This is Mark Paustian, currently teaching up at MLC. I applied to join the Church & Change forum merely because I learned that some materials I had put out many years ago, a long list of sermons series I had preached as an outreach exploratory missionary, were posted somewhere on the website.
(That's a whole 'nother story; in my freedom, I've changed my views on sermon series and am no longer completely comfortable being seen as an advocate of that homiletical method. I digress.)
Anyway, I confess to being one who has watched "Church & Change" with a little skepticism and concern. There's no need to react to that statement, since I'll admit it's largely based on perception. In fact, I teach communications at MLC (also Hebrew) and I both know the destructive power of
perception and am an energetic proponent of ethical dialogue. So, I say from the heart, more power to you!
My whole point is that, from what I've learned so far about Leonard Sweet, the people involved in "church and change" may be shooting themselves in the foot, unnecessarily polarizing the people of the WELS. That would sadden me. I can only think there are many, many people who are like me, hoping to hear good things come out of "church and change" to dispel our skepticism, chiefly by providing new models of energetic Lutheranism that manage to penetrate this pathetically lost culture. I was in church planting and home mission work for over 12 years, and I do understand the pain and passion
that clearly makes the people in "church and change," and all of you, tick.
I fear Leonard Sweet will become the issue. To put it crassly, he's a PR nightmare:-)
[GJ - And not a doctrinal nightmare? How Church and Changish to say that.]
He threatens to be the thing people will point to as telling evidence of what "church and change" is all about, how well rooted and grounded this rising organization is in appropriate theological exploration and expression, even how Lutheran you really want to be. And I'm afraid people will falsely read the minds and hearts of the organizers, as if they only turn to a man of Sweet's theology after concluding the answers they need most are not contained in their own,as if mining the depths of God's heart in his Word has plainly not worked.so we turn with eager ears to a brilliant unregenerate mind. I'm not saying that's a fair assessment. I'm positive it's NOT a fair assessment. And I'm not saying Sweet's talk won't be fascinating, or even helpful to gospel ministry in some way the speaker himself doesn't have the heart to intend. (At the same time, if you've ever been broken, truly broken, the only indispensable word was absolution.and to listen too long to a speaker who doesn't know of such things finally does little but break your heart. I know how pious and simplistic that sounds.) Anyway, what I am saying is that Sweet will polarize, damage the credibility of your movement and create needless controversy. I have a hard time believing this speaker is worth it, from what little I know about him. I could be wrong. Someone in our camp is obviously impressed with him for reasons I'm just not privy to. That's an honest confession of ignorance, not a thinly veiled jab.
So much of your dialogue in this chat room heartens me and causes me to reconsider my poorly substantiated concerns about "church and change." In the deepest place, we are the same in Christ, and we all want essentially the same thing for our dear, dear WELS, though our visions may differ greatly. Having Sweet as a keynote speaker (please tell me I'm wrong about that) tugs hard in the opposite direction. (By the way, I was captivated and edified by a speech by Edward Veiths, author of "Loving God With All Your Mind" at a WELS college symposium not too long ago. He's not WELS, but he is a brilliant, regenerate, theologically conservative, Christ-centered thinker who has much to say about communicating Christ even in a secular postmodern academic setting. I'd endorse him for a setting like the one we have in mind in a heartbeat. I'm not framing this in terms of fellowship.)
Now, what if we were looking for a keynote speaker and asked, "Who in our midst do we think has the very strongest grasp of the intended meaning of God's own Word to the WELS by virtue of their scholarship in the original languages of Scripture?" What if we said, "Isn't that who we want to set the tone for our event.someone who can speak to us from the very heart and mind of God!?" And what if we let come to mind the names of, for example, my colleagues at MLC, scholars like Joel Frederick (Greek) and Tom Nass (Hebrew).now that would be change.
Sorry this was so long. If it turns out I've only managed to offend, this will be the last you'll ever hear from me, I promise.
