You Are Such a Tool - Of the Enthusiasts

Katie, Suffragan Bishop, Popcorn Cathedral of Rock

7/20/09 - "You're Such a Tool"


Has anyone ever said that to you before? Most of the time that phrase carries a very negative connotation. But, I’d like to suggest a different understanding.

I am a tool.

I am a tool of God. I don’t stop and thank Him enough for his grace. The grace that he chooses to use me as a tool for his kingdom.

I heard Ski say recently: “You don’t look at a house recently built and say, ‘Wow! That hammer, those saws, they really did a great job.’ No, you look at the people who put the power behind those tools and say ‘Wow! Those builders did a great job! The same is true of you and I (sic). We’re just tools. God does the work.’”

So true. Seems so simple. Yet, we forget that all too often. None of us deserve to be tools for God, but I feel blessed that I am.

What about you? Are you a tool? How is God using your (sic) for His kingdom?

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GJ - Do you get a buzz from their blogs? I do. They have spent so much time with the Enthusiasts that Bishop Katie can talk about tools without mentioning the Instruments of Grace, another term for the Means of Grace. The tool is the Word in its truth and purity. Unfortunately, the suffragan bishop goes to Ski for spiritual wisdom, which is a big mistake.

Oh Ski, did you copy that insight from Stanley, Groeschel, Beeson, Driscoll, or Mark Jeske?

Adolph Hoenecke Article

Click on this link for an article about WELS Professor Hoenecke, who was educated at Halle University.

Beavis and Butthead, Try To Read This Without Your Lips Moving

The famous golden dome of Notre Dame makes a great photo,
but the building below it is not so impressive.

The Shrinkers have always defended their unionism and attendance at Fuller Seminary by shrieking, "You went to Notre Dame!"

Alas, if I had only known that I would be the cause for so many falling into the clutches of Paul Y. Cho, C. Peter Wagner, and Donald McGavran.

There are three crucial differences.

One - I went to Notre Dame when serving in the LCA, which openly supported unionism, where the president James Crumley spent a lot of time working with the Antichrist.

WELS claimed to be against unionism. The Wisconsin clergy are trained to wrinkle their faces in disgust whenever the LCMS is mentioned, to make fun of the ELS whenever possible. WELS has spent over 30 years pretending to be against unionism while promoting Reformed doctrine after their own leaders have studied at Schwaermer schools - Olson for a DMin at Fuller, Kelm at St. Louis, Witte at Gordon Conwell, etc.

WELS has not yet confessed to its addiction to Reformed doctrine. To see where Church and Chicanery is going, look at their chosen keynote speakers and where board member Ski studies on a monthly basis.

Two - The Shrinkers of WELS have consistently lied about studying at Fuller Seminary: Valleskey before admitting it was true; and Bivens after confessing it in public.

How the CG Enthusiasts would howl if I lied about going to Notre Dame, but I never have dissembled about it. Most of my training was not Roman Catholic at all, but dealt in doctrinal comparisons. The chowderheads who think ND trains doctoral students to be Romanists are delusional. That is more likely at The Surrendered Fort in Ft. Wayne or Our Lady of Sorrows Seminary in St. Louis.

Notre Dame is only nominally Catholic, just as Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is only nominally Lutheran.

Yale is non-denominatinal, but my master's degree there was mostly in Biblical studies: Hebrew exegesis of Genesis; Greek exegesis of the New Testament. I also studied the problems of alcoholism, which benefited me in dealing with WELS clergy.

Three - I used my background at Notre Dame to write Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, available for free. Recently I recorded a series of lectures on the doctrinal differences and posted them on the Net. They are easily located from this blog. Only an ignorant lout would say I never criticized Catholicism. But then, only an ignorant lout would defend the Church Growth Movement.

WELS has promoted two of my books in the past, and they are real theology books, not superficial gibberish promoting puppet shows and rock music. The Shrinkers hate most of all my doctrinal criticisms of CG.

Gone with the Wind:Incompetents Gaining No Traction

I find it amusing that the Patterson Fan Club has to mimic a scholarly blog by raving for a while and then quitting.

Joe Krohn has been there before, trying to defend his tiny Rock N Roll Lutheran Church, quitting the blog, and erasing all the evidence. Rock N Roll has about 30 participants per Sunday, with all their grants and two full-time staffers. Too bad they got only $20,000 from the Antioch Foundation this year. If they had received the $200,000 requested, they might have attendance up to 35 by now.

