Saturday, October 10, 2009

Going Galt, We Bought the Ichaboat from the Duggars



1994 Lincoln Town Car


This area, Northwest Arkansas, is considered retirement paradise. We are surrounded by golf courses, hunting and fishing.

Our car lease was up when we moved, so we looked briefly at buying the car. The dealership gave us a page to look at, and we saw a lot of payments ahead. For the initial cost of taking that car back (add on fees - $800), we put a down payment on the car pictured above.

Mrs. Ichabod wanted to look at cars once we got to Arkansas, so we soon went to the used car lot run by Josh and Anna Duggar. We met Josh first. His brother John worked on the purchase papers. Josh's father Jim Bob stopped in and said hello. Later, Josh's wife Anna finished the purchase, her sister watching, and baby MacKynzie Renee Duggar bearing silent witness. MacKynzie was named but not yet born. My wife wanted to bring a baby present to the close, but I suggested they were on a tight schedule and soon to be inundated with baby gifts.

As suggested by a car expert, we took the car to a good mechanic for an exam. His response was, "For that price, I would buy it. We love Lincolns." The check-up cost was $34. Prices are low in Arkansas.

Anna told me, without sounding ominous, that her brother-in-law John was in charge of repos. I said, "He mentioned that too. I suggested combining two reality shows, with all the Duggars showing up with a muscular gang to repo a car." John loved the idea, but Anna was in a hurry, since she and her sister were on their way to a baby shower.

The Duggars are well known, respected, and loved in the area. We were in a nutrition store when one woman looked at our car, dubbed the Ichaboat, and said, "That looks like Josh's grandfather's car." It may have been. The previous owner had it for one year. Mrs. Ichabod is sure the car now has a pedigree.

By going Galt, we got a rust-free reliable car that will be paid off in one year, no interest. The battle cruiser size means we can emulate the carbon footprint of John Kerry and Al Gore.

PS - Going Galt means looking for ways to donate less revenue to the government while having a more satisfying life. A+ wanted to know if it meant not working, but I take it to mean being more frugal about every purchase. Property owns us, as we learn when moving books or anything else. We can get by on less, especially when the most valuable things cost nothing.

KJV Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Someone Who Earned a Nobel Prize




Such irony today - Norman Teigen just wrote about Norman Borlaug on his blog, a man who earned the Nobel Prize. Teigen has a number of posts on the topic. I suggest looking up Borlaug's information and what he did to fight world hunger.

PS - Someone did not get the humor in my PhotoShop above. Norman identifies himself as someone with many hobbies, something easily discerned from his blog. "I am a retired Viet-Nam veteran. I am involved in about 12 volunteer projects." It helps to read before commenting - but that never stops a Shrinker.

Tragically, I have had to block a lot of comments from Shrinkers, due to the obscene language of the Chicaneries. On the plus side, I know I am hitting the target when the chicken feathers fly.


Thursday, October 8, 2009

Your Lutheran ID Key




In 1977, certain WELS leaders declared war on Lutheran doctrine with the publication of TELL. Thirty-two years later, the same liars are pretending nothing has happened. Unfortunately for them, their boasting and preening is all over the Internet and on TV. They can shred reputations while crying Eighth Commandment and Matthew 18, but they cannot make all the Shrinker articles in FIC (nee Northwestern Lutheran) go away. They cannot make the Evangelism notebooks disappear.

The Shrinkers used to be crypto-Growthers. But the Emerging Church types like Ski, Doebler, Gunn, and Hunter cannot stop blabbing about the Enthusiasts they love, follow, adore, and emulate. They twitter and tweet and run off to the next conference. Bishop Katie cannot help raving about all the WELS guys at the Andy Stanley Babtist Cheerleader Academy, and Ski has to blog about it - with photos!

"Sir, there is no evidence. I erased the link."

"Fool! A doctor of divinity kept the link and Ichabod posted everything. Someone even downloaded all your photos. From now on, we poop and scoot. No evidence left."

"Yes, Don."

"Yes, Don, SIR!"

"Sir, yes, SIR!"


Doctrinal Pussycat Hairballs






DP David Rutschow


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Time of Gath - Is Jeske a Christian?":

In WELSdom, it's supposed to be the duty of the district presidents to uphold doctrine and practice within their respective districts. Jeske is SE Wisconsin District--WELS. David Rutschow is DP of SE Wisconsin District--WELS. Will Rutschow hold Jeske's feet to the fire? Hold not your breath! Witness how the pattern of foolishness at WLC (Marty (ELCA), Weakland (RC), Kaiser (Reformed)has gone on without any real corrective discipline. The COP had to formulate its infamous "outside the framework of fellowship" canon to mollify confessional types while at the same time opening up a loophole for the Shrinkers. So, Jeske makes nice with the S. Wis. LC-MS in convention and discourses at Concordia-Mequon. WELS principles of fellowship and unionism can no longer be taken seriously when DP's fail to address this stuff.

***

GJ - DP Robert Mueller (1980s) approved all the CG stuff, and defended CG projects. He finally said there was something doctrinally wrong with CG in a newsletter but supported soon after - the creation of CrossRoads Evangelical Covenant Church: Rick Miller, Mark Freier, Kelly Voigt.

Aiding and abetting the Shrinker movement has been the attitude that WELS can do no wrong. Anyone who objects is guilty of the Only Sin in WELS - saying WELS is imperfect.

Shrinkers have used Christian News to advance their agenda too, and Otten has been glad to oblige.

Devilish Details


Anonymous
Megatron database has need of slight adjusting... Satan never ever gets put to "Right". The study of God's Word puts him to "Flight".

***

GJ - I kelmed the error directly from the bookofconcord.org website:

"102] And even though no other interest or necessity impel us, yet this ought to urge every one thereunto, because thereby the devil is put to Right and driven away, and, besides, this commandment is fulfilled, and [this exercise in the Word] is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant."

