Justification by Faith Essay - Introduction

Norma Boeckler design

Essay -
Justification by Faith:
Luther’s Doctrine versus the Universal Objective Justification of Pietism

By

Gregory L. Jackson, STM, MA, PhD
Bethany Lutheran Church
Bella Vista, Arkansas
Easter, 2010
Introduction – Justification by Faith: Luther’s Doctrine versus the Universal Objective Justification of Pietism

· The efficacy of the Word.
· Enthusiasm.
· Zwingli and Calvin.
· Pietism.
· Walther's Pietistic Easter absolution of the world.
· Justification by faith.

The current state of the Lutheran Church in North America constitutes proof that the visible expressions of the church have done more than lose their doctrinal heritage – they have consciously and persistently rejected it in favor of Enthusiasm, the source of all false doctrine.

This rejection has been the work of Lutheran Pietism, a curious amalgamation of Calvinistic doctrine and Lutheran identity, with Lutheran doctrine on the scaffold and Calvinism on the throne – and in the hangman’s role.

Some visible proofs of the victory of Pietism over Lutheran doctrine are:
Hatred of the Confessions.
Repudiation of Luther’s work.
Rejection of the historic liturgy and the Creeds.
Sermons replaced by coaching talks.
Cell groups.
Predominance of the Law, but chiefly man-made law, such as “You must be growing.”
Antinomianism, as if God’s Law is obsolete.
Silence about the efficacy of the Word.
Avoidance of the Means of Grace, or weak-kneed lip-service to this Biblical concept.
Receptionism in Holy Communion.
Tawdry gimmicks used in place of evangelism through the Word.
Obvious persecution of faithful pastors and shunning of faithful laity.
Promoting, defending, and rewarding false teachers.
Seminaries and colleges providing a tawdry Calvinistic education, with no one objecting.
District and synod officials in cahoots with the false teachers.
Feminist dogma leading to de facto women’s ordination.
Unionism with every possible sect.
Division, tension, hostility, polarization.
The silence of the shepherds and the slaughter of the lambs.

Luther identified justification by faith as the chief article of the Christian Church. This famous passage is often quoted just before the advocates of Universal Objective Justification (UOJ) launch an attack on Luther’s work and the Scripture itself. Not content with eviscerating their own heritage, they look into every possible place in the Book of Concord where they can conjure UOJ in place of the Word and against the Word.

Briefly stated, Universal Objective Justification is the claim—from Pietism—that God absolved the entire world of sin at the time of the crucifixion or, in one of their many contradictions, at the time of Christ’s resurrection. The UOJ advocates insist that every single person in the world enjoys the status of guilt-free saints, even if they never come to faith and suffer in the depths of Hell itself. This claim is palpable nonsense, and its animosity toward sound doctrine has grown with the years.

The American Lutheran expression of UOJ was copied from Pietism by C. F. W. Walther and promoted by his disciples. His efforts to dominate the 19th century Midwest resulted in the spread of this Enthusiasm. Students of church history will note that the Church Growth Movement is a tacky version of Calvinism, with dollops of mutual love exchanged between Church Growth and Pietism.

Some of the milestones of UOJ in the Lutheran Midwest are:
1. C. F. W. Walther’s work.
2. Franz Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics.
3. The Missouri Synod’s Brief Statement, seconded by WELS, the ELS, and the micro-mini sects.
4. J. P. Meyer’s Ministers of Christ.
5. The WELS Kokomo Statements, based on J. P. Meyer.
6. Sig Becker’s advocacy of the Kokomo Statements.
7. Herman Otten and Jack Cascione.
8. Robert Preus, when he was promoting Church Growth at Concordia, Ft. Wayne.
9. The LCMS statements on justification, dishonoring the Reformation, 1987.
10. Jon Buchholz reiterating the Easter absolution nonsense of Walther, at a WELS convention.

Opposition to UOJ has been expressed by:
1. LCMS Pastor Vernon Hartley.
2. Walter Maier II, LCMS seminary professor at Ft. Wayne.
3. Robert Preus’ last book Justification and Rome.
4. Thy Strong Word, 2000.
5. Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, second edition.
6. Brett Meyer and several anonymous laity who encouraged me to pursue this topic, the third rail of Midwestern Lutheranism.

God willing, I will address the major points of UOJ in time for the WELS Texas Enthusiasm Conference, April 19-20, this year. Not surprisingly, the same district is a hotbed for the worst of Church Growth excesses.

The initial essay should be long enough to appear as a booklet on Lulu.com, to be downloaded for free as a PDF, also as a file to download from http://www.gjlackson.com.
The essay should grow into a book with the same basic outline, but it is impossible to tell when it will be finished.

Morning Shock - Someone Defending Ichabod!

The sweatshirt is gone, but the image is fun to PhotoShop into my gradeschool picture.
I wore this sweatshirt at a WELS dedication.
WELS pastors were offended by the sweatshirt,
but not by Fuller doctrine.
NWC students begged to wear it.

I was thinking about blogging being a waste of time and energy when I saw this post linked on the left.

Most of my writing energy comes from receiving hostile and ignorant comments. I am endlessly amused that a coward has anonymously set up a blog to attack me--anonymously, of course--and engage in enough stupidity to prove he is WELS.

Freddy Finkelstein is correct about the point of polemical writing.

I do not consider myself the equivalent of anyone, certainly not at the level of the Reformation theologians. We are all pygmies in comparison. I do think we should be faithful to our outward confession of faith, without reservation, or else find and embrace another.

Freddy missed the reason for people objecting to polemical writing. They object with personal attacks because the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin, their sin of unbelief. Why else would Lutherans rage against Luther being quoted? How odd to say, "I am a Lutheran," and complain about Luther being quoted - while kneeling at the feet of Babtist Ed Stetzer.

Someone recently contacted me about the years Nils A. Dahl taught at Yale. He was my New Testament professor, world famous and admired in many countries. He held an endowed chair at Yale. Nevertheless, I found information about him impossible to discover, and I am fairly good at that. The websites of Yale did not yield anything about retired and dead professors - so quickly do they pass from memory. So I wondered why men will lie and dissemble so they can be the District Presidents of a tiny sect or professors at a shrinking seminary. If world famous scholars can pass from the scene so quickly, how much faster will we fade from memory? Sooner or later the bishop's hat will hang dusty on a hook and the academic robe will be tossed away by the grieving family.

