Thrivent and Habitat for Humanity

Left click on the photo for the hidden message and a photo of President James Earl Carter.

A note about recruiting in WELS congregations

As a Chapter Specialist, one of the greatest roles you serve is recruiting Congregational Champions and other volunteers for the Thrivent Builds Homes program. Please be aware that although Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)leaders commend the charitable work being done through the Thrivent Builds program, they consider involvement with Habitat for Humanity inconsistent with WELS fellowship principles.

For that reason the WELS Council of Presidents is discouraging its congregations from involvement in Thrivent Builds. Because of this, we ask that you refrain from targeting WELS congregations and recruiting WELS members for Congregational Champion roles. If you would like more information, visit www.thriventbuilds.com/resources and select Quick Reference Guides from the Search tools.



+++++++
http://www.thriventbuilds.com/partnership/thrivent/index.html

http://www.thriventbuilds.com/partnership/habitat/index.html

http://www.thriventbuilds.com/resources/homes/files/22794L-ChapterSpecialistWelcomeLetter.pdf

Now why would WELS/WELS members want to continue any relationship with Thrivent? 2010 is another big year for Thrivent/Habitat. There are WELS congregations actively participating in this ecumenical endeavor...even after the COP has advised against participation. Thrivent monies also go to support the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army is a CHURCH that is not even Lutheran. Beliefs? Check them out? http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/CE33D354A0544F368025732500314AF5?Opendocument

Thrivent Raises Big Bucks for the Salvation Army!Ripped from the Pages of the Post Crescent

 This obvious PhotoShop illustrates how WELS members are hoodwinked into buying Thrivent so their money can go to the Salvation Army, a heretical church!

---

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation Match Day rings in $374,329.81 for Salvation Army-Fox Cities

The total announced Wednesday will be matched with a donation from the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation, which pledged to match dollar for dollar — up to $125,000 — all donations made to the Salvation Army-Fox Cities this past Friday.

The grand total for the Match Day was $374,329.81, Thrivent and the Salvation Army said in a joint statement Wednesday. The amount collected Friday was the second highest one-day collection for the Salvation Army, which last year set a national mark for a one-day collection, netting $497,423.

While last year's Match Day record wasn't broken, organizers still were grateful.

"When I saw the total, I was amazed. The spirit of the community is just extraordinary," said Robb Waugus, director of communications and financial development for the Salvation Army-Fox Cities. "It ended up being the second highest total collected since we started doing the match with Thrivent."

Jon Stellmacher, senior vice president and chief of staff and administration at Thrivent, thanked employees.

"Thank you to our employees and to all the community members who rang the bells on Friday, helping ensure that shoppers were in a giving holiday spirit," he said.

This was the sixth year the Thrivent foundation sponsored the challenge for the Salvation Army-Fox Cities. Thrivent match days have generated $1,280,460 the past six years.

"Last year, the Fox Cities broke a national record for single-day giving for The Salvation Army during a similar match day. The kettles collected $372,423, which added with the $125,000 from Thrivent, made a total of $497,423." (Previous story on this topic.)

WELS Salvation Army

"Red Kettle electronic certificates are available as Katie Van Grinsven (left) checks out a customer Friday at Festival Foods in Appleton. The Salvation Army is trying to make giving easier for those who don't carry cash." (Post-Crescent photo by Dan Powers)

King Henry VII, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth I and Pope Benedict XVI

Most people think Henry VIII married so many wives because he was promiscuous. He enjoyed the royal prerogative of having mistresses, so marriage was another issue.

His sickly brother married Katherine of Aragon (Spain) and died. After many complications, Henry married his brother's widow. The issue then and later was - did the brother consummate the marriage?

Henry and Katherine had only one surviving child, Mary, later known as Bloody Mary, for her habit of executing Protestant martyrs.

Henry and Katherine probably had the rH factor problem, which meant later children had little chance of surviving. (My parents had the same problem, but had four unusually healthy children.)

Henry became convinced that God cursed him for incest. Today he could have transferred to the CLC (sic), but there was only one church at that time. Henry appealed to Rome, and Anne Boleyn appealed to him. She was attractive, vivacious and intelligent.

Henry finally divorced Katherine, a long and painful matter, made more difficult by the pope's weakness and Katherine's nephew Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Some readers will remember Charles V from the Reformation - he stood over Luther's grave but refused to dig up the Reformer. "My battle is with the living, not with the dead."

Queen Elizabeth's Mother, Anne
Henry's split from Rome was facilitated by his second wife, Anne, who enjoyed reading Protestant books so she had Henry study them as well. Anne became a horrible shrew, and many factions lined up against her. Anne's only surviving child was Elizabeth, of later fame. The lack of a male heir made it easy to manufacture a case of adultery against her. Anne was executed.

Henry finally did have a son, Edward, who became a Protestant king for a short time.

A ruthless nobleman tried to have Lady Jane Grey become queen, so he could rule through the teen-aged queen.

Mary replaced Lady Jane, who was executed after only nine days. However, Mary was not healthy and died relatively young, allowing Elizabeth to rule as a Protestant.

Henry's quest for a wife was motivated by his fear of another War of the Roses, which his father won. Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, (Lady Jane), Mary, and Elizabeth were the only Tudor rulers.

Stuart Monarchs - Indelible Bad Impression - Click here for a link to the list.

Next came James I of Scotland, the first Stuart king, related to Henry VIII through Henry's sister. The Stuart monarchs were: James I (of Bible fame), Charles I (executed), Charles II (restored), James II (overthrown by the bloodless revolution, William and Mary), and finally Queen Anne.

The Stuart kings "left an indelible bad impression on England." All of the men were secret Roman Catholics, so they favored Rome while oppressing the Protestants. Their dishonesty led to waves of migrations to America, in search of religious freedom. The original concept of a Christian nation with no religious test for politicians came from our Founders' experiences with the English situation.

B-16

Pope Benedict has created a furor by offering to accept British Anglicans and American Episcopalians into the priesthood, wives and titles and all.

Traditionalist Episcopalians, like Gaylin Schmeling's professor at Nashotah House, have longed for reunion with Rome. Now they have that possibility, and the terms are not too onerous.

This link has a good article on Benedict's diplomacy.