Megatron has been slandered, with secondary violation of Matthew 18! I checked my database and it is correct on this quotation. It is easier to kelm from the website. I admit to parlowing, too. I do not always give credit to that website. I am glad to do it now, to point the finger.

First German, Manitowoc Buying Boilerplate from Kelm and Perish Services




Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Time of Gath - Is Jeske a Christian?":

This just in from the Ichabod News Network.

First German, Manitowoc, WI has been undergoing restructuring under the auspices of Parish Services and lead by visiting counselor Paul Kelm. Round one started in January with all the charts and graphs showing the decline of membership. Funny, after having two pastors and a pastor of Hmong outreach, they are still having a problem of growth. There should be many times each week where the Law and Gospel is proclaimed. Let the results be up to the Lord.

But the hand wringing has successfully been started and the next stages are ready for implementation. It's too bad there are no leaders in the congregation who can see this for what it is and stand up and so NO, we will not let our church become destroyed with the allurements of success at all costs.

First German, you are not on "life support", you never were and you should know what the Means of Grace are and should rely on them solely.

Carry your Gospel of the cross, not of Glory.

***

GJ - I was told Kelm would be gone by the end of September. His initial hiring and continued employment shows how the Shrinkers are still controlling The Love Shack.

Pastor David D. Rosenow is the senior pastor at this congregation. I wonder how much the congregation is paying for Perish Services boilerplate. If there are tons of statistics to gather (as suggested by Kent Hunter, DMin Fuller), I am guessing Kelm did not do the work but told the parish to do it.

Not to worry folks - the Doctrinal Pussycats are now supervising Perish Services. They are the same men who watched as CrossWalk (non-WELS) got three men installed at Wisconsin Lutheran College leaders: president and two board members.

It's your money at work. As Luther said, "They won't give Christ a dollar but they gladly give Satan $100." Imagine the same parish leaders giving up that much money to put a kid through college and seminary.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Ex of a WELS Pastor Writes



GA at work, again?


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "All Divorced WELS Pastors Have "Scriptural" Divorc...":

I was previously married to a WELS pastor who after years of emotional, spiritual, and physical abuse (not to mention constant pressure to file for divorce) I filed mostly to show him I had a spine after all. He took everything I owned and called everyone in the synod to tell them I had been unfaithful, had an abortion, was a drug addict, etc., etc. I was facing excommunication - he moved onto a call where he was doing marital counseling (and even told me to not call him because he was fearful his now girlfriend would be upset with him talking to me). He has since remarried and I tried to raise awareness of the case to the circuit pastor and president of the synod, but I continually was admonished without audience or explanation. All I can say is it seemed clear they did not care about hearing the truth but instead chose to protect their investment. Suffice to say, I am no longer WELS.

Time of Gath - Is Jeske a Christian?



Jeske's message today bordered on the occult.
Forget Kieschnick - welcome Napoleon Hill. Set yourself down ri-chere, Napoleon.


Church and Chicanery reminds me of Skull and Bones at Yale, but without the glamor. Both are secret societies where the best evidence of influence comes from tracing the network of leaders.

Various people and Google have helped me see how Church and Chicanery gradually took over WELS, with the help of Mischke and Gurgle, until their apostate guidance was overthrown (partially) by electing SP Mark Schroeder. The 2009 WELS convention confirmed how little the membership cherished the decades of doctrinal error and unashamed unionism.

Mark Jeske is obviously one of the main leaders of Church and Change today. All the threads lead back to him and a few other leaders - the Appleton gang and the Don Patterson network, plus WLCFS.

The message we watched today was another treat for people with attention deficit problems. Back and forth, from the church to the office, Jeske spoke about Paul. That is typical Reformed sermonizing - avoiding the Gospel of Christ to speak about Biblical figures as examples to follow. Paul's suffering was compared to individual suffering today and rated with metallic standards, from aluminum to platinum. Sure enough, I found a "platinum level of suffering" on the Net - from another Reformed minister. Funny how Mark and this minister both came up with the exact same term, which Jeske called his own.

The most disturbing part of this message came when Jeske spoke about prayer as "using the power of the universe" to help us in personal matters and in business. That language is right from Napoleon Hill (occult) and Paul Y. Cho (occultic ex Assemblies of God minister, Korea). Norman Vincent Peale kelmed the same concept from an occult author. No surprise - Peale still appeals to WELS.

Jeske also invoked UOJ terms, saying that the resurrection of Christ "guaranteed our justification." That is from the Walther Easter absolution sermon, the core of Missouri, WELS, and ELS claiming "Everyone in the world was absolved of all sin the moment Christ rose from the dead." I have never found a Church Shrinker deviating from UOJ because Enthusiasts love both aspects of their false doctrine.

Church Growth is so much easier when the Law is obsolete and sin is no longer mentioned. That has also made it so much easier for CG gurus to jump into bed with their eager disciples.

Years ago the Evangelical and Pentecostal CG gurus were veering into the occult. After all, Cho was an honored lecturer at Fuller Seminary. Many Pentecostals today speak the same occultic language as Cho and Peale.

I can understand why the Chicaneries are so arrogant. They have repudiated all their ordination vows but they stay on top, even after episodes of shocking self-destruction. Like Jeske, in his faux-confessions, they admit to being cross at times, but they hate and avoid the cross. They offer glory, success, and the wages for eternity of their Father Below. (See The Pilgrim's Progress, by Bunyan.)

More Reason To Think the Fix Is In:
Wisconsin Lutheran College Board Members



Jeff Gunn--Church and Chicanery idol--
is a pastor who does not offer Holy Communion to a church
that his own district did not accept into WELS.
CrossWalk has two on the board, and the WLC president is from CrossWalk.

