Sunday, May 9, 2010

Finkelstein - On the Pop Music Manipulators





Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Forget All the Emerging Church Nonsense - This Is ...":

I just woke up from what i think was an extended flashback. Wow. Most folks think that this is funny -- and it is, kind of... But the reality is that entertainment in these "churches" serves more than to just entertain the audience. The Sunday morning entertainment is a long planned production in many cases, maybe a month in preparation or more in the bigger churches. The pastor-dude has mapped out far in advance what he is going to speak about, and has long decided what emotional state is most conducive to receiving his message. The job of the entertainers is to work over the audience emotionally, carrying them through waves of highs and lows, until, by the time the pastor-dude is ready to speak, the audience is nothing but emotional putty, and very susceptible to suggestion.

An old friend of mine -- a professional guitarist who favored the Jazz scene -- found himself contributing his talents to pop-church congregations in the Twin Cities area (for pay, of course). He eventually quit the whole pop-church circuit in disgust, sick of what he called "mass manipulation." Unfortunately, he also quit music, and quit church, as well -- disgusted with himself and other Christians over the lies and chicanery associated with the name of Christ in CGM driven congregations. What goes on in these congregations, behind the scenes, is pure pragmatic business: the pastor-dudes are thespians, the entertainment is calculated, and together they are putting on a show for money.

Freddy Finkelstein

***

GJ - Manipulation is the key word. I know from my earlier (LCA) association with a pan-Christian school that salesmen for hire are the rule, not the exception, in Pentecostal-Evangelical circles.

For example, after taking up all the pledges, and counting the total, the outside hireling will say, "I am not satisfied with my pledge. It is too small. I am tearing it up." He tears it up and gets everyone at the head table to do the same. Then they say, "Let's just throw these pledges away and start all over again." They gather all the cards and add them up again. The total is higher. Miracle! Naturally, many people get disgusted with this and hate Christianity as worse than a used-car lot.

I attended my first and only Assembly of God show worship service, at a small, humble church near Wheaton College. Mrs. I went along. The minister made a big show of bawling and praying in front of everyone. I watched as he turned off the waterworks and cued the next musical piece to be played by the pianist. He saw me watching him, so he gave me frostbite on the way out of church.

It was ironic that he quoted Isaiah 55:8-11 during his sermon, and that passage struck me as central to the entire Bible. Either that passage is completely true, and God's Word is always effective, or it is completely false.

Some of the older pastors in WELS remember when Law motivation was frowned upon rather than advocated. Roger Kovaciny quoted a professor from Mequon saying, "If you want more milk, give the cow more hay instead of pulling harder on the teats." Kovo said that to encourage Gospel motivation. To support his case, I said, "Kovo. I have the sorest teats in town.

Shrinkers like Stolzenburg led Paul Kuske around by the nose. I saw a poster in the Grove City church that said, "Five thousand people go to Hell every day. What are you doing about it?"

I said, "I am letting God work through the Means of Grace." When ministers trust man's work and human schemes above the Word and Sacraments, they necessarily turn Reformed and eventually become atheists.

We should put up posters that say, "Your star Growthers have left the Lutheran Church and a number of them have become nasty atheists. What are you going to do about it, Mequon?"



Forget All the Emerging Church Nonsense - This Is the Really Real Deal - A Sense of Urgency You Can Feel!



"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.



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Rev. Fr. Spencer has left a new comment on your post "Forget All the Emerging Church Nonsense - This Is ...":

OK, I get it.

The CORE, et al, just got slammed, very hard!

I especially like the "Ski-clone" leading the songs.

Even an idiot - er, heretic, aka "Church & Change" moron - can understand he/she/it has just been made great fun of.

Someone please send it to Glende!

***

GJ - I saw Northpoint in the title and I thought it was serious. This is a perfect satire. Do the Doctrinal Pussycats realize they have been snookered by the con artists of Drive/Northpoint, Willow Creek, Fuller, Granger, Groeschel, et al? It proves that playing dumb long enough will freeze the brain into permanent doctrinal dumnity.

As Luther said, "They will not give Christ a dollar, so Satan takes $10 from them."



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Where have all the Schwan bucks gone?
Long time passing,
Where have all the Schwan bucks gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the Schwan bucks gone?
Church Growth spent them every one.
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Where has all the Church Growth gone?
Long time passing,
Where has all the Church Growth gone?
Long time ago,
Where has all the Church Growth gone?
Gone to lawsuits every one.
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Where have all the lawsuits gone?
Long time passing,
Where have all the lawsuits gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the lawsuits gone?
Gone like MilCraft every one.
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Where did MilCraft fortunes go?
Long time passing,
Where did MilCraft fortunes go?
Long time ago,
Where did MilCraft fortunes go?
Gone to Gurgels every one.
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Where have all the Gurgels gone?
Long time passing,
Where have all the Gurgels gone?
Long time ago,
Where have all the Gurgels gone?
Gone for Schwan bucks every one.
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Commie Pete Seeger's inferior version.

Rogate Sunday


The Lost Sheep, by Norma Boeckler.



Rogate, The Fifth Sunday after Easter


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 202 Welcome Happy Morning 4:28
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 #458 Our Father 4:50
Origin of Prayer
The Communion Hymn # 207 Like the Golden Sun 4:76
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 #657 Beautiful Savior 4:24

KJV James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

Fifth Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who through Thy Son didst promise us that whatsoever we ask in His name Thou wilt give us: We beseech Thee, keep us in Thy word, and grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may govern us according to Thy will; protect us from the power of the devil, from false doctrine and worship; also defend our lives against all danger; grant us Thy blessing and peace, that we may in all things perceive Thy merciful help, and both now and forever praise and glorify Thee as our gracious Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Origin of Prayer
The Biblical concept of prayer should be clear, but it is one of the lines of division in Protestantism.

One of great Ohio Lutherans explained it well. Loy served a parish just north of Columbus, and his hymns or translations are used in The Lutheran Hymnal:


"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked." Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, p. 387.

Prayer is the result of faith, and faith is created by the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel.

No one can pray to Christ without faith, yet people are commonly told to pray to Jesus to come into their hearts. This command causes the confusion which mixes up so many people.

Throughout the Bible, the passages on prayer are based upon the Gospel Promises, which we see in this passage of John.

John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

This is one of many Promises of God.