Krauth on Anglicans

"Its Articles, Homilies, and Liturgy have been a great bulwark of Protestantism; and yet, seemingly, out of the very stones of that bulwark has been framed, in our day, a bridge on which many have passed over into Rome...It harbors a skepticism which takes infidelity by the hand, and a revised medievalism which longs to throw itself, with tears, on the neck of the Pope and the Patriarch, to beseech them to be gentle and not to make the terms of restored fellowship too difficult." Charles P. Krauth

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "King Henry VII, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth I and ...":

It amazes me how you can find ways to attack people/groups that are not really related to your post. Seriously, what is the point in that? Are you implying that the CLC is incestuous? If so can you offer proof? Or is this an attempt at humor?

Also, what does the fact that Pres. Schmeling went to an Episcopal school have to do with this post (especially considering that he went for an STM in "History of Dogma," instead of doctrine)? You went to Notre Dame and Yale. Those aren't exactly orthodox schools either.

-Anonymous because I don't have an identity affiliated with the blogosphere.

***

GJ - Why is a simple fact about Gaylin Schmeling an attack? I quoted one of his professors, Charlie Caldwell, a good friend of mine at Notre Dame. Most people do not know Charlie, so I mentioned Gaylin. Schmeling was passed over for a position at Bethany because he did not have a graduate degree, so he got an STM at Nashotah House. The same rule was not applied to Moldstad, who became a Bethany Seminary Professor of New Testament without a college degree. There was a hub-bub about that, so Moldstad finished one up. Gone are the days when Chemnitz, as a bishop, was required to earn a PhD in theology.

Ask the Pancake Pope about incest in the CLC (sic). Perhaps the anonymous person could ask for anonymous DNA from the people involved.

I drop in various comments to wake up the snoozing Pietists, who are always ready to accuse...anonymously. One WELS pastor said this, "Everything I could verify has been shown to be true." I would name him, but that would tilt the playing field, not exactly fair.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "King Henry VII, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth I and ...":

"The Stuart monarchs were: James I (of Bible fame), Charles I (executed), Charles II (restored), James II (overthrown by the bloodless revolution, William and Mary)."

Don't forget Queen Anne!

"Their dishonesty led to waves of migrations to America, in search of religious freedom."

Those religious emigrations from England deserve some context. The Puritans/non-conformists did constitute something of a political threat, even unto regicide as England would discover, and so intolerance was only a matter of course. And then theologically, the Puritans' largely Calvinistic leanings were nothing to applaud.

"All of the men were secret Roman Catholics, so they favored Rome while oppressing the Protestants."

James II was avowedly Catholic, of course, but he was hardly oppressive. Foolish, certainly. He was expelled for advocating too vehemently Catholic toleration, but again, nothing he did was particularly oppressive against Protestants in England. In fact, his attempts to introduce toleration applied also to non-conformists, which didn't sit well with Church of England divines.

-DJJ

***

GJ - Good points by DJJ.

Enablers

People are starting to admit their role in enabling Tiger Woods. His actions were inexcusable, but they went on unabated because many responsible people looked the other way. Others did not want the gravy train to slow down.

Ecclesiastical enablers are no different. They take the easy way out, and scandals follow.

Blog List Changes

I am not alone in wondering why people read this blog and then complain. This is not required reading at any seminary or synod headquarters.

If the Chicaneries want sermons and quotations 24/7, they can concentrate on the Bethany blog.

I started the Bethany blog so people could read sermons alone and not have to plow through various news items.

Sadly, using the Bethany blog will make some people see that the sermons are being read all over the world, especially the Third World. Perhaps the Parable of the Sower is valid after all! (I am just teasing the humorless Shrinkers. They need to relax a little more, while their Titanic is sinking.)

There are no secret passwords to get to the information provided here - no members only entrance, no application for access (as the Chicaneries demand).

What riles the Shrinkers so much? They operate in secret, so they do not like their leaders and plans exposed. When the lights are turned on, they head for the dark recesses again, just like cockroaches.

Shrinkers are also in a rage because they are losing ground.

Most of all, they hate sound doctrine. They strut about while their synod subsidies, Thrivent grants, and foundation money flows. But now they have neither money nor doctrine to boast about, so they have to fume and threaten.

---

Your Thrivent Dollars at Work

So I am helping ELCA with all my Thrivent policies?
I need a free Thrivent napkin to wipe my brow.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Good News from Thrivent - Giving Minus":

I haven't heard of Thrivent helping the LCMS or WELS seminaries out much, but here the ELCA Luther Seminary in St. Paul has a whole Thrivent dept:

Thrivent Reformation Research Program:

http://www.luthersem.edu/story/story_article.asp?article_id=99&issue_id=12

http://staupitz.luthersem.edu/contact_us.htm

Now I Shout It From the Highest Hills

Missouri or WELS? Tastes great or less filling?

Come home to Missouri, Mark. Look what it did for me.

HopenChangen Debacle in Copenhagen

I won't need to wear a catalytic converter in my didies?

Read The Finkelsteinery for all the details.

New Blog Linked

 

LCMS DP Wille graduated from Mequon.

Al Barry vicared in WELS.

Mark Jeske vicared in WELS and graduated from Mequon.

I added Brothers of John the Steadfast
to the blog list on the left. That blog seems to have the latest LCMS news on it.

The writers do not like Kieschnick's ChurchGrowthism.

I was surprised they had a misleading section on Pietism. It is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, which is Midwestern for "lame." The section equates Pietism with not having fun and anti-Pietism with promoting liquor and tobacco. Pietism is the leading cause of Lutheran misfortunes in America. Few Lutherans seem to understand that Pietism is behind ChurchGrowthism, the Shrinkers' furious opposition to the creeds, confessions, liturgy, and sound doctrine.

Strangely enough, the Sausage Factory in Mequon has a similar fetish about proving itself anti-Pietist. They do that by extolling excess, which says more about their latent Pietism than their orthodoxy. I recall one of Larry Olson's disciples raising a beer as a "witness against the Pietists." A better witness might be a repudiation of the Church Growth Movement, a bridge too far for many.

Advent Vespers Tonight at 7 PM Central

I am the True Vine - you are the branches

Vespers, Mid-Week Advent Service, 2009

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn # 457 What a Friend 2.24
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 100 p. 144
The First Lection Romans 10:1-16
The Second Lection John 15:1-10
The Sermon Hymn # 552 Abide with Me 2.11

Abiding in Christ

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
The Hymn #651 Be Still My Soul 2.17

KJV Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

KJV John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Abiding in Christ

Romans 10 is a clear, beautiful description of how people are justified by faith.

