Monday, May 4, 2009

Exponential Blogs



As you know, VP Don Patterson organized a WELS pilgrimage to the last Exponential. His response to me, so far, has been limited to writing, "You are a fool and a liar." He earned his PhotoShop bunnysuit by having a pagan Easter egg hunt at his church - to celebrate what exactly? Well, the kiddies love it. And it's not as violent or expensive as a zebra hunt.

Following are some blogs for keeping up with Exponential this year. They were supplied by a WELS layman not entirely happy with WELS Enthusiasm and those who promote false doctrine by their slavish devotion to false teachers.

Cory Whitehead has some comments on Craig Groeschel, who makes some WELS pastors hotter than Georgia asphalt.

Doug Foltz swoons about the Art of Movement. If only the Enthusiasts would teach what Isaiah 55:8-10 teaches about the Holy Spirit and the Word. But that would make them Lutherans.

Dan Mastrapa says listening to Groeschel is like "drinking from a fire hose." This site provides a whole list of bloggers blogging about Exponential.

Dave Ferguson rhapsodizes about Exponential on this blog.
WELS member: "Interesting that the Francis Chan speaker is trying turn the churches away from watching 'the numbers.' Hmmmm....."

Here is a taste of Exponential ignorance, with religious misspelled in the video:




Acts 1:8 sets the stage for a reading from "Jesus With Dirty Feet." From the opening session of the Exponential Conference. www.exponentialconference.org I think they borrowed that idea from one of Ski's sermons, about getting down in the mud. Or maybe he borrowed it from them?


Official video of Francis Chan's introduction at Exponential:




Embarrassing for all Christians. These Becoming Missionals and Emerging Church fanatics simply ooze a loathing for the Christian Church and faithful members. This is just a new marketing approach for what Fuller originally offerred - a way to topple Jesus from His throne while talking about Jesus all the time.

Questions for DP Englebrecht and the WELS COP



What does DP Englebrecht of the Anything Goes District
have to say about these questions?
Rev. Douglas J. Engelbrecht
Northern Wisconsin District President
nwdpwels@sab.wels.net
920-722-6712


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bishop Katie Attends Drive 09 This Week: Ski, Busk...":

This is just plain wrong, Wrong, WRONG! I am outraged and saddened. We cannot trust the pastors in WELS. Why are these men not removed from WELS? Who is caring for the souls in The CORE while the pastor and assistant are gone? Why didn't this group go off to a WELS conference to study the Lutheran Confessions? I can't trust anything the WELS' pastors say anymore. The membership of WELS has been victimized by the leadership. WHY is the leadership of WELS allowing this to go on? How can the Presidents let these men take care of souls when they return? If WELS is Lutheran why are the pastors learning from prominent non-Lutherans? Why are they not learning from Scripture? Why are they learning the ways of men? Don't you know how you are confusing and driving away the very souls you once evangelized? Don't you know how much you are hurting the members? Don't you know the despair you are leading us into? Some of us have left Baptist and Evangelical churches to join WELS. We are being very very hurt by this stuff. We don't know where to turn for pastoral counsel.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Traitorous Ski, or the Enablers?":

My guess is that few congregations will give the WELS power meisters an ultimatum. There is a strong but subtle undercurrent of fear that is quite rampant throughout the synod. Most fear being given the left foot of fellowship. Remember that the divine call has a lot of human intervention from the DP's. This type of intimidation has been a long time in the making. However, we should still pray about it that the Lord will use this for the benefit of his Kingdom, no matter what the outcome.

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Follow the WELS gang at Drive 09 on their Twitters:

Pastor Tim Glende, St. Peter's, Freedom, Wisconsin.
The 5 Seasons is a great place to debrief at the end of a great day in Atlanta.
about 2 hours ago from txt
Just had chili slaw dogs for lunch. If you are ever in Atlanta make sure you hit the Varsity.
about 12 hours ago from txt


Pastor Jim Buske (also at Drive 08), Gospel Lutheran Lighthouse.
No Tweets so far. Ski is on the Lighthouse board.


Bishop Katie, The Core, A-town.

