Thursday, May 7, 2009

Watch the Lutherans Let the Pope Usurp the Reformation Festival of 2017



"That's nothing. Church and Change is going back to the Schwaermer."


Reformation Jubilee in 2017 Must Have Clear Ecumenical Dimension

Hanover Bishop Kässmann: Bible Is Reformation Focal Point

AUGSBURG/GENEVA, 27 March 2009 (LWI) - The bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover Dr. Margot Kässmann has issued a strong plea to "give the jubilee of the Reformation a clear ecumenical dimension."

On 26 March in one of the main presentations at the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches: Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today," the bishop insisted that, despite their disagreements and their specific identities, the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches have more things in common than things that separate them.

"In a secular society, a common witness of Christians is of eminent importance," Kässmann told consultation participants. The closer the church is in its presentations to the public, the theologian asserted, the better it is listened to as a church.

With regard to the 2017 Reformation jubilee, Kässmann feels it is extremely important that the event is used as an opportunity for critical reflection. "I am convinced [that] the churches of the Reformation in Germany, as well as Lutheran churches worldwide, are strong enough not to blind out the dark sides of their great founder," Kässmann explained.

"The Bible is the focal point of reference for the Reformation," the theologian insisted. For this reason, she hoped that during preparations for the Reformation jubilee fresh orientation from the Bible will be sought out. She also hoped that Christians, in Europe especially, will once again find a common language. (254 words)


More than 120 theologians from across the globe are taking part in the consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches: Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today" in Augsburg, Germany, from 25 to 31 March under the auspices of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies, in collaboration with the Institute of Protestant Theology of the University of Augsburg.

More information on the consultation is available at www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DTS/DTS-TLC_Augsburg.html

Fundies In Their Undies




About 30 years ago, I needed to buy basic church supplies in a small town, so I went to the nearest Bible book and gift store. They always had prominently displayed such recent Evangelical best-sellers as Fascinating Woman (if that was the title). One book caught on, perhaps by that name.

We called the genre - Fundies In Their Undies.

They bowdlerized such current classics as Everything You Wanted To Know about Sex But Were Afraid To Ask, which would have been deemed NSFW - Not Safe For WELS.

Fireproof is simply a new version of the old genre, and another neat way to get the congregation into Babtist theology.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fundies In Their Undies":

Am I missing something? How does this book grow my faith? Does fireproofing my marriage prepare me for the next life?

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GJ - The Book of Concord will fireproof your soul for the next life.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fundies In Their Undies":

"The Book of Concord will fireproof your soul for the next life."

You do mean Scripture, of course. It's nice to see you placing man's writing over God's.

***

GJ - I wrote it that way to elicit another dollop of sanctimony. Nothing in my statement put the Book of Concord above the Scriptures. Anyone who appreciates the Confessions can grasp that. The Pietists jump at every opportunity to scorn anything that might get in the way of their ecumenical Enthusiasm.

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Kenneth Schmidt has left a new comment on your post "Fundies In Their Undies":

I saw that awful "Fireproof" movie in an LCMS church I later left. "Fireproof" shows the concept of female headship in the home that is a cornerstone of American Evangelicalism. A Christian husband's sole duty is to follow all the orders and instructions of his wife at all times. If he violates this precept he is a manifest and impenetent sinner headed to hell.

Will WELS-LCMS-ELS Denounce This?
And Keep Working with ELCA?
Yes!






ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 6, 2009

Lutheran Seminarians Support Task Force Recommendation

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an open letter to the 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lutheran seminarians expressed their support for a recommendation that would allow Lutherans in committed same-gender relationships to be included on professional church rosters.

On Feb. 19 the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality released a report and recommendation for a process to consider changes to ministry policies that could make it possible for Lutherans who are in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gendered relationships" to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers. The task force also released that day a proposed social statement for the church -- "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust."

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly -- the highest legislative authority of the 4.7 million-member church -- will consider both documents Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.

To date more than 160 members of the ELCA studying at Lutheran and non-Lutheran seminaries have signed on to "An Open Letter from Lutheran Seminarians to the Bishops of the ELCA." Four members of the ELCA attending Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, wrote the letter.

"We applaud the ELCA's commitment to the dialogue on sexuality and its affirmation of sexuality as a gift and trust from God," the letter stated. "After careful consideration of the issue at hand and its influence on the life of the church, we stand in solidarity, affirming the recommendation for structured flexibility within the rostering requirements of the ELCA."

In the letter seminarians asked synod bishops to "represent our voice faithfully in your involvement in the deliberation process leading" to the churchwide assembly. "Joining with you as people invested in the life, health and ministry of the ELCA, we appeal to your commitment to the gospel and the mission of the church."

In preparation for ministry, "we both see and experience the harm of the current policy and its denial of the gifts present in the whole Body of Christ. Because of the current policy, gay and lesbian persons ignore calls to ministry, candidates feel compelled to lie about their sexuality, mentors are forced out of the church, and candidates leave the ELCA for more inclusive denominations. The tragedy of these events is weakening the integrity of the church," the letter stated.

The Lutheran seminarians said it is in the "best interest" of the ELCA to affirm the recommendation of the task force at the assembly. "The life of the church depends upon the full recognition and inclusion of ministerial gifts engendered by the Spirit." - - -

"An Open Letter from Lutheran Seminarians to the Bishops of the ELCA" is available at http://elcaseminarianresponse.weebly.com/ on the Internet.

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ELCA Seminarians:

While we acknowledge and respect the bound consciences of those who disagree, we have faith and hope that resting in God we can respond with love to the contemporary challenges facing the church and society. We therefore stand firm in our belief that it is in the best interest of the ELCA’s ministry to affirm the recommendations of the Task Force at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are



Pastor Tim Glende, from the church website


From the church bulletin, at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Freedom, Wisconsin:

PASTOR CONFERENCE


Pastor Tim will be gone from Monday – Wednesday, May 4-6th. If an emergency arises, please contact Pastor Christenson @ 733-7225 or his cell 585-6998.

Absent is any mention of Drive 09. An innocent reader would think the "pastor conference" was Wisconsin Synod.

From the Twittering of Glende, Ski, Buske and Katy, we know that all four were in Atlanta at the Drive 09 Babtist conference with Andy Stanley, that they are such buds with the Babtist staff that the four invited Carlos Whittaker out to lunch even before they got there.

We also know from Katie that a total of seven WELS pastors (see below) were there in Atlanta, including four WELS pastors never mentioned in the Tweets of the A-town Musketeers-plus-Buske. Ichabod readers, I warned you more WELS workers were there. The blabbering Tweets came from the cubs, who know they are protected by the stealthy senior wolves of Church and Change.

Background
The recently retired pastor of St. Peter in Freedom, Ron Ash, has been chairman of Church and Change, the folks who ran the synod into the ground before Gurgel beat a hasty exit to a secure and undisclosed location.

