Three Faces of Enthusiasm

Words have definite meanings, although sometimes a tiger can be a lion cheetah.

I was wondering about a layman's question, when he mentioned justification by grace, as if faith did not belong. I realized today that UOJ Stormtroopers may have consciously avoided "by faith" to emphasize their toxic opinion that the entire world is absolved from sin without faith. ELCA, Seminex, and the Universalists agree that global forgiveness is pure grace. Justification by faith does not exclude grace, but UOJers reject, distort, and condemn faith.

UOJ gurus are Enthusiasts because they separate the Holy Spirit from the Word, something thoroughly condemned by the Book of Concord. Enthusiasm has many faces:

1. Receptionism is Enthusiasm because its advocates claim "we do not know when the elements are the Body and Blood of Christ." In other words, the Word does not consecrate. The Holy Spirit wanders away from the Word, as Calvin taught, and leaves everyone puzzled.
   
2. Church Growthism is Enthusiasm, because proponents argue that their man-made programs can make up for the deficiencies of the Word, as long as they are "done right." Questions? Send your check to...
   
3. UOJ is Enthusiasm because grace is given to the entire world, so they think, without the Word of God.
   

From Thy Strong Word:

J-701

“And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."

Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #3-4, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312. Heiser, p. 147.

J-702

"All this is the old devil and old serpent, who also converted Adam and Eve into enthusiasts, and led them from the outward Word of God to spiritualizing and self-conceit, and nevertheless he accomplished this through other outward words. Just as also our enthusiasts [at the present day] condemn the outward Word, and nevertheless they themselves are not silent, but they fill the world with their pratings and writings, as though, indeed, the Spirit could not come through the writings and spoken word of the apostles, but [first] through their writings and words he must come. Why [then] do not they also omit their own sermons and writings, until the Spirit Himself come to men, without their writings and before them, as they boast that He has come into them without the preaching of the Scriptures?"

Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #5-6. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312f. Heiser, p. 147.

J-703

"In a word, enthusiasm inheres in Adam and his children from the beginning [from the first fall] to the end of the world, [its poison] having been implanted and infused into them by the old dragon, and is the origin, power [life], and strength of all heresy, especially of that of the Papacy and Mahomet. Therefore we ought and must constantly maintain this point, that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. It is the devil himself whatsoever is extolled as Spirit without the Word and Sacraments. For God wished to appear even to Moses through the burning bush and spoken Word; and no prophet, neither Elijah nor Elisha, received the Spirit without the Ten Commandments [or spoken Word]. Neither was John the Baptist conceived without the preceding word of Gabriel, nor did he leap in his mother's womb without the voice of Mary."

Smalcald Articles, VIII. Confession, #9-10 Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 497. Tappert, p. 313. Heiser, p. 147.

J-704

"Also, we reject and condemn the error of the Enthusiasts, who imagine that God without means, without the hearing of God's Word, also without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them."

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 789. Tappert, p. 471. Heiser, p. 219.

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"The Lutheran Confessions take a decisive stand against 'enthusiasts,' who teach that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men without the Word and Sacraments (SA-III VIII 3-13; LC II 34-62; FC Ep II 13)."

John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 344.  

"On the contrary, with the Anabaptists and the Reformed Church in general, the Mennonites are Enthusiasts, lay great stress on the immediate working of the Holy Ghost, who is said to 'guide the saints into all truth.' In his Geschichte der Mennonitengemeinden John Horsch, a prominent Mennonite, states that the Holy Spirit is the 'inner word,' who enables Christians to understand the Scriptures. Without the inner word, or the light, the Scripture is a dead letter and a dark lantern."

            The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 260.         

Luther: "True, the enthusiasts confess that Christ died on the cross and saved us; but they repudiate that by which we obtain Him; that is, the means, the way, the bridge, the approach to Him they destroy...They lock up the treasure which they should place before us and lead me a fool's chase; they refuse to admit me to it; they refuse to transmit it; they deny me its possession and use." (III, 1692)

The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 5.         

"A denial of the efficacy and sufficiency of the means of grace is contained in the theological systems of all religious enthusiasts."

Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 343.   

"And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."

Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, 3-5, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312.  