Wisconsin Lutheran College (Brigadoon-WELS) Board of Regents

Mr. Gary Drska St. Paul Muskego, Wis.
Mr. Ryan Barbieri Christ Pewaukee, Wis.
Dr. Gerald Fischer Grace Falls Church, Va.
Mr. James Fischer Christ Pewaukee, Wis.
Rev. Kenneth Fisher Risen Savior Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. Ned Goede Atonement Milwaukee, Wis.
Rev. Jeff Gunn CrossWalk Phoenix, Ariz.
Rev. Mark Henrich Atonement Milwaukee, Wis.
Rev. Dennis Himm Gloria Dei Grand Blanc, Mich.
Mr. Charles Kluenker St. Mark Citrus Heights, Calif.
Mr. Philip Leyrer St. John New Ulm, Minn.
Mr. Scott Mayer Grace Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. David McCulloch Prince of Peace Traverse City, Mich.
Mr. Kent Raabe Christ the Lord Brookfield, Wis.
Mr. Paul Rosenow Christ the Vine Temecula, Calif.
Mr. C. Daniel Stefferud Gethsemane Los Angeles, Calif.
Rev. Paul Steinberg St. Marcus Milwaukee, Wis.
Mr. Gary Stimac Abiding Word Houston, Texas
Mr. William Treffert Christ Pewaukee, Wis.
Mr. W. Andrew Unkefer CrossWalk Phoenix, Ariz.
Mr. Daryl Weber Bethlehem Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Mr. Mark Wrightsman Christ North St. Paul, Minn.
Mr. George Zaferos St. Luke's Watertown, Wis. 

***

GJ - WLC is Brigagoon-WELS because the school is WELS when raising funds from WELS, but not WELS when getting into trouble for having Archbishop Weakland (Roman Catholic homosexual predator) or Martin Marty (ELCA church historian, LCMS apostate) as featured speakers.

Notice that St. Marcus/Time of Gath is also represented on the board.

Years ago, David Valleskey and Larry Olson (Our Staph Infection) were on the WLC board, so let us not be shocked about WLC's doctrinal fibrillation.

WLC began Charis, and Charis begat Church and Change. Church and Change lay with Fuller Seminary and begat many sons. They named their firstborn Ski and their second Jeff.

Thy Strong Word, Hardcopy


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "UOJ Starting To Fade Somewhat":

Dr. Jackson,

Is "Thy Strong Word" available as a physical book anywhere? I know it is available online, but I always prefer the "real" version.

***

GJ - There might be a copy or two left. I am still unpacking.

Do You Like Rock Bands, Soul Cafes,
and Invitations To "Come to the Lord"?
Thank the First VP of WELS


Fuller-trained First VP Jim Huebner has been at the center of the Shrinker revolution in WELS.
Less obvious, Don Patterson is running for SP in two years, with Gurgle support.


Some people visited a former church somewhere. WELS. Small-town. Big celebration. Loud rock band in the service. Lots of money spent on the church. They now have a soul cafe. Sound familiar? It sounds familiar to Huebner too. He has a soul cafe but pretends to be high church (for WELS, at least).

Everything is adiaphora in WELS. Most of worship is adiaphora, according to SP-in-Waiting Don Patterson's lay leader.

But isn't it a bit Babtist to have the pastor invite people to "Come to the Lord"?

The lack of a robe is just what Mark Jeske models at Time of Gath. Parlow too, except he called it a rob.

Has anyone caught Ski in a robe?

The cancer has jumped from the main centers and traveled into the backwoods. Doctrine is not adiaphora, a matter of indifference, but WELS has been indifferent about doctrine for decades. That is the result or cause of unionism.

Jim Huebner mocked the efficacy of the Word in print, proven with verbatim quotations (cited of course in this blog) and yet was elected to the second highest position in WELS. Perhaps that office is not worth a bucket of warm spit at the moment, but it does show how indifferent WELS can be about the "one thing needful." But - as long as it is glowing and growing... Oh? It isn't? I guess God does not bless those who violate the First Table of the Ten Commandments.

When I wrote about this in the 1980s, I was a "legalist" (Valleskey) and exaggerating.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Gibbon and Matthew 18



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Learning from Cicero: The Decline and Fall of the ...":

Gibbons.... hmmm...

Of course he was the author whose main premise of the entire work "Decline and Fall..." was that the Christians weakened the Empire -- pacifists, lovers of all people, etc. -- to such an extent that it fell. No friend to Christianity was Gibbons.

***

GJ - Have you actually read Gibbons? I read the entire set twice and repeated some volumes after that. That is definitely the lamest review of Gibbons I have seen, as if a sophomore read some reviews on the Net and decided to parrot them. The main premise of the entire work? Spare me.

UOJ Starting To Fade Somewhat



"The fields are white unto harvest," CG Guru Donald McGavran explained to a star-struck Larry Olson, astride his Schwin bike, "but you must harvest with a sickle, not with a penknife."


Someone asked about Koehler and UOJ. The synodical conference began recycling the same old Pietistic bromides for decades, and that set the stage for the attack on the Bible's authority, unionism, and Church Growth. UOJ is a symptom of Lutheran avoidance or denial of the efficacy of the Word.

Read Reu on Luther and the Scriptures. Reu was dealing with the inerrancy issue, which the proto-LCA leaders were promoting (Franklin C. Fry, ULCA president, then LCA president, LWF president, Mr. Protestant). Inerrancy and efficacy overlap so much that one is necessarily the mother or daughter of the other.

Following Zwingli and Calvin, the Reformed deny the efficacy of the Word but assert its inerrancy - at least, at first. Fuller Seminary, where so many ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS pastors studied, began with a weak statement on inerrancy. They up and tossed that out, just when Olson's hero, Donald McGavran, stepped in with his statistics and his famous book, Misunderstanding Church Growth.

Synodical Conference Lutherans felt comfortable studying at Fuller Seminary because Holy Mother Synod failed to teach the efficacy of the Word. Their Pietism gave them all a conjoined status with the Reformed. They shared the same denial of efficacy, just as conjoined twins share a leg, liver, or heart.

How did the Synodical conference invent Receptionism, the cracked notion that the elements of Holy Communion become the Body and Blood of Christ once they are received? (Did they jingle a bell every time someone touched the elements?)

Sig Becker loved Receptionism and UOJ. QED - he pioneered Church Growth at the Sausage Factory.