Tim Glende grew up at St. Paul, German Village (Columbus, Ohio), where Floyd Luther Stolzenburg introduced the loathsome Church Growth Movement. Pastors Mike Nitz and Robert Schumann both promoted CG at St. Paul. Needless to say, the congregation shrank from the work of the Church Shrinkers. Schumann is openly allergic to religion these days, like many CG burn-outs.

As Wayne Mueller claimed in FIC The Northwestern Lutheran, the Church Growth Movement never existed in WELS. But no one was allowed to question the Church Growth Movement in WELS, especially in Columbus. VP Kuske worked closely with Stolzenburg and promoted Floyd for a church job after Floyd and Roger Zehms wore out their welcome as leaders of the "first Church Growth agency in WELS." Of course, The Love Shack was first Church Growth agency of WELS, with predictable results.

Dishonesty breeds even more dishonesty, stealth, sneaking around, dissembling. I do not blame the young cubbies of Church and Change as much as the senior wolves who have abused them with bad training in the WELS school system, horrible examples at so-called evangelism days at MLC, and easy money from synod subsidies, grants, and Thrivent bail-outs.

Katie Tweeted: "Grateful for the last 3 days I spent with 7 kingdom minded WELS pastors. Love their hearts for lost ppl." But Ski spoke to the alleged evangelism conference for the Anything Goes District (Northern Wisconsin) this year and last. The delight of Katie seems to contrast the Babtist WELS pastors, "who have hearts for lost people," with the traditional WELS pastors who implicitly rely on the efficacious Gospel in the Means of Grace.


Where does the Church and Change leadership reside? St. Marcus, Milwaukee, promoted on the WELS.net website. Four Church and Change board members have been associated with St. Marcus, plus Katy, who volunteered there for six years.


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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

Finally someone is pointing out the duplicity that is done in the name of God. Man devises and promotes such dishonesty -- not God.

Why should these people be deemed trustworthy when it comes to your soul?

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

We have not heard much from the Wolf Pack today.

***

GJ - I think they are waking up or sobering up. See below.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

The Ichabod zombies are hilarious. Brett the scorned layperson, Worms from A-town, Kreuter the former St. Marcus member, and Jackson the zombie leader have all had their hands slapped by the man and now are seeking revenge. GJ wants so bad to connect the Church and Change dots that he dreams up stuff and the zombies fall for it. I don't think GJ could connect the dots if his life depended on it.

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GJ - Dreaming up must mean quoting their websites and Tweets.

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JR has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

My father didn't give me enough attention. I wasn't breast-fed. My pastor doesn't return my calls. I was passed over for a promotion at work. My ex-girlfriend is getting married. Obama is stealing my tax dollars.

OK, there. Now will you actually answer the allegations instead of resorting to petty attacks that do nothing to reinforce your position? Or is this what amounts to "strategery" among the C&C crowd these days?

I'll ask as simply as I know how:

1) Is there any question that Ski and others were at this Drive conference?
2) How is the attendance of WELS pastors at a pastoral conference attended and organized by others with whom we clearly are not in fellowship okay?
3) If you agree that going to the Drive conference was okay, why was it hidden from the congregation under the guise of a "pastoral conference" that would give the members the impression that it was a WELS event?

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JR has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

I'm confused then. You seem to be advocating two viewpoints in conflict. Pastor Glende said he was at a "pastoral conference," yet the conference was "not about fellowship." Either Pastor Glende is lying to us or you are lying to yourself.

"I am not going to change your opinion and you will not change mine." There's another classic C&C talking point at work-- it's all adiaphora, isn't it? That's classic Parlow.

I'd be interested in hearing what Ski and the others learned at this Drive conference that was so markedly different from the last Drive conference that justifies the expense incurred in light of these tough economic times. Couldn't that money have been better spent giving it to World Missions or some other synod need?

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JR has left a new comment on your post "Lo, How Honest the Church and Change Pastors Are":

You said, "I know that it [attending Drive '09] is not about fellowship." (emphasis mine)

I'm curious to know how you "know" this. Are you one of the attendees? Were you at the conference?

Obviously, I was not at the conference. But when I hear the phrase "pastoral conference," I can't help but think of fellowship.

You have a different perspective. If this conference wasn't about fellowship, what was it about?

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GJ - Judging from Ski's gushing remarks about Drive 08, and Tweets from various participants, this was definitely a worship conference where all the participants joined in ecumenical worship. Ski said he worshiped with the Babtists last year, and I believe him. Why would 2009 be different?

WELS Drive 09 Veterans Reflect Upon Their Experiences with the Babtists



Baby Bee, Mascot of Church and Change




Bishop Katie Tweets

Finally headed home to a-town. Grateful for the last 3 days I spent with 7 kingdom minded WELS pastors. Love their hearts for lost ppl.
28 minutes ago from Tweetie RT @loswhit DRIVE HANGOVER. // I feel ya on that. All worth it though.
about 4 hours ago from Tweetie Hangin in the airport just waitin to leave the ATL
about 4 hours ago from Tweetie RT @glende78 Driving to airport with Ski @ the wheel is an adventure. you've been warned! // driving anywhere w/ @pastorski is an adventure
about 5 hours ago from Tweetie Trying not to make a mess http://twitpic.com/4oeo1
about 10 hours ago from Tweetie "A word to the wise ain’t necessary, it is the stupid ones who need all the advice."- Bill Cosby (via @tommytrc)
about 12 hours ago from Tweetie "Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog."- Mark Twain (via @tommytrc)
about 12 hours ago from Tweetie RT @micahfoster "Sometimes I'm like P-Diddy." - @loswhit #drive09 //. Dude. Whatssaid in the room stays in the room. LOL (via @loswhit)
about 15 hours ago from Tweetie Last day of #drive09. So much to process. Definitely being pushed and challenged by what seem like such simple ideas.
about 18 hours ago from Tweetie Conference done for the day. Brain way overloaded. #drive09
5:13 PM May 5th from Tweetie @Tomplay looks awesome Tom! sorry I haven't gotten any pics yet. i'll try to take one tonight.
1:29 PM May 5th from TweetDeck in reply to TomplayUp and ready for day two of #drive09. First up: connecting adults into small groups.
5:29 AM May 5th from Tweetie What a night. Still trying to process @andystanley 's talk at Drive. Headed to bed and hoping I get to stay there till morning.
10:25 PM May 4th from Tweetie @Jschmidt56 one day closer to a break. Hang in there!
10:22 PM May 4th from Tweetie in reply to Jschmidt56Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. (via @tommytrc)
8:44 PM May 4th from Tweetie Hangin in the ATL with some great people. Yes they're out there. So awesome to be a part of the awesome things God is doing right now.
8:04 PM May 4th from Tweetie @toddfields one word: phenomenal! God is great!
8:03 PM May 4th from Tweetie in reply to toddfieldsJust talked with @loswhit. He's as real in person as he is on the web. That's good stuff. Love authentic people!
6:58 PM May 4th from Tweetie "it is well with my soul"!!
6:57 PM May 4th from Tweetie @tonymorganlive breakout one starts 8:30
4:07 PM May 4th from Tweetie in reply to tonymorganlive
Dinner at the Golden Corral. Got to have a salad. Probably the healthiest food I'll get for 3 days. I'm a happy girl now.
3:33 PM May 4th from Tweetie Walk in 2 register. tell the guy we r from The CORE. He (clay) says I've been praying 4 u. pulls a card from his pocket with r name on it.
2:16 PM May 4th from Tweetie Ready to take on the next three days after a nap and clean clothes. Does wonders!
1:41 PM May 4th from Tweetie @loswhit I'm there #drive09
10:10 AM May 4th from Tweetie in reply to loswhit