The first few verses are important, because the provide a stark contrast to the Gospel. The Jewish people are zealous but they want to establish their own righteousness, not God’s righteousness.

The righteousness of the Law condemns.

Romans 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Either the Law is completely fulfilled, which is impossible for man, or it condemns the person trying to be justified by the Law.

The righteousness of God comes through faith:

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

For good reason, the Formula of Concord speaks of the righteousness of faith, which the Pietists have opposed so harshly that some people are afraid to speak of faith.

Many people are confused because they do not know this simple passage and its implications. Step by step, reverse-engineering what he just said, Paul explains the origin of the righteousness of faith.

First is the declaration of how one is saved:

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

No works are demanded, and works are not mixed with the Gospel, as if man must make himself good in the eyes of God to receive the blessing of salvation.

How does this happen? So many rush around making these demands, oppressing people with the very Gospel that should free them, because the Gospel mixed with Law is worse in some respects than pure Law.

The steps for salvation are given in reverse order.

1. Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.
2. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? (Faith is the pre-requisite for calling on the Lord for salvation.)
3. Origin of faith - and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? (Faith comes from the preaching/hearing of the Gospel.)
4. Sermons come from where? - and how shall they hear without a preacher?
5. How do we find preachers? - 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

John 15 – The True Vine

The True Vine passage is especially pointed for those who are familiar with growing grapes, thorns, or bushes. Jesus’ sermon is both a warning and a comfort.

Grapes, roses, and bushes have this in common – they grow much better when the deadwood is pruned away. The productive branches are also pruned to make them more fruitful.

In fact, when we had mesquite trees, the biggest problem was that normal pruning made them grow even more productive, so the more they were pruned, the more they grew, even without being watered.

Roses also become dormant when left alone. The deadwood drains the energy of the plant. The flowers turn to seed, according to the Creator’s design, and stops producing flowers.

Peas, beans, and tomatoes will also flower and bear more when the fruit of the plant is picked. When we picked beans and peas, which were planted by the pounds, we had so many that we asked people to pick their own, and then we had even more.

This sermon answers two questions which the Pietists avoid.

One question is – What should believers do to become more fruitful in the Kingdom?

There is nothing about forming cell groups, conventicles, or committees. The answer is simple and basic – abide in Me and I will abide in you.

Pruning is justification: godly contrition and receiving forgiveness through faith.
The Holy Spirit daily forgives us our sins, because the Holy Spirit is always active through the Word, whether, heard, read, or remembered.

The second question is – What happens to others?

Many begin in the faith but become dead wood. They are pruned away to be gathered up in the Final Judgment.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

This five-step description fits those who never believe the Gospel and those who fall away from the faith. In our country, where there are so many churches and so much apostasy, it is more descriptive of those fallen away from the faith (apostates).

A survey of ELCA members shows that 30% of them of pro-life, believe in the Six-Day Creation, oppose evolution and abortion. Yet they remain with those who teach exactly the opposite. This can only erode the faith of millions because they seldom hear the truth, and they often hear ministers of all types attacking the Word of God.

Romans 1 is clear enough:

KJV Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

In John 15, Jesus is clear about how He blesses our lives, and this is all Gospel:

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Our prayers will be answered if we abide in Christ, and we will be fruitful. Not only that, but we loved as deeply by Christ as He is by the Father.

---

PS - Fox Mulder logs in from New Ulm, Minnesota.

Gunn and Hunter on the Short List for Second Pastor at WLC

Jeff Gunn is still the No. 1 pick for the second pastor, WLC.
He is on the board and losing his job in Phoenix.

Randy Hunter is another candidate for running WLC's cell groups.

The students and faculty are already WELS members--not necessarily Lutheran, if you get my drift. Boss man wants to treat the campus like his own church. Like Wayne Mueller, the more people hired, the better for lobbying.

Jeff Gunn's stealth sect is not going to be accepted by his own district, so he is looking for a new soapbox.

The issue is not whether students live there in dorms. I love the way some people turn a doctrinal discussion into something else. Clearly the school wants to build a base of unionistic Pietism while asking Lutherans to study and work there.

There are plenty of fine Pietistic schools around Milwaukee. Why build up another one in the stealth mode?

---

In other news, my post about Mark and Avoid Jeske was prescient. Stay tuned.

Wisconsin Lutheran College, Liturgy, and Emmanuel

Whenever God builds a chapel, Satan builds a cathedral nearby (reversing Luther's order - these are the End Times). 

dk has left a new comment on your post "Is "Our Valpo" A Congregation? - Ripped from the P...":

I'm curious, professor, what you would say about a Pastor who used contemporary Christian music in a chapel service but who used the Book of Concord exclusively as the material for the service and sermon. (assuming that the CCM had words that were Orthodx. Say, like a Luther hymn set to rock music)

You and I personally might despise the music and call it "Whoopee worship", but I don't think there's any legitimate Scriptural/Confessional criticism for such an arrangement. Sadly many of your readers would condemn that hypothetical pastor as if he were teaching false doctrine (without even hearing what he had to say).

The only criticism that would be possible is accusing the hypothetical Pastor of pandering to populism, making worship 'entertainment' rather than worship.

This argument is valid, but it's valid for both sides of the equation. Just as many folks who end up in churches of your preferred flavor do so because of the style and feel. And there are just as many "High Churches" that teach dreck as there are Happy-Clappies. Both sides, Liturgicals and happy clappies, are just operating on their preferred set of cultural memes--not actually drawing on Biblical commands. But if the doctrine is correct, you cannot say a thing.


That being said, I don't think you should criticize Pastor Strobel in the way that you did. I'm not implying that he's teaching the Lutheran Confessions in his Contemporary services. I think not. But I happen to know that he's the kind of person who'd be very interested in hearing that suggestion. Yes, I know that CCM is the smoke of the Enthusiastic fire, but real Confessional Lutherans also need to distance themselves from the idiots who claim that the Western Rite is the only proper way to worship. Your bland criticism of any and all CCM gives the Liturgical Nazis confidence in their misunderstanding. (and a righteously stiff and austere upper lip)

This ain't some generic cry "8th commandment, 8th commandment". I don't think you have or do break it.

It's just a credibility issue.

***

GJ - I was not nominated to the WLC board, so I know little about what goes on there. It would be good for them to have some outside directors. I could be the token Lutheran.

