Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity


Alpha and Omega, by Norma Boeckler


The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time


The Hymn #361 O Jesus King 4.1
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Galatians 3:15-21
The Gospel Luke 10:23-37
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #123 Our God Our Help 4.3

The Good Samaritan Is Christ

The Hymn #371 Jesus Thy Blood 4.6
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior 4.24

KJV Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

KJV Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Thy holy gospel, know Thy fatherly will, and behold Thy Son, Jesus Christ! We pray Thee, most merciful Father: Let the light of Thy holy word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Thy word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal salvation; through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

One Parable – Many Wrong Interpretations

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most misinterpreted passages of the Bible.

Many want to make this a parable to proclaim the works of the law, even though the parable is aimed against a lawyer trying to justify himself. For the law mongers, this parable is ideal for telling people how many more good works they have to do. They weigh down their victims with guilt. Instead of promoting good works as the result of the Gospel, they make good works the cause of salvation, which Hoenecke identified as the essence of Pietism.

Old-fashioned works salesmen pick the good works most people would think about – feeding the hungry, visiting the poor, etc.

People get tired of charitable work, so the works salesmen promote radical causes, especially getting the government to pass laws “to redeem society.” So that version of the parable says, “It is not enough to bind the wounds of the afflicted, we must also make the road to Jericho safe!” Political advocacy is highest form of the church’s work, they claim. Thus ELCA spends millions of World Hunger money on political lobbying. Almost 30 years ago, I corresponded with the LCA lobbyist in Washington DC, who was trained at the Augustana Seminary in the Social Gospel Movement. This LCA lobbyist was fired for having an affair with his female assistant. Today he would honored as a saint for being content with a woman.

Right now California is the victim of its own environmental radicalism. The state was made wealthy with engineering projects to capture and use that water. Now the EPA is sending that water into the sea to protect a tiny fish. Agricultural fields are drying up from the ultimate bow to Mother Earth. The governor could intervene but refuses to help the farmers who are out of work and losing their land because of a little fish.

Plain Words of Scripture

The key to understanding this parable is to look at the plain words of Scripture and not turn them into a ball of yard the cat batted around the room.

First of all,

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

This might be seen as neutral since the Jews still have a tradition of trying to trip up the religious leader with a difficult question. This tradition engages the listener and the teacher in the doctrine.

Jesus turned this on the lawyer and asked him about what the Torah said.

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself

This verse above is the classic description of the Law – the vertical dimension of our love toward God and the horizontal dimension of our love toward our neighbor. The two dimensions remind people of the Cross of Christ. Luther often summarized the Word in the same way, so there is nothing wrong at this point.

Jesus said:

28 …Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

An important matter of interpretation is next:

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

This self-justification is the central theme of the Gospels. Either we justify ourselves by our actions, trusting in our own merit and works, or we trust in the merit and works of Christ, Who justifies us by faith.

So the lawyer’s second question was certainly devious, and Christ understood the man’s nature (from the beginning, of course).

The parable can only be seen at aiming for the self-justifying lawyer’s attitude and that attitude in each one of us.

John Bunyan saw what Luther taught – that preaching against sin falls too easily into salvation by works, morality, formalism. So much of Protestant and Catholic preaching focuses on carnal sin, making people think they are justified by their lack of naughtiness. They are confident in themselves, not in Christ.

I had to listen to a class list their religious attitudes recently. A group said, “We are spiritual but not religious.” I had to be silent. One woman said, “I grew up Methodist but now I am very interested in Wicca.” (Wicca is witchcraft.) Two said, “None of your business.” (I wasn’t asking – too painful.) A minority (4 people) identified as Christians in a class of 18. Even if the two who refused to answer were Protestants, a minority had a chance at being justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the Law.

So we can see that the examples in the parable are stinging rebukes of salvation by works.

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

“A certain man” means this is a short story, so he represents a situation, our common one. Sin leaves us half dead on the roadside. Not to worry – the lawmongers will help out.

Priest

A priest had an opportunity to help.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

He not only refused to help, but went out of his way to avoid the beaten, half-dead man. Religious formalism does not save. There are many who observe the outward signs of religion but they scoff at the meaning of the Gospel.

Chief among them are the leaders of the Contempt Services. The ministers have nothing but Contempt for the Gospel, so they entertain people and call it evangelism.

Other ordained entertainers emphasize smells and bells, an elaborate show of religious pomp, amusing in its own way, designed to impress the senses and make people say, “Oh my!”

Levite

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

Levites were another group of religious Jews. The Levite saw the man, perhaps stared at him, and went over to the other side of the road to avoid him. He is another example of religious formalism, where religion is used to excuse a lack of compassion. Strange things are said. One minister did not call on people who were named as prospects from his own church body because, he said, “I have to be a good steward of my time.” That is pretty funny. I can imagine the doilies for the ladies’ aid being ordered on time, thanks to this faithful steward.

Christ – the Samaritan

Samaritans and Jews hated each other because of long-standing religious disputes. So Jesus introduced Himself as a Samaritan, a strange type of example, we might think. But Jesus was “despised and rejected, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

The religious elite did nothing. We know the Judaism of the day was far from the truths of the Scriptures. Many did follow Christ, but the majority rejected Him. “He came to His own people and they received Him not.” (John 1)

So Christ was a Samaritan among His own people.

The parable is rather light on details until the Samaritan acts. Notice all the things done at first, then at the inn, and then promised for later:

1. and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, [the first step in care]
2. And went to him, [instead of passing by on the other side, He comes to us]
3. and bound up his wounds, [the Word heals our wounds]
4. pouring in oil and wine, [oil for Gospel comfort, wine for the Law’s sharpness]
5. and set him on his own beast, [He provides the Gospel for us]
6. and brought him to an inn, [He creates a place for our healing]
7. and took care of him. [He comes to us through the Means of Grace]
8. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, [He never tires of providing even more healing]
9. Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. [He provides abundantly, more than we can imagine, for our eternal salvation.]

The parable is a clear and compelling contrast between empty, religious formalism, salvation by works, and the true Gospel in the Means of Grace.

The lawyer, who sought to justify himself, was asked by Jesus:

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

The contrast is between the religious self-justification of the priest/Levite or the compassion of Christ, who does not separate Himself from the half-dead sinner, but comes to him, heals him, and provides for him in the future.

Christ is the true neighbor, not the priest or Levite.

Ironically, almost all sermons on the Good Samaritan end with justification by works, whether condemning people for not having compassion, or scolding them for not advocating social justice.

“Go and do likewise” is an admonition to receive justification from Christ rather than from the Law. The Law leaves us dead on the road to Jericho. And we are reminded that the beaten, robbed, half-dead man cannot heal himself or even make a move toward healing. Moreover, he is penniless. That is our state when Christ comes to us sinners. He takes action for our good. He comforts and heals. He provides for our future forgiveness and eternal life.


