Emerging Church People Are Self- Parodies

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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.
   

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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.

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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.

WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ichabod

WELS Pastor Mark Walters, from Abiding Word, Ottawa, Canada:

Greg:

Thanks for the stimulating conversation.  Would you be willing to help promote confessional Lutheranism in Ottawa by posting our website on your blog…I hope you have some nice cartoons for me.

I also pray that you discover grace…not intellectually but that it melts your heart to breathe the love of the Gospel of Christ,

Thanks,

Mark

www.abidingword.ca

[December 8, 2009]

---

GJ - The following is an email from Pastor Mark Walters, pictured above. I phoned him in case the email was fraudulent. He called back a few days later and confirmed that he sent it, that he meant to shut down Ichabod. "I am going to contact some people in the States and see what can be done. You are harming the Kingdom."

---

Subject: Let me know one thing (December 2, 2009)

pastor.abidingword@rogers.com

Greg Jackson:



My name is Mark Walters. I think I went to school with your son, Marty.



I am a pastor in the WELS and serving at Abiding Word Lutheran Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada



I am a VERY supportive brother of Jeff Gunn, Ski, Tim Glende, and many others that you seem to enjoy trashing.



How do I get my picture on your website so that I can join your toxic hall of fame?????????



I’m very sad that you spend your time putting up such a legalistic, judgemental (sic) website, without knowing the true facts about things.



I will do everything in my power to shut you down because you are destructive to the kingdom.



Please contact me soon.



613-824-2524



Mark Walters

***

GJ - Walters had no problem with his friend Ski going to Groeschel, Stanley, Beeson, etc for training. "Name one false doctrine from Groeschel," he demanded. I said, "Everything."

He tried the "spoiling the Egyptians" argument on me, not using those words but the concept. He claimed - Christians need other Christians and they can use their discernment, which he found somewhere in Paul. He did not seem to connect with Matthew 7, 1 Timothy 4, or 2 Timothy 4.

---


-----Original Message-----
From: Gregory L. Jackson
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 11:33 AM
To: pastor.abidingword@rogers.com
Subject: Your wish has been granted



Were you at the latest Church and Change conference? Or previous ones?



This is my regular email account.



In Christ,



Greg Jackson, PhD

---

Not at the last one…at previous ones.

Thanks,

Mark

"God: Never Get Too Big For Him." Ben Carson

Pastor Mark Walters

1575 Belcourt Blvd.

Orleans, ON K1C 1M3



Phone: 613-824-2524

Fax: 613-824-2905

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Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

"Supporting brother of Jeff Gunn, Ski....etc"

That means he went to school with the whole group.

Mark Walters--WLS Class of '97
James "Ski" Skorzewski--Class of '98
Tim Glende--Class of '98

Its hard to disagree with someone when you sat next to them in class or drove them back from the bar late one night. At least, its hard when you don't have a backbone.

The reverse Ad Hominem support system of classmates is a ridiculous system. The guy is good...so he must be doing things the right way. Then you base all arguments on the guy's sterling character.

"Supportive Brother" just means these men were in COS together.

Rev. Mark Bitter on "Spoiling the Egyptians:" "While the Lord was telling Moses exactly how he wanted to be worshiped, the Israelites were worshiping like the Egyptians did."

He then went on a 10 minute binge against churches who want to use praise songs instead of psalms.

It was easy to see the classmates who were grinning and those squirming in their seats.

This was all at Evangelism Day...somewhere down the hall "Ski" was torturing minds. I skipped Kelm's key note for my own sanity.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

Congratulations!
It's just noon and you took out 2 minor trolls and now they send in the "Creeker Errand Boy" from Ontario.
Pretty good and it's just noon.

More cow bell puhleez, Pastor Jackson

I'm ROFL, keep slingin that sword
Blogging and Scholarship what a combo, only a REAL Lutheran could pull that off!

--The LCMS Church Lady

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mjleyrer has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

Nothing like empty, unexecutable threats to get your morning going eh Jacko?

If someone did shut you down I would be upset because if there's one thing that I care about as much as the church it Constitutional Liberties. This would definitely be an infringement of one.

I don't even think he could file libel against you if he wanted to. Maybe he could.

See Jacko, even the guys who don't agree with you want you stay up and running. Because if you went away, who would I have to argue with?

***

GJ - I was shocked, shocked to find out Rev. Mark was a regular at Church and Chicanery conferences. And he links to Time of Generic Grace.

