Anti-Anti-CG Blogs in Epic Fail Mode

Left-click the picture for visual clarity
and doctrinal confusion.

The anti-anti-Church Growth blogs have stalled out again. The fake blogger probably went back into rehab or violated parole. Tim Felt-needs has returned to his favorite subject, writing about himself. Joe Krohn has one post - boycott Ichabod - and he is a daily communicant.

I am waiting for the Church Growth people to write a positive witness for their peculiar alloy of nominal Lutheran membership and febrile Reformed doctrine. Valleskey tried and failed, producing a worse book than Werning's worst. But Valleskey had Kelm's help, so that explains the leaden quality of his prose and the stubbly quality of his theology.

The anti-anti-CG bloggers simply copy me and rant. I hope that is therapeutic for them.

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brett-meyer (http://brett-meyer.myopenid.com) has left a new comment on your post "Anti-Anti-CG Blogs in Epic Fail Mode":

They're a whiny bunch. I had to laugh out loud at one point when they were discussing whether or not your lack of attention to their posturing was an admission that they were right.

***

GJ - That is especially funny. I do check on them from time to time, to check for exploding heads and new rants. The fake claims it is a horrible lie that WELS has women ministers.

However, the ELS/WELS boards of doctrine met about WELS women staff ministers (Larry Oh's program) consecrating and distributing Holy Communion. The most the timid boards could do was issue a moratorium, a delay, on the practice.

Here is a new riddle - What do you call a book with no spine? This We Believe!

WELS is now in the same position as ELCA was when the larger sect began mincing around about homosexual ordination. It was only a matter of time before the Lavender Mafia got what it wanted, in a flamboyant display of power politics.

Given the lack of confessional integrity in WELS and the ELS, there is no stopping women's ordination. They could not say no to a Fuller program headed by Larry Oh!, so why would they cringe at women's ordination in 2012? They already have women ministers and women acting as ordained pastors.

Getting Straight about Sources

 

One of the lesser lights in blogdom is obviously influenced by his sub-standard training in WELS. He wigs out over the fact that I linked Schmid as a favor to people who might want a compilation of orthodox Lutheran quotations. Schmid was a favorite in WELS and the ALC.

More wigging out - I have said nice things about Deutschlander's book on the theology of the cross.

The Lenski wig out - Every graduate of the Sausage Factory (WLS, Mequon) feels compelled to jump all over Lenski about justification by faith. My intuition was that these graduates have never read Lenski.

I was checking Lenski on Romans 1:17 and that proved me right. He is fairly close to the WELS position, at least in wording, in that passage. Lenski could be very Iowa Synod, in the middle about everything, even though he was Ohio Synod (ALC).

A well trained and ordained Sausage from The Sausage Factory will always start with a rebuke when the Book of Concord is mentioned. "It is only a book!" Or, "It is old fashioned. Nobody reads it." (Nobody he knows!)

But when a doctrinal dispute comes up, the same Sausage will direct the other person to...The Essay File at The Sausage Factory! That is not just the ruled norm of WELS, the norma normata. It is the ruling norm, the norma normans.

Is double-justification correct? Check the essay file.

Is Church Growth cool and wonderful to behold? Check the essay file.

Some of the wise men who have contributed are - Curt Peterson, the WELS pastor who is now publishing as an atheist; Mark Jeske, the WELS DNA pastor who is sinuflecting to Quiche-nik's Missouri; etc. etc. etc.

Most people would remove an atheist's support for Church Growth from contention, but not WELS. Curt wrote the right stuff, and he is a hero, by gum.

Illiterate Lutherans (the Shrinkers) play games with the books cited. They want to say that quoting one author is an endorsement of all he has ever written - not that they would bother reading it.

Walther has many good things to cite, but he was dead wrong about justification, welded to the Pietism which he brought to the New World. Melanchthon was one of the most gifted theologians of all time, but he also had a wobbly character and tried too hard to please everyone, leading to doctrinal confusion.

I like Luther best of all, but he admitted that he emerged slowly from the Medieval Romanism of his past.

That is why we have and esteem the Book of Concord, because the most able theologians of the time (Chemnitz, Chytraeus, Selnecker) gathered together the best confessional works to unify the Lutheran Church. No other denomination is so unified in doctrine and so rooted to the Scriptures and faithful fathers.

We do not have a quia subscription to all of Luther, just the Book of Concord Luther; not to all of Chemnitz, just the Formula of Concord Chemnitz; not to all of Augustine, who planted the seeds of Purgatory, but to those passages cited in the Book of Concord.

WELS and Missouri suffer terribly from their compulsion to defend their founders as infallible. They even deify the next generation, whether August or Franz Pieper. WELS and Missouri are more encased in the mummy-shrouds of infallibility than the papacy.

The results are in - the old Synodical Conference has yet to denounce and repudiate the Church Growth Movement. Instead, they continue to protect and promote the worst of the CG leaders.

That is the payoff for synodical infallibility, and a measure of God's wrath in punishing the Lutherans for their slatternly ways.

PS - I should mention that Joe Krohn enthuses about CG with Church and Change, like his pal Don Patterson, but distances himself from CG, like Don Patterson. However, Joe started the Rock N Roll blog to defend Doebler's Rock N Roll Church.

Joe defends his UOJ position with the dictionary, the 67th book of the Bible.

I Cannot Print the Headline This Information Requires

The ELCA has multiplied the popes.

Lutheran Core - No, not the lazy-bones in A-Town:

A Jan. 19 memo from ELCA Secretary David Swartling to synod bishops and vice presidents suggests that congregations could be disciplined and removed from the ELCA if they do not fully and financially support the churchwide organization.