Quotations
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Covenant and Grace

"The Old Testament dealt with the promises of God to the chosen people. Thereby God placed Himself in 'covenant' relation to Israel (berith). This relation, like the promises and the gifts of God to Israel, is always onesided. It is always God's covenant, not Israel's, and not a mutual agreement, not a suntheke. This promise and covenant indeed obligates Israel, and Israel assumes these obligations, but the covenant emanates entirely from God." R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938, p. 235. Hebrews 7:22;

"To be sure, Baptism is so great that if you turn from sins and appeal to the covenant of Baptism, your sins are forgiven. Only see to it--if you sin in this wicked and wanton manner by presuming on God's grace--that the judgment does not lay hold of you and forestall your turning back. And even if you then wanted to believe and trust in your Baptism, your trial might by God's decree, be so great that faith could not stand the strain. If they scarcely remain in the faith who do no sin or who fall because of sheer weakness, where will your brazen wickedness remain, which has challenged and mocked God's grace? Let us, therefore, walk with care and fear that we may hold fast the riches of God's grace with a firm faith and joyfully give thanks to His mercy forever and ever. Amen." Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 57. Treatise on Baptism, 1519
"And, in a word, it remains eternally true what the Son of God says, John 15:5: Without Me ye can do nothing. And Paul, Philippians 2:13: It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. To all godly Christians who feel and experience in their hearts a small spark or longing for divine grace and eternal salvation this precious passage is very comforting; for they know that God has kindled in their hearts this beginning of true godliness, and that He will further strengthen and help them in their great weakness to persevere in true faith unto the end." Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, II. 14. Free Will Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 885. Philippians 2:13; John 15:5

"These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the Father, and are eternally saved." Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III 10 Righteousness Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 919.

"Moreover, neither contrition nor love or any other virtue, but faith alone is the sole means and instrument by which and through which we can receive and accept the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and the forgiveness of sins, which are offered to us in the promise of the Gospel." Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III 31 Righteousness Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 925.

Mark Jeske, Leave WELS for Missouri? - No Way

 

I need love, love
To ease my mind
I need to find, find someone to call mine
But mama said

You cant hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love dont come easy
Its a game of give and take

You cant hurry love
No, you just have to wait
You got to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes

But how many heartaches
Must I stand before I find a love
To let me live again
Right now the only thing
That keeps me hangin on
When I feel my strength, yeah
Its almost gone
I remember mama said:

You cant hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love dont come easy
Its a game of give and take

How long must I wait
How much more can I take
Before loneliness will cause my heart
Heart to break?

No I cant bear to live my life alone
I grow impatient for a love to call my own
But when I feel that i, I cant go on
These precious words keeps me hangin on
I remember mama said:

You cant hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love dont come easy
Its a game of give and take

You cant hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes

Way - LCMS.org:

KFUO-AM airing a new show

KFUO-AM is now airing "Time of Generic Grace," a weekly program featuring Pastor Mark Jeske, senior pastor at St. Marcus Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wis.

Each week, Pastor Jeske delivers a Bible-based message providing the hope and truth of God's Word in down-to-earth "straight talk."


Tune in at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays to KFUO-AM 850 in St. Louis or listen wherever you are online at http://www.kfuoam.org/

About "Time of Generic Grace"

"Time of Generic Grace," a Recognized Service Organization of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod, is an outreach media ministry founded in 2001 by a small group of committed, focused Lutheran Christians. The sole mission of this nonprofit organization has always been to share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible through the most advanced technology available.
To most effectively accomplish that goal, "Time of Generic Grace's" centerpiece ministry is a weekly, 30-minute television program. It is the audio portion of this program that will be broadcast on KFUO-AM 850.

Other Links 
Minnesota South, LCMS:

Time of Generic Grace Ministry
Time of Generic Grace is an outreach media ministry with a mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible through the most advanced technology available. Pastor Mark Jeske of St. Marcus Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, delivers weekly messages which are aired on regular broadcast television in more than 22 markets across the United States and available via the Internet.  The program also airs around the world on satellite TV on Daystar Television Network, the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Network, and the American Forces Network (AFN).

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Breaking News - Jeske Featured or Sheepdipped at L...":

His dad's nickname was Jumpin' Jack. Maybe Mark's jumpin' now too. To Missouri? Not impossible.
But I am not convinced.

It may be true that Jeske spoke at Concordia, Mequon and at an LCMS convention. However, WELS has made it a practice of having outside speakers come to them at Little Valpo (WLC), the "Worship Made Difficult" convocations, and the like. The DPs have okayed it (as long as they don't worship and pray together, which, of course, some of the outsiders have done). So it should not surprise us that some of the WELS luminaries (face it, there aren't too many) will speak at other "church" gatherings. I feel another "special study" coming on within the COP. Oh no! What shall we do?

***

GJ - Missouri forgot to mention that Jeske is Wisconsin Synod, but Mark forgets to mention that all the time!


---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mark Jeske, Leave WELS for Missouri? - No Way":

Jeske has denied being Lutheran, much less having any synodical affiliation, on 'his' program. Until now.

The Lutheran synodical affiliation that he now claims is one of which he is not a member. Further, it is an affiliation with a Lutheran synod that is not in fellowship with the synod of which he is a member.

Jeske has not informed his viewers/listeners where they can go in their communities to learn more. They apparently have to return to his show to learn more. Until now.

His show is now being billed by the LCMS as a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

How does this, specific denominational/synodical affiliation affect the generic/non-denominational/pan-denominational flavor of his show to this point?

Jeske has had a number of years to officially connect his show to the WELS. He has chosen to refuse to do so.

Hopefully, this chosen, official affiliation with the LCMS is the first step in leaving the synod that he long ago abandoned.

Bag Monsters

Reu's Luther and the Scriptures, Scanned by Joseph Schmidt

 
M. Reu, Iowa Synod Scholar, Honored by Germany for His Achievements

Reu's Luther and the Scriptures was scanned by Joseph Schmidt and posted on his blog, perhaps to atone for finding a $5 version and ordering it before I could.

I have been enjoying the booklet, which is a masterpiece.

Infrequently Asked Questions


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Dangerous Turf - The Efficacy of the Word in the M...":

I have to ask: Do you ever get tired of writing about theology?

No.

I mean, I have my own passions to be sure, but what gives you the energy?

Two mugs of coffee in the morning keep me going all day. Besides, what better occupation is there than proclaiming the Word? Blogging means anyone can read the material or ignore it. Faith in the Word makes people bold, as Luther once said.

Why not try a different angle... like sports writing? Or nature writing?

I will write more about Creation soon, but that is also theological.

Or better yet, a physical past time. You're moving to Arkansas and they have a year-round open season on wild Boar. Get a 7mm mag Remington Rifle (semi-auto) and try a hand at hunting. Then also take up Charcuterie. Or how about Morel hunting? It's a grand past time.

How about writing vapid comments on blogs?

Dangerous Turf - The Efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace: Receptionism = UOJism



Sig Becker, Enthusiast


Norman Teigen has left a new comment on your post "Dangerous Turf - The Efficacy of the Word in the M...":

Thanks for mentioning my father's work on the subject of the Consecration. One Missourian told me that B.W.'s book meant the end of receptionism in the Missouri Synod. My father's work is available as a no cost download from LOGIA and your readers are invited to secure a copy. The book and its link are The Lord's Supper in the Theology of Martin Chemnitz by B.W. Teigen.