What a night. Still trying to process @andystanley 's talk at Drive. Headed to bed and hoping I get to stay there till morning.
13 minutes ago from Tweetie
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. (via @tommytrc)
20 minutes ago 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.
about 1 hour ago from Tweetie
@toddfields one word: phenomenal! God is great!
about 1 hour ago from Tweetie in reply to toddfields
Just talked with @loswhit. He's as real in person as he is on the web. That's good stuff. Love authentic people!
about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
"it is well with my soul"!!
about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
@tonymorganlive breakout one starts 8:30
about 5 hours ago 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.
about 6 hours ago 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.
about 7 hours ago from Tweetie
Ready to take on the next three days after a nap and clean clothes. Does wonders!
about 7 hours ago from Tweetie
@loswhit I'm there #drive09
about 11 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to loswhit
First meal in the ATL - The Varsity. Now just drivin round the city.
about 13 hours ago from Tweetie
On the ground in Atlanta. Long ride to the gate now. In desparate need of a nap.
about 15 hours ago from Tweetie
Up at 2:30 and headed to the airport now for a 6am flight. Not a morning person but this is a good reason to be up early.
about 19 hours ago from Tweetie


Ski, Popcorn Cathedral of Rock, A-town.
@loswhit I'm here in the ATL 4 Drive 09
about 8 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to loswhit



This Tweet is from Carlos, on the staff at Northpoint/Buckhead:
So there you have it.
I have joined arms/signed a deal with Integrity Music to write some kick booty, make you sweat, get out of your chair and leave the church building to actually do something for the Kingdom songs.

Jay King, Stephen Brewster, Chris Estes and all the peeps at Integrity. It’s time to create culture and change the world.
And it is all going to go down here…
On ragamuffinsoul.com
You ready for the ride?
Los

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Cost for four people?

Tuition paid to the Babtists x 4 = $1,000.
Jet fare x 4 = $2,000.
Hotel and meals x 4 = $2,000.

Thus, $5,000 (roughly) was blown on this Schwaermer conference. Compare the cost to a Lutheran pastoral conference, a fraction of the cost. But hey, how many take-aways can anyone get from one of those?

The CORE Grand Opening



This PhotoShop was prophetic, almost like Twilight Zone.


The CORE Grand Opening
On Sunday, April 19, 2009, I returned to The CORE for the grand opening. Immediately upon entering the doors, I was hit by the smell of fresh popcorn. There was more popcorn for the grand opening of The CORE as a church than there was for the film festival, however, there were also a lot more people on hand than were there for the festival.

There was standing room only at The CORE as a large number of WELS members came to see this different style of worship. Even Pastor Ski commented on the large number of pastors in attendance.

The service began with a crystal clear projection of The CORE’s new logo on their extra-large movie screen surrounded by lightning and electricity sound effects. Immediately, it was clear that The CORE’s video was going to far surpass the quality of the video at the film festival. “Pastor Ski” (Skorzewski) then joked that The CORE doesn’t have a bell, so they use lightning and electricity sound effects instead.

The jokes and statement of mission were followed by a period of introduction and prayer. The praise band then took over with the first praise song: “God of Wonders” by Chris Tomlin.

The following player plays a low quality recording of some sample music from the grand opening: “At the Name of Jesus.”


Then there was a confession of sins called “Forgive Us, Renew Us, Lead Us,” a reading from the Book of Jonah, a collection of gifts followed by applause for the praise band, and then the sermon entitled: “Urban Legends: There are Many Ways to God.”

As part of the sermon message we watched a five minute video of Pastor Skorzewski asking people, “How do you get to heaven?” The answers were all basically the same: Be a good person. Pastor Skorzewski’s sermon did deliver law and gospel.

Here is a link to a pdf of The CORE’s grand opening bulletin along with a sermon outline:

The CORE Grand Opening Bulletin

After the sermon, Pastor Skorzewski asked the audience for prayer requests. Then after some specific prayers and the Lord’s prayer, the praise band concluded with “The Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. Here is the refrain and bridge from that song:

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
The voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

After this song, Pastor Skorzewski gave the Benediction, and then concluded with a number of closing comments, including giving away prizes to the winners of a number of naming contests: The winning name for the video blog was “EnCORE,” and the winning name for the newsletter was “COREspondence.”

Finally, there was a period of fellowship and food in The CORE’s lobby.