“If it fails to live up to the commitments contained in the governing documents of this church, the congregation necessarily breaches the partnership relationships that are foundational in this church. It thus jeopardizes its standing on the roster of ELCA congregations,” Swartling states. “A congregation that repudiates its constitutional commitments to this church is subject to discipline.”

Some ELCA officials have said that congregations that choose the recipients of their giving beyond their congregation and have redirected some of their benevolence giving to ministries other than the ELCA churchwide organization are “withholding” financial support that the ELCA is entitled to receive. Congregations determine their budgets and the amounts to be sent for ministry beyond their congregation.

A January “Q & A” being used by several synods says, “Is it permissible for congregations to withhold mission support? No. Withholding mission support is unconstitutional and violates the governing documents of the church.”

The “Q & A” document also insists that a synod bishop is entitled to determine all aspects of a required consultation period between a congregation considering ending its ELCA affiliation and its synod bishop. “The bishop leads and is responsible for all aspects of the consultation. . . . The bishop determines how the consultation will be conducted, who participates, how many meetings or forums are necessary, whether mailings are sent, etc.” It also states that the bishop will involve ELCA lawyers in the process “to ensure legality and good order.”

Some bishops have required extensive consultation processes with congregations considering changing their church affiliation. They have approached the process in an adversarial fashion rather than in a pastoral and consultative manner seeking to help a congregation make the best decision given its realities.

***

GJ - You will have to figure out the headline. ELCA is busy re-certifying the clergy and congregations they mildly punished over being openly homosexual rather than covertly homosexual. They did not punish congregations in the Reconciling in Christ lobby, which advocated no standards at all. They punished the congregations that acted on the principles of the RIC network. To calm the waters of ELCA, the denomination highlighting the most damaging thing they have ever done in a convention.

On the other hand, they are using brass knuckles on the congregations re-directing their money. Hence, the imaginary headline, the difference between kissing and kicking. I dasn't say more.

I am pleased as punch, as VP Hubert Humphrey used to say. ELCA should enforce its actual standards instead of pretending to be nice and Evangelical. WELS and Missouri should take note - this is how to do real discipline.

ELCA's Mark Hanson and The Episcopal Church's Katy Jefferts-Schori should entwine their arms and jump into the lake of brimstone together, taking their denominations with them.

ELCA is still trying to say, "But only a few are leaving." The few leaving are the largest congregations everywhere, encouraged by two former ELCA bishops.

I hope John Brug and John Brenner will grow a pair, of spines, and begin tackling the Reformed doctrine taught with such Enthusiasm at the Sausage Factory. Pietism soon becomes Unitarianism, whether high church (ELCA) or low church (UCC).

It is never to late to trust the Word and study the Confessions.

The Anonymice Have Scattered

Typical Church and Changer - crying baby girl.

I started OpenID and shut down that silly box thing. Identifying the weird letters in the box stopped spam, but it was annoying. OpenID stops spam and scatters the mice. OpenID is the equivalent of turning on the lights and stomping one foot in a prep school kitchen. The vermin head for cover.

I used to get a stream of nasty, abusive comments on a daily basis. Their limited vocabulary, bad spelling, and crippled emotional development pointed to the same few people. They are gone now, those useful idiots who proved to the readers what Church and Change was really like. It is fairly sad when such people can only spell four-letter words correctly.

If someone is unable to express himself in good English, should we kneel at his feet and listen to his stumbling opinions? Funniest of all - these thugs are deeply hurt that I point out their bad spelling with (sic). That seems to be the wooden stake in their flinty hearts.

Why Friday Was Meredith Willson Day

 

My favorite musical is "The Music Man" because it reminds me of my hometown area. I grew up on the border of Illinois and Iowa, and many of my relatives lived in Iowa.

Meredith Willson grew up in Mason City, Iowa, and he created this musical as a tribute to the people he knew. Many characters and names are from Mason City. The song "Lyda Rose" includes the name of his favorite aunt Lyda and his mother (Rose). In the musical, Lyda Rose hailed from Moline.

Willson, played the flute, like me, but much better than I. He joined Sousa's band and played in Toscanini's New York Philharmonic. He was far more than a song writer, composing symphonies and leading orchestras in Hollywood for the music industry. 

Willson's big moment in TV history was a flop, so he had the time to write his first musical, which went through 32 revisions before opening as a smash hit. Robert Preston created the character of Harold Hill, whose real name was Greg, on stage and on film, making any other interpretation seem amateurish.

In small town America, which still exists, people trust each other and help each other out. Recently my car went belly up at a Shell after an earlier jump start and a quick fix at a Goodyear store. A man stopping at the gas station drove us to his house, grabbed his tools, drafted his son, and drove back with us to diagnose and fix the battery. They installed it faster than AutoZone could check me out. He zoomed away in his truck, stopped, jumped out and came back. "Pray for me. I am starting a new business." 

Moline was like that. I developed a flat at midnight, working at Melo Cream. The Shell station across the street was closed and I was a new driver. One customer came out, changed the tire in a few minutes, and was back drinking coffee at the counter. He was uncomfortable about being thanked.

I am having a great time blogging about Moline. I keep looking up websites and pictures, learning more about those memories, hearing from classmates about their similar experiences. 

I remember two Moline girls who were good friends in the flute section in Moline. One is follower on the Moline blog now. The other one lives in...Mason City. They recently got in contact on Facebook.

