An Icarus he isn't.
The WELS Church and Money Changers are bleating and crying for help. Their last few blog departures are examples of their method - to be a sheep in sheep's clothing. Boxers call it "rope-a-dope," letting the opponent swing until exhaustion stops the fight.
Everyone is expected to view the Money Changers as victims, because they try to keep their nastiness tucked inside where no one can see it.
They will not fight in the open, because everyone would see their true nature. They dread anything being discussed in public. That is why a few people decided to produce daily personal attacks in the form of comments. One blogger I know got so tired of of such behavior that he turned off the comments.
I let them roll along to measure impact. More bleating comes in the form of hysterical comments and numerous short-lived blogs.
If WELS members or pastors try to deal with issues, in the manner ordered by Money Changers, they find the leaders being sheep rather than shepherds. Like my dogs, they are impossible to find when they suspect they are in trouble. Someone has to arrange a meeting with the alpha sheep, who will either load the meeting with his clones or disappear like Doug the Unready, the DP who guards Fox Valley and leads the sheep into the wilderness.
Anyone who buys their load is more foolish than the purveyors of false doctrine themselves.
The Doctrinal Pussycats, Sausage Factory professors, and college deceivers are all walking self-contractions. What I write about WELS is just as true about the Little Sect on the Prairie and the Legion of Mary* (formerly known as the Missouri Synod).
They claim a quia subscription to the Book of Concord while promoting the double-justification scheme of George Christian Knapp, constantly using the wording of his English translator, whose translation is still in print. Luther? They despise him and warn those who would quote the Reformer.
Their quia claim contradicts their constant evasion of the issues.
Their publications reveal their love for 19th century Pietism and the illusion that Midwestern sect founders have the final say on doctrinal issues (so forget the BOC). Harmonious (a nice pun on Concordia, eh?) with their real concerns, they adore the Pietism of Fuller, Willow Creek, and assorted scoundrels of the Evangelical Left, too numerous and tedious to name.
Because they do not love or fear the Word of God, they get their way by shunning and extending the Left Foot of Fellowship. They worship money so they think the worst punishment is to hurt someone financially. They also think the best reward is money, so they award themselves all the money in the name of mission, reaching out to the lost, using enough scams to land a banker in federal prison for life.
They are not wolves. They are sheep. Like true sheep, when one gets out through a hole in the fence, the rest of them follow until the sheepfold is empty. The alpha sheep went to Fuller 30 years ago and began to promote their school meekly while others followed.
Did Valleskey go to Fuller? Eyes open in fright. No. Avoid all future discussions. Yes he did (to David Koenig) and why did you tell the truth (to David Koenig).
Did Bivens go to Fuller? Yes and no. Let's stick with a firm "no" until the coast is clear.
Did Larry Olson go to Fuller? No, he went to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. How do you know he didn't? His Fuller paper in the MLC library? Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?
The First Vice President of WELS went to Fuller to be a Shrinker consultant - along with Kelm and Olson? That could never happen so Jim Huebner did not go and this conversation never happened.
Click your heels together three times and chant with Wayne Mueller:
"There is no Church Growth in WELS."
"There is no Church Growth in WELS."
"There is no Church Growth in WELS."
Now you are back in Kansas. Go to sheep, meek ones. Your fellow sheep will lead you to green pastures. They are not much for fighting predators, but there is safety in numbers. Making noise will just disturb the rest.
*For examples, see the LCMS defections to Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy, the feigned shock of Paul McCain MDiv, the toxic blog of Kilcrease (writing from a Roman school), the genuflections of Weedon, etc.