"The practical result of the separation of the divine power from the divine Word of Scripture is the rejection of the Bible as the only source and norm of faith (norma normans). This is proved by the very fact that the enthusiasts have invariably placed the 'inner word' (verbum internum), or the 'spirit,' above Holy Scripture (verbum externum), assigning to the latter an inferior place in the realm of divine revelation. To the enthusiasts the Bible is only a norma normata, or a rule of faith subject to the 'inner word,' that is, to their own notions and figments of reason."

John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 135.      

"The Christian doctrine of the means of grace is abolished by all 'enthusiasts,' all who assume a revealing and effective operation of the Holy Spirit without and alongside the divinely ordained means of grace."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 127. 

"To remain properly humble while firmly rejecting all erroneous teachings regarding the means of grace, we should remind ourselves how even Christians who teach and, as a rule, also believe, the correct doctrine of the means of grace, in their personal practice very often lose sight of the means of grace. This is done whenever they base the certainty of grace, or of the forgiveness of sin, on their feeling of grace or the gratia infusa, instead of on God's promise in the objective means of grace. All of us are by nature 'enthusiasts.'"

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 131.       

"Our opponents hold that saving faith must be founded on Christ Himself, not on the means of grace. This reasoning, common to the Reformed, the 'enthusiasts' of all shades, and modern 'experience' theologians, assumes that faith can and should be based on Christ to the exclusion of the means of grace."

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 152.

"The Lutheran theologians, in general, had reason to illustrate very particularly the doctrine of the operation of the Word of God, in order to oppose the Enthusiasts and Mystics, who held that the Holy Spirit operated rather irrespectively of the Word than through it; and to oppose also the Calvinists, who, led by their doctrine of predestination, would not grant that the Word possessed this power per se, but only in such cases where God chose...."

Heinrich Schmid, The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, trans., Charles A. Hay, Henry E. Jacobs, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1889, p. 511.      J-701

“And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."
Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #3-4, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312. Heiser, p. 147.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Three Faces of Enthusiasm":

One of the frequent claims on this blog is that the enthusiasts separate the Holy Spirit from the Word. That the HS can not work independent of the Word. If the Word can not be separated, then how was the thief on the cross saved? There is only one recording of this scene in Luke. Jesus tells the thief he is saved and yet you do not see the sequence of unbelief, receiving the Word by the Holy Spirit, repentance, forgiveness and granting of saving faith etc...as you all seem to have figured out. To put it another way...how do you know that the Holy Spirit has not given faith to an infant that dies before it is born?


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GJ - As Luther pointed out, Jesus always converted through the spoken Word. The fulness of the godhead dwelt in Him, so there is no separation between the Word of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The thief on the cross was converted from hearing the Word from our Savior. Jesus absolved him and promised him eternal life.

Baptists like to use the thief on the cross against the efficacy of Holy Baptism. The Bible does not teach the absolute necessity of baptism, but it does teach the absolute necessity of faith in Christ. God gave us the sacraments of baptism and communion to unite the power of His Word with visible elements.

There is no better example of the Gospel than infant baptism. The naked, weak baby has nothing to offer God but receives faith in the Gospel Promises. The parents, congregation, and extended family know, "This is when he became a believer" by this specific divine act.

Mid-Week Service

Peacock by Norma Boeckler. Every tuft and feather - created through Christ.

Advent Mid-Week Service, December 3, 2009

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM, Central Standard Time

The Hymn # 554 Now Rest Beneath – Gerhard 3.67
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 100 p. 144
The First Lection
The Second Lection
The Sermon Hymn # 55 Come, Thou Precious 3.17

All Things Made by Him

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
The Hymn #52 Almighty Father 3.70

KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

KJV John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

All Things Made by Him

The Bible is a small book, especially small when we consider that it begins with Creation and finishes with the end of history.

Many individual works by men like Chemnitz and Gerhard are larger than the entire Bible.

I am making this point to say that nothing in the text should be ignored or taken for granted.

Unlike most books that we should race through, because they have little to say, the Bible should be studied phrase by phrase.

John 1:1 is a good example. It is no accident that “the Word” is used three times. Nor is an accident that only two books in the Bible start the same way – “In the beginning.”

“In the beginning” reminds us of Genesis and unites the Gospel of John with Genesis. Many of the major themes of John reflect Genesis, including Creation and Abraham.

Throughout the Bible, the three-ness of the One God is emphasized by groups of three. Instead of human formulas, we have many different ways of expressing God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

If we line out the opening of John as poetry, the message is even more compelling, clear, and profound:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

All three references to the Word are to Christ, and yet Christ is not 1/3 of God.