The verse also shows why we pray in the Name of Christ. Whenever people try to establish a generic religion, they leave out praying in the Name of Christ. One Masonic Lodge member was disciplined for such prayers – he was the chaplain. The lodge wanted to make the point that they considered all religion equal, so they could not single out one religion. They have many established poems and speeches about this concept, too.

Jesus showed Himself as an example of prayer, and in this parting sermon, told His disciples that their prayers would be exactly like the Only-Begotten Son praying for them.

That is Gospel motivation rather than the Law. The second Promise provides more motivation:

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Strangely, people ignore what the Word of God says and substitute their own slogans. Man is always eager to substitute something inferior to replace the clear, plain meaning of the Word.

For example, people sometimes think “prayer changes things” is from the Bible, when it is a slogan and lacking the power of God’s Word. What exactly are things and how are they changed? That is terribly vague and yet it appears in gift shops everywhere.

The two Promises of Jesus are specific and clear:

1 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
2 Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

The two Promises follow the Old Testament style of making the same statement a second time in different words. One explains the other:

The Lord is My Shepherd, I lack nothing. [literal] Psalm 23:1

The opening of the 23rd Psalm is far more expressive by having the dual statements. In addition, the words are poetic and suited for singing. Thus the Psalms are called the hymnal of the Old Testament. Many hymns are based upon the Psalms.

The sermons of Jesus in John’s Gospel have often been compared to Hebrew poetry. They repeat meanings in the same way, using different words, or adding explanations to those words (drawing water, John 4, bread of life, John 6, the Word in John 1, and the I AM sermons).

Short, simple, repetitive phrases are easy to memorize.

Throughout history there have been people who could memorize vast amounts of material and repeat them. FDR mentioned a poem to Churchill, and Winston began reciting the entire poem from memory.

“"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.

Churchill did the same with Shakespeare’s plays, mumbling them from the audience as the actors recited the lines, growling when lines were skipped in the editing of the staged version. (R. Burton told the Shakespeare story.)

Literature has always been spoken aloud first and read in books later. Many books were written in modern times with the expectation that they would be read to people in schoolrooms and in factories.

The books of the Bible are primarily works to be read aloud, so we can appreciate how the Holy Spirit inspired them to be simple, clear, and poetic in so many passages.

One version of the Promise today is three-fold:

KJV Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Prayer can be turned into Law, mistakenly, and it often is. Since the non-Lutheran Protestants teach prayer as the only Means of Grace (inviting Jesus into the heart), they also teach that more prayer (and more ardent prayer) leads to more grace. Rather than directing people to the Word and Sacraments, which the Reformed say are not effective, they tell people to trust in the volume and sometimes the agony of their prayers. Thus prayer becomes a work of man that earns God’s favor. If it is not done properly or often enough, they think God punishes.

Roman Catholic prayer is not much different, because devotion is taught as the way out of Purgatory, for the individual and for friends and relatives. We still have “The Suffrages” in the hymnal, but the name came from devotions given on behalf of those suffering in Purgatory, a mini-Hell for the semi-saved. Like the law demands of the Reformed, Roman Catholic demands are never satisfied. No one is told, “Prayer will earn release from Purgatory,” because no one is sure, and the uncertainty builds cathedrals and endows religious orders.

In contrast, the Bible teaches prayer as energized by the Holy Spirit, moving us to pray with the Gospel Promises, and helping us as we pray. Prayer is a work of God in man, not man’s work to please God.

How God Answers
There are no qualifications in God answering prayers. His timing and fulfillment are not the same as ours, as Is. 55:8-11 reveals. Just as we pray in faith, so also we wait in faith for God to answer.

Some people only want material blessings from their prayers, and God allows that, sometimes in great abundance. But since these are not worthwhile prayers, the abundance often becomes a curse because the cares the world separate the individual from the Word of God (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Parable of the Sower).

Some prayers are simply blasphemous, such as ordering God “to give us 10% growth in each of the next three years.” As Luther said, when God is told exactly what to do, He does the opposite.

For example, I stumbled onto one video sermon where the minister began with the I AM of Exodus, the Burning Bush. “What is your name?”

“Tell them I AM sent you.”

The minister said a few words about the power of God and began describing the Almighty as a personal man-servant, Who will do whatever we want. Of course, this wolf-preacher wore the grin of a man who found the key to Fort Knox next to his winning lottery ticket.

The real answer is far more mysterious than that. God may answer prayers in 10 or 20 years. When we look back, we can see how God worked according to His wisdom, in giving us more than we could hope or imagine.

KJV Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

So, when prayer is taught contrary to the Word, we find people making it into a work of man and one that benefits the individual in superficial, material ways. Many have combined their errors with the spiritual error of Eastern religions, as if one could tap into the powers of the universe for miraculous and surprisingly self-centered answers to problems.

On the Roman Catholic side, prayer is used to emphasize doctrine against the Gospel of salvation. Since God already justifies through faith in His Son, why would someone pray for release from Purgatory, as if the Atonement were incomplete without man’s work?

Jesus’ example is clear. He prayed for others, as He made clear in this passage.

When He prayed for Himself, He said,

KJV Matthew 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Often mothers and fathers teach their children how to pray, naming relatives and people in need.

Paul L. Holmer was considered one of the great philosophers on the Yale Divinity and graduate school faculty. He was a layman rather than a pastor, and he was a conservative Lutheran.

When people asked him why he believed in Christ, they expected a profound philosophical answer, one to satisfy their intellectual rigor. Instead, he said,

“Because my mother taught me.”

If they took a census on how children were nurtured in the Gospel, most would probably say the same thing – Because my mother taught me.

Rogate Sunday Quotations


Norma Boeckler

"Early in the morning it rises, sits upon a twig and sings a song it has learned, while it knows not where to obtain its food, and yet it is not worried as to where to get its breakfast. Later, when it is hungry, it flies away and seeks a grain of corn, where God stored one away for it, of which it never thought while singing, when it had cause enough to be anxious about its food. Ay, shame on you now, that the little birds are more pious and believing than you; they are happy and sing with joy and know not whether they have anything to eat." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 114. Trinity 15 Matthew 6:24-34

"This doctrine concerning the inability and wickedness of our natural free will and concerning our conversion and regeneration, namely, that it is a work of God alone and not of our powers, is [impiously, shamefully, and maliciously] abused in an unchristian manner both by enthusiasts and by Epicureans; and by their speeches many persons have become disorderly and irregular, and idle and indolent in all Christian exercises of prayer, reading and devout meditation; for they say that, since they are unable from their own natural powers to convert themselves to God, they will always strive with all their might against God, or wait until God converts them by force against their will; or since they can do nothing in these spiritual things, but everything is the operation of God the Holy Ghost alone, they will regard, hear, or read neither the Word nor the Sacrament, but wait until God without means..."
Formula of Concord, Free Will, 46, Triglotta, p. 899.

