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.