KJV Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.

Nils Dahl, Buckingham Professor of New Testament at Yale, published in English, French, German, Swedish, and Norwegian.
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Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Morning Shock - Someone Defending Ichabod!":

Dr. Jackson writes: Freddy missed the reason for people objecting to polemical writing. They object with personal attacks because the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin, their sin of unbelief.

True enough. And I shouldn't have missed it, either. Last night, as I was searching URLs to lightly document some of the individuals and events I was describing, I bumped into a polemical work that was pivotal in our journey to Confessional Lutheranism, and recalled the process that Dr. Jackson describes as it worked in me and Mrs. Finkelstein.

I discovered Rev. J. V. Kimpel's polemical work, The Charismatic Movement in the Lutheran Church, on the website of the LMS-USA way back at a time when Mrs. Finkelstein and I were still confused about the charismata, the Means of Grace, and the role and work of the Holy Spirit. I was still an Evangelical when I read it, and it offended me. The language was quite direct -- in ALL CAPS in some places as if the author were SHOUTING (Christians are to be calm and and happy all the time, I had been taught, and are never to be so direct and confident -- after all, we might be the one's who are wrong). The author rejected false doctrine and false teachers (Christians are only supposed to accept in the name of Jesus, we had been taught -- we should never reject anyone and should be tolerant of how the Holy Spirit has led others into a unique perspective of His Word). Kimpel used Scripture like a weapon, not a cuddly pillow. I was disturbed and angered, but nonetheless drawn to it again and again. I checked his use of Scripture. I deciphered his reasoning. It was all sound in my judgment. But I didn't know what to do with that information -- I was afraid that it would destroy my wife's faith and Christian identity.

Eventually, as she and I discussed matters, it became clear that we were no longer tracking. I gave her the article, and said, "Read this, then we'll talk more." It took her a week to read, amidst anger and sobbing, and source checking. In the end, she came to the same conclusion I had: We'd been lied to since our childhood, by people who should have known better. Kimpel's use of Scripture and reason was not sophisticated, but straightforward, drawn from the plain meaning of the text. No deep exegesis to draw out a "true meaning" not directly reflected in the words themselves, and there was no need for intellectual gymnastics in order to agree with his reasoning. The truth was so plain, and so important, our pastors and elders should have understood themselves perfectly well what Kimpel was saying, and avoided the errors they and an entire generation had fallen into, and lead us to believe.

Polemic plays a vital role in the Church. Some folks are better at it than others, to be sure, but Lutherans have always been the best at it. We dare not lose our polemical skills, or let them fall into disuse.

Freddy Finkelstein

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L P has left a new comment on your post "Morning Shock - Someone Defending Ichabod!":

Well done to Freddie for the post.

re: Comparison with Flacius.

Although Dr Jackson maybe like Flacius in his tenacity, I have not seen him overstate his case unlike Flacius. One should be aware that Dr Jackson has a sense of humour. This is different from over stating the truth.

LPC

ClimateGate Just Got Funner - The Global Warming Fraud Continues To Implode

Last winter was colder than a WELS Friendship Sunday event.

Climategate: Faster and Faster, the Dominos Fall

With the revelation about the cherrypicked Russian stations (plus six other freshly, independently discovered problems), the real story of how we got here just took a shape.

December 17, 2009 - by Charlie Martin

The Climategate files were made public just a month ago, and the email messages that were revealed have already had real impact. The emails show us scientists being petty and political, even corrupt. Suppressing dissenting science and perhaps even violating the law to prevent data from being shared with the rest of the world. They show us people with failings, egos against egos. But the emails themselves aren’t enough to call the overall science of CO2-driven, human-caused climate change into question.

The Climategate emails, however, make up only five percent of the Climategate files. The other 95 percent, the programs and data and documents, are where the real story is hiding. That story has begun to come out, in several independent analyses of the data we have, using hints from the emails and from other files and raw data that is available from other sources.

A story is beginning to take shape. This story broke into the world media Wednesday. An article in RIA Novosti, the Russian state-owned news service, states:

On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) issued a report claiming that the Hadley Center for Climate Change based at the headquarters of the British Meteorological Office inExeter (Devon, England) had probably tampered with Russian-climate data.

The article reports that the IEA had taken a new look at the data used in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climatic Change (IPCC) reports. These reports, which became the basis for warnings of dramatic human-caused global warming that led to calls for extensive regulation and to the current climate change conference in Copenhagen, are based on world temperature estimates using measurements from thousands of reporting sites throughout the world.

Novosti reported that the data used for temperature measurements in Russia appeared to have been carefully chosen from the warmest reporting sites. If an average were taken over all Russian reporting sites, then there was little or no warming to report.

Using only the sites chosen for the IPCC reports, Russia instead showed significant warming, with a “hot spot” over Eastern Siberia.

This story turned out to fit neatly with some of the CRU emails. As Steve McIntyre discusses at Climate Audit, one email from Phil Jones to Michael Mann says:

Recently rejected two papers (one for JGR and for GRL) from people saying CRU has it wrong over Siberia. Went to town in both reviews, hopefully successfully. If either appears I will be very surprised, but you never know with GRL.

So here’s a puzzle. What papers is Jones referring to, and how did they claim CRU had it “wrong over Siberia”?

While the Novosti report has gotten the most attention, it’s not the only such report. The Climategate files forced the UK Meteorological Office to make at least part of their raw data available. One of the first was Willis Eschenbach, at Watts Up With That. Read the whole discussion and also Eschenbach’s answer to a critique published in the Economist for the details, but here is the “money shot”:

In this figure, the blue line is the raw data. The black line is the adjustments that had been applied to that data, and the red line is the result following the adjustments.

The next domino was a study by Dr. Richard Keen of the University of Colorado that was reported at the Air Vent blog. In it, Dr. Keen compares the raw data from the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) with data from the Global Climate historical network, the adjusted data as published in the IPCC report. Dr. Keen finds that the raw data does indeed show an upward trend of 0.69°C per century, which he believes is explained by the “Pacific Decadal Oscillator,” a well known long-term phenomenon.

The data used by the IPCC instead shows warming four times greater, 2.8°C per century, an adjustment of about 2°C.

Other such comparisons followed: Data from around Nashville; data collected in Antarctica, which, after adjustment, comes out to be from a single site near the ocean; data from the Baltic and Scandinavian countries; even in Central Park.