Mark Paustian
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For what it's worth,
Vicar John Stelljes [Pilgrimage to Exponential and Brother Stetzer]
The theme of this year's Church and Change conference is "Changeless Gospel, Changing World". It's being held Wed - Fri, Nov. 9 - 11 in Madison, WI. Sixteen workshops will offer insights on WELS innovative ministries that are proclaiming the changeless Gospel in a changing world...from Professor Mark Paustian's narrative witnessing to Pastor Jeff Gunn's very blessed mission start to Campus Pastor Tom Trapp's interview with atheists and agnostics and much, much more! Dr. Leonard Sweet, an outstanding presenter, will speak on our changing culture. This will give us information which will help us design Gospel ministries to reach our changing world. Phil Boileau is composing an original theme song for the conference. In addition, we plan to have a room full of vendors and sources of materials we hope you will find useful in your ministry. On top of that, we plan to have two evenings of Christian entertainment by WELS artists, including comedy. There will be a lot of Christian music throughout. Here is the next workshop and presenter:
God's goal for me is maturity - "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13) presented by Pastor Randy Hunter. The gospel builds maturity; love demonstrates maturity. Jesus gave us a new commandment: love one another. Love demonstrates discipleship and maturity. But what happens when people of the Christian community don't even know each other much less those outside the church? Loving one another, demonstrating maturity, gets harder. This workshop will lead participants to better understand maturity, identify obstacles to Jesus' new command, determine causes of the obstacles in your church and your life, and search for solutions.
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Prepared to Answer:
Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told
by Mark A. Paustian
Are you afraid to be asked about your Christian beliefs because you don't feel prepared? This set consists of Prepared to Answer (221 pages, 12N2021) and More Prepared to Answer (254 pages, 12N2022). These two books provide a helpful model for sharing the Christian faith by supplying Scripture-based responses to common objections to Christianity. Author Mark Paustian provides a unique approach to answer the questions people have. Since every situation suggests a story, he uses divinely inspired narratives (well-loved gospel stories) to "plant a seed." The power in the words and deeds of Christ show us the evil in ourselves, smash our complacency, and reveal our desperate need for his grace.
Some topics in these books include abortion, why bad things happen, Jesus as myth, feminism, and religion as viewed by science. You can order these books separately or as a set. For specific information about each book, see the product descriptions for the individual titles. Paper cover.
Some topics in these books include abortion, why bad things happen, Jesus as myth, feminism, and religion as viewed by science. You can order these books separately or as a set. For specific information about each book, see the product descriptions for the individual titles. Paper cover.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "New NPH Stuff from Church and Changer Mark Paustia...":
I would assume that you have never heard Mark Paustian speak in person, or bothered to read either of the "Prepared to Answer" books. If you had, you would know far better than your accusations reveal.
Mark Paustian is not challenging the efficacy of the Word. He is not suggesting that the Word and Sacraments are not the means of grace. He is suggesting that different people need a different approach ("different strokes for different folks", I believe the phrase goes).
Paustian's comments concerning Sweet are right on the money.
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GJ - I have to assume the words reprinted above were not read with discernment or comprehension. There is a cute little dance, both for and against Church and Change, coming from someone who spoke at their conference - a sure sign of approval.
His "right on the money" comments include:
And I'm not saying Sweet's talk won't be fascinating, or even helpful to gospel ministry in some way the speaker himself doesn't have the heart to intend.
How exactly would Sweet the Space Cadet, the New Ager, the Methodist Leftist fascinate and help any Lutheran?
GA works - say one thing and then the opposite. Let the audience pick a version to believe.
Dom Perignon has done the same thing with Church and Change. He has some issues with it, but he gave a Bible study of sorts there, and he attended the 2007 conference. When VP Patterson drops his plans to go hunting and flies up to Milwaukee for a Church and Change conference, his heart is with the Chicaneries.
Another factoid - Paustian started the church near Love's Park that made it pack up and move (or plan to). They out Church Growthed Larry Olson's CG congregation.
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raklatt has left a new comment on your post "New NPH Stuff from Church and Changer Mark Paustia...":
I have read Paustian’s "Prepared to Answer" and found he asks many more questions than he answers. The style of his book is like the style of his post, as though he is afraid to stir the pot as well as Luther did against Zwingli and Muenzer.
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GJ - KJV James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
The strange thing is - WELS pastors think their anonymous snarkiness is convincing, when it is just the opposite.
