Margaret Sanger, KKK, and Thrivent Sing from the Same Page of the Hymnal

This is most likely a fake, but it illustrates the fact of Sanger being invited to speak to the KKK. And she did speak to an appreciative audience.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Margaret Sanger, KKK, and Thrivent Sing from the S...":

A local WELS church had a "Let The Children Come" drive a few years ago. The pressure to use donation methods that capitalized on Thrivent's matching funds was enormous. They should have named the drive, "Let The Children Who We Haven't Killed With Our Donations Come"

That's just Planned Parenthood. Thrivent is using WELS money to support abortions for clergy in the ELCA and mass murder through Lutheran World Relief - a United Nations supporting organization.

---

http://www.catholic-forum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19728&postcount=15



As of 07-09-2005
Matching Gift Companies to Planned Parenthood

"The following companies all generously match employee donations to Planned Parenthood Federation of America. If your employer is on this list, then you can make your gift go as much as twice as far!
Please review this list and if you find your employer's name, contact your Human Resources epartment to have your gift matched!
If your employer's name is not listed here, let them know you are interested in having them match your gift to Planned Parenthood.
* = Employer has matched a gift to PPFA in the past 24 months."

Companies Aa - Az
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Companies Ba - Bz
B.M.T. Capital Corporation
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BD Matching Gift
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Benjamin Moore & Co.
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Berkshire Group
Bestfoods
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Blount, Inc.
Boston Foundation Polaroid Fund
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BP America, Inc.
BP Foundation, Inc.
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison Llp
BTG International, Inc,
Burlington Northern Railroad
Burlington Resources Foundation
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Companies Ca - Cz
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California Healthcare Foundation
California Welliness Foundation
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Candle Foundation
Capmac
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Carnegie Corporation On N.Y.
Carney Badley Spellman
Carolyn Foundation
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Cassidy Companies, Inc.
Cbic
Cbs Foundation, Inc.
Celanese Americas Foundation
Certainteed Corporation Foundation
Certco, Inc.
Champion International Corporation
Champion Int'l Corporation
Charles Schwab & Company, Inc.
Charles Schwab Corp. Fdn.
Charles Schwab Corp. Foundation
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Charter Atlantic Corp.
Chase Manhattan Foundation
Chemical Bank
Chicago Tribune Foundation
Chronicle Broadcasting of San Francisco
Chubb & Son Inc.
Chubb Lifeamerica
Church Of Jesus Christ/latter-Day Foundation
Ciba Corning Diagnostic Corp.
Cingular Wireless Corporation
Cisco Systems, Inc
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Citibank
Citicorp Foundation
Citigroup Foundation
Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation Inc.
Clorox Company Foundation
CMP Commuinty Connection
CMP Community Connectiuon Foundation
CNA Insurance Companies
CNA Surety Western Surety
Cogniseis Development
Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation
Community Foundation
Compaq Computer Foundation
Computer Associates
Computer Network Technology
Congressional
Consolidated Papers Fdn. Inc.
Consulting Associates, Inc.
Consumer Programs Incorporated
Contractors Bonding & Insurance Co
Cooper Industries Foundation
Corbis Corporation
Corbis Corporation
Corn Products International, Inc.
Cornproducts International
Coventry Health Care
CPC International Inc.
C P I Priducts and Services Consumers
C.R. Bard, Inc.
Cray Research, Inc.
CRT Capital Group LLC
CSX Transportation,Inc.

Companies Da - Dz
Dallas Jewish Com Fdn
Data Research Associates, Inc.
David L. Babson & Co. Inc.
Deknatel, Inc.
Del Monte Corporation
Delta Consulting Group, Inc.
Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation
DeWitt-Wallace Reader's Digest Fund
DFS Group Limited
Diageo North America Foundation, Inc.
Digital Equipment Corporation
Dominion Foundation
Donner Foundation, Inc.
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Dougherty Dawkins
DTS Systems, Inc.
Dyson-Kisser-Moran Corporation

Companies Ea - Ez
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Ebay Foundation
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E-Funds Corporation
Ehrenkranz Family Foundation
Electronic Arts OutrEAch
Eligible Sara Lee Foundation
Energizer Corporate
Enron Corporation
EOG Resources
EQ Services
Equifax Foundatio
Equistar Chemicals
Equitable Real Estate
Ericsson Inc.
E*trade Group, Inc.
Etherington & Chambliss, P.A.
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Exxonmobil Foundation

Companies Fa - Fz
Facilicorp
Factset Research Systems
Fair Isaac and Company, Inc.
Fannie Mae Foundation
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FBD Consulting Inc.
Fel-Pro/Mecklenburger Foundation
Financial Services
Fingerhut Corporation
First Bank System Foundation
First Consulting Group
First Data Corporation
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First Data Corporation Health Systems Group
First Data Resources
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First Tennessee Bank
Fleetboston
FM Global Foundation
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Freddie Mac Foundation
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Harris Bank Foundation
Harris Foundation
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Johnson & Higgins of California
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salesforce.com/foundation
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Companies Ta - Tz
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The Equitable Foundation
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The Northern Trust Company
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The Pfizer Foundation
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The San Francisco Foundation
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The Stocker Foundation
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The Sun Microsystems Foundation, Inc.
The Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation
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Companies Ua - Uz
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Companies Va - Vz
Vastar Resources, Inc.
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Companies Wa - Wz
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Companies Xa - Xz
Xcel Engergy Foundation
Xinet

Companies Ya - Yz
Yahoo, Inc.
Yankeegas

Companies Za - Zz
Zero-Max
Ziff Brothers Investments
Zurich Centre Group
Zurich U.S.Foundation
Zymo Genetics

---

"Selected Grants: The following grants were reported in 2007:
$1,875,000 to Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL. For Churchwide Grant, payable over 1 year.
$1,425,000 to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Saint Louis, MO. For Churchwide Grant, payable over 1 year.
$412,500 to Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Milwaukee, WI. For Churchwide Grant, payable over 1 year."



 

Looking for Vernon Harley Papers

DK has left a new comment on your post ""We Condemn You for Your Numbers, Now Judge Us for...":

Anon 8:03

Hi, good point. Sad but true. If only we could beat the C&Cers with spell-check. I'm sadly convinced that the WELS is doomed without fearless action: That is NOT to say that the many conservative Confessional pastors and churches in the WELS are doomed.

We are going to have to rely on the rural WELS segment to step up and Just Say No to Enthusiasm.

Professor: In your footnotes for chapter five of TSW, you mention some essays by a Pastor Vernon Harley that are well written and worth reading, but I can't find them anywhere. I'd like to have some LCMS writing to present to my my pastor in our discussion of UOJ. (It helps if I can give in-synod sources) Would it be too much trouble to post these, maybe in your required reading section?

Also, I was wondering if you had any further thought on the Maier essay that I brought up.

thanks for your work,

***

GJ - I had the hard-copies for a long time. Eventually I lost track of them due to lack of interest in the UOJ topic among Lutherans in general. That started changing two years ago.

PM - if you are reading this, send me new copies. I will have to locate them again.
Secondly, they have to be rendered into MS Word so I can post them. But I will get that done.

DK keeps me busy, folks.

It is not our job to judge success, only to apply the Word, regardless of the unwritten rules of the game. I was told that I startled people in WELS by walking up to them and challenging them face-to-face. I did not adhere to their memorized talking point excuses, such as:
"Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater." (I replied - "I don't wash babies in sewage.")