In all of these cases, there are mysterious, unexplained warming adjustments for the last part of the century.

It ought to be said that these adjustments don’t necessarily prove the data has been purposefully fudged. Handling this kind of large data set requires using statistical techniques to try and make the data consistent. (Dr. William M. Briggs, a Pajamas Media contributor, has a nice series starting here for people who want to read the technical details.) On the other hand, at some point we have to remember Goldfinger’s Law: Once is accident, twice coincidence, three times is enemy action. And the problem is, without the raw data, and without a clear explanation of the process by which the data has been adjusted — something that seems unlikely in light of the HARRY_READ_ME.txt file — there is no way to tell what the adjustments are based on. The CRU clique asks us to trust them, when the history in the Climategate emails doesn’t say much to encourage trust.

What can be said is this: We now have substantial evidence, from several independent sources, that the data used as the basis for the IPCC report has been adjusted in undocumented ways, and those adjustments account for nearly all the warming we are told has been caused by humans.

Until the data is re-examined, fully, openly, and transparently, it is impossible to conclude how much of a contribution to global climate change humans have made, or whether that contribution has been made by human-generated CO2. And without knowing that, attempts to “fix the problem,” through cap and trade or Copenhagen agreements, is misguided at best — and dangerous at worst.

From the Blog of Doom

Stan Olson is implementing the most destructive decisions
in ELCA's pathetic history.

Blog by

John Brooks

4/12/2010
ELCA Church Council adopts significant revisions to ministry policies

The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted a series of historic and sweeping revisions to ministry policy documents April 10, the result of months of extensive writing, comment and review by hundreds of leaders and members following the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the interim legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met in Chicago April 9-12. The next churchwide assembly is in Orlando, Fla., in August 2011.

The changes were called for by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, which directed that policy documents be revised to make it possible for eligible Lutherans in committed, publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and professional lay leaders. The assembly directed that revised policies recognize the convictions of those who believe the ELCA should not allow such service. The assembly also adopted a social statement on human sexuality.

The council adopted revisions to two documents that spell out the church's behavioral expectations of ELCA professional leaders — "Vision and Expectations: Ordained Ministers in the ELCA" and "Vision and Expectations: Associates in Ministry, Deaconesses and Diaconal Ministers in the ELCA." The council also adopted revisions to a document that specifies grounds for discipline of professional leaders, "Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline," and it adopted revisions to the "ELCA Candidacy Manual," used by regional committees to help guide candidates seeking to become professional leaders in the ELCA.

Council members asked few questions and commented briefly on each proposed document before approving them. Only minor editorial changes were proposed and adopted by the council. Each revised document was adopted overwhelmingly.

Keith A. Hunsinger, council member, Oak Harbor, Ohio, who said he does not agree with the sexuality decisions made in August 2009, announced April 11 that he had abstained on each vote on the documents. He explained that he didn't believe that the first drafts of the documents released last fall embodied the full range of decisions made at the 2009 assembly. "My conscience won't allow me to vote for any of these documents, but as a member of the board of directors, I can't vote against the will of the churchwide assembly," he told the ELCA News Service.

However, Hunsinger told the council that the final forms of each document reflected "the breadth and depth" of the decisions, including the fact that "we agreed to live under a big tent," and that multiple voices would be heard. "Because those documents now said that, I feel my ideas and I are still welcome in the ELCA," he said.

The revised policies are effective immediately, said David D. Swartling, ELCA secretary. Final revised text of each document will be posted to the ELCA Web site by the end of April, he said.

Following council approval of the policies, Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, expressed his appreciation to many, including the council and the Conference of Bishops for leading the revision process over the past few months. He also thanked Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education, the lead staff person working with church leaders and various constituencies through the revision process.

Olson thanked many others who have worked for changes in ministry policies through more than two decades of effort. "This is the work of many — hundreds, thousands of people who have reflected, thought and prayed. We are still a church that is tense over this, but we are Easter people, and I think we have done an Easter thing today," he told the council.

Prior to voting, Donald Main, Lancaster, Pa., chair of the ELCA Committee on Appeals, which led the effort to revise Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline, told the council that the document had not been revised since 1993. New sections address matters such as integrity, and substance abuse and addiction, he said.

The Committee on Appeals also "considered each and every word, constantly testing different language so as to be clear and concise as possible, and remain faithful to our charge and to the social statement and ministry policies recommended and adopted by our assembly," Main added.

The two Vision and Expectations documents and the Candidacy Manual are "tools in the service of God's mission through the ELCA, primarily to assist us in that work of calling forth and supporting faithful, wise and courageous leaders," Olson said. The Vision and Expectations documents were most recently revised in the early 1990s, and the Candidacy Manual was revised in the past few years, he said.

"We have not attempted to spell out every possible situation and to give definitive direction for every possible situation," he told the council. "There are broad principles in these documents, and there are guidelines with some details." Olson added the documents call for the ELCA to trust established processes and its leaders who have responsibility for oversight and decision-making.

"Our next step is to orient our staff and the candidacy committees," Olson said. A memo summarizing key policy revisions will be sent this week to help guide synod bishops, staff working with candidates for professional leadership, candidacy committee chairs, seminary presidents and selected staff, and applicants and candidates.

Olson added that the ELCA Vocation and Education program unit, the ELCA Office of the Secretary and others are responsible for monitoring the new policies, and suggesting further revisions and guidelines if necessary.

ELCA News Release - same, without links

ELM insights.

***

GJ - I was in the doctoral seminar at Yale with Stan Olson. We were also in the Greek exegesis of Thessalonians class. Stan and his wife attended Bethesda Lutheran (LCA) where I did some work. The son of Krister Stendahl (Harvard Divinity dean) also worked at Bethesda. LCA Secretary George Harkins' son also attended that church. Any given Sunday provided such luminaries as J. Pelikan, George Lindbeck, Nils Dahl, Paul Holmer, George Harkins, Henri Nouwen, Sydney Ahlstrom, plus a few more accomplished people, including the future bishop of that area. Our best friend earned two doctorates at Yale Medical and became quite famous in physiology, later teaching at Harvard.

The NT program at Yale was conservative, emphasizing the actual texts and the history of the period. We learned the modern theories, because the professors studied under all the famous scholars: Bultmann, Mowinkel, etc. However, the theories were held up to ridicule more than once.