"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked." Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, p. 387.

"Prayer is made vigorous by petitioning; urgent, by supplication; by thanksgiving, pleasing and acceptable. Strength and acceptability combine to prevail and secure the petition." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., VI, p. 107. Philippians 4:4-7.

"The Lord's Prayer opens with praise and thanksgiving and the acknowledgement of God as a Father; it earnestly presses toward Him through filial love and a recognition of fatherly tenderness. For supplication, this prayer is unequaled. Hence it is the sublimest and the noblest prayer ever uttered." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., VI, p. 107. Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 6:9-13.

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., III, p. 179f. Ephesians 3:20.

"Only begin this [prayer, self-examination], I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., II, p. 257. Mark 16:1-8.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Africa Boycotts ELCA


ELCA's armored division will enforce doctrinal discipline.


Tanzania Lutherans Reject Aid From 'ELCA' Churches


By Fredrick Nzwili and Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service
NAIROBI (RNS/ENI) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania says it will not accept money or help from groups that allow or support the legalization of same-sex marriages.
"Those in same-sex marriages, and those who support the legitimacy of such marriage, shall not be invited to work in the ELCT," says a statement posted to the church's Web site on April 29. "We further reject their influence in any form, as well as their money and their support."
Church officials referred Ecumenical News International to the presiding bishop of the church, the Rev. Alex Malasusa, but neither he nor the ELCT general secretary Brighton Kilewa could be reached.
The statement comes in advance of the 70-million strong Lutheran World Federation assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, from July 20-27, where homosexuality is expected to be a divisive issue.
"This church affirms that love is the essence of a relationship between two people who live, or who want to live, together in marriage," the church statement said. "But, with regard to married spouses, this is the love between two people of the opposite sex." The Tanzanian church is the world's second-largest Lutheran body after the Church of Sweden, which last October deeply angered Lutherans in Africa by allowing the celebration of same-sex marriages.
Last summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lifted restrictions on non-celibate gay clergy, and approved a broad local option for congregations that want to bless same-sex relationships.
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, said he expects to have "honest and open conversations" when he hosts Malasusa at ELCA headquarters in Chicago on May 18. Hanson said the "the ELCA's shared commitment ... to be engaged in God's mission for the sake of the world" remains unchanged.
The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA's Global Mission department, told ELCA News Service that the ELCA has promised sister churches that it will "continue to be respectful of local policies and practices" when assigning U.S. missionaries overseas.


Martin Luther College students - answering the call.
Over 1340 people want to bring back the Party-in-the-MLC video.

ELCA Does Have Doctrinal Discipline - Never Forget That - Just Like WELS Church and Changers


Do not boycott the bishop, neither may you deny him his purse.


Bishop warns four congregations violate church law

By Mary Garrigan Journal staff | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 9:00 pm

A Lutheran pastor from Philip and the four Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations she leads have been told by their bishop that they are in violation of church law for affiliating with another Lutheran association and withholding funds from the South Dakota synod.

The Rev. Frezil Westerlund said Friday that she was notified of ELCA Bishop David Zellmer's "censure" on May 5. The four congregations she serves -- Philip, Long Valley, Midland and a rural church -- each voted to join the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. The LCMC opposes the new ELCA policies for homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage that were adopted last year. The LCMC churches also voted to withhold parish support from the synod and national church headquarters because of that decision and redirect it to charitable agencies of their choice.

The national church headquarters announced in January that the ELCA will not allow congregations to be members of more than one church body. Bishop Zellmer could choose to discipline a congregation for affiliating with an additional church body, and Zellmer announced in April that he would do so.

Nearly 200 ELCA congregations have joined LCMC since the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted in August 2009 to change ELCA teaching and policy to permit pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. The significant number of congregations joining LCMC may explain the ELCA's new tough stance against dual church body affiliations, said the Rev. David Baer of Whitewood. Baer estimated that 11 congregations in South Dakota have joined LCMC.

Zellmer is traveling outside of the country, but his assistant, the Rev. Bill Tesch, said Friday that estimate is high. Similar letters went out to a few other churches, in addition to Westerlund's, he said.

Tesch said the letter was not a censure of Westerlund or the churches, but rather a letter informing them that their dual membership puts them in violation of ELCA church constitution. He said the LCMC is defined as a denomination, not an association. The bishop will consult with the synod council in the near future to determine any further action against ELCA congregations that continue their LCMC affiliation.

"It's not a censure. It's not a threat. It's a letter of information," he said.

Wisconsin Syn - Passionate about the Lost - Ardent about Groeschel: The CORE from Church and Change, Inc.


What a pair! Katy Perry and Ski.


"Five ways to describe him: Does anything short of sin to reach people. Passionate about Jesus every day. Passionate about the lost. Loves his family. Loves baseball. What he does for THE CORE: pastor and main speaker for Sunday night service"


Another famous pair: MariQueen and Ski.
Ski is on the Left.


Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line!
Someone is drifting away;
Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line!
Someone is sinking today.



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oldjoe (http://oldjoe.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Syn - Passionate about the Lost - Ardent...":

Many things can drive religion, e.g., love, heart, head, power, control, greed, and money. Groin-driven is a new one on me.

Friday, May 7, 2010

St. Peter Cares, Freedom, Wisconsin


Sects kitten Katy Perry, age 26, and Pastor Tim, age 38+.


Pastor Tim Glende a.k.a. Pastor Tim
5 ways to describe you: Blessed by God. Loves his family. Passionate about sharing Jesus in the Valley. Hard worker. Obsessive about Ohio State Football – “Go Bucks!”.

What you do at St. Peter: Lead pastor and main preacher for weekly worship, with main ministry responsibilities being administration, worship, and working with our school board, staff, and students.

Before St. Peter: Attended High School at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (Saginaw, MI) - Class of 1990; Attended Northwestern College (Watertown, WI) - Class of 1994, Graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (Mequon, WI) with a Masters (sic) in Divinity – Class of 1998; 1998-2006 - pastor of Star of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Urbana & Savoy, IL.

Married in 1995 to Holly, his wife of 14 years; blessed in 1996 with the birth of their daughter Miranda and equally as blessed in 1998 when their son Noah was born.