Ski Tweets
@Tomplay Looing (sic) gr8 Tom. Thanks again 4 being there. Can't wait 2 c it 2morrow.
about 16 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to Tomplay@Tomplay looks Awesome! Can't wait to get back to see it.
3:21 PM May 5th from twitterrific in reply to Tomplay@Tomplay wow! Looking gr8 Tom. Thanks 4 everything u r doing.
12:04 PM May 5th from twitterrific in reply to Tomplay@loswhit I'm here in the ATL 4 Drive 09
1:01 PM May 4th from twitterrific in reply to loswhit

Tim Glende Tweets

Driving to airport with Ski @ the wheel is an adventure. you've been warned!
about 7 hours ago from txt God is so good! Can't wait for tomorrow.
7:07 PM May 5th from txt Remember if you had all the answers, you would always know what to do!
9:08 AM May 5th from web The 5 Seasons is a great place to debrief at the end of a great day in Atlanta.
7:12 PM May 4th from txt Just had chili slaw dogs for lunch. If you are ever in Atlanta make sure you hit the Varsity.
8:53 AM May 4th from txt is waiting for the plane to unload. never knew 5 feet made so much of a difference!
6:23 AM May 4th from mobile web Hanging out @ Buske's in Milwaukee.

Drive Conference Tweets

DriveConference: Day Two is over. Sad to see that our time together will end tomorrow. But wait. There's always Drive 2010 @ special rate $199. #drive09

WELS Church and Changers
Warn Book of Concord Fans


Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Victory of the Penguins




Victory of the Lamb - Church and Changers:

Sunday was our very first Bible Quest at Showtime Cinema. We lerned (sic) how penguins teach us to care for other. Philippians 2:4 “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”


Victory of the Lamb
Victory's first Worship at Showtime was a big hit. Come back again this next Sunday for worship at 9:30am but make sure you come early for Fellowship by 8:45am or whenever you can.Sun 7:57pmVictory of the Lamb

(Tim) I just want to thank everyone who helped out today. It was great to see it all come together. I walked into the Theater at 7:30 and had my nose involved in setup inside and walked out at 9:00am to see the lobby transformed. I saw phenominal (sic) work on setting up the electronics. everybody pitched in and it was great...I only wish we could have had the same crew working on my lawn this fine day.

Bible Quest

Please Read This:
Veterans of Drive 08 and 09, Willow Creekers, and Fullerites



Martin Chemnitz, editor of the Book of Concord,
primary author of the Formula of Concord,
student of Luther and Melanchthon


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Doug Englebrecht - It's 10 PMDo You Know Where You...":

Two years ago I joined the local WELS church after having been Baptist most of my life. I do believe what I was taught in confirmation classes and could see where my old church had gone astray. I am sad to watch as my new church is drifting slowly but surely to look and act exactly like my old church. What is the alternative? I am at a loss.

***

St. Paul, Muskego (WELS) has the logo for Fireproof Your Marriage on its front page. The graphic boasts that the movie came from the same folks who produced Facing the Giants. For those who missed Facing the Giants, the plot revolves around a football coach at a Christian academy who has a losing team, a disastrous car, a childless marriage, and a bummed-out look on his face all the time. He yields himself to God (the only sacrament among the Reformed) and:

  1. His wife gets pregnant.
  2. His team starts winning.
  3. Grateful parents buy him a brand-new truck.
  4. The entire campus of the school breaks into little prayer groups.
  5. He smiles.

Needless to say, Peter Pan-denominational is a Church and Change activist, using The Simple Church, which is--naturally--Babtist.

Why the Shrinkers Cannot Win, If the Word Is Applied




The Shrinkers of Church and Change get their power from the gullibility of members and pastors, but also from their proven history as liars, bullies, and slanderers.

One pastor said that he is like many others, afraid to lose his position by speaking out. Why is that? Read a few nasty-grams from the Shrinkers. They never disclose their names, but they are busy on the legendary WELS grapevine spreading stories about anyone who dares to question them while covering up for their pals.

Some may imagine that Ski, Glende, Buske, and Katy are the only WELS workers coming back from Drive 09, the Babtist conference in Atlanta. Since Parlow went to the last one, we can assume plenty of the Chicanery leaders were there as well. They identify with the Babtists. They read Babtist books (when they read), listen to Babtist tapes and podcasts, and buy Babtist programs.

The Shrinkers are Pietists, not the Biblical Lutherans they pretend to be. They cannot abide being examined by someone who knows comparative dogmatics. (Nota bene: they cannot spell comparative on their own website. They cannot do what they cannot spell.)

If a Doctrinal Pussycat cannot expose the doctrinal errors of the Shrinkers, he could leave the ministry because he is not "apt to teach," a requirement for pastoral ministry.

I have yet to see a single refutation from a Shrinker sent to this blog. The Church and Chicanery comments boil down to:


  1. You are wrong (no reasons given).
  2. You use lies and half-truths (no examples given).
  3. You are a bad person.
  4. Obscenities.
  5. You are angry and bitter. But, I hear WELS pastors read Ichabod every day and laugh their heads off.
  6. Bad spelling, bad grammar, bad sentence structure.
  7. Starbucks uses real whipped cream, so you are wrong.
  8. Britain's Got Talent is 100% honest, so you are wrong again.

Question of the Year, From Anonymous




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Cover Story versus The Facts":

Who is Brett Meyer? And what qualifies him more than anyone else to judge what the Bible has to say about justification and women participating in the worship service? It's not enough to say "I'm right and you're wrong." Show us your credentials, Brett.

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GJ - This is funnier than Anonymous saying, "You are a gutless coward." All the nasty, vindictive, and obscene comments come from Anonymous. I am sure there are a few of them with that pen name. What qualifies them? I post the comments to show what Church and Change has done for WELS.

I also get long, Scripture-filled statements on my need to repent, signed Anonymous.

When I quote the false teachers verbatim, Anonymous tells me this is a violation of the Eighth Commandment and Matthew 18. However, Anonymous knows exactly what is going on in my mind, reading my evil thoughts, and denouncing me for those imagined thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

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More toxic waste from--you guessed it--Anonymous:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

My guess is, GJ, that those who don't sign their name have known you in the past. They know what kind of person you are, they know how twisted your reasoning can be, and they know how you have ruined reputations first in Christian News and now on your blog. Can you blame them for not signing their name? Everyone who has known you realizes exactly what you would do to their reputation. Don't act so naive.