Stan was a pleasant person to know but obviously ambitious. One of his stories concerned a church event where he was speaking to the ALC and LCA leaders. Someone he knew gasped that he was conversing with "the princes of the Church." He seemed impressed too. Growing up on an Iowa diary farm (official bio) and attending a now-closed college can make everything else look pretty impressive. I noticed WELS leaders had the same sense of awe when they attended joint meetings with ELCA.

Stan also worked toward joint communion with the Reformed, congratulating the ALC side for their apostasy, in effect confessing that the Real Presence was meaningless today.

I contend that one apostasy produces the next, worse one. No one seemed to notice the Confessions sold down the river, but the members and pastors bridled at lying prostrate before the Episcopal bishops. The Episcopal Church tends to be very Roman or Calvinistic, although some are more like Babtists. Big tent - good thing, eh?

Now ELCAns are fleeing the new Lavender Protocols being implemented by Stan Olson's division. ELCA recently fired 40+ staffers, due to income losses, but the view from the penthouse suite is still so inspiring and peaceful.

I am amused that the ELCA photographer picked up the expression, magnified above, for an official photograph. It was a huge file, so I could isolate the face without loss of detail. The caption was something like this: "Olson readies himself before speaking at the 2009 Assembly." He seemed to be glancing toward Bishop Mark Hanson, the clueless Presiding Bishop of ELCA.

I thought it unusual that a top leader in the high-church ELCA sect would wear a tie rather than a Roman collar.

LCMS Matt Harrison Website - It Is Time.org

Kieschnik's replacement, one can hope.

The website--http://itistime.org/--is dedicated to discussing the candidacy of Matt Harrison, who garnered more nomination votes the SP Kieschnick.

Here is another blog I linked.

Kieschnick has been a financial and doctrinal disaster for the Missouri Synod. His expertise seems to be limited to his skill in grabbing power and promoting bad ideas. His Ablaze! has been a Church Shrinkage program from the beginning:
1. Lots of hype.
2. Lots of money spent.
3. Bad results from toxic theology.

Yes, it sounds just like WELS' The CORE.

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Stephanie has left a new comment on your post "LCMS Matt Harrison Website - It Is Time.org":

Gregory L. Jackson,

I think you should get your facts straight. Ablaze is a great movement and one that has helped churches become more involved in missions than in the past years. I served as a missionary under Ablaze and have seen how the Holy Spirit has moved through the basic foundation of the movement: that of telling people around the world about Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

What about you? Where is your mission focus? Where is your support for our church body?

And, let's talk about your lack of support for the leaders of our church who do the best they can and try to follow God's will just like the rest of us. How dare you talk badly about our leaders, whether you like them or not, whether you agree with them or not. Maybe instead of tearing down our leaders, you should try supporting them once in awhile and acknowledging all they have done and still do for the church.
I am ashamed to know that you are part of the LCMS and ashamed that you would treat others like this. You are allowed your own opinions, but how dare you slander and sin against them by this.

GJ - I am not Missouri Synod. The facts may be scandalous but discussing them is not slander. False accusations are.

The convention voted Kieschnick out right away.

Bear Butte Conference

No, we need Bear Butte illustration.

Here is the link:

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Bear Butte Conference Assembly

Here's the news from the Bear Butte Conference Assembly which was held Saturday in Rapid City:

+ Three resolutions were approved asking for rescinding ELCA decisions on sexuality. Two of those were the same as the ones approved by Prairie Coteau (similar to the original from NE Iowa Synod). The third was the first of ELCA Secretary Swartling's model resolutions (as shared by the synod) asking for rescinding ministry policies actions. The resolutions were approved by a very solid majority vote (it was a ballot vote and the total was roughly two thirds).

+ A resolution asking for the synod to find ways to maintain whatever unity might be possible with those congregations that leave the ELCA was also approved.

+ The big news was the Bishop Zellmer announced that he plans to discipline any congregation (or individual?) that joins LCMC. This is truly big news because I think it's the first time an ELCA bishop has said this publicly. He did say that the hard-line approach is the result of conversations with the Conference of Bishops.

***

GJ - ELCA does not use discipline? In fact, several bishops are probably into bondage.

The brass knuckles and hob-nailed boots are hauled out only for those special people who adhere to the old ways.

ELCA is officially against bondage...this year.

April 12th - Great Locomotive Chase

Here is the link:

The chase is connected to the Medal of Honor.

Funny Typo: "What doe we poor muck-worms, maggots, stench and filth presume to boast?"

Future LCMS President Matt Harrison

I saw Matt Harrison's post on Facebook and wondered about the spelling in the headline. Sometimes an "e" is added in older English.

It read:

"What doe we poor muck-worms, maggots, stench and filth presume to boast?"

2 comments:

Gregory L. Jackson said...

What doe?

April 11, 2010 7:29 PM

Rev. Matt Harrison said...

Picky picky picky.

April 11, 2010 7:48 PM

---

His response was immediate and funny, too.

Missouri could use a jovial SP.

A Moving Song about Obama

The embed code did not work so try this link. <==DMins, left-click on the underlined part. That is called a hypertext link. I always link information, but the DMins, especially the Mequon graduates, have trouble finding the link. Part of my eleemosynary work is to make life a little easier for the Church Shrinkers.

Luther Reborn: Getting Feisty Too Late

Rogue Lutheran is a blog about LCMS apostasy.

I suggest following Rogue Lutheran to find out what is happening in the Missouri Synod. More on that in a moment.

The Lutheran News link is good for picking up everything out there. It is like wandering through a large library and finding new books without even trying.

Lately I have picked up a number of stories from people I have known (Wallace Schulz) or known about (Paul Hinlicky), not to mention those I went to school with (Stan Olson, ELCA executive).

Schulz was canned from Missouri's Lutheran Hour for opposing DP Benke's unionism. Schulz has always been known as the "chaplain of Christian News," but he was never one to back any conservative cause or pastor openly. He played it safe, like all his colleagues. He is now blasting the Quiche-niks, a bit late in life.

Paul Hinlickey is furious about ELCA, as I posted earlier. He is one of the Seminex graduates who veered toward the conservative side after a career in ELCA. The conservative side of ELCA is rapidly constricting. Like all other advocates of diversity, the ELCA bishop is getting rid of the opposition quickly.

