Bon Voyage Anonymouse - For Now

Synod President Wendland and the newest DP celebrate
the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation,
at a special ceremony attended by several dozen members.


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "As Predicted - Another Quitter - Or the Same Quitt...":

Interesting how when each Church Growth apostle attacks Ichabod they always attack Baptism, Holy Communion and the Holy Spirit's work through the efficacious Word. This last coward was the same way, mocking Baptism as though it was one way to damage Ichabod. What a shame and disgrace. Out of the fullness of their hearts they speak and act. It greatly clarifies the stated problems when they openly attack. It exposes their false doctrine and practice for anyone willing to test it against Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (also funny to see how the false teachers and mini wolves hate to read anything of length and complexity ~ Luther or the Lutheran Confessions).

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GJ - One of my regular readers said my posts made him angry, but he had to agree I was right when he read the comments.

I probably post more antagonistic comments than any other Lutheran blogger. The opponents prove my case. I linked Church and Change, but they do not link me. I link The CORE, and St. Peter's Freedom, CrossWalk, Willowcreek's Little College, Mary Lou College, The Sausage Factory, and many other sites. They do not reciprocate.

I am only too happy to quote people and refute them, offering their original links. Most prefer to attack anonymousely.

California wrote today:

Posting comments from readers of blogs serves a similar purpose as letters to the editor. Both serve as thermometers indicating the health of the respective body (institution) under discussion.

I recall instances where the WELS and ELS magazines have deliberately falsified letters to blunt a point made or to twist the original point. When a layman asked Moldstad about UOJ, the letter became headlined as "How can someone question UOJ and call himself a Christian?" I know the layman who wrote the letter.

When a pest-blogger states the same thing repeatedly, to borrow a readership he has not developed, lacking both skill and wit, I block the comment.

Several failed blogs tried to prove UOJ, but those comments are gone now. I did notice the fake Ichabod still trying to promote UOJ. Did I mention the UOJ Stormtroopers are all Shrinkers? On the same page the fake Ichabod whines about the liar Valleskey being picked on. When Valleskey is done with UOJ, Law and Gospel, the tangled threads of his thought are best left alone - what a mess.

Here is the UOJ post. <--Mequon grads, left-click.

The fake, who is too scared to list his name, cites DP Buchholz at length. Buchholz is halfway there. At least he acknowledges the Means of Grace. He is still an Enthusiast because he separates the Holy Spirit from the Word.

Joe Krohn, a Church and Change fellow traveler, has posted his objections to UOJ.

Extra Nos quoted Krohn with approval. I think Joe is still stuck on the OJ/SJ categories, which were invented by Woods translating Knapp, but he has seen the basic problems.

Perhaps the Stormtroopers will take him to a re-education camp and enlighten him until he recants. I have seen that happen on LutherQuest (sic) with Heidenreich - really pitiful.

On June 30th, The First Lutheran Martyrs Were Burned at the Stake

And yet, Lutherans today will not address the doctrinal issues, rebuke false doctrine, or uphold the truth of the Means of Grace.

Book of Concord:

"We have no intention of yielding aught of the eternal, immutable truth of God for the sake of temporal peace, tranquility, and unity (which, moreover, is not in our power to do). Nor would such peace and unity, since it is devised against the truth and for its suppression, have any permanency. Still less are we inclined to adorn and conceal a corruption of the pure doctrine and manifest, condemned errors. But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ." (Closing of Formula of Concord, Triglotta. p. 1095) Francis Pieper, The Difference Between Orthodox And Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 65. Tappert, p. 632. Heiser, p. 294. FC SD XI, #94-96.

The Sheep Are Seeing Their Own Lambs Punished - The Price of Silence

Thirty years ago, the ELS, WELS, and LCMS were rather prosperous and their educational systems were relatively inexpensive.

In spite of the Schwan gusher, or because of it, all three groups are strapped for funds. Their tuition costs are gigantic and offer little at the end of the road. Teachers and pastors have to spend or borrow a fortune to qualify for a lack of positions.

The children of those pastors who ran away from the doctrinal battle are now graduating with huge debts and no jobs. Many of the ovine shepherds no longer have a call. Afraid of the consequences of speaking up, they are paying the price now. More accurately, their own children are paying the price.

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "The Sheep Are Seeing Their Own Lambs Punished - Th...":

From what I've seen, the congregations don't send as much money to synod--and it's the synod which is supposed to subsidize the synodical schools.

On this blog and others I've seen comments complaining about how Lutherans don't have large families anymore, and this is the reason for the decline in membership. The synodical schools don't help in this regard, though. Their tuition is pricey, and while there is a small break for a 2nd and 3rd child enrolled, it barely put a dent in the total bill. The message sent by the synod and society is don't have large families, hence the synod is at fault for its own declining membership.