KJV Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
The Bible exalts Christ from the beginning, because Christ earned our forgiveness on the cross. Therefore, from Genesis 3 the saving role of the Son of God is the clear Gospel message of the Scriptures. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, yet the Messiah was promised to them, Gen 3:15.

Forgiveness and salvation are closely connected with Creation.

Genesis 1 and John 1 together show that every single thing in the universe has been created by Him as the Creating Word. To make this clear, John reveals that “apart from Him” nothing was created.

We take this for granted, but we should not. We think of human life as created through Christ, but also all life, from the lowest forms. All elements. All the stars, planets, galaxies. Everything is created by Him and through Him.

The Holy Spirit works through the Gospel to create faith in us, and that divinely created faith receives the Gospel Promise of forgiveness and salvation, making us “New Creations.”

If we became Christians by making a decision, we would be called “New Decisions” in the Bible. Instead, we are called New Creations (creatures).

KJV 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

KJV Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Busta Gut's All Growed Up

Subject: [church_and_change] event technology
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 4:57:46
From: hungry_jimmy
To:



Hey everyone,

I'm interested in starting a database of WELS event technicians. We techs are being called upon more and more to serve our Lord in worship services, concerts, plays/musicals, etc. For starters, I'm thinking to include those who have worked in live sound reinforcement, live video production (broadcast or projection), presentation software, stage lighting, worship space conversions (setup/takedown in gymnasiums etc.) and pretty much any stagecraft.

I have not seen any other WELS forum in which to gather event technicians together, so here it is. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to do this or how we might support each other, even with training. I have created a group on Facebook, but am keeping it hidden and dormant until the right time.

If you are an event technician, even if only volunteering occasionally at your church, then please make yourselves known.

About me: I live near Phoenix, Arizona, and I've worked well over 1000 events as a live sound reinforcement tech (day job). In the WELS, I've run sound for a Church & Change concert, a few Camp Phillip Family Fests, the Wisc Luth Chapel & Student Center campus ministry in Madison WI, Corban Creek Band 2005 Farewell Tour Northwest/Midwest USA, CrossWalk Church in Phoenix AZ, Koine's 2009 Arizona mini-tour, and others. I have an A.S. in Electronics Engineering Technology and spent my first 3 years of college at MLC in a double major of Elementary Ed and Secondary Science.

Alrighty, God's blessings to you. Maybe I'll see some of you in December if it works out to come up to WI to run sound for Koine's string of Christmas shows. (I have a job interview here in Phoenix and don't know what will happen yet.) Feel free to call me. We LSR guys need to stick together!

~jimmy holub
608.347.8525

Mid-Week Service Tonight at 7 PM Central

Our mid-week Advent service will be at 7 PM Central time tonight.

Group Consensus Manipulation

Church and Change has used this process all along, in cahoots with their apostate brethren and cistern. Now that they control the colleges and the Sausage Factory, they can bide their time.

The merger producing the ELCA (1987) was packed with "gathering input from all corners" and taking "every concern seriously." And yet, the end result of all this consensus building was the worst possible combination of Seminexers, ALCats (who started Lutherans Concerned), and papal LCA priestcraft.

When I questioned the ELCA merger, I was "the only one" who had such doubts. Several denominations have formed since then, comprised of thousands of laity and not a few pastors, all from ELCA, where everyone was united, I was told.

When I dissented from the Church Growth agenda of WELS in the 1980s, DP Mueller said I was "the only one in WELS who objected to Church Growth." Later he admitted that Kelm was removed as head of evangelism for the same reasons I cited about CG in general. But DP Mueller had two stories for every occasion, a true weather vane, double-minded and unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).

WELS pastors are especially quick to tell two opposing stories, often blending two opposing doctrines into one. For instance, Frosty Bivens could coo about reading Synodical Conference materials--"much fine gold"--and brag about attending Fuller Seminary before denying he attended Fuller.

DP Candidate Dom Perignon Patterson had reservations about Church and Change...although he led a session there! His reservations plagued his conscience so much that he purred "pure gold" as John Lawrenz explained the need for Emerging Church methods on Asians. That was on the Church and Change listserve! (I was denied membership on that spirit-anointed listserve, but I get their posts anyway.)

And where was DP-in-Waiting Patterson last month? He was at the Church and Change conference with the usual suspects.