DK misses the point of Contemporary Charismatic Music. The model is entertainment and sentimentality. The Lutherans are aping the Pentecostals with their Seeker Services. Willow Creek may be the training ground, but the Pentecostals are the gold lead standard - an amateur hour fanning hopes for a real music career. Is it an accident that Elvis began by singing in a Pentecostal church? That many Black singers were first church soloists?

"Blended worship" is a bigger farce. The only point of blended worship is to move members by baby-steps into rock services. It takes time for the Shrinkers to do this, but their Father Below is patient. Look at how long it took to bring down the Lutherans.

My question about WLC was this - why is the campus considered a congregation? The honest answer may be this - they want to use the school to train students in apostasy (marketed as cutting edge spirituality). They are local students, are they not? Why would the school be a second church for them, unless more was planned? The agenda was given away in the article. They want to promote cell groups - Pietism. Milwaukee is loaded with WELS Shrinkers. They could volunteer their time to develop conventicles. But wait - the Shrinkers only work for the big bucks. Forget that.

Foundation grants are drying up. Thrivent ain't thriving. Poverty could save the Lutheran Church from the Shrinkers.


---

TR asked about Emmanuel versus Immanual. For some perverse reason, the Hebrew is transliterated several ways. The m's vary too, whether the name starts with an E or an I.

English is fairly consistent but not with this word.

---
GJ:

DK,  I know people who worship worship - so high church they would chant the announcements if they could. They are often the same people who turn tail and run away from doctrinal discernment. But the liturgy and creeds and historic lessons preserved the Faith during those awful periods of German Pietism, Unionism, and Rationalism. The apostates today want to take away the last barriers to their program, because the Word of God does stand in their way.

Given the odious choice, between a high church apostate and a Church Growth apostate, I would worship high church, smells and bells, rather than rock and roll with Cousin Brunhilda.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Lutheran College, Liturgy, and Emmanuel":

Is "Carry On Wayward Son" appropriate during the Collects?(This happened at an LCMS church)

An accustic guitar with the organ is fine if using traditional hymns.
The harp, trumpet, or string instrument are also traditional.

Come on now, Christian Rock Bands?
In "Here I Stand", Roland Bainton discusses this. I will find the page later, unless, Pastor GJ wishes to post it sooner.

For the record, GJ is not against using another traditional instrument.

I'm quite sure JK would like to provide some comments.

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

***

GJ - Quoted by Marquart at a forum, on Easter Sunday, three chapagne bottles (Dom Patterson Perignon?) were on the altar.  "Christ is risen." Pop went the first cork. "He is risen indeed." Repeated two more times. I don't know if it was at St. John Ellisville, but that is certainly their style.

Leonard and Marian Newman - LCMS/WELS

Starting a life: Part one of the story of Marion Newman

By Virginia Florey

Published: Thursday, December 3, 2009 12:58 AM EST

Midland Daily News

    "Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort."

     Sr. H. Davy

    When 19-year-old Marion Cox married 23-year-old Leonard Newman, who was attending seminary to become a Lutheran minister, she figured their married life would not follow the usual path that most young marrieds can expect.

    She was right. Raising six children on a pastor's salary. Working nights while her husband was in seminary to keep their little family financially afloat. Moving from town to town as her husband received calls from different churches. Life was never predictable as the young couple adjusted to a life spent in the ministry but it's a life she would choose all over again if she had the opportunity.

    Marion Newman was born Marion Cox to George and Annitha Cox in Milwaukee, Wis. and three years later they welcomed a baby son they named Raymond. The country was in a time of prosperity and people were optimistic about the future. But when Marion was 7 and Raymond was 4, their mother Annitha died. Marion's grandmother, Marie Thiede, took her granddaughter to live with her. Remembering that time, Marion said, "She was going to take over." For the next two years Marion lived with her grandmother.

    "She influenced my life greatly," Marion said. Born in Denmark, Marie Thiede married a young German man and their marriage produced five sons. After her husband's death, Marie remarried and that marriage produced two daughters and four sons. The daughters were named Sylvia and Annitha because as Marie said, "I can't give my daughters anything but fancy names." By the time Marion went to live with her grandmother, Marie was a widow, raising her family alone.

    Marion and Raymond grew up in the Lutheran church, attendinga Lutheran day school and Lutheran high school. Then Marion enrolled at Lutheran Teachers College in New Ulm, Minn. Raymond served in the Marines in Korea and later enrolled in the Springfield Seminary becoming a WELS missionary in Africa for about thirty years.

    Desperate for teachers at the time, the Synodical Conference extended a Divine Call to Marion to teach in Benton Harbor. Now just 18-years-old, she became the teacher for the Kindergarten, first and second grades at St. Matthews. Deciding to join the choir resulted in meeting the young man she would marry two years later, Leonard Newman. When Leonard saw Marion in choir, he said, "Who's the new girl?"

    Leonard was the son of August and Mary Newman who had grown up in the Ukraine, part of the group of Germans called the Volga Deutsche. Their families were descendants of the Germans who had been given free farmland by Catherine the Great of Russia, herself a German princess before marrying Peter III of Russia. The Germans were noted for their farming skills which Russian peasants lacked. Catherine also was shrewd enough to use the German colonists as a buffer zone between the Russian people and the nomads to the east of Russia.

    By the time August and Mary were young adults, war was threatening and the young German men were the first to be conscripted into the Russian army. To escape conscription August and Mary were able to relocate to Canada where they had four children. Newman relatives who lived in Chicago told the young couple that work was plentiful in a town called Benton Harbor. August and Mary uprooted their four children from Canada and made the move to Michigan. There they had two more sons, Leonard and Ruben. Pastor Newman enjoyed telling people that his father was a carpenter and his mother's name was Mary. Both assertions true. The Newman family lived at 317 Britain St. in Benton Harbor.

    When Marion met Leonard at St. Matthews in Benton Harbor, he was on the cusp of deciding on his future career. God had been calling him for sometime to serve in the ministry and when he was 22 he "finally decided to listen to God's calling." Len attended Seminary for one year while engaged to Marion and when she was 19 and he was 23 they were married at Marion's home church, Good Shepherd, in a suburb of Milwaukee now known as West Allis.

