Bible Translation Questions

Eagles, by Norma Boeckler

Isaiah 40: 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Changing Gospel in a Changeless World":

Dr. Jackson,

Any thoughts on Concordia's new "Lutheran Study Bible"? They are promoting it as the first Lutheran only study Bible, but they also use the term "pan-Lutheran", which makes me nervous. I'm unfamiliar with the ESV translation that this study Bible uses.

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John has left a new comment on your post "A Changing Gospel in a Changeless World":

Dr. Jackson,

You mention KJV, NIV, Beck and ESV.

How do you feel about the New King James Version?

***

GJ - Pardon my summary judgment, but I put all translations into two families - King James and Other. I believe the ESV is a version of the RSV, the first translation to remove the Virgin Birth from Isaiah 7.

The original King James is a version of the Tyndale, who was burned for his trouble. Faithfulness to the Word is always accompanied by the cross, while apostasy is rewarded with money and worldly honors. Ask Church and Change if this is not true.

William Tyndale

William Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and was their spiritual leader. Tyndale holds the distinction of being the first man to ever print the New Testament in the English language. Tyndale was a true scholar and a genius, so fluent in eight languages that it was said one would think any one of them to be his native tongue. He is frequently referred to as the “Architect of the English Language”, (even more so than William Shakespeare) as so many of the phrases Tyndale coined are still in our language today.

William Tyndale (1494-1536) Biblical translator and martyr; born most probably at North Nibley (15 miles south-west of Gloucester), England, in 1494; died at Vilvoorden (6 miles north-east of Brussels), Belgium, Oct. 6, 1536. Tyndale was descended from an ancient Northumbrian family, went to school at Oxford, and afterward to Magdalen Hall and Cambridge.

William Tyndale Overview

Tyndale was a theologian and scholar who translated the Bible into an early form of Modern English. He was the first person to take advantage of Gutenberg’s movable-type press for the purpose of printing the scriptures in the English language. Besides translating the Bible, Tyndale also held and published views which were considered heretical, first by the Catholic Church, and later by the Church of England which was established by Henry VIII. His Bible translation also included notes and commentary promoting these views. Tyndale's translation was banned by the authorities, and Tyndale himself was burned at the stake in 1536, at the instigation of agents of Henry VIII and the Anglican Church.

The Early Years of William Tyndale

Tyndale enrolled at Oxford in 1505, and grew up at the University. He received his Master’s Degree in 1515 at the age of twenty-one! He proved to be a gifted linguist. One of Tyndale’s associates commented that Tyndale was “so skilled in eight languages – Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English, and German, that whichever he speaks, you might think it his native tongue!” This gift undoubtedly aided him in his successful evasion of the authorities during his years of exile from England.

Early Controversy Surrounding Tyndale

Around 1520, William Tyndale became a tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh, at Little Sodbury in Gloucestershire. Having become attached to the doctrines of the Reformation, and devoted himself to the study of the Scriptures, the open avowal of his sentiments in the house of Walsh, his disputes with Roman Catholic dignitaries there, and especially his preaching, excited much opposition, and led to his removal to London (about Oct., 1523), where he began to preach, and made many friends among the laity, but none among church leaders.

A clergyman hopelessly entrenched in Roman Catholic dogma once taunted Tyndale with the statement, “We are better to be without God’s laws than the Pope’s”. Tyndale was infuriated by such Roman Catholic heresies, and he replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the scriptures than you!”

William Tyndale First Prints The Scripture in English

He was hospitably entertained at the house of Sir Humphrey Monmouth, and also financially aided by him and others in the accomplishment of his purpose to translate the Scriptures into the commonly spoken English of the day. Unable to do so in England, he set out for the continent (about May, 1524), and appears to have visited Hamburg and Wittenberg. The place where he translated the New Testament, is thought to have been Wittenberg, under the aid of Martin Luther. The printing of this English New Testament in quarto was begun at Cologne in the summer of 1525, and completed at Worms, and that there was likewise printed an octavo edition, both before the end of that year. William Tyndale’s Biblical translations appeared in the following order: New Testament, 1525-26; Pentateuch, 1530; Jonah, 1531.

His literary activity during that interval was extraordinary. When he left England, his knowledge of Hebrew, if he had any, was of the most rudimentary nature; and yet he mastered that difficult tongue so as to produce from the original an admirable translation of the entire Pentateuch, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, First Chronicles, contained in Matthew's Bible of 1537, and of the Book of Jonah, so excellent, indeed, that his work is not only the basis of those portions of the Authorized King James Version of 1611, but constitutes nine-tenths of that translation, and very largely that of the English Revised Version of 1885.

So the KVJ is really an official version of the Tyndale, and Tyndale is directly linked to Luther himself.

The KJV we use today is an updated version of the original, so there is no sin in updating it again. However, the non-Lutherans love the KJV and they produce all the updated KJVs, such as the New KJV, KJV II, etc. Those variations have adopted the Reformed elimination of the Sacraments and change "teach all nations" into "make disciples." As one Lutheran observed, "They know their market."