Worst Video Still Posted

MLC statues "The Sprinter" and "Luther" square off

Statues of "The Sprinter" and "Martin Luther" at Martin Luther College come to life and battle it out across the campus.

The plot:

1. Someone zaps the Sprinter and the Martin Luther statues, making them come alive.
   
2. Luther sees the Sprinter, flings his Bible away in a fury, and begins chasing the Sprinter.
   
3. Both engage in violent, badly faked fighting in the snow, bare-chested.
   
4. The statues chase around the Martin Luther campus, outside and in.
   
5. The statues are sissy-kicking each other, to the sound of Kung-Fu Fighting.
   
6. Two students decide to shoot them, but the bullets do not harm the statues.
   
7. Luther says "Oh God!" and hugs the Sprinter. The Sprinter hugs Luther.

Why name a college after Dr. Martin Luther, featuring a dignified statue of him pointing at the Word of God, and then post a video of him tossing the Scriptures away and fighting, only to get weepy and violate his own Small Catechism.

When the Northwestern College alumni let Gurgle-Mueller take their college away, they had the Sprinter statue moved to New Ulm, loathe to leave their marble friend behind.

This graphic can be found on Google Images. The statues have knocked themselves out fighting and are lying on the cold campus concrete.
Funny? You betcha.

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GJ - This video represents the dominant spirit of the college, as represented by the anti-Confessional Larry Olson, whose reputation rests upon a DMin from Fuller Seminary and one parish, which is doing so poorly that it is borrowing money to move away. Before Larry Oh!--Our Staph Infection--came Ted Hartwig of Two Isaiahs (liberal criticism of the Bible) fame. Ted hisself defended the unionist, feminist creeds in Contemptuous Worship - in the Quarterly and in The Northwestern Lutheran (proto-FIC). So Ted was their heresiarch at MLC, "severely punished," and yet emerged as the expert on feminist Biblical language. And boy, the NARAL and ERA and NOW harpies rushed to join WELS after that, burning their hellish bras in solidarity with Ted's bold stance.

Mrs. Ichabod just reminded me that Dorothy Sonntag left WELS for ELCA. My bad. That was apparently the only feminist result of Ted's creeds and Tiefel's hymnal. At least they got rid of that odious word Lutheran in the main title of their joint project with the ELS.

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mjleyrer has left a new comment on your post "Worst Video Still Posted":

Hey guy above my comment, I'm sorry did anyone ask you to critique how Lutheran MLC was? Do you have some super awesome Lutheran radar that detects the amount of Lutheranism on any given Lutheran campus?

Need I remind you that LUTHERANISM is a branch of CHRISTIANITY? Yeah, Christ, remember that guy? The one who died for our sins? Oh, wait. You're right Luther did that.

Maybe there not the best Lutheran's but their fine Christians. So go take your malicious, ignorant, bull-crap slander somewhere else.

And Jacko, give it up man. Digging up videos on MLC is like digging up dirt on the prom date that turned you down. I.E. PATHETIC.

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GJ - If I were one of the MLC vidiots, I was ask the Leyrer dude to stop defending me. Seriously.

My date married me 40 years ago, but thanks for your concern.

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Fox Mulder has left a new comment on your post "Worst Video Still Posted":

Congrats mjleyrer you accomplished nothing just now. Please, that kind of comment does nothing here. Please remain respectful or (sic - of?) Pastor Jackson. Otherwise you just give him more material to rant about. <== Fox knows how to feign respect.

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mjleyrer has left a new comment on your post "Worst Video Still Posted":

Trust me Jacko, I am not one who is always on the MLC side, but when you come in here being all "BLAH BLAH BLAH MLC IS DUMB LOOK AT THIS STUPID VIDEO LOLZ!!!" I can't help but shut your ignoramus down. You probably have not set foot on the campus in how long? Okay. And you know how many students up there? Right. And you know what about what's going on there? Wow. Even my text is echoing in the VOID of your knowledge of MLC.

Jacko, you gotta stop getting owned by 20 year old kids who aren't even pastor track. It's getting embarrassing.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Clueless in the MLC":

In response to mjleyrer,

Do you know who Dr. Jackson cares about? You! Do you know which synod has some of the most warm hearted and Gospel centerd people that GJ knows? Your's! Required reading highly endorsed by Pastor GJ, The Theology Of The Cross.(Written by a Confessional Lutheran Prof.)