Other places he is likely to be found: His children’s sporting events, FVL’s weight room, on the golf course (Fridays only), spending Friday nights with Holly, watching football in the Fall

Reprise - Believe It Or Not - From Gurgle's Lair


Alone in the world, poor Ichabod cannot find a safe haven among these WELS heroes.



BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
Part III

THE DOUBLE STANDARDS AND HYPOCRISY IN THE WELS
by
Pastor Mark F. Bartling


Ripley’s famous and interesting “believe it or not” oddities, filled with extraordinary and almost unbelievable information, still fascinate us yet today! Recent events in the Wisconsin Synod (WELS) may also seem unbelievable and the oddities will truly stretch your imagination.

In baseball it is only asked that the umpire be consistent. Call a wide strike zone or a narrow one. But be consistent! Don’t call one pitch a strike, but another a ball, when both crossed the plate at the same place.

In politics, when a Democrat moves away from a pro-life to a pro-choice position, it is called “growing.” But when a Republican changes to a more pro-life position, well, that is called hypocrisy.

One can understand hypocrisy and a double standard in politics. That is what politics are all about. But not in the Church of God!!! There one is called to a higher standard.

Believe it or not! The WELS synodical president and Vice president refused to print in the Book of Reports and Memorials a memorial, from 86 pastors and 3 congregations, to the Synod’s convention asking for a study of the Synod’s position on fellowship. But at the same time they made available the synodical mailing list and e-mail addresses to the Church and Change group. This group is leading the way in undermining the Synod’s position on fellowship in inviting heterodox teachers to address their annual meetings. Talk about a double standard! It can now be said that WELS leaders official endorse and approve the modern Church Growth Movement.

[GJ - Next someone will claim that Patterson and Gurgle are Church and Changers. Kudu Don denies it! and I am almost persuaded. Gurgle is organizing their New Age multi-site church. Chicanery, thy name is Gurgle.]


Believe this or not! When synodical leaders are involved in situations concerning appearances of impropriety and improper behavior, -- well, that must be quickly covered up. Recently, one synodical leader was found spending a considerable amount of time alone with a woman in frequent “counseling sessions,” both at church and in her home. But here we are told to put the best construction on it and not sin against the 8th Commandment. But when a young pastor of a small congregation, and with no high synodical connections or relatives, is involved in practically the same type of situation – well, he must be put out of the ministry and his Call, for now he is no longer “blameless.” (I Tim. 3:2)
One is for synodical officials, another is for parish pastors.

Believe this or not! In the WELS today a situation exist that is not too much different from the time of the Reformation, when men like Luther were excommunicated for being “too Catholic,” but the sellers of indulgences were protected and defended, -- for they were bring in the money.

If some pastor talks about private confession, making the sign of the holy Cross in the name of the Triune God, the sacrament of ordination, every Sunday Communion, wearing full liturgical vestments, and publishes a “motley magpie” (all which, by the way, are taught in our Lutheran Confessions) – well, that is being Catholic and such pastors are quickly excluded from our fellowship. But when other pastors completely omit any type of confession, public or private, use no Trinitarian invocations, continuously confuse law and Gospel in their sermons, practice open communion, with women helping in the distribution, have women read Scripture lessons in public worship, and use every innovation of Church Growth methods, -- well, that is to be highly praised and no one even thinks of calling the practice “too Methodist.”

Believe it or not, but the WELS is becoming just another Protestant Church and many congregational worship services are not too much different from the Baptist and Pentecostals churches on the next street. Just read some of the mission statements and tell me whether they are Confessional Lutheran or just Protestant.
A sainted WELS pastor, from a past century, in deep distress concerning the direction of his Synod, lamented:
WELS, oh WELS, wherefore art thou my WELS?
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
Oh foolish, WELS, who hath bewitched you?

All is not well, in WELS!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gurgel and Mueller, President and VP of WELS, refused to print this memorial in the Book of Reports and Memorials.

To: The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Convention 2007

Subject: Definition of the expression “Framework of Fellowship”
WHEREAS 1) various groups within the Synod have arranged for speakers not in fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) to address them on matters relating to doctrine and on practical aspects of conducting the ministry; and

WHEREAS 2) some in our Synod question whether seeking such instruction from the heterodox is consistent with Scripture’s urging to “watch out for false prophets” (Mt. 7:15) and “keep away from” errorists (Ro. 16:17) and whether welcoming the errorist may constitute “sharing in his wicked work” (2 John 11); and

WHEREAS 3) groups inviting such outside speakers have defended the practice with the explanation that the speakers were addressing them “outside the framework of fellowship”; and

WHEREAS 4) references to “the framework of fellowship” are appearing more frequently in the literature of the WELS, but there exists neither a clear and commonly-accepted definition of what that phrase entails nor a thorough explanation of how the phrase is consistent with Scriptural principles of Christian fellowship; and

WHEREAS 5) disagreement over this issue is threatening the bond of peace within our beloved Synod; and

WHEREAS 6) it has been argued that a new study of the Scriptural principles might cast doubt on the Synod’s current position of Christian fellowship; and

WHEREAS 7) a review of those principles that aims to supply an element not currently addressed in our doctrinal statements would not cast doubt on the Synod’s current doctrinal position on fellowship; therefore be it

Resolved a) that the Synod instruct the conference of Presidents (COP) to conduct a thorough review of the Scriptural principles of fellowship with the aim of developing a clear and complete definition of what constitutes the “framework of fellowship” and a thorough explanation of how the phrase is consistent with Scriptural principles; and be it further

Resolved b) that the results of this study be published and shared broadly with the constituency of the WELS; and be it finally

Resolved c) That the COP be instructed respectfully to request that, in a spirit of brotherly cooperation, groups affiliated with the WELS defer from employing public speakers from outside the WELS fellowship who will discuss matters relating to doctrine and practical aspects of conducting the ministry until such a study can be completed.