Robert Benne is a respected academic on the Roanoke College faculty, proof of sanity in ELCA. However, he seems to be showing signs of shock that ELCA has finally accomplished what was planned in the beginning of the 1987 merger. The Lavender Mafia (in part, thanks to Seminex, see Hinlicky's bio) took control of the merger and established quotas from the beginning.

I knew an LCA pastor from Gay, Michigan. I offered to nominate him to fill the slot of a Gay Lutheran pastor. He was not amused.

The LCA insisted on quotas and got them. The actual legal votes on ELCA were managed by lawyers at the podium. The most liberal people I knew were "shocked, shocked" at this. And they are still there in ELCA today.

Wallace Schulz seems to have his own blog now. That would probably be a good link in following the campaign to unseat the current Synodical Pope. Matt Harrison seems to have a good number of nominations, showing broad support. I have no idea how that will translate into convention votes. Kieschnick, like Bohlmann, is good at using the apparatus of the synod to harvest votes, indeed to manufacture them.

Schulz has noticed, after 20 years of my published articles, that Lutherans promote the Babtists, but the Babtists do not tolerate baptismal regeneration. He actually restated, in so many words, my theory of the Non-Reciprocity of False Teachers. (I need a suitable Latin name for that.) As I mentioned so many times before, the so-called Lutherans promote Babtist doctrine while getting shunned and dissed in return. For copious examples, see all the WELS/LCMS/ELS evangelism efforts of the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, Schulz is weak in his exegesis, missing the correct translation of the Great Commission. He retains "make disciples," a Reformed pratfall, leading most people to think the disciples were commanded to manufacture something.

If we must use disciple for the verb, the proper translation is "Disciple all nations, baptizing and teaching..." The object of the verb is "all nations," and not "disciples."

The KJV is correct, and modern attempts have fouled up a perfectly clear, Means of Grace conclusion to Matthew's Gospel. Modern translators have turned a Gospel admonition into Mosaic Law, as they prostrate themselves before their Reformed gurus.

One CLC--sic--pastor went nuts at a meeting in quoting what I said on this, little knowing that I was quoting LI. That amused LI, as everyone might guess. When two WELS pastors also pointed this out, WELS got rid of both of them. The Michigan District is so firm on doctrinal discipline, in supporting the Reformed Pietists. The Shrinkers love their "make disciples," whether they are CLC, ELS, LCMS, or WELS false teachers.

KJV Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

I find the abundance of reborn Luthers rather tiresome in their sudden discovery of the apostasy that served them so well in the past. With their pension funds accumulated, they can now afford to distance themselves from Holy Mother Synod. They can retire and replay the image of grouchy old men, sitting on the front porch, threatening to shoot the kids who step on their lawns.

"Do you know who I used to be?" they will shout, waving their 22s.

Quasimodogeniti

"Unless you have the faith of a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom."
By Norma Boeckler.


Quasimodogeniti, The First Sunday after Easter


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Daylight Savings Time


The Hymn # 199 Jesus Christ is Risen 1:83
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 # 200 I Know that My Redeemer 1:80

Faith and the Holy Sacraments

The Communion Hymn # 187 Christ Is Arisen 1:45
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 # 195 (Luther) Christ Jesus 1:46

First Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, that of Thine ineffable grace, for the sake of Thy Son, Thou hast given us the holy gospel, and hast instituted the holy sacraments, that through the same we may have comfort and forgiveness of sin: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that we may heartily believe Thy word; and through the holy sacraments day by day establish our faith, until we at last obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

KJV John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 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.

Faith and the Holy Sacraments
These two lessons, the Epistle and the Gospel, teach us about faith and the Sacraments.

The perfect unity of the Scriptures is always visible in the texts, but sometimes it is so obvious that I wonder how people miss it.

Usually the Epistle and the Gospel go their separate ways and do not relate to each other directly. The historic texts--abandoned by the liberals for the Vatican A-B-C readings--are so old that no one can really explain the reasons behind some selections. Luther complained a little about some.

But tradition is the democracy of the dead and we have to respect that. Modern motives are more transparent.

The reading from the Gospel is obvious because it deal with Easter Sunday and its octave (one week later, but 8 days by Jewish reckoning).

The epistle is also by John, so the two readings naturally go together: the Gospel telling the story itself, the Epistle explaining the meaning of the Gospel.

The Epistle
Faith must be important for the disciple Jesus loved, John. The victory which overcomes the world is faith.

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Those who try to make faith into something man-centered are wrong. The meaning of the word in its Biblical context is most important.

As taught in John 3, we must be born “from above” (the Greek word has a double-meaning, primarily “from above” but also “born again.”) Born from above means being water-Spirit born, - baptized. God Himself plants this faith in our hearts - by the Word if we are converted by preaching as adults, by Holy Baptism if we are converted by the visible Word as babies. In both cases, the Holy Spirit works through the Word to convert unbelievers into believers.

This epistle lesson glorifies God by saying first – whatever is born of God overcomes the world. The disciple, in his Gospel and letters, emphasized the animosity of the world toward the believer. But this hatred is overcome something God-created: our faith.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God has that faith which overcomes the world.” (My paraphrase of the next verse.)

These are beautiful statements, revealed for us to comfort and encourage us. We can hardly imagine how much greater the animosity was toward the Christian faith in the apostolic era. The officially recognized religion of Judaism became opposed to Christianity because of the many converts won over from preaching in the synagogues.

At the same time, the Roman Empire persecuted the Christians for being a sect of the troublesome Jews. After the great Zealot revolt of 69 AD and the lesser known Bar Kochba revolt, about 50 years later, Jews were hated and feared in the Empire. Christians claimed to follow a Jewish leaders, so they were in the same category of political rebels.

These verses do not say that we overcome the world, but that God-created faith overcomes the world.

The Gospel
For an example of that faith – or the lack thereof – we have the John 20 passage, often called the Doubting Thomas story, just as this Sunday is often called Doubting Thomas Sunday, also “Dead Sunday” because ministers are on vacation and attendance is low.

This should be the highest attendance Sunday of all for Lutherans. This Gospel lesson defeats rationalism and reveals rationalism for what it is – poison.

By rationalism I mean subjecting the Bible to the limits of human reason. If something cannot be reasonable explained, then it is not true. For example, walking on water was a case of knowing where the sandbars were. That is an example rationalism being used to explain away a miracle.

The rationalism used against this passage is subtler, so it should be examined for what it is – and exposed.