People tolerate the sacraments in the old KJV but the same wording disappears in the newer versions. "Baptism now saves you" - that has to go. "Communion with the body of Christ" - vanished.

If someone has not grown up with the old KJV and does not know German, the New KJV is a good solution. I have yet to see any other modern effort better than the New KJV.

I know the old KJV has readings that would simply baffle any younger reader, but so does Shakespeare. Anyone can compare the New KJV to the older one to see what some peculiar wordings actually mean.

After we confess all the supposed faults of the old KJV, can anyone read the above passage from Isaiah and not get goosebumps?

Paul McCain, colporteur of the LCMS, may hype their newest product, but I am reminded of the Concordia One Volume Commentary, based on the wretched NIV. The book denied key Messianic passages in the Psalms. One of the key editors bragged afterward that upon retiring from Concordia Seminary as a professor, he could say anything he wanted. He denied Luther's justification by faith in favor of some Romanizing version. That was Robert Hoerber.

McCain and Barry were key players in allowing the Church Shrinkage Movement to take over the LCMS, while posing as conservatives. They also did nothing about LCMS Pentecostalism and Benke's pan-religious unionism.

McCain now has a grand total of three years as a parish pastor, most of the time spent campaigning for Al Barry, conniving with Herman Otten while denying and bragging about it. Schlepping books is not a divine call.

Sure, I would buy any book McCain recommends! After I win the lottery, and I never play the lottery.

Not getting behind a new Lutheran KJV was a disaster for WELS, Missouri, and the ELS. Not backing the New KJV (lazy, cheap alternative for synod executives) was another major mistake.

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RSV Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

***

GJ - It is worth noting that all new versions feel free to change their publications willy-nilly. I was reading the NKJV at one service in Nicollet and again in New Ulm. I was startled by a word change. Imagination? Too much coffee? Not enough? I checked the next week. The two NKJVs disagreed. The NIV has been all over the place with its trendier versions. Willow Creek demanded a feminist version and would not order Bibles unless the Word of God agreed with Hybels - typical Church Growth thinking.

Another value of the KJV was its consistency from one generation to the next, making memorization relatively easy. How does one memorize a version where changes are made annually?

I wrote in another post that most--if not all--new versions accept the fantasy textual criticism started by Wescott-Hort and carried on by new generations of theological fiction writers. They expel the Byzantine tradition (Greek Christian Empire for 1100 years) because there are so many Byzantine manuscripts. They slobber on Vaticanus and Sinaiticus because one man fortuitously (?) found them and made his reputation with them, even though no one really knows the origin of either one. And to top it off - these two great, perfect, best manuscripts do not agree with each other.

Where did lack of trust in the revealed Word of God start? Wescott and Hort. Let me know if a modern version (apart from the KJV family) disavows the snip and clip of the modernists. For verification, look at the footnotes in the NIV, including the ending of Mark.

A Changing Gospel in a Changeless World

Borgwardt's stealth church was featured in FIC.

"A Changeless Gospel in a Changing World" is a motto found at some Church and Change congregations in WELS. That by itself does not define a congregation. Some may use it innocently. Others are Shrinkers but borrow "We Still Believe," sometimes with their own verbiage, which falls harshly on unwaxed ears.

The original motto used by Shrinkers would be true if they reversed the order, as I did in the headline. People have not changed since Biblical times, and we live--once again--as minorities in the midst of paganism and occultism. The same sins, against the First and Second Tables of the Ten Commandments, are a regular feature of our frail, fallible, and corrupted nature.

Disturbing to many is the Shrinker effort to change the Gospel in their marketing efforts. Once again, the word Lutheran, by itself, is not the key element but a symptom of the change. By now the uneducated public thinks of Lutheran in the same category as interior decorator, male model, and Hollywood star. I would second the motion to use a new phrase, such as Church of the Augsburg Confession.

The words themselves are not the problem, but the attitude behind them. The Shrinkers believe, thanks to their marketing experts, that hiding their confession is the best way to attract their audiences. After all, Andy Stanley--Babtist guru to at least seven WELS pastors and Bishop Katie--hides his own confession by calling his church Northpoint Community when he is a Babtist who denies and teaches against baptismal regeneration and infant baptism. Ditto - The Simple Church, which Peter Pan-denominational follows and promotes at his WELS church.

Hiding the confession of faith is prelude to hiding the practice of the faith. I heard from Roger Zehms, part of the Wayne Mueller team, that WELS churches were moving Holy Communion to Wednesday to avoid offending the visitors on Sunday. I learned that 22 years ago. The next step, taken by Ski and Gunn, is not having Holy Communion at all.

The president of the WELS congregation told me I offended people by preaching about infant baptism when extended family members (Babtist of course) attended the baptism of a baby. The issue was hotly debated so it should have been avoided altogether.

Strange - I heard this story about missionary work in China. The Roman Catholic priest said Mass every day, in a public place where the ruler could hear it. Finally the ruler became intensely interested in what this was and became a Christian. Perhaps the story is false, but the anecdote illustrates a profound faith in the Sacrament as God's work. I cannot imagine a Chinese ruler being intrigued by a Seeker Service, Friendship Sunday, or Smores and Rock in the Park. More likely the cacophony of Rock would have led to a summary execution.

