Friday, July 24, 2009

Unionistic Study




When I was a student at The Sausage Factory for a semester, the faculty was a rainbow coalition of various confessions. Valleskey was a secretive proponent of Reformed doctrine while Gawa (Gawrisch) led the class through orthodox quotations. The church history professor (Slide) knew what was going on but was afraid his pension would be taken away if he talked. Other professors did what was best for their careers.

In August at The Sausage Factory, Bruce Becker will lead the troops of the WELS Prayer Pietistic Institute to rally them for the real deal - the Church and Chicanery convention in November.

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SceleratissimusLutheranus has left a new comment on your post "Unionistic Study":

I love that picture! Instant classic.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Unionistic Study":

"Valleskey was a secretive proponent of Reformed doctrine...."

Today we see the effects of giving Valleskey a podium for his false beliefs. He operated like a thief in the night for far too long. Meanwhile, the other shepherds leading WELS turned a blind eye.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Unionistic Study":

"When I was a student at The Sausage Factory for a semester, the faculty was a rainbow coalition of various confessions."

Meanwhile, members were duped into believing that WELS remained a monolithic bastion of Lutheranism. Are the WELS leaders atheists at heart? They certainly have acted like it with all their greed and duplicity. Too many of them serve their Father Below.


Determination



Confessional readers are ready for the convention. The Chicaneries are afraid.


Why are things quiet? The more happening, the less said. When there is such an apparent calm, both sides are active.

The message from Church and Change, just before the convention, announcing their next glorious festival of apostasy, was their effort to cheer the troops.

I am happy to mention what I have told many people -

I have been publishing about these topics for over 20 years. Before, the only people who contacted me were elderly. Now the vast majority are younger men. And I hear from pastors all the time. Various people have told me about church leaders reading Ichabod. A few clergy have said, "Everyone reads it, but they do not say it outright."

The Shrinkers can only thank themselves for proving me right.

The apostates will try to make me the issue, because I insert plenty of hilarious commentary about their buffoonery. But I also provide all the evidence so people can see for themselves.

My verbatim quotations make Beavis and Butthead howl with rage, because those nasty little boys are the finger-puppets of Kelm, Huebner(s), Parlow, Patterson, and Becker - the SP Gurgle crew. Listen to their cries of rage - and do the opposite. That is sound doctrine.

The clergy and laity that I know love to read the orthodox Lutheran quotations provided. The quotations were all carefully typed into my ancient database, Megatron, labeled, edited for accuracy, and studied repeatedly.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Determination":

WELS leadership played it safe in not saying that it is promoting the closure of Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS). Instead, it is giving alternatives. One alternative would not close MLS, but shows the significant, negative financial consequences on the rest of the program of not closing it. The other alternative would anticipate that funding for MLS would not be available in the second year of the two year budget adopted by the convention, but did not rule it out completely. This was a clever move by the WELS leadership because they can honestly say they did not recommend the closure of MLS. Since they did not recommend it, it is not overly controversial going into the convention. It will be the convention, not the WELS leadership, making the recommendation. However, the obvious innuendo behind both options is that MLS will need to be closed at the end of the next fiscal year, barring a financial upswing before the end of 2009. Without improvements in finances by then, the decision for closure will have to be made before enrollment would start for the fall of 2010.

To quote Luther, "It was a false, misleading dream" to think that this convention will [do] anything about the cancer of the Church Growth Movement in the WELS, at least in my opinion. I see nothing that hits it head on in the Book of Reports and Memorials or in the unpublished memorials I have seen to date. I believe a lot of the lay delegates are not aware of the issue. The male teachers would by and large be in favor of it because it has permeated the WELS school system through team ministry, using our schools as "mission arms," and the welcoming into our schools of the Reformed and sometimes the clearly heathen, not to mention the "international student" programs in many of the Area Lutheran High Schools (which I personally know in some cases is driven by financial need and not by a desire for mission work, even though that is the public justification for the program). The pastors would be divided on the Church Growth Movement, but I do not see a lot of recognized leaders among the conservatives on the roster of delegates. If the Church Growth Movement is brought up at all, it would easily be buried in a committee, tabled to a future convention, or, at best, referred to a committee assigned by the Synodical President. However, I think very little will happen at this convention with the Church Growth Movement, other than it being a topic in the halls or around a keg of beer.


Spoiling the Egyptians:
Valleskey's Excuse
For Promoting False Doctrine




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Sound of One Hand Clapping":

Our pastor uses that term "Spoil the Egyptians".

What does that actually mean?

Does that mean take from non-churched to support the churched?

I am too embarrassed to ask my pastor, but it sure doesn't sound very nice....

***

GJ - This looks like a soft lob, so I can hit a homer. Glad you asked, for whatever reason.

Valleskey feigned doing an analysis of the Church Growth Movement, which he took as an opportunity to gush about the undying fad. He chose to name Larry Crabb (a favorite at Fuller Seminary) and Crabb's use of the term "spoiling the Egyptians." Apparently the phrase is as old as Augustine, but I doubt whether Augustine figured much in Valleskey's education.

Valleskey and the rest of the Shrinkers use the term to excuse their wholesale borrowing of false doctrine from Fuller, Willow Creek, Mars Hill, Granger, Northpoint Crypto-Babtist, and the rest of the Enthusiasts.

As the introduction to the History of Pietism says, the Crypto-Calvinists tried to hide their allegiance to the Swiss Reformer. Now all hiding is gone.

Church and Change is devoted to spoiling the Egyptians.

I pointed out to Valleskey, in front of the Ohio pastors, that the Israelites took the gold and precious jewels of the Egyptians, not their garbage. Valleskey was not happy.


The Sound of One Hand Clapping




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastors Getting Unionistic Degrees":

Why was all the skulduggery in WELS not exposed years or decades ago? Pastors routinely deny that there is skulduggery while they solicit support and pay tribute to the synod. This smacks of a complete sham.

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GJ - I was writing about it around 21 years go, but it was the sound of one hand clapping. Valleskey gave his Spoiling the Egyptians/Figs from Thistles paper to the Ohio Conference. The result was - those few who dissented were pushed out of WELS. Those who fainted with joy or silenced themselves were promoted.


WELS Pastors Getting Unionistic Degrees:
All Are Known Changers

John Lawrenz got a real PhD from Brandeis U. He supported Church and Chicanery with a post that elicited "Pure gold" from VP-in-Waiting Don Patterson. Years ago, Lawrenz gave a sermon where he said - everything must change. That is also the mantra of Mark Jeske.



John Parlow, Willow Creek WELS Pastor, DMin, Denver Seminary


Paul Calvin Kelm, DMin in Church Growth, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. His brother Dan, another Shrinker, and Paul's son both left for the LCMS.


Rich Krause in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, got his DMin from a union consortium in Ohio, supervised by Larry Olson, DMin, Fuller Seminary


Lawrence Otto Olson got his drive-by DMin from Fuller by taking a few courses and writing a paper. Now he, like Rich Krause, calls himself "Dr." Ha.


There is no photo for Steve Witte, so I had to use the only photo on their website. Note that the painting is typically Reformed. Jesus is able to leave the empty tomb because the angels let Him out by opening the door. The Reformed think His divine nature is limited by His human nature, and that is why they deny the Real Presence.


Church and Chicanery leader Witte says
preaching the Gospel is not enough.
"The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is in crisis,
but revival is possible.
Its leaders must get into the Scriptures, repent, and pray."


Title: Hope and a future : confronting the death of confessional Lutheranism / by Steve Witte.
Author: Witte, Steve.

Imprint: 2007.
Note: The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is in crisis, but revival is possible. Its leaders must get into the Scriptures, repent, and pray. The definition of faithfulness must be expanded--not "just preach the gospel" but also using means to shine the gospel light into a dark world.
Note: Typescript.
Subject: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Subject: Church renewal.
Physical Description: xii, 235 leaves ; 28 cm.