He confuses satire with slander. The funny Photoshops seem to rile him more than is healthy for someone so brittle and humorless. I tried to point out the long history of satirical cartoons, going back the the 19th century at least. But Mark is slow to listen, quick to talk, quick to anger.

My suggestion is that he go to court in Ottawa and get an injunction banning anyone in Ontario from reading Ichabod. That would be fair, eh?

Muslims in Canada went after Mark Steyn. Perhaps Mark is taking lessons.

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Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

OF COURSE Rev. Mark is a regular at C&C events. If my church offered to pay my way to a drinking date with my buddies, I'd take the money too!

I love when he asked about Groeschel...that quote needs to be sent, verbatim to every and all of his superiors from the Mission counselors to President Schroeder.

If this man can't test the spirits of a yahoo like Groeschel, I can't believe he is a fit expositor of God's word.

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Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

Leyrer,

Speaking of logical fallacies...I didn't say he would be a bad preacher because he is trying to "shut down Ichabod."

I said I couldn't imagine a fit expositor of God's word who can't find fault with Craig Groeschel's filth pile that is LifeChurch.tv

If someone wasn't paying attention in class while Professors Fredrich and Schmidt were talking about the dangers of false teachers, how much else did they miss?

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rwiedenhoeft@wisc.edu

Pastor Jackons (sic),


What are your shortcomings?


Chairman Bob

***

GJ - I can spell. I can tell you are probably from UW Madison, perhaps a victim of Willow Creek Chapel.

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I. J. Reilly has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

Brett--

I don't think your comments would convince Anders. I went to the web page he advertised on this blog and it is apparently the work of a group who believe that the real teachings of Jesus were corrupted by the church and "The Apostate Paul." (Wow, someone besides GJ knows how to compose insulting nicknames that reduces an opponent to a stereotype.) I don't think he'd find much creedence (sic) in your quotes from Romans, Titus, Galatians, and Ephesians. Noble effort, though.

***

GJ - How delicious it must be, to post anonymous, gratuitous comments and be able to brag to fellow sots, "Look at what I published!" With enough comments posted, a semblance of proper spelling may emerge. No, wait, it hasn't so far.


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JR has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

Wow, I'm on holiday for a few days, and look what happens when I return! Trolls abound, Jews enter the fray, and Canadian pastors threaten to turn out the lights. Ichabod is the place to be!

Mr. Leyrer, I gotta give it up to you. You took a beating, but you hung in there. Great last comment, by the way. Those were my sentiments exactly! +1 for you.

Mr. Schottey, how has your outspokenness affected your standing in WELS? I'd love to "come out," but I am wary of the backlash. I'm interested in hearing what has happened to you.

***

GJ - Total freedom of expression in WELS: real diversity. Not to worry.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS Pastor Mark Walters Threatens To Shut Down Ic...":

GJ, all theological arguments aside, "judgmental" is in fact the proper Canadian spelling of the word. To poke fun at a pastor in Canada for using correct Canadian spelling is either intentional mean-spiritedness I'll wow the Americans who are ignorant of Canadian spelling rules) or just ignorance of Canadian spelling on your part. If one posts from the US on a British website, one is not expected to use the affectation of British spelling.

***

GJ - I love the patronizing tone of these anonymous comments. Notice how one little (sic) can rustle their chicken feathers. That little Latin word means "thus" - not "this person is an idiot." Mark is not Johnny Canuck. is he? He had the benefit of 8 years of WELS higher education, in America. I am not sure if he is returning to the Motherland or just spending a few years in exile for threatening someone else. They have some good anger management classes in Ottawa, eh?

Here's a a conveniently located one for Mark -
Anger & Emotions Management Institute,
421 Gilmour Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 0R5, Canada
(613) 231-2051‎.

My wife and I earned degrees in Canada, so we spent a few enjoyable years there. The Canadians are great people. We have many relatives there, so we know how to say Chooseday, ask for serviettes (not napkins), and smile when offered biscuits (cookies). We learned to plug our lamps into the hydro when we sat on our chesterfield. We know about British/Canadian spelling, favouring the extra vowel, in Saviour or aluminium. Spelling is our speciality.

I relish the moments when some humorless Chicanery starts lecturing in stealth mode.



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Ichabod Helps The CORE Poach

 

Groeschel: "Who cut off my left hand?"