    "We didn't have a car or furniture. We borrowed a car from Len's brother to drive to Springfield, Ill., so we could buy some furniture at an auction," Marion said. The newly married couple moved to Springfield, living in government housing while Len was in school at the Synodical Conference College in Springfield, Miss. At this time both the Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod were in agreement with church doctrine. Later the two separated, with the Missouri Synod Seminary being called Concordia and the Wisconsin Synod Seminary became centered in Mequon, Wis.

    With no money to buy a car, Len found a bike he could buy for $2, painted it black, and pedaled it back and forth to classes, securely chaining it to the porch railing each night The bike was named Black Beauty.

    With Len still in Seminary, the young couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mary. With a new baby, Marion couldn't teach so she babysat other children to add to their always meager finances . Later on, she worked at Sangamo Electric at night while Pastor took care of their two children, Billy having been born two years after Mary. Marion worked on a bench lathe next to a pounding drill press doing work for the Navy.

    Part II will publish in two weeks.


***

GJ - This brings back happy memories. We were just talking about the Newmans while our grandchildren were watching the geese at a park near our home in Bella Vista.The geese were remarkably tame at the park, allowing children to pet them.

LI remembered Leonard talking him into approaching a goose on her nest, near the Newmans' home in the wild. The goose took after LI, flailing him with her iron-bar like wings. We had a big laugh about it.

Leonard was a traditional LCMS pastor. The liberal LCMS pastors called him "Loveless Leonard" for being a real pastor instead of a compromising pal. He took over a broken parish in the area, previously served by a man who split the church over anti-Semitism, and built it up through the Word and traditional services.

The Leonards were frugal, often saying "Make do or do without."

Leonard was my entry into the old Synodical Conference. I began by being a member of his church and applying in the Michigan District. I went to Ft. Wayne for classes, met Herman Otten at CN headquarters, and visited the LCMS Indianapolis convention, where Bohlmann was re-elected. Indianapolis convinced us not to continue with Missouri, but try WELS.

The irony is that my ELS and WELS contacts, Kincaid Smith and John Lawrenz, were both Church Growthers. Smith said, "My DMin at Ft. Wayne was all Church Growth." That program was developed under Robert Preus, whose faculty endorsed "Church Grwoth principles." Lawrenz outted himself when he wrote material for WELS cell groups and posted on Church and Change's not-so-secret listserve.

Papal ELCA Serves as Bad Example to Missouri and ELS

Heavenly battle turns to court of man

By Linnea Covington

for The Brooklyn Paper

Enlarge this image

The Brooklyn Paper / Kate Emerson

The congregation at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 490 Pacific St. in Boerum Hill remains homeless, thanks to a dispute with the Lutheran governing body.

Enlarge this image

The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler

Muriel Tillinghast still leads the congregation at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, but the faithful remain in exile.

Similar stories

Boerum Hill: Exodus! Homeless church keeps wandering

Boerum Hill: Pew — this stinks! Congregation is homeless in church fight

Brooklyn Heights: Torah horror for Heights shul!

Brooklyn Heights: Rabbi in costume helps bust shul house rocker

Park Slope: Anti-gay Kansans to picket at three shuls and Brooklyn Tech!

Downtown: Kelly shows faith along swastika-hit Remsen Street

The battle between the congregation at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the church’s governing body could soon shift from the kingdom of heaven to a New York court.
The dwindling congregation at the shuttered Boerum Hill church has started raising money to sue the Metropolitan New York Synod to force it to return the church building on Pacific Street to the local group and let it reopen for spiritual business.
The problem: The Synod, which oversees 210 Evangelical Lutheran churches in New York, obtained the deed to Bethlehem in an internal church struggle last January and kicked out the congregation.

Worse, the Synod de-sanctified Bethlehem Lutheran as a church.
“I was shocked when they came out and said Bethlehem Church no long exists,” said Muriel Tillinghast, who was president of the congregation. “We existed before the Synod existed.”
The church has stood at 490 Pacific St. since 1874. Built by the Swedish Lutheran community, the 1,250-seat house of worship acted as a cultural center for Swedish immigrants. At the time of its closing, less then 40 people were affiliated. Today, that number is down to 27 active members, who pray in exile at the Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Heights.
Tillinghast said that the church’s declining membership was the reason that the Synod shut it down in January, but newly appointed assistant pastor Norman David said it was all about money.

So now, he’s planning the lawsuit — a process with which he is well acquainted.
In fact, David hooked up with the Bethlehem congregation because the same thing happened at his own parish in Beaumont, Mass., where he still lives and preaches when not working at Bethlehem.
“We would love to have the Synod come around and say, ‘Look, we are sorry. Here is the property. Let’s work together.’”
The Synod would not comment on the matter because “it’s under litigation,” a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, David is raising money. A couple Saturdays ago, he organized a fundraiser for the church and held a service outside the building’s locked doors, turning over a trash can, draping a white cloth over it, and offering sacrament. Despite the rain, the Bethlehem parishioners sang hymns and held a full service.
“We are still here, even if we are locked out of the building,” he said.
David said he needs to raise $200,000 to take the Synod to court. He has $5,000 so far.


---


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Papal ELCA Serves as Bad Example to Missouri and E...":

That's a large church for 27 people. Can they even afford to heat it?


***

GJ - Seats 1200, with 27 members? Ask Ski where he gets his money.

Missouri Gone Wild - Party in the Concordia Chi-Town

Nodding my head like yeah - from Google Images.

My source wrote: "Just so WELS won't feel lonely. LCMS is worse, of course, we knew that about Riverforest anyway."

Townhall

The tension between church and state has been around since Jesus held up a coin and confounded the Pharisees with His admonition to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”


Caesar is entitled to a certain level of authority and taxation, Jesus acknowledged. But God, the Creator and Author of our souls, gets the rest. In this way, Jesus clearly limited Caesar’s reach. But government has a huge appetite for power and does not particularly like limits.

That’s why churches have been a thorn in the side of those who would impose socialism on us in the name of “equality” or “tolerance” or “fairness.” It’s why the political Left, since the mid-19th Century, has been at war with the church, alternately trying to co-opt it or destroy it.

When religious leaders support leftist goals, they are angels. When, on the other hand, they oppose abortion or the homosexual political agenda, reaction is swift and cries of “the separation of church and state” are raised. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) had no problem with the Conference of Catholic Bishops aggressively lobbying for the Obama/Pelosi government health care takeover bill in the House. She was undoubtedly delighted that they would put their weight behind a law making Caesar our ultimate doctor. But because the bishops insisted on the Stupak Amendment prohibiting federal funding of abortion, she bared her teeth and called for an end to the church’s tax exemption.