Location Information
Hamilton
Circulating Coll.
BX8061.W6 W57 2007 [Available]
This item has been checked out 0 time(s)
and currently has 0 hold request(s).

Witte is involved with WELS Jars of Clay and is also a founder of Church and Chicanery.

----------------- N O D E C I S I O N S R E P O R T E D ----------------
Witte, Rev Steven L - Asia Lutheran Seminary Board - 05/29/2009
Vice President

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GJ - Doubtless there are more. Most of the American mission and world mission people have studied at Fooler Seminary. I am guessing that world mission people have been routinely trained there before deployment. Extensive training has taken place at Willow Creek as well.

Known Fuller veterans are David Valleskey, F. Bivens, R. Schulz, Joel Gerlach, Norm Berg, Wallhy Oelhafen, Fred Adrian.

What Willow Creek WELS Worships



Parlow, left, at Babtist Stanley's Drive 08 Conference


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More Admonitions Like This Are Needed":

Here are the worship principles for St. Mark De Pere.

The document in question can be found here:

http://stmarkpartners.org/downloads/Biblical.pdf

"Made to Worship: Biblical Prescriptive Principles for Corporate Worship at St. Mark"

1. Worship in truth and spirit. – John 4:23
2. Worship the true God only. – Matthew 4:10
3. Worship in an orderly fashion. – 1 Corinthians 14:40
4. Men are to be the spiritual teachers/preachers in a congregation of men and women. –
1 Timothy 2:11-12; 1 Corinthians 14:26ff
5. Strive to do all to the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31
6. Edification of the Church. – Ephesians 4:11-12

What's missing here? No Law, no Gospel, no means of grace, no forgiveness, no Christ. But I'm sure you'll feel really good about yourself and learn how to be a "good person" and have a "happy life" if you go to this church. Make sure to bring your vomit bag if you do.

And it gets worse. Here is the St. Mark's website description of their worship styles: (http://stmarkpartners.org/content/category/9/33/78/)

"St. Mark Lutheran Church exists to make a meaningful and relevant impact on the lives and hearts of people who live in the Northeast Wisconsin area. We offer hope, healing, and spiritual solutions to people wherever they are in their journey. For spiritual seekers, those investigating the gospel message, our goal is to help you find practical answers to your spiritual questions. For everyone, we want to provide availability and easy access to a variety of experiences that help you grow spiritually.

Because we believe the message of God’s love and forgiveness is the most thrilling, inspiring, life-changing message of all time, we want to do everything possible to reach people with that message. Therefore, we strive to make our presentation of Christ creative, relevant, understandable, memorable, and engaging. We want to help you connect with the personal hope and practical help that God can give us.

Therefore we offer two "styles" of worship: contemporary and traditional, that you can explore, learn, and grow spiritually in a way that is memorable, engaging, and that suits your personal style."

Funny. I always thought the church existed to proclaim the Gospel to lost sinners and administer the word and sacraments. Welcome to our Brave New World in WELS.

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Beavis and Butthead are not content to trust in the Word.


What's Wrong with Pietism?
1. Experimenting with Sects - Not Wise.
2. No Safe Sects





Niall Good
has left a new comment on your post "Your Pietism Detection Kit":

Could you be more specific and tell us what you real (sic) feel about Pietists?
Niall

***

GJ - I have many posts on the subject. Click on the Pietism label for more information. For Lutherans, there are two major objections:

1. Pietism began with Spener, the first union theologian. When denominations set aside their doctrinal differences to work together, they fall into decline - first Unitarianism (service unites, doctrine divides), then atheism gilded with political activism.

2. Lutherans fool themselves when they imagine dabbling in something doctrinally neutral, as the Fuller Brush salesmen try to claim. Spener's cell groups produce doctrinal bastards. One thing leads to another. A glance turns into a stare, a momentary crush into an obsession. As James promised, the impulse leads to sin.

KJV James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

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More Admonitions Like This Are Needed





Random Intolerance

Random Dan and Intolerant Elle unite their blogs in holy matrimony.
Monday, January 05, 2009
The Promised Rant
There were two pieces of news within the WELS recently that disturbed me.

The first is the WELS equivalent to Jesus First (Church and Change) has invited a Baptist, Ed Stetzer, to speak to them about, what else, missions! The problem, however, isn't that Dr. Stetzer wants to reach others for Christ, but that the man isn't Lutheran. He's going to bring his Baptist perspective to a Lutheran gathering. The man sees no role for the sacraments. We can think we can "spoil the Egyptians," but this type of thinking is leading us into the same place the American Church has now landed: Christless Christianity. Oh, there are people who do not like this. The District Presidents got together and grumbled a little, but nothing happened. No one was disciplined, and life goes on. I wish someone in the WELS would grow a spine.

The second piece of news is more disturbing. By digging a little, I also found more interesting side tidbits to this story. Paul Kelm received and accepted a call to Parish Services. The Director of Parish services, Bruce Becker, issued this call after being directed by Synodical President Mark Schroeder not to add staff due to the economic woes. President Schroeder didn't know about the call until Kelm's name showed up on the call list. How in the world am I supposed to put the best construction on that, especially when it has leaked that Becker kept President Schroeder in the dark on purpose.

Here's a few tidbits to the story (some of which you may already know). John Parlow, Pastor of St Mark Du Pere and Green Bay, WI, has been caught not once but twice plagiarizing sermons from Baptist websites. In case you are wondering, I still have in my possession the proof that this occurred. This is where Paul Kelm was called from. Even better, St Mark is a member of the Willow Creek Association as well as the WELS. This begs the question why hasn't President Engelbrecht and the rest of the Northern Wisconsin Praesidium come down on St. Marks and her pastors harder and with more fury than God came down on Sodom and Gomorrah? This is a clear violation of fellowship principles! Why aren't WELS pastors screaming their lungs out about this instead of just privately complaining about this when among themselves? Who will be our St. Nicholas, a man who became so angered by Arius' false theology about Christ that he stood up and slapped him?

Just to light a fire under some church workers, look at who else is part of the Willow Creek Association. Yes, welcome to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago! Parlow has somehow united us all to the ELCA, LCMS, the spawn of Calvin, the spawn of the Radical Reformation, and to Rome. Happy Day!

As another historical tidbit, the Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father...) was brought into the Church's canticles to fight Arius' poisonous doctrines on Christ. That is why we sing it it in every Psalm and canticle.... Oh, wait. We use Christian Worship. They only left it in the Psalms. (Stay tuned for another segment of "why our hymnal sucks, especially after the LCMS put out the LSB" after these important messages).

Note: edited because the author can't spell Du Pere nor can he keep from using just one definite article.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More Admonitions Like This Are Needed":

(Thankfully I'm a member of a district that, so far, has been mostly free of the influence of CG heresy.)

Are you joking? Who cares what district you are a part of?? The SYNOD, of which you are a part, allows this apostasy to continue. Please wake up and shake up those pastors who are firmly grounded in God's Word. Encourage them to stand up and heed the admonition to 'Put on the armour of God'. If God be for you, who can be against you? Even the retired pastors, who can surely see the synod's decline from when they were on active duty, stand up and be heard! Help show where Synod has strayed and how to get back on track. Maybe a current pastor with a church fears some kind of punitive actions, but these retired guys have nothing to lose. God still has a purpose for them in His church and this very well may be it. STAND UP AND BE HEARD!!


Mug Shots for the WELS/ELS Chicanery Convention in November



Mark Jeske, heavily promoted by WELS, will not admit to being WELS on TV. The Chicanery leadership is drawn from Jeske, Parlow, Patterson, and overpaid staff at WELS headquarters (aka The Love Shack). Mequon seminary Professor Richard Gurgle and Professor-in-Exile John Lawrenz are also Chicanery partisans.