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church Growth Go Zunder":

St. Matthew's has had a handful of members leaving the church partly due to issues with the school been split to two campuses and how the situation was handled and then eventually closing their school completly. Almost all the churches w/ schools in the area have had a family from St. Matthew transfer there because of that reason.

The CORE also had a few members transfer from Word of Life which also dispersed its members to many churches due to the fact it closed.

Poaching implys (sic) some kind of deceitful activity to obtain members. The CORE isn't standing in some other church's parking lot handing out flyers. However, the member transfers have been people who attended The CORE and decided to make them their home church. After reading some of this blog, I'm sure a few people have attended The CORE just to see what is going on over there. Is GJ a poacher for The CORE? He is no more guilty of being a poacher by blogging all the negative comments along with the exaggerations that lead to curiosity to find out the TRUTH than the poached that attended out of curiosity.

***

GJ - The original anonymous claim was the Ski announced from Day One that he would never take members from a WELS church. Yet he only offered services when active WELS members could attend his movie theater with popcorn entertainment.

---

JR has left a new comment on your post "Ichabod Helps The CORE Poach":

One thing I still don't understand is why the CORE had to set up shop in Appleton. If Ski's methods are so wonderful, and he wants to reach people by doing everything short of sinning, then why put this church in the synod's backyard?

If numbers are all that matter, wouldn't it have been better to set up the CORE somewhere with little to no Christians? Wouldn't it have been better to put this church somewhere that WELS wasn't already established?

The inconsistencies in the philosophy of these guys and the application of said philosophy are too numerous to mention.

***

GJ - I will try to explain it in a few paragraphs. JR, you are asking pertinent questions. That makes you impertinent in the eyes of the Shrinkers.

First of all, everything they do and say is a lie. They know it, and they enjoy deceiving people. They are not Lutheran, and they know it, but they fasten their belts around their ears and say, "You are hitting below the belt. Foul!" whenever someone asks about their doctrine and practice.

My intuition tells me they knew they were doomed long before Mark Schroeder was elected. They knew someone would force open the books and find out what an appalling mess they made out of the Schwan gifts. I wonder if Gurgle went overseas so he could bury the real books under a Yumyum tree.

The CORE was started as the escape vehicle for the WELS Church and Change fans in A-Town. If everything went badly, they could have a legal entity from which to start over without all the pain of meetings, corporate papers, etc. The Seminex gang did that, creating a foundation called FLUTE to be their vehicle, although that particular vehicle did not lure enough rats out of Missouri.

Outreach? There is a WELS church a block away doing real outreach. The CORE filled their movie theater (only at night) with WELS members. I don't have the latest figures but the first reports made Bernie Madoff seem frugal and selfless. Ski, Glende, Bishop Katie and other WELS workers take off to Schwaermer training conferences more often than Hollywood stars enter rehab. They are addicted to the buzz of the hive.

Mark and Avoid Jeske wants his own little denomination, or perhaps a core group to take with him wherever he goes. Katie and Ski are Jeske products, loyal as Shelties. Church and Change is a Jeske operation, based on board members alone, although some hit their cloaking device for effect, magically disappearing (Becker and Ski). Watch Jeske and everything will make sense. He is featured on the LCMS websty. That is a pretty big hint. Jeske's classmates have gone over to Missouri and they are also CG. One is a Missouri DP, etc.

Another interesting approach would be to follow the money. How much did Ski sell his home for in Milwaukee? Did it sell at market or way above? Who bought it? And who sold him a home in A-Town? Where is all this loot coming from, to fund The CORE - certainly not from 9 new members in about a year. They couldn't afford to pay the lease and utilities.

People respond most to the money issues, but the real issue is doctrine. These people, pastors and laity alike, have been pried loose from Biblical doctrine. Their only comfort is a brotherhood of deception, laziness, and fraud. I would love to know who started it. Ron Roth was a founder, but who else was involved? That would be good for a real dissertation, not a DMin by Steve Witte, although that has some gems in it.

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Just Five Minutes with Luther? - That Would Be a Good Start

FIVE MINUTES A DAY WITH LUTHER

** Now available in book form: http://lcmssermons.com/about5mins.php **

December 8

Psalm 119:101-102   I have restrained my feet from every evilway, That I may keep Thy word.  I have not turned aside from Thine ordinances, For Thou Thyself hast taught me.