The doors were locked for fear of the Jews, on Easter Sunday and this Sunday – both times. We know what many modern locks are like today, most of them poor excuses. Locked doors were much sturdier in Jesus’ time. Hewn lumber was placed across the door to prevent forced entry. Because the previous occupant was worried about an ex son-in-law, we have those and we also have chains for each of our doors.

Jesus appeared bodily, in spite of the locked doors.

Calvin, who founded the Presbyterians and influenced all the Protestant groups, including the Lutheran Pietists, explained Jesus’ appearance as coming through a secret entrance. That entrance was so secret that its existence was hidden from the apostle John (yet strangely revealed to Calvin 1600 years later).

That is a case of rationalism. Calvin did not believe that Jesus was able to be in that room bodily unless He had a secret entryway. Some other explanations are even more pathetic.

This explanation by Calvin reveals His faith in Christ – or lack of faith. Calvin imagined that Jesus’ divine nature was limited by His human nature. While God can be present everywhere, the Son of God is limited by His body with the scars still showing.

This same attitude is reflected in Calvin’s response to the Sacraments. He argued that Christ could not be bodily present in the element of Holy Communion. Calvin mocked the Real Presence in his Institutes, the most basic doctrinal documents of Calvinism.

Continuing the rationalism, Holy Communion could not forgive sins. Then what? It is an ordinance, a law commanded by God – to be a witness to faith in Christ. Some faith! “Given for the forgiveness of sin” – denied.

“This is My body. This is My blood.” – denied.

The room was locked – denied.

The Word is efficacious in Holy Communion – denied.

The Holy Spirit always works through the Word – denied.

What we believe about Christ is reflected in what we teach about Holy Communion. What we believe about Holy Communion is a reflection of our faith in Christ.

If Christ cannot enter a locked room, then He could not leave a sealed tomb. Therefore, we find Calvinistic paintings where the risen Lord seems to be escaping the tomb because angels have rolled away the stone lid (door) to the tomb. Thus the angels are more powerful than the Lord of Creation.

Rationalistic explanations have a corrosive effect on the Gospel itself. Soon the person who subjects the Gospel to his reason and experience will deny the divinity of Christ altogether. Many a young Calvinist turns into an old Unitarian.

The Pietists of today quickly turn into the social activists of tomorrow. Losing their trust in the Word, they trust in their ability to “redeem the world” by making it a better place. The environmentalists have discovered recycling, as if farmers did not do the same throughout time, especially in the Great Depression. Farmers did not save bailing wire and twine to save the planet. They just wanted to save their cash.

Faith
What does Jesus commend in people? Faith – child-like faith. No child has ever failed the doctrinal test about Jesus. All their answers are the same – “Because He is God.”

How did He walk on water?
How did He still the storm?
How did He raise the dead?
How did He turn water into wine?
How did He enter the locked room?

And I asked more than one child – Because He is God? What does that mean?

They all say, “God can do anything.”

That is the faith of a child, and it is a constant witness to adults.

The faith of a child does not emphasize self but glorifies God in the simplest possible words.

When I teach people about writing, I ask them to explain matters as they would to an 8-year-old child. I use that example because children know a lot at that age, but they remember their information with concrete examples.

The Bible is full of concrete examples so we can remember and trust in their message.

How can Jesus be present in Holy Communion?
He entered the locked room.
His two natures represent the finite body united with divine nature.

How can Jesus offer His body and blood to so many?
He fed the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish.

How can He forgive my sins with His Word?
He stilled the storm and turned water into wine.
He cured the sick and raised the dead with His Word.

Why is intellectual knowledge inadequate?
Jesus took children in His arms, blessed them and said, “Unless you have the faith of a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

Doubting Thomas – Rationalist
Thomas did not believe the Word of the apostles. He demanded physical proof of the resurrection.

He believed again when Jesus offered the proof earlier demanded. Thomas responded, not by the actual touching which he required before, but by giving his confession of faith, “My Lord and my God.”

Doubting Thomas was restored to faith by Christ and His Word. The disciples were given another chance to overcome their fear. According to tradition, Thomas traveled to India to preach the Gospel. History is never neat and tidy, but one province of India is Christian and they attribute their faith to Thomas. The church there is named after him.

Child-like Faith and Justification
Lawlessness is popular today, so much that it is often confused with the Gospel. The proper term is Antinomianism, which is hard enough to remember and to say on a good day. Lawlessness is an easy message, because everyone can do anything, because everything is already forgiven. Not surprisingly, a few years of lawlessness will turn people into atheistic do-gooders who imagine they can “redeem the world” and “make the world a better place” by their good intentions.

Justification by faith is that great mystery revealed by God in the Scriptures. It is the healing message for broken, contrite sinners. Those who have no concept of sin cannot understand it.

Feeling guilty is not the basis for being forgiven. There are many modern formulas for the old Catholic method of doing penance, as if doing penance earns forgiveness. The celebrity style today is to “accept responsibility” (as if we are not responsible) and to express a profound sense of sorrow, which seems to erupt only when someone is caught, videotaped, or arrested.

Some get misled into thinking that repentance means “change your ways,” as if man’s efforts earn forgiveness through good intentions, pledges, etc. The Greek word, so often battered by Greek 101 students, really means “regret” in its original state. But we have to translate in context rather than be mired down in the history of a word. (For instance, “neat” can mean tidy or it can be a positive response to some fact. A good pun would be – “I cleaned my room, finally.” The parent would say, “Neat!”)

The ancient Greeks knew all about regret, because they believed in an endless cycle of remorse from earlier deeds. They did not know about salvation through Christ until the Gospel was preached.
In the New Testament, that ancient word for regret came to mean – contrition for sin and faith in the Gospel.

One aspect of our human weakness is a lack of faith in forgiveness. People can believe in the articles of the Creed and yet think they are not forgiven by Christ. That is why so many helps are provided for us in the Scriptures.

Those who scoff at the Means of Grace fail to see how God builds up our faith in His Promises, through different means. Each one is called, by the Book of Concord, an instrument of God’s grace, a fine term to know and understand. Instrument may be a better, more concrete term that “means.”

Holy Communion is an individual participation in this forgiveness. We relive and remember the Last Supper of Christ, and in doing so, recall that He died for us sinners. We remember and re-enact that Last Supper while hearing the healing words of forgiveness. More than that, we participate as individuals so the words do not fly by our heads. Concentration on the Word is difficult, but when the Word is made visible in the Sacraments, that forgiveness is concrete and experienced. Christ is conveyed to us and we are conveyed to Him.