Check with Paul Kuske. He had the counsel, advice, and labor of two divorced CG pastors, Zehms and Stolzenburg, in the birthing of his Pilgrim Lutheran Community Church. They got the attendance all the way up to three (3) when they threw in the towel.

Many people have caught on to the laziness, greed, and false teaching of the Church and Changers. Incompetent partisans, who cannot read, do not make the secretive group look any wiser.

Not Every WELS Member Agrees with the Ski-Patterson Axis of Evil

An ex-WELS member sent this Photoshop, a tribute to Ski and Rosebud.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not so sure that Jackson is on the run. He does not really have much to lose in making his attacks, and there is nothing so dangerous as someone with nothing to lose. What worries me is that there seem to be a fair number of people out there who share his attitudes. While I oppose churc (sic) growth and am glad to know many other do, I'm not at all encouraged by the manner in which they go about opposing it and who (sic) they seem to have made their champion.

July 18, 2009 10:26 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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100% agree. Jackson is now openly discussed on the WELS Facebook group among young seminarians and laypeople, and with the exception of a former synod president's nephew, seems to be quite well received there.

The core of WELS young people who value remaining truly Lutheran apparently feel that Jackson has something to offer that they aren't getting elsewhere.

July 20, 2009 12:47 AM

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DK:

To the writers of this blog: Post comments that disagree with you. It's will make you're blog look a little better.

To Anon 11:36:

As far as I can tell there are three writers of this blog--I've identified three separate styles that I can see.

You're absolutely correct in that you demand a more honest approach. Calling out the writers of this blog will hopefully make them more honest.

One request that will not be granted is a consistent theological analysis of Jackson's position. The people who write this blog are not theologians, even if one of them is a pastor.

I disagree wholeheartedly that Jackson is wrong about Justification, as you maintain.

Most of the people who disagree with Jackson haven't even read his theological works. If you want to comment on Jackson's position on justification you really oughta read "Thy Strong Word" Chapter 5. If you can disagree with Jackson and quote a published work you'll not only gain respect, but you might really solidify your understanding of his position. Below is a link to Chapter 5.

Since I have read Jackson I will boil him down to 1 paragraph: (which I'm sure he'd hate, unfortunately):

Universal Objective Justification disagrees definitionally with the Biblical (and Lutheran) principle of Justification by faith. It's not rocket science: If a man is justified by faith, he is not justified until he has faith. If a man is made a Saint by rebirth through the blood of Christ, he is not a Saint until he's been reborn.


very simple. and very defensible.

July 19, 2009 7:54 AM

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Ski is not "a few blocks away from an established WELS congregation."

He is one block away. And one mile away from another. And one mile away from another. And two miles away from another. An a mile and a half away from another. And three miles away from another. And five miles away from another. And five miles away from another.
Just get out your yearbook and go on mapquest and plot Appleton's congregation. This is no joke or exaggeration. Ski is not in Appleton to save souls. He is there to skim from other WELS churches. There is no other explanation for opening a mission where he has.

July 14, 2009 3:13 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>>What I'm trying to communicate to our readers is if someone is so messed up on justification and election, which are the foundational doctrines of Christianity, not to mention orthodox Lutheranism, then that person's error is going to infect and plague everything else he promotes and confesses.<<<>>>What Jackson offers is the farthest thing from scholarship.<<<>>>Mockery and insult never accomplished anything<<<>>>I can see his set-up being a very effective tool for reaching Gen X'ers and Y's in places like Los Angeles, etc.<<<>>>What I'm trying to communicate to our readers is if someone is so messed up on justification and election, which are the foundational doctrines of Christianity, not to mention orthodox Lutheranism, then that person's error is going to infect and plague everything else he promotes and confesses.<<<>>>What Jackson offers is the farthest thing from scholarship.<<<>>>Mockery and insult never accomplished anything<<<>>>I can see his set-up being a very effective tool for reaching Gen X'ers and Y's in places like Los Angeles, etc.<<<

Umm, last time I checked, there was only one "effective tool"--the Word of God. Do you disagree?

I stand corrected, and I corrected the blog entry.--

July 14, 2009 9:26 PM

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Anonymous said...