Who has WELS Pastor friends calling him on the phone?(chatting and catching upon things) Answer...Gregory L Jackson. Confessional pastors speak loudly and the CGers will eat them up.

All the followers of this blog are WELS/ELS. Also, a few conservative LCMS friends. Remember, a well seasoned WELS gentleman sent GJ the video (2 weeks after it was put out and admired by the subculture types) Some of the people I most respect graduated from MLC. I could never fill their shoes.

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

***

GJ - Ichabod, American citizen, born Lutheran (Moline Lutheran Hospital) - doing the job administrators won't do.

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The MLC videographyer might feel like Nathan Lane in The Producers,

saying to Lehrer, "Don't help me!"

Freddy Finkelstein: Luther Gave Us Classical Education

Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Huxleys, Darwin, Evolution, UNESCO":

This is an excellent high-level snippet, emphasizing the role of education in controlling a society. Because of poor education, most people have no idea of the ideological relationship between Hegel, Darwin and Marx, and thus also Lenin, Hitler, and other modern socialists. They have no idea of the connections between Huxley and Dewey, nor of their relationships to world financial icons, like the Rockefellers, nor of their financial support of Dewey's "Education Revolution" of the early 20th century, nor their consequent formation of the League of Nations, and later the United Nations. None of this is conspiracy theory, this is all open and celebrated history of philosophy and education.

What people fail to realize is that the Classical world, under the tutelage of Classical pedagogics, was a gift of Martin Luther to Western Civilization. Understanding that his Reformation was a Doctrinal Reformation, he knew that the only way the people could hold on to precious Scripture doctrine was if they had the education to do so. The people needed a system of universal education, and the Church was not organized or financially well-endowed enough to do it. The State had to do it. He tasked Melanchthon (Europe's pre-eminent Humanist at the time, second to Erasmus) and Johann Sturm (Europe's pre-eminent pedagogist at the time), with creating an education system that would equip the people to hold on to pure doctrine. Meanwhile, Luther shopped the idea around with the princes, emphasizing the benefit of an educated society to the State. They bought it, and the world was given the finest and most rigorous education system known in the West, even by today's standards. As a result, Europe saw unprecedented economic advancement and social mobility, and with it, the growth of individual liberty. The education system Luther gave us was Classical Education. This is the system adopted in America just after the Revolution, as our nation's leadership understood that universal education was vitally important to our success. This is the system that Dewey, with the aid of his globalist/socialist cohorts, overthrew a century ago, the benefits of which are fast disappearing as the generations who sat under such instruction are finally dying off, and their published works being lost and forgotten.

But there is hope. Classical Education is returning -- strong among the Reformed, and growing among Lutherans. Check out the Consortium of Classical and Lutheran Education. This is the direction Lutheran education must go, if Confessional Lutheranism is to survive at all, and if society is to be equipped with the intellectual horsepower necessary to preserve our liberty.

Freddy Finkelstein

Clueless in the MLC

From Google Images

WATCH: What Miley Cyrus Hath Wrought: Party In the … MLC?

view more from: Sexuality / Gay

Queerty (2 months ago)

To what cultural aspersions do we owe the phenomenon of remaking the remakes of music videos? The Fire Island Pines boys, who created the Miley Cyrus send-up "Party In The F.I.P," receive their own homage with "Party In The MLC" fro...

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

"The excuses for "Party in the MLC" were so flimsy that they deserved the gaydar graphic."

They deserved it? Wow. That's absolutely spectacular of you to say. Even two months later they apparently deserve to be mocked? You have no concept of the term constructive criticism. And really, is asking them to provide a public apology constructive criticism? Someone like you shouldn't be given such an honor if it is. It probably wouldn't satisfy your harsh tongue. You are a poor example to Christians everywhere, Reverend Jackson. Absolutely shameful.

P.S. to Brett Meyer: You're not funny.

***

GJ - PPS to Kyle - you are!

I am glad everyone can see the WELS damage-control operation at work: humorless, thin-skinned, and caustic. Heaven forbid they would find anything wrong with their athletes prancing around on the Internet, getting the attention of Queerty and having their image above posted on Google Images.


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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Clueless in the MLC":

Here's a few reasons for MLC to post a retraction and clarifying statement concerning their confession on homosexuality. Then again it's currently a hate crime to speak out against homosexuality. Is this why MLC won't correct the impression given to 86,000++ with their pro homosexual video?