Of course, they demand that everyone tell them their error in private, but that is only so the false teachers can get even through whispering campaigns, meddling in another's divine call, etc. But that is not enough for them either. They will denounce someone in public, as long as they can get away with it. And they often do.

We should tremble at His Word, not at the feet of synod officials.

"We Condemn You for Your Numbers, Now Judge Us for Ours"

Is coffee a Means of Grace? Should women lead worship?
Ask Randy Hunter, WELS, a fave of FIC.

After 30+ years of Church Growth in WELS, Missouri, and the ELS, shouldn't we start turning the tables on the Shrinkers?

I am not sure who tickled Ron Roth into Church Growth, or who recruited Valleskey and Bivens into studying at Fuller Cemetery, where Christian doctrine dies. I do know that Kent Hunter and Waldo Werning were the chief salesmen of Church Growth in WELS during the 1980s. Floyd Luther Stolzenburg was trained by Hunter before he graciously pretended to be a WELS expert (without joining WELS).

Hunter and Werning were praised by Valleskey in his Church Growth notes. The canceled Wisconsin Lutheran College program was going to feature Hunter and Werning.

I have read their books. It takes a strong man to read their works without bursting into laughter. Weakling that I am, I hooted until tears rolled from my eyes and blurred my vision. I did not have Church Growth eyes.

Hunter (DMin, Fuller) and Werning (Fuller alumnus) both emphasize that people need to get out their graph paper and look at the congregation's numbers. If the numbers are down, they are doing something wrong.

So let's apply that to the fruit of their labors, for which they charge a pretty penny indeed. Their numbers are down across the land. They have wrecked Missouri and WELS, with the ELS trying to catch up with their influence.

The CORE - Let's get out the graph paper and Excel software for The CORE. Big numbers (money blown) and small results. The CORE is a hobby for the Shrinkers of Fox Valley, Wisconsin.

Rock And Roll in Round Rock, Texas - After all that money spent, Rock And Roll has one web page (a map), recently dismissed rocker/entertainers, and perhaps 30 in attendance.

CrossWalk in Phoenix - still not a member of WELS. Have they had a service of Holy Communion yet? Believe it or not, the spineless clergy of that district were recently discussing CrossWalk's lack of communion services. The next version of CG will have people not mentioning God for fear of offending the unchurched.

If Jeff Gunn has been so blessed by his Emerging Church Growth principles, why is looking for another job?

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post ""We Condemn You for Your Numbers, Now Judge Us for...":

The evil coalition in WELS is much bigger than anyone suspects. How many have been trained and sent forth since David Valleskey started slavering about the Fuller rot? They are almost everywhere in the synod.

***

GJ - The clergy had two opportunities to oppose Valleskey's doctrine, before he unloaded in his hideous book. When he gave his Figs From Thistles paper at the Ohio Conference, the 20+ pastors could have condemned him. The four of us who critiqued his doctrine were driven out of WELS.

The next chance came when Valleskey published his deceitful, dishonest paper in the Quarterly. Of course, the toothless faculty could have condemned it. That would have been a surprise. The clergy as a whole could have pilloried it. Dead silence. I published a review of the paper and the ELS(!) had a hissy fit over my review, not over Valleskey's false doctrine. Orvick endorsed Valleskey with a paper given to the ELS pastors, who rolled over and played dead. So pardon me if a wry smile crosses my face when the ELS pastors talk about being Confessional.

"The evil that men do lives after them." Shakespeare

Grace and the Enthusiasts

Absolved without the Means,

Absolved without the Means,

What a glorious feeling,

Enthusiastic genes!

DK has left a new comment on your post "Garland of Roses - From WELS CG Supporter":

Hi Professor!
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask this but... I was reading the Art. IV in 'Apology' this afternoon and was struck how 'initial grace' sounds so much like what UOJers claim.

"In order not to by-pass Christ altogether, our opponents require a knowledge of the history about Christ and claim that he merited for us a certain disposition or, as they call it, "initial grace", which they understand as a disposition inclining us to love God more easily. It is clear, however, what they ascribe to this disposition, for they imagine that the acts of the will before the disposition and those after it are of the same type. They imagine that the will can love God, but that this disposition stimulates it to do so more freely."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Tappert p 109, paragraph 17, Augsburg Press.

I know it's not a direct parallel to UOJ but I would be curious to know what you think of this--and if you can shed any light on the history behind this comment. It seems applicable to the UOJ discussion in some way.

***

GJ - Reading the Apology now? That is a good sign. I would love to see the UOJ Stormtroopers explain their pet theory from the Apology.

All Enthusiasts have this in common - they draw their insights apart from the Word of God. They depend on human wisdom, human tradition, dreams and visions. The doctrine of Purgatory is drawn from Plato, the Apocrypha (which does not support it anyway), and various dreams people had.

The Apology was written to defend the Diet of Augsburg's Confession, 1530, so it was directed at Roman Catholics. Luther's Galatians Commentary is very good in dealing with all the Roman Catholic arguments about grace.

Rome taught then and still teaches that God gives people grace to accept grace. This merited disposition is very complicated to unravel and explain. In short, it is grace before the Means of Grace.

You have hit upon an important similarity with Universal Objective Justification. The Pietist Knapp and his followers (Walther, Pieper, J. P. Meyer, Papenfuss) agree that the entire world has received grace before and apart from the Means of Grace. Everyone is absolved. Everyone in Hell is a guilt-free saint.

UOJ Stormtroopers cannot make sense of their theory, because they still use the old Lutheran categories after emptying them of any meaning. Everyone is absolved, but everyone is a sinner. All people in the world are "justified," but they need to believe they are already justified. Confession means learning they were already forgiven, before they confessed their sin. UOJ reminds me of the hash the junior high cafeteria used to serve us. No one knew what was in the hash, and no one could tell. We all agreed it was unpalatable, as UOJ is.

Exodus Film

Someone sent me this clip. Has anyone seen the film? Comments?

I have no problems with the historical details of the Bible, unlike my brethren and cistern at Fuller Seminary.

The Genesis Flood and the Exodus did take place, so I expect to see evidence. However, I do not need proof to know that God's Word is inerrant, infallible, and...efficacious.

Their Guru McGavran - Planned Parenthood Promoter

I put together a panoply of witnesses to apostasy. McGavran's picture is the black and white, bearded, on the left. The rest are all faves of WELS Church and Changers.

Donald McGavran, Understanding Church Growth
"The other good and urgent things to do, far from contradicting this thesis, reinforce it. The many tasks that lie at hand should be done - there can be no two opinions about that. Preaching good sermons, teaching illiterates to read, working at planned parenthood or the world's food supply, administering churches skillfully, applying Christianity to all of life, using mass media, and hundreds of other activities are not sinful. They are good. Some are urgent." Page 32

Here is the link.

The original Shrinkers were quite taken with Planned Parenthood. They named one of their early training films "Planned Parenthood for Churches." They did for Protestantism what Planned Parenthood did for the family.

McGavran was a minister of the far Left Disciples of Christ. He was more conservative than their wackiest people (Jim Jones of Jonestown, a Marxist) but he was not uncomfortable with mainline apostasy. He worked with the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches.