Some church-related entities don’t wait for the government to bully them before ceding moral ground. At Concordia University Chicago, a campus of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which is staunchly Biblical regarding homosexuality, the theater department is showing The Laramie Project, a play about the town of Laramie, Wyoming’s reaction to the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Based on a book by Moises Kaufman, the play fits the narrative of “gays as victims,” which has been their most effective strategy other than the unsubstantiated claim that people are “born gay.”

The play was hatched by the Tectonic Theatre Project, whose managing director, Jeffrey LaHost, claimed that conservative Christians are a hate group and want to murder homosexuals.

Here’s a snippet from a 2002 Baltimore Sun article:

“Kaufman is openly gay, as are some other Theatre Project members, and LaHost said the actors were disturbed that initial televised accounts of the murder included commentary from right-wing groups. ‘I can't think of any other minority group where it's still hotly contested whether or not it's OK to kill them [homosexuals],’ he said. When a black person is murdered, he said, ‘no one thinks they have to get an opposing point of view from the Ku Klux Klan.’”

The Sun article didn’t mention that conservative Christians were interviewed in 1998 about Shepard only because liberal media and homosexual activists were outrageously blaming them for his murder, citing a series of “truth in love” newspaper ads offering hope for change that featured ex-gays.

The play depicts Christians at best as feckless or perhaps unwitting handmaidens of hate. To stage it on a conservative Christian campus, where parents pay dearly to spare their kids from the relentless cultural and academic propaganda found elsewhere, is a coup.

---

But wait, there's more

Google Images: And a Jay-Z Song was on!

Brothers of John the Steadfast

As a part of my visit to the Northwest last week I was alerted to an alarming situation in our sister LCMS congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Renton, Washington. The Music Director is involved in the sinful homosexual and lesbian movement. This fact is openly proclaimed on the church website where it states that he was the former artistic director of the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus. The church website also has a link to the Music Director’s personal blog which has a link to something called the “Gay Rag Radio Podcast.” (See below for links.)

The LCMS is sick and needs help. We have been saying that there is a crisis of supervision in the LCMS. This is just absolutely unbelievable! Who would have thought our grandfather’s church would come to this. I cannot believe that 30 years ago, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago anyone would imagine that the LCMS would sink so low as to have a congregation that has not only hired a promoter of the gay/lesbian agenda as a music director but then to openly state this on their website. What has made this pastor and his church so bold and courageous?

Bethlehem is a member of the Northwest District. We contacted President Schumacher of the Northwest District last Thursday morning by phone and e-mail about this situation. Since then the link from the congregation website to the Music Director’s personal website has been taken down but the congregation’s website still proclaims that the Music Director was the former artistic director of the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus. To see the current church website click here. To see the way it looked before we contacted the bishop click here (not everything plots correctly, but you can see the link to jamesHing.com in context). Once you get to the personal website of the music director (which actually is located at http://web.mac.com/hinger/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html; we have archived it here), click on the word “blog” and you will see further evidence of promotion of the gay and lesbian movement. If you cannot follow that link we have archived it here as a pdf. Notice the Music Director promotes a gay and lesbian radio program on his blog. The full article about this radio program is archived here.

We are not sure that it was by the bishops urging that the link has been taken down. The bishop has not told us anything other than acknowledging that he got our e-mail and phone message. Putting the best construction on it, it seems as though he is the one who gets credit for this small step in the right direction.

Of course, the problem is not limited to the embarrassment this sort of public statement by our sister congregation and brother pastor brings upon the rest of us in the LCMS who are supposedly walking in concord and unity under the scriptures and confessions. The solution is not limited to taking down the offending links and statements. The solution is to see to it that we do not have open and public sinners serving in our congregations. This sounds a lot like the Kari Jobe matter. We were told that it does not matter if the music director of the youth gathering was a Pentecostal woman pastor. Now are we going to be told that it doesn’t matter if a congregation’s music director is a promoter of homosexuality and lesbianism? Which sin is worse, corrupting the pure Gospel with false teaching (Kari Jobe) or corrupting the pure Gospel with impenitent sin (promoting the gay and lesbian agenda)? The solution not only involves removing the embarrassing links and removing the openly sinful worker. It also involves getting this pastor and all errant pastors to repent of their compromising theology of worship, evangelism, scripture, unionism, and sexuality.

There is much more to this story. We will keep you posted on it. The LCMS is sick and is in need of much more careful supervision from its bishops, pastors, and laity. Please pass this article on to your LCMS friends and relatives, not to embarrass our beloved synod but to use it as a means of alerting them to what has become of their denomination under its leadership in the last several years.

Is "Our Valpo" A Congregation? - Ripped from the Pages of The Thword

Roman Catholic Archbishop Weakland paid about $400,000 hush money to his boyfriend, but WLC hired him and some his priests as special speakers for a series of public lectures. WLC's damage control team tried to make this a "private luncheon," something too hilarious to refute.

Call WELS headquarters at 414-256-3888 if you do not want more of the same. Or write a letter to: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)
2929 N Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, WI 53222.

Read Charlie Chaplain.

"WLC to call a second campus pastor." Some brief highlights:

"Now, WLC has grown to the equivalent of a congregation of 850 people. Strobel [the current campus pastor] commented that because of this development, 'the WLC student body is becoming hungry for spiritual growth,' and he is struggling trying to meet the spiritual needs of WLC."

"He feels that there is much more that he and his staff should be doing to serve the students, especially small group Bible studies."

***

GJ - They tried to rescue Jeff Gunn from his failing non-WELS congregation, but that was nixed.

Apparently the students are so spiritually starved from their own congregations that they need cell groups to tide them over during the week.

Should WLC determine if they are Lutheran before adding insult to injury? They started Church and Change through Charis. They tried a Werning/Hunter seminar, which was canceled amid great pouting by its leaders. They had ELCA theologian Martin Marty speak at the campus. Are they Roman Catholic, Babto-Pentecostal CG, or High Church Unitarian (ELCA)?

Martin Marty and his voodoo doll,
actually part of a long-running joke.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is "Our Valpo" A Congregation? - Ripped from the P...":

You just read whatever you want into anything you want, don't you Mr. Jackson?

If a college is growing, do they not need more physical and intellectual resources, such as classroom space and faculty?