ELS Pastor Nathan Krause works with this bunch, and he has a vicar being trained in Enthusiasm.



Bruce Becker hired Paul Calvin Kelm covertly, then left for Jeske's Time of Grace.



Elton Stroh will turn your church around, so a Lutheran congregation can start acting like a Babtist one. Stetzer would be pleased. Aderman could use some of this, since it hasn't worked for him in 20 years.



Ron Roth was the first editor of TELL, the Church Growth magazine for WELS. He headed stewardship for WELS when it went broke. He can do the same for your congregation, since he now works with Jeff Davis as a professional money-raiser for WELS/LCMS.



Jeff Davis will present his insights on money-raising in the congregation. He gets a commission from the results, not a stated fee.



Randy Hunter has a vicar this year, which means his District Pussycat approves his methods, such as having a cross in a coffee cup as the logo for Latte Lutheran Church.



Aderman retired but went back to frog-kissing for Church Growth. He will probably be greeted as a hero at this conference.



Patterson Network member Geiger is a featured speaker again. But there is no Church Growth in WELS. And it there were, Patterson--who also led a session and posts on their listserve--would not be part of it.



Brian Arthur Lampe is a board member of this sect and a youth leader at St. Marcus.



John Parlow, St. Mark, Depere, WI, is a member of the Willow Creek Association ministerium. His church belongs to the WCA. Here he is posing for Ski at Drive 08, a Babtist worship conference run by Andy Stanley. Ski, Katie, Glende, and around 7 WELS pastors attended Drive 09 together. Parlow was one of the founding members of Church and Chicanery.



I understand from Steve Witte's Gordon Conwell paper that John Johnson was also a founding member of Church and Chicanery. Johnson is on the staff at St. Mark Willow Creek Lutheran.


***

GJ - Corrections, additions, and fervent denials are welcome.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mug Shots for the WELS/ELS Chicanery Convention in...":

I didn't see Paul Kelm's name on the list. He can turn your church around in a few short weeks. It goes from a Pastor who is taught and trained for eight years passing his torch on to the congregation and everybody becomes a minister. Now the pastor is freed up to do nothing and the responsibility for everything including missions and ministry can fall on the laity's shoulders. That way if things go haywire, it's your fault. Kelm can accomplish all this for around $10,000.





Two Faced WELS Kitteh




WELS laity and pastors - time to do your own homework. Now you have the Church and Change conference agenda in color. That gives you a clear portrait of apostasy, with Thrivent showing up to promote their business.

Executive Summary
Jeske's St. Marcus/Time of Grace staff is running most of it, with help from the Patterson network (Geiger), and those aging warhorses of Church Growth - Ron Roth and Jeff Davis (who just happen to run a money-raising business in WELS/LCMS congregations). Randy Hunter will present his caffeinated vision of ministry. There is a chunk to devoted to Women's Ministry, so no one notices the baby-steps to women's ordination (thank you John Brug).

Becker is running a WELS Pietism Institute meeting at the seminary right after the convention.

Aderman, a founder and former board member of C and C, really should present his experience on driving his church membership down by 50%, getting fired for non-work, and grabbing back the call while officially and publicly retired from the ministry.

Y'all will hear from Aderman anyhoo. He has the next 10 issues of FIC to explain the Ten Commandments. Oh yeah, a founder of Church and Chicanery is a contributing editor of FIC, burning your offering dollars to promote Enthusiasm.



UPS Driver and Chicanery board member 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. He also runs a business called CEO Ministries.

Stroh and Becker To Help Chicaneries Gain Momentum After Convention



Bruce Becker was head of WELS Perish Services and a board member of Church and Change when he hired Paul Calvin Kelm, then escaped The Love Shack to work for Mark Jeske.



Elton Stroh remains in Perish Services, promoting Babtist Ed Stetzer on the Church and Change listserve, even though the COP frowned upon the original Stetzer C and C invite.


From: Michelle Eggert
Subject: 2009 Church & Change Conference: Regaining Momentum
Date: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 7:22 PM


2009 Church & Change Conference: Regaining Momentum

The 2009 Church & Change Conference will feature an outstanding line-up of speakers and ministry topics. Our main presenters will be Rev. Bruce Becker, Director of Operations for Time of Grace and Rev. Elton Stroh, director of our WELS Parish Assistance program. Rev. Becker will be examining characteristics that are hurting our congregations as well as those that are helping congregations in their efforts to bring the Gospel to more people. Rev. Stroh will discuss the what certain churches did to turnaround from being in decline to becoming more active.

You will be challenged, inspired and encouraged as a Christian and as a leader of Christians. When several hundred creative WELS leaders gather around God's Word and share their ideas, that's what we expect to happen!

The conference will be held Thursday, November 5 through Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel and Convention Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The cost for the conference is $200.00 per person ($280 for registrations received on or after September 16, 2009). A special "3+1 offer" will be available to congregations sending four or more participants. All meals are included in the conference price, but participants will need to provide their own lodging.

Special conference hotel rates of $99 single or $109 double occupancy per night are available at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel & Convention Center through October 13, 2009. Please contact the hotel directly to make your hotel reservations at (866) 625-3104 and mention you are attending the Church & Change Conference.

Reservations can also be made online at: http://www.wyndham.com/groupeventsnew/mkeap_churchchange09/main.wnt.

All registrations will take place online at http://www.regonline.com/churchandchange2009. For a full description of each presenter/topic, click C&C program.bw.pdf for efficient black/white printing or C&C program.color.pdf for full color viewing printing. Check out our Website (www.churchandchange.org) for further details.This conference is shaping up to be the best ever!

Pastor Ron Ash
Chairman, The Center for Church & Change


This email communication was sent by:
The Center for Church & Change

***

GJ - How difficult is it to connect the dots and form a picture?

Ron Ash's congregation sponsored The CORE, although its lavish spending ($250,000 blown so far) remains a mystery.

Ski and Bishop Katie worked together at St. Marcus (Jeske) before spending their monthlies at various expensive Schwermer conferences around the country: Drive, Catalyst, Drive again, Granger, Mars Hill, and Echo.

Becker went to work for Jeske when WELS began making noises about getting rid of his job.

Stroh worked for Becker at The Love Shack and now promotes Stetzer.



Thursday, July 23, 2009

The CORE Numbers



Vermiculatus Rex - The CORE's mascot.

Check out this link for videos posted by The CORE.



The CORE by the Numbers:


The CORE held its grand opening on April 19, 2009.

* $250,000 spent
* 200 average weekly attendance since the grand opening
* 15 members

The information for the above attendance numbers was gathered at St. Peter’s open forum on June 16, 2009 A.D., and the above numbers are current as of that date.

As of this week, The CORE has yet to serve the Lord’s Supper, and is waiting until special hand made communion-ware is manufactured. According to Pastor Glende, most new congregations do not serve the Lord’s Supper for several months. Once The CORE begins to serve communion, then they will have a better idea of how many of its attendees are members of other area WELS congregations.

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Quotations from the recently entertained:


This church just is totally alive, and you can feel that it’s blessed by God. And like the sign up here says … “To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing.” And how Pastor Ski … will do anything short of sin to reach people.

--

The idea of getting real and talking about the issues that really matter. There are so many people that are struggling, and they don’t know where to go; and God is there, he wants to help us, he is just waiting for us to cry out to him.

--

It was so awesome when I walked in, and I heard the airport sound effects going. The whole atrium was set up to look like an airport, and we got to pick up our tickets. It was just so much fun.

The whole concept of “Baggage,” and being able to deliver that to Jesus is just fantastic.


