemned as heresy."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 202.

"Such is the nature of faith that it feels nothing at all, but merely follows the words which it hears, and clings to them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 194. .

"Although it is impossible to believe without repenting (ohn Reu) as I have said above, when I proved that faith and grace are imparted amid a great spiritual upheaval (Sturm), nevertheless, if this were possible, faith alone would be enough. For when God said: 'He that believeth shall be saved' (Mark 16:16), He did not offer His grace to repentance, nor to a work of any sort, but to faith."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1213. Mark 16:16.

(1) "He that believes and is baptized Shall see the Lord's salvation; Baptized into the death of Christ, He is a new creation. Through Christ's redemption he shall stand Among the glorious heavenly band Of every tribe and nation. (2) "With one accord, O God, we pray: Grant us Thy Holy Spirit; Look Thou on our infirmity Through Jesus' blood and merit. Grant us to grow in grace each day That by this Sacrament we may Eternal life inherit." Thomas Kingo, 1689, "He That Believes and Is Baptized"
The Lutheran Hymnal, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941, Hymn #301. Mark 16:16.

Walther on Pure Doctrine

C. F. W. Walther learned Christian doctrine via Pietism, but his statements about the struggle for pure doctrine
are still worth reading.

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Another Pusillanimouse Post":

"Of course, if no one would falsify God's Word, no conflict would be necessary,..."

"Oh, therefore, let us never listen to those who praise and extol the conflict of the Reformation for the pure Gospel but want to know nothing of a similar conflict in our days. God's command: "Contend for the faith!" applies to all times, also to ours."

"That God's Word testifies to us on all pages, and so also the apostle Jude, who has the surname Thaddeus, writes in our text: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

On the basis of these words permit me today to answer the question:

WHY DARE AND CAN WE NEVER GIVE UP THE CHURCH'S STRUGGLE FOR THE PURE DOCTRINE?
I answer:

Because the Pure Doctrine of our Church is Not Our Possession, but a Treasure Only Entrusted to us for Our Faithful Administration;
Because the Loss of This Treasure Would be Something Much More Terrible than All the Strife and Discord Among Men; and finally,
Because this Conflict is One Commanded by God, and Therefore is Certainly Blessed by God in Time and in Eternity."

"Now tell me yourself: Does love demand that a steward give away some of the property entrusted to him, or that he make a reduction of the debt to the debtors of his lord? or that he can calmly take for himself the treasures of his lord which are given to him to guard and keep? Was it, for example, love when that steward, in order to make him his friend, said to a debtor who owed his lord 100 measures of oil: "Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty?" (Luke 16:6). Was that not rather unfaithfulness, yes, open deceit and theft? Does not Christ for that reason also call him the "unjust steward?" Would it be love if in order to avoid a battle a general would allow merely a small opening to be made for the enemy in the wall of a fortress given to him to defend? Would not such a general rather be called to account and punished as a traitor? Or is it love to steal their possessions from others in order to do good to the poor? and finally, would it be love if Luther would have immediately become silent about the discovered and known truth?"

"Therefore, that the world might see that love is still in us Lutherans, let us in all earthly things show our love so much the more richly; however, in matters pertaining to God, to the pure doctrine of his Word which "was once delivered unto the saints" let Christ's utterance be our motto and guiding star: "He that loveth father, or mother, and he that loveth son, or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.""

http://www.cfwwalther.com/heck/walther19.htm

A faithful sermon by C.F.W. Walther.

Recommended reading for the Anonymous posters who, in their enthusiasm, intend to smother the world with their pillow of love until, lungs gasping, they choke out the very last bit of Confessional Lutheran doctrine.

***

GJ - When a denomination goes soft in the head, the first sign is shock, remorse, and rebuke toward anyone who might emphasize the confessions of that denomination. There are usually lofty pronouncements that "We can afford a few heretics" or "We can learn from (fill in the blank - Buddhists, atheists, Marxists) too."

In the name of love, various imprecations are hurled at anyone who prefers the truth of the past to the fads of today.

During the slide into apostasy, the denomination embraces openly one year what would have been a scandal 10 years before.

Here is an example from ELCA:

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 2, 2009

Three Members of the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality Share Dissent
09-080-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Three members of the Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality issued a public statement March 28 to express their
dissent over the content of two documents released by the task force. The chair of the task force responded to the statement.

On Feb. 19 the task force released a proposed social statement on human sexuality and a report recommending a process to consider changes to ministry policies that could make it possible for Lutherans in committed same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers.

Recommendations for both documents will be considered at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the church's chief legislative body, Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.

Because of theological and pragmatic concerns and because the proposed recommendation allows the ELCA's 65 synods and individual congregations to "determine their own practice," the Rev. Scott J. Suskovic, the Rev. Corrine R. Johnson and the Rev. Carol S. Hendrix said they felt compelled to offer a dissenting position, which is featured in the Appendix of the task force's report (Dissenting Position 1).

Suskovic, Johnson and Hendrix began their statement with thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to serve on the task force. Although in disagreement with the other 27 members and advisors of the task force on "traditional biblical interpretation and theological principles," they said they were regarded with "great kindness, dignity and respect."

Suskovic is pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. Johnson serves as director for development and public relations, Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp, Crystal Falls, Mich. Hendrix, a retired pastor, served as bishop of the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa., from 2001 to 2007.

The pastors said changing current policies would sever the ELCA from the "ecumenical church and the Christian consensus down through the ages."

They contend that the task force's report and recommendation, "which advocate same-gender unions and the ordination of non-celibate homosexual persons, have little biblical, historical and traditional support."

Of critical importance when considering sexuality is the role of God's commandments in the "moral ordering of the Christian life," they said. "We are convinced that God's intention for marriage -- life-long covenant of fidelity between a man and a woman -- established as the First Institute in Genesis 2 and reaffirmed by Jesus in Mark 10: 6-9, serves as the center around which all Christian sexual ethics are defined."

The pastors recommend that voting members of the assembly "affirm and uphold" current ELCA ministry and discipline policies, and affirm the pastoral guidance in a 1993 statement of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. The statement says that "there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship." Pastors within their local contexts are to "provide pastoral care for all whom they minister."

The church is deeply divided on the issue of human sexuality, the pastors said. The recommendations of the majority of the task force represent a "radical change" that is not only contrary to Scripture but one that "will splinter our congregations, alienate many of our members, further divide the unity of this church" and "grieve the heart of God," they said.

The Rev. Peter Strommen, Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, Prior Lake, Minn., and task force chair, called the dissenting statement "unfortunate and unnecessary."

"It was unnecessary because their dissenting view is already included in the Report and Recommendations Appendix, which was distributed widely February 19. It is unfortunate because by identifying their names and characterizing the process, they acted contrary to agreed upon protocol and ELCA practice. For instance, their statement might be interpreted to indicate that everyone else was of one mind when in fact the views of task force members were quite varied and diverse," Strommen said.

"Normally the chair of a task force is the person who speaks publicly on behalf of the task force. I do not believe it was their intent to disrespect the process but note that while individual task force members are free to express their personal views, it is not appropriate for task force members to make formal public statements or initiate what may be perceived as their own news release," he said.

The "Statement by Three Dissenting Members of the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality" is at http://tinyurl.com/djwgop on the ELCA Web site.