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GJ - Several things drive these people wild:


  1. They do not like being found out or quoted, and quotations are my speciality.
  2. They hate citations from Luther, Chemnitz, Chytraeus, and the Book of Concord.
  3. They loathe the laity who have figured them out. For instance, marketing specialists know that the Shrinkers are just dabbling in marketing.
  4. They believe, but their hides bristle (Epistle of James).


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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

(DEEP RESONATING VOICE)Who is Anonymous? Who beckons me forth to show my credentials?

Dear Anonymous, you ask, "what qualifies (Brett)... to judge what the Bible has to say about Justification and women (reading the liturgy) in the worship service?"

First, I'm not judging Scripture but the false doctrine of wolves who, wrapped in the freshly shorn wool of young souls, teach and practice against the Word of God. It is Pastor Schewe and his ilk that say God's Word, Christ, is unclear and grey. The very source of all Christian doctrine and the very Word of God, which is the supreme Judge and Foundation of Christian faith, has been declared muddy and uncertain by these false teachers.

Second, 1 John 4:1 says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Beloved refers to everyone who by grace, through faith, trusts alone in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. This is my confession and as such am included in 'Beloved' and intend to test the spirits whether they are of God. I will also speak openly, using my name, because I am confident that I confess the Words of Scripture and Christian doctrine as declared to all men in the Bible and correctly explained in the unaltered Lutheran Confessions. If I know that I speak and confess Christ's doctrines how can I not boldly do so using my real name and reject the shame that comes from fearing what the world may do to me because of my confession.

Third, I'm not the first to make these confessions of Christian faith concerning women teaching the congregation in the Divine Service. Martin Luther states in “Lectures on 1 Timothy” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 28) 1 Tim. 2:11. “Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I believe that Paul is still speaking about public matters. I also want it to refer to the public ministry, which occurs in the public assembly of the church. There a woman must be completely quiet, because she should remain a hearer and not become a teacher. She is not to be the spokesman among the people. She should refrain from teaching, from praying (ie: leading in prayer) in public. She has the command to speak at home. This passage makes a woman subject. It takes from her all public office and authority.” The Confessions condemn UOJ as enthusiasm and the quotes supporting this are endless and can be found on Ichabod.

Fourth, although Walther taught the miserable doctrine of UOJ he did provide a faithful sermon on this very subject. Walther, "Oh my friends, if you had recognized some time ago, that the office of judge belongs by right to you, you would not have fallen into such great and so many errors. Your preachers went the way of error, and in false trust in man you followed them without first examining them. How sad the results have been! Therefore, know and guard your rights; examine everything and keep what is good. This, however, leads me to the second point of our meditation. It is this: If the judgment over the shepherds belongs to the sheep, they have to know the true doctrine and be certain of it."

Now this is just to Anonymous - you need to read this sermon. http://www.cfwwalther.com/heck/walther13.htm

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

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Ayn Rand has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

And tell the "original" Anonymous poster to stop stealing the opening lines of my novels.

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Stan Eukrich has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

I'm glad people are seizing on this useless ad hominem stuff.

Credentials? How about "literacy" for a start? I'll cook for a large party and someone will ask me, "How do you know how to cook so well?" Usually I just say, "I can read." Mr. Meyer can also read--you know, that thing we're encouraged to do with the Scriptures? It's really as simple as that.

I wish I had grown up reading the Confessions...I was WELS-educated from first to twelfth grade and I don't think I could've spelled "Concord" if you spotted me "C-n-c-r-d."

Incidentally, Acts 17 does not tell us the Bereans presented credentials to St. Paul, though this may be an argument from silence...

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KJV Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

Keep writing GJ and Brett. Everyone is able to read your vile bile and get a good sense of the sickness that permeates you both. When you have some time, paste a picture of Brett and yourself onto the southern ends of the north-bound horses. That's where they belong. You both are horse hinies and play the role equally well! Brett is not even a pretend pastor like you, Greg? He is pretty impressive! Maybe you should award him an Ichabod Jr. badge of honor!

Now, I've got to go. I'm going to make sure my wife gets the singing out her system at home, so she does not utter a sound at worship this week - you understand, that sillence thing! Shhhhhhh! Or, maybe humming is allowed since no one would confuse it with teaching? I'm going to see what Luther and Walther wrote about it. Maybe it is ok, so long as no guitar is involved? What about kazoos, are they liturgically neutral? I'm soooooooo confused!

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I. J. Reilly has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

I'm a bit of a newbie to this site, but I've noticed that most of the people who post do so anonymously, no matter which "side" they happen to be on. Are those on G.J.'s "side" who post anonymously doing so because they are afraid of "the other side," or are they doing so because they are afraid they'll eventually post something that will draw the ire of Gregory the Great, the Pope of Bethany? I suspect that it may be the latter.

I can't do what ten people tell me to do, so I guess I'll remain the same.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Question of the Year, From Anonymous":

I have an idea. If you would openly allow all posts to your blog be seen, without censorship or first needing approval, I am sure more people would openly post NON-anonymously.

Try it.

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GJ - You betcha. I should let obscene material through, cussing, foul words. I am sure people would start putting their real names on those messages. They are not random messages either. They are clearly partisan, from the Church and Changers.

Also, I get messages designed merely to promote a blog or website. There is already enough spam out there.

I have an idea - start your own blog and follow your rules. Soon the potheads, dweebs, stoners, and crackheads will beat a path to your URL.

One Crusty Hold Out Against Ordaining Women Disagrees with Church and Change, WELS




A Latvian Bars Ordaining Women
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY,
Published: Wednesday, August 3, 1994


The oldest working pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is 93. The youngest, ordained this year, is 18. The Archbishop of Latvia says the shortage of pastors in his country is so extreme that he has to take anyone he can get.

Except women.

In defiance of his predecessor in Latvia and almost all the larger Lutheran churches around the world, Archbishop Janis Vanags refuses to ordain women.

"It is true we need pastors very much," the Archbishop said, "but it is better to do without them than to do something against the will of God."

The rock-hard views of the 35-year-old Archbishop, who was elected six months ago, have bitterly divided Latvia's largest denomination. Deeper Than Usual Rift

Many other Protestant denominations are divided over the ordination of women. The Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church, one of the largest in America, still refuses. But the rift seems deeper here, where the Lutheran Church is so closely identified with Latvian nationalism.

Mostly, the battle reflects a trend throughout the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: Even after the collapse of Communism, faiths forged in persecution remain far more conservative than those nurtured in the West.

The issue of ordination of women is not just an internal dispute in Latvia. The issue has also alienated the Latvian-based church from branches in Europe and the Americas that were established by Latvians who fled the Communists in 1940.

This is particularly true of the American branch, a church that grew large and prosperous in exile. Talk of reuniting the Latvian church and its exile branch has stopped, and instead, some Western church leaders are quietly planning to cut back on money sent to Riga. Dispute in Estonia

The same dispute simmers in neighboring Estonia, where only 4 of the country's 100 pastors are women. But there, the Archbishop does not openly oppose ordination. In Lithuania, too, women can be ordained.