Mr. Richard L. Andersen, Anchor Point, AK
Prof. Richard D. Balge, Thiensville, WI
Rev. Terry G. Balogh, Mayville, MI
Rev. William Balza, South Haven, MI
Rev. Mark Bartling, LaCrosse, WI
Mr. Ross Bannister, Bancroft, MI
Rev. Jeffrey Berg, Oshkosh, WI
Rev. Spencer G. Biga, Freeland, MI
Mr. Thomas H. Buege, Greenville, WI
Rev. Carl Busse, Medford, WI
Mr. Brent Buzzalini, Mayville, MI
Mr. Steven Desek, Fostoria, MI
Prof. Daniel M. Deutschlander, Watertown, WI
Rev. Timothy J. Ehlers, Oakley, MI
Rev. Larry Ellenberger, Franklin, WI
Rev. Mark H. Falck, Grand Rapids, MN
Rev. Gerald Free, Neenah, WI
Rev. Keith Free, Plover, WI
Rev. Kenneth Frey, Appleton, WI
Rev. Marc P. Frey, New Carlisle, OH
Mr. Philip Frey, Black Hawk, SD
Rev. Daniel P. Garbow, Saginaw, MI
Rev. James A. Gorsegner, Pigeon, MI
Rev. Timothy H. Gumm, Loves Park, IL
Rev. Roy W. Hefti, Bangor, WI
Rev. Michael T. Jensen, Ixonia, WI
Rev. Christopher D. Johnson, Algoma, WI
Rev. Peter Kiecker, Watertown, WI
Prof. Roger Kobleske, Watertown, WI
Rev. Henry F. Koch, Manitowoc, WI
Rev. Robert Koester, Milwaukee, WI
Rev. Steven Korth, Bay City, MI
Mr. Allen Krause, Oshkosh, WI
Rev. David Krenke, Leesburg, FL
Rev. Arnold J. Kunde, Durand, MI
Rev. Stephen C. F. Kurtzahn, Coon Rapids, MN
Rev. James L. Langebartels, Imlay City, MI
Rev. Donald Laude, Marquette, KS
Rev. Herbert Lichtenberg, Milwaukee, WI
Rev. Earl Lindemann, Winner, SD
Mr. Larry Lindemann, Salem, SD
Rev. Carl A Lindemann, Bismark, ND
Rev. Edward Lindemann, Watertown, WI
Rev. Michael A. Lindemann, Lewiston, MN
Mr. Paul Lindemann, New Berlin, WI
Rev. Waldemar Loescher, Manitowoc, WI
Rev. Martin Luchterhand, Hustler, WI
Prof. Marcus Manthey, Saginaw, MI
Rev. Paul A. Manthey, Waukesha, WI
Rev. William Mayhew, Sebewaing, MI
Rev. Bruce McKenney, Lake Mills, WI
Rev. David Mielke, Mount Pleasant, MI
Rev. James W. Naumann, Vassar, MI
Rev. Paul S. Naumann, Benton Harbor, MI
Rev. Marcus C. Nitz, Placentia, CA
Rev. David Nottling, Fox Lake, WI
Rev. Carl T. Otto, Saginaw, MI
Mr. Carlton Palenske, Winona, MN
Rev. Bradley Pearson, Prairie du Sac, WI
Rev. Gary L. Pieper, Grove City, OH
Rev. James Plocher, Vassar, MI
Rev. Guy Purdue, Westland, MI
Rev. Marvin Putz, Fond du Lac, WI
Rev. Paul Reede, West Bend, WI
Rev. Theodore Sauer, Manitowoc, WI
Rev. Paul Schaewe, Bay City, MI
Rev. Paul D. Schleis, Green Bay, WI
Rev. Andrew C. Schultz, La Crosse, WI
Rev. Martin Schulz, Greenfield, WI
Rev. Gerhard F. Shapekahm, Fremont, WI
Rev. Gordon J. Snyder, West Allis, WI
Rev. Peter J. Snyder, Saginaw, MI
Rev. Joel Spaude, Ft Collins, CO
Prof. Cyril W. Spaude, Watertown, WI
Rev. Steven D. Spencer, Sierra Vista, AZ
Rev. Steven Staude, Onalaska, WI
Rev. John Strackbein, Oklahoma City, OK
Rev. Paul Stuebs, Platteville, WI
Rev. Frederick Toppe, Fond du Lac, WI
Mr. Frederick Uttech, Manitowoc, WI
Rev. Roger Wahl, Cambria, WI
Mr. Douglas Westenberg, Watertown, WI
Rev. Philip Wilde, Bristol, WI
Rev. Michael D. Zarling, Sturtevant, WI
Rev. Frederick Zimmerman, Kaukaulin, MI
Rev. Ronald Zindler, Wrightstown, WI

Church Council of Epiphany Lutheran Church, Racine, WI
Voters of Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oklahoma City, OK
Voters of Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oshkosh, WI




***

GJ - Left unsaid, Mark Bartling never seconded anything I published in Christian News. Everyone played it safe while the Schwan money was cascading down.


The St. Louis/Ft. Wayne Ponzi Swindles


Mark and Avoid Jeske, LCMS Media Minister, and His message



bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "What PBS Does Not Know about Higher Education Woul...":

"A denomination's seminary teaches people to be loyal to the organization and to play the political game."

So true! On the vicarage evaluation form that the "bishop" and church elders fill out, one of the questions is whether the vicar seemed thankful for the LCMS. So the vicar is supposed be grateful for the opportunity to pay $18 grand per year to the Concordia U system and seminary, and go into credit card debt while on vicarage on top of it all.

The synodical schools now have psych and ministry style evaluations before a person can go in the ministry. They really only want people with CWS (Celebrity Worship Syndrome). If you are hip on Walther or Hoenecke or Sigmund Becker and their pet doctrines, or the latest fad and its guru, you'll go far. It's no longer about being a pastor, but rather about being sold on the synod, and selling the synod to others, like an Amway salesman.

On another note, when state schools offer online business degrees via the internet, many of them ALSO charge four to five times as much as their regular on-site in-state tuition fee. The online student pays for the convenience, and the the online student avoids other fees, and having to pay for parking and gas for the commute. The state school can charge that much because other online schools do. So the price tag for Phoenix U and GCU is not as exceptional as they imply.
--------
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/312088/celebrity_worship_syndrome_do_you_have.html?cat=4

There some statistics out there that show as much as a third of the world's population is afflicted by celebrity worship syndrome. Through studies such as those performed by McCutcheon and Houran a small list symptoms has emerged.

***

GJ - Sow Enthusiasm, reap Enthusiasm.


Ski's Satanic Sex Ed - safe sects (Groeschel) from the spawn of Jeske's pan-denominational Church and Change ministry.
Has Pastor Tim Glende warned Ski
not to plagiarize from Groeschel?



Stetzer Has Spoken


Hide

Ed Stetzer No such thing as the GIFT of evangelism. It gets us off the hook cuz we don't have it. All are called to the WORK of evangelism.