Robert Preus promoted UOJ and Church Growth at the same time. Unlike his unscholarly sons, he continued to study and repudiated UOJ in his last book. Dan and Rolf are so dense that they edited his book, so we are told, and failed to understand what their daddy wrote.

The same bad theology and lazy exegesis of Receptionism allowed Lutherans to teach, covertly, that everyone in the world was already forgiven, without the efficacious Word: Universal Objective Justification.

How did hundreds of Lutheran clergy listen to marketing advice, without running out the door screaming? The first time I wrote "Questions and Answers about Church Growth" in Christian News, about 100 letters came pouring in, when normally a letter or two was unusual.

Receptionism, UOJ, and Church Growth all represent an implicit denial of the efficacy of the Word. All three are pure Enthusiasm, the separation of the Word from the Holy Spirit, the basis for all false doctrine.

UOJ and Receptionism once had the advantage of being a secretive doctrine known only to clergy. How could anyone remember the idiotic arguments long enough to refute them? That changed when the Internet allowed people to read the offensive arguments 24/7. One pastor said he identified UOJ wrongly with the Atonement and changed his language when he read Chapter Five of Thy Strong Word.

Likewise, the B. Teigen book against Receptionism awakened Lutherans from their doctrinal slumber. The synodical reaction to Teigen's book was just as hostile as WELS-ELS-LCMS reaction to my criticisms of CG doctrine.

When the ELS-WELS leaders said, "We don't know the Moment of Consecration," they should have been drop-kicked into Willow Creek.

That is also why women's ordination is promoted in the ELS, WELS, and LCMS. Given the denial of the Biblical doctrine of the Word, anyone in a robe will do. Fighting against women's ordination is foolish when the same spineless leaders will not fight for the most basic doctrine of the Bible, a doctrine clearly taught by Luther, Chemnitz, and the Book of Concord.

Obama's Book Sounds Just Like Bomber Ayers' Writing, Because...


Obama's Middle Finger, Bomber Bill Ayers,
Bomber Bernadine Dohrn Ayres, Michelle Obama
Another Story Involving Ayres' Confession

There I was, sitting in Reagan National Monday morning, sipping a Starbucks by the United counter before going through security. I had a little time, so I was browsing through the news. Some military guys had borrowed a chair from my table. I looked up from time to time to enjoy the sun streaming through. That's when I saw Bill Ayers, an instant blight. Scruffy, thinning beard, dippy earring, and the wirerims, heading to order. I gathered my things, got my camera ready, and snapped a shot right when he got his coffee.




I asked--what are you doing in D.C. Mr. Ayers?



For a moment I thought he might be on my flight back to Chicago. Charming. Initially I guess he thought I was laying claim to his coffee or something. He gave me an uneasy cheesy smile when he realized I was taking his picture. I asked him if he was speaking at GW? (Only I said GFW, guess I had the VFW on my mind) He said oh you mean GW, he said no...was trying to decide if I was a fan, then said he was giving a lecture in Arlington to a Renaissance group on education--that's what I do, education--you shouldn't believe everything you hear about me, you know nothing about me. I said, I know plenty--I'm from Chicago, a conservative blogger, and I'll post this. (Oh, yeah, Bill Ayers, quite the Renaissance man, nail-bomber extraordinaire. Gee, I see another friend of Barack, U.S. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan was there too. "The conference theme is “A Time for Reflection, Celebration and Rebirth.” How touching. At best, useless, at worst, so wrong.)



Then, unprompted he said--I wrote Dreams From My Father. I said, oh, so you admit it. He said--Michelle asked me to. I looked at him. He seemed eager. He's about my height, short. He went on to say--and if you can prove it, we can split the royalties. So I said, stop pulling my leg. Horrible thought. But he came again--I really wrote it, the wording was similar. I said I believe you probably heavily edited it. He said--I wrote it. I said--why would I believe you, you're a liar.



He had no answer to that. Just looked at me. Then he turned and walked off, and said again his bit about my proving it and splitting the proceeds.



But the question remains--is Barack Obama a fraud? Is his myth-making creation and only major accomplishment a product of Bill Ayers' imagination? (or his own) Is our President Barack Obama's biography written by an unrepentant domestic terrorist?



Perhaps I'll become Bill Ayers' favorite conservative blogger and he can prove his authorship himself--turn over your notes Bill. And how about turning yourself in for your crimes.



I remember that era, Mr. Ayers. People died because of your actions, including your girlfriend. More would have if you had been more successful. And yet you have the gall to teach the teachers of our young. I won't forget your murderous intent, your shameful acts, your contemptible lies and evasions. And when history is written, I hope you'll be reviled--or forgotten.



As for our President, the verdict is still out. But Barack Obama called Bill Ayers friend and colleague for years. That in itself makes a damning statement.



UPDATE: My friend John Ruberry, Marathon Pundit links with remarks. Chicago News Bench links as well. If I ever write a book (of my own), I will love Tom Mannis to do a blurb for the jacket.



UPDATE: Jack Cashill, who first fleshed out the theory that Ayers ghostwrote Obama's book, on the new unofficial bio of Barack and Michelle, at the end of September:



In his new book, "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," Best-selling celebrity journalist, Christopher Andersen, has blown a huge hole in the Obama genius myth without intending to do so.



Relying on inside sources, quite possibly Michelle Obama herself, Andersen describes how Dreams came to be published -- just as I had envisioned it in my articles on the authorship of Dreams. With the deadline pressing, Michelle recommended that Barack seek advice from "his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers."



Read it all. Cashill's site here. Professor Ron Radosh with comments as well. James Simpson, DC Independent Examiner on the media silence.