Why would a growing institution such as WLC not need more spiritual resources as well?

"Apparently the students are so spiritually starved from their own congregations that they need cell groups to tide them over during the week."

You may be the first pastor I have seen that frowns upon Christians spending time with the Lord and with each other outside the confines of their own congregations.

---

GJ - I am a pastor? The Chicaneries are always telling me I am not. In fact, this anonymous, brave soul addressed his message "Mr. Jackson." I get a chuckle from people changing titles when they disagree with my Biblical, Confessional posts. One wit favored "pastorless," which means "without a pastor." Am I without a pastor? In fact, I have a number of friends who are pastors, and I value their judgment.

This story illustrates what another person observed, that bureaucrats grow their kingdoms, not by being more productive, but by building layers under them. The current campus pastor already has a staff, and now he needs an assistant to generate more cell groups. Wayne Mueller did the same thing, building up a core of loyal and obedient Shrinkers who marched to the mike at every convention and voted for additional loyal and obedient staffers.

Wisconsin Lutheran College (Brigadoon WELS, joining the synod during fund drives, then disappearing again) needs more Lutheran staff. WLC needs to boot the Chicaneries from the board. I am sure the new prez is a fine fellow, but he should head up a Babtist school since he came from Jeff Gunn's CrossWalk.

The rumor I heard is that the current campus pastor cannot get any interest going in his bee-bop whoopee services. Would another attendant at the beehive help? They should try a high church (for WELS) pastor, someone edified and inspired by the Book of Concord. College students favor real worship services, so WLC should be cutting edge with the liturgy, creeds, Gerhardt hymns, Luther, Chemnitz, Gerhardt, Jacobs, Krauth.

There are many reasons why WLC is called "Our Valpo."

---

Good News from Thrivent - Giving Minus

THRIVENT “GIVING PLUS” PROGRAM –Thrivent will no longer offer the present “Giving Plus” Matching program next year. So, if you have not made use of this program in 2009, please take advantage of it ASAP. There is only “x” amount of money left this year that Thrivent will match. When it is all gone, that is the end of it.

St. Peter Cares December Newsletter

***

GJ - By depending on Thrivent, the synods have not grown richer - they have impoverished themselves. Ditto Schwan funds.  Rock and Roll got $20,000 from the Antioch Foundation this year (not the $200,000 they wanted) and they still only have one web page.

Unfortunately, all the Thrivent-dependent parishes have prostituted themselves, constantly advertising one particular brand of insurance to get "free" napkins, "free" pastoral calendars, and token grants. Now their little lifelines are being pulled back.

No one seems to realize that outside money displaces giving rather than adding to it.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Good News from Thrivent":

Giving Plus is already exhausted.

https://www.thrivent.com/community/outreach/giving/givingplus/index.html

---

GivingPlus® Program

Note: Funds for the 2009 GivingPlus® program have been fully disbursed, resulting in more than $67 million to Lutheran organizations from Thrivent Financial and its members. The program is over for 2009, and it will not be continued in 2010. View details on the change, including information on a new giving program called Thrivent Choice to be introduced in the spring of 2010. Interested in learning more about the upcomingThrivent Choice program? Sign up for monthly email updates.

---

Shrinkers Are the New Pietiests

Shrinkers turned doctrinal discernment into "slander, legalism, and lovelessness."

Spener was the first union theologian among Lutherans, but not the last.
He wanted to "downplay" doctrinal differences, to borrow a term from David Valleskey,

The high-pitched shrieking from the Shrinker girly-men is a result of the New Pietism instituted by their crew across synodical lines.

Once the basic premises of Pietism are accepted, the Shrinker program is worthy of praise.

Premise One - Doctrinal differences are not important enough to block cooperative efforts by Lutherans and the Reformed.

Premise Two - Fruits of the Christian life must be encouraged through the promotion of lay-led small groups (conventicles, cell groups).

Premise Three - The Word of God is not effective.

The New Pietism has cloaked itself under various labels. In the 1980s, they still used Church Growth, because no one could be against the church growing. The WELS Doctrinal Pussycats even had their manufactured excuse for it. "We are not for Church Growth, but for Church Growth." I don't know who made it up, but the excuse was used often. I heard it from DP Mueller. The same lobbying group is more likely to use Emerging Church or the label du jour, whatever works for the moment.

Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and Trinity Deerfield are all union institutions. Those three places are the main training centers for WELS Chicaneries, who have branched off to such places as Driscoll (Seattle), Groeschel (Life Church), Stanley (Northpoint, Drive conferences), Beeson (Granger Community Church), Rick Warren (Saddlesore), Exponential Conference (Patterson's fave), Dirt (Bishop Katie was there), Catalyst (Stanley, Groeschel, and Ski - Oh My!), and more.

Missouri and the Little Sect on the Prairie are also deeply involved. The CLC (sic) is now "all church growth," thanks to Dan Fleischer and Steve Kurtzahn (WELS, CLC, WELS) bootlicking Paul Tiefel and David Koenig. The Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) is exemplified by rancid Pietism, not by the Lutheran Confessions, hence the need to warn readers with the (sic).

I have tried to convert the Pietists to Lutheran doctrine, using the Scriptures and the Confessions. Sometimes they are agreeable and do not listen, going on as before. At other times, they shout their favorite slogans, wrapped in various accusations ("not loving!") and calls for repentance (on my part).

A Pietistic websty is easy to spot. The following characteristics jump out at the reader:

1. They emphasize love and caring and friendliness. The domain name for the most Growthy parish in Fox Valley is stpetercares.com. Do you feel the love? I do.
   
2. Pietists lead with how God has blessed them with an increase in numbers. The pastor says, "God has richly blessed us. We had ___ members when I came. Now we have ____ members." An emphasis on sound doctrine is lacking - too embarrassing.
   
3. The websty avoids the name Lutheran at all costs. The next step is avoiding the name church, which The CORE has already achieved. Check out the Chicanery carcinomas: CrossWalk, CrossRoads, Christ the Rock, etc. It is possible, not not easy, to find out the synod affiliation.
   
4. The Sacraments are "downplayed" to the point of disappearing from regular worship entertainment times.
   
5. Slogans quoted are from Enthusiasts, who have so much more wisdom than fuddie-duddies like Luther, Chemnitz, and Melanchthon. It's easier to spell Warren than Melanchthon, so that is a bonus for any Mequon graduate.
   