"I know of no other place where the ordination of women was started, and then stopped," said Archbishop Elmar Ernst Rozitis, who from Germany heads the Latvian Lutheran Church abroad. "At this time I see no real possibility of a resolution."

Sarmite Fisere, who became a pastor in 1989, the day the Synod in Latvia voted to ordain women, is particularly frustrated.

"It makes no sense," said Ms. Fisere, one of nine women who were ordained before Archbishop Vanags took office. He has not interfered with their work.

Latvia, with 2 million inhabitants, has about 300,000 Lutherans and only 89 ministers and 39 lay preachers to guide them. Ms. Fisere, for instance, is the only Lutheran minister in the village of Ogre (population 28,000). "The need is so deep, and the people have accepted us women completely," she said. Infecting Young Pastors

She said Archbishop Vanags's views were infecting many young pastors, who, she said, were increasingly conservative.

She said, "In my opinion, Vanags is too young and inexperienced."

Ms. Fisere and the Archbishop were seminarians together at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Latvia in the mid-1980's, in the early days of perestroika, when the authorities gingerly began relaxing the strictures against religious activity but still punished those who pursued the new freedom too eagerly.

The Archbishop, who was a chemist, said he lost his job and apartment when he began working as a lay preacher. Ms. Fisere said she was accused of anti-Soviet agitation in the seminary and was almost kicked out. They both took part in the nonviolent revolution that led to Baltic independence in 1991. At Odds With West

The Archbishop is also at odds with his male counterparts in the Western branch of the Latvian church, who have been working alongside women pastors since 1970.

"We in the exile church have put quite a bit of pressure on the Archbishop over this," said Vilis Varsbergs, a Chicago-based church leader who in August will become dean of the theological department of the University of Latvia, which is where the Lutheran seminary is situated. "But it has been resented."

Archbishop Vanags's position on the ordination of women was known before he was elected by the Latvian Synod of Bishops, and most Western church leaders favored the candidacy of Archbishop Rozitis. But most Latvians, including even liberal church leaders, preferred a lifelong resident of Latvia. Many Women in Seminary

More than a third of the students in the Lutheran seminary in Riga are women, and no one is quite certain what will happen when the first women come up as candidates for ordination.

Some could stay in academia, teaching theology. Archbishop Rozitis said he would ordain Latvian women if they came to Germany with the intention of working outside Latvia, but he said he was not ready to defy Archbishop Vanags's authority and ordain women to return and work as pastors in Latvia.

"That would start off a very tense time between our churches," he said. "It is hard to do something, and just as hard to do nothing."

Archbishop Rozitis said there was another, more drastic step.

The World Lutheran Federation, the Lutheran umbrella group in Geneva, could vote to suspend the Latvian Church, in an echo of steps taken in 1984 against two white South African churches that refused to reject their nation's apartheid system. Federation 'Not Our Pope'

But even that prospect did not seem to shake Archbishop Vanags. "I hope they will not go that far," he said calmly. "But they cannot tell us what to do. The president of the World Lutheran Federation is not our pope."

Seated beneath a portrait of Martin Luther in his office in the church consistory, an elegantly renovated building that was used as a Soviet Army barracks during the Soviet occupation, the Archbishop explained his stance.

"It's not that I don't think women are just as capable as men -- they often get better marks than men in the theological faculty," he said. "But we have to follow what the Bible tells us, we can't impose our ideas of human rights or equal rights."

The Archbishop declined to cite specific passages in the Bible that prohibit the ordination of women. "If I cite a specific passage, others would react and say it can be interpreted differently. It would not be serious." Mr. Varsbergs argued that whatever biblical strictures could be found against women as members of the clergy were the word of men -- not God. "Prohibitions against women reflected the cultural situation in Greece at that time," he said. To the conservative argument that Jesus did not have female apostles, Mr. Varsbergs replied, "If you apply that standard, then gentiles shouldn't be ordained, either."

Calling the dispute "the most divisive issue in the history of our church," Archbishop Vanags called on the other side to give in. "If I were a woman and my wish to become a pastor was dividing the church," he said, "then I would give up this demand."

Photo: The Lutheran Archbishop of Latvia, Janis Vargas, has reversed his predecessor's stand and refuses to ordain women as pastors, dividing his denomination. Recently the Archbishop said although the church needed pastors, "it was better to do without them than to do something against the will of God." (Chuck Nacke for The New York Times) Map of shows the location of Riga, Latvia.

Correction: August 9, 1994, Tuesday An article last Wednesday about the refusal of the Lutheran Archbishop of Latvia to ordain women misstated the name of the church's world body. It is the Lutheran World Federation. A picture caption with the article misstated the Archbishop's name. It is Janis Vanags, not Vargas.



ELCA Seizing Church Property



Admit it - you read Ichabod for the funny pictures posted.


Pew — this stinks! Congregation is homeless in church fight
By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper


The Brooklyn Paper / Kate Emerson
The congregation at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 490 Pacific St. in Boerum Hill is now homeless, thanks to a bizarre dispute.

Mother of God! A splintering fight for control of a Lutheran church in Boerum Hill has left the dwindling congregation homeless.

Members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the Metropolitan New York Synod, which oversees local congregations, have been tussling for control of the Pacific Street church for several years, but last week, the fight became public when some congregants rallied outside of the Lutheran organization’s Manhattan headquarters, claiming that the synod had seized their place of worship.

“They’ve been shut out of their own church without any recourse,” fumed the Rev. Norman David, a visiting, and renegade, pastor from Massachusetts who organized last Tuesday’s protest to regain control of the 1874 church. “The Synod thinks they can lord it over you and seize your property.”

The fight is complicated because not only is it being waged in civil court, but the two sides are contesting each other by the arcane rules of this branch of the Lutheran Church. Some of Bethlehem’s most-vocal critics want to dissolve their connection with the Synod — and need two votes by a two-thirds majority to do so.

One secession vote has already happened and a second is scheduled for May, David said.

The Synod claims that the whole congregation does not want to secede, but merely that some rogue members do. The Synod also does not recognize the outcome of the first alleged vote, nor the appeals from David and Muriel Tillinghast, the president of the Boerum Hill church’s congregation. (If her name is familiar, it’s because she was Ralph Nader’s running mate in the 1996 presidential race.)

The feud goes back to 2003, David said, when members of the congregation felt the Synod had become hellbent on shutting the church and appointed a pastor allied with the Synod leadership.

Lawsuits and countersuits followed. Events boiled quietly over in early January when the Synod changed the locks on the church, driving the small congregation to hold its services at Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Heights.

The Synod claims the building is in disrepair and is too hazardous for the congregation, and that members of the congregation have not allowed the Synod to make improvements. However, the only complaint on file with the city’s Buildings Department says that a stone parapet, which tumbled to the sidewalk and a public parking lot in 2007, has been resolved.

David and Tillinghast said the Synod wanted to shut down Bethlehem Lutheran Church to sell the property for a handsome profit, but they’ve fought back to keep their flock intact.

“They pay their own way and hold their own services,” David said, talking about the $160,000 budget the congregation ran on in 2008.