Norman Teigen
ELS layman (but not an official spokesman, just an ordinary guy)

The Wisconsin Synod is now willing to engage doctrinal issues based on the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. That is dangerous turf for them, since recent errors are all based upon the denying that Biblical concept.

Sig Becker's lectures on justification Enthusiasm are featured on the The Sausage Factory's websty. Don't fail to miss them.

Becker still drives the Little Sect on the Prairie crazy on the issue of Consecration. When I was in Ft. Wayne, schlepping Thy Strong Word, one seminarian asked me about Consecration. I said, "If you believe in the efficacy of the Word, as I do, there is no controversy."

The Synodical Conference proved its Enthusiasm by teaching pastors that the elements remain the same until they are received by the communicants, giving this position the name of Receptionism. As B. Teigen showed in the clearest possible way, this was the wrong position, a position condemned by Lutheran Orthodoxy.

But I thought the Synodical Conference was inerrant, infallible, and right just fine?

The Synodical Conference (Missouri Sect, Wisconsin Sect, Little Sect on the Prairie) was conceived in Pietism and born in Enthusiasm. Lutheran Pietism was and is a strange amalgamation of Reformed doctrine and Lutheran doctrine, with Reformed doctrine always emerging over time. Clergy are heading out two exit doors, both marked Enthusiasm - Church Growth and Romanism. Their answer to low church Enthusiasm (CG) is to adopt high church Enthusiasm (Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy).

To say, "We don't know when the Body of Christ is present," is to confess antipathy toward the efficacy of the Word. Some WELS Enthusiasts have proven that by holding a "communion" service without the Consecration. And WELS had women celebrating Holy Communion on their own, too. Why not? Kicking over the traces is fun. Ask Kelm, Becker, Jeske, Bivens, and Valleskey.

So--my ELS brethren and sistern, fellow Lutherans separated by a common faith--if you hate Becker's Receptionism, you have to hate his UOJ as well. If the world is absolved of its sin, without the Word, as Becker imagined, then Consecration is irrelevant. We just don't know.

Let's face it. The UOJ people do not even know when the world was absolved of its sin, so why would they know when two become four in Holy Communion? Either the world was absolved the moment Christ died (one UOJ version) or the moment He arose from the tomb (another UOJ version). I say, Let's fight over the Moment of Absolution to show Lutherans how ludicrous this Midwestern Pietistic notion is.

The guilt-free saints in Hell (J. P. Meyer) will rejoice to have this clarified.

Blaming the Boomers - I Have To Agree

The parents of Baby Boomers wanted to give them everything, but my Great Depression parents did not get that memo.


Someone opined--and I agree--that Missouri and WELS had their watershed moments and suffered from premature celebration ever since.

Missouri defeated the Seminex gang temporarily, inviting them back in later. They gloated that the Biblical inerrancy circle won, that the revived seminaries would repristinate the ministerium, one class at a time.

WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie broke with Missouri in the 1960s, after decades of admonition. When I joined WELS in 1987, the leaders were saying, "We suffered from that break, so we do not want any more controversy."

From the looks of the WELS DPs, no one seemed to be starving. Everyone took up the theology of glory and kicked aside the theology of the cross. The LCA/ALC apostasy made WELS/LCMS/ELS look good in comparison, even though they were all in bed together, in the name of insurance grants and Church Growth.

In the 1980s, people older than I were in contact with me about Church Growth. They wanted to know where the men were, where the younger people were. The Boomers were leading CG or hiding in their rabbit warrens, afraid someone would say "Boo!"

Now the younger men are fighting for the Book of Concord and the efficacy of the Word. They will have to learn the Scriptures and the Confessions better to defeat the sectarians of the Left. That is God's purpose in doctrinal conflict, to prove what is good and acceptable.

The CG Boomers are retiring, one after another. They were great cult leaders but poor teachers. Their diciples (Stetzer spelling) are unable to defend the cult, so they will also move along, and sink beneath the waves with watery groan, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.

Heard from Various Sources at Once:
Pastors Need To Work, Too



The efficacy of the Word has not been tried and found wanting.
It has hardly been tried at all!


"A home-visiting pastor makes a church-going congregation." The old saying explains why congregations grew in the past and now shrink. The ministers took the Word into the congregation. Hospital visits and deaths were considered ideal times to be with members and their families, but home visits were also a constant. I vicared with an old-fashioned pastor who visited constantly and expected the rest of us to do the same. I enjoyed the work, especially in small towns.

The two camps of Lutherdom seem to be avoiding the same thing. The Shrinkers are famous for staying in their offices and making the laity do their work. As Kent Hunter explained in his ecclesiastical husbandry lesson - "Shepherds don't have sheep. Sheep have sheep." Shrinkers copy the sermons of famous Enthusiasts, sometimes verbatim - often with a few words changed, a guilt-offering to Plagiarism.

The men considered orthodox are also famous for not visiting their members and not doing sermon preparation. I have heard this from another pastor in one region of WELS, various laity, and a church leader with some authority in WELS. For one reason or another, from various perspectives, these sources are saying with great frustration - "The orthodox men are not doing the work, and they are sound in doctrine."

The sick, shut-in, hospitalized, and grief-stricken should be visited routinely as the normal application of the Gospel. I recall a shut-in who had bets with her husband about when I was visiting - she could feel it in her bones. One day she was certain I was coming and said so to her husband. He gloated when I did not show up. The next day I did, explaining that I reached their house and turned around when I realized I had a doctor's appointment. Then she gloated. It is enjoyable and fulfilling to do pastoral calling. Visiting people at their homes during the year is also good for everyone. If this is neglected for another generation, there will be nobody left to visit.

Sermon preparation is also essential. A faithful minister becomes fruitful in his work by remaining close to the True Vine (John 15). At the very least, he and his family will benefit, as the Scripture says. A sermon should be written out completely and made available to everyone, using exegetical study, Luther, Lenski, and the Book of Concord.

My experience has been that people will write to me about a sermon when:
1. I follow the main lines of a Luther sermon.
2. I deal extensively with a doctrinal issue, such as baptismal regeneration, Holy Communion, or the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word.

Trusting the Word does not translate into doing no work.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Breaking News - Jeske Featured or Sheepdipped at LCMS District Meeting


Crude Photoshop speaks the truth: what Jeske promotes.
Life TV Groeschel, Babtist Andy Stanley, Nominal Lutheran Ski.


Rev. Mark Jeske, double-linked on the official WELS website, spoke to the Southeastern LCMS Disrict in June.

Let me be blunt for a change - Jeske is moving on with his life, following Dan Kelm and others in joining the Missouri Synod.

He recently spoke at the LCMS college in Mequon. I heard that The Sausage Factory faculty woke up from their slumber and yelled "Hey!" about that.

Some call this sheepdipping. He needs some credibility before joining and probably wants to test the waters, to see if he is welcome.

Jeske's departure implies the leadership of Church and Change departing. Three bored-of-Lutheran-doctrine members are current or former Jeske employees. Other nodes of the Jeske Chicanery network are - the Kudu Don Patterson Safari Team and the Parlow Fox Valley Consortium. However, such departures are often unpredictable, with some staying and others going.