Remember that pastor in west-central Wisconsin that died falling off a ladder while trimming a tree? A month later the church posted a letter saying that he sent his sons through synodical schools, and thus left his wife penniless. The letter was asking for donations so she could at least put down a down payment on a house. Fortunately, housing is cheaper in rural parts of Wisconsin (and Minnesota.)

What really troublesome is the synod doesn't pester congregations don't send money in to synod. Not only do I know this is the case from my familiarity with one WELS congregation that paid its pastor according to synodical guidelines, but then didn't send a dime in to synod, but when the synodical budget tanked at the start of the Great Recession, people were saying for the first time, that we have to put the screws to those congregations that don't give anything, or nothing. So the synod is at fault for its own budget predicament. Moreover, it makes the student and pastors rather cynical. They paid their dues for getting into the pension plan via tuition and years of study, and so they deserve higher wages and a pension, the thinking goes.

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GJ - WELS is certainly large enough to have a group life policy on every church worker, payable to the spouse. They could even bill the congregation if they had to do it. Ministers and teachers are long-lived as a group. I had a group life policy in the LCA. The results were so good that the coverage went up over the years. Accidental death, which is more likely at an earlier age, could be included for a tiny amount of money. There is something in the Bible about leaving widows penniless, but there is nothing about the need to attend Fuller Seminary. The priorities are wrong in that flint-hearted sect.

Pietist - A Sheep in Sheep's Clothing

The fake blogger took time to pose for a formal portrait.
An Icarus he isn't.

The WELS Church and Money Changers are bleating and crying for help. Their last few blog departures are examples of their method - to be a sheep in sheep's clothing. Boxers call it "rope-a-dope," letting the opponent swing until exhaustion stops the fight.

Everyone is expected to view the Money Changers as victims, because they try to keep their nastiness tucked inside where no one can see it.

They will not fight in the open, because everyone would see their true nature. They dread anything being discussed in public. That is why a few people decided to produce daily personal attacks in the form of comments. One blogger I know got so tired of of such behavior that he turned off the comments.

I let them roll along to measure impact. More bleating comes in the form of hysterical comments and numerous short-lived blogs.

If WELS members or pastors try to deal with issues, in the manner ordered by Money Changers, they find the leaders being sheep rather than shepherds. Like my dogs, they are impossible to find when they suspect they are in trouble. Someone has to arrange a meeting with the alpha sheep, who will either load the meeting with his clones or disappear like Doug the Unready, the DP who guards Fox Valley and leads the sheep into the wilderness.

Anyone who buys their load is more foolish than the purveyors of false doctrine themselves.

The Doctrinal Pussycats, Sausage Factory professors, and college deceivers are all walking self-contractions. What I write about WELS is just as true about the Little Sect on the Prairie and the Legion of Mary* (formerly known as the Missouri Synod).

They claim a quia subscription to the Book of Concord while promoting the double-justification scheme of George Christian Knapp, constantly using the wording of his English translator, whose translation is still in print. Luther? They despise him and warn those who would quote the Reformer.

Their quia claim contradicts their constant evasion of the issues.

Their publications reveal their love for 19th century Pietism and the illusion that Midwestern sect founders have the final say on doctrinal issues (so forget the BOC). Harmonious (a nice pun on Concordia, eh?) with their real concerns, they adore the Pietism of Fuller, Willow Creek, and assorted scoundrels of the Evangelical Left, too numerous and tedious to name.

Because they do not love or fear the Word of God, they get their way by shunning and extending the Left Foot of Fellowship. They worship money so they think the worst punishment is to hurt someone financially. They also think the best reward is money, so they award themselves all the money in the name of mission, reaching out to the lost, using enough scams to land a banker in federal prison for life.

They are not wolves. They are sheep. Like true sheep, when one gets out through a hole in the fence, the rest of them follow until the sheepfold is empty. The alpha sheep went to Fuller 30 years ago and began to promote their school meekly while others followed.

Did Valleskey go to Fuller? Eyes open in fright. No. Avoid all future discussions. Yes he did (to David Koenig) and why did you tell the truth (to David Koenig).

Did Bivens go to Fuller? Yes and no. Let's stick with a firm "no" until the coast is clear.

Did Larry Olson go to Fuller? No, he went to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. How do you know he didn't? His Fuller paper in the MLC library? Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?

The First Vice President of WELS went to Fuller to be a Shrinker consultant - along with Kelm and Olson? That could never happen so Jim Huebner did not go and this conversation never happened.

Click your heels together three times and chant with Wayne Mueller:

"There is no Church Growth in WELS."

"There is no Church Growth in WELS."

"There is no Church Growth in WELS."

Now you are back in Kansas. Go to sheep, meek ones. Your fellow sheep will lead you to green pastures. They are not much for fighting predators, but there is safety in numbers. Making noise will just disturb the rest.

*For examples, see the LCMS defections to Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy, the feigned shock of Paul McCain MDiv, the toxic blog of Kilcrease (writing from a Roman school), the genuflections of Weedon, etc.