But Tillinghast herself wants to raze the 136-year-old church and redevelop the site.

“What I’d like to do is to have a new edifice, one that is 21st century. We’re dealing with a 19th-century church that didn’t have a maintenance program. We keep it going and it’s not so bad,” said Tillinghast. “We’d like to support entrepreneurial development in our neighborhood with artists and small offices. We want the church to be a hub.”

And she and her plans, known as the so-called “Vision,” have not had the full support of congregation, which is down to about two dozen voting members last year.

No one from the Metropolitan New York Synod would consent to be quoted for this article.

Perhaps a higher power will have to intervene.


Updated 05:46 pm, April, 30 2009: Story was updated to include more context about Muriel Tillighast.

Doug Englebrecht - It's 10 PM
Do You Know Where Your Pastors Are?



Doug Englebrecht, DP, Northern Wisconsin--Anything Goes--District


Glende, Ski, and Katy are larning evangelism from the Babtists in Atlanta.

Buske is there too, but he is from Milwaukee.

Ski, Buske, and Parlow were there last year for Drive 08. Have you read Ski's blog about worshiping with Andy Stanley and how awesome that was?

WELS found enough spine to shut down the Waldo Werning-Kent Hunter love fest, but promotes Babtist touchy-feely decision theology?

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Doug Englebrecht - It's 10 PMDo You Know Where You...":

President Engelbrecht:
Please act on this.

Thank-you.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Doug Englebrecht - It's 10 PMDo You Know Where You...":

Pastor Englebrecht, where are your pastors and even more importantly - where is your spine? If you are not willing to do your job, please resign and let someone who is willing to keep a close eye on wayward pastors do that job for you! These pastors who prefer to learn from people with whom WELS is not even in fellowship with should be disciplined and made an example of as to keep others from getting the same idea. I personally am on the brink of severing my own lifelong membership with the WELS. Not that I am leaving WELS but that they have left ME. I anxiously await this upcoming synod convention and expect to see a harsh condemnation of this type of activity followed by not just lip service, but serious consequence to those who would try to hijack my church now or in the future. Without that, sadly I fear I can no longer associate with a church body that doesn't practice what it preaches.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Doug Englebrecht - It's 10 PMDo You Know Where You...":

Two years ago I joined the local WELS church after having been Baptist most of my life. I do believe what I was taught in confirmation classes and could see where my old church had gone astray. I am sad to watch as my new church is drifting slowly but surely to look and act exactly like my old church. What is the alternative? I am at a loss.

Church and Change Day at Martin Luther College



Actual sign from Church Sign Generator - they spelled Babtist wrong.



Read the PDF and weep.

I have a converter and may convert the document into Word. I don't think I can convert the presenters into Lutherans.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Fireproof Babtist Film - Big Hit in WELS, Loved by FIC, Promoted by NPH




From the Editors Who Promoted Latte Lutheran Church:
Fireproof, a movie about a firefighter who is considering divorce, received mixed reviews when it was released last September. Some critics said the movie was a bit gimmicky and melodramatic; others called it uplifting and impressive. Members of Reformation, San Diego, Calif., however, saw it as a way to reach out to the community.

“It has a solid Christian message about the importance of doing marriage the way God designed it to be done and ‘fireproofing’ your marriage against the temptations of the devil, the world, and your sinful nature,” says Kevin Schultz, pastor at Reformation. So the congregation decided to organize a Fireproof campaign, complete with a six-week sermon and Bible study series on marriage.

To advertise the series, the congregation mailed out 5,000 postcards to community members. “We had 127 visitors attend, many of which were unchurched or first-time guests,” says Schultz. At the end of each sermon, Schultz gave separate assignments to the couples and to the singles in the congregation that they were to do during the week.

Overall, Schultz says reactions were positive. One couple facing difficulties in their marriage said the series reignited their desire to work on their marriage instead of giving up on it. Others said it gave them a renewed commitment to their marriage. A divorced woman from the community listened to the sermons on tape and said they taught her how to “do marriage right” if she remarried and motivated her to start attending her church regularly again.

“I think this campaign helped our congregation see once again how God’s Word can change people’s lives and, in this case, their marriages,” says Schultz. “It certainly brought a new excitement to the congregation during the six weeks of the campaign. It also provided a great opportunity for members to get involved by inviting their friends and neighbors to come and hear how God’s Word is relevant to their life today.”

Volume 96, number 3, 03-1-2009, category: news. FIC


Fireproof was advertized at Bethany, Appleton, on The CORE calendar.

Firepoof was studied at St. Marcus.

Fireproof My Marriage website

Fireproof Pietistic Cell Group Kit

Fireproof NPH kit - based on the movie. The same Babtists who did "Facing the Giants" produced this one. The cinema students in the graduate program at Regent University thought "Facing the Giants" was hilariously bad. The cinema professor agreed.

Victory of the Lamb (C and C) Tim Felt-Needs. Loving Fireproof.

Bloomington is fireproofing.



***

GJ - How about a new series? - Fireproof Your Divine Call!

The Four Horsemen of St. Marcus



Lampe, Ski, Becker, Spencer--Church and Chicanery Board Members, Past and Present--Working for St. Markus/Time of Grace, Mark Jeske.
Bishop Katy beams down on them.


KJV Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.


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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "The Four Horsemen of St. Marcus":

GJ, have the men in white jackets come for you yet? Keep posting your terribly ridiculous pictures, and they'll be knocking on your door sooner than you think!

***

GJ - I do get a few anonymous outpatients sending comments. Thanks for the encouragement.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Four Horsemen of St. Marcus":

I love the pictures. Can't get more ridiculous than Ski's love for non-Lutherans.

How can the synod turn a blind eye to Ski? to Patterson's cloning network? to Jeske's grant mill?

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Four Horsemen of St. Marcus":

How appropriate that the rider of the black horse measures out the grains and oil (popcorn & butter) ... and that the four horsemen are galloping right off the cliff together.


+Diet O. Worms

The Cover Story versus The Facts




The CORE News and Events

(still listed as of today on their websty).


April 17
Wildwood Film Festival
The CORE will be hosting one evening of the Wildwood Flim Festival. This festival features local filmmakers and will be held on April 17th at 6:30 and 9:00 pm. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door. For more information visit www.wildwoodfilmfest.com

The Cover Story:

I. J. Reilly has left a new comment on your post "Films at the Mission Church":

The Wildwood Film Festival had absolutely no connection to the Core except that it took place in the same location where the Core is conducting its ministry. This isn't the best analogy, I know, but it's kind of like when a church will let its building be used as a polling place. Hey, I would imagine that some pretty ungodly men and women received votes that were cast in a church building. This was not an event that was promoted among its church members as a church event. I agree that the organizers of the festival should have been more careful about the films they presented in that venue, but Ski really had no idea of what the movies would be like before the event took place.

Welcome to the camp, I guess we all know why we're here!