PS - Jump, jump, jump!

How To Get Robbed (Not Robed) By WELS Perish Services


Those 9 points, in that one post, about Perish Assistance recommendations are exactly the same as those they were selling to our church back a few years, when the program started here. The "printed" report that was the result of Phase 2 of the effort came to 70 pages, and cost 70-75 dollars a page. The one problem was someone forgot to do a Find and Replace for the name of the previous congregation in the boilerplate. For most of the specifics they named Our Church accurately, but in some places the name of the congregation was Another Church. Oh-oh.

***

GJ - So I am doing the math. The Perish Consultants (as in Paul Calvin Kelm, James Huebner, et al.) come in and pretend to study the congregation. They print up their recommendations, which are simply the same things over and over - without even changing names. And they charged this poor congregation $5,000 for one phase alone! So why did WELS have to bring missionaries home? Because these plagiarizing copycats from The Love Shack drained the life-blood of the congregations.

Did they benefit the congregations? No. They alienated people and moved on with the cash in hand. I would love to know what Kelm, Stroh, Huebner and others were paid in addition to their normal salaries.

When I was in the evil LCA, a building consultant from the national office met with us several times about a new addition. They charged nothing for this, since the consultant was paid from benevolence.

When I vicared in the LCA, someone from the Lutheran Layman's group organized the capital funds campaign for a weekly fee - no commission. He used Biblical material for the most part, but some of it was over the top, as in "If not now, when? If not us, who?"

If someone working for the LCA had tried to charge $5,000 to $35,000 for handing a congregation some Fuller Seminary boilerplate, the congregation would have tossed him through a stained glass window, head first.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How To Get Robbed (Not Robed) By WELS Perish Servi...":

The pastors of those congregations served by Parish Services think it was money well spent. It's like the MasterCard commercial:

o Xeroxed study with a little white-out--$10 grand

o Pastor never has to do evangelism or much visitation ever again--priceless!

Wilken Out - Jeske In - KFUO


Jeske's Time of Generic Grace on KFUO Now

September 4, 2009

“Issues, Etc.” and “Time of Grace”

KFUO-AM is now airing “Time of Grace,” a weekly program featuring Pastor Mark Jeske, senior pastor at St. Marcus Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wis. If you go here on the LCMS Web site, you’ll see that the group that produces the broadcast is now a Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS.

What’s curious about that is that in order to be an LCMS RSO [Revered Service Organization], you have to have an LCMS clergyman on your board. Time of Grace doesn’t.

The Board for Communication Services lifted that requirement in a recent meeting:
M/S/C to remove the contingency of LCMS clergy presence on the board for LCMS RSO status for Time of Grace Ministry. [The operative assumption, however, is that the board will continue to have LCMS lay presence.]
But what has people talking is that the host of the program is THE leader of the “church growth” movement in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Fighting some of the false doctrine in the movement is a major problem for the WELS and I’m sure they love that the LCMS is now supporting this program.

You can listen to the program for yourself. Not much Gospel proclamation, which won’t surprise anyone familiar with CGM.

But I can’t get over how odd it is that KFUO would ditch its flagship program — Issues, Etc. — and begin airing “Time of Grace.”

***

GJ - Most likely Jeske is going to lead the troops out of WELS into Missouri. Kieschnick's LCMS is CGM-friendly, nay CGM-ecstatic, while Schroeder's WELS is CGM allergic.

Note that Paul Calvin Kelm's brother and son both left WELS for Missouri a long time ago.

I cannot imagine the Chicanery crowd staying in WELS. The trouble is, they want to bug out when clergy positions are scarcer than hen's teeth.

They will want to take some of their sugar daddies with them. In a parish, the pillars often hold up the church in more ways than one. The exodus of people too good for a congregation is normally the best thing to happen to it.

Likewise, the pastors and laity who despise the Means of Grace and mock the efficacy of the Word should find a safe haven. As Mischke supposedly said at a WELS convention, "Paul Kelm would be welcome in any denomination." Amen to that.

The Chicanery exit from WELS will brighten up the entire Wisconsin Synod.

Failure To Supervise - Lutheran Synods in Epic Fail


Cardinal Manning


Pundits are saying that state governments need to downsize permanently. Tax revenue has plummeted and shows no sign of improving. Synodical income is bound to follow that trend nationally.

WELS Perish Services has been getting huge fees - $30,000+ - to sell boilerplate to their own congregations. Where were the Circuit Pussycats and Doctrinal Pussycats during these grand thefts? I just answered my question. They were purring about being in a purr-fect synod and showing claw to anyone who raised an eyebrow, let along an objection.

Before the regime change, one pastor was ousted when he asked about how WELS was spending the money.

"Failure to supervise" is a serious offense in the court system. The laity and church officials have a fiduciary responsibility to take care of money which is not their own.

More importantly, they are "stewards of the mysteries of God." No one has a license to set aside the Word of God in favor of synodical decisions. ELCA hailed its overwhelming vote to overturn Romans 1, as if voting revealed a new truth. The leaders called it "taking a risk," although they clearly favored one outcome only.

The economic debacle has proven that material value is only a number for the moment. I talked to a stock broker before the housing meltdown. He loved housing stocks and held his nose about Walmart stock. Home-builders are clawing for the edge of the quicksand pit, hoping to stay alive. Walmart remains a strong, profitable company. He also liked bank stocks, which collapsed soon after. I listened and invested in more training.

The truth of God's Word is eternal. The Book of Concord never hesitates to mention the treasures of the Gospel. I am continually amazed that Lutherans have been willing to sell their heritage for a bowl of lentil soup, served cold by the Reformed.

Synodical esteem reminds me of the price of home-builder stocks a few years ago - another bubble easy to puncture. Strachey wrote about an ambitious minister in his Eminent Victorians. Cardinal Manning devoted his life to his own career and squashing his competition (Cardinal Newman). Now Cardinal Manning's hat is hanging on a peg, his fame resting on the devastating portrait painted by Strachey. The painting posted above is not flattering either.

Wouldn't it be better to pass on the incorruptible treasure of the Gospel and be forgotten, than to short-sell the treasure in order to gain the temporary esteem of corrupt men?

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Double-Dipping at The Love Shack




The recent post on Perish Services wrecking a congregation brings up an interesting issue about synod-paid Chicanery staff double-dipping.

Feel free to correct my facts, since I am not on their memo list.

Someone like Paul Calvin Kelm gets a "call" to be a Perish Consultant. Apparently there are Consultants and Assistants - but I am not sure. I will include the Planned Giving Counselors, laity and pastors, who offer estate planning seminars and holds granny's hand while she signs over an Irrevocable Trust over the the synod.

I have to assume that there is a set salary, or they would not gather there, like flies to buttermilk. But there is also a commission or fee. The Bergs said that the Special Giving Counselors get a commission for each gift, that this is written in the contract. Laity reporting from the battlefield tell me that the Perish experts extract huge fees, up to $10,000.

The Ron Roth/Jeff Davis team imposes a large fee plus a percentage of the money raised, contrary to normal stewardship practice (but in harmony with Jewish traditions). Roth and Davis, Inc are not now part of The Love Shack, but they use their WELS connections accordingly. Roth midwifes the Church Growth Movement in WELS, so bow down. Both are Chicaneries, Ron a founder and Jeff a stealth board member (photo but no bio!).