UPDATE: Just so readers know, I have been tracking Ayers for some time. I have an MBA from the University of Chicago. I've lived in the Chicago area for 30 years, so I know the Hyde Park and Chicago radical leftie milieu. And I first noted the release of his flag-stomping photo from the Hillary blog back during the campaign. My earliest posts on Ayers: Barack's Bomber Buddy, Taking Stock of Barack: A Radical Primer, Obama Responds on Che Flag, Judging Barack Obama, Clout List: Rezko Realtor on Obama Sale, Ayers-Dohrn SDS Reunion Tapes, Whiner Ayers, Ayers' Murderous Intent, The Trouble with Ayers, Fascist Obama Campaign, Obama's Founding Brothers, Subversives for Obama, Obama Ayers Khalidi

---

 

Bill Ayers claims he wrote Obama's "Dreams From My Father"

In a chance meeting with conservative blogger Anne Leary, Bill Ayers makes a stunning claim that he wrote--not just edited--President Barack Obama's autobiography, Dreams from my Father."

Wow. He makes this claim to a  stranger who approaches him in Reagan National Airport. Can you believe anything this man says? Or, should I say, either man?
Ayers.jpg
Bill Ayers: Obama's ghostwriter?


This is no small matter. We have been lead to believe that Obama's eloquence is his strength, his trump card. Is it possible that all of this is a charade? A gigantic lie?

Does this suggest an answer to the question: Did Obama himself write his keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic convention that shot him into orbit as The One? Does Obama think so much like Ayers that what we've seen coming out of the White House during the first months of the Obama administration is a reflection of Ayers' point of view?

Americans have been more than pummeled during the Clinton, G. W. Bush and now the Obama administrations with charges that the chief executive is a liar. How much longer will this continue?

---

October 07, 2009

Ayers admits writing Dreams

By James Simpson
Last Friday we posted an article on these pages asserting Bill Ayers' authorship of President Barack Obama's 'Dreams From My Father,' based on claims made by Obama biographer Christopher Andersen. It is possible that we have now gotten direct confirmation of this from Bill Ayers himself.

Anne Leary of
Back Yard Conservative was passing through Washington, DC's Reagan National Airport yesterday, and was surprised to come across Bill Ayers at Starbucks: "scruffy, thinning beard, dippy earring, and the wire rims, heading to order."

She struck up a conversation with him and snapped the accompanying photo. (I interviewed Anne about it, and thank her for permission to run the photo she took.)

Ayers was in Washington, he told her, for a 
conference on education.

"That's what I do, education," he said. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear about me... You know nothing about me."

To which she responded, "I said, I know plenty--I'm from Chicago, a conservative blogger, and I'll post this."

I bet his heart skipped a beat on that one.

But he didn't scowl, and didn't
run off as he has been known to do. Instead, unprompted, he blurted out: "I wrote ‘Dreams From My Father... Michelle asked me to." Then he added "And if you can prove it we can split the royalties."

Anne responded, "Stop pulling my leg!"

But he repeated insistently, "I wrote it, the wording was similar [to Ayers' other writing.]"

Anne responded, "I believe you probably heavily edited it."

Ayers stated firmly, "I wrote it."

Anne ended the conversation by saying "why would I believe you? You're a liar."

Good for her. But we are left to wonder. Despite her parting shot, Anne was convinced Ayers was in earnest. He was making a public statement. He wanted this news out there.

Was he, as she had asked, pulling our collective legs? Other sources report rumors that Ayers is very upset both about not getting any credit for helping Obama on ‘Dreams,' and may also be put off by being summarily thrown under the bus along with Rev. Wright and everyone else who becomes an inconvenience to this President.
My understanding of communists is that most would know better and keep their mouths shut. But Ayers is a bit different. He is, as he says, a "
small ‘c' communist," but he is also, in a certain, slimy way, an entrepreneur, as we explained in Monday's post. (Apologies in advance to entrepreneurs everywhere.) He grew up a very rich kid, used to getting everything he wanted. Even as an adult his career has relied on a hand up from his wealthy father. His past statements and radical activities also mark him as a megalomaniac. In youth he drew attention to himself by blowing things up. As an adult "educator" he merely attempts to subvert children. But that doesn't seem to be going so well.

He is under a lot of pressure, too. Ayers and his horrid wife
Bernardine Dohrn are believed to have planned and executed the San Francisco Park Police Station bombing in 1970 that killed police sergeant Brian V. McDonnell and wounded several others. Efforts to bring them to justice have been underway for some time, as brought to light this past March in a National Press Club conference put on by Cliff Kincaid of America's Survival.

Cliff's guests included Larry Grathwohl, the FBI's undercover agent who penetrated Ayers' Weather Underground and produced this stunning testimony about Ayers'
plan to massacre 25 million Americans, retired S.F. policeman James Pera, first on the scene at the bombing, and veteran researcher Trevor Loudon

Now, a
recent exposé by San Francisco reporter Peter Jamison has revealed additional evidence, including testimony from other Weather Underground members, that Dohrn planted the bomb that killed Sgt. McDonnell.

Maybe in his overstressed state Bill's megalomania has just gotten the better of him.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Where Marcus Manthey? Hire Him as Editor!


Rev. John Seifert, president of the Michigan District, says the displaced workers were encouraged to hear that their experiences in ministry have value in and are transferable to the secular market. Still, they face a difficult struggle finding meaningful employment in the Saginaw area where the unemployment rate hovers between 22 and 25 percent.


Seifert expresses thanks for the support from Committee on Relief for the effort. "The counseling would not have been possible with it," he says.

Faux-Reilly Retort





I. J. Reilly has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Answers Home Visiting Issue":

I am a WELS pastor of a small/medium sized congregation. I have been to the homes of most of my members at least once. I regularly visit those who are in special need. I would probably spend a few more evenings visiting, but I have a severely autistic son and I am needed quite a bit at home. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm saying this because most of the WELS pastors in my area follow the same pattern -- actually, they probably outstrip my efforts. Your characterization has NO BASIS IN REALITY. Why you are this bitter and try to find deficiencies where none exist simply boggle my mind! Actually, I pitty you. (I threw that last spelling error in so that you would publish my comments if only to gloat over your superiority in the use of the English language.)