"Some (str8?) students at Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska were so enamored with the Fire Island gays' tribute to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA", they made their own. Must be some of those liberal Lutherans."

"Nice job Andy --- you just posted a video of guys "fagging" it up for the camera as a joke. Sadly the orignal video did not realize what a sad joke it was. This group knew they were making fun of a target. BTW this does show how "queeny" behavior is an affectation and easily adopted. Many homosexual adopt it to "fit in" with those they feel safe with IMHO."
Posted by: RJP3 | Oct 20, 2009 1:53:01 PM


"I wouldn't say they were enamored by the Fire Island version. This video seems to be more mocking and poking fun of the first one. They are for sure over exaggerating their movements to be "more gay" and queeny. Nobody hits a beach ball like that unless they're a gay cliche on a Fox television show"
Posted by: James | Oct 20, 2009 1:27:39 PM

"I prefer the Lutheran "fagged-up" version."
Posted by: Frank L | Oct 20, 2009 2:24:05 PM

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/10/lutheran-boys-do-their-own-miley-cyrus-fire-island-party-video.html#more

Some (str8?) students at Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska were so enamored with the Fire Island gays' tribute to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA", they made their own.

Must be some of those liberal Lutherans.


"Cherry Grove is one of two gay communities on the long barrier island of Fire Island. The other is Fire Island Pines...."

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Clueless in the MLC":

In all of the publicity the MLC video received and widespread discussions the only voices heard from MLC were those of the students and some parents. The fact that this homosexual video, parody or not, was allowed to exist after initial editing, viewing by the parents and faculty of MLC at homecoming and then distribution on the WWW begs the question: Who is making the decisions at MLC. It's as if the students are governing themselves. Anonymous at 4:30am may have touched on a key element to these issues. Just as the Lutheran Emergent Church Growth shrinkers are teaching congregations to 'break the rules' in supposed spreading of the gospel, they are teaching the same to the students and glibly watching the students exercise their new freedoms.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Clueless in the MLC":

Kyle Fax, my opinion is that an apology is not needed as much as a public retraction. How can anyone fix the full responsibility on the children who created the homosexual video when their parents approved and the MLC faculty condoned it. It's appropriate that they are contrite over making the video. The most important issue is that 86,000++ people have been given the impression that homosexuality is good, fun and enjoyable. Even if MLC was a secular school they should still publish a retraction because homosexuality is a sin and should not be promoted but condemned. The fact that MLC calls itself Lutheran (pledging themselves to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions) makes it imperative that they publicly retract the impression that homosexuality is good and right, for the benefit of everyone who views the retraction.

Their refusal to publish a retraction and doctrinal clarification using a method and mode at least equal to that used to publicly publish the offensive video (I recommend using YouTube - the same distribution channel) is a clear confession that they don't care about the sinful impression they gave to 86,000++ people and makes their claim to 'love the lost in Christ' a complete sham.

In my opinion the lack of a public retraction is not surprising since they they continue to confess the false doctrine of Universal Objective Justification which is contrary to Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions and Christ. When they destroy the central doctrine of Scripture you have nowhere to go but down.

***

GJ - I read The Thword front-page editorial as an expression of their resentment, not as an apology:

But once the video left the context of the MLC campus, it came under unforeseen criticism from some who failed to see the humor in the video.

The most pronounced critic of the video was independent Lutheran pastor and blogger Gregory Jackson. Posts from Jackson, as well as comments left by the blog's readers, labeled the actions of the MLC students featured in the video unbecoming to future WELS pastors and teachers.

These claims were based on the video from which the creators of "Party in the MLC" took their inspiration--a previous YouTube video known as "Party in the FIP." Set to the tune of "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus, "Party in the FIP" shows a group of men performing choreographed routines on a beach while lip-synching the lyrics of the song."

"Party in the MLC" is a parody of the video, using the same soundtrack and many of the same routines.

The controversy over MLC students parodying "Party in the FIP" is derived from the lifestyle associated with "the FIP."

But makers of the "Party in the MLC" agree with other viewers that none of the actions in the "Party in the FIP" video would be considered blatant homosexuality. They also admit no previous knowledge of the reputation of Fire Island Pines. Ben Reichel, MLC student and video contributor, revealed, "We didn't find out until two or three days after we posted it that that's what it stood for. After we learned that we were kind of taken aback."