Kieschnick, Jeske, and the Chicaneries have changed the Gospel. They have adulterated it in a desperate move to attract more people. They believe in the efficacy of man's methods but not in the efficacy of God's Word.

"The child is the father of the man," as one Romantic poet said. In this case, Mark Jeske's father, John Jeske (aka Jumpin' Jack, aka Jester) is the father of this situation. Professor Jeske joined in the ecumenical effort to produce the worst ever translation of the Bible - the NIV. WELS and Missouri went on to make it their official version. WELS excommunicated pastors who dissented, even though they originally promoted the KJV (closest to Luther) and said modern versions were the Devil's tool. (A changing Gospel, many decades ago)

Now Concordia Publishing House is promoting the ESV while Otten counters with the Beck. Schwan funded a revision of Beck, to the tune of about $800,000 a year, so the Missouri pastor in charge could translate and remain in his adulterous situation. If you have a Beck revision, check on the Sixth Commandment - I am sure the "not" was omitted.

Lutherans, the Biblical guys, could not get behind a confessional translation. A slight revision of the KJV would have been great: no omitted verses, no erasing of the Sacraments, no feminazi language, no alteration of the Virgin Birth. But no, in all these years, the Lutherans can only promote this or that non-Lutheran effort. Meanwhile, the Book of Concord gathers dust on most pastors' shelves and remains a mystery to most laity.

The Biblical foundation has been abandoned because it did not matter to the organizational types. The scent of money did concern them deeply. Given the cash generated by volume sales of books, I am sure synodical enslavement to the NIV was richly rewarded.

Lutherans illustrate this sentence, which I recorded in Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure - "The Church that marries the spirit of this age will be a widow in the Age To Come."

WELS Orthodoxy - DNA

Mark Jeske is related to the Piepers and many more, so how could he be wrong?

Comment from reader, via email:

"Looks like the 5th generation WELS should be about enough do you not think. These guys are always big on how long they have been WELS. I think too much inbreeding. His Grace is a big supporter of UOJ."

"No, No, No, We Won't Go!" - Insubordinate WELS Perish Services Drones Refuse To Leave Posh Positions

Paul Calvin Kelm (DMin in Church Growth, Concordia Seminary, LCMS, St. Louis) will be 65 in December.

Another key player in the Escape to Missouri scenario is Paul Calvin Kelm. He was an editor of TELL (founded to promote CG in WELS), the first secretary of Evangelism in WELS, and the Church and Change leader who refused to dis-invite Leonard Sweet. Kelm's CG brother was welcomed into Missouri with a sweetheart deal - drop by the seminary every so often and we have a call for you. Kelm's son also joined the LCMS.

Everyone knew the fix was on when Perish Services boss Bruce Becker (Chicanery board) hired Kelm in the midst of a budget crisis, with Becker leaving soon after to join the Jeske team at Time of Generic Grace. Coincidence or connivance?

The WELS convention took away the power of Perish Services, gave them a public thumping about their false doctrine, and made them the cutting edge of budget reductions. Shrinkers like Radloff wanted to close both prep schools, but the convention found plenty of fat to trim in Perish Services.

Now the Perish Services guys will not obey the command to "Please go now," as Dr. Seuss put it so eloquently. They will seek and get the support of the Doctrinal Pussycats from the biggest districts.

Can anyone imagine Ski's DP opposing the will of Perish Services?

Mark Jeske's Memory Problems, etc.

"You dare offend the great and terrible Oz?!"

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Hymn Study from NPH":

Part 1 of 2

Between Mark Jeske and You

Bob Smith September 7 at 5:06pm
a rogue (quasi)lutheran website offers conjecture that you are going to leave the WELS and join the LCMS. Please!! Say it ain't so!! Maybe you can squash this rumor--ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com

Mark Jeske September 9 at 9:10am
Forgive me for my slowness to respond. I am underwater in writing projects and haven't had a day off in weeks.

Greg Jackson is a crabby blogger who enjoys abusing me. I pay no attention to him whatsoever. I am a 5th generation WELS guy and have no plans to leave.

Bob Smith September 11 at 5:40pm
Yes, Greg Jackson does seem 'a little' (extremely) crabby. Did you know him when he was in the WELS? He's obviously a very angry person, but I get the impression that he's trying to do the right thing (which is why I've read his stuff. I'm trying to disseminate he theological stance and wouldn't mind a little aid. If you have a chance I'd appreciate you helping me 'Test some Spirits'. thanks

What are you writing about these days? Oh and... curious... I saw an advert for Time of Grace. I could've sworn that the person talking (announcer or ad narrator) said "Mike" Jeske. The other people in the room watching the ad thought the narrator said Mike too.

You probably don't mind as long as it's a one syllable name that starts with M:)


Take care.