Here's the difference between Ski and Jackson. Jackson has, numerous times, written critically about the Catholic church and its beliefs. In fact, he has even published a book pointing out its errors. He is able to think critically about the things that were taught and to publicly rebuke them.

Ski on the other hand is either unable or unwilling to think critically about the errors he learns at all of these conferences. He worships with them, he fawns over them, he gushes about them, he thinks everything is "awesome", he gets his picture taken with them like they're rock stars. He never posted a single word to rebuke or criticize or even acknowledge the fact that these are false teachers.

Don't you acknowledge that Ski's behavior with these false teachers and his subsequent whole-hearted, unquestioning support of them in public is wrong? How can you support such things?
July 14, 2009 5:57 AM

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dk has left a new comment on your post "Not Every WELS Member Agrees with the Ski-Patterso...":

Howdy Professor,

You know what really torques me off is that the moderator of the fake ichabod site removed my link to your book from my comment.

But as much as it makes me mad, it also proved my points. They won't publish dissenting opinions (without editing them) and they won't read the writing of someone who (sic) they demonize.

Don't know why I'm surprised.

***

GJ - I was looking for the link. B & B did not want their reader (singular on purpose) to be misled by the extensive quotations I provided in Chapter Five.

Here is the link. No pop-ups.

I had to (sic) your misuse of who - I am pledged to preserve whom for the next generation.

Get Out Your Hankies for Another Mars Hill/CORE Connection

The email...sniff, sniff...pardon my sobbing...was read out loud in church.

From Ski's Blog at The CORE

6/7/09 - Control
So this weekend I’m preaching in week #4 of The Sickness Within. Our topic is Control. The main point of the sermon this week is that we, even though we want to be and think we can be, are not in control. God is. As I was preparing the sermon earlier in the week, I got the following email from my friend, Scott Whiteker who lives in Seattle, Washington. This is an amazing story that is 100% true and drives home the truth that God is truly in control of all things. I hope you enjoy this.

Ski:
Ok, so Lori and I go to this 500 person fundraiser for a program called City Year last night, which is a youth focused service program.

We met this kid in the program named Nathan from Maryland and come to find out he is going to be going to some small Midwest university.

Why am I telling you this???

Well he will be a Freshman at this small school called Lawrence University in this town you may know called Appleton, WI.

Ok, so again what’s my point?

Well he told us that he was recently in Appleton to check things out.

Again…do I have a point???

Let’s take a step back for a moment…

Nathan chose Seattle to service City Year because it was a more liberal city.

So??? You may ask…

Well in the course of his service here in Seattle he started attending this church you may have heard of…Mars Hill and he became a Christian at that church.

Ok so now you are thinking that I might be thinking…hey I know this pastor that has a church in Appleton that I could tell him about right???

Well remember I said that Nathan visited Appleton???

During his visit he said he went to this church that had evening service in this movie theater…now are you catching on???

Nathan said he went to one of your services and even mentioned your name as Ski before either Lori or I could.

He said the place was packed. He also said that he loved it and would be going back.
I gave the kid my card, he will be in his first year there. I told him to email me because I have some pull in Appleton.

Now there is a story you can almost fully share…

You are MY Hero!

Scott Whiteker
Director of Marketing
Samsung Telecommunications America

***

GJ - Ski, you are my hero too, for exposing the nature of Church and Change so thoroughly.

Now tell the truth - was the Seattle trip with Katie and Glende for a Mars Hill conference?

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Get Out Your Hankies for Another Mars Hill/CORE Co...":

Nothing like third party testimonials. Since someone has spoken well of Ski and CORE, I am now ready to attend full time.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Get Out Your Hankies for Another Mars Hill/CORE Co...":

No doubt the young gentleman that will attend CORE will get well catechised on the difference on what Mars Hill teaches and what Core teaches. Then he will see the REAL difference and gladly fall in love with the solid Lutheran doctrine.

At least that is what one naive pastor in Illinois says about his WELS church that leaves out the name "Lutheran"in it's name. "They will come to us without having preconceived ideas on what Lutheran is or who we are. And once they fall in love with our teaching, they will know that we are Lutheran." That is paraphrased. When told that that seemed rather deceptive, only silence fell on the room of people.

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GJ - I heard all that baloney from Paul Kuske, about 20 years ago. The laity knew it was fundamentally dishonest to start a Pilgrim Community Church, but the clergy were silenced. Later, one WELS pastor screamed at me that it never happened. I said, "I was there."