***

GJ - If this is the same person, or parson, I get a lot of angry comments from him when I criticize the Shrinkers. Of course, there is no way to tell from anonymous messages. It could be another Faux-Reilly.

His WELS region must be exceptional, because I have heard from all over - not just laity. I had a WELS family move from a Minnesota town to Columbus. The husband said he never experienced a WELS pastoral visit in the decade or so he lived in that state. He was astonished that I visited homes.

I gained a wider perspective from a WELS leader who has a position where he would know what is happening in a large region. Sad to say, there are WELS leaders who are quite friendly and they actually identify themselves by their real names. But I digress. This WELS leader said the lack of visitation by pastors is a terrible problem and it exists just as much among the solid, orthodox pastors. He is not a Shrinker fan.

This is what a WELS pastor told me, about 22 years ago, Faux-Reilly. "In Milwaukee the parishes are about one square mile. The pastors can drink all week and preach on Sunday. That is what a lot of them do." I did not accuse him of being angry and bitter.

WELS Pastor Answers Home Visiting Issue


Ron Roth, WELS Stewardship and Church Growth Guru, should help this church get four or five pastors, or waste millions on remodeling the structure. Or start a rock band. That's the ticket.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Home Avoiding Pastor Makes a Church Avoiding Con...":



It saddens and frustrates me to hear people accuse WELS pastors of being unloving and uncaring for not making home visits.



I would ask the people making such accusations to consider things from the other perspective. I can't speak for all WELS pastors, but I can tell you about my situation. I serve a congregation of almost 2000 souls. I literally have a meeting or a group or a class every Monday through Thursday evening. Often times I also have a wedding rehearsal on Friday evening and a wedding on Saturday evening. Most weeks I'm lucky to spend one evening with my wife and kids per week.



I would LOVE to spend my evenings visiting my members rather than listening to the Ladies Aid talk about what kind of coffee to buy or listen to the elders squabble over pennies. But whenever I get the courage to suggest that the pastor might not need to attend every single meeting of every single organization, I'm told that I'm lazy and need to be a better leader and manager of the congregation. Whenever I try to get laymen to assume some leadership to free me up for home visits they tell me they're way too busy to help.



And even if I were to give up everything else in my ministry and visit members at home every single night of the week, every single day of the year, not ever spending a single night with my own family, it would still take almost six years to visit everyone.



Home visits are a wonderful thing in small congregations. But in large congregations like mine, they simply are not logistically possible, especially when congregations are too stingy to have an adequate pastoral staff of 4 or 5 pastors. It's not that I'm lazy, it's not I don't care about my people. It hurts me to hear people accuse me of that when it simply isn't true.
 
****
 
GJ - Two points to consider - very few WELS congregations are that large. The smaller ones have pastors who never visit. I know one where the pastor was begged to bring Holy Communion to a dying member. He finally showed up, without communion. He could have gone home for his kit, but did not. He was known for not visiting members and he was a fanatical partisan for Church Growth.
 
I do not know this pastor or his congregation, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. If I could wave a wand, I would say, "Evening meetings begone. Just visit people." I am not sure evening visits need to dominate. Hospital and shut-in visits can be done during the day and they usually are done during the day.
 
Congregations should support more staff, but the stories about pastoral laziness are pretty common. I give all the glory to the Shrinkers who imported management theories and turned pastors into managers. They run the school systems of Missour, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Answers Home Visiting Issue":

As the pastor who submitted this comment, I can assure you that I do hospital and shut-in visits during the day. That's just a given. But I don't think that was the issue at hand. The issue at hand was home visits, right? Good luck trying to find 90% of your members at home during the day. (I'm lucky to find 90% of my shut-ins at home during the day.)

I get the sense that you think I'm silly for suggesting that a congregation of 2000 should have 4 or 5 pastors. How many pastors do you think a congregation of that size should have? Please tell me you're not like my members who think one (or maybe two) pastor should be able to handle everything since he only works one day a week (if only!). If a congregation of 400 should have one pastor, shouldn't a congregation 5 times as big have a pastoral staff that's 5 times as big?

I also resent your insinuation that I somehow support rock bands or contemporary worship or the like. I can assure you that I am dead set against rubbish like that.

***

GJ - I did not insinuate anything about this pastor. The Shrinkers think the solution is a huge building project and a rock band, dump the liturgy, etc. Ron Roth started that with TELL and continues it with his stewardship business (with Jeff Davis). That is like hiring the founders of  Edsel to start a new car company.

I think a congregation of 2000 souls should have five pastors. If a congregation of 100 - 200 has one pastor, a congregation of 2000 should have many more.

I vicared with a pastor who had a congregation of around 2000. I am not sure about the numbers. He did two services per Sunday and had a German pastor doing weekly German services. He had a church administrator and a vicar. He did not like clergy staff. He had very few evening meetings per month. He visited constantly and made sure his vicars visited five days a week. There were various social type gatherings. What made that work was the close relationships within the congregation, extended families, etc.

Many years ago Father Neuhaus made the point that denominations were using up the trust built up by previous religious leaders. He was an apostate, but he made a good point.

A Home Avoiding Pastor Makes a Church Avoiding Congregation



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Member Comments":

Gone are the days Pastors made house calls. All I ever get is a voice mail message and I'm lucky if my call is returned by the Pastor. It seems some are turning their jobs into becoming managers. I'm sad about that as it shows a lack of caring. But I also think it is a sign of the times. The more they can push off onto the elders or cell group leaders, the less they'll have to do.

***********
Pastoral calls are a thing of the past. My family are all WELS at different churches and the discussion has come up about how the pastors never ever come to visit. Except for the address on the mailing list, they wouldn't even know where you live. They are just too 'busy' to do their jobs. I've seen how busy my pastor is just running from one kids baseball game to another soccer match. I'm sure it's his mentality that he only has to work just one day a week and then for only a few hours. It's no wonder they copy and paste a sermon. Many are neglecting their flocks.

GJ - Church and Chicaneries have definitely changed their synod. Think about that the next time they start crowing about how great Mequon is.