He developed his ideas at an obscure school but really had his greatest impact when he moved to Fuller Seminary, after they repudiated inerrancy under the influence of the founder's son, who studied under the Marxist Karl Barth in Switzerland. (See Karl Barth and Radical Politics, by Hunsinger)

McGavran was no theologian. His PhD was in sociology and his methods were statistical.

Garland of Roses - From WELS CG Supporter

I have been watching Feedjit at the bottom of my blog. I plugged it in long ago, when someone said no one was reading Ichabod, that I was writing my own comments!

Funny, whenever I get a really nasty anonymous comment, often using the word "ass," someone is on from Garland, Texas.

Sunday, this person wrote anonymously, "All the pastors I know agree you are an ass." And Garland Texas showed up on the blog map at the same time as the comment arrived. That suggested the individual was a WELS pastor, fond of Church and Change. Nothing spawned a really vile comment faster than my scholarly observations about the Chicaneries.

Sunday I Googled Garland WELS and found a congregation there - Divine Peace. It is only three hours away from Holy Word in Austin.

The WELS pastor is John Hering, whose 1989 class at the Sausage Factory was saturated with Church Growth. Hering was in world missions, which meant the Shrinkers approved his doctrine. He is now chair of evangelism in his district, more proof of Shrinker certification. His web page talks about being blessed by numbers.

"Truly the Lord has blessed Divine Peace where there are now 181 souls and 143 communicants. Come and grow with us during these exciting times."

Look at this church history, which includes most of the Shrinkers in WELS, including Kelm and Bivens. Dom Perignon Patterson came from this congregation and Hering served it.

"In the meantime, 16 more gentlemen over the next two years would receive the divine call to serve as Senior Pastor: Forrest Bivens-June 1991, Dennis Kliest-August 1991, Greg Otterstatter-September 1991, Mark Wessel-November 1991, Curtis Franzmann-December 1991, Pastor Pope-January 1992, Paul Kelm-February 1992, Alan Eckert-April 1992, Peter Kruschel-May 1992, Alan Schroeter-August 1992, Larry Zahn-September 1992, Samuel Clemons, October 1992, James Pope-December 1992, Vilas Glaeske-February 1993, Ted Lambert-April 1993, Paul Janke April 1993. Finally, in spring of 1993, Calvary decided to extend the Senior Pastor position to Pastor Vieths and to call again a Seminary candidate to serve as the Associate Pastor."


"1992 was also another busy year for sons of the congregation active in ministry. Donald Patterson, son of Calvary members Bill and Jerry Patterson, received his first call into the ministry to Holy Word Lutheran Church in Austin Texas, while Scott Bertram, son of members David and Nita Bertram was called to serve as evangelist at Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas."


"Already in late 1998, things began to return to normal for Calvary’s leadership. Pastor John Hering, missionary to Japan, accepted the call to serve Divine Peace and arrived in November of 1998. In early 1999, Pastor William Gabb accepted the call to serve Atonement Lutheran Church. However, after many months of assisting other congregations, the Lord of the Church decided it was time for Calvary’s staff to reconsider its work at Calvary. In the spring of the year, all the Calvary staff who were also recognized as 'heads of household' received calls to serve elsewhere."

Monday - sent to Ichabod:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Church and Change Hilarity Continues":

"Adam Mueller (son of Wayne) will turn your church around for you. CG has had 30 years to build up WELS, but has 30 years of shrinkage to show for it. Phone Adam collect. His websty link is Gunn's sect in Laveen (Phoenix), Arizona. Joe Krohn graduated from CrossWalk, Laveen, upgrading his status to RockMeister at The Church From Scratch in Round Rock, Texas. RockBlogger quit his blog and heard the gong on the Gong Show.

Jeff Gunn will build your church from Scratch. That is what people fear - Old Scratch in charge of another CG money pit. If Gunn knows so much about this, why did he look for a job at Wisconsin Lutheran College (Brigadoon WELS)? A better topic would be "How A Failing Non-WELS Congregation Can Take Over a College Board of Directors." Jeff is too modest."

You mix just enough truth with the lies. You're like your own analogy of mercury and gold. You are a fool and an ass. God has withdrawn His spirit from you just as He did from Israel. How appropriate the title of this blog.

Someone started a fake Ichabod blog and quit it, twice. Joe Krohn and Tim Felt-Needs were mirthful that I implied they wrote the fake Ichabod blog. They promoted it and got on as followers. I suspected a third person. Krohn lives not so far from Garland, so he may be buddies with Hering. I know he is friends with Patterson. Krohn graduated from the Jeff Gunn's CrossWalk (faux-WELS) Entertainment Center in Phoenix. Krohn and Felt-Needs never had that know-it-all scorn that infects the graduates of GA at Mequon, so I did not really think they wrote the fake blog.

Last night (Monday) I posted comments intended to provoke more from Garland. I was not disappointed. Here are comments from Tuesday (December 1, 2009):

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More Puerile Behavior":

What a crybaby. GJ, you really show your colors in a post like this. Put your big boy "Independant Lutheran" depends on. Do you really expect any kind of semblance on this blog?

"They are superb at destroying relationships."

There's some irony for you. Once again you have gone out of your to behave as an ass.

And also on Tuesday:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Foundation Grant Allows For Needed Installation":

Now you see why I call you an ass. Don't you hurt yourself when you stoop this low? You cancel out what wisdom might be mixed in with the lies.

I cannot prove Hering is writing those comments anonymously, but there is a clear pattern of similar remarks being sent from Garland. Perhaps Pastor Hering would like to disavow anything coming from his location. I might believe the disclaimer if it came on church letterhead.

At least Dom Perignon Patterson signs his emails. I kelmed his message to me, from Gmail:

Donald Patterson kududon@gmail.com to bethanylutheranworship@gmail.com date Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 10:46 PM subject don't be a fool mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 12/10/08

Hey,  Greg,

I am not a part of Church and Change Leadership.  I went to one conference a few years ago and had my own reservations.  Also, Robert Timmerman does not serve as a church council pres at our church.  You are lying on your blog.

Don

***

GJ - Timmerman was the council president. Does that make me a liar? Patterson was at the Church and Change conference last month! He is not part of their leadership?

He has his own reservations? Sure - he made reservations at the hotel. Patterson will make a fine Doctrinal Pussycat or Synodical Pope. He is more deliberately ambiguous than DP Robert Mueller was.

More Puerile Behavior

The Shrinkers do identify theft too.


WELS Church Lady wrote me to say she did not send the comment posted about Mary Lou College's Gaydar dish.

She suspected a college student. As people know from the front page editorial in WLC's The Thword, the students at both schools tend to be weepy and whiny, easily hurt and offended. They really need your support and affirmations, so mail them some Miley Cyrus and Adam Lambert videos to watch, to boost their spirits.

I question that they have really forgiven their opponents, as they claim, because gracious losers would not feel compelled to take on another person's identity on a blog. Deceit is so subtly taught at those two colleges. WLC even tried to hire Gunn as a second chaplain, to provide even more contemptuous worship when the students are not interested in it anyway. Gunn pretends to be Lutheran, one more deception from the Chicaneries. WELS pretends to discipline Gunn. "What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

Someone posted on Bailing Water, using my name. I do not mind anonymous comments at all. Many people do need to protect their identities, knowing what the Chicaneries are like. However, stealing someone's identify is really low.