Mark Jeske September 14 at 9:05am
Greg went through various Lutheran organizations. When he was in Milwaukee, going to our seminary for a colloquy semester, i (sic) think, he would sometimes visit St. Marcus for worship. [GJ - Mark phoned me and asked me to speak at St. Marcus. And I did. ] He is very well-read, well-traveled, interesting, and sharp of mind. But I fear he is using his gifts for the dark side. His bitter, insulting, libelous rants may make gossip-inspiring reading, but they hurt God's people. He is not helping to build the Lutheran

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Hymn Study from NPH":

church of the future.

Bob Smith September 17 at 4:31pm
Well,

I guess I want to steer clear of what's some call a genetic fallacy. I can get behind what you said regarding his insults etc. But what about his central gripe with modern Lutheranism?

I don't suppose you have enough time to read his stuff, being busy busy and all. I'll give you the super-abbreviated "Cliff Notes" edition. Jackson says that Scripture (and Luther) does not teach what modern people call Objective Justification. Jackson claims that the "reconciliation" that 1 Cor. 5:19 talks about is not Justification. Jackson argues with most modern Lutheran sects by asserting that God didn't justify the entire world on Easter morning, but rather He Atoned for the worlds sin. Justification (i.e. being declared innocent) only happens to those with faith because of the renewal that happens as a result of faith.

Jackson says the Bible teaches: No faith, no perfection. Jackson also insists that many theological problems can (and have, according to him) arisen because of Objective Justification: namely, a uniquely American brand of Synergism. I just don't see it, myself.

But I have to acknowledge, put that way, Jackson's argument makes perfect Biblical sense, however much his methods might detract from what he says.

So my question for you is: Objective Justification? What do you make of Jackson's opinion? If the vinegar were honey :) does his position hold water? I really would like to hear your perspective about this because I'm trying to wade through. Personally, I'm kind of at a crossroads and I'm trying to figure out some stuff.
I'd appreciate any insight.

Thanks a bunch


Mark Jeske September 17 at 9:33pm
Hi--
Sorry that I don't have time to do a thorough presentation. Here are just some quick thoughts. I haven't read Jackson's writing on the subject, so I can't respond to his particular points.
I am very comfortable with the term and concepts of objective justification, as long as it is not considered in isolation. It could lead to universalism and a downplaying of the need for faith and the means of grace.
I think the passage you are referring to is from II Corinthians, ne c'est pas?
Grace is shocking and exists before faith ever happens. In fact, grace is the cause of faith. It produces faith. For a passage that means a lot to me and illustrates the shocking nature of grace, consider Romans 4:5 which says that God justifies the wicked. If that beautiful grace results in faith in a person, all that justification is credited to him by faith. If he rejects that beautiful grace, he loses the value of Christ's substitution for him.
Hope this helps.
In haste,
MAJ

***

GJ - I imagine Mark will use and abuse the ELS/WELS market as long as he can, but the LCMS RSO status he just earned is golden in Missouri. If he can play the martyr and get kicked out of WELS, taking his church and organization with him, the Shrinkers will be tempted to follow. Kieschnick will have a media guy for free, and Jeske Inc. will thrive on additional gifts and foundation grants - not to mention Thrivent dough.

I would like to see these big, successful churches donate money instead of always soaking up all the subsidies, free vicars, foundation grants, and Thrivent donations.

Mark is clearly the leader of Church and Change. Too bad he is not as much in love with the word Lutheran as he is with the word change.

Mark does not read Ichabod, but he is rather verbose about what he has not read: "But I fear he is using his gifts for the dark side. His bitter, insulting, libelous rants may make gossip-inspiring reading, but they hurt God's people. He is not helping to build the Lutheran (sic)..." What happened to Church and Change, Canon Law, Tome XLVII, Book II, Chapter 5, paragraph 3, subsection a - "You must sit down with me, hold my hand, and tell me my sins, or you have violated the Eighth Commandment, Matthew 18, and the Bill of Rights"?

Would Luther have said that arguing for sound doctrine was Satanic? No, but Spener did, and Jeske has a publicly professed fondness for Pietism.

The Missouri Synod he has sworn to promote (RSO documentation) might make Five-Generation-WELS-Jeske uncomfortable. The previous Synod President, Al Barry:
1. Attended the Little School on the Prairie (ELS).
2. Attended an orthodox seminary where classes were held in a church basement.
3. Vicared in a WELS congregation.
4. Joined the LCMS.
How does that compare to five generations in WELS and then oof, the Left Foot of Fellowship?

The Missouri branch of the Preus family might object to having someone as stable as Mark in their midst.
1. Robert and Jack Preus went to seminary at the proto-ELCA School - Luther.
2. Robert's wife said they were WELS for a period of time.
3. Robert, then Jack, joined the Little Sect on the Prairie. Robert was the first graduate of Bethany Seminary.
4. The Preus brothers denounced the liberalism of the LCMS and offered a motion to break fellowship with Missouri.
5. Next, they joined the Missouri Synod as professors. Jack became seminary, then synod president.
6. Rolf joined the Little Sect on the Prairie, after serving as a Missouri pastor.
7. Pope John the Malefactor extended the Left Foot of Fellowship to Rolf, who formed the Rolf Synod.