Most people probably assume that staff from The Love Shack are doing their work because mission offerings have already paid them.

My experience with the Chicaneries is - they leave no money-source stone unturned. Members and pastors should be more careful with the money entrusted to them.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perish Assistance in WELS":

I know of two churches which spent between $30,000 and $35,000 each on Perish Services.

If you want to save the money, here is the essence of the program.

1. Get lay people to take over some
of the pastor's duties in the
Sunday morning worship service.
2. Start a pre-school.
3. Have a greeting and visitors
center in the narthex, which
is improved with coffee.
4. Get a new church sign.
5. Spruce up the landscaping.
6. Find a way to increase
offerings -- anything from an
every member (stewardship) visit
to hiring an outside firm.
7. Write a mission statement since
you can't know what are a doing
without one. (Shame our
forefathers' churches didn't
have them. WELS could be big by
now if they had!)
8. Start a committee to talk about
"The State of the Church."
9. By the way, some new buildings
would help.

If you think this is worth thirty grand, I have a message for you. I will discount it to $20,000 just for you. If you want to buy in, leave your email address on this blog and I will get in touch with you where you send the money. It's a deal. I just saved you $10,000. Only serious contributors of $20,000 need to respond!

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perish Assistance in WELS":

My congregation used Parish Assistance several years ago. I firmly believed that a good plan was developed. However, with any plan the pastor and laity must be involved, supportive, and committed to address the plan that was adopted. Many years have now passed, the plan gathers dust and the pastors discuss how overwhelmed they are with two bible studies on Sunday mornings and nothing else the rest of the week. Parish services may be bad and my experience doesn't support it but we're in denial if we think we do not have leadersip issues to address churches that are frankly withering away.

"Ichabod The Glory Is Departed" -- Is Departed



Blog not found

Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist.

However, the name ichabodthegloryisdeparted is available to register! 
***

GJ - Sickabod retreated in haste again, erasing all posts and eliminating the blog address. It is no longer available to register.

By a strange coincidence, Joe Krohn's Rock N Roll blog also ended the same way, with all posts erased and the address not available.

 

Pan-Denominational NIV To Undergo Additional Changes: Will "Make Disciples" Turn into "Make Cell Groups"?



Smoke and mirrors make Mark Jeske more awesome.



Yahoo News


Best-selling Bible to undergo revision
AP

By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski, Ap Religion Writer – Tue Sep 1, 5:55 pm ET

The top-selling Bible in North America will undergo its first revision in 25 years, modernizing the language in some sections and promising to reopen a contentious debate about changing gender terms in the sacred text. The New International Version, the Bible of choice for conservative evangelicals, will be revised to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, it was announced Tuesday. The revision is scheduled to be completed late next year and published in 2011.

"We want to reach English speakers across the globe with a Bible that is accurate, accessible and that speaks to its readers in a language they can understand," said Keith Danby, global president and CEO of Biblica, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Christian ministry that holds the NIV copyright.

But past attempts to remake the NIV for contemporary audiences in different editions have been plagued by controversies about gender language that have pitted theological conservatives against each other.

The changes did not make all men "people" or remove male references to God, but instead involved dropping gender-specific terms when translators judged that the original text didn't intend it. So in some verses, references to "sons of God" became "children of God," for example.

Supporters say gender-inclusive changes are more accurate and make the Bible more accessible, but critics contend they twist meaning or smack of political correctness.

Acknowledging past missteps, the NIV's overseers are promising that this time, the revision process will be more transparent and that they will actively promote what they describe as a long-held practice of inviting input from scholars and readers.

The NIV was first published in 1978 and more than 300 million NIV Bibles are in print worldwide; its publishers and distributors say the translation accounts for 30 percent of Bibles sold in North America.

The Committee on Bible Translation, an independent group of conservative scholars and translators formed in 1965 to create and revise the NIV, will oversee the new revision.

An effort earlier this decade to create a separate version of the NIV that used more gender-inclusive language in an attempt to reach a younger audience fell flat with groups that felt it crossed the line.

That edition, Today's New International Version, will cease publication once the new-look NIV is released, said Moe Girkins, president of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Zondervan, its North American publisher.

"Whatever its strengths, the TNIV has become an emblem of division in the evangelical Christian world," Girkins said.

It was the TNIV that ushered in changes from "sons of God" to "children of God," or "brothers" to "brothers and sisters." In Genesis I, God created "human beings" in his own image instead of "man."

Many prominent pastors and scholars endorsed the changes. But critics said masculine terms in the original should not be tampered with. Some warned that changing singular gender references to plural ones alters what the Bible says about God's relationships with individuals.

The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution saying the edition "has gone beyond acceptable translation standards."

"We fell short of the trust that has been placed in us," said Danby, of Biblica. "We failed to make a clear case for the revisions."

Danby said that freezing the NIV in its 1984 state was also a mistake, however. He emphasized that in the revision, about 90 percent of the NIV will be unchanged.

Douglas Moo, a professor at Wheaton College and chairman of the Committee on Bible Translation, said the group is committed to "a complete review of every gender related change."

"I am not sure how it's going to come out," Moo said. "We have a genuine, authentic review process ... Everything is on the table."

One of the most vocal critics of gender-inclusive translations, Randy Stinson of the Louisville, Ky.-based Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, said the group supports updating the NIV. He credited organizers for their openness.

"We're still probably going to differ on the way they handle some of the gender language," Stinson said. "But we're open and anxious to see what they come up with and we're really going to be reserving judgment."

Most changes will have nothing to do with gender inclusivity, Moo said. And the TNIV provides a glimpse of likely changes: In the '84 NIV, Mary is "with child," but in the TNIV she is "pregnant." In the NIV version of Psalm 146:9, "The Lord watches over the alien." The TNIV used "foreigner" instead of "alien."

***

GJ - Every so often someone leaves a gratuitous remark about the KJV. I am not a KJV legalist, so I am open to a better translation. I favor the KJV family (New KJV, KJV II, etc). Currently, there are several KJV updates, which are far more reliable in text and content than the NIV and its competitors. The KJV we all use today is itself an update from the original. Unfortunately, the modern KJV variations like to omit the Sacraments. Still, the worst KJV variation is better than the best NIV or RSV.

Missouri and WELS are NIV-only. The NIV monopoly was doubtless a money decision for Lutherans.

Missouri and WELS made a big mistake in getting behind the NIV. Now Paul McCain is promoting the ESV, which is another version of the RSV.

John Jeske (Mequon professor, Jumpin' Jack, aka Jester) participated in the NIV. Jester excused its unionistic errors by publishing a piece about the errors he endorsed through his joint work with Pentecostals, Babtists, and other ideologies. Of course, he practiced safe sects, so no unwanted spawn emerged from that union...

Unless we count the unionism of Mark, his son. Time of Grace is much like daddy's NIV. It belongs to no particular confession of faith, but Mark solicits funds and trinket sales from WELS.

Today Rupert Murdoch, billionaire, owns Zondervan, and Zondervan publishes the NIV.