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Someone very experienced in party politics and WELS politics made this comment:
For a professor teaching classes in "communications", Mark Paustian's convoluted litany re: Leonard Sweet and Church and Change, appears to be cognizant dissonance. But there's a name for it in political jargon. It's called "plausible deniability" for when the roof begins to cave in from dissent after the fact.
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GJ - Veterans call it GA training.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "New NPH Stuff from Church and Changer Mark Paustia...":
Notice how Prof Paustian is still so tactful with the CG crowd, careful not impugn their motives. However, when it comes to the anti-CG crowd, then he's free to impugn and malign. If he's not full-blown CG, that shows which way he leans.
Paustian also uses the Clinton defense when it comes to Rockford--denying the charges, nitpicking at the factual basis of the case, and impugning the integrity of the witnesses, saying he sinned and is in need of God's mercy. For instance, he says that the mileage between the churches is wrong. That old post he refers to can be found on Ichabod by searching on Mark Paustian. Related posts can be found searching on Larry Olson or "Larry Olsen's old church". A Google Maps search reveals that the distance between Loves Park and New Life is 5.7 miles, whereas the old post says it is 5 miles. That's pretty close, so half the case is holding up to scrutiny quite well.
The distance between New Life and the Belvidere church is 8.8 miles, not the 5 miles as stated in the old post. Whoever wrote that in to Dr. Jackson probably meant the west edge of Belvidere is 5 miles from New Life. What Paustian is not telling the reader is that the WELS church is on the extreme south side of Belvidere, and that involves stop-and-go city traffic for Belvidere residents, whereas getting to New Life involves mostly highway driving on Hwy 20. So the difference between driving to the Belvidere church and driving to New Life is only a matter of a few minutes for many Belvidere residents! That's not enough to discourage anyone from Belvidere with an itch for the CG style, or for a larger church, from attending New Life.
Since everything around Belvidere is mostly corn and soy fields, and most farms are corporate-owned so large farm families are increasingly rare, so the Belvidere church can only draw people from Belvidere itself. It must have EVERY WELS member in Belvidere join it just to stay afloat. Thus, to introduce this easy alternative church option for WELS members in Belvidere jeopardizes the Belvidere church, as well as being detrimental to the Loves Park WELS church. As proof, look at Hope's church sign on their web page. It reminds one of a tombstone!:
http://www.hopebelvidere.org./index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=19
One would think that if there were a territorial conflict with one WELS church, much less two, that would be enough to locate to the south of Rockford where the new church was envisioned to go in the first place! However, if the CG crowd envisioned creating a WELS fast-growing mega-church, like they envisioned but failed to create in Columbus, Ohio, then New Life would be located exactly where it is today, overlapping the areas staked out previously by other WELS churches.
Then Prof Paulstian stakes his case on his reputation and the motives in his heart. However, only God can see into his heart, but we can only look at the deeds and recorded statements. Here is the evidence we can see:
1) He tries to distance himself from the CG crowd, but the fact is the church he left behind in Rockford is decidedly CG, and probably was when he was there. Just look at their websty.
2) No one can find an impolite word written by Paustian about the CG crowd, but only incrimination toward the anti-CG crowd.
3) He admits that he set up New Life in conjunction with the pastor at the too nearby Loves Park church, judiciously not giving his name! Why's that? I'm sure that at the time that pastor was none other than Rev. Larry Olson, who received a D.Min at Fuller Seminary, and is a big WELS CG guru.
4) Then Rev Larry Olson received a call to be the Waldo Werning Professor of Church Growth at Martin Luther College. Sometime later Rev. Paustian followed him to MLC and received a professorship in communications, which class is probably geared toward giving the students the tools they need to run CG-style churches.
5) Etc. (search Ichabod for more).
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "New NPH Stuff from Church and Changer Mark Paustia...":
The real reason Paustian wants to make clear that this was the last time he'd read this blog is not for the sake of Ichabod readers, but because in the CG circles he wants to hang around with, or rub elbows with, reading Christian News and the Ichablog is a BIG taboo--even to respond to critics. Paustian wrote:
"Was I clear enough that I resolve never to access this blog again?"
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GJ - He solicited Facebook connections, so I friended him. Mark sent a couple of dancing-around semi-hostile emails, and UNFRIENDED me a few minutes later.