The Church and Change leaders excel at only one thing, and that is not Lutheran ministry. They are superb at destroying relationships. They will do anything to keep their opponents from reaching critical mass and tossing them out. WELS would be better off losing 1/3 of the pastors and most of the teachers. The entire school system could be sold to Missouri, Fuller, or ELCA. It is nothing more than a feeder system for Fuller, Willow Creek, Granger, Northpoint, Life Church, Mars Hill, and Leonard Sweet.com.

---

TR has left a new comment on your post "More Puerile Behavior":

Greg,

As a WELS member, I have some issues with your comments. I will not stand and defend everything that MLC students do - they are students and sinners. However, their choice of college does not change their sinful Adams overnight. Are they held to a higher standard? Yes. Should they be?

You will find, if you looked, that the majority of students at the school are strong Christian leaders. They are doing their best to prepare themselves for the public ministry.

The problem, of course, is that there are some students who give a bad name to the others. You could categorize them by the sports they play, the high schools the attended, or even by their family name. Those students would be doing many of the same things at any other school. Would you use the statement of "the students at both schools tend to be weepy and whiny, easily hurt and offended" to say that all students at the University of Phoenix or the University of Notre Dame are also weepy and whiny - because of the actions of a few?

Your post on the "gaydar" is going too far. If you have ever spoken to President Mark Zarling, you would recognize a man who is a stalwart Lutheran, who has a genuine love of education, and who is actively working towards change at all levels of the school. His door is always open to talk with students about any problem they face. His door was open when the men who put the video online wanted to talk about what they should do.

***

GJ - A stalwart Lutheran would not allow his school to be used as a backdrop for "Luther" flinging the Scriptures away to do battle with the Sprinter. A stalwart Lutheran would have the video removed from You Tube.

The excuses for "Party in the MLC" were so flimsy that they deserved the gaydar graphic. I asked one Lutheran if anyone could possibly miss the gaity of the original, "Party in the Fire Island Pines." He said, "Impossible." Needless to say, the MLC version was far worse in every respect, but the actors have "forgiven" those who objected. Tis funny how that forgiveness was expressed in a rather nasty, self-indulgent front page editorial in The Thword (WLC), which was weepy and whiny.

I do not blame all of MLC or all of WLC for the idiotic behavior of a few athletes. I do blame the student bodies for jumping on the bandwagon to defend the video by attacking anyone offended. Readership doubled overnight when I posted the video the first time. College students could not wait to post examples of their blind loyalty to friends, poor education in Lutheran doctrine.

I know there are good students and professors at both schools, but both schools are turning out classic mainline apostates nevertheless.

MLC's need to run their own Church and Change day (disguised as Missions Day) was another example of flinging poo in the face of WELS, especially with Paul Calvin Kelm as the elderly exemplar of apostasy - keynote speaker, no less.

The Religious Left and Thrivent Love Abortion

Here is one article on the religious Left supporting abortion.

As Brett Meyer pointed out, Thrivent gives matching money (from your policies) to Planned Parenthood, a major provider of abortions across America.

http://www.cogforlife.org/ppsupporters.htm

Thrivent gave first place to an essay from a Lutheran child who wrote that his retarded brother should have been aborted.

Nevertheless, Thrivent continues to be untouchable in Lutheran circles. When they were separate, AAL and LB used to compete to see who could give ELCA the most money. Both parts of Thrivent gave lavishly to ELCA-LCMS-WELS projects, joint evangelism and joint worship programs. Those were heady, frothy days under Mischke and Gurgle.

Here is another connection, although I cannot verify it at the moment. McGavran suggested congregations work with Planned Parenthood. McGavran, as most know, founded the Church Growth Movement. His incredibly dull book became the "Bible" for CG, and yet that "Bible" suggested jumping on the Planned Parenthood bandwagon.

Margaret Sanger, the Planned Parenthood pioneer, spoke before the KKK because they liked her ideas about getting rid of Black babies. Jesse Jackson used to be pro-life, because he was the illegitimate child of the next-door neighbor. Jesse changed his tune when he ran for president. One LCA pastor of a Black church said, "We may have more abortions than the average, but my members still know it is wrong." Thrivent does not know that much.

Margaret Sanger archives.

I served several churches that did not engage in Lutheran insurance commercialism to support their budget. They thought AAL and LB were tacky for demanding worship bulletin recognition for every pittance handed over. We survived without it.

PS - Not money, but the love of money is the root of all evil. KJV 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

DK Has It Right

There is a national shortage of pink paper - as in "none left" because of the pink slip campaign.

dk has left a new comment on your post "Apostates in WELS Will Win in the Short Run":

Hey Professor,

When is a council going to be held?

Things need to be shaken up. Those who adhere to the Confessions need to collectively leave (whatever Synod they belong to). Missouri and WELS and others still possess Confessional pastors--these guys need to be in contact with each other.

Is it more important what acronym IDs your church, or is it more important what confession you publicly proclaim? I truly believe that if many WELS pastors could diminish their concern for the WELS institution, reapportioning that concern for Doctrine, a Confessional body could emerge from the fray.

IF you subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions as correct exposition of Scripture why do you care about affiliation?

***

GJ - I agree. My point about the pink slip is that there is a national movement, widespread, against the impoverished and spineless leadership of this country. So many people have obtained pink slips to mail Congress that there is no pink paper left in America.

In the same way, if the laity and the few confessional pastors make a point of protesting the blatant apostasy they see around them, there will be an effect. The Word will accomplish God's will.

The Word of God has not failed, but people have failed to apply it to themselves and to the visible church.

Apostates are activists, gravitating to money and positions of power. Confessional Lutherans need to stop bargaining for crumbs while the liberals are eating their lunch.

Apostasy applies to all the Lutheran groups, not just ELCA. The solution is the same in each group - apply the Word of God.

Apostates in WELS Will Win in the Short Run

Lacking in WELS - a learned ministry and the church militant

People have voiced their conclusion, separately, that the apostates will win in WELS. One is a pastor. Several are layman. The laymen think the Chicaneries are too entrenched to uproot.

The political component is impossible to ignore. The WELS school system, ever since Ted Hartwig infected it at Mary Lou College, is consistently liberal. Closing Northwestern College was a successful (albeit crooked) attempt to end a conservative bastion in WELS. Even then, NWC was not exactly a fortress of orthodoxy, and the faculty members were too timid to fight for their cause. Is MLC stronger because of that merger? It is weaker and more apostate, just like the Andover-Newton-Colgate-Rochester-Crozer-etc-Divinity School.

My take - MLC, Bethany, and WLC will not survive as separate entities and they know it.

The only way to get rid of the apostates would be to end the teacher vote that supports spineless and two-faced Doctrinal Pussycats. The largest WELS state has the most parochial and Area Lutheran High School teachers - also the worst DPs. And that is saying something! In the unlikely event of DP removal, the teachers will vote in another set of banana DPs - yellow, green, and just plain rotten.

If the teacher vote is not neutralized, the only other solution is the demolition of the WELS schools, from pre-K to the Sausage Factory. An outsider can see that their educational system only serves to promote the mainline cause, creeping apostasy. I do not think the CG gurus in WELS will become Pentecostal and perform fake miracles. I know some have turned Pentecostal. The majority will become honest atheists, like Curtis Peterson, Robert Schumann, and Mark Freier. The Chicaneries are already mainline, unionistic apostates. They are only one step from heart-felt, compassionate atheism.