Similarly, when a child or adult is baptized, we remember the meaning of our own baptism.

Forgiveness and salvation do not depend on us but on God. He teaches us contrition with the Law and gives us forgiveness with the Gospel in many forms. Those forms include: the liturgy, the readings, the Creed itself, the hymns, the sermon, and the Sacraments. We have the absolution in the liturgy itself but also in our daily interaction with friends and family.

Christ appeared to the disciples to stir up their sense of sin, which manifested itself in their fear and hiding. In Thomas, it was his need for even more proof. Christ absolved the disciples, so they went from the greatest depths of despair to immovable faith in Him. After that, nothing could keep them from proclaiming His love and grace. They knew this grace. They experienced it. They extended it across the known world through the Instruments of Grace, the Word and Sacraments.

Quotations

"Thus we have two parts, preaching and believing. His coming to us is preaching; His standing in our hearts is faith. For it is not sufficient that He stand before our eyes and ears; He must stand in the midst of us in our hearts, and offer and impart to us peace."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 355.

"This is going through closed doors, when He comes into the heart through the Word, not breaking nor displacing anything. For when the Word of God comes, it neither injures the conscience, nor deranges the understanding of the heart and the external senses; as the false teachers do who break all the doors and windows, breaking through like thieves, leaving nothing whole and undamaged, and perverting, falsifying and injuring all life, conscience, reason, and the senses. Christ does not do thus."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 355.

"Hence I send you into the world as my Father hath sent me; namely, that every Christian should instruct and teach his neighbor, that he may also come to Christ. By this, no power is delegated exclusively to popes and bishops, but all Christians are commanded to profess their faith publicly and also to lead others to believe."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 359.

"The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer, is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe. And here you notice Christ begins and institutes the office of the ministry of the external Word in every Christian; for He Himself came with this office and the external Word."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 359.

"Now God drives us to this by holding the law before us, in order that through the law we may come to a knowledge of ourselves. For where there is not this knowledge, one can never be saved. He that is well needs no physician; but if a man is sick and desires to become well, he must know that he is weak and sick, otherwise he cannot be helped."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 370.

"For the devil will not allow a Christian to have peace; therefore Christ must bestow it in a manner different from that in which the world has and gives, in that he quiets the heart and removes from within fear and terror, although without there remain contention and misfortune."
Sermons of Martin Luther, II, p. 380.

"Reformed theologians, in order to support their denial of the illocalis modus subsistendi of Christ's human nature, have sought, in their exposition of John 20, an opening in the closed doors, or a window, or an aperture in the roof or in the walls, in order to explain the possibility of Christ's appearance in the room where the disciples were assembled."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, II, p. 127.

That Other Core - ELCA's Dissenting Group

Stan Olson, with a PhD in New Testament,
is leading ELCA's transition to a lavender ministerium.
This is part of a larger photo from the 2009 convention.

One ELCA blogger was gloating over his synod having two separate escape routes:
1. LCMC, which overlaps the Word Alone Network, and
2. Lutheran Core, which was quite visible at the 2009 convention and started on the path of creating another denomination, hosted by two former ELCA bishops. After poisoning the food for decades, the geezer bishops want to be the new chefs!

In fact, there was already established, some years ago, the equivalent of LCMC, called the
Lutheran Ministerium and Synod - USA.

They are meeting next week. They would never get into WELS, because the theme this year is The Means of Grace - For You. Meanwhile, Patterson's district is beating the dead horse of UOJ shortly after.

There are other groups, too, created from congregations leaving ELCA.

Every day is a new story on a congregation leaving ELCA or congregations being kicked out of associating with LCMC. If you look over the LCMC site, their congregations are very large and well established. I recall from LCA days that almost all the synod income came from the big churches with their low debt and low overhead (cost per member). In California, too, the big congregations are leaving fast.

ELCA will continue, but rejoicing over a variety of exit strategies will not get them the vitality they threw away with such gusto in 2009.

---

Professor Paul Hinlickey, ELCA:

Word on the street confirms the appeal of Nestigen’s argument. Receipts to the ELCA are said to be down by 30+%; more than one ELCA seminary is in imminent danger of bankruptcy. In my own synod, under the leadership of a sound bishop who thanklessly sought a unity-saving compromise in August, not only was there a significant 2009 shortfall, but proportionate giving to the ELCA has now been cut from 50.6% to 36% (among other budget slashing moves locally) for the coming year. Congregational pledges to the Virginia Synod for 2010 in turn are down a half a million dollars, something like 25%. In an astonishing two-page letter from the Synod appealing for help, the name “ELCA” was named only once, in a curious paragraph telling the long history of the Virginia Synod through its various predecessor bodies. The pitch: no love lost with the ELCA, but that is not really who we are here, locally, anyway. A similar story is being repeated in many other synods. In statu embarassmentionis.

Also for those who support the ELCA’s heterodoxy. They also now choose to designate their benevolence accordingly. The trust is just gone. So we are all, like it or not, in this de facto situation now of congregationalism. Consequently, in statu embarassmentionis.

As I mentioned, my own embarrassment is that I am not voluntarily going to leave the ELCA. But neither will I in any way cooperate in “Churchwide’s” dysfunction any longer, and my non-cooperation will be a matter of the public witness of an ordained servant of the Word. I will insist upon my rights after 30+ years of service, and I will gladly continue in my congregation and other local ministries, but I will never again contribute a solitary dime, one volunteer hour, a prayer (except in the manner of praying for one’s enemies), or act of good will on behalf of this theological and moral bankruptcy. Thus I am going to act on my “bound conscience” in this de facto debacle of congregationalism that has been thrust upon us. I will work actively in Lutheran CORE for the new configuration of American Lutheranism that will someday emerge from these ruins.

Seminex role in ELCA decline.

---

Jungkuntz moved from WELS' itty-bitty college
to Missouri's Springfield seminary
to Provost of an ALC university.
Apostasy pays,
while orthodoxy prays.

Satan's Sex Ed - Groeschel Program at WELS' The CORE

This is from Groeschel's free program,
available here. <==Mequon graduates,
left click on the link.