The WELS-LCMS-ELS switch to the NIV union translation--and the monopoly enjoyed by the NIV--are the overlooked causes for unionism in those groups. As Reu wrote so eloquently, unionism promotes doctrinal indifference, and doctrinal indifference promotes unionism.

The radical Left in Lutherdom can be tracked by their endorsement of liberal Babtist Walter Rauschenbusch.

The Shrinkers can be identified by their perversion of the Great Commission, from "Go, teach all nations, and baptize" to "Go and make disciples...."

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Shocked

Paws for Concern - Chicaneries Have Nothing To Offer But False Doctrine and Despair


Seminary Kitteh



The pan-Lutheran Shrinkers are becoming aware that the new generation is not buying their Gospel-marketing methods.

Confidential to spineless Boomer pastors: You have done to the Lutheran Church what the secular politicians have done to the country.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Perish Assistance in WELS


"Just read the C&C brochure on Ichabod. I don't think I'll sleep. I'm surprised I didn't receive a brochure. Our congregation used ___ and ___ with Perish Assistance - worst thing to ever happen to us."

***

GJ - The details are horrible to read, about how WELS spent enormous sums driving the congregation into the dumper. Multiply that many times over - that is the Church and Chicanery legacy.

---Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perish Assistance in WELS":

Parish (sic!) Assistance
at our congregation started about 10 years ago - $10,000-$15,000. It reorganized our entire council structure into what I would describe as an unethical mess. We then spent about $15,000 with a company to see how much money we could raise, and recently received a $50,000 grant from Thrivent to hire a firm to help us raise money for a building project. Church membership over the 10 years has decreased significantly, as has the number of families with children in the congregation to the point that there are only about 70 K-8 children here out of about 900 souls. I've heard of positive results from P.A., though I can't give you any names. I would not recommend it to anyone.

***

GJ - I have more details from the source, but I am going to leave what is posted above as it is, without clarifications. The Shrinkers are more than willing to extend the Left Foot of Fellowship to anyone who questions them. Like the indulgence trade that started the Reformation, this is false doctrine mining the gold of faithful Christians.

Wherever Perish Services lurk, WELS congregations find the following, so beware:
  1. Enormous fees for fund-raising, including a commission on the profits. As Kelm explained, "No, this is a non-prophet organization. Your spelling is off."
  2. New buildings and remodeling projects as a Means of Grace. Build it and they will come is a fatuous Hollywood slogan. Pass the popcorn, because that will not happen.
  3. Entertainment-style services, man worshiping himself rather than God's grace coming to people through the Means of Grace.
  4. How can we hide the Sacraments better?
  5. The liturgy is a real downer. Let's leave people upbeat and positive.
  6. Division, alienation, loss of membership in the name of growth.
The wreckage left behind by Perish Services is a tribute to Church and Chicanery, because one is the lobby for the other, as the Chicanery website shows. The agenda is Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and the newbies on the block - Groeschel, Stanley, Beeson, Driscoll, Sweet, and other idiots.

Sore Losers


The poor losers at Sickabod are whining again. They were trounced and humiliated at the WELS convention while people continuously downloaded and posted to this blog. The fact is - the pleasant and Gospel-oriented people in WELS, laity and pastors alike, enjoy Ichabod. I get long personal emails and phone calls from them.

Sickabod does me a great favor by displaying their utter lack of reading comprehension. They remind me of the Canadian who was telling me how superior that educational system was. I asked, "Then why did your Prime Minister go to Harvard Law instead of the University of Toronto?" He continued his memorized speech when I said, "We have double the percentage who go to college." He countered, "But you have more people in America." Thus Sickabod - not just wrong on all the facts, but buffoonishly wrong. I graduated from a Jesuit school! I teach at a Babtist school! I am fired from UOP - but I was chosen to mentor new faculty there - in their graduate school. Can you find 15 things wrong in each paragraph at Sickabod? If not, you are not up on Googling.

In contrast to the affable Gospel-centered WELS people, the works-salesmen at Church and Chicanery do not represent WELS at all. They are a cancer growing from the Pietism that some elements never gave up completely (unionism, Reformed doctrine, shunning). I had cancer many years ago - just a minor basal cell carcinoma. Still, it had to be cut out.

False doctrine is a cancer, according to the Word of God. False doctrine needs to be diagnosed and removed. There is no other option.

I have lawyers in my family, which is good for several reasons. One is that I get plenty of legal advice. Another is that I know when people have overstepped the boundaries of civil law.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sore Losers":

Your analogy is not that smooth; what do you do when the cancer has spread and it is not possible to remove it? There's also cancer that no matter how many times it is removed it comes back in different forms on different organs. There is no cure for cancer, only management techniques. The good news is, God saves us from all kinds of cancers, even false doctrine.

***

GJ - Not my analogy.

KJV 2 Timothy 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;

The word "canker" is translated in modern versions as gangrene or cancer.

Faith in the Holy Trinity Means Trust in God's Word


The next book, cover design by Norma Boeckler


The unionists want us to believe that the differences between Lutherans and the Reformed are minor, easily overlooked, and no barrier to joint education and religious projects (on Reformed terms alone). As David Valleskey said, "They are Christians, too. We can learn from them."

One General Council theologian said, "I admire everything about the Reformed - except their doctrine."

The Zwingli-Calvin doctrine of the Word is anti-Biblical, so this is not a matter of comparing brands or franchises.

The Scriptures are the revealed Word of God for the Reformed, but they deny the divine efficacy of the Word. Their famous comparison is - The Word is like a statue of Mercury, which only points the way. In contrast, Isaiah 55 and many other passages consistently teach that God's will is accomplished through His Word alone.

The Church Growth obsession with methods is based upon the Reformed lack of trust in the Word. The poor dears actually think that God relies on them to make the Word relevant, reasonable, and attractive. If I said they were trying to market the Gospel, the Chicaneries would rise up as one and condemn me. But Missouri and WELS have both promoted "Marketing the Gospel," the actual name of the blasphemous video. True, this was when the dark shadows of Gurgle and Mueller passed over the land, but it remains a recent memory.

If we say that we believe in almighty God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but prop up His Word with gimmicks, slogans, and marketing, we are contradicting ourselves. That contradiction is why Shrinkers become atheists. Their foundation is sinking sand. Rationalism begets more rationalism until nothing is left. Besides, there is the nagging reality that all the Shrinker principles--so carefully noted and taped and written down and memorized and recited--are bogus. How does a deluded Shrinker go back to the liturgy he raucously mocked for many years? How does a Chicanery build a congregation with vanished money, without the Word? How can synodical royalty admit he is a beggar, like the rest of us? (Luther died with a scrap in his hand - "We are all beggars.")

God's divine power is so great in His Word that He overcomes the frailty and weakness of His followers to accomplish His will through the Word - without fail. A Shrinker says, "Not Thy will but mine." A believer says, "Not my will but Thine."

The Shrinker motto is bound to disappoint in time, because delusion has a way of multiplying until Satan takes away the blinders to let the deceived see what they have done - ruined marriages, ruined families, ruined congregations, lawsuits, failure, humiliation, despair.