As Brett Meyer noted, the pipeline is full of students trained in apostasy, too full of themselves to know it. Reflecting the in-your-face attitude of MLC, the vidiot students could not even fake contrition. Instead, they "forgave" those who did not appreciate them out-outting the Fire Island boys.

Here are additional factors militating against any real change in WELS, which is currently an unimportant nub in the Fuller Seminary mainline network:

1. Holy Mother WELS is infallible so any criticism is harmful to the institution, especially when it is valid, scholarly, confessional criticism.
   
2. Too many people are closely related or friends through school, so that makes it difficult to drop the hammer on the guilty, even when found with a murdered spouse.
   
3. Thrivent unites Lutherans in ELCA, Missouri, WELS, the ELS, and the CLC (sic), a built-in and cleverly funded pan-Lutheran union.
   
4. Few are educated in the Confessions.
   
5. Even fewer are inclined to fight for the pure Word. That generation is the WWII generation. The Boomers are too lax and self-centered to shed a drop of blood for doctrine.
   
6. Hardly anyone is in shape for the fight.
   

In the long run, we all have to face our mortality and the Day of Judgment. I wonder - how much will the size the buildings and parking lots matter before the Throne of Grace? Can someone despise the Means of Grace, mocking the Word, and cop a plea at the last minute, based on statistics?

Lutheran pastors crow about numbers and say nothing about being faithful to the Word of God. "Join us - we are friendly and successful: watch us grow."

One thing is needful, and you have chosen wrong, WELS.

Simple Solution for Christmas Programs

Many churches keep old Christmas programs and use them again. The classic Christmas programs are the same - the sedes doctrinae of the Virgin Birth and traditional Christmas hymns.

I think the old LCA programs, because they used this format, were better than sitting around on couches, for pity's sake.

Apostates Continue Merging To Stay Alive

Annie get your gun. The libs are merging again.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Foundation Grant Allows For Needed Installation":

Andover Seminary near Boston and Colgate seminary combining due to decreased enrollment and their endowment fund down to a paltry $40 million between the two schools. Ironically, they use the same euphemism that Seabury Seminary did last year when they downsized--that they are merely finding a "new model" viable for delivering seminary education in today's world. In other words they are flat broke and would go bust within a year if they didn't do something drastic.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Foundation Grant Allows For Needed Installation":

Andover Seminary near Boston and Colgate seminary combining due to decreased enrollment and their endowment fund down to a paltry $40 million between the two schools. Ironically, they use the same euphemism that Seabury Seminary did last year when they downsized--that they are merely finding a "new model" viable for delivering seminary education in today's world. In other words they are flat broke and would go bust within a year if they didn't do something drastic.

http://www.crcds.edu Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

http://www.ants.edu/news/detail/andover-newton-opens-talks-with-colgate-rochester-crozer-divinity-school

"...this joint venture may usher in a new model for graduate theological education."

"If a partnership is established, the schools would have a combined endowment of approximately $40 million and an enrollment of 450 students. Andover Newton and CRCDS are both accredited by the Association of Theological Schools."
/ Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

http://www.ants.edu/news/detail/andover-newton-opens-talks-with-colgate-rochester-crozer-divinity-school

"...this joint venture may usher in a new model for graduate theological education."

"If a partnership is established, the schools would have a combined endowment of approximately $40 million and an enrollment of 450 students. Andover Newton and CRCDS are both accredited by the Association of Theological Schools."

***

GJ - The mergers and cooperative ventures are too numerous to summarize, so I will let Wikipedia do it: "Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a theological college of Baptist origins. The present day school, which sits on the top of a hill in the beautiful setting of Highland Park in Rochester, New York is a product of several mergers.

The school is liberal and ecumenical in theology, with Baptists, United Methodists, Presbyterians and members of other denominations on its faculty and in its student body. Degrees can be obtained in cooperaration with Bexley Hall, an Episcopal Church seminary, which shared its facilities and administration from 1968 to 1998 (and continued at the campus under a separated administration until 2004), and St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry, a Roman Catholic theological school which shared its facilities from 1981 until 2003, and since has moved to a nearby site.

It is a small school with seven full-time faculty and 14 part-time faculty, and slightly more than 100 full-time students. The current director is Eugene C. Bay, who was previously the head pastor at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.

The school is also home to the graduate studies Physical Therapy program for Ithaca College. It contains the Center for Foot and Ankle Research and a movement analysis lab." Wikipedia

My source is being too kind about Andover, which is also a merged school:

"Andover Newton is a product of a merger between two schools of theology in 1965: Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institute. Andover Newton takes the earlier founding date of the Andover Theological seminary for its founding year." Wikipedia

Andover split from Harvard, but they tried to reconcile. They have cooperated over the years.

Yale University is another split from Harvard.

Normally these mergers are called two cripples sharing the same cane, but this is a herd of cripples hoping and praying they can survive the financial death panel - sharing the same cane - endowment funds.

Another factor is the overhead for all those beautiful stone and brick buildings when people favor online education. Today I talked with a used car dealer who wants to take college and law school under an accelerated program, the first part online.

Foundation Grant Allows For Needed Installation

A large but anonymous foundation grant has allowed Mary Lou College to install a radar dish on Old Main. The college president, who did not want to be named, said, "If we would have had this earlier, a lot of stress could have been avoided concerning that video." He asked not to be named, adding, "They know which video."

Is There Hope for the Appleton Dumbling Gang?

Here I stand, batter up.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Here Is the Dirt on The Dirt Conference":

I was a visitor at St. Paul in Appleton (becoming known as the "AntiCore" among the locals)for Reformation services, and heard one of the finest sermons I have ever heard. What do you think? Is there still hope for Appleton as long as St. Paul is there? Some people there see it as the last hope for Lutheranism in the city.

The link: http://www.stpaulappletonwi.com/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=13563&sec_id=2608

***

GJ - I read the sermon, mindful that the Lutheran confessions not only affirm the positive but also denounce false doctrine. I have heard reports of WELS pastors in the area not sharing a pulpit with Parlow or the recentedly departed Witte (both men having anti-Lutheran DMins in Church Growth).

Appleton reminds me of Luther's statement about one point of doctrine leading to a whole country being lost. Schwaermer doctrine needs to be identified and denounced for what it is - anti-Christian, anti-Biblical, and definitely anti-Lutheran. Doctrinal Pussycat Engelbrecht is the human shield for Shrinkers in Fox Valley, just as Rutschow is the human shield for Jeske, Inc.

One only needs to read Katie's Tweets to know The CORE's doctrine. Now the disorder has spread so widely that no one knows where to start and where to end. A year from now, many Enthusiasts will be feeling the hurt for a lot of reasons. Nevertheless, the real beginning has to be Confessional education at all levels. I suggest colloquy for the DPs, to see if any of them agree with the Book of Concord on the evil nature of Enthusiasm and the essentials of justification by faith alone.

WELS Church and Change Hilarity Continues

Chicaneries are still registering people for their November conference.
Wasn't that - like - a month ago?

Adam Mueller (son of Wayne) will turn your church around for you. CG has had 30 years to build up WELS, but has 30 years of shrinkage to show for it. Phone Adam collect. His websty link is Gunn's sect in Laveen (Phoenix), Arizona. Joe Krohn graduated from CrossWalk, Laveen, upgrading his status to RockMeister at The Church From Scratch in Round Rock, Texas. RockBlogger quit his blog and heard the gong on the Gong Show.