***

GJ - The facts and quotes listed above came from a member of the sponsoring congregation, St. Peter in Freedom, Wisconsin, part of the Fox Valley or A-town area. The retired pastor, Ron Ash, chairs Church and Change.

The material about The CORE makes me sick and extremely sad. I do not think I can joke about this fiasco anymore. Partly it is the money wasted, but even more it is the money lavished on creating a Groeschel franchise. For any of the WELS leaders to think this is a work of genius, an enormous amount of study with false teachers is absolutely essential.

The Shrinkers like to send anonymous comments like, "Why is this your business?" Of course, the Wisconsin sect feels free to comment disparagingly about all denominations, especially the ELS. Non-membership does not suggest a barrier to commentary. My despair comes from the decades of deliberate Lutheran abandonment of Biblical doctrine and worship. This abandonment has taken place in ELCA, Missouri, WELS, and somewhat in the wee little ELS. The Little Sect on the Prairie also has a Church and Change congregation, but I am sure their Board of Doctrine has jumped on that like a hobo on a hotdog.

Apathy and somnolence have created this problem. The watchmen on the towers of Zion have dosed off or taken bribes to play dumb.

The Word of God and the Confessions can set the course right again.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

I wouldn't be so sure about ELS's Board of Doctrine jumping on their C & C congregation. That congregation even had a vicar last year.

***

GJ - My typo! I meant the ELS Bored of Doctrine. You are right. They will do nothing. Besides, it is probably one of those experiments.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Dr. Jackson,

This news about the CORE (and the whole concept really) makes me feel ill as well. I was a member of St. Matthew in Appleton for over 20 years until I moved. I still have friends and family members there, though I have encouraged them to find a better church. That congregation has also been infested with Church Growth,and Ski was even allowed to preach there recently. That congregation was one large and vibrant. Since the CG crowd took over, the school has closed and the membership has probably dwindled to about half of what it once was. Meanwhile, the Shrinkers running the church have wasted a fortune on AV equipment and technology that has not done a single thing to expand the church's ministry.

If the synod had leaders had any spine, they would confront Ski now and force the CORE to close its so-called ministry. It should never have been allowed to happen in the first placel. One would think St. Paul, one block from the CORE, would be howling, but I've heard nothing.a Where is the DP? Where is the SP? Why are the other churches in the Fox Valley not fighting this thing? WELS leadership, churches, and members need to stand up now before it is too late, if it is not already.

$250,000 spent. How many teachers could that have kept in our schools or pastors in mission fields? When I read these things, I'm ashamed to be a member of the WELS.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

"$250,000 spent. How many teachers could that have kept in our schools or pastors in mission fields? When I read these things, I'm ashamed to be a member of the WELS."

How much other money, millions possibly, has been hidden away for their special purposes? How much of the $8 million shortfall went missing the same way?

One thing for sure, the leaders are obstinate liars who care very little about WELS, WELS called workers, and you. While they revel in fantasized glory before God, they busy themselves destroying the church visible and invisible. They want it all gone for their Father Below.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Article VII of the Augsburg Confession had defined the Church as “the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” It states that the Gospel taught rightly and the Sacraments administered according to the Gospel are the marks of the Church. Wherever these go one, there we know that the Church is present.
It's obvious that "The CORE" is not in fellowship with the rest of the synod and the leaders such as the District and even Synod Presidents should start taking immediate disciplinary action to remove them from the WELS roster. Anything less than that is unacceptable.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Regarding St. Paul's reaction to the CORE:

I'm a member of another WELS church (Riverview) close to the CORE and have friends who are members at St. Paul. Their pastors did howl about the CORE to their DP, SP, and circuit pastor. They even called the DP in for a special meeting to try to get some answers out of him.

My friends are not sure how far the pastors got in their objections. But they assume the complaining was mostly ignored, judging by the fact that absolutely nothing has been done to temper the CORE's enthusiasm (pun intended).

Thankfully, St. Paul has refused to compromise its traditional worship and strong teaching since the CORE moved in.

I have also heard from these friends that St. Paul is actually growing in membership and school enrollment, while the CORE's weekly attendance is already in decline as the novelty wears off for all of its WELS attendees.



Ski's DP Engelbrecht has CORE values. What does the Conference of Pussycats say?
They approved Rock N Roll Lutheran Church in Round Rock, Texas, and Randy Hunter's Latte Lutheran Church in Wisconsin.

The Kitteh in the Kettle



WELS kitteh on heavy doses of Valium




George Barna, a Fuller favorite, is the author of The Frog in the Kettle, a book on how to fool the congregation into accepting change.

Download from here.


Your Pietism Detection Kit





You are a Pietist if:



  1. You imagine love converts people - and you really hate those who disagree.
  2. You consider your worship and study with Pentecostals/Babtists a delicious secret, which you share with about 1/3 your ministerium.
  3. You say "Where are the grant application forms" even more often than "Eighth Commandment!"
  4. You dismiss the historic Christian faith as "legalism."
  5. You are visibly excited whenever someone claims to be converted by an Enthusiast.
  6. You think Holy Communion is detrimental to a good service.
  7. You think the liturgy is a barrier to growth.
  8. You wince when you hear the word "Creed."
  9. You realize that a fix-it talk is much more effective than a Law/Gospel sermon.
  10. You send nasty, crude, foul-mouthed, anonymous comments to Ichabod.



Justification Without Faith Easily Refuted



Norma Boeckler


"This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life."

Formula of Concord, SD III. #16. Righteousness of Faith. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 251.

***

GJ - The UOJ Stormtroopers try to make reconciliation "God's justification of the entire world - before and apart from faith." Their UOJ diamond is really a lump of coal, served to the innocent. The plain, simple words of the Scriptures are evident to every believer, but it takes considerable seminary training to convert justification by faith into UOJ.


Church and Change Janisarries



B and B post and retreat, perhaps to feed their base by RSS. They keep deleting their ugliest material, just as Krohn committed blogicide on his own, erasing every pearl of wisdom about the value of Rock N Roll for the Lutheran Church.


The Janisarries were the plague of Christian Europe, because the Ottoman Muslims grabbed Christian children, or demanded them as a tithe, and raised them as fanatical warriors.

The horror of the Muslim Janisarries came from Christians seeing their own race attacking them and mowing them down.

In time the Janisarries became so tame that they surveyed a battlefield to find to best exit for a retreat.

The Shrinkers have been using Janisarries, raising them through the WELS school system and in chosen fake missions (big grants, specializing in sheep-stealing from other WELS churches). Minders in every area start attacking as soon as someone raises an issue about WELS' false doctrine.

Shrinkers even maintain Janisarries in the woe-begotten CLC (sic) - Paul Tiefel and David Koenig. Tiefel begins every defense of WELS false doctrine with, "While we are not in fellowship with them, we still have to obey the Eighth Commandment." Thus CLC pastors Tiefel and Koenig attack CLC pastors for daring to murmur a word of doubt about WELS.

Beavis and Butthead started their own blogs to sing the praises of Church and Change. They also invade other blogs to make nasty, obscene, and dumber-than-a-bag-of-rocks statements. Clearly they read without discernment and write without coherence.

Beavis and Butthead have declared a Holy War, but they retreat and hide as much as possible.


Picture Yourself in This Brand New Edsel
Hey, You Are Already in It



Jim Huebner is selling, but Craig Groeschel is driving.



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What Church and Change Offers WELSAnd Lutherdom":

"District officials/VP candidates like Kudu Don Patterson and Jim Huebner are excellent examples of studying with false teachers and still being taken seriously."

Now they are ready to assume of the role 1st VP where they can spoil WELS congregations. Hey, anything goes in WELS provided you have the right connections.


UOJ on Paper
Wauwatosa Lives




Two Lutheran laymen are supplying me great graphics, like the ones posted today.