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The Facts:

if u r in appleton & looking for something to do tonight come on down to The CORE 4 the Wildwood Film Festival. Starts at 6:30 & 9:00
about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Cover Story versus The Facts":

FACT: The CORE hosted this event and The CORE asked for its members to staff the event. It was NOT just a use of the facilities. The CORE gave approval for this function. The CORE could have denied having this held. It knew the content of the films and still hosted it.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Cover Story versus The Facts": The CORE also promoted the Wildwood Film Festival on its website.The CORE said it was hosting the event.


There's a church in the valley leased by Wildwood
No lovelier spot in A-town
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

(Oh, come, come, come, come)

Come to the church leased by Wildwood
Oh, come to the church in A-town
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

How sweet on a clear Sabbath morning
To listen to a Rock and Roll band
Its tones so loudly are calling
To the Popcorn Church built on sand.

(Oh, come, come, come, come)

Come to the church leased by Wildwood
Oh, come to the church in A-town,
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

There, close by the church in old A-town
Lies the doctrine I loved so well
We buried her beside the Willow Creek,
Cause we thought Schwaermer doctrine was swell.

(Oh, come, come, come, come)

Come to the church leased by Wildwood
Oh, come to the church in A-town.
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

There, close by the side of Craig Groeschel,
Near Driscoll, Stetzer, Stanley, and Sweet,
When they bury the last Lutheran synod,
Church and Change will shout, "That's neat!"

(Oh, come, come, come, come)

Come to the church leased by Wildwood
Oh, come to the church in A-town
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

---

Wildwood Film FestivalFriday, April 17th
Shows at 6:30 and 9:00pm
"The CORE" (formerly the Big Picture Theater)
Appleton, Wisconsin

The Northwestern



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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Questions for DP Englebrecht and the WELS COP":

There was quite a stink here in A-Town a couple years back when the WELS congregations didn't/wouldn't/couldn't participate in a Thrivent-sponsored Habitat for Humanity drive. (Perhaps it wasn't only in A-Tizzle fo' shizzle, dawg, yo,.)

Why? Each day Habitat for Humanity opens with prayer before the hammers swing. It is contrary to our confession of faith to engage in such simple religious activity with other groups.

Yet... yet... called pastors from the Fox Valley go to outright Enthusiastic worship services -- with alter (sic) calls of public profession of faith and the laying on of hands --, exclaim about it to the www.world, seek help on how to build churches from the son of the director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, and get mezmerized by who-knows-what spirit by the awesome praize band.


Concerned WELS laymen, I'm talking to you. This is what WELS synod tolerates now. Your donations & your church's donations to synod pay the salary of the men - MEN - who are supposed to put their foot down. But they won't.

Perhaps 'tolerate' isn't the right word. WELS synod encourages it. You are the one tolerating it, with your silence.

+Diet O. Worms

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "The Cover Story versus The Facts":

Diet, I don't think WELS has any problem with Habitat for Humanity. Here is Pastor Mark Jeske giving the blessing with Habitat for Humanity.

Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity
Friday, May 18 - afternoon
Home Blessing
As I return to the site Friday afternoon, I see the William's new home clean as a whistle and ready for occupancy. I am introduced to Dakari, Kayin and Amaris, Gloria and Bashambas' children. They are precious. Darkari makes his first trip up the ramp constructed especially for him; he is loving it. Kayin and Amaris are bouncing around, unable to contain their excitement. Kayin pulls Carmel Builders President, Tom, by the pants leg into what will be his new room. "I'm going to paint my room blue and green—my favorite colors", he exclaims.
Crowds are gathering now - preparing for the home dedication service. County Executive, Scott Walker, along with leaders from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and the Carmel Builders Crew to celebrate the dream of home ownership for the Williams Family. Pastor Mark Jeske from Time of Grace Ministry gives a blessing and we all give thanks!
As I listen, I am reminded that what has been built this week is more than walls and a roof. Together, many hands with one vision have built a home. In the process we have formed community and laid a foundation for community to grow and thrive. This is really what it's all about and what Habitat is all about. Helping hands pulling together to truly make a difference in people's lives.
There's no better reason to celebrate!

http://www.thriventbuilds.com/homes/diary/index.html

Although WELS themselves have said this:
"Another concern is Habitat’s desire to be an ecumenical organization, that is, an organization with “a concern to reunite the divided Christian family” (p. 80). But this reuniting is not done on the basis of a careful study of the Scriptures. In his book, Fuller approvingly quotes the slogan, “Doctrine divides, service unites” (p. 80). He says unity comes about when people of diverse religious beliefs work together to build homes for the poor. “Maybe, just maybe, God wants to use ‘the theology of the hammer’ as a means to draw his divergent family closer together” (p. 79). This statement and others like it come close to making the building of homes for the poor a means of grace." Paul Janke, pastor at St. Peter, Modesto, California

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1712&cxDatabase_databaseID=1&id=8719&magazine=Forward%20in%20Christ


***

GJ - I think all the DPs have had alter calls. They thought they were going to get tutored. Ditto the Sausage Factory professors.



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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Cover Story versus The Facts":

Most of the people attending the Wildwood Film Festival could probably use a good dose of Jesus. What better way to plant a seed. But I would say by the way all of the pompous asses carry on here, you need Jesus more. Satan is crouching at your door. Read Galations 2. Then read it again. And then read it again for good measure before it is too late. I don't know, maybe it is too late. There are no hearts of Jesus here. I think the Father, Son and Holy Ghost have left for the coast...fleeing from this blog.


Needed - more relational, relevant, and real signage.

St. Marcus Leads the Way Downhill



WELS.net promotes Mark Jeske, who promotes Church and Change. Church and Change exists to lead people into the apostasy of Enthusiasm, which is always Unitarianism or worse in the next iteration.


Factoids from the St. Marcus congregational meeting, June, 2008.

  1. Only 25 attended. I know mission churches with better meeting attendance.
  2. They had a gayla community auction, which raised $170,000. Did they purchase a business license for that?
  3. UPS Driver Brian A. Lampe is doing youth work for the congregation. He is the fourth St. Marcus person to be on the board of Church and Change. Why not just call it St. Marcus and Change?
  4. Bishop Katie worked as a volunteer at St. Marcus before heading to A-town with Ski.
  5. Ski's new call to A-town is mentioned and calling a new pastor.
  6. They are Fireproofing marriages. They wouldn't be introducing Lutherans to Pietistic cells groups and Decision Theology...not at St. Marcus? I forgot - they sent Ski and Katie to Granger Community Church for training, Ski to Drive 08 for even more training, and Ski to Catalyst for dessert.

    ---

    Brian Lampe, CEO of CEO Ministries.


    From: Brian Lampe
    To: church_and_change@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Sunday, January 4, 2009 4:24:40 PM
    Subject: [church_and_change] Your (sic) invited!



