Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "ELCA's Warning to WELS - Do Not Wait 20 Years":
“One letter can have an enormous impact. It forces people to act.”
I beg to differ. The leadership is so used to doing nothing or whatever they want, and getting by with it, that they will do absolutely nothing. The leadership is most likely to turn on the writers to intimidate them or get them removed.
Basically, they are all as useless as DP Deadwood.
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GJ - Aha. Begin by not trying because it will bring on the cross. If you want to remove the cross, bub, you have already removed the Gospel. The two cannot be separated.
KJV Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
The comment above is actually the mirror of the Church Growth mantra. Lay down the cross and do only what the Old Adam wants.
Here is where the Boomers especially are sissy whiners. They do not want to pay the price for the Word. And it is not going to be to the point of shedding their blood, which we should all be happy to do for the Gospel.
Someone can be removed from the synod or the congregation, or pushed out by a campaign of hatred and vilification. Does that keep us from faith? Not at all. In fact, a pastor pushed out can simply begin a new congregation with the Word. Starting with nothing is not easy, but the challenge can be fun and life-giving to many.
Members are finding it difficult to attend a faithful Lutheran church, but that situation has been created by decades of indolence, sloth, and avoiding the cross.
Let's say DP Engelbrecht and the others do not answer the letter. Send another letter, certified, to all parties asking for an explanation. That will have an effect. And have others write letters and phone. The Chicaneries are actively blocking any action. They are organized to get their way. They put another Fuller graduate in the second highest office in WELS - voted in, by the way, just as Wayne Mueller was.
I learned to protect the health and well-being of my daughters, because they were disabled. I put the spotlight on what was happening. My wife and I went to the Columbus newspaper. We went to the governor's office. We wrote letters and backed them up with visits to an attorney. We wrote more letters. We spoke to hospital boards and doctors. We confronted incompetent nurses. One time the hospital tried to give my wife a hard time about Erin's care. She phoned and I gave her one question to ask - "Do you want to deal with me or my husband?" That had an amazing, calming effect on the staff.
I knew when I wrote the first article on Church Growth in Christian News that the synod would retaliate. I got about 100 positive letters from that one little article, a bad sign for me. That was in 1988 probably. The Shrinkers have been viciously striking back ever since, but they have only hurt themselves. I get ugly anonymous comments every day--very encouraging--and read three blogs where Shrinkers display their ignorance, malice, and bovine humor.
Everyone holding back is simply storing up more wrath to fall upon the Lutheran Church. ELCA has seen it happen, almost overnight. The pot is ready to boil over in WELS, too.
In spite of what Bruce Becker teaches, with impunity, there are no barriers to the Word of God.
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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "How To Lose By Quitting":
We should be encouraged by the Word of God which assures us that hardship and adversity purifies us. When we look at how Luther handled the cross, we should also be encouraged. Luther took advantage of an exile at the Wartburg to translate the Bible into German.
Bearing the cross is difficult, as our Old Adam will always make war against it. God's Word assures us that he is always with us. He will not forsake us.
When you have children with special needs, disabilities, or are terminally ill, the burden often can be very devastating. We would eventually fall apart if we relied upon our own strength.
I am in awe by the manner in which the Sovereign Lord eventually reveals the demise of false teachers. They revel in their Theology of Glory, their own efforts, their buildings, and their handling of those who would dare to expose them for what they are.
There once was a time in the WELS when false doctrine was opposed from the pulpits. The paradigm shift has been incremental, but noticeable. When laity would inquire of a pastor about some false doctrine, he would be quick to point out the error in the doctrine. The approach taken now is to glean some kernel of truth from the error.
I have had no problem keeping my distance from laity who are being flayed to the bone by false teachers. As a result of doctrinal indifference, many cannot comprehend the magnitude of the problem. I have gone to great lengths to explain to many members what the visible effects of false doctrine within their midst has produced. I have received little opposition.
It appears that false doctrine, and its implementation has produced docility within much of the laity. They no longer see themselves as part of the Church Militant. They cannot comprehend the fact that false teachers are in their own midst. From their point of view, the only threats are those outside of the church walls.