Believers bear the weight of the cross daily, and our Old Adam complains eloquently. But God surprises us by answering our prayers before we ask them, by adding abundance to anything we request, and by giving divine wisdom in the way He answers.

Paul made it simple in telling the Corinthians - sow abundantly to reap abundantly. Any gardener or farmer knows that. Abundant proclamation of the Word yields an abundance of spiritual fruit. There is no other way.

God is patiently waiting for Shrinkers to see the folly of their ways. WELS members and pastors can help by attending the next Shrinker convention in November and confronting the Chicaneries with their false doctrine.

Happily, the Chicaneries have listed their favorites in their new brochure. It is not too late to rescue them from doctrinal error. Sometimes they arrive locally too, like the cultists at the door. Trusting God's Word means applying it to brothers living in error.

You may snatch them from a future of atheism, lawsuits, and despair.

---

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Faith in the Holy Trinity Means Trust in God's Wor...":

Thanks for the link to the Chicaneries' brochure. They may have disinvited Ed Stetzer, but it is still a Chicanery conference. There definitively is an overtone of undermining the public office of the holy ministry with all of the lame leadership workshops offered. Yes, folks, everyone is indeed a minister, or at least, a leader. From the beginning of the brochure, you can see how the issue has been framed in terms of Church Growth. There are WELS congregations on life support. But, lets look at the ones that have grown numerically and learn from what they have done. There is also the implication that these are the ones that have been blessed because they have been doing church right. Who needs Stetzer when you have Hunter, Becker, Lampe, Stroh, et al?

***

GJ - And be truthful. Ski netted 9 members (probably transfers from WELS) after spending $250,000 - figures revealed at the church where he was called and is listed as a pastor - St. Peter, Freedom, WI.

Gunn started revising his resume once the outside money dried up. Whoa - I thought that was a successful stealth mission to emulate.

IBM - First Photo of a Molecule



A team from IBM captured its first photo of a molecule. Unfortunately, the photographer sneezed when snapping the picture.

Boomers waited all their lives for this?

Sunday, August 30, 2009

ELCA Church at the Crossroads


 
Rev. Richard Mahan
South Charleston, WV
richmahan@sttimothy.com

• Practical Evangelism: Anyone Can Share the Good News of Jesus
• How to Evangelize My Neighborhood?
On August 13, the 2003 Churchwide Assembly adopted “Sharing Faith in a New Century: A Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” The strategy calls on the ELCA to “train disciples by equipping people of all ages to be faith-filled witnesses to God as revealed in Jesus Christ.” To help with this equipping, the ELCA Evangelism Partners Network is a group of skilled evangelism practitioners who are ready to provide workshops and seminars on practical evangelism skills for ELCA synod or cluster gatherings.

To schedule a partner in evangelism for a
workshop or seminar, contact:
Kathryn Love
ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries
8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631
800-638-3522, ext. 2102 or
kathryn.love@elca.org
 

St. Timothy Church at a crossroad
By Alison Knezevich

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the cornerstone of St. Timothy Lutheran Church, two dates are engraved.

In 1948, members broke ground on Ohio Street in South Charleston. In 2004, they held their first service at a new church built on a hilltop off Corridor G.

Now, the congregation - and other Lutheran churches around the country - have reached another point in their history.

Earlier this month, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met in Minneapolis and voted to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, monogamous relationships to serve as clergy.

St. Timothy's pastor, the Rev. Richard Mahan, received national attention when The Associated Press quoted him calling homosexuality "immoral and perverted" at the ELCA assembly.

He got more notice after he hung black cloth over the word "Lutheran" on the church's signs, in protest of the vote.

It's not clear whether St. Timothy, which has nearly 400 members, will separate from the ELCA. During the past week, Mahan has declined media requests for comment. And several church members told the Sunday Gazette-Mail they don't know what direction the congregation will take.

Bishop Ralph Dunkin of the ELCA's West Virginia-Maryland Synod plans to meet with Mahan in the next few weeks.

"I know that Pastor Mahan took the decisions very hard. I think he's personally hurt," he said. "I think part of Pastor Mahan's struggle is, how do we show that we disagree or dissent without leaving? And covering up the sign is one way to do it."

Reactions have been mixed among Lutherans, Dunkin said.

"We have some pastors who will celebrate this decision, and their best friends will be on the other side," said Dunkin, who also voted against allowing sexually active gays and lesbians to serve as pastors.

In Dunkin's synod, many don't accept the decision, he said.

"Our congregations are very conservative," he said. "I think one of the real divides of our church is that the urban areas have been discussing this for 40 years. This synod only been talking about it since 1997."

Dunkin said the ELCA always has welcomed gays and lesbians. Before the assembly's vote this month, they could serve as clergy if they took a vow of celibacy.

"A lot of our people, they're just not ready to go to the next step," he said.

Church leaders still have to work out details and write policies related to the assembly's recommendations - a process that could take nine months, Dunkin said.

The decision won't force any church to hire sexually active gay pastors, said ELCA spokesman John Brooks.

"The policy of the ELCA has always been that the congregation chooses its pastor," Brooks said. "Nothing has changed with this action."

Physically, emotionally,
Spiritually drained

The ordination of gays and lesbians has been an issue since three Lutheran organizations joined together to form the ELCA in 1988. It now has about 10,400 congregations in the U.S. and Caribbean.

It's too early to tell whether many ELCA churches will separate, Brooks added.

"We've certainly heard from a few that are deeply concerned," he said. "But it remains to be seen whether they actually decide to go ahead and do that."

If St. Timothy or any other church wants to break away, the congregation must vote to do so by a two-thirds majority, according to the ELCA Constitution. Then, church members must meet with Dunkin and take a second vote.

If the church decides to separate, the Synod Council has to grant permission for the congregation to keep its property, according to the ELCA constitution.

---

U.S

Conservatives mull future after ELCA lifts gay ban

Aug 22nd, 2009 | MINNEAPOLIS --

Even though the Rev. Mark Chavez believes the leaders of his church made a decision in direct contradiction of the Bible by lifting a ban on sexually active, monogamous gays and lesbians as clergy, he said he's staying with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

"I'm not leaving," Chavez said Friday night, promising an effort to keep the church moving even further toward what he sees as an embrace of behavior condemned by Scripture.

Chavez, of Landisville, Pa., is director of Lutheran CORE, a conservative group within the ELCA that fought the gay clergy policy. The group will hold a convention in Indianapolis in September to review its next steps, but Chavez said he thinks some ELCA clergy, congregations and individual members will walk away from the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

The change to gay clergy policy passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA's national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance.

"I have seen these same-gender relationships function in the same way as heterosexual relationships -- bringing joy and blessings as well as trials and hardships," the Rev. Leslie Williamson, associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines, Ill., said during the hours of debate. "The same-gender couples I know live in love and faithfulness and are called to proclaim the word of God as are all of us."
But the change may be too much for some Lutherans. Conservative congregations will not be forced to hire gay clergy, but opponents nevertheless warned there could be spiritual consequences for a church that strays from Scripture.

