The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous

Dr. Walt Kallestad
Senior Pastor—Assigned to a tiny Lutheran congregation in Glendale, Arizona in 1978, Walt Kallestad quickly learned humility and value of strong communications: Within the first few months, the congregation had dropped , by 50 percent and the young idealist was faced with the challenge of rebuilding constituency or finding a new profession.

The challenge has obviously been met. Today, under Walt's direction, Community Church of Joy supports nearly 8,000 participants. Walt is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and Luther-Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and received his [drive-by] doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He spends his leisure time with Mary, his wife and best friend, their grown children and grandchildren, pursuing interests in writing, music and golf. waltk@joyonline.org.

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GJ - Nota bene: fear and desperation drove Kallestad to Fuller Seminary, its crafts and assaults. During the same years, WELS began to dread the future, wondering how their stand-offish sect would fare once the feminists began stirring and the young people fleeing.

WELS, Missouri, and the ELS began a steady decline, pushed down the slope by an increasing mob of Fuller and Willow Creek graduates, their own pastoral colleagues. They would not tell the truth about their new-found passion, and usually lied when asked directly. Waldo Werning (LCMS), David Valleskey (WELS), and Frosty Bivens (WELS) all denied the obvious when I talked to them (Matthew 18). Werning admitted it the first time, denied it the second time, and waxed furious when I quoted him from my pocket Day-Timer. Paul Schneider (ELS) laughed and said to me, "What did you say to Werning to get him running you down?"

Not long ago, Werning got an award for promoting Fuller Seminary methods.

David Valleskey admitted to David Koenig (CLC - sic) that he did go to Fuller. Bivens admitted his attendance in front of the Midland Circuit, but denied it later.

The Calvinists are afraid. They are afraid the Word of God is not adequate to make them look good. They are afraid the liturgy will scare away prospects. They are afraid Lutheran hymns are dirge-like and not zippy enough.

General Patton said, "Never take counsel of your fears." He had plenty of faults, as his admirers will admit today, but the Nazis worried about Patton the most and altered their plans whenever he visited a new location.

Apostasy from Biblical doctrine may draw crowds - it often does not. But the absence of the Word does not mean victory for the Kingdom of God. Satan does not fear the Church Growth Movement, the Emerging Church, the Contagious Church, or the Purpose-Driven Church. They serve his needs admirably.

Walt Kallestad, DMin, Fuller Seminary

Another Christian News Groaner

UOJ Stormtroopers gather to defeat Book of Concord loyalists.

The latest issue of Christian News arrived yesterday, reminding me that conservative Lutherans have thrown away most of their opportunities in the last 50 years.

Otten promoted George Stoeckhardt as the greatest Lutheran exegete in America. Stoeckhardt was one of the more obvious proponents of justification without faith, UOJ.

Here is the problem. Missouri conservatives begin and end with the Synodical Conference - its glorious history, its descended-from-heaven doctrine.

Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect came from European Pietism. They battled Enthusiasm and unionism, not always with great success. All three groups have engaged in extensive navel-gazing, marveling at how God has blessed them with such purity of doctrine and severity of practice.

LCMS

Under Barry-McCain, all the demons of apostasy flourished and grew - unionism, feminist ordination, Church Growthism, and Pentecostalism. McCain reminds me of General Custer telling everyone how he won at Little Big Horn.

WELS

Under Mischke and Gurgle, WELS found a new love...ELCA and quietly celebrated its morganatic marriage. Church Growthism, feminist ordination, and other toxins grew faster than kudzu. WELS is now tossing the old team out in favor of Lutheran doctrine.

Little Sect on the Prairie

Under Orvick and Moldstad, the ELS covertly criticized WELS while overtly kelming their big sister denomination's worst habits. But, when some dared disagree with the ambiguous political statements of the sect, the righteous wrath of Pope John the Malefactor was kindled and the Left Foot of Fellowship extended. The ELS has not yet recovered from the Johannine purge.

Entertainment Evangelism Comes from Calvinism

John Calvin

Walt Kallestad, the Community of Joy (ELCA, now ex-ELCA) pastor, promoted the term "Entertainment Evangelism" in The Lutheran magazine. Can anyone picture him starring in "One Foot in Heaven" - the classic movie about a real-life Methodist minister? That movie ends with the minister playing "The Church's One Foundation" on the new organ in the new church, the whole town gathering to hear the music.

Walt got rid of the organ in favor of pop music; hymns are not his style.

Mandatory Chicanery question - Have you been to a Community of Joy service? Answer - yes. I have also attended a Willow Crick Seeker Service. Did they get their Seeker Service concept from WELS, or--oh my--I just realized--WELS kelmed it from WC!

Entertainment Evangelism comes from Calvinism. Once we realize the Calvinistic concept of the Word, everything becomes clear. For Calvin, the Word itself had no power. The sovereign Holy Spirit (not bound to the Word, in spite of what the Word of God says) may drop in on a sermon or He may not. The Holy Spirit may give power to the Lord's Supper or He may not. Still, the Lord's Supper does not convey forgiveness and does not offer the Real Presence of Christ. Calvin mocked the Real Presence in his Institutes, and that style of mockery is mentioned in the Book of Concord. Has anyone at Chicanery headquarters read Calvin or the Book of Concord? Not likely.

Holy Baptism, for Calvinists, is a witness to others, not a sacrament. Once Zwingli (earlier, cruder, died on the battlefield) took the Holy Spirit from baptism, the Anabaptists promoted "believers' baptism," which had to be adult baptism in their minds. Has anyone at Chicanery headquarters studied the Radical Reformation, where this developed? I took a doctoral course from the late John Howard Yoder, Mennonite scholar.

Entertainment Evangelism is Calvinistic - The Reformed believe they must make the Word of God attractive, reasonable, and germane. In contrast, the Biblical doctrine of the Word places the emphasis upon the Holy Spirit's power. As Jacobs explained in his doctrinal book, the power of the Word is directly related to its purity. The more men dilute the Word with man's wisdom, the less power it has - as we see today.

The influence of Pietism is so great that the Shrinkers (Reformed and faux-Lutheran alike) try to generate outward signs of sanctification among their listeners. If they do not see the results they demand from God and their flocks, they frantically look for better methods.

Andy Stanley denying his Babtist heritage should remind everyone of Mark Jeske avoiding any hint of being Lutheran. Jeske and I agree about one thing - we are both ashamed he is Lutheran.

Whenever I have listened to an Enthusiasm program, I have heard constant murmurs of approval from the audience. Some applaud the leader constantly, but others oo and ah and chortle from all practical wisdom and stand-up comedy offered. The formula is fairly obvious.

1. Obscure historical presentation, often focusing on a Biblical figure rather than Christ.
2. Self-help advice on being calmer, more successful, and happier. The minister often offers himself or herself as a bad example because people enjoy the fake intimacy of entertainment.

Calvin began and ended with the Law. Modern Calvinists do the same. The Law bears no fruit, so no one should be shocked that the Shrinker movement is barren.