After learning of the offense caused by the video, the students decided to remove the video "out of Christian love" for those who found the video inappropriate. The decision to remove the video was a personal decision made by the creators of the video.

Reichel stated, "We all got together as a group --the guys who were in the video--and we realized that this caused way too much commotion and way too much negativity, and we all decided together that we were going to take it down."

After meeting amongst (sic) themselves, the students sought the advice of college administration. Reichel continued, "We went and talked to the administration here at MLC--the president and vice-president--and we got their thoughts on it too. But we knew before we even talked to them that we were going to take it down."

Matt Rothe, classmate of Reichel and video contributor, along with the rest of the students involved with the video, are ready to put "Party in the MLC" and the attention it has received in the past; "The group of guys who made this video only wished for good to come out of this video, and I must express firmly we wish for no more negative attention from it."

Huxleys, Darwin, Evolution, UNESCO

Loving Pigs: Forgiveness Without Faith (UOJ) and Enthusiasm

One of my favorite pictures illustrates a tender relationship.

How many noticed that the fake Ichabod had a lot of material supporting UOJ? That definitely came from a pastor, because laymen do not sit around trying to defend something no one can comprehend. I thought perhaps the author kelmed it from a pastoral source, but more likely a pastor forged the blog.

The Shrinkers in WELS are especially smitten with UOJ, and why not? Fuller has trained people in anti-confessionalism, hiding the denominational identity. In WELS, they love Babtists who cannot admit to being Babtists. Someone has to do a little research to find out Andy Stanley dedicates but does not baptize infants.

Ditto Purpose-Driven Rick Warren, (DMin, Fuller, just like Larry Oh!). Mrs. Ichabod and I heard him speak, that is, tell lame jokes. And we saw his immersion pond outside.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Loving Pigs: Forgiveness Without Faith (UOJ) and E...":

Good morning Pastor GJ! We are not justified before faith. We are not justified without faith. The Atonement is not justification.(objective justification is a fabricated word)"Faith Alone" justifies.

The Book Of Concord has been quoted many times by GJ, Brett , DK, myself, and others. So, I would like to share with the readers something else. In the book, "Here I Stand A Life Of Martin Luther", the author provides us with an interesting clarification concerning Luther's own words.

"There is the famous example where Luther rendered "justification by faith" as "justification by faith alone." When taken to task for this liberty, he replied that he was not translating words but ideas, and that the extra word was necessary in German in order to bring out the force in the original. Through all the revisions of his lifetime he would never relinguish that word "alone"."

Why are many relinguishing the word. No place does Luther ever use the term "universal justification." Knapp used the term, which was borrowed from the pietistic writers. The same example of borrowing that I used on a previous comment. For instance Koehler was influenced by Dr. C.H. Little.

Again, one has to always return to Scripture and the BOC. FIC articles should be read with caution( Yes, there are some very fine pieces in FIC [GJ - Schroeder's and...?] and "incharestin" pieces as well.)

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

***

GJ - You have denied Universal Oinkjective Justification!

I knew Roland Bainton, the author of Here I Stand. He posed with Little Ichabod twice, and he drew pictures for us. Here is the last greeting card he sent us.

 

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Loving Pigs: Forgiveness Without Faith (UOJ) and E...":

I think WELS should drop the two doctrines of justification. It really serves no purpose since there is no salvation without faith. But then what would you jokers carry on about? You'd find something.

Plankless

***

GJ - There is always "Party in the MLC" to discuss. How about 50 more comments on that?

Now that the props are being yanked out from under UOJ, the knotty problem is suddenly not worth discussing. Wood that be what you are saying, Plankless?

Does a doctrinal debate go against your grain?

---

dk has left a new comment on your post "Loving Pigs: Forgiveness Without Faith (UOJ) and E...":

The question is: who don't you know?

You knew Bainton???

***

GJ - Bainton was retired at Yale but still lecturing when I was there. People packed his lectures. I did a biographical summary of his life while he was alive, writing to his most famous students. They all contributed and that was placed at the Yale library. One student was the Roman Catholic bishop who marched in the religious service with Erling Teigen at Bethany Lutheran College. Small world?

On one trip we made a point of visiting him at his office at Yale's Sterling Library.

Bainton offered to do some xeroxing for me when I was working on my dissertation. He said he would copy parts of his book about Yale and the Ministry and send it to me.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Loving Pigs: Forgiveness Without Faith (UOJ) and E...":

"How many noticed that the fake Ichabod had a lot of material supporting UOJ? That definitely came from a pastor, because laymen do not sit around trying to defend something no one can comprehend."