This is a good time to remind people that laymen got me studying UOJ in the first place. The clergy did not want to touch it.

The only people who advocate UOJ are Church Shrinkers and clergy who have spent too much time in the system, not enough time in the Confessions.


The Sacraments




Sacraments

"For Scripture never calls either Baptism or the Lord's Supper mysteries or sacraments. Therefore this is an unwritten (agraphos) appellation."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 29. Chapter 8.

"If we call Sacraments rites which have the command of God, and to which the promise of grace has been added, it is easy to decide what are properly Sacraments. For rites instituted by men will not in this way be Sacraments properly so called. For it does not belong to human authority to promise grace. Therefore signs instituted without God’s command are not sure signs of grace, even though they perhaps instruct the rude [children or the uncultivated], or admonish as to something [as a painted cross]. Therefore Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution, which is the Sacrament of Repentance, are truly Sacraments. For these rites have God's command and the promise of grace, which is peculiar to the New Testament. For when we are baptized, when we eat the Lord's body, when we are absolved, our hearts must be firmly assured that God truly forgives us for Christ's sake. And God, at the same time, by the Word and by the rite, moves hearts to believe and conceive faith, just as Paul says, Romans 10:17: 'Faith cometh by hearing.' But just as the Word enters the ear in order to strike our heart, so the rite itself strikes the eye, in order to move the heart. The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same, as it has been well said by Augustine that a Sacrament is a visible word, because the rite is received by the eyes, and is, as it were, a picture of the Word, signifying the same thing as the Word. Therefore the effect of both is the same."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XIII, #3-5. Number/Use Sacraments. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 309. Tappert, p. 211. Heiser, p. 94. Chapter 8

"The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same, as it has been well said by Augustine that a sacrament is a visible word, because the rite is received by the eyes, and is, as it were, a picture of the Word, signifying the same thing as the Word. Therefore the effect of both is the same."
Apology Augsburg Confession, XIII. #5. Sacraments. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1921, p. 309. Tappert, p. 211. Heiser, p. 94. Chapter 8.

"And we know that the Church is among those who teach the Word of God aright, and administer the Sacraments aright, and not with those who not only by their edicts endeavor to efface God's Word, but also put to death those who teach what is right and true; towards whom, even though they do something contrary to the canons, yet the very canons are milder."
Apology Augsburg Confession, XIV. #4. Eccles. Order. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 315. Tappert, p. 214f. Heiser, p. 96.

"Of the Use of the Sacraments they teach that the Sacraments were ordained, not only to be marks of profession among men, but rather to be signs and testimonies of the will of God toward us, instituted to awaken and confirm faith in those who use them. Wherefore we must so use the Sacraments that faith be added to believe the promises which are offered and set forth through the Sacraments."
Augsburg Confession, Article XIII. The Use of the Sacraments. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 49. Tappert, p. 35f. Heiser, p. 13f.

"For it is not the sacramental action, but the Word that accompanies the action, which communicates saving grace; and this Word received, not by the body, but by the heart and mind, so as to awaken faith. Without faith, 'sine bono motu utentis,' no benefit is received from the Sacraments."
Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 319.

"In order to offer and convey to men the merits which Christ has secured for the world by His death on the cross, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:18, God employs certain external, visible means through which the Holy Spirit works and preserves faith and thus accomplishes the sinner's salvation."
John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 441. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Rom 5:18.

"Since God has connected His most gracious promise of forgiveness with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, these also are true and efficacious means of grace, namely, by virtue of the divine promises that are attached to them."
John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 444.

"When intent upon establishing their peculiar tenets, Calvin and Zwingli likwise preferred rational argumentation to the plain proofs of Holy Writ. Their interpretation of the words of the Sacrament is but one glaring instance; but there are many more. The schools and the denominations which they founded became infected with this same disease of theology."
Martin S. Sommer, Concordia Pulpit for 1932, Martin S. Sommer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1931, p. iii.

"Both Baptism and the Lord's Supper qualify as Means of Grace because of the simple fact that they are visible forms of the essential Gospel message announcing the forgiveness of sins."
Martin W. Lutz, "God the Holy Spirit Acts Through the Lord's Supper," God The Holy Spirit Acts, ed., Eugene P. Kaulfield, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1972, p. 117.

"Since the age of Rationalism and Lutheran Pietism a new spirit has crept into the life of the church which is un-Lutheran, un-Evangelical, and un-biblical. The Sacraments have been neglected at the expense of the Word."
Walter G. Tillmanns, "Means of Grace: Use of," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, II, p. 1505.

"The Sacraments are not mere symbolic expressions by which faith is strengthened (Calvin), nor are they mere acts of confession of faith (notae professionis, Zwingli), but are effective means by which God sows faith in the hearts of men."
Walter G. Tillmanns, "Means of Grace: Use of," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, II, p. 1506.

"There is no efficacy or value in a sacrament, except as it is an organ for applying the Word...The Word outside of and the Word within the Sacrament, are equally precious and efficacious. Nor can any contrast be made concerning different forms of efficacy, as though the Word without an element had a different effect to accomplish within the economy of grace from the Word when joined with the element." [Note Apology - "The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same, as it has been well said by Augustine that a Sacrament is 'a visible Word.'" p. 276]
Henry Eyster Jacobs, Elements of Religion, Philadelphia, Board of Publication, General Council 1919 p. 162.

"As distinguished from the Gospel, Sacraments are acts, we apply water in Baptism, and we eat and drink in the Lord's Supper. They are sacred acts, and must, as such, be distinguished from ordinary washing, eating and drinking...A Sacrament which offers God's blessings cannot be instituted by man or the Church, but by God alone."
Edward W. A. Koehler, A Short Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther's Small Catechism, Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1946, p. 254.

"The devil does not rest yet, and hence he stirs up so many sects and factions. How many sects have we not already had? One has taken up the sword, another has attacked the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, others that of baptism."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 266. Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, John 4:46-54; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:12

"They separate grace from Baptism and leave us a mere external sign, in which there is not a grain of mercy; all grace has been cut away. Now, if the grace of Christ has been removed from Baptism, there remains nothing but a mere work. Likewise, in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the fanatics remove the promise offered us in this Sacrament; they tell us that what we eat and drink is nothing but bread and wine. Here, too, the proffered grace is cut away and renounced. For they teach us that the only good work that we do by communing is professing Christ; as to the rest, we merely eat and drink bread and wine in the Supper, and there is no grace in it for us. That is the result of falling away from the First Commandment: a person promptly sets up an idol in the form of some meritorious work, in which he trusts." (Luther, on Deuteronomy 4:28; St. L. III, 1691 ff.)
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 160. Deuteronomy 4:28.

"Let a prince give a person a castle or several thousand dollars, what a jumping and rejoicing it creates! On the other hand, let a person be baptized or receive the communion which is a heavenly, eternal treasure, there is not one-tenth as much rejoicing. Thus we are by nature; there is none who so heartily rejoices over God's gifts and grace as over money and earthly possessions; what does that mean but that we do not love God as we ought?"
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 190 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 22:34-46

Means of Grace - Extensive Quotations


Means of Grace

"The Holy Spirit works through the Word and the Sacraments, which only, in the proper sense, are means of grace. Both the Word and the Sacraments bring a positive grace, which is offered to all who receive them outwardly, and which is actually imparted to all who have faith to embrace it."

Charles P. Krauth, The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology, Philadelphia: The United Lutheran Publication House, 1871, p. 127. chap 8

"But just as the Word of God is the means of Grace, it is also the means of judgment. 'He that rejected Me,' says Christ, John 12:48, 'and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the Last Day.'"