Hymn Study from NPH

Paul Gerhardt wrote many of the finest Christian hymns of all times. 

 

A Study of Lutheran Hymnody

Series: Bible Insights

Goeffrey A. Kieta

This Bible study in the NPH Bible Insights series works through various hymns from Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal. These seven lessons deal with Lutheran hymns in roughly chronological order, with some information on the periods in which they were written, plus one additional lesson on hymns from from the new Christian Worship: Supplement.
Author Kieta leads class members through many of the great hymns that express the truths of Scripture in beautiful language set to timeless melodies which make the best tools for Christians to confess their faith and sing praises to God.

Class members leave this class with a renewed appreciation for their Lutheran hymns and the ability to sing them with greater understanding and enthusiasm.

Lessons include:
Sing Praises to God
Hymns of the Early Church
Martin Luther's Hymns
Hymns of the Reformation Era
Hymns from the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy
Lutheran Hymnody During the Age of Opposition
Lutheran Hymns in the Awakening and Beyondd
(Optional Lesson) Lutheran Hymns in Christian Worship: Supplement
Leader's Guide 54 pages, Student Lessons 45 pages. Teaching index 6. Published 2009. Teaching Index
View Sample Pages
Catalog Item Number: OL-221158
Price: $41.50

***

GJ - I didn't get my free review copy, but I thought this was worth listing anyway. This kind of study will go a long way to encourage congregations to sing good hymns with Biblical content.

PS

My jocular comment, above, got me a PDF of the book, so I was able to read through it. I like the way the various eras of hymn-writing are discussed, with Biblical passages throughout the study, illustrating Biblical hymns.

We tend to read and sing hymns by season, and overlook biographical information. This is a good study for making people aware of their Lutheran heritage. They will also find out more about theological movements influencing hymns. The Pietistic hymnal collected under Francke's son-in-law profoundly affected Lutheran worship.

When unionistic Lutherans want to be more like the Reformed, they mock Lutheran hymns, liturgy, and sermons. Lutheran is not a brand, where we need a new, improved version to market to the masses. A Lutheran hymn is faithful to God's Word, emphasizing justification by faith and the Means of Grace.

People like to sing familiar hymns, so congregations should always keep the great Lutheran hymns in rotation rather than relying on the Methodist-Babtist hymns favored by default. There are many ways to educate a congregation about hymns:

1. Featuring a hymn of the month.
   
2. Writing up hymns, authors, and composers in the bulletin.
   
3. Discussing hymns in the service.
   
4. Using a hymn as a doctrinal lesson.
   
5. Following Luther in replacing parts of the liturgy with hymns.
   
6. Copying the embed code of a You Tube hymn into the congregation's website or blog, so people can sing along at home. Ichabod has a long list of great hymns to sing, including German ones.

WELS Beta Website

Someone wrote me about the WELS beta website, now being tested. He thought Lutheran was not being emphasized enough.

The situation is similar to the time when Jack Preus was elected LCMS President, backed by members and pastors, but not at all by the synodical staff, who got their jobs under the previous liberal administrations. Here is a story from those days - When Jack stepped onto a floor of the office building, every door slammed shut.

When Mark Schroeder was elected WELS Synod President, he inherited a staff from Gurgel, Wayne Mueller, Mischke, and Kelm. Perish Services (Wayne's first domain) was and is interchangeable with Church and Change leadership. FIC--the name says it all--was and is the Xerox room for Church and Change. The world and American mission boards were Fuller-trained, hotter than Georgia asphalt for Church Growth, but oblivious about their own results (division, scandals, lawsuits, millions of bucks wasted).

Was someone removed from the ministry for reciting, verbatim, the sermons of Hybels at Willow Creek? No problem - they made him head of technology. That may be why Church and Change was pronounced DOA after one conference while they were registering people for the next conference on the WELS.net website. That Chicanery link is not likely to appear for the upcoming conference.

The Shrinkers have fouled their own nest by fighting the will of the convention, undermining the elected leader, and opposing clear directives. They say "Lord, Lord" and "Jesus, Jesus" but they do not recognize Biblical mandates. Clergy make the most obnoxious trouble-makers because they learn their skills from destructive congregational trouble-makers.

The LCA was organized with General Motors as the model! They learned not to lavish so much attention on a huge structure, because the costs were infinite. Every denomination will have to downsize permanently now. This is a good opportunity to put synod drones out to pasture, perhaps back to work in a parish or school.

Lutheran synods are not going to improve unless the members and pastors get serious about doctrinal study. I enjoy providing lessons on various topics. At Bethany we have gone through the entire Book of Concord, Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, and the history of Pietism. Our next study is Galatians, with Luther's commentary as the main book.

When Will This Morganatic Marriage Be Revealed?

Mark Jeske (WELS) and Jerry Kieschnick (LCMS Synod President) have a morganatic marriage, WELS-LCMS.