Films at the Mission Church



How man pot-smoking, tree-hugging literati joined this weekend?


Wildwood Film Festival at The CORE

My first visit to The CORE was on Friday, April 17, 2009 for the Wildwood Film Festival. I saw both film sessions at The CORE, and my favorite movie was Maine Story. The movie was shot in Maine, but the main actress was from Wisconsin, and she was talented and natural.

Some characters in Maine Story did take the Lord’s name in vain, but I was also straining to hear the dialog. I’m not sure whether The CORE or the Festival was in charge of projecting the films, but I thought the picture and sound quality were sub-par, especially during the first session. During the second session, one of the film makers yelled, “Volume!” and the volume was turned up making the second session easier to hear.

The biggest disappointment for me was Autumn. I thought this might be my favorite movie, and was looking forward to maybe fifteen minutes of sharp beautiful autumn photography. Unfortunately, Autumn seemed like it was less than 60 seconds of blurry footage. I was disappointed.

The final movie at the CORE was The Hungry Bull. The Hungry Bull is a feature length movie that was superbly acted, well directed, and was also accompanied by excellent local music. However, it was also very vulgar. Based on the previews, I was expecting the “F” word and some vulgar images, but I think The Hungry Bull set an all time “F” word world record, among other words. There was also nudity along with sexual activity on camera.

The Festival organizers said that all the films were about a PG-13 rating, but I disagreed. There was one nude scene in particular that in my opinion could have earned The Hungry Bull an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, if the movie had been rated. That scene was supposed to be funny, but there are some things I’d rather not see. Overall, I did not like The Hungry Bull because there was too much moral darkness.

A good chunk of the discussion period after the second session was about the amount of vulgarity in The Hungry Bull. The first questioner was a gentleman who indicated that he hears that sort of language at work every day, and felt that while some vulgarity in a movie can help to make a point, he thought that The Hungry Bull over did it. He also noted that The CORE was a church, and should be a place of hope, not despair. The movie makers explained their decisions to portray the characters in the way that they did, and one of the Festival organizers also noted that everything was discussed and cleared with Pastor Skorzewski in advance.

During the time period I was writing this post, Pastor Skorzewski was unavailable to comment, but Pastor Glende said that Pastor Skorzewski

did not clear everything as was claimed. One of the organizers even apologized for that movie which was so vulgar … pastor Ski didn’t approve the movie and the promises made regarding the content was not the way it played out.

The director of Happy Boy said that he had made a decision to avoid vulgar language, specifically the “F” word, because he did not want to limit his audience. Happy Boy was an amusing comedy and my second favorite picture of the Festival.

Traitorous Ski, or the Enablers?




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Baby D - With Andy Stanley,Your Drive 09 Host":

That traitorous picture of Ski in fellowship with Andy belongs in every WELS church to remind members to watch for wolves.

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GJ - Ski is just a wolf cub. The enablers, the senior wolves should have their photos in a mugshot book prepared for every Lutheran congregation. I already prepared some in the senior mugshot category.

Ski, Buske, Glende, and Katie are proof that false teachers have labored in unity for decades to bring about that kind of event, where Lutherans run to Babtists to be trained in evangelism. Patterson organized a WELS group to go to Exponential last year.

Give credit where it is due: Patterson, Valleskey, Brivens, Tiefel, Radloff, Hagedorn, Olson, Huebner, Kelm, Parlow, Witte, Wayne Mueller, and the spineless DPs who let it all happen.

Also - face the fact that apostates work together and protect one another. Conservatives form a circle and start shooting.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bishop Katie Attends Drive 09 This Week: Ski, Busk...":

WELS, fire all traitors to the Word, now.

WELS Wins in the Courtroom,
Loses in Spellcheck



"We can't teach there either?" A recent interview revealed that Sigfried and Roy are both...German.


WELS in the news
In the Feb. 2 edition of "Together," Pres. Schroeder addressed a court ruling in favor of California Lutheran High School, Wildomar, Calif., which had been sued for its decision to expel two female students for engaging in conduct characteristic of a lesbian relationship. The April 29 issue of the San Fransisco (sic) Chronicle reported that the state Supreme Court has now denied review of an appeal.

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GJ - Do locals call the paper the Sissy?