Satan's Sex Ed

View this series. Series ID: 90

4 week series

"Do you ever wonder what really makes the difference between good sex, bad sex, and great sex? And what about those awkward topics that few people discuss openly? We've come a long way since the days when TV couples like Ward and June Cleaver slept in separate beds... and today's kids aren't nearly as innnocent (sic) as Wally and the Beaver. Sometimes it's the things you have to unlearn about sex that help you understand what great sex really is.
Click below to explore this series."

Groeschel cannot spell either, so that must make him doubly attractive to WELS.

Ski downloaded the graphic and added the misspelled promo.

If the WELS pastors were not so lazy, they would study all of Groeschel's programs and shut these things down.

But no, they only shun those who tell the truth.

What denomination is Groeschel?

What does he teach about the efficacy of the Word and the Means of Grace?

Where does Ski get the money to spend $250,000 to channel Groeschel?

Are the DPs afraid of offending a few big-money liberals, the Jeske stable of donors? If so, they have exchanged their heritage for very thin soup indeed.

God is using these false teachers to punish WELS, Missouri, and the ELS. Instead of pointing at ELCA and tongue-clucking, these leaders should be saying, "We are one decade away from being exactly like ELCA."

But why listen to someone who has a real education and has seen it all happen?

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Satan's Sex Ed - Groeschel Program at WELS' The CO...":

It's a strange juxtaposition to have Ski handing out pictures of himself next to scantily clad youth culture icons, and then talking about sex ed in church. That's not something husbands should do if they want to stay married.

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wildcard (http://wildcard.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Satan's Sex Ed - Groeschel Program at WELS' The CO...":

Ski's actions show just how intellectually bankrupt he is.

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rhs (http://rhs.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Satan's Sex Ed - Groeschel Program at WELS' The CO...":

I have been wondering, too. Did Glende and Ski ever graduate?

***

GJ - WELS is consistent in having its self-described College of Ministry broadcast a plagiarized gay video with a stolen soundtrack. Meanwhile, one of their graduates promotes a plagiarized sex ed program.

The Party-in-the-MLC videographers faked repentance while uploading their video to Facebook. They minced to the beat of a different drummer, but they forgave those troglodytes who misunderstood them.

Ski may go and do likewise. One cannot but notice his genius in opposing all the doctrines of his synod--except UOJ--while enjoying a full-time female assistant to do his work and attend Schwaermer conferences with him.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Satan's Sex Ed - Groeschel Program at WELS' The CO...":

Important to see that these are symptoms and not the disease itself. Departure from God's Word is the disease which is systemic in the Lutheran Synods. Ski/Glende and The Core, MLC gay culture/secret culture, financing abortion through Thrivent, financing murder globaly through Thrivent dispersing money to LWR (Lutheran World Relief), perversion of the Gospel with the new gospel of UOJ, apathetic laity and milktoast synod administration are all a symptom of the disease.

***

GJ - UOJ gives WELS its Antinomian, lawless character. Everyone knows - anything goes. The affectation shown to the outside world is one of morbid Pietism, such as warning people away from watching Lawrence Welk because they sing religious songs - hence watching that show is unionism. I am not kidding! The same future pastor who warned people away from Welk was shown to be a pathological liar while serving as a flack for a sex offender.

The CLC (sic) is an experiment in seeing how far morbid Pietism can go (American Legion? Unionism!) while condoning adultery, incest, and a rat's nest of false doctrine.

All the UOJ advocates are long on deceit and sanctimony while short on the basics of Christian doctrine.

Freddy Finkelstein Has Returned

His disappearance was more mysterious than Joe Bonano's, but at least he is filling us in about it, unlike Joe:

http://freddyfinkelstein.blogspot.com/

Blushing Bride Katy Perry To Marry Potty-Mouth Russell Brand at the Taj Mahal.Foward (sic) Ski's Newsletter

WELS Pastor Tim Glende posed with Katy Perry ("Ur So Gay")
at another venue.

Katy Perry and WELS Pastor Ski. The what if's...
---

Foward? Too much rap in the earphones?
Or too much WELS education?

Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine

ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 8, 2010

ELCA Wartburg Seminary President Duane Larson Resigns Effective July 1
10-110-WS*/JB

DUBUQUE, Iowa (ELCA) -- The board of directors of Wartburg Theological Seminary here accepted the resignation of the Rev. Duane H. Larson, the seminary's president, effective July 1, the seminary announced in an April 6 news release.

Wartburg is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Larson has served as president of Wartburg Seminary since 1999.

"God is calling me to do something new in my pastoral and teaching vocation, alongside the welcome new personal life I will begin with my wedding this spring. It will be good and right for me to be able to give full attention to the gift of marriage, as well as to enjoy some sabbatical, before moving to whatever God has in mind for the next period of my professional ministry," said Larson.

***

GJ - This dude is a bit old to be getting married. His bio is strangely silent on marriage and family. I suspected that marriage was not something new to him and found this:

"ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 17, 1999

DUANE LARSON NAMED PRESIDENT OF WARTBURG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
99-130-FI

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Duane H. Larson, 46, was named to become president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, on July 15. Wartburg is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The board of Wartburg Seminary announced May 4 that Larson will succeed the Rev. Roger W. Fjeld, who is expected to retire on July 14, the day after his 66th birthday. Fjeld was inaugurated the seminary's 11th president in February 1984. "'We knew that finding an individual to succeed this leader in theological education would be no simple task," said Dr. Janet S. Philipp, the seminary's board chair.

"We were blessed with an excellent field of potential candidates, a strong testament to Wartburg Seminary's heritage and mission," said Dr. Lynn C. Smith, a board member and chair of the presidential search committee. "Dr. Larson has the vision, knowledge, skills and strong spiritual foundation to lead Wartburg Seminary into the 21st century."

Larson has been a professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., since 1993. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., he earned a master's of divinity degree from Luther Northwestern Seminary (now Luther Seminary), St. Paul, Minn., and a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif.

Ordained in 1979, Larson served as pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church, San Diego, Christ the Victor Lutheran Church, Fairfax, and St. Andrew Lutheran Church, San Mateo, all in California. He and his wife, Kathy Lane Larson, are the parents of two adult sons.

Wartburg Seminary was founded in 1854. Currently 2,200 graduates serve across the United States and in 40 foreign countries."

***

So he has been there 10 years and has a few months to get out of Dodge, even though he is jobless at the moment. I think some details are missing. I enjoy comparing the gushy introductory news releases with the terse retirement announcements.