    *    *    *

When Bullinger once remarked to Luther that those who attributed too much to the literal Word sinned against God and His almighty power as the Jews did in naming the ark God, Luther corrected himin the following manner:

You err in that you cut asunder and separate the Word and the Spirit; you separate those that preach and teach the Word from God who works the same; you also separate the ministers who baptize from God who commands it; and you think that the Holy Ghost, is given and works without the Word, which Word, you say,is an external sign and mark that finds the Spirit of which the heart is already in possession.  According to your false opinion, if the Word does not find the Spirit, but is heard byan ungodly person, then it is not God's Word, and thus you define the Word not according to God who speaks it, but according to how people entertain and receive it.  You will only grant that such is God's Word which purifies and brings peace and life; but when it does not work in the ungodly, then it is not God's Word.  You will not yield that God's Word is the

instrument through which the Holy Ghost works and accomplishes His work and prepares a beginning to righteousness or justification.  But I say, teach, and acknowledge that the Word,

whether it produces fruit or not, is, nevertheless, God's strength, which saves all that believe. 

It (the Word) is the power of God to save

From sin and Satan and the grave;

It works the faith which firmly clings

To all the treasures which it brings.

---

Cuda.

aka Pastor Robin Fish

It isn't whether we win or lose, it is "Do we stand faithfully?"

View online at http://lcmssermons.com/5mins.php?d=2009-12-08

These daily readings are now available in book form;read about it at http://lcmssermons.com/about5mins.php.

***

GJ - The post above is the essence of Biblical theology, Luther's theology, and the Book of Concord. No one can embrace Enthusiasm (UOJ, Receptionism, Church Growth) and be faithful to the Word of God, which carries Christ the way a cradle carries a baby. Sever the Holy Spirit/Word/Sacrament connection and the cradle is demolished.

What Would Jesus Do? He would not abandon the divinely inspired Word for the so-called wisdom of man.

How Did the Turtle Get on the Fencepost?

Watch for the Quaker Foster on Lutheran CG blogs.

LOL you must have hit a nerve, you're attracting "flame thrower trolls", now.

Have a look at this, Willow Creeker denounces Willow Creek for serving up Mystic[ism] Pizza. [from Richard Foster]

http://www.mfairladyblogspot.com/2008/06/protestant-no-more-willow-creek.html

LCMS Pastor doing the same thing:

http://markschulz.typepad.com/just_mark/2009/10/three-great-books-on-spiritual-disciplines.html [Loves Richard Foster]

Mark Schulz is the "Golden Boy" of the LCMS NID, so much for church purity.

Lone Survivor - Our Heroic SEALs

Marcus Luttrell, Navy Cross

Lone Survivor is Marcus Luttrell's account of a battle in Northern Afghanistan, where the members of his Navy SEAL team were killed in a ferocious battle, and he was stalked for days by the Taliban, who hoped to capture and kill him.

George W. Bush pinned the Navy Cross on Luttrell.

Universal bought the movie rights.
A brief, though not entirely accurate account of the battle, can be found here. That blog page also has many photos and videos on it.

I have a signed copy of Lone Survivor, on loan from LI.  Another SEAL said to LI, "You met Luttrell!"


I have been a fanatical reader of military history for many years. The Midland Library had a fantastic collection. I created my own over a period of time, specializing in battleships. I have sold, swapped, or given away boxes of military books. We raised our son on military history, too, buying those huge books on armor, carriers, jets, missiles, and artillery, a good investment.

I have read many accounts of SEAL training and their exploits. I know two SEALs. One told me in class introductions that he was in the Navy. I asked him the ship name and followed by asking what he did. He named the ship and said, "Sharpshooter." I asked the family expert, "How can he be a sharpshooter on a ship?" The response was, "Ask him about BUD/S."

I did, and he confirmed he was a SEAL. That is how modest they are about their past. The other SEAL did the same thing to me, identifying a ship and clamming up. I got more information out of Opus Dei. That is just one characteristic of SEALS and military heroes in general. Another student, very small in stature, told me very little about himself, but later said he did the first military parachute drop into enemy territory since WWII. I had the honor of teaching many military men and women in Yuma (and still do in Arkansas and online). In Yuma I had so many Marines that I would say "Listen up, maggots!" because they were used to verbal abuse and liked it.

Mrs. Ichabod and I met an Army Ranger at the hotel in Yuma, so I told the Marines this story, "I met a Ranger and said the Marines could take him on in a bar fight any time he selected." They said, "That's great, and you will be there to help us."