By coincidence my wife Chris was a librarian in South Bend, and later went to library school in Columbus. I often called her Marian the Librarian. She went to my family reunion in Iowa once, and we laughed about how the musical described them all so well:

Iowa Stubborn

Townspeople:

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all.
There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.
We can be cold
As our falling thermometers in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so gosh darn stubborn
We could stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But what the heck, you're welcome,
Join us at the picnic.
You can eat your fill
Of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.
Provided you are contrary,
We can be cold
As our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so gosh darn stubborn
We can stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But we'll give you our shirt
And a back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die.

Farmer:
So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.

Farmer and Wife:
Even though we may not ever mention it again.

Townspeople:
You really ought to give Iowa
Hawkeye Iowa
Dubuque, Des
Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown,
Mason City, Keokuk, Ames,
Clear Lake
Ought to give Iowa a try!

I read some blog and Facebook comments about Moline Memories to my wife the other day. She said wistfully, "You Moliners really stick together."

A Better Facebook Group To Join Than Party in the MLC

Reverence Isn't An Adiaphoron: 

Lutherans Against Liturgical Tomfoolery

 

Clowns should not carry bottled water,
according to Willow Creek liturgical standards.

1. No liturgical karaoke.
2. No coffee during Divine Service
3. No clowns.
4. No text messaging
5. No testimonials.
6. No Pietistic ditties.
7. No rock bands.
8. No "call to worship"
9. No altar calls
10. No praise chicks
11. No Dr. Phil commentary

***

GJ - And people call me harsh?

From Banjo Boy - By and About Meredith Willson

"The showstopper tune from the new musical "Banjo Boy" about the youthful adventures of Meredith Willson (www.banjoboy.net). In 1928, young Meredith Willson (played by Jonathan Sill) is advised by a 20-something Louis Armstrong (played by Derrick Mitchell) about why music is so important in people's lives."

NEW MEREDITH WILLSON BIOGRAPHY

Bill Oates has just published the definitive biography of Meredith Willson, "Meredith Willson: America's Music Man". Released in November of 2005, it is chock full of new stories and insights about Meredith Willson. It's a comprehensive look at Meredith's life as a musician, in radio and in scoring motion pictures, his appearances on TV quiz shows, as well as covering his creation of "The Music Man", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Here's Love" and "1491".

It is available from www.amazon.com, www.bn.com, from www.authorhouse.com and from www.iowabook.com.

Another Meredith Willson Song

The Music Man (Meredith Willson) Wrote This Song

"Meredith Willson (Musical Director for "The Big Show") wrote "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" for Tallulah Bankhead to use at the close of her popular Radio Show. She later likened the song to a Hymn, and was always indebted to Meredith Willson for dedicating this song to her. What a charming and loving song for Tallulah Bankhead's radio program, "The Big Show". A shame this song could not be sung today, but how lucky for Tallulah Bankhead to have this personal dedication!"

WELS/ELS-ELCA Differences

Cardinal Walter Kasper, right, was guest preacher at a "Solemn Evening Vespers" service Oct. 1 at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Park Ridge. Seated, from left, is the Rev. Michael L. Burk, ELCA director for worship, and the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, both of Chicago. ELCA bishops from throughout the United States and Caribbean, ELCA vice presidents and ELCA seminary presidents attended the special event, held in recognition of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg, Germany. The Joint Declaration is a significant international theological agreement between Lutherans and Catholics. (Photo by Mike Watson, The Lutheran magazine) 

Archbishop Rembert Weakland: 'I am Gay' - Is he making the Catholic Church look bad?


The 82-year-old retired Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland has come out of the closet and announced to the world that he is gay. The former Archbishop was the head of the Milwaukee archdiocese seven years ago and stepped down after an scandal involving another man. In his upcoming memoir, he will express that he is gay. Source

***

ELCA-WELS-ELS Fellowship Differences Explained

GJ - The ELCA has made ecumenism with the Church of Rome a priority, holding joint religious exercises with Roman Catholic leaders and bragging about it.

Wisconsin Lutheran College featured Archbishop Weakland, pictured above, as a speaker at their college, along with some of his priests, and bragged about it, and then provided a cover story to deny it.

The Bethany Lutheran Seminary faculty marched in procession with a former Roman Catholic bishop, holding a religious dedication service where this Roman Catholic was the featured speaker. They bragged about it in the Mankato Free Press and later denied it. [Denouncing was not omitted. ELS Pastor Rolf Preus denounced me for discussing the well publicized facts.]

The Wisconsin Synod and the Little Sect on the Prairie have something called "fellowship principles." That means they posture about fellowship, preen themselves as they look down on ELCA's unionism, and lie about doing the same things as ELCA.

Nota bene: Paul Calvin Kelm will glide into his new job at Wisconsin Lutheran College, protected and promoted as before, even though he has repeatedly demonstrated a heartfelt pleasure and love for false doctrine. Doctrine divides the sheep from the goats. Kelm is sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that disunity according to his utmost power.

Will the Doctrinal Pussycats of Wisconsin do anything? No. Will Pope John the Malefactor, whose hobnailed boot is ever poised to strike a blow against doctrinal turpitude? No. Will the WELS/ELS boards of doctrine, who could only issue a milquetoast moratorium concerning women consecrating the elements of Holy Communion? No. Will the circuit pastors wield the Sword of the Spirit, the Word? No. Will the pastors and laity, unfettered by the unspoken rules of synod politics? No.

WELS is still determined to scatter and slaughter the flock. But your dollars will make all the difference in reaching the lost with the pure Word of God.