Eduard Preuss, "The Means of Grace," The Justification of the Sinner before God, trans., Julius A. Friedrich, Chicago: F. Allerman, 1934, p. 63. John 12:48. chap 8

"The Lutheran Church Faces the World by clinging to the Means of Grace. The doctrine of the means of grace is truly a most timely subject. For just in these last times, according to divine revelation, there will be at work many spiritual brigands who will perpetrate the grossest kind of deception."

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 322. chapt 8

"Wherever the means of grace are present, there the Lord Himself is present, and where the Lord rules there is victory. The true doctrine of justification is intimately bound up with the true doctrine of the means of grace. In order to keep the doctrine of justification in all its purity, one must ever maintain that the forgiveness of sins which Christ earned for mankind can never be appropriated by man through any other means than the Word and the Sacrament. Therefore, Walther said, the correct doctrine on justification stands or falls with the correct doctrine concerning the means of grace."

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 327. "peculiar glory" follows. See Conc Cyc.

"In its teaching on the immutability, unchangeableness, and permanency of the means of grace, the Lutheran Church gives all glory to God alone because it teaches that no one, not even a minister of the Word, can change the means of grace from that which God instituted."

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 333.

"A denial of the efficacy and sufficiency of the means of grace is contained in the theological systems of all religious enthusiasts."

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 343. chap 8

"'The hearers of the Word of God who understand the doctrine of the means of grace will be diligent hearers of it. While God has commanded the pastor to preach the Gospel, He has commanded the congregation to hear it. The Gospel is the means not only of converting the sinner, but also of strengthening the faith of those who already are converted. Christians having this knowledge will be faithful and diligent in the use of the means of grace.'"

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 346.

"For this reason we shall now relate, furthermore, from God's Word how man is converted to God, how and through what means [namely, through the oral Word and the holy Sacraments] the Holy Ghost wants to be efficacious in us, and to work and bestow in our hearts true repentance, faith, and new spiritual power and ability for good, and how we should conduct ourselves towards these means, and [how we should] use them."

Formula of Concord SD II. #48. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 901. Tappert, p. 530. Heiser, p. 246. chap 8

"Therefore God, out of His immense goodness and mercy, has His divine eternal Law and His wonderful plan concerning our redemption, namely, the holy, alone-saving Gospel of His eternal Son, our only Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, publicly preached; and by this [preaching] collects an eternal Church for Himself from the human race, and works in the hearts of men true repentance and knowledge of sins, and true faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And by this means, and in no other way, namely, through His holy Word, when men hear it preached or read it, and the holy Sacraments when they are used according to His Word, God desires to call men to eternal salvation, draw them to Himself, and convert, regenerate, and sanctify them. 1 Corinthians 1:21: 'For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' Acts 10:5-6..."

Formula of Concord SD II. #50. Free Will. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 901. Tappert, p. 530f. Heiser, p. 246. 1 Corinthians 1:21; Acts 10:5-6. chap 8

"Also, we reject and condemn the error of the Enthusiasts, who imagine that God without means, without the hearing of God's Word, also without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them."

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 789. Tappert, p. 471. Heiser, p. 219.

"This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life."

Formula of Concord, SD III. #16. Righteousness of Faith. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 251.

"Moreover, the declaration, John 6:44, that no one can come to Christ except the Father draw him, is right and true. However, the Father will not do this without means, but has ordained for this purpose His Word and Sacraments as ordinary means and instruments; and it is the will neither of the Father nor of the Son that a man should not hear or should despise the preaching of His Word, and wait for the drawing of the Father without the Word and Sacraments. For the Father draws indeed by the power of His Holy Ghost, however, according to His usual order [the order decreed and instituted by Himself], by the hearing of His holy, divine Word, as with a net, by which the elect are plucked from the jaws of the devil. Every poor sinner should therefore repair thereto [to holy preaching], hear it attentively, and not doubt the drawing of the Father. For the Holy Ghost will be with His Word in His power, and work by it...."

Formula of Concord, SD XI. #76-77. Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1089. Tappert, p. 629. Heiser, p. 293. John 6:44. chap 8.

"In reconciling the world unto Himself by Christ's substitutionary satisfaction, God asked no one's advice concerning His singular method of reconciliation. In like manner, without asking any man's advice, He ordained the means by which He gives men the infallible assurance of His gracious will toward them; in other words, He both confers on men the remission of sins merited by Christ and works faith in the proffered remission or, where faith already exists, strengthens it. The Church has appropriately called these divine ordinances the means of grace, media gratiae, instrumenta gratiae; Formula of Concord: 'Instrumenta sive media Spiritus Sancti' (Triglotta, p. 903, Solid Declaration, II, 58). They are the Word of the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, as will be shown more fully on the following pages."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 103.

"We saw before that Scripture ascribes the forgiveness of sins without reservation to the Word of the Gospel, to Baptism, and to the Lord's Supper. Therefore all means of grace have the vis effectiva, the power to work and to strengthen faith." [Note: Augsburg Confession, V, XIII]

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 108f.

"Also the objection that there is no need of offering and confirming to Christians one and the same forgiveness of sins in several ways betrays an astonishing ignorance. Both Scripture and experience teach that men who feel the weight of their sins find nothing harder to believe than the forgiveness of their sins. Hence repetition of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins in various ways through the means of grace meets a practical need of Christians."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 114.

"To remain properly humble while firmly rejecting all erroneous teachings regarding the means of grace, we should remind ourselves how even Christians who teach and, as a rule, also believe, the correct doctrine of the means of grace, in their personal practice very often lose sight of the means of grace. This is done whenever they base the certainty of grace, or of the forgiveness of sin, on their feeling of grace or the gratia infusa, instead of on God's promise in the objective means of grace. All of us are by nature 'enthusiasts.'"

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 131.

"No other human writer has so forcefully as Luther set forth the nature of the divinely ordained means of grace, their importance for faith and life, and the destructive effect of severing grace from the means of grace. For Luther was trained in the school of the terrors of conscience for the work of reforming the Church, while Zwingli's reformation and theology sprang largely from the soil of Humanism and bears a speculative stamp throughout. Calvinistic theology from Calvin down to our day teaches not so much the God who has revealed and given Himself to us in His Word, but at the critical points substitutes speculations regarding the absolute God for what the divine Word teaches."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 137f.

"Luther holds that all who deny that the Word and the Sacraments dispense the forgiveness of sins, who therefore find it particularly offensive if men remit sins, do not actually take God's Word to be God's Word, but regard it as merely the word of men. See St. L. XIX:945; XIII:2441, etc."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 207.

"It is, for example, very terrible that the Lutheran Church, because it has the true doctrine of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, is decried as 'Catholic.' This attack against the true Church is no small matter."

Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 44.

"In the Acts of the Apostles also we read how again and again the Spirit was given through and in connection with the Word. The Apostles depended on nothing but Word and Sacrament."

G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887, p. 136. chap 8

"The same divine Saviour now works through means. He has founded a Church, ordained a ministry, and instituted the preaching of the Word and the administration of His own sacraments. Christ now works in and through His Church. Through her ministry, preaching the Word, and administering the sacraments, the Holy Spirit is given. (Augsburg Confession, Article 5.)

G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887, p. 30. chap 8

"But in extraordinary cases, does He not dispense with means? Even there, means are employed; but in an extraordinary way. At Pentecost the multitudes were converted through the Word, although this Word was given under extraordinary conditions and circumstances, just as the multitudes in the wilderness were sustained not without bread, but with bread furnished in an extraordinary manner."

Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 266. chap 8

"When the efficacy of Word and Sacraments encounters man's unbelief and persistent resistance, their efficacy is not destroyed; but it is transformed from an efficacy of grace to one of judgment (2 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 11:29)."

Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 320. chap 8

"God bestows His saving grace 'only through the Word and with the external and preceding Word' (nisi per verbum et cum verbo externo et praecedente, SA-III VIII, 3; John 8:31-32; Rom 10:14-17). Therefore the Bible inculcates faithful adherence to the Gospel and the Sacraments administered according to Christ's institution (Mt 28:19-20; John 8:31-32; Acts 17:11; Titus 1:9). Because of the strong emphasis on the Word in the Lutheran Confessions, Holy Scripture has rightly been called the Formal Principle of the Reformation."

John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 343. John 8:31; Romans 10:14-17; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 17:11; Titus 1:9.

"The Lutheran Confessions take a decisive stand against 'enthusiasts,' who teach that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men without the Word and Sacraments (SA-III VIII 3-13; LC II 34-62; FC Ep II 13)."

John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 344. chap 8

"The means of grace are necessary because of Christ's command and because they offer God's grace. God has not bound Himself to the means of grace (Lk 1:15, 41), but He has bound His church to them. Christians dare not regard as unnecessary the Sacraments and the preaching of the Word (Mt 28:19-20; Lk 22:19; 1 Co 11:23-28), as some 'enthusiasts' do."

John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 344.

"The doctrine of the means of grace is understood properly only when it is considered in the light of Christ's redemptive work (satisfactio vicaria) and the objective justification, or reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, which He secured by His substitutionary obedience (satisfactio vicaria). If these two doctrines are corrupted (Calvinism: denial of the gratia universalis; synergism: denial of sola gratia), then also the Scripture doctrine of the means of grace will become perverted."

John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 442. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.

"If the question is put, 'Why did God ordain so many means of grace when one suffices to confer upon the sinner His grace and forgiveness?' we quote the reply of Luther who writes (Smalcald Articles, IV: 'The Gospel not merely in one way gives us counsel and aid against sin, for God is superabundantly rich in His grace. First through the spoken Word, by which the forgiveness of sins is preached in the whole world, which is the peculiar office of the Gospel. Secondly through Baptism. Thirdly through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourthly through the power of the keys and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, Matthew 18:20.'"

John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 447. SA, IV, Concordia Triglotta, p. 491. Matthew 18:20. chap 8

"Such a divine kingdom con be governed, built up, protected, extended and maintained only by means of the external office of the Word and Sacraments, through which the Holy Spirit is powerful and works in the hearts etc., as I have often said in speaking on this theme."

Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 238. Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 22:1-14

"The church is recognized, not by external peace but by the Word and the Sacraments. For wherever you see a small group that has the true Word and the Sacraments, there the church is if only the pulpit and the baptismal font are pure. The church does not stand on the holiness of any one person but solely on the holiness and righteousness of the Lord Christ, for He has sanctified her by Word and Sacrament."

Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 263. Matthew 24:4-7.

"For we can definitely assert that where the Lord's Supper, Baptism, and the Word are found, Christ, the remission of sins, and life eternal are found. On the other hand, where these signs of grace are not found, or where they are despised by men, not only grace is lacking but also foul errors will follow. Then men will set up other forms of worship and other signs for themselves."

Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 914. Genesis 4:3. chap 8

"From this it follows that they act foolishly, yea, against God's order and institution, who despise and reject the external Word, thinking that the Holy Spirit and faith should come to them without means. It will indeed be a long time before that happens."

Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 915. chap 8.

"Another defect of Reformed preaching is its contempt for the Means of Grace. They will tell you that the Holy Spirit needs no vehicle, neither ox-cart nor aeroplane, to enter the heart of man; and by this rationalistic argument they think to have done away with the Means of Grace. But notice how they set about immediately to construct their own Means of Grace. Luther told them in his day: 'If the Holy Spirit needs no vehicle, no preaching, then why are you here? And why are you so earnest in spreading your errors? It seems that what you really meant to say was that the Holy Spirit does not need true prophets, but He is very much in need of false prophets.' If the Holy Spirit needs no Means of Grace, who do these Reformed churches undertake their campaigns of revivalism?"

Martin S. Sommer, Concordia Pulpit for 1932, Martin S. Sommer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1931, p. iv.

(4) "Give us Thy Spirit, peace afford Now and forever, gracious Lord. Preserve to us till life is spent Thy holy Word and Sacrament." Nikolaus Selnecker, 1572, "O Faithful God, Thanks Be to Thee,"

The Lutheran Hymnal, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941, Hymn #321. Psalm 6:1. chap 8

"The doctrine of salvation through the Means of Grace is distinctive of Lutheranism. The Catholic churches have no use for means of grace, for a Gospel and for Sacraments which offer salvation as a free gift. And the Reformed churches, while they hold, in general, that salvation is by grace, repudiate the Gospel and the Sacraments as the means of grace. It is clear that matters of fundamental importance are involved. The chief article of the Christian religion, justification by faith, stands and falls with the article of the Means of Grace. Justification by faith means absolutely nothing without the Means of Grace, whereby the righteousness gained by Christ is bestowed and faith, which appropriates the gift, is created."

The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 4f.

C. F. W. Walther: "The characteristic feature of our dear Evangelical Lutheran Church is her objectivity, which means that her entire teaching is designed to keep man from seeking salvation within himself, in the powers of his nature and will, in anything he does or is, and to bring him to seek salvation outside of himself. The teaching of all other churches is of a subjective character; it trains man to base his salvation upon himself." "And this applies in a most marked manner to their denial of the Scriptural doctrine of the Means of Grace."

F. Pieper, Lehre und Wehre, 36, 119. The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 5.

"Since it is God's gracious purpose to remove every hindrance to conversion by the means of grace, and it is still possible for a man at every point to continue in his opposition to God, a man is never without responsibility over towards the grace of God, although he may mock and say that, since God is the one who does everything for our salvation, then a man has no responsibility himself, as we see in Romans 9:19. Cf. Theses 17 and 18."

U. V. Koren, 1884, "An Accounting," Grace for Grace: Brief History of the Norwegian Synod, ed., Sigurd C. Ylvisaker, Mankato: Lutheran Synod Book Company, 1943, p. Romans 9:19.

Chap 8

"These means are the true treasure of the church through which salvation in Christ is offered. They are the objective proclamation of faith which alone makes man's subjective faith possible (Augsburg Confession, Article V). The Formula of Concord (Solid Declaration, Article XI, 76) states expressly that God alone draws man to Christ and that he does this only through the means of grace."

Walter G. Tillmanns, "Means of Grace: Use of," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, II, p. 1505.

"Calvinism rejects the means of grace as unnecessary; it holds that the Holy Spirit requires no escort or vehicle by which to enter human hearts."

John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 344. chap 8

"Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: 'The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, etc.' Matthew 23:2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men."

Augsburg Confession, VIII. What the Church Is, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 47. Tappert, p. 33. Heiser, p. 13. Matthew 23:2. chap 8

"Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. And to the true unity of the Church it is enough [satis est] to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: 'One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc.'"

Augsburg Confession, VII. The Church. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 47. Tappert, p. 32. Heiser, p. 13. Ephesians 4:4,5.

"The Anabaptists, the mystics, and other fanatics spoke of Scripture only as the external word, a dead letter, and contemptuously pronounced those who adhered to Scripture as 'worshipers of the letter.' They separated the activity of the Spirit from Scripture, from the Word, and held that the Spirit operates immediately, producing an inner illumination, etc."

E. Hove, Christian Doctrine, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1930, p. 27f.

"This doctrine concerning the inability and wickedness of our natural free will and concerning our conversion and regeneration, namely, that it is a work of God alone and not of our powers, is [impiously, shamefully, and maliciously] abused in an unchristian manner both by enthusiasts and by Epicureans; and by their speeches many persons have become disorderly and irregular, and idle and indolent in all Christian exercises of prayer, reading and devout meditation; for they say that, since they are unable from their own natural powers to convert themselves to God, they will always strive with all their might against God, or wait until God converts them by force against their will; or since they can do nothing in these spiritual things, but everything is the operation of God the Holy Ghost alone, they will regard, hear, or read neither the Word nor the Sacrament, but wait until God without means..."