Jeff Gunn will build your church from Scratch. That is what people fear - Old Scratch in charge of another CG money pit. If Gunn knows so much about this, why did he look for a job at Wisconsin Lutheran College (Brigadoon WELS)? A better topic would be "How A Failing Non-WELS Congregation Can Take Over a College Board of Directors." Jeff is too modest.

"Congregation -Conference Breakout 103.... Growing Your Congregation’s Staff from Within
Dr. Lawrence Olson (Fuller DMin - not a doctorate)
The WELS Congregational Assistant Program (CAP) encourages and equips members, men and women alike, for a broader ministry within a congregation. WELS Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI), which guides and assists men from a broad cultural spectrum through their pre-seminary and seminary training." [GJ - Do CAP and PSI have CG written all over them if Larry Oh! is promoting them?]

Contemporary Music - Doing it up
Pastor Jeff Gunn
Crosswalk - Phoenix, AZ
Pastor Gun is also a great resource for:
Marketing a Church a Target Community
Small Groups - Starting them Successfully
Outreach Methods - Getting Involved
Churches - How to Build One From Scratch
Researching Alternative Ministry Methods and Models - How To Do It and Pull Workable Ideas From It
Email: jeff@crosswalkinlaveen.org
Website: www.crosswalkinlaveen.org/


Contemporary Worship - Conference Breakout 501....
Creating Irresistible Environments with Contemporary Worship
Pastor John Parlow
Explore transferable principles that will help you build a church for outsiders to come to and hear truth that makes a difference now and for eternity. Now is the time to shed ethnic rationalizations, personal preferences, and doomsday attitudes that are offered as excuses for outreach failures. The truth is the Gospel is timelessly relevant, the church and its representatives may or may not be relevant; the Gospel is timelessly efficacious, the church and its representatives may or may not be effective. Let’s talk about building ministries that are dangerously Christian.
If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!
Email: john.parlow@stmark-depere.org
Website: www.stmarkpartners.org



Church Extension Fund - Conference Vendor
Tim Probst

Vice-President Marketing & Development
WELS Church Extension Fund, Inc.
2929 N. Mayfair Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53222-4398

WELS Church Extension Fund exists primarily to provide financing for mission-minded endeavors and projects that are under the direction of WELS Board for Home Missions. WELS CEF provides loans and grants to qualified mission congregations for the purpose of acquiring land sites, renovation and construction of ministry facilities -- used as tools for gospel outreach.

Direct line: 414-256-3276
Toll free: 800-729-9357
Fax: 414-256-6480

Email: cef@sab.wels.net
Website: www.wels.net/cef


Conference Keynote Speaker: Breakthrough Thinking in WELS Ministry
John Di Frances

From John’s experience, the Evangelicals are great at connecting with people, but are often lacking in the depth and solid foundation of biblical truth. John joined a WELS congregation because he is convinced that WELS teaches the truth of God’s Word. But he has also observed that WELS isn’t necessarily very good at connecting with and engaging people or being seen as relevant to life today by non-Christians. John is personally convinced that WELS can impact our world in ways that surpass the impact of the Evangelical movement. But to do so will require some break-through thinking.


Email: jdf@difrances.com
Website: www.difrances.com


Crosswalk - Phoenix, AZ
Pastor Gun is also a great resource for:

Marketing a Church a Target Community
Small Groups - Starting them Successfully
Outreach Methods - Getting Involved
Churches - How to Build One From Scratch
Researching Alternative Ministry Methods and Models - How To Do It and Pull Workable Ideas From It

Email: jeff@crosswalkinlaveen.org
Website: www.crosswalkinlaveen.org/



Contemporary Worship - Conference Breakout 501....
Creating Irresistible Environments with Contemporary Worship


Pastor John Parlow

Explore transferable principles that will help you build a church for outsiders to come to and hear truth that makes a difference now and for eternity. Now is the time to shed ethnic rationalizations, personal preferences, and doomsday attitudes that are offered as excuses for outreach failures. The truth is the Gospel is timelessly relevant, the church and its representatives may or may not be relevant; the Gospel is timelessly efficacious, the church and its representatives may or may not be effective. Let’s talk about building ministries that are dangerously Christian Schwaermer.


If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!

Email: john.parlow@stmark-depere.org
Website: www.stmarkpartners.org



Contemporary Worship - Conference Breakout 506....
Your Guide to Starting Your Own Alternative Worship Experience
Pastor James “Ski” Skorzewski and Staff Minister Brian Davison
Changes are taking place in the worship world. There still remains a strong interest in blended and contemporary worship among many in our midst. A number of WELS congregations have been conducting blended or contemporary services for years. This workshop will provide help and guidance from someone who has undertaken the process at St. Marcus in Milwaukee. Topics to be discussed include how to begin a blended/contemporary service in a small/traditional congregation so that everyone is blessed; recruiting musicians, vocalists, and technical persons; equipment needs; stage presence; best music to use at the start; copyright matters; music/worship sources (websites, friends, etc…); use of contemporary liturgies; establishing a WELS network for those interested in helping each other with materials, ideas, and encouragement; and the awakening need for more joyful experiential worship in our midst.
If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!
Email: brian.davison@stmarcus.com, james.skorzewski@stmarcus.com
Website: www.stmarcus.com
[GJ - Learn how to turn $250,000 into a membership gain of +9 in less than a year!]

Spiritual Growth - Conference Breakout 203....
Lookin’ for Love in all the Wrong Places

Sharon Buck and Karen Harmon - Jars of Clay Ministries
Christians, especially women, are uniquely created and positioned to share the love of God with others. Explore ways to revitalize your own sacred romance with God and compassion for lost souls.If you are interested in getting your hands on this conference workshop PowerPoint or want more information, email the speaker by selecting the link below!
Email: sbuck1@comporium.net, jkyharmon@cox.net
Website: www.jarsofclayministries.com
[GJ - Would their advisors be CG gurus? Who wrote this ad? Cosmo?]

Website - Ministry Resource
Matt Doebler
Develop a website, which shares ministry resources (such as special services, Bible studies), for different areas of ministry. Find someone who has web-developing skills. Does not need to be an expert. Basic skills are needed. Find a free or cheap web server. Figure out your goals. Who is your target audience? What do you want to share? Find some dependable contributors who will submit quality material. This will save you some time on reviewing everything that you are given to publish. Use MS Word format for submitted material and "save as ... web page". Can import easily into web pages. Other technical issues, consult an expert. Keep updating periodically - an unchanging web site is a dead web site. Promote by any means possible. I have tried the WorldWide Winkel & conferences
Email: doeblermc@yahoo.com
[GJ - As of this morning, Doebler has exactly one page posted on his websty, a map to his Rock And Roll sect. I have posted more content this morning than Doebler has in a week, but I don't have a $20,000 grant from Antioch. Grants must induce paralysis.]


Website - Using Virtual Tours as a Ministry Resource
Cordes Photography
Caleb Cordes
Caleb specializes in creating web-based virtual reality tours. Better than still photographs, VR tours allow website visitors to experience space in an entirely new manor. They can move from room to room at their own speed and interest, experiencing the true feel of a space. VR tours are especially useful for businesses and even churches, as they enhance the power of introduction that websites offer. For an example, click the link and check out Grace Downtown's VR tour of thier (sic) new outreach center.
Email: info@cordesphoto.com
Website: www.cordesphoto.com
[GJ - Does Caleb edit the Chicanery websty too?]