    Generation of Reformation '09 Christian Rally

    March 21st 2009

    Best Western Suites Brookfield, WI

    $45.00 per person includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, beverages, and materials

    We are excited to announce the fifth annual Christ Empowered Opportunities Christian Rally. This workshop is designed with men and women in mind, we invite all believers young and wiser to join in the festivities on Saturday March 21st 2009 [incoherent, run-on sentence]. This year’s theme is “Generation of Reformation" You will hear an (sic) amazing message’s (sic) from Pastor Mark Jeske, Luke Thompson, Tracey Lampe, Pastor Ski from “The Core” , David Timm, Pastor Borgwardt, and Mike Nichols. Our workshops are tailored to meet and build the need’s (sic) of all Christians. What God offers us through our WELS churches is the greatest most powerful source that will impact our lives, Christ Jesus! Today is the day to break history of the restraints placed on past and today’s generations by Satan and reform our way of life through a more intimate relationship through our Savior Christ! [GJ - Say what?] We pray that God move your heart to attend our workshop, so that we can encourage and build one another in the faith that was given to us by the sacrifice of God’s own Son Jesus! You can download our flyer at CEO-ministries. com or call 414-915-3211

    God Bless you

    Brian Arthur Lampe

    ---

    "Brian Arthur Lampe delivers a one-two punch to the devil and his schemes with his high powered, enthusiastic, energetic life-applying Biblical motivational speaking. We are on a quest for authentic God. By including Brian Arthur Lampe, you will have more than just a rally or a Bible study. You and your congregation will be providing men, women, and youth with an encouraging process that teaches them how to live lives of authentic Christianity as modeled by Jesus Christ and directed by the Word of God."

    Christian Speaker Network describes Brian's denomination as Christian. I would add that he is an Enthusiast.


    Brian A. Lampe, CEO of CEO Ministries.


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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Questions for DP Englebrecht and the WELS COP":

God runs all things in the universe as did the computer in the movie "The Matrix." No matter how hard C&C tries to shift that "locus of control" to themselves, they will fail.

Many Thanks To the Research Team Tonight




Irrelevant, but real and relational.


I hope you follow the Twitters I have linked on the left side of the blog. I try to keep up with various events, but the growing research team for Ichabod simply overwhelms me with new information and links. Everything I posted tonight came from those researchers. Call them Legion, for they are many. That is why Church and Chicaneries may try to shut down the leaks, but they cannot. Too many people are reporting from various locations. One expert was in awe of the research from another expert, a doctor of divinity. They do not know each other and I do not share names. People just want to get the facts out.

Church and Chicanery refused me for their odious listserve, but somehow I got their best--or worst--material anyway. I am sure they have their super-secret ultra-controlled list, but the bad news is going to come out anyway. Jeske's church is going downhill with economy. Parlow could not get his two locations united - due to lack of funds (denied anonymously, of course - thanks, John). Ski packed his CORE with WELS members and pastors (not very BM of him) and took off for Drive 09 with Katy, Buske, and Glende.

Kudu Don Patterson is a big success - at asking for money. He brags about having a big congregation with a big staff on one hand and stretches out the other hand for more synod subsidy. Someone questioned whether Patterson wants to become Synod President. I know from many credible sources that Church and Chicanery is trying to oust SP Mark Schroeder. To do that, they need a candidate. Perhaps I am wrong about their choice, but I could remedy that with an announcement from them.

Oh, I just remembered - they cannot even announce their keynote speaker in November of this year, and Babtist Stetzer got the gig in August of 2008.



They have a postcard and jpg but no speaker announced!


The buffoonery of Church and Change is shown by their list of board members. Jeff Davis, who raises money from WELS church for a percentage of the take (the Jewish method) has a photo and no bio. Ski has no photo and no bio. Brian A. Lampe has no bio and no photo. Bruce Becker disappeared from the board. All the information hidden is still available on Ichabod. Use the Google search tool at the top to find names, events, facts. That is the only way I can find things now.

The most read articles are linked on the left.

The people who have hissy-fits can disagree all they want with my opinions. I am courteous enough to link information and quote verbatim.

The difference between plagiarism and research is the citation. I do not claim the words and sermons of others as my own. The Church and Changers do, and they want big bucks for their "mission work."

Ichabod Prophesy Has Come True, Again



B-16 has a plan, and it is working well.


Pope Benedict XVI: 'Luther Was Right'
"Luther would have been amazed at the efforts of the Vatican today to put the Bible back into the heart of the Roman Catholic Church," writes Jeff Fountain of Christian Today.

Fountain reports that during Pope Benedict XVI's recent weekly public addresses in St. Peter's Square, he quoted Martin Luther in declaring "Sola fide," that salvation is by faith alone.

According to this report, Benedict affirmed that Luther had correctly translated Paul's words as 'justified by faith alone' -- the well known sola fide.

It was disagreement over the doctrine of salvation by faith that sparked the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, splitting Christianity in Western Europe. "Yet, said the Pope, it was indeed biblical to say, as did Luther, that it was the faith of a Christian, not his works that saved him."

By defining "faith" as "identification with Christ expressed in love for God and neighbor," Pope Benedict qualified his statement, noting that the Apostle Paul had written about such faith in his letters, especially the one to the Philippians.

According to Fountain, the Pope highlighted the fact that prior to his Damascus Road conversion, Paul had strictly adhered to all the Pharisaical laws and rules. However, after meeting the Lord Jesus in his vision, Paul began leading a lifestyle of faith alone.

Fountain goes on to explain that last October, bishops from around the world were called to Rome for a three-week synod to discuss how to promote prayerful reading, understanding and proclamation of God's Word. "Pope Benedict XVI himself kicked off the synod with a round-the-clock Bible reading marathon lasting a whole week, by reading the opening verses of Genesis. Twelve hundred readers took part, including Orthodox and Evangelical leaders."

"So now Benedict is personally leading the way to encourage Catholics to engage with Scripture," Fountain writes. "The theme of the synod was 'The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.' The pope told the gathered bishops that true reality was to be found in the Word of God."

According to Fountain, the Bible Society of the UK has been assisting the Vatican to promote the reading of Scripture through the Lectio Divina Project. This resource for Catholics provides notes and prayers to go with weekly lectionary readings of the Sunda Mass. You can download this resource at http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/l3.php?id=251.

Fountain tells how he flew to Switzerland recently for an interconfessional gathering of "Together for Europe." "Talk of the synod there prompted someone to quote Cardinal Kaspers' recent statement: 'The Word divided us; the Word must unite us.'"

"We began to dream about how Christians in Europe could celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 - less than nine years away - as a prophetic statement by Catholics and Protestants together that the Word that once divided us is now uniting us again."

Fountain concludes joyfully, "That would be a giant step toward the fulfilment of Luther's original dream of a Bible-centred Church!"

Read Jeff Fountain's full article, Luther, Rome and the Bible

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GJ - Years ago I wrote to Father Neuhaus that he could become the pope and announce, after years of study, that Luther was right. He was skeptical about being elected, and I was skeptical about such an announcement.

B-16 is a master propagandist. The Church of Rome has been successfully appealing to Lutheran pastors, especially McCain's Missouri buddies, to sign up with the Antichrist. The Vatican simply cannot overturn infallibility and reverse course. This article is smoke and mirrors, an example of inner reservation: faith means what the pope believes - faith plus works.