Off Life Support? Becker Is a Spiritual Alcoholic - Teaching Everyone How To Sober Up

Helping Our Churches Get Off Life Support

By Bruce Becker

The patient is any one of the 1,000 WELS churches that have, collectively as a denomination, been sharing the gospel with fewer people every year for the past 18 years. The good news is that there are approximately 100 WELS churches that are sharing the gospel with more and more people each and every year.

So what’s the difference between the congregations sharing the gospel with less [GJ - fewer] people and the congregations sharing it with more? Do these congregations have different attitudes toward ministry? Different demographics? Different ministry forms and approaches? Different leaders with different gifts? We’ll examine characteristics that are hurting congregations as well as those that are helping congregations in their efforts to bring the power of the gospel to more and more people.

***

GJ - Why isn't everyone laughing? Church and Chicanery offers seminars in grantsmanship - the art of wheedling money from Thrivent and foundations. No group is more addicted to life support than Church and Change:

1. Bruce Becker's life support was a princely synod salary, which he used to bulk up Church and Change while serving on the Chicanery board. He jumped ship so Mark Jeske's heavily subsidized operation could keep him plump and sassy. Jeske bounces from one grant to another, cashing in on white liberal guilt.
   
2. Rock N Roll in Round Rock, Texas, is still on life support, synod subsidy and an Antioch grant ($20,000 instead of the $200,000 requested), in spite of having only 30 in attendance, two full-time staff, and their own Rock N Roll blog, which was de-rezzed. Say it ain't so, Joe. (Joe Krohn ran his infamous blog. I was probably his only reader.)
   
3. Chicanery board member Ski has run through $250,000 in a few months, for a net gain of 9 members - and no Holy Communion. They are, like the Apostles of old, waiting for their custom set of communion ware to be delivered.
   
4. Chicanery leaders Parlow and Kelm, when not absorbing more wisdom at Schwaermer conferences, are out begging for huge grants, including one for Life Coaching. I think that was $50,000 or so.
   
5. Don Patterson, a stealth supporter of Chicanery and a former conference leader, gets a free vicar each year. His church is well established. He goes on safaris with others, like Missionary Johne, yet he is still on life support from the offerings of faithful members. "Pure gold," as Kudu Don has written on the Chicanery listserve.
   
6. Conference leader Jeff Gunn was "greatly blessed by God" in avoiding Holy Communion and pretending to be Babtist - until the money ran out. But yes, he expected WELS people (not his members) to support him. He received a grant to run a Welcome Wagon at his church.
   
7. Coffee guru Randy Hunter has a vicar and a lovely assistant. Are we supposed to believe he is doing all this on congregational offerings? Or is he also on life support?
   
8. Victory of the Movie Theatre specializes in superficial, Schwaermer entertainment, soccer camp evangelism, and gloating. Synod subsidy?
   
9. Find out more by asking tough questions about where the money is going.
   

GJ - Why isn't anyone laughing? I love to read the wisdom of synod drones who will not return to the parish to show everyone how it is done. Instead, Becker escaped to the easy living of a parachurch organization. Has he gotten St. Marcus or Time of Generic Grace off life support? All the grants are available in the public realm, through the Internet. The money grabbed by the gloating, preening Chicaneries is sickening. I hope to post links on how to find out more information on grants.

Church and Chicanery Conference Promo

From:
Date: Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Subject: [church_and_change] Looked at the line-up for C & C Nov. 5-7? Tomorrow is last day for discount!
To: church_and_change@yahoogroups.com



Here is some information about the Church and Change conference that will take place November 5-7 in Milwaukee. I think its main theme is highly important to us all. There isn't any other place that I know of to find this many creative WELS leaders presenting on so many areas of ministry in which God has obviously blessed them abundantly. Koine and others will be heavily involved in the worship services. This is special. See below for some descriptions and further below for web sites, etc.

John Huebner


Helping Our Churches Get Off Life Support
By Bruce Becker

The patient is any one of the 1,000 WELS churches that have, collectively as a denomination, been sharing the gospel with fewer people every year for the past 18 years. The good news is that there are approximately 100 WELS churches that are sharing the gospel with more and more people each and every year.


So what’s the difference between the congregations sharing the gospel with less people [GJ - surely he means fewer people] and the congregations sharing it with more? Do these congregations have different attitudes toward ministry? Different demographics? Different ministry forms and approaches? Different leaders with different gifts? We’ll examine characteristics that are hurting congregations as well as those that are helping congregations in their efforts to bring the power of the gospel to more and more people.

Bruce Becker is the director of operations for Time of Generic Grace Ministry, an international television and media outreach ministry headquartered in Milwaukee, WI. He spent the previous seven years as the administrator for WELS Parish Services and the seven years prior as the administrator for WELS Adult Discipleship. Prior to his service on the denominational level, he served as the lead pastor of congregations located in Brillion, WI, and Springville, NY. He has been a respected and well-known presenter, instructor, advisor, and writer within WELS organizations and congregations for the past 15 years, serving as the keynote speaker and/or lead author for numerous synodical or church-related conferences and publications. Regaining Momentum:

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Regaining Momentum: Learning from our Turnaround Churches
The goal of the Turnaround Churches project is to identify the most significant factors associated with the manner in which the Lord blessed selected WELS congregations that have experienced turnaround. What are we learning, and how might these findings benefit both our struggling and our healthier congregations?