I am a layperson. Is the above comment intended to insult the spiritual maturity of laymen? Or is it intended to illustrate the tendency of called workers, you included, to argue points that "no one can comprehend."? Laypeople can and do contribute to the spread of the Gospel.

***

GJ - I meant to reflect upon the clergy. Look at LutherQuest (sic), where pastors posture 24/7. They have successfully avoided any real issues while bickering about small points. If Jay Webber, Rolf Preus, and the rest understood the Book of Concord, they would repudiated Church Growth and UOJ.

The WELS clergy now starting to opposed CGism were the same ones who ran away from the topic 20 years ago, locked in a room "for fear of the Judaizers."

In contrast, I find the laity keen on doctrine, discerning about the clear, plain words of Scripture. Many laity have contacted me and worked through the documents about UOJ and CG.

Perhaps the laity can force some issues into the open. Some are not convinced that Holy Mother Synod is infallible and indefectible.

Rural Congregations? Like St. Peter Freedom, Home of The CORE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Looking for Vernon Harley Papers":

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

What?!! Are you KIDDING me? Rural congregations? Have you been to any? Rural, country and city have nothing to do with this. I have been to more than one in fact many "rural" congregations that are just as on the path to Enthusiasm and wildly into CGM as you can get. Hear are two for starters:
St. Peters in Freedom North of Appleton. Ron Ash comes from there and is one of the founders of the Core. St. Peters is well involved with the New Paradigm church or what ever new name it takes this month. Even has more than one woman openly pitching Willow Creek-ism and all of the CGM methodology to women's groups in WELS or anyone else who cares to listen.

Rural congregation, St. Matthews http://www.stmatthewsonline.org/ is perhaps one of the newest and RURAL of how to redo your congregation into a seeker friendly, replete with doses of "Come to Jesus" talk.

Look at their web page above for your dose of "rural goes to the city."

No, Rural congregations in WELS are perhaps just as ripe or more ripe for the picking than any city church. It has nothing to do with the discussion. Error, false doctrine and Enthusiasm know NO boundaries.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

***

GJ - The Scriptures and the Confessions are the solution, not the honeywagon.

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



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The Northern Trust Company
The Norton Family Foundation
The Orlando Sentinel
The Pfizer Foundation
The Pioneer Group, Inc.
The PQ Corporation
The Prudential Foundation
The Quaker Chemical Foundation
The Quaker Oats Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Group, Inc.
The San Francisco Foundation
The St. Paul Companies, Inc.
The Stocker Foundation
The Stride Rite Corporation
The Sun Microsystems Foundation, Inc.
The Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation
The Times Mirror Foundation
The William Penn Foundation
Thomson Financial
Thomson Holding Inc.
Thomson Legal Publishing
Thomson Media
Thrivent Financial For Lutherans
TIG Specialty Insurance
Time Equities, Inc.
Time Warner Cable
Times Mirror
Tinicum Enterprises, Inc.
Totally Chocolate, Inc.
Transamerica Corporation
Transprint Usa, Inc.
Transwestern Publishing
Travelers Express Company, Inc
Tribune Company
Tricon Foundation, Inc
Trilogy Employee Foundation
Tripos Inc.
Tropicana Products, Inc.
TRW Employee Charity Organization
Tyco International Inc.
Tyco Submarine Systems, Ltd.

Companies Ua - Uz
UBS
UFE Corporation
Unilever United States, Inc.
Universal Studios
University Federal Credit Union
US Bancorp
US Bank
US West Foundation
USA Networks, Inc.

Companies Va - Vz
Vastar Resources, Inc.
Veritas Software Corporation
Virginia Power/North Carolina
Vivendi Universal Enterainment
Vivendi Universal US Holding Co.

Companies Wa - Wz
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
Warhol Foundation
Warner Lambert
Washington Management
Washington Mutual Foundation
Washington Mutual Savings Bank
Washington Post
Waste Management, Inc.
Waters Corporation
Weil Capital Management, LLC
Wells Fargo & Company
West Group
Westin Hotel & Resorts
Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc.
Whitman Corporation Foundation
Wiley Rein & Fielding
Wiliam Companies, Inc.
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
William M. Corporated
Wilry
WMX Technologies, Inc

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

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"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?

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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