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Norman Teigen has left a new comment on your post "WELS/ELS-ELCA Differences":

Welll, GJ, you've fired a salvo of artillery pieces and I am not entirely sure that I know what the target is. In the military it's called time-on-target. That means that a whole bunch of artillery pieces in various locations are fired sequentially so that all of the shells will arrive at the same time on the same target. The effect is devastating.

I feel like someone who has just experienced such a time-on-target demonstration. I think that the post had something to do with Fellowship but my ears and ringing and my head is spinning and I cant figure out what you had in mind when you wrote.

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brett-meyer (http://brett-meyer.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "WELS/ELS-ELCA Differences":

Pastor Jackson wrote, "Will the Doctrinal Pussycats of Wisconsin do anything? No. Will Pope John the Malefactor, whose hobnailed boot is ever poised to strike a blow against doctrinal turpitude? No. Will the WELS/ELS boards of doctrine, who could only issue a milquetoast moratorium concerning women consecrating the elements of Holy Communion? No. Will the circuit pastors wield the Sword of the Spirit, the Word? No. Will the pastors and laity, unfettered by the unspoken rules of synod politics? No."

A fine piece of tragic poetry. But I can hear the wailing and crying now...wait...what are they saying?...Ah, yes. They are upset because you left out an important, in fact the most important, line: In the end they all had a heart for Christ. And lived happily ever after.

Revelations 18:2-3, "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."

***

GJ - I will translate for Norman. He mentioned Time on Target, which is tool America used to defeat the Germans in WWII. The Germans would get a counter-attack ready and we would lob so many artillery shells on them that they could not even start.

Many people in leadership positions do not appreciate the increasing level of disgust in their own synods.

The old Synodical Conference partners (LCMS, WELS, ELS) still emphasize their opposition to unionism. That was the start of the LCMS, the awakening of the Wisconsin Synod, and the birth of the ELS.

Put very simply, one does not engage in religious exercises with those of another confession, especially the extreme apostates, represented today by the Roman Catholics and ELCA.

In fact, the Left Foot of Fellowship is reserved only for those who question the infallibility of Holy Mother Synod. The old Synodical Conference partners are bedfellows with Rome, Fuller Creek, and a business called Thrivent. They are not even secretive about it. They brag about it, promote those who share their doctrinal perversions, and knock only those who peak from their rabbit-warrens and say, "Izat right, what we're doing here?"

I could add the micro-mini sects to this list, who are no different.

LCMS Former District VP Indicted for Child Porn

LCMS Pastor and former District VP Andrew Spallek,
Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, Missouri,
Where Floyd Luther Stolzenburg used to counsel
young women and wives.


02.10.2010 10:34 am
Former Lutheran pastor admits child porn

By Robert Patrick

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Andrew Spallek, the former pastor of Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography possession charge Wednesday and admitted possessing 13 images of children engaged in sex acts.

Spallek, 49, of Florissant, resigned as pastor on Sept. 23, citing “personal reasons.” He was indicted the next day in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on two child porn charges.

He faces roughly three to four years in prison when sentenced in May.

Spallek was snared by an international child pornography investigation after he was identified as a member of an online bulletin board used to share child porn.

Defense lawyer Matt Radefeld said in October that there were no allegations that Spallek produced child porn or was involved in any improprieties with church members or children.

Spallek held various official positions with the Missouri District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, including as a vice president in a term that ended in June, but has not held any positions since that time.

---

Published in the Concordia Journal.

Elected District VP.

Family Shield Ministries.

***

GJ - Relax, Rev. Spallek. Salem Lutheran Church, LCMS, Black Jack is a regular launching path for clergy careers. Stolzenburg was kicked out of Salem, divorced by his wife, and yet came to Columbus, Ohio to be an expert for WELS in Church Growth, endorsed by DP Mueller, VP Kuske, and the trembling silence of the Michigan District clergy.

Kuske and Schumann gave Stolzenburg glowing references for his new gig at Emmanuel, and he is still there as pastor!

Meanwhile, Stolzenburg worked with ELS Pastors Roger Kovaciny, Jay Webber, and John Shep in building a new church in the Ukraine. Marvin Schwan's foundation matched gifts.
First the Wisconsin Synod and then the ELS gave credibility to a man who should have never been a lay leader, let alone a pastor.

Floyd told people he had "a Scriptural divorce," which may be while Schwan funds subsidized his posturing about world missions. Schwan also had a "Scriptural divorce," even though he divorced his wife to marry his division manager's wife - who also divorced.

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Sent in by reader:

From the Real Brett Meyer

The Real Martin Chemnitz

brett-meyer (http://brett-meyer.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Basic Tenets of UOJ Denied":

For those in the Lutheran churches who are orthodox Lutherans by holding a quia subscription to the Confessions here is a continuation of the quote above which declares the righteousness of faith and rejects the false gospel of UOJ and it's perversion of the Holy Spirit's faith given to and strengthened in men through the Means of Grace:

10] These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. 11] This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the father, and are eternally saved. 12] Therefore it is considered and understood to be the same thing when Paul says that we are justified by faith, Rom. 3, 28, or that faith is counted to us for righteousness, Rom. 4, 5, and when he says that we are made righteous by the obedience of One, Rom. 5, 19, or that by the righteousness of One justification of faith came to all men, Rom. 5, 18. 13] For faith justifies, not for this cause and reason that it is so good a work and so fair a virtue, but because it lays hold of and accepts the merit of Christ in the promise of the holy Gospel; for this must be applied and appropriated to us by faith, if we are to be justified thereby. 14] Therefore the righteousness which is imputed to faith or to the believer out of pure grace is the obedience, suffering, and resurrection of Christ, since He has made satisfaction for us to the Law, and paid for [expiated] our sins. 15]

For since Christ is not man alone, but God and man in one undivided person, He was as little subject to the Law, because He is the Lord of the Law, as He had to suffer and die as far as His person is concerned. For this reason, then, His obedience, not only in suffering and dying, but also in this, that He in our stead was voluntarily made under the Law, and fulfilled it by this obedience, is imputed to us for righteousness, so that, on account of this complete obedience, which He rendered His heavenly Father for us, by doing and suffering, in living and dying, God forgives our sins, regards us as godly and righteous, and eternally saves us. 16] This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God sonship, and heirship of eternal life.