Pastor Elton Stroh
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Three Preconference Intensive (3-hour) workshops

001......Elephants, Fleas, Frogs and Me; John Branstad
002......Coach Skill Training for Leaders; Mike and Christy Geiger
003......Relational Ministries Workshop; John Johnson


Five Ministry Areas of Focus
Adult Discipleship (100)
Children and Youth (200)
Outreach/Evangelism (300)
Women’s Ministries (400)
Worship (500)

Workshop Leaders include Ron Roth, Daron Lindemann, Jane Schlenvogt, Randy Hunter, Debbie Rothe, Brian Davison, David Bauer, Daniel Dexter, Tim Mueller, Jeff Davis and many more. Topics include personal development, leadership, coaching, outreach, Sunday Schools, youth, worship, women's ministry. Those who lead this conference have been faithfully working in their respective areas, have learned from their mistakes and the blessings God has given them and have much to offer. All in one place!

--------------------------------------
(borrowed from the official announcement from Ron Ash)

One day remains to register for The 2009 Church & Change Conference at the "early bird" rate. Registration fees are $200 per individual registration received by September 15, 2009; $280 per individual registration received on or after September 16, 2009.

Registration fees include all general, breakout, and workshop sessions beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, through Saturday, November 7, 2009.

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

Join us at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel and Convention Center Milwaukee, WI. A special "3+1 offer" will be available to congregations sending four or more participants. All meals are included in the conference price, but participants will need to provide their own lodging.

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

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

All registrations will take place online at http://www.regonline.com/churchandchange2009. For a full description of each presenter/topic, click C&C program.bw.pdf for efficient black/white printing or C&C program.color.pdf for full color viewing printing. Check out our Website www.churchandchange.org for further details.

Hoenecke Should Be Studied

The complete Hoenecke Dogmatics set is available in English from Northwestern Publishing House.

Others, such as Kurt Marquart, have said it is better than Pieper's work, coming from the same era.

There are many reasons to study Hoenecke. He was the main theologian for the Wisconsin Synod and helped move the synod from its unionistic, Pietistic roots. Bading was another influence.

Hoenecke came from Halle, and that shows in his passage on General Justification. However, he also studied the Confessions and dealt concisely with many issues in his writing. He should be read for historical reasons and also to compare with F. Pieper, who came over from Wisconsin to be Walther's disciple.

Apparently Hoenecke wanted to do more in filling in the details but did not. His sons edited the notes and published them in serial form, which many pastors bound up into volumes.The loss of German language skills among most Lutheran pastors has drawn a leather curtain between them and the great works of the past. Latin is even more obscure for most pastors.

I am not sure if Hoenecke will be promoted as infallible, the way Pieper and Walther are among the Bronze Age Missourians. Everyone seems glib about Luther's errors, although few read Luther, let alone study Luther. Every era leaves its impressions on theologians, and Hoenecke is no different.

This set would be an ideal gift for  parish pastors, college or seminary students. Many laity will gain a lot from reading Hoenecke on various doctrinal topics. I enjoyed his passages on infant baptism and his answers to objections about the Biblical practice. For example, if infants have no faith, why does Jesus commend to us that faith? "Unless you believe as a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God." And - "To such belong the Kingdom of God."

If Lutherans want to return to the truth of the Scriptures, they need to back up their studies with solid, heavy books. Hoenecke will help people gain the capacity needed to absorb the great works of the past.

Grantsmanship in Church and Chicanery

WELS Perish Services Scandal

Kelmed from Joseph Schmidt

What has been more toxic than WELS Perish Services?

First of all, they charged congregations $5,000 to $35,000 for consultations when the men were already on salaries paid by the synod mission offering.

In the bad, old LCA, they never considered billing congregations for synodical staff work. An architect met with congregations ready to build - no charge. Stewardship staff met with individual congregations and small groups - no charge. Various staff met with pastors and congregations - no charge.

But that is really the minor scandal of WELS Perish Services - a group so bad they had to be kicked under the porch and placed in the consecrated and consecrating hands of the District Popes.

The real scandal Perish Services is their deliberate undermining of the divine call, with expected divisive and destructive results.

What is worse than having Fuller-trained yokels like Kelm, Huebner, or Olson placing themselves between the called pastor and his flock? Are wandering wolves experts by virtue of living more than 50 miles away and carrying bonded leather briefcases?

Even the best person can only do damage when he steps in to take over a flock and assume authority on his own.

The so-called consultants have conducted their odious work under false pretenses. They hide their Fuller training while puffing out their chests at their expertise. They are not honest with the congregations and pastors. For example, Huebner simply took over one congregation's Sunday worship service to impress everyone, without telling the pastor. How is that for dishonesty, cowardice, and vainglory?