***

GJ - Kelm, Patterson, and Ash were hotter than Georgia asphalt to have this genius lay a burden of law-guilt on WELS. Ex-SP Gurgle tried it in every issue of Forward in Confusion, a Generic Christian Magazine.

Lutherans--who trust the Scriptures and agree with the Confessions--agree that the Gospel does this work wherever the living seed is carelessly broadcast. Instead of worrying about their numbers, they realize that faithfulness to the Word, under all circumstances, will bring forth God-pleasing results.

God may be pleased to divide an organization, as He did the corrupt Medieval Church. He may drive the faithful from one situation to another.

He chose to make Paul, Luther, and John Bunyan more fruitful in prison than we are today, although we enjoy perfect freedom.

Who are we to doubt God's goodness and the effectiveness of His Word?


Rolf Preus ACLC Divorce Revealed


Norman Teigen, left, shook hands with Rolf Preus, right. The Preus clan has close ties with the ELS and Bethany.



Rolf Preus, son of Robert, son of Jake the Governor of Minnesota:

What I find very interesting – and telling – is your assumption that I would be drawn to a group like ELDoNA. Here you display a bias common among W/ELSians. You assume that since I reject the formless W/ELSian teaching, I must be in favor of episcopacy! I don’t imagine you know much more about ELDoNA than the fact that they have a bishop who wears a pretty purple shirt!

Let me clue you in, Mr. Ames. The ACLC did not break off fellowship talks with ELDoNA. ELDoNA broke off fellowship talks with us. Why? Because of my paper, “Making a Clear Confession in Muddy Waters,” that I gave in January of 2009. ELDoNA took strong exception to my insistence that there are indeed orthodox pastors and congregations in the LCMS with whom we may express altar and pulpit fellowship without insisting that they first either condemn or leave the LCMS. I was the impediment to the ACLC and ELDoNA establishing fellowship with each other.

I resigned from the ACLC in March. The ACLC declared fellowship with ELDoNA at their meeting in April. Once I was gone, the impediment was removed.

I will not mark and avoid orthodox brothers and sisters who happen to belong to the LCMS. I will not mark and avoid W/ELSians, either. Holding to foolish opinions in ignorance doesn’t necessarily mark one as a manifestly impenitent errorist. Ignorance and bullheadedness are not sufficient reason to mark and avoid.

***

GJ - Harrison's election will re-define the LCMS, which will leave Pope John the Malefactor as the last remaining Shrinker Synod Conference head.

Kieschnick keeps shooting himself in the foot. The sale of KFUO was a sore spot in Missouri, and now the deal is settled - so it seems.

Another issue is Kieschnick suing the pants off four little old ladies in California, trying to take their church property from them.

Kieschnick is the Barney Fife of Lutherdom.

Here is some history of the ACLC, with gaps and bad spelling.


History of WELS Masonic Lodge - Church and Change


They have a plan,
and their thoughts are not His thoughts,
their ways are not His ways.


History of Church and Change

In 1995, a group of about 10-12 men gathered at Wisconsin Lutheran College to discuss current methods of sharing Jesus which were commonly being used in the WELS at that time. Many at the first meeting felt that those methods of sharing Jesus were not “keeping up with” the rate of change in society. The message of the Bible was not, therefore, penetrating society very well.

In 1998 two men who had attended the first meeting planned a Church and Change conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The next year there was a second conference in Green Bay. About 20 people attended each year.

In May 2001, WELS Parish Services applied for and received a Forward in Christ grant to conduct a three-year pilot program to address the issues surfaced by the previous two Church and Change conferences. The three-year pilot program was designed to be a grassroots gathering of individuals who were pioneering new innovative methods of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with a changing culture.

Three annual conferences were planned and held beginning in 2001. At the first conference, approximately 50 WELS members attended. The attendance grew to 150 in the second year and 180 in the third year. By the third year, the attendees included more than just individuals who were actively pioneering new and innovative methods for sharing Jesus. Many in attendance wanted to learn about how to better share the gospel with the changing culture in which they served. In addition to the three annual conferences a variety of other workshops and gatherings were held dealing with specific ministry issues such as leadership, worship, and women’s ministry.

At the final conference of the three-year pilot, held in November 2003, the conference participants enthusiastically encouraged the organizers to continue Church and Change. A steering committee was subsequently formed from among the participants to address the future direction of Church and Change.

From November 2003 until the present the steering committee has met and drafted a proposal that addresses the future of Church and Change.

---

Main

Pastor Ron Ash


Chairman

Appleton, WI

Ron started his ministy by serving three congregations in Colorado. He served for 30 years at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Appleton, WI and is now retired. During his ministry at St. Peter he served as Circuit Pastor, Chairman of the Board of Regents at FoxValleyLutheranHigh (sic) School, Secretary of the Fox River Valley Conference, on the Governing Board at LutherPreparatory (sic) School, and Circuit Chairman. He has been a promoter of creating innovative ministries for a changing world. His wife, Renate, and he have three children.




Plagiarism is NOT a Sin in WELS




Plagiarism is a sin.

Plagiarism is NOT a sin in WELS, because:

1. Known plagiarists are rewarded with calls and speaking invitations to synodical events.
2. Congregations which tolerate plagiarism are given mission subsidies and foundation grants.
3. Anyone who questions plagiarism is treated like dirt under the fingernails.


In higher education, plagiarism:

A. Is good for immediate expulsion from some universities.
B. Results in a certified letter from the school's attorney, at the very least.
C. Keeps that individual from an academic position for life.
D. Ends in a professor's dismissal from his teaching position.


Plagiarism is dishonest and reveals a lazy, deceitful personality - but it is also against the law!

What PBS Does Not Know about Higher Education Would Fill an Hour's Program


"From 1983 to 1987, Mr. Mueller was a professor
at Concordia University.
Mr. Mueller earned his Master of Arts in Education degree
and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Concordia University."


One evil genius behind for-profit education
saved Grand Canyon University from insolvency.
Find him. Stop him from doing it again.


PBS, heavily subsidized by taxpayer grants, could not exist on its own. Neither could any institution of higher education, whether it is non-profit or for-profit.

Nevertheless, PBS broadcast a heavy-breathing episode called "Colllege, Inc," calling on for-profit schools to be tethered by even more government regulation. I have studied at a wide variety of schools and taught at three - a community college and two for-profits (Grand Canyon University and the University of Phoenix). I found most of the episode to be an excellent satire about what journalism could be, if reporters only had some integrity.