17] Accordingly, the word justify here means to declare righteous and free from sins, and to absolve one from eternal punishment for the sake of Christ's righteousness, which is imputed by God to faith, Phil. 3, 9. For this use and understanding of this word is common in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Prov. 17, 15: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Is. 5, 23: Woe unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Rom. 8, 33: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, that is, absolves from sins and acquits.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php

The Real Story Behind the Shut-down of WELS Perish Services

The WELS Tones sing,
Hymns to Hum

Paul Calvin Kelm had a great idea about introducing Contemporary Charismatic Music to WELS congregations.

"Wally has a great voice and Ron has good legs. We'll get another guy from the drama department at DMLC. With bouffant wigs and the right make-up, we can sneak CCM into WELS."

Ron warmed to the idea, faster than Paul expected. "We will make a record and use fake names. No one will know!"

No one told Ron that vinyl was out, so the Love Shack was stuck with a zillion albums like the one above.

"It doesn't matter. It was an insurance grant. If we didn't spend the money, the evil Missouri Synod would have spent it."

WELS issued a statement later, saying, "No records were made. If any records were made, they were in accordance with the Scriptures and the Confessions. Anyone who denies this is violating the Eighth Commandment and Matthew 18."

***

GJ - Seriously folks. I have confirmed that Kelm and Stroh went fishing for funds at WELS Kingdom Workers.

"There was probably no single program more polarizing among the WELS ministerium than that of Perish Assistance."

Moreover, Kingdom Workers would not have gone around asking to revive something just shut down by the synod convention.

This is another pathetic attempt to pull a stunt, cover it up, and call the truth-tellers liars.

In other words, Church and Changer Modus Operandi.

Stop Hiding Behind That Asteroid

One of the Shrinker fans has honored Brett Meyer by writing fake posts in his name. That is the only way to tell when the WELS false teachers have figured out the score. They cannot engage in a doctrinal discussion, so they engage in sneak attacks.

Surprise - the overnight comments dropped almost to nothing, because I set up Open ID.

Here is one way to get an ID to use:

Just go here to get an OpenID:
https://www.myopenid.com/

"Your OpenID URL is how sites that accept OpenID know you. You can use your name or anything that you want to be known by."

The comments will still come to me first, via email.

Many bloggers turn off comments because they get tired of the anonymous, destructive, childish comments that flow in. The anti-anti-CG and anti-anti-UOJ bloggers cannot keep up with this site, so they try to hitch a free ride in an attempt to have an audience larger than their family reunion.

Registered Users Only

 

Bride of Church Growth

Someone is posting as Brett Meyer, just as someone placed a comment on Bailing Water using my name. I have seen some cowardly, dishonest behavior before, but that is a new low.

From now on, only registered users will be able to comment. As I understand it, someone can establish an identity and remain anonymous. However, each identity will be distinct, to prevent Shrinkers from stealing bandwidth and pixels.

Here is where you can get an OpenID or to find out you already have one:


http://openid.net/get-an-openid/

I know many have used a Blogger profile which will not give them away. I know how touchy those Schwaermer are - always eager to swarm and sting someone who threatens the hive.

Basic Tenets of UOJ Denied

They multiply at the Sausage Factory, Mequon.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Built of Straw (Stroh)":


I agree whole-heartedly that sound doctrine is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the word, and not deduced by logic. Either one of us grossly misreads scripture or you misunderstand the teaching of objective justification. No pastor or teacher I have ever learned from has taught that we are justified without believing. What is taught is that Christ died once for all and that when an individual comes to saving faith he possesses the security of salvation. Faith does not justify a believer, but faith is the means through which Christ's righteousness is attributed to him in the eyes of God. Faith is the organ which receives the benefits of Christ's sacrifice. Faith in and of itself does nothing. The object of my faith, namely Christ, does everything.

***

GJ - The readership cannot depend on what an anonymous writer claims. I have to rely on the published false doctrine of WELS, Missouri, the ELS, and the micro-sects. They all teach that the entire world has been justified, declared forgiven, without faith. That is the essence of Universal Objective Justification. The UOJ opinion--which is not Christian doctrine--is Enthusiasm, just like Receptionism and Church Growth.

Notice how the Walther Pietism wing has engaged in aggressive persecution by promoting UOJ, Church Growth, and Receptionism.

As Robert Preus.1 said in 1987 or so, UOJ is not the Atonement. Robert Preus.2 affirmed that there is no justification apart from faith, no forgiveness apart from faith.

People defend UOJ by immediately attacking faith. They should read the faith chapter, Romans 4, and its climax in Romans 5:1-2.

The purpose of John's Gospel is to create faith through the power of the Word.

KJV John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

The wrath of God remains on those who do not believe:

KJV John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Basic Tenets of UOJ Denied":

GJ- do you agree or disagree with anonymous? All you have stated is that you accuse based on "official" published documents of poorly-worded explanations of UOJ. What say ye to Anonoymous?