Faithful Pastors in WELS?


The wealthy have lost billions of dollars, so Miss Piggy is drying up fast. There is no Church Growth without heavy subsidies.


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "WELS Member Comments":

"There are conservative (true to the Word) pastors that could take the call."

Pastors who are true to God's Word and the Lutheran Confessions do not exist in the WELS.

They all confess a new gospel, a new declaration of righteousness and have destroyed the central doctrine of Scripture in thier current confession. Opposing Christ and the Confessions they profess that the whole unbelieving world is righteous, forgiven of all sin and, by divine verdict, been declared by God to be guilt free all before faith worked by the Holy Spirit. Christ declares that no one is forgiven prior to faith in Him. Christ declares that the Holy Spirit's faith grasps hold of the fact that Christ paid for all sins and that by believing that your sins are then forgiven, you are justified through Christ and righteous in God's sight just as Christ is. WELS teaches that faith grasps hold of the fact that the whole unbelieving world was already declared forgiven when Christ paid for the worlds sin. That faith doesn't make of an unjust man a just man as Scripture and the Confessions declare but is just a open and empty hand accepting that you've already been declared forgiven. You are no different after faith than you were before faith.

The WELS and all Lutheran Synods confess this false gospel of Universal Objective Justification. Anyone who does is condemned by God and stand outside the body of Christ as Paul clearly states in the first chapter of Galations. There are those in the Lutheran churches who out of ignorance or hypocrisy do not confess the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification but believe they are forgiven and justified by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone and not before faith. These are part of the invisible Church and are part of the body of Christ.

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

***

GJ - Actually, I disagree that there are no faithful pastors in WELS. I know there are pastors in WELS who realize how ridiculous UOJ is. In fact, there has been a shift toward emphasizing justification by faith (which is rumored to be in the Bible, throughout, unlike UOJ - which came from Halle U. and the Pietists).

The Synodical Conference leaders made a Pietistic mistake when they canonized rules of fellowship and practiced Mennonite shunning. They mistook outward actions for an inward love of the truth. Pretty soon they were doing wacky things, like excommunicating someone for having his son in an English speaking catechism class.

Luther's solution was to trust the Word and let God work through the Word. So he did not leave the Catholic Church. They excommunicated him - and he is still excommunicated.

I am deeply troubled by the many Boomer pastors and members who let their congregations and synod rot away. Issues in WELS did not have the courage to stay together when DP Free died, and very few showed their faces before that, when Gurgle showed up to glare at them.

I have friends and contacts in all the synods, except ELCA. I knew some pastors who realized the error of ELCA, but too late. Now they are like the people who thought Obama was the Messiah.

At any given time a Lutheran body is facing doctrinal error. However, they have not done a good job of dealing with those errors in the last 50 plus years. WELS may be different, but that remains to be seen.

Michigan District and Spriggs - Church Growth? - Say It Ain't So, Joe


Martin Luther Spriggs, ex-WELS pastor, Willow Creek Fan

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE - Say No More":

I did not know where to post this but this is FYI:

The Michigan District Commission of Evangelism will present a seminar on Saturday, October 24th, beginning at 10:00 AM at Beautiful Savior, Cincinnati. The title for the seminar is "Reaching Out In a Digital World." The seminar has been prepared by Martin Spriggs, our synod's chief technology officer. The purpose of the seminar will be to help congregations:
* Recognize and understand the many technological tools available for use in outreach.
* Develop a plan to use the most appropriate digital tools to spread the Gospel.
* Mobilize congregational members to use digital tools for personal evangelism.
* Determine clear goals for outreach using the tools of today.

This smells like church and change to me. 

***

GJ - Here are a few hints:
  1. Spriggs gave Willow Creek sermons verbatim, 25 years ago. His pastoral service was not listed in his WELS.net bio the last time I looked.

  2. When Eastcoast insisted to me that Gurgle had disbanded Church and Chicanery completely - "gone, dissolved, scattered to the wind" - I asked, "Then why is their next conference linked on the WELS.net website? I am sure Spriggs would know why. Gurgle's candidate for SP is Don Patterson, so Gurgle is to Patterson as Bohlmann was to Kieschnick.

  3. Anything from "Evangelism" in WELS, ELS, LCMS, ELCA, and CLC is Church Shrinkage.

  4. Anything from American or world missions in those groups is Church Shrinkage.

  5. Their periodicals promote Church Shrinkage.

  6. One WELS pastor said, in print, that the crypto-Calvinists are no longer crypto. They are running the show. If SP Schroeder is supported, that can change, but it is a long haul, especially when the Good Ol' Boy network, cemented by GA abuse, is involved.
I am surprised they did not invite me to teach this technology seminary. I am a certified web designer. I can Photoshop - ask Kudu Don Patterson. I have created many blogs and taught various businesses and professionals how to blog. Oh - I know. I never went to Fuller Seminary, and I only went to Willow Crick once.

Lettermann Talks Like a Church Growth Guru


Who's sorry now?
Who's sorry now?
Whose heart is aching for breaking each vow?
Who's sad and blue?
Who's crying too?
Just like I cried over you?

Right to the end
Just like a friend
I tried to warn you somehow
You had your way,
Now you must pay
I'm glad that you're sorry now.

Right to the end
Just like a friend
I tried to warn you somehow
You had your way,
Now you must pay
I'm glad that you're sorry now

"I'm motivated by nothing but guilt. If you know anything about me, I am just a towering mass of Lutheran Midwestern guilt," he said sarcastically, to audience applause.
Townhall

The CORE - Say No More



Did you listen to His voice at the food kitchen run by Church and Change.


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Learning from Cicero: The Decline and Fall of the ...":

Check out the CORE:

http://www.gotocore.com/comingup/

Did you...did you...did you...

No, I didn't and now you made me feel really guilty. That's the church for me!

And no, I didn't listen to His voice in a van down by the river. I hear His voice only in Word and Sacrament..... on Sunday where it should be, but isn't at the CORE.