Parent's Ministry - CEO
Brian and Tracy Lampe

Your baby is now a teenager, going through all of the teenage rites of passage. Between school, friends, God, and a social life, their lives seem to be a foreign country to you. The little boy or girl that once told you everything now has to be hounded to give you even a snippet of thought. Yet there are three things you should know about what is going on in your Christian teen's head that will make your relationship a little better…

CEO also has programs for:
Men's Ministry
Students Ministry
Couples Ministry
Corporate Ministry
Shipping with UPS
Email: Brian@CEO-Ministries.com
Website: www.ceo-ministries.com/parents.html



Perish Assistance - WELS Perish Services

Want some great ideas, content and contacts for your ministry? WELS Parish Services was made just for you! Visit their website for information on:
Evangelism - [GJ - How to chase Lutherans away, shrink the church, and brag about numbers.]
Worship
Youth Discipleship
Parish Schools
Adult Discipleship
Special Ministries
Perish Assistance - [GJ - Go down the tubes. We can show you how - for $25,000 or more.]

Website: www.wels.net/bps



Photography Volunteer Program
Jonathan Favorite


Director of Worship Arts
Crosswalk - Phoenix, AZ

Jonathan specializes in getting the talent excited with a church. Starting groups for:
Music
Techs
Graphic Arts
Video Production
Creative Arts

Phone: 602-304-0072
Email: jonathan@crosswalkinlaveen.org
Website: www.crosswalkinlaveen.org


Prayer - WELS Prayer Institute
Steve Witte, Shelley Mattes and Reg Draheim
The WELS Prayer Institute exists to promote and encourage prayer throughout the WELS for WELS leaders, pastors, churches, and ministries. God has clearly given us this command to pray in Ephesians 6:18-20, and many other places throughout the Old and New Testament Scriptures.
Visit their website, join in on a prayer and be encouraged!
Contact Shelley Mattes for more information.
Email: shelleymattes@yahoo.com
Website: www.welsprayerinstitute.com
[GJ - Visit Gordon Conwell seminary, where Witte earned his prestigious DMin. Soon after he was hired for the WELS Asian board. Does anyone else suspect the Prayer Institute is another Shrinker farm?]

Group Ministry -Small
Pastor Peter Panitzke
Two 40 day programs with daily devotions and small group sessions.
Email: ppanitzke@stpaulmuskego.org
Website: www.stpaulmuskego.org
[GJ - Peter Pan-denominational is a frequent writer for FIC,, the Xerox center for Church and Change. Frankly, I am surprised that FIC will print SP Schroeder's articles.]

The Zen of Global Warming

Zen Buddhism comes up from time to time, in world religion class. One participant spent a years studying Buddhism and still found Zen impossible to explain. The cartoon above is the best explanation I can find, and it fits the Global Warming hoax as well.


Scientists have well defined rules. My high school introduction to chemistry and physics taught me a few things about lab work. The teachers were horrified that we tore pages out of our lab books. That was a sacrilege. We had to keep the notebooks of our observations intact and dated. "How else can you prove your observations?" My thoughts were, "Who cares what I observed?" Later I realized that the notebooks survived the scientist. As one account says - after the lab explosion blew up a scientist, they realized from his notebooks that he was storing one element in the wrong container.


The Global Warming scientists have admitted now that they do not have any original data for their theory, because they destroyed it. In fact, one cabal leader admitted that he always destroyed data requested under Freedom of Information, causing people to wonder why scientists needed to be forced to release data in the first place.


Dennis Miller has the best answer to Global Warming, uttered years ago: "One hundred years ago, people were still using outdoor johns. They did not care about measuring temperatures." Another critic pointed out that averaging temperatures is nonsense anyway, since averaging a 90 degree day and an 80 degree day yields a meaningless number that fits neither one.


I bow to Freddy Finkelstein in this area, because I am not trained in science. He obviously knows the technical side of things. His latest post on the topic and an earlier post are both worth reading.


Nevertheless, I am intrigued by the relationship between Zen, Global Warming, Church Growth, and UOJ. They belong together as vast conglomerations of nonsense.


Like Global Warming, Church Growth was founded on manipulated and meaningless statistics. C. Peter Wagner, who earned a named professorship in that fantasyland at Fuller Seminary, had to admit, years ago, that Church Growth principles "do not work." However, enough books and articles have been written to establish a network of CG fanatics in all denominations, from the Salvation Army to the Church of Rome. Wagner's admission had no affect on ChurchGrowthery, which changes names for the Fad du Jour: Contagious, Purpose-Driven, Missional, Emerging.


The CG network, thriving on semi-secrecy, unites people across denominational lines. Dom Perignon Patterson should have no interest in matters anti-Lutheran and non-WELS, but he gathered a bunch of WELSians for the Exponential Conference. He has "issues" with Church and Change, which fails to explain why he showed up at their latest conference to regain the momentum lost to Lutheran doctrine, worship, and a few choice convention votes. I noticed that the current list of Exponential speakers includes a lot of faves for The CORE and the Chicaneries:

Babtist Ed Stetzer (hired to speak at the latest Chicanery conference but canned by popular demand);
1. Mark Batterson - the Mogul of Movie Theater Ministry, on Katie's list at CORE;
   
2. Two Granger staffers - where Ski and Katie trained and met a former member of St. Marcus, who loves Granger Community Church. Awkward!
   
3. Mars Hill - where Ski, Glende, Katie trained, when not eating out;
   
4. Etc. Etc.

By the way, Ski and Bruce Becker are no longer listed as Chicanery board members, perhaps because the board was getting overloaded with Mark Jeske employees. Missouri is officially taking on that crowd, via their support of Time of Generic Grace. Does Kieschnick know the Jeske operation depends on massive amounts welfare from Thrivent and the foundations - all doing about as well as Dubai World? Where does UOJ fit in with the frauds of Global Warming and Church Growthing? The twin theses float above Lutherdom, unsupported by any data at all. The twin theses are:

1. God declared the entire world absolved from sin, regardless of faith, giving every single person the status of guilt-free saints.
   
2. Atoning for the sins of the world means that God declared the world free of sin - the double justification scheme kelmed from Knapp.
   

The data shows the missing link in UOJ is the Halle Univesity Pietistic lecture book by Knapp, used by Protestant denominations in America, published before Walther landed in America with the Stephan migration. The double-justification formula in Knapp is exactly the same as the double-justification scheme in F. Pieper, acolyte of Walther.

Some dissonance may stem from the differences in the original German edition of Knapp and the famous English translation, where the translator provided the double-justification in his own footnote. Walther and Pieper published in German, so it is most likely that they used the German edition of Knapp.

How did double-justification become the distinctive produce of the Synodical Conference when the mainline denominations were using Knapp in English until the end of the 19th century? My guess is that the mainlines simply became Universalist in doctrine and no longer cared about the topic of justification.

The ELCA/Seminex mantra of Gospel Reductionism (everyone is saved, regardless) is only one baby-step away from double-justification, since absolving the world of sin leaves nothing to justification by faith. Meanwhile, the Synodical Conference remained rather isolated, circling the wagons around Walther and Pieper. All the support for UOJ is based upon Walther, Pieper, and their numerous disciples in the Synodical Conference, whether Missouri, WELS, or the Little Sect on the Prairie. The common denominator is not Lutheran orthodoxy but Reformed doctrine via Pietism.