***

GJ - I have written a book, which makes UOJ and CG Stormtroopers foam at the mouth. And I put my name on it too. I do not have to sneak around posting anonymously. That says a lot about the UOJ-Shrinker crowd.

Stay tuned for the next books or articles on this topic.

Built of Straw (Stroh)

Church Growth is a foundation built of Elton Stroh.

SCH 1 Corinthians 3:12 Wenn aber jemand auf diesen Grund Gold, Silber, kostbare Steine, Holz, Heu, Stroh baut,
13 so wird eines jeden Werk offenbar werden; der Tag wird es klar machen,
weil es durchs Feuer offenbar wird.
Und welcher Art eines jeden Werk ist, wird das Feuer erproben.
14 Wird jemandes Werk, das er darauf gebaut hat,
bleiben, so wird er Lohn empfangen;

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Elderly Pastor Accepts Call to Wisconsin Lutheran ...":

December 2009 Foward IN Christ:

"The Conference of Presidents eliminated the positions of Pastor Paul Kelm, Parish Assistant consultant, and Pastor Elton Stroh, Parish Assistance administrator, because the Parish Assistance program has been discontinued."

Yes, this is old news, especially to the people on this blog. However, for folks who do not follow these things, they would have no idea that eliminated and discontinued actually means, "We KICKED them to the CURB!"

"A newly appointed committee will bring recommendations to the Conference of Presidents in April 2010 outlining the scope and function of a replacement to Parish Assitance, which may include its own commission with its own director."

I have a suggestion, if that WLC gig doesn't work out for Kelm, he can be the new director. Something tells me Kelm will NOT be on the top of that call list. SP Schroeder should make a recommendation.

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

***

GJ - I am told that Paul Calvin Kelm and Elton Stroh (German for straw) approached the WELS Kingdom Workers so they could raise Perish Services from the dead, or scrape it off the curb, to use the Church Lady's metaphor.

The COP nixed the idea.

When the Shrinkers ran the conventions, everything passed by the assembly had to be obeyed as canon law, no matter how anti-Biblical it was. They even had to merge the colleges, even though the voting results were flipped. Now that WELS is voting more sensibly, the convention must be ignored and disobeyed, because Kelm, Stroh, and WLC answer to a Higher Power - their Father Below.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Built of Straw (Stroh)":

Oh, so it is okay for you to make fun of the names of other people, but no one is to make fun of yours?

***

GJ - I was not making fun of Stroh's name, only making a point about Perish Services being built upon straw - false doctrine. The Biblical citation is clear. I left it in German so the Mequon graduates would not be able to read it.

The anonymous comment came in from Mankato, doubtless during computer lab at BLC.

Professor Weisacre: "Today's lesson is direct from the governing board. If you must make smart-aleck remarks on a blog, keep them anonymous. You do know the IP address can be traced back? You don't?"

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Built of Straw (Stroh)":

The men did not contact Kingdom Workers. Kingdom Workers contacted the synod first but most people externally and internally did not see a good fit nor the right leadership at KW to help.

***

GJ - Someone sent me the rumor. I was not sure it was true. Now that it is officially denied, we know it is true that Kelm and Stroh went to Kingdom Workers to reinflate their positions.

I also heard that Kingdom Workers dis-invited Jeske to their conference. That was their idea and it came from the laity.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Built of Straw (Stroh)":

Well, then by your logic you have proven the truth of Universal Objective Justification because you deny it.

"Now that it is officially denied, we know it is true..." -GJ

***

GJ - Now I know I am dealing with someone trained by WELS. I mean trained the way seals are trained to clap their flippers and bark for more fish. There is a wee bit of difference between denying a fact--typical for WELS Shrinkers--and rejecting false doctrine. Sound doctrine is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Word, not deduced by logic.

The Shrinkers denied they hired Stetzer for the Church and Change conference. The Conference of Pussycats had already discussed it. I traced the invitation to Stetzer's own blog, twitter, and official schedule, all naming WELS Church and Change. The Shrinkers still denied it, calling their Babtist friend Stetzer a liar. Eventually the COP got them to dis-invite Stetzer.

Ditto the covert hiring of Paul Calvin Kelm as a Perish Assistant.

Elderly Pastor Accepts Call to Wisconsin Lutheran Reformed College

Someone was needed to relate to the mature students.

------------------------ C A L L S - A C C E P T E D -----------------------
Kelm, Paul Calvin, DMin - WLC - Milwaukee WI - 02/05/2010 - Campus Pastor

------------------------ C A L L S - D E C L I N E D -----------------------

Shevey, Rev Wayne A - St Peter - Appleton WI - 02/07/2010 - Associate Pastor

***

GJ - Kelm, aged 65, turned down the Social Security call at Beautiful Savior, Green Bay, to create cell groups at WLC. And yet, he still has a home in Green Bay and a wife working full-time at Parlow's church. Green Bay is only 118 miles away, so he might commute.

I am sure he will perpetuate the fraud that he has an earned doctorate when a drive-by DMin is only an STM - at best. Have WELS members noticed how the Shrinker fraternity is loaded up with Schwaermer DMins - Steve Witte, Paul Kelm, Larry Olson, John Parlow, etc? The home and world missions people all shuffled off to Fuller, Willow Creek, and Trinity for training.

The WLC board, bottom-heavy with CrossWalk members, wanted for their second Shrinker chaplain:
1. Jeff Gunn.
2. Ski's pal Buske.
3. Paul Kelm.

I am sure some students trembled at the thought of Kelm turning down the job and Ski getting the call. Effectual prayers?