The results are in - the Fuller specialists leave wreckage behind wherever they work. Just like C. Peter Wagner said - CG principles do not work.

Mark Jeske Reviewed - time of Generic Grace

 

The Jeske speech at Concordia, Mequon captures the spirit of Church and Chicanery.

DJJ has left a new comment on your post "Jeske as the Last Lutheran in Broadcasting":

This speech has many quotables. Here are a few highlights, please excuse any transcribing typos:

After 37 minutes, regarding change: “we had nothing to lose [...] we started to change our brand from gathering our people, and—I challenge now for the rest of your life, if you ever amongst Lutherans hear that phrase ‘our people,’ I hope the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, I hope alarm bells, red alerts, condition red, this is major trouble, to talk about ‘our people,’ that’s backward thinking that's gonna take us backwards, and ultimately that kind of thinking will destroy whatever organization you’re trying to advance.”

First, I have never ever heard the phrase “our people” in any confessional Lutheran context. Never. I don’t know when Pastor Jeske thinks we Scandinavians and Germans got off the boat to settle the prairie, but I just don’t get this “our people” tirade. You’ve also got to love the talk about branding and organizations. Thanks goodness American consumerism has taught us how to ‘do church,’ eh? Ironically, “our people” seems to be the very lingo that keeps Apple computers successful, “Oo, I’ve got my $1,500 iMac. I’m an Apple person!”

After about 44:45: “You've got it--I was gonna say bass-ackwards, but I'm not going to say it.” Good old-fashioned use of apophasis to work in some profanity. Not swearing exactly, just icky in the context of a missions speech.

After about 47:20: Good part here: denigration of ladies aid. I’m fine with that. Bad implication: more business-oriented women will work to change our congregations: “Consumer driven? Thank God—that means they will force us to change. Nobody ever wants to change. No business wants to change. Dear God, no congregation or synod wants to change.” Hurray for breeches of the second commandment. He goes on to praise the consumer-driven “me” generation at 49:35.

After about 53:00: “I told you before what the main musical instrument of Hispanic peoples is [the guitar]; what is the first and foremost musical instrument in all African culture, whether it’s African American, African African, or African Cuban? Drums. And the primary form of artistic expression in all African cultures is the dance.”

This last quotation here is one of the juicier nuggets from the whole speech. Nothing like a little racial determinism to spice up one's “organization.” Now, there is some truth to stereotypes, and Pastor Jeske does say drum and dance is a favorite of African culture (ALL African culture, apparently) rather than ‘race,’ but Pastor Jeske's unsettling implication is that African and Hispanic peoples are unable to understand any form of musical expression that is not somehow “native.” The best is how a room full of white Missouri Synod folk all murmur out “drums” when Pastor Jeske asks them about the African “heart language.” Of course, historical liturgical worship is miles away from the rock-and-roll/techno/rap culture that is the main form of “white folk” culture too (and American culture in general), but apparently that’s all by-the-by. Reminds me a little of “Theme for English B” by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes:

“I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.”

-Dan

---

From LutherQuest (sic)

Interesting how "official WELS" explains this. I wonder if Pr. Jeske prays with LCMS'ers in the RSO?

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_t opicID=70&cuItem_itemID=15685
Q: Is Time of Generic Grace in fellowship with the WELS? Does WELS sponsor any Time of Generic Grace activites (sic), other than links to their website?
A: Time of Grace is what we call a parasynodical ministry. That means those who present and support it are in full doctrinal fellowship with the WELS, but their ministry is funded and managed apart from WELS mission and ministry.

Hmmmm.....At the bottom of this WELS.net page is a "Your gifts support special ministries-Partner with this ministry" opportunity to give electronically. Does this mean WELS is encouraging her people to support an LCMS RSO?

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=642&contentID=81468&shortcutID=27364

Time of Generic Grace www.timeofgrace.org

Time of Generic Grace shares the Good News of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible, including the homebound and those who don’t hear well.

The weekly captioned church service broadcasts from St. Marcus Ev. LuthChurch, Milwaukee WI (WELS).

Look under “Find Us/Where to find us” to see if you can access the captioned TV broadcast in your area.

See “Video-Media/Recent Message” to listen/read/print recent and previous sermons.

Ichabod Global Headquarters

One Silden Lane, Bella Vista, Arkansas, 72715

After considerable begging and pleading, I persuaded Cox in Arizona to release my email addresses to Cox in Arkansas.

So, if you know my old email address, it works again. If you wrote between 9/10 and 9/14, the email has been lost forever in the bit-bucket of a server.

Our local phone is 479-268-6038. However, I have not found the phone, so it will not ring here for another day. The cell phone is the same, but I only have the car charger located, and everyone (Cox, etc) puts me on hold, so I need to drive around to keep on the phone.

My Not So Secret Email Address

I have a gmail account people can use to contact me in the meantime. It is:

bethanylutheranworship@gmail.com.

Moving into our new home is going well. The house is five times better than the photos I published on Facebook. Everyone is astounded by it. Best of all, our son's family is 15 minutes away. That's where I am posting from right now.