Two things make Lone Survivor special. I hope it wins many different book awards. One is the co-writer Patrick Robinson, who is one of the best military writers of this age. Every week for a long time I looked for Robinson's latest book to appear at Barnes and Noble. When I saw him listed as the co-writer, I knew this would be a fine book. There are writers and fighters, but precious few writer-fighters.

The second great quality of Lone Survivor is the voice of Marcus Luttrell. Only a gifted writer could cooperate and let the author's true voice come through. LI said the book sounds just like Luttrell, who spoke at a meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. In NWA, everyone stops by, including Al Gore (sigh).

I have read many accounts of SEAL training, but this is the best one of all. I knew the basics from other books, but this description alone was worth publishing by itself. I also appreciated Luttrell's personal history (Texas) and the support his town gave his grieving parents, when he went missing.

No one can do justice to Luttrell's account of the firefight with the Taliban. Luttrell is a Christian and often gives credit to God for watching over him and his rifle during the battle and the amazing aftermath. He was stalked and should have died, but he continued to evade and escape, until he literally fell into the hands of friendly villagers, who would not give him up to the Taliban. The Taliban did arrive and torture him, but they were kept from capturing and killing him. The entire village risked their lives for this stranger.

One interesting anecdote is the drop of supplies by America, so Luttrell could communicate back to them. He was MIA but not presumed dead. The Taliban captured a cell phone and tried to use it. The military knew the wrong person had it, and used the signal to drop some explosives, lots of them.

Once Luttrell was found by American forces, he provided spotting for aircraft as the Taliban descended upon the surrounded forces. Needless to say, the entire Taliban force was obliterated.

I hope this review is one small contribution in making Lone Survivor a best-seller and military classic.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lone Survivor - Our Heroic SEALs":

If you like military history, then I'm sure you're familiar with Victor Davis Hanson. His book on the Peloponnesian War, "A War Like No Other" is just brilliant.

***

GJ - Someone has improved upon Thucydides account? I will look for the Hanson book. The original, still in print, still makes my hands clammy when I read it. I say to myself, "Calm down. It's over man." I agree with those who say Thucydides is the greatest historian of all time. The greatest in the English language is Gibbon.

More Satisfied Readers

Two students decided to tell me off. One is from Martin Luther College. The other is a member at Willow Creek Chapel in Madison, Wisconsin.

There must be a rotation set up, because the new comments started when the guy in Garland, Texas went silent.

Here is one:

TShinnick has left a new comment on your post "Church Growth Go Zunder":


So, St. Matthew's worship attendance is down three years in a row, and one family transfers to The Core and they're actively poaching members? Perhaps there are just some people at St. Matthew's that don't like some things about the church. I definitely know of more than one family that has transferred from St. Matthew's to another WELS congregation in the city. Does that mean that those congregations are actively poaching members? Of course not. It means that those people desire the truth of the Word of God without the aspects of St. Matthew's that they don't like. This sounds exactly like the mission of the Core...to provide people with the truth of God's Word without the barriers that might get in the way.

Beware, Zinders has a blog. But at least now he has some readers.

At Willow Creek Chapel, Madison, Wisconsin, this prophet unburdens himself:

Pastor Jackson,

I think it's time somebody judged you for a change, specifically in the context of pastoral qualities and attitudes. For one thing, you're arrogant, which I don't think should be a quality in any pastor. For another, your actions (at least as shown by the blog "Ichabod...") don't model those of Christ.

You mention in your biography how the rudeness of the seminary appalled you. Do you realize how rude you are sometimes? I think there's a Bible passage that goes along the lines of "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" I realize none of us are perfect. I myself am certainly a terrible sinner, but I think before we go around judging others, we need to evaluate our own lives and what we're doing wrong. (Matthew 7:1 - Do not judge, or you too will be judged.) Maybe this is the sin that plagues you the most, but I encourage you to tone it down a bit.

Although it's cliche, remember "What would Jesus do?" Would he really waste his time writing a blog like this, or would he lovingly (and personally) correct those who were wrong and then continue to spread the Gospel?

I encourage you to re-read Romans 12: 17-21 and 1 Peter 3:9.

Fellow Follower in Christ,

Matthew Zimdars

I am glad Zimdars brought up What Would Jesus Do? That particular movement is associated with the novel, In His Steps, one of the best-selling novels of all time. The movement and the novel are the essence of Pietism.

I have never puzzled over whether Jesus would blog. As Luther wrote, He always used the Word. I dedicated the Bethany blog to sermons and quotations, and I see that those readers include people from all over the world, especially the Third World.