I don't know Wayne Shevey, but he would have to be a Fuller DMIN - yes, that studip - to accept a call to the Ski/Glende sandbox. This paves the way for Ski to be called when others turn down St. Peter Freedom - more often that the sheets at a cheap motel.

Meanwhile, Steve Witte, DMin, is visiting the area again, making presentations at various churches, including Beautiful Savior, where he was last.

Meanwhile, Deputy Doug is watching carefully that no false doctrine them beguile.

The entrance to the Schwan Library

was recently made wheelchair accessible,

just in time.

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Anonymous Church and Changer has left a new comment on your post "Elderly Pastor Accepts Call to Wisconsin Lutheran ...":

This is best news I've heard in a long time! Paul Kelm will be a great addition to WLC.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Elderly Pastor Accepts Call to Wisconsin Lutheran ...":

Not bad for someone who excels at copying and pasting. I hope he does not teach ethics at WLC.



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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Elderly Pastor Accepts Call to Wisconsin Lutheran ...":

The picture of the building with the wheelchair ramp is not that of the Schwan Library.


***

GJ - Maybe it is the Larry Olson Institute for Church Growth.


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"Upside-down evangelism follows the path of least resistance to the God of gracious acceptance."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"It's just easier for many people to work backwards from the subjective to the objective in their thinking. In fact, upside-down evangelism may start with gospel and work back to law, stating the solution as a prelude to the problem and clarifying both at the cross." [This is Moravian Pietism, as shown by Walther's Law and Gospel.]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism doesn't begin with personal sin and guilt, but rather with the consequences of sin. Societal consequences (for which each day's newspaper provides evidence) are the 'perceived need' door to understanding the alienation of life and people from God."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism may begin with different diagnostic questions. What do you want out of life? lets the other person pick the path for witness. How do you feel about where our society is heading? uncovers fears and needs without becoming too personal. What makes people happy (or unhappy) do you think? allows someone to express preceived [sic] needs in the third person."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Evangelism upside-down is starting with the subjective issues of perceived reality and working back to God's objective truths of ultimate reality - sin and grace. It's offering the attendant blessings of salvation as the 'hook' to gain an audience for God's plan of salvation." [felt needs used to sell the Gospel]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 4.

Church and Change Knows This - That Is Why Ski, Glende, and Parlow Head for the Babtist Drive Worship Conferences

Obvious PhotoShop: Babtists Stanley and Groeschel have better things to do than pose with Ski.
One clue - the CORE worm logos that I use.

From What Sasse Said

Confession & Liturgy

Confession and liturgy belong inseparably together if the church is to be healthy. Liturgy is prayed dogma; dogma is the doctrinal content of the liturgy. The placement of liturgy above dogma, for which one hears calls in the liturgical movements of all confessions with the well-known saying "lex orandi lex credendi"..., has been opposed in the Roman Church by the present Pope Pius XII] in his encyclical "Mediator Dei", in which he points out that one can also turn this saying around and that in all circumstances dogma should be the norm for the liturgy. If that is already known in Rome, how much more should it be known in the church that makes...the right understanding of the Gospel also the criterion for the liturgy.

Hermann Sasse, The Lutheran Understanding of the Consecration, in We Confess the Sacraments, trans N. Nagel, Concordia, 1985.

Sexagesima Sunday

The Sower, by Norm Boeckler

Sexagesima Sunday

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #190 Christ the Lord 1:52
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 339 All Hail the Power 1:57

Jesus Extols Faith

The Hymn # 308 Invited 1:63
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #46 On What Has Now Been Sown 1:62

2 Corinthians 11:19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. 21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool ) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. 6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

KJV Luke 8:4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Sexagesima Sunday
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, that through Thy Son Jesus Christ Thou hast sown Thy holy word among us: We pray that Thou wilt prepare our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may diligently and reverently hear Thy word, keep it in good hearts, and bring forth fruit with patience; and that we may not incline to sin, but subdue it by Thy power, and in all persecutions comfort ourselves with Thy grace and continual help, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Jesus Extols Faith

In His well known Parable of the Sower, Jesus described what must be done with the Word and praised faith in the recipients of the Gospel Promises.

As gardeners know, some seed is individually planted, because of its nature, while other seed is broadcast. Pumpkin and corn are large seeds, so they are planted individually. Grass, dill, lettuce, and spinach can be tossed where the seeds will be expected to grow.
Some use rye seed for a winter lawn in Phoenix. That is also broadcast.

Broadcasting seed will always means that a fair amount of seed meets an unhappy fate. This parable is relatively clear for those with some experience, but it had the added advantage of being explained by Jesus.

The final result is that we understand
· the need to broadcast, to sow the seed of the Gospel with abandon,
· the reasons for disappointment,
· the final results which give an abundant yield.

This parable extols faith because there is no room for measuring success on man’s part. The parable also encourages faith because God is glorified and the good results do come according to His will.

There are four parts to this parable, which begins in simple, plain words – a sower went out to sow.

5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.

Here are the four parts, which are not meant to suggest 25% of the seed in each case:
1. Some fell along the path, where the birds ate it.
2. Some fell on a rock, germinated, and withered.
3. Some fell among thorns and was choked by the weeds.
4. Some fell on good soil and grew up, yielding 100-fold.

Three parts deal with the loss of faith. Jesus gives us three causes.

Fell along the path and devoured.
Where people walk, the soil is hardened and becomes relatively infertile. The garden or farming plots were divided by pathways in Jesus’ day, so those pathways would be the places where seed fell and could not germinate. Birds are opportunist and they love human workers. A gardener is going to drop seed to eat or turn over soil and expose bugs and worms.