WELS Member Comments

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Financial Picture More Dire Than Expected":

I am a WELS member and I don't know what to think about your blog. Part of me says well someone else notices the things I have. Part of me asks is it sinful or is it right? You'll notice I'm being cowardly and not signing my name.

I do think it's sinful nature that causes all of this and I pray for all of us. I too worry about sin but I am trying to trust in God to take care of it.

I do think putting sin in the light is a good thing. I know of more than one case of sexual molestation that has gone on and was not reported to the police. In fact the person who was molesting was kept in their job and yes the Synod's insurance has paid for it and maybe that is what it is going to take to stop that kind of enabling. Bad publicity and rising insurance costs come from bad decisions being made. Why would anyone want to help another in their sin is beyond me.

In response to the rent issue, I know of churches who greatly undervalues the cost of the rent on the parsonage so it reduces the tax cost. I have also known Pastors to get state assistance because they say they are in the poverty level. If you add in all their perks they make well over most of the congregation. I've also heard Pastor's speak about their work much like a lawyer does - in 6 min increments.

Gone are the days Pastors made house calls. All I ever get is a voice mail message and I'm lucky if my call is returned by the Pastor. It seems some are turning their jobs into becoming managers. I'm sad about that as it shows a lack of caring. But I also think it is a sign of the times.

I'd like to ask why is there so little accountability in the church? We are to abide by the governance's of our state but I think many skirt around that and no one enforces the constitutions. If you call anyone on it they call you a heretic. I have seen more than a few men drop off of council because of it.

But just how are we suppose to deal with sin inside the church? I will tell you I notice it, spoken out and have been criticized for it. IMHO these actions have hurt the members in worshipping their God. It is one reason I and I know many others who have pulled back from service.

I am not leaving WELS because I think they are the best thing out there - they preach the true word of God and as we approach the reformation I am reminded about the reason I love being a Lutheran. Remember what Luther's 1st petition was. Repentance.

So I am not sure about this blog but I keep coming back to read it. Maybe it's a good thing you're putting some of this in the Son-light. I pray God takes care of the rest.

***

GJ - All the synods cover up. In the case of one Shrinker, Missouri and WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie all cooperated in enabling the criminal himself and in attacking anyone who dared object to a pastor having sex with the wives and daughters of the members. WELS and Missouri were happy to shake the money tree connected with this criminal, whose repentance consisted of claiming he was persecuted.

Do not overlook the Good Old Boy Network. Fred Adrian was famous for being so bad as the DMB Chair, Michigan District, WELS, that he was forced out. His married vicar went to state prison for molesting a minor girl in the congregation. WELS fought the lawsuit and lost, to the tune of $400,000 and promptly appealed the verdict. How do you like that - WELS taking a member to court? Fred wrote a happy letter to the congregation, saying, "Insurance paid for it."

However, Fred wrote two different vicarage reports, one saying he knew, one saying he did not know. (GA at work.) Fred resigned from the ministry but he has a call in the district again. There is only one sin in WELS - questioning WELS. Ditto ELS and LCMS.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Day Obamacare Died



Learning from Cicero: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire



A fellow member of Parliament said to Gibbon, "Scribble, scribble, scribble. Another _____ little square book, eh Gibbon?" That politician is now famous only for his remark.

 
Edward Gibbon. "In 1776, the first volume of The Decline and Fall was published, and its success was prodigious."


This quotation certainly explains the Obamessiah situation, but it also applies to the false teachers who have bewitched the Lutherans and every other denomination:

Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions . . . . Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the 'new, wonderful good society' which shall now be Rome's, interpreted to mean 'more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.' Julius was always an ambitious villain, but he is only one man.




Here is another good Cicero quotation:

"An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself... A murderer is less to fear."

--Marcus Tullius Cicero

Oh yes, sly whispers are the energy that carried the Church Growth Movement forward. My ecumenical experience showed me that WELS was falling hard for something already well established in ELCA, 22 years ago. In fact, Norm Berg (WELS Mission Board) and Mac Minnnick (ELCA Mission Board) knew each other well from joint training and unionistic meetings.

I recall Marc Schroeder (Salty's son, not the SP) repeating the sly whispers of Floyd Luther Stolzenburg (expelled from Missouri's clergy roster, welcomed in WELS, but never a WELS member) - "No one likes the liturgy. Get rid of the liturgy. It is a barrier." Later, Marc and his heavily subsidized congregation were drop-kicked into Missouri for being as unionistic as the WELS leaders.

Earlier, at the Ad Fontes LCA conference, where we met up with our dear, late friend from Yale, an LCA pastor stood up and talked about "user-friendly services." That meant dumping the liturgy, singing children's songs, and other Fuller-inspired sly whispers. The late Richard Neuhaus spoke against Church Growth, calling it "tacky," and jibed me for not taking communion with them. I said, "You are Ad Fontes. We are Fontes." (You are searching for the Source. We are there.) He enjoyed that. LCA Bishop Crumley talked earnestly to Neuhaus, in private, and Neuhaus poped soon after, taking others from that conference with him.

Echoing Cicero, I do not blame Kelm, Valleskey, Roth, Bivens, Hunter, Werning, Berg, and Hagedorn. Lupine leaders have always raised themselves up - "to improve the church." I blame the ovine clergy and bovine laity who gladly gave up sound doctrine for the cancerous ravings of Pentecostals, marketing mavens, and known apostates. Animals do not realize they are walking up the ramp to the slaughterhouse. Humans should know better.

In the 1950s I heard my parents and teachers say more than once, "We are following the Roman Empire. That is how they began to decline." I cannot imagine public school teachers today knowing anything about Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a set of books that greatly influenced our Founding Fathers. Our high school class, 1966, was expected to have two years of Latin, to apply for a good college. No one had to take Latin, but the college-bound did, knowing that mattered. We learned Roman history for two years. When I poll college students today, I find only one out of 100 (if that) who has had any Latin.

The Boomers, my cohort, gave it all away.