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, 46, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 899. Tappert, p. 530. Heiser, p. 246.

"On the other hand, the enthusiasts should be rebuked with great earnestness and zeal, and should in no way be tolerated in the Church of God, who imagine [dream] that God, without any means, without the hearing of the divine Word, and without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them."

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, 80, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 911. Tappert, p. 536. Heiser, p. 249.

"Behind the Reformed teaching of the means of grace looms the rationalistic thought, foreign to Scripture, that divine omnipotence, which is needed to bring about faith and regeneration, cannot be exercised through means."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 147.

"In a word, enthusiasm inheres in Adam and his children from the beginning [from the first fall] to the end of the world, [its poison] having been implanted and infused into them by the old dragon, and is the origin, power [life], and strength of all heresy, especially of that of the Papacy and Mahomet. Therefore we ought and must constantly maintain this point, that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. It is the devil himself whatsoever is extolled as Spirit without the Word and Sacraments. For God wished to appear even to Moses through the burning bush and spoken Word; and no prophet, neither Elijah nor Elisha, received the Spirit without the Ten Commandments [or spoken Word]. Neither was John the Baptist conceived without the preceding word of Gabriel, nor did he leap in his mother's womb without the voice of Mary."

Smalcald Articles, Part III. VIII. #9-10. Confession. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 497. Tappert, p. 313. Heiser, p. 147. 2 Peter 1:21.

"The specific Reformed cultus, due to the Reformed denial of the efficacy and objective nature of the Means of Grace, represents a quest after the grace of God revolving around human agency and subjective experience. The Lutheran cultus places the grace of God nigh unto the sinner in the Means of Grace."

Th. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 21.

"On the contrary, with the Anabaptists and the Reformed Church in general, the Mennonites are Enthusiasts, lay great stress on the immediate working of the Holy Ghost, who is said to 'guide the saints into all truth.' In his Geschichte der Mennonitengemeinden John Horsch, a prominent Mennonite, states that the Holy Spirit is the 'inner word,' who enables Christians to understand the Scriptures. Without the inner word, or the light, the Scripture is a dead letter and a dark lantern."

The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 260.

"Scripture binds all knowledge of Christian truth to the Word of Christ, who says: ean humeis meinete ev tw logw tw emw...gnwsesthe ten aletheian (John 8:31-32). Faith and regeneration is effected by the Holy Ghost through the Word (1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 1 Peter 1:23). The Spirit is received through the hearing of faith (Galatians 3:2, 5). The Word of the Cross (ho logos ho tou staurou) is the power of God to those who are saved (1 Corinthians 1:18). Hence actually everything that is regarded as brought about by the Holy Ghost without the Word is factious, 'illusory,' 'self-produced.' The experience one has, or imagines, without the means of grace is not the product of the Holy Ghost, but is 'man-made.'"

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 136.

"The Law of God, which is also contained in Scripture, must be excluded from the concept 'means of grace,' because the Law does not assure those who have transgressed it--and all men have transgressed it--of the remission of their sins, or God's grace, but on the contrary proclaims God's wrath and condemnation. For this reason the Law is expressly called...'the ministry of condemnation,' whereas the Gospel is...'the ministry of righteousness' (2 Corinthians 3:9)."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 105. 2 Corinthians 3:9.

"Is it not a limitation of God's sovereignty and power to affirm that these acts are accomplished only through means? Theology does not deal with divine possibilities, but with what God has revealed concerning Himself and His various forms of activity. Not only have we no promise of His intervention otherwise, but He constantly turns us away from any expectation of such aid to the simple means, in and through which He promises to be always found with His entire efficacy."

Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 265.

"In so far as Pietism did not point poor sinners directly to the means of grace, but led them to reflect on their own inward state to determine whether their contrition was profound enough and their faith of the right caliber, it actually denied the complete reconciliation by Christ (the satisfactio vicaria), robbed justifying faith of its true object, and thus injured personal Christianity in its foundation and Christian piety in its very essence."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 175.

"The church is no longer the community of those who have been called by the Word and the Sacraments, but association of the reborn, of those who 'earnestly desire to be Christians'...The church in the true sense consists of the small circles of pietists, the 'conventicles,' where everyone knows everyone else and where experiences are freely exchanged."

Martin Schmidt, "Pietism," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., ed. Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, III, p. 1899.

"Only little weight is attached to the ministry of the Word, to worship services, the Sacraments, to confession and absolution, and to the observance of Christian customs; a thoroughly regenerated person does not need these crutches at all. Pietism stressed the personal element over against the institutional; voluntariness versus compulsion; the present versus tradition, and the rights of the laity over against the pastors."

Martin Schmidt, "Pietism," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., ed. Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, III, p. 1899.

"Observe, then, the depreciative, contemptuous, and scorning ring in the words of the Reformed when they speak of the sacred Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, and the grand majestic ring in the words of the Lord and the apostles when they speak of these matters...The true reason for the Reformed view is this: They do not know how a person is to come into possession of the divine grace, the forgiveness of sin, righteousness in the sight of God, and eternal salvation. Spurning the way which God has appointed, they are pointing another way, in accordance with new devices which they have invented."

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 152f.

"For the confounding of Law and Gospel that is common among the sects consists in nothing else than this, that they instruct alarmed sinners by prayer and inward wrestling to fight their way into a state of grace until they feel grace indwelling in them, instead of pointing them to the Word and the Sacraments."

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 153. Ninth thesis

"Furthermore, the reminder is in place that the Reformed teachers are not even consistent in what they teach regarding the means of grace...But inasmuch as this inconsistency makes room for the divine truth, the Holy Spirit is given the opportunity to perform His work of kindling faith in the Gospel. This circumstance should, of course, not induce us to become indifferent to the Reformed errors in the doctrine of the means of grace. We are confident that we have amply shown their unscripturalness and the complete revolution they cause in the relation God has ordained between Himself and men, because they do not place man on the Word of grace and thus on Christ and God Himself, but direct man to take his stand on himself and his own product. Hence indifferentism here is surely not in place."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 161f. See attachment

"Moreover, the advocates of this error [Reformed advocates, against the Means of Grace] are by no means always irenic people. Rather, they go on the warpath and malign the Biblical truth in many ways."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 162.

"Another very repulsive concomitant of the Reformed false teaching is spiritual pride. Because those who harbor the conception of an activity of the Holy Ghost apart from the means of grace are dealing in an illusory, man-made quality, they regard themselves, as experience amply proves, as the truly spiritual people and first-class Christians, while they consider those who in simple faith abide by the divinely appointed means of grace, 'intellectualists,' having a mere Christianity of the head; at best, second-rate Christians."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 162.

"Naturally, Universalists deny that the Sacraments are Means of Grace. Some Universalists observe three sacraments--consecration, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The act of consecration of children consists in the parents' pledging themselves to rear their children in the admonition of the Lord."

The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 409f.

"The character of the Lutheran Church is reflected in her cultus. She lives and moves and has her being in the grace of God, which comes to men in the Means of Grace. Accordingly, she calls her people together in public worship to implore the grace of God, to appropriate the grace of God, to glorify the grace of God, and has provided a liturgy which fully meets these requirements of Christian worship. Her one great concern is to have men thoroughly instructed in the Gospel and fully assured of the grace of God."

The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 20.

"In what vulgar terms does Zwingli here speak of these sacred matters! When the Holy Spirit wants to approach man, He does not need the Word of God, the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, for a conveyance; He can come without them! It must be a queer Bible which Zwingli read."

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 156.

"In other words, Zwingli and his numerous adherents declare that the means God has ordained are unnecessary and hinder true piety."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 104.

"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked."

Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1888, p. 387.