"This will cause an ever greater loss in members and finances. I can't believe the church I loved and served for 40 years can condone what God condemns," said the Rev. Richard Mahan, pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, W.Va. "Nowhere in Scripture does it say homosexuality and same-sex marriage is acceptable to God. Instead, it says it is immoral and perverted."
Mahan said he believed a majority of his congregation would want to now break away from the ELCA.

Other leaders indicated they might leave as well. The Rev. Tim Housholder, pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Minn., described himself during the debate as a rostered ELCA pastor "at least for a few more hours." The Rev. Marshall Hahn, pastor at St. Olaf Lutheran Parish in Dubuque, Iowa, said he'd need to talk to his bishop "to discuss what this means for my future with this church."

Other Christian denominations in the United States have struggled to remain united in the face of such debates. In 2003, the 2 million-member Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, a move that alienated American Episcopalians from its worldwide parent church, the Anglican Communion. The divide has led to the formation of the more conservative Anglican Church in North America, which claims 100,000 members.

But ELCA supporters of its denomination's change said failure to ratify it ran just as great a risk of alienating large portions of the membership, particularly younger ones.
The Rev. Katrina Foster, pastor at Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Bronx, N.Y., said Lutherans heard similar warnings about flouting Scripture when they made past changes that are now seen as successful -- chiefly, the ordination of women.

"We can learn not to define ourselves by negation," said Foster, a lesbian. "By not only saying what we are against, which always seems to be the same -- against gay people. We should be against poverty. I wish we were as zealous about that."

Under the new policy, heterosexual clergy and professional lay workers must still abstain from sex outside marriage. The proposed change would cover those in "lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said after the vote that he'd commit himself to keeping opponents of the new policy within the ELCA fold.

"For those that did not prevail tonight, are you willing to stay engaged in the conversation?" Hanson said. He added, "I'm pleading with people to stay in there with us in this conversation."

***
GJ - I published a chapter in "Out of the Depths of ELCA" about this, 22 years ago. The movement has been pan-denominational.


The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity




Cover by Norma Boeckler

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time


The Hymn #479 Zion rise 2:13
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 2 Corinthians 3:4-11
The Gospel Mark 7:31-37
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #469 Glorious things 2:26

Ministration of Righteousness

The Hymn #442 Lord of glory 2:61
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #508 Thou whose almighty Word 2:7

KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

KJV Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Twelfth Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast created all things: We thank Thee that Thou hast given us sound bodies, and hast graciously preserved our tongues and other members from the power of the adversary: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy grace, that we may rightly use our ears and tongues; help us to hear Thy word diligently and devoutly, and with our tongues so to praise and magnify Thy grace, that no one shall be offended by our words, but that all may be edified thereby, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Ministration of Righteousness
This Epistle is one of the great Bible passages on the importance of the Gospel, without denigrating the Law.

The history of Christian doctrinal conflicts is full of extreme positions being taken, usually as a reaction to some error or weakness. A reaction to a weak position does not create a strong, orthodox position. It often generates another problem to be faced.

Luther properly divided the Scriptures into Law and Gospel. Unionistic Protestants like to say there are few differences between the Lutherans and them, so why not just agree with them? That is like saying men and women have hundreds of similarities, so why not overlook the differences and declare one gender?

The differences between Lutherans and other Protestants add up, and so do the differences between Book of Concord Lutherans and the rest.

Let’s start with Law and Gospel itself. No other Christian confession emphasizes this so much. In fact, they really do not use those categories in any consistent way. For example, Karl Barth—theologian of Fuller Seminary—began one of his volumes this way: “The gift is a demand.” So he was saying (via his mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum, who wrote most of his Dogmatics) that the gift of salvation imposes a Law demand on all believers. For Lutherans, that is a clear confusion between Law and Gospel, turning the Gospel into Law.

Non-Lutheran Protestants impose Law demands on believers to prove outwardly that they are believers. For example, they must not smoke, drink alcohol (not even communion wine) use tobacco, dance or watch dancing, or participate in the theater in any way (including Disney movies). The essence of Lutheran Pietism is a list of outward signs of inward sanctification, while relaxing doctrinal standards and neglecting the Means of Grace.

Among Lutherans, Law/Gospel confusion can be found in various forms.

To emphasize the greatness of the Gospel, some Lutherans become anti-Nomians and declare, “There is no Law. It is obsolete.” This is appealing because anti-Nomian attitudes lead to hedonism, universalism, UOJ.

Clever anti-Nomians even use Paul’s inspired words to turn his doctrine upside-down. They say, “The Law is a pedagogue or tutor that leads us to Christ.” So the Law no longer has any function once we are believers. But I have found these anti-Nomians are the most legalistic people around, and quick to condemn anyone who does not fall for their claptrap. Oh, they have shiploads of Law for those people.

That is where the anti-Nomian position harmonizes the UOJ of WELS/ELS/LCMS with the Gospel reductionism of ELCA. They have the same message – “Everyone is forgiven by God’s grace.” Each sect says they others are bad because of outward behavior, either promoting sodomy or not promoting sodomy, advocating close communion or advocating open communion. But the apostates of each group like working together because they agree on basic doctrine – Everyone is forgiven, everyone saved – the Gospel is telling people this message that they are already forgiven, saved, going to heaven.

Paul’s message in this lesson is very much condensed, which is why Luther saw more Gospel in the Epistles than in the Gospel narratives themselves.

In II Corinthians, Paul is defending himself against false teachers by teaching the congregation what a faithful ministry is. The accusations were about the shortcomings of Paul, including his chronic illness (which is never disclosed to us).

Those now familiar with Pietism can see the Pietistic argument – “You are outwardly defective in these ways so you are not a real minister or the right one.” America is Pietistic to a fault, which is why a lying murderous scoundrel has to be buried as a saint to make his followers feel good. I finished watching the latest Kennedy funeral thinking, “He was just too good to be sullied by association with the rest of us. Heaven may need some new laws passed before he will step inside.”

“Our sufficiency is of God.” Those familiar with the efficacy of the Word know what this means. A careful reading will show a perfect harmony between faithful ministry, the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word, and the effectiveness of the Gospel.

A wrong (Reformed) view of the Gospel is that we must make it alive, germane, relevant, appealing. A good Reformed minister, like the late D. James Kennedy, is one who is good at packaging and selling the Gospel. I mention him because I liked him and admired what he did – to an extent. I did not admire his doctrine at all.

Opposition to the Word never takes the form of “I hate the Scriptures.” People will say, “The announcements are too short or too long.” And they work over the minister and each member of his family. This is funny when a member of the church is busy wrecking it, because the same people then say, “He is a charter member of this church,” conferring sainthood on demonic activities. But such are God’s ways, that He turns destructiveness into new blessings and moves the Gospel to another place and new people.

“Our sufficiency is of God” is just the opposite of worrying about “how well we are doing.” Looking for outward signs of success is typically Pietistic and bound to lead into doctrinal error and apostasy. The Old Adam wants an Old Adam minister who appeals to his carnal nature with spiritual-sounding words.

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

There are many ways to rewrite this and keep the same meaning. Ministers of the Gospel are ministers of the Holy Spirit. The Law kills but the Holy Spirit gives eternal life through justification and salvation.

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.