Birds quickly learn where their extra meals come from. Once I bought garbage bags of popcorn which could not be sold at community function. Soon after we had a heavy snowfall, so every day I took one of the bags out the garage and spread popcorn all over the area where birds liked to roost, among the pine trees and the branches I left on the ground for them. They got so used to daily feasts that they had a chorus of contented bird noises every time I came toward that area with the bag.

Likewise I could hear them talking when I got my shovel out in the spring and started to turn over soil. If I found a white grub in the soil, I put the wiggling white body out on a tree stump for a protein meal. The birds stayed to tend the garden, eating bugs and weed seeds. Starlings prowled the rows each day, often flipping a piece of leaf to get the bug underneath.

This part of the parable addresses those people who have the Word but it does not germinate in their hardened hearts. As Luther wrote about this sermon, these are the great and wise people of the church, the most holy people (by appearances). Mother Theresa is often used as an example of saintliness but she confessed that she never had a moment’s comfort from the Gospel her entire life. The most faithful Roman Catholic does not really hear the Gospel of grace but a system of laws, a series of threats, and the cold comfort of centuries in Purgatory to continue paying for the sins that Christ died to erase.

Seed needs a place to grow, to send down roots for moisture and food. I found canisters of seed in the church in New Ulm. They were so old that they finally died. We poured them on the ground and the animals refused to touch them. An indication of their age was a dead bat residing among the jars. He too must have given up hope after so much neglect.

Likewise, the great theologians of the church are often the same people who use their great learning to destroy faith because the Word has never found a lodging place in their hearts. Birds (Satan in Mark and Matthew) have stolen it away and their work belongs to him.

As Luther said, they have a carnal nature. Their use of the Gospel is to feed their bellies and provide luxury rather than the cross.

The solution is to provide the Law, which is a hammer to pound our hardened hearts, to prepare us to receive the Gospel. Many complain about a blog devoted to attacking apostasy, which is the teaching of the Law. Apostates do not want the First Table of the Law condemning their opinions and hardness of heart. They want to be praised as great saints, as saintly theologians, as pillars of the church. Some want to be identified with the church because it gives their illegal, fraudulent, or criminal activities the patina of righteousness and a gaggle of reverends to defend them. If challenged for poisoning thousands of people with salmonella, or selling them homes that sink into mire, they say, “Look at all the good I have done for Christianity. Tell em Rev. Tell em what I have done of my own free will.” That would be gold-ly contrition rather than godly contrition.

A heretic with millions is a hero, and one with a billion is praised into heaven, before and after his death. But we should always apply each category to ourselves as well. As the season of Lent approaches, we are constantly reminded of the need for repentance, involving both godly contrition and faith in the Gospel Promises.

Some fell on a rock, germinated, and withered.

This may seem wrong, but seed can germinate with moisture alone. On a rock, soil and dust can accumulate, enough to form a paste where seed can start to grow. I had a stump of wood on concrete. Underneath, without any effort, a group of earthworms took up their abode. They had the soil and shelter they needed for their creature comforts.

Seed is alive by nature (God’s Creation, God’s design), so it is always ready to pitch its tent anywhere. Gutters are full of hopeful trees every spring. Cracks in the sidewalk shelter various weeds and even an herb called dandelion (despised for its lust for life).


The Gospel seed never dies but always accomplishes its purpose. It either hardens or converts, blinds or enlightens. It is foolish to say, “I don’t see any effect,” although there is some honesty there. We do not always see the effect, but the effect is there. To say otherwise is a statement against God, blasphemy. His Word is always effective. Offer the Law and the Gospel to false missionaries and they will storm from the house yelling, even using foul language. That is an effect, and God knows how He will use it in time.

One man left the Mormon church for the Christian faith. His wife disowned him and kicked him out. That was an effect. But there was another effect. He left books around the house. She read them and became converted to the Gospel herself. She welcomed him back. His experience was cruel and harsh, but that is the cross. God uses the cross, so that experience became a little book to encourage others.

This part of the parable is about those who begin with a sincere faith in Christ. They know the Gospel in its truth, but they shrivel as soon as persecutions or hardships arise. They become deeply resentful about the Gospel as soon as they reject it.

Some of the great haters of the Christian faith are those people who first believed in the Gospel. I have heard them explain their change, from not having a given prayer answered how and when they wanted, from having a loss in the family.

Some fell among thorns and was choked by the weeds.

Here the Gospel seed was choked by the cares and riches of the world. This is a common problem today. The two-income family has made Sunday more of a recovery time or a replacement for Saturday sports tournaments. As the only totally free morning left in the week, it is the excuse for neglect of the Gospel.

But there are other ways. One can be surrounded by the trappings of religion while working against the Christian faith. J. P. Morgan used his vast wealth to take the Anglican leaders to conferences. Morgan paid for the tickets and went along on the train with the clergy, as a lay leader, taking his mistress.

I have to laugh or marvel when I see the staff of the great mainline denominations in the areas where they have prospered. The president of the Augustana Synod worked out of a roll-top desk in Rock Island. The Bishop of the Northern Illinois district has more staff than an Army general, and he is just as overbearing. Such luxuries have choked the Gospel, not sustained it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold…15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.


The Word has this great power, the divine power of the Holy Spirit, always at work. Those who hear the Gospel and “hold it fast” [keep it] will bring forth fruit in great abundance.

The abundance comes from God. Those with an honest and good heart recognize the Gospel Promises as the great treasure. They will no more let go of it than a famous donor would let go of a dividend coming to him.