Ichabod is polemical and the purpose is clearly defined, yet people with problems in reading comprehension denounce me for explain how and why the glory has departed.

Zimdars needs to read the Scriptures with discernment. Jesus denounced false teachers as wolves in sheep's clothing. No less an authority than Steve Kurtzahn called your retired seminary president, Valleskey, the same thing.

Jesus' broadside against the Pharisees is recorded in Matthew. Someone with the same name should be more familiar with the contents of St. Matthew's Gospel.

The Enthusiasts want to be known as Bible Christians, but they delete large portions of the Scripture, such as calling false doctrine "cancer." Oooh, that's harsh. Paul told the law-mongers invading Galatia that they should keep on cutting, if they are so keen on circumcision. Gross and unloving? - probably, in the eyes of Matthew the Younger.

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And that Fox, Weathervane, or Wolf (Luther to George Major):

Fox Mulder has left a new comment on your post "More Satisfied Readers":

Pastor,

Here you beat around the bush and don't address his topic of your rudeness which you don't seem to think a problem. There is a difference between being stark, bold, and upright about the sins of others (if they are sins) and degrading people to nothing more than faces you can put in an "Icha-cat" picture. Especially rude is that you don't know most of these men. You may have met them, you may have corresponded, but these is no relationship there. If one existed then you would feel much worse about these such men, who love the Lord and people. You may argue that because they distort scripture they have no love for God, but they don't see it that way. Also, in your response to Matthew's comment you bring up a certain book which isn't good, but Matthew never asserted that he had read the book or even known about it. Please recognize the difference between frankness and rudeness and treat people with gentleness and respect.

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GJ - They say that dodging a bullet and living is quite a thrill, but can it compare to getting a string of anonymous nasty comments from someone promoting love? I wonder who else gets poison pen letters from Fox.

Clearly he identifies with the slain martyrs of Church and Chicanery. They seem to retain 100% employment, because the confessionals are not as ruthless as they are.

Someone wrote about Pope John the Malefactor extending the Left Foot of Fellowship to Rolf (not Rolph or Rolp) Preus, but His Holiness did that to several pastors and got himself banned from a number of ELS congregations.

No one has ever reached the nastiness, vengeance, and slander levels of WELS/ELS Chicaneries. I count Pope John as a holdover from the Wayne Mueller WELS presidency. (He still thought he was prez when Schroeder was elected.) The Chicaneries are incredibly foul and dishonest while yelping whenever someone gets close to the truth of their actions and words.

The Chicaneries have deprived many pastors of their livelihoods, simply because those pastors were faithful to the Word and the Confessions. The Chicaneries have done their deeds in the worst possible way: slanderously, sneakily, self-righteously.

Meanwhile, false teachers and adulterers (often the same, since they adulterate the Word and their marriages) are protected, defended, promoted, idolized, and held up as examples for others.

One WELS pastor asked some pointed questions, confronting Valleskey about CG deceit. Soon after, Valleskey threatened him. After that, the man was without a call, and he was not someone who could drop into any secular job. The Shrinkers do not want to remove someone permanently. They want to break him emotionally and financially, reduce him to crawling back, and hold him up as an example to those who might dissent from the Schwaermer line.

I do not apologize for knowing too much about how these thugs work. I have experienced and watched them in action. They are sniveling cowards who work in packs, anonymously, because not one can admit to what he really believes or disbelieves. They prance around direct questions so adroitly that they must take to heart this verse, "A soft dancer turneth away wrath."

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "More Satisfied Readers":

Pastor Jackson,
It sounds to me like they are tag-teaming you. Don't they know the rules? Two guys on each side, only one wrestler from each side in the ring. I think that Luther once said something like - "I thank God for my adversaries". He sharpened his knives on them.

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GJ - Mr. Schultz, I am happy to expose the tactics of the Chicaneries for everyone to see. They are rude, crude, and immune to the rules of logic, grammar, and spelling. Almost every day I get comments with various crude insults - four letter words, body parts. One was so bad I sent it to only one person, so he could see how frightened the Chicaneries are.

My intuition is this - the older Chicaneries are having the young guys do their dirty work for them, manipulating them. "Oh, I wish I could say something to that blogger, but it's too risky right now." So the hotshot tries to make his bones so he can be included in the Mafia called Church and Change.

I heard the Chicaneries were forced to tell SP Schroeder everything they were doing, and they were not happy about it. The leaders can easily be determined from the Listserve comments and the conference attendance.