The journalistic technique used for this show is called the focus feature, which begins with one person, zooms out for the big picture, and concludes with a follow-up about that individual.

In this show, the focus is on Michael Clifford, an Evangelical with no college training but a knack for turning small colleges into profitable online schools. The prime example shown is Grand Canyon University, which became insolvent when its funds were lost to the biggest charitable scandal in history - the Arizona Baptist Foundation, a ponzi scheme promising investors a 15% return on their savings. They lost 90% instead.

GCU was going to close, so one man bought it for a group of investors. The transformed a bankrupt Baptist school of 3,000 students into a profitable online school of 40,000 students. They have spent millions on the local campus in Phoenix.

My former boss at UOP, Brian Mueller, is my current boss at GCU. He comes originally from a Missouri Synod school.

GCU has retained its Christian identity without having a religious requirement. I have an atheist in one class, but most denominations are represented. A university is quite different from a denominational school. A denomination's seminary teaches people to be loyal to the organization and to play the political game. A university emphasizes academic merit and allows freedom of expression.

GCU is well run, its biggest problems coming from expansion. The TV show failed to explain that exponential growth is full of growing pains, such as having servers shut down from rush hour demands.

The students and staff at GCU are thoughtful, considerate, and appreciative. I teach Old Testament, New Testament, church history, Christian world view, and communication. Many of my professors were world famous scholars, so the students are getting their money's worth. Online schools want PhDs, while denominational schools get those who play the political game and have the right last names.

Community Colleges
I learned computers at Glendale Community College and taught there as well. Community college tuition is heavily subsidized by taxpayers and by adjunct faculty working at low wages. Very few faculty at GCC are tenured, so the majority of teaching is done by adjuncts who make about 25% of a full-time salary, without any benefits. Therefore, when the PBS journalist seethed that an online school charges five times what a community college does, he was missing the facts by a wide margin. A community college is a valuable addition to any town, but the system has limits, such as offering only an associate's degree. No one will get a bachelor's degree or a master's from a community college, and any graduate program is more expensive than an associate's program, for obvious reasons.

University of Phoenix
I earned a master's degree in education, online, from UOP, after earning a PhD from Notre Dame and a master's from Yale, so I can do some comparisons.

An online education consists of discussions and weekly assignments, including work with learning teams. I found the MA program challenging, and it led to more work in online education.

I normally teach graduate courses in education year around. My students have often been employees and managers at UOP/Axia, so I know how their system works from that perspective. They want to do a good job because so much time and money is wasted if the wrong people start the program and drop out.

UOP has about 450,000 students, according to the program. The school had only about 150,000 when I began teaching there in 2002, but I do not take all the credit for its enrollment growth.

UOP is an opportunity school (like community colleges and the famous City College of New York, now CUNY). Everyone is accepted but not all graduate. My boss at Glendale Community advised bearing down on the class from day one and getting rid of the 2/3rds who did not belong. Nevertheless, the day one enrollment kept the school afloat.

UOP grew because traditional universities run their programs for the benefit of tenured faculty. Full-time working adults could not complete a degree program at the state or private schools in California, so John Sperling devised a way to make an alternative work for them. He was so successful that the education establishment took away his accreditation. He moved to Phoenix and obtained accreditation from a different regional commission and became a billionaire. He wrote an autobiography, but I heard no references to it on the PBS show. Rebel with a Cause.

Some Glaring Problems with College Inc
All online schools were treated alike, and they were discussed as if they are exactly the same. Not all community colleges are the same. Mine, GCC, was especially good in computer science. I understand it was better than the others in Phoenix.

Contacting prospects and asking them to enroll was considered a horrible sin, yet non-profit colleges hire people full-time to do that. Non-profits also arrange student loans and hire people to move the applications forward. All schools need educational loans because few students have the funds to pay tuition.

Making a profit was the dark theme of the show. Non-profits depend on large endowments, alumni giving, and taxpayer funds.

For-profits are just as regulated as the non-profits. In fact, the loyalist alumni of traditional schools are quick to point out any flaws they find in a competing school. Many of my online students have wasted their time at a state university known for being a party school. As the student said in "Animal House," seven years of my life down the drain.

Students at for-profit schools are serious about getting an education, and there are many free services available to help them get through the program. No one wants them to fail, so software is used to track lazy instructors and inactive students.

ASU versus a For-Profit
I wanted to get credits in writing or literature, because that was hampering my ability to get writing classes to teach. I contacted Arizona State on their website and gave them all my contact information. I never heard from them. When I contacted a for-profit school, they worked with me immediately and I eventually earned 20 credits in journalism. So the taxpayers supported a staff that did not respond at ASU, while a for-profit school responded with their own staff time, their own money.

PBS is a socialist operation, so no one should be shocked that they hate a profitable enterprise. Regulation is seen the answer to everything, but no school escapes the reach of the higher education commission. I heard many discussions about why a program was offered or not offered, based upon accrediting groups and individual state requirements. Some states have fought to keep for-profit schools from competing with their own home-grown institutions.

If regulation of for-profit schools were the answer, then Detroit would be a boom town, run on solar powered yogurt, manufacturing cars that converted easily into compost. Instead, MoTown is no town to live in, only to escape from.

Main campus, UOP, Phoenix.


Profits and the need to advertise led UOP
to buy naming rights for the Cardinals' new stadium.
UOP subsidized a tax-payer project.
The horror! The horror!




Thursday, May 6, 2010

False Teachers Are Peacocks


Peacock, by Norma Boeckler



Peacock

"The peacock is an image of heretics and fanatical spirits. For on the order of the peacock they, too, show themselves and strut about in their gifts, which never are outstanding. But if they could see their feet, that is the foundation of their doctrine, they would be stricken with terror, lower their crests, and humble themselves. To be sure, they, too, suffer from jealousy, because they cannot bear honest and true teachers. They want to be the whole show and want to put up with no one next to them. And they are immeasurably envious, as peacocks are. Finally, they have a raucous and unpleasant voice, that is, their doctrine is bitter and sad for afflicted and godly minds; for it casts consciences down more than it lifts them up and strengthens them." Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 642.



"There is a false, ungodly, carnal zeal that does not come from God and is not produced by the Holy Spirit, but is rooted either in animosity against those who teach a different doctrine or in the selfish thought that a display zeal will bring the minister honor, at least in certain congregations, or in fanaticism. In the days of Christ, what zeal in the discharge of their office do we behold in the high priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees who opposed Christ!" C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 380.