6. Time of Generic Grace is featured.
   

--- Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Shrinkers turned doctrinal discernment into "sl...": Good morning Pastor GJ! Yes, the words "Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church" are listed once on the Core's webstry. It is not even on the home page, you have to click on the categories and scroll down a few times. Are Ski and others ashamed of being Lutheran? Oh yes, I remember now. Jeske said, "Change or die." He went on to make fun of those churches "out-in-the-sticks." I did not laugh at his funny remarks concerning close communion. Jeske's unionism is blatantly public; therefore, my input is not needed. Hey, I like my fuddy-duddy church with its Folgers Coffee instead of lattes. In our new visitors folder it says that church is not a movie theater. Considering the Core, do you think they list that one in there visitor information? You have to admit, that's pretty funny just thinking about it. Can you down play the sacraments? With the "felt needs approach" one has to be hospitable to the guest. Give them a choice, for example, "Would you prefer the body or the blood?" (Yes, that's morbid,remember, the Roman Catholics used to be given only the bread.) There are churches near my home[not Lutheran]that do not offer communion. Disclaimer: Time of Grace is not featured on my church's web. In Christ, from WELS church lady

--- GJ - How about "Hello, I'm Pastor Bob. We have an exciting hour for you today"? He is dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. That happens all the time.

Emerging Church People Are Self- Parodies

---

Forward in Chicanery Magazine

 
WELS' Forward in Chicanery (FIC) is the official magazine of the Shrinkers. I was listing all the Shrinkers in each magazine. Now the online version is either crippled up or not posted.

November and December are barely up.

Here is an idea, after the FIC staff is fired:

1. Create a PDF for each month and send it to everyone.
   
2. Print a few hundred copies for libraries.
   
3. Or publish via Lulu.com, so people who wanted it could download it. That would save a lot of time and money in managing email lists - a thankless job.
   
4. Hire one or two Lutherans to write something in harmony with the Scriptures and the Confessions.
   

---

Luther - A New Song Shall Now Be Begun

Lutheran84
November 19, 2008

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 8-13: "On July 1, 1523, the infant Reformation saw executed in the Brussels market place Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch, two Belgian Augustinia...

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 8-13:

"On July 1, 1523, the infant Reformation saw executed in the Brussels market place Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch, two Belgian Augustinian monks and followers of Luther. Since wandering minstrels and their ballads served as the mass media of the day, Luther wrote this first hymn of the Reformation as a ballad recounting the martyrdom of these witnesses. First appearing in 1523 in broadsheet for, it, along with Luther's tune, was published in Johann Walter's 1524 Wittenberg hymnal.

Tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913 2001
Setting by Carl Schalk
Publisher Concordia Publishing House (1982)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Lutheran84

---

LYRICS for A NEW SONG SHALL NOW BE BEGUN
Kelmed from this blog
By Martin Luther

1. A new song now shall be begun,
Lord, help us raise the banner
Of praise for all that God has done,
For which we give Him honor.
At Brussels in the Netherlands
God proved himself most truthful
And poured his gifts from open hands
On two lads, martyrs youthful
Through who He showed His power.

2. One was named John, a name to show
He stood in God’s high favor.
His brother Henry, well we know,
Was salt of truest savor.
This world they now have left behind
And wear bright crowns of glory.
These sons of God had fixed the mind
Upon the Gospel story,
For which they died as martyrs.

3. From where the Foe in ambush lay,
He sent to have them taken
To force them God’s Word to betray
And make their faith be shaken.
Louvain sent clever men, who came
In twisting nets to break them.
Hard played they at their crooked game,
But from faith could not shake them.
God make their tricks look foolish.

4. Oh, they sang sweet, and they sang sour,
They tried all their devices.
The youths stood firmly like a tow’r
And overcame each crisis.
In filled the Foe with raging hate
To know himself defeated
By these two lads, and he so great.
His rage flared high, and heated
His plan to see them burning.

5. Their cloister-garments off they tore,
Took off their consecrations;
All this the youths were ready for,
They said Amen with patience.
They gave to God the Father thanks
That He would them deliver
From Satan’s scoffing and the pranks
That make men quake and shiver
When he comes masked and raging.

6. The God they worshipped granted them
A priesthood in Christ’s order.
They offered up themselves to Him
And crossed His kingdom’s border
By dying to the world outright,
With ev’ry falsehood breaking.
They came to heaven pure and white;
All monkery forsaking,
They turned away from evil.

7. A paper given them to sign -
And carefully they read it -
Spelled out their faith in ev’ry line
As they confessed and said it.
Their greatest fault was to be wise
And say, “We trust God solely,
For human wisdom is all lies,
We should distrust it wholly.”
This brought them to the burning.

8. Then two great fires were set alight,
While men amazed did ponder
The sight of youths who showed no fright;
Their calm filled men with wonder.
They stepped into the flames with song.
God’s grace and glory praising.
The logic choppers puzzled long
But found these new thing dazing
Which God was here displaying.

9. They now regret their deed of shame,
Would like to slough it over;
They dare not glory in their blame,
But put it under cover.
They feel their gnawing infamy,
Their friends hear them deplore it.
God’s spirit cannot silent be,
But on Cain’s guilty forehead
He marks the blood of Abel.

10. The ashes of the lads remain
And scatter to all places.
They rise from roadway, street, and lane
To mark the guilty faces.
The Foe had used a bloody hand
To keep these voices quiet,
But they resist in ev’ry land
The Foe’s rage and defy it.
The ashes go on singing.

11. And yet men still keep up their lies
To justify the killing;
The Foe with falsehood ever tries
To give the guilt clean billing.
Since these young martyrs’ holy death
Men still continue trying
To say, the youths with their last breath
Renounced their faith when dying
And finally recanted.

12. Let men heap falsehoods all around,
Their sure defeat is spawning.
We thank our God the Word is found,
We stand it its bright dawning.
Our summer now is at the door,
The winter’s frost has ended,
Soft buds the flowers more and more,
By our dear Gard’ner tended
Until He reaps His harvest.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Luther - A New Song Shall Now Be Begun":

The traditions that the Crusaders hold near and dear, namely the hymns were actually contemporary once upon a time. Bach, oh yeah, was top 40 bach in the day...:)

***

GJ - The question is whether a hymn is good, not whether it is old. There are many bad, old hymns. The comment above shows an impressive lack of knowledge about how hymns are judged.