Church Growthing loves absolving the world without the Word, without the Means of Grace, without faith. The CG gurus are apostates who have little interest in Christian theology. They love their numbers, manufactured, manipulated, self-serving. As Luther said about the Enthusiasts - they hate the Word but fill the world with their words.

Modern Biblical "Scholarship" Parody - Using the Beatles

First Sunday in Advent

The First Sunday in Advent

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 245 God Loved the World 4:6
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 290 We Have A Sure 4:89

Age of Apostasy

The Hymn # 305 Soul Adorn Thyself 4.23
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 463 For All the Saints 4:31

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.


First Sunday in Advent - The Collects of Veit Dietrich
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, we bless and praise Thee forever, that Thou didst send Thy Son to rule over us poor sinners, who for our transgressions did justly deserve to remain in the bondage of sin and Satan, and didst give us in Him a meek and righteous King, who by His death became our Savior from sin and eternal death: We beseech Thee so to enlighten, govern and direct us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may ever remain faithful to this righteous King and Savior, and not, after the manner of the world, be offended with His humble form and despised word, but, firmly believing in Him, obtain eternal salvation; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Armor of Light

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Whenever I read about justification, I find this quotation – that justification by faith is the chief article of the Christian faith.

"This article concerning justification by faith (as the Apology says) is the chief article in the entire Christian doctrine, without which no poor conscience can have any firm consolation, or can truly know the riches of the grace of Christ, as Dr. Luther also has written: If this only article remains pure on the battlefield, the Christian Church also remains pure, and in goodly harmony and without any sects; but if it does not remain pure, it is not possible that any error or fanatical spirit can be resisted. (Tom. 5, Jena, p. 159.) And concerning this article especially Paul says that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Formula of Concord, SD, III. 6, Righteous of Faith before God, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 917.
In the Synodical Conference, the next step after this quotation is to attack justification by faith, to attack faith itself, and to extol the idea of everyone being forgiven, absolved, justified without faith. And they call that the pure Gospel, not even comprehending that they are repeating the heresy of ELCA called Gospel Reductionism or the older heresy of Universalism.
Like John, Paul used night and day to symbolize falsehood and truth. The night was especially oppressive in ancient times because few used illumination, even in palaces. That may not have always been the case, but I have read of one palace where the pretender’s face could not be seen. Lacking streetlights and houselights, night was a good time for hedonism in all cultures.
As seen in Paul’s discussion in Galatians, tampering with the Gospel was not a small matter, but a major one. Especially dangerous was creating an alloy between false doctrine and sound doctrine, as if a little falsehood was harmless.

First of all, the word justification always means “justification by faith” in the Scriptures and in the Book of Concord. It is confusing, if not evil, to use a term differently from its use in the Scriptures. Merging terms is a trick of unionists and all false teachers. They glide from one thing to another and expect to dazzle people.

Baptism is not communion, and the Holy Spirit is not the Word. Baptism and communion are both sacraments, the visible Word, but they differ. I heard one worship expert say that babies should get communion because babies are baptized. Then perhaps babies should be ordained since babies are baptized. There must be a reason why God gave us forgiveness in different forms. Infant baptism is the purest form of the Gospel, as Luther said, because babies do not have the reasoning power to reject what God offers so freely, declaring them forgiven, taking away the power of original sin, planting faith in their hearts, and granting the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

That is clearly different from Holy Communion, where discernment is necessary and commanded by the Apostle.
The work of the Word is the work of the Holy Spirit, so we know from the Scriptures that when one is mentioned, the other is also included. That does not mean the Holy Spirit is the Word. We know what we do from the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Word. It is very important to realize the divine power of the Word at all times and to recognize the effectiveness of the Word because the Holy Spirit.

The term monergism is used for the Christian faith. That means that God acts alone, according to the Scriptures.

The Atonement was Christ’s act on our behalf, taking on Himself the sins of the world. Before that time, people recognized sacrifice as atoning for sin. In the Greek cycle of tragedies, the human sacrifice of Iphigenia was seen as a terrible crime done to appease the gods. In Judaism, animals were sacrificed in the Temple. Their blood atoned for the sins of the people, leading them to understand the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Monergism means that God acts alone in converting us through the Word and in justifying us. For adults, conversion means godly contrition created by the Holy Spirit at work in the Law, faith created by the Holy Spirit at work in the Gospel Promises. God creates that contrition and that faith. The trust generated by the Promises of God receive God’s declaration that we are forgiven because of Christ.

When people confuse the Atonement with justification by faith, they create a formula completely unknown in the Scriptures, the Confessions, and the theologians after Luther.

The Atonement means that Christ redeemed the entire world from sin, paying the price and releasing us from the dominion of Satan and death. This Atonement is also described in other terms, such as redemption (two different words), propitiation, expiation, and reconciliation. Each term has a history and associations with it.

The Word of God assures us that there is no human contribution to forgiveness and salvation. Whenever human effort, works, or merit get involved, people start to wonder if they have done enough. That is also a fine way to motivate people with the Law, saying, “Are you really worthy? Have you done enough?”

The Atonement and its associated words cannot possibly mean that “God declared the entire world forgiven.” That brash statement cannot be found in the Scriptures, Luther, the Confessions, and the post-Concord writers. Not until the Pietist Burk was such a notion in print (as far as I know at this point).

Moreover, in surveying all of orthodox Lutheran literature, the man who knew it best said (and I paraphrase for the moment) – justification only means justification by faith. No one is forgiven apart from faith. (Robert Preus, Justification and Rome)

The “reconciliation” use for absolving the world means simply that God is reconciled to the world by means of Christ’s sacrifice. That was the ultimate concern in ancient days. Unlike today, people had a great sense of their sinfulness and the need to pay for that sin. They believed in such things as a purging after death (Plato) and various forms of sacrifice. Many of the pagans went through initiation into secret or mystery religions where they engaged in various acts to participate in the revelation of the saving secret. One ceremony involved walking under a grate while a bull was sacrificed above, baptizing the initiate in blood.

Paul’s use of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 is pure Gospel in showing that the price has already been paid by God’s grace. There is no act or virtue to earn this forgiveness. Christ has earned it. “Therefore be reconciled.” That is another way of saying – Therefore, trust in this sacrifice.

Satan accuses us in vain when we realize what justification by faith means. As Luther said, Satan does not want a single drop of our blood. He wants to own our emotions. That is our weakest area. When we take up the cross because of the Word, Satan is there to say, “See how your loving God abandons you. Why not join the free and open spirits who prosper, instead of living in the dungeon with the dead orthodox?”

Or Satan accuses us because of sin, to make us feel we will never be worthy of forgiveness. The false teachers know how to play that tune and they jump in with full force, offering formulas for confidence in forgiveness – formulas involving the Law. You need a cell group. You need the double tithe. You need my counseling, which is both valuable and costly.

Luther said to tell Satan, “I may well be 1000 times worse than you say, but my Savior has paid the price for my sins. Go away.” Anxiety over sin and depression over sin can lead people into self-destructiveness, since they imagine themselves “no good anyway.” Many pastors make shipwrecks of their faith that way, whether in anger or depression or anxiety.