Luther Did Not Pluck Figs from Thistles - Neither Did Christ


Luther - you remember him from Church History 10.
Martin. Martin Luther. Not King.
I know we have a special holy day for Martin Luther King,
but this is the original one.


Figs From Thistles? Not According to Martin Luther

Luther, House Postil: "No one is so foolish as to go into a field full of thorns and thistles and look for grapes and figs. Such fruits we seek on a different plant, which is not so full of barbs and prickles. The same thing happens in our gardens. Seeing a tree full of apples or pears, everybody exclaims: Ah, what a fine tree that is! Again, where there is no fruit on a tree or the fruit is worm-eaten, cracked, and misshapen, everybody says the tree is worthless, fit to be cut down and cast into the fire, so that a better tree may be planted in its place. These tests, the Lord says, you must apply to the false prophets, and you will not make a mistake, no matter how good their appearance may be. If f wolf had put on twenty sheepskins, still you must know him to be a wolf and not be deceived by him." C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans. W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1897, p. 412.


KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.


"Baa-a-a-a-a-ah! Seriously."

Larry--Who Must Be Called Lawrence--Oh!


Larry Oh! is called The Harmless Heretic in WELS,
but this fruit of Fuller education has been
a leader in Church and Change,
a Patterson buddy.
Larry lied, zebras died.


THE BEST OF LARRY OH!



"Please stop exaggerating the amount of study that I have done at Fuller. After four years of study at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, which involved sixty-two different courses and a year of vicarage, I graduated in 1983. From 1987 to 1989 I took four courses where I was in a classroom with a Fuller instructor. That is the extent of my Fuller coursework...In addition, I have taken two courses at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and one at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. Because of Fuller's liberal (would you expect anything else?) policy on transfer of credit, and because of two independent studies I undertook, I could complete the degree by simply writing a dissertation." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23

"To the best of my knowledge, only three WELS pastors have ever taken classes at Fuller Seminary: Reuel Schulz in the 1970s, and Robert Koester and I in the 1980s."
Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23. [GJ - Most of the WELS leadership studied at Fuller, probably funded by WELS offering money.]


"You may reply that by 'Fuller-trained' you mean anyone who has attended a workshop presented by the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, an agency which is independent of the Seminary. If that is the case, your attribution of 'Fuller-trained' is still simply not true. It would surprise me if even half of the two dozen people on your 'WELS/ELS Who's Who' list have attended a Fuller workshop; I personally know of only five who have." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

"Paul says that people can, in some way, 'adorn the doctrine' (KJV). Does that mean adding anything to the Gospel, thereby making the Means of Grace more 'effective'? Of course not. But it does mean that a Christian, a Christian slave in the original context, can discredit the Gospel--and thus erect a human barrier--through actions and words that contradict the profession of faith." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23. Titus 2:9-10.

"To believe, teach, and confess that truth is not inconsistent with being able to recognize that one approach to ministry may be more effective than another. It is more effective to hold worship services at 10:30 am on Sunday than at midnight on Tuesday; this is true, even though it is the same Gospel that is preached at either time." [another example, preaching in German to an American audience] Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

"Faithfulness is the standard by which God judges those he calls into the public ministry. That faithfulness may or may not be 'effective' in terms of visible results; results are up to God, not us. But part of faithfulness ought to include striving to be as 'effective' as we can be in the methods that we use to take the Means of Grace to people." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

"Make no mistake; I am under no illusions here. I fully expect to be publicly pilloried in print again. You will no doubt do so with some wit, with a good selection of quotations instantly imported into your world processor from your ready-to-go database, and with my own words twisted and used against me. So be it; I can live with that." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

"While I would not encourage it, it would not surprise me to see my name in some future writing of yours. If it does appear there, please use my given [underlined] name, Lawrence." Larry Oh!, D. Min. (Fuller), "A Response to Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.," Christian News, 3-28-94, p. 23.

"When Frederick Horn faced that situation, the Holy Spirit moved him to accept the call, and for the last few years he has served as the [lay] Minister of Discipleship for Grace Lutheran in downtown Milwaukee." (Pastor James Huebner Fuller alumnus)
Professor Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "Another Kind of Minister, There's a lot to do in a church, and a staff minister can do a lot of it," The Northwestern Lutheran, March, 1994, p. 9. Olson is director of staff ministry at MLC.

"The church growth movement has made inroads into nearly every denomination in America. Once considered only the turf of conservative evangelicals, you will now find church growth practioners in the United Methodist Church, in the Presbyterian Church in the USA, and among the Episcopalians. The LCMS has more pastors enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary, the seedbed of the movement, than are enrolled in the graduate programs at their Fort Wayne and St. Louis seminaries combined, and most of them include church growth as part of their studies." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 1.

Olson Hosed
"Donald C. McGavran died at home home in Altadena, California, on July 10, 1990. He was 92 years old. Dr. McGavran is widely recognized as the founder of the church growth movement, a movement which has sought to put the social sciences at the service of theology in order to foster the growth of the church. In August of 1989 I borrowed a bicycle and pedaled several miles uphill up from Pasadena to Altadena. I found Dr. McGavran in his front yard with a hose in hand, watering flowers." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Professor, Martin Luther College (WELS), p. 1.


"While only the Word is efficacious, the methods we use to minister to people with that Word may vary in their effectiveness." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 2.



"McGavran leaned toward me and said, 'The fields are white unto harvest. But you can't harvest a field of what with a penknife--you need a sickle, you need a scythe. Harvest intelligently." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 2.

"It is appropriate to make use of educational research to improve the functioning of our small group Bible studies." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 3.


"It is appropriate to make use of educational research to improve the functioning of our small group Bible studies." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 3.



"Contemporary social and behavioral sciences are a working out of the reason which God has given to humanity. Granted, the assumptions of some sociologists or anthropologists may be inconsistent with the Christian faith. That calls for discernment, but it does not invalidate the proper use of the social sciences by the church; it is, however, essential that they be used in a 'ministerial' manner." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Professor, Martin Luther College, (WELS), p. 3.


"We cannot add anything to the Word, but we may be able to remove the human barriers which might be in the way of the Word." Prof. Lawrence O. Olson, (D. Min., Fuller), "See How It Grows: Perspectives on Growth and the Church," EVANGELISM, February, 1991, Parish Consultant for the WELS Board of Parish Services and his district's Coordinator of Evangelism. p. 3.