Sunday, August 1, 2010

Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -
Minnesota District Holds Youth Rally in Appleton: Love-N-Ex Rules



Learn from the best.


I got out Google Maps and found that the concentration of WELS members in the People's Republic of Minnesota live far away from Appleton, Wisconsin, a circuit known for plagiarism, unionism, and the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

District youth rallies are normally hosted in the same district, simply because travel becomes a hardship and also a cost on top of room and board.

So why did this happen? This event is an example of solidarity among the Church and Money Changers. I imagine the two DPs got together and struck a deal to show WELS who was running the show.

Alternately, WELS members need to face the facts about the other administration. They voted for SP Schroeder, but a shadow government runs WELS - The Love Shack in Exile, or Love-N-Ex. The apostates pushed out of power are united in their lust to regain power, not that they have lost much. They all have plush salaries and positions - Kelm, Bruce Becker, and the rest.

Their odious lobby continues - Church and Change. When a few people got together for a cooperative blog, WELS had a collective hissy-fit and worried that I was involved.

I am guessing that Appleton is tottering from all the attention on this blog. This Minnesota road trip is a way to shore up their apostate friends and to prove the Love-N-Ex is in power, even though not officially in office. Elections are an adiaphoron. What matters most is what people do - what they believe, teach, and confess.

In Appleton, they confess Groeschel, Driscoll, Sweet, and Stanley.

Taxpayers Members are paying for this through their offerings.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -Minnesota District Ho...":

A government in exile (gov-n-ex) occurs when rulers have to physically move because of an invasion from the outside or an internal coup. The gov-n-ex takes residence with a nation that is sympathetic to them or perhaps has a symbiotic relationship with them. Here is the key: the gov-n-ex still makes the claim of legitimacy. They maintain that they are the duly elected or appointed leaders. Their hope is to physically move back to where they were once the craziness ends.

This would be the case with the Love-N-Ex. They consider their situation temporary. It is the drunken sailor three steps forward one step back scenario. It also gives them some feedback about what not to do. They may try to be even more underhanded and less brazen.

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -Minnesota District Ho...":

You got that right, the "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS," but for the wrong reason. If you are going all the way to Wisconsin for a youth rally, might as well have it at the Wisconsin Dells water parks. That would put the Arizona districts youth rally at the Wet N' Wild water park to shame!

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2010/07/wels-youth-mystery.html

excerpt: We spent a day at the Wet N' Wild water park and enjoyed mixer games and devotions.

The Minnesota Youth Rally in Appleton WI web page is here:

http://www.welscyd.net/site/default.asp?sec_id=180000504

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GJ -

Bruce, that would deny the teens their chance to tour the Thrivent home office in Appleton, aka LB-N-Ex.


Church Growth Slide Rule Shows How Close



What Is Wrong with Objective Justification and Subjective Justification?




But I read it in Christian News!


Les Baker has left a new comment on your post "Knapp's Portrait Contributed by...Someone":

Just a question:

When the terms SJ and OJ are used they seem to me to be the same as imputing of faith and atonement. (OJ and atonement being equal terms.) That is how I learned it from my pastor and how I continued to learn as I studied on my own.

"Words of Dr. E. W. A. Koehler (A Summary of Christian Doctrine, Second Edition, p. 149): “Justification is that forensic” (judicial) “act of God, by which He, on the basis of the perfect vicarious atonement wrought by Christ, declared the whole world to be justified in His sight (objective justification), and transmits and imputes the effect of this declaration to all whom He brings to faith by the work of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace (subjective justification).”

Can you explain to me how this is incorrect? My son led me to your blog 2 days ago and we have been discussing this issue. He seems to agree with your view, but while talking about it it sounds the same as what I have listed above.

Thanks for your answer.

Les Baker

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GJ - The key phrase is "declared the whole world to be justified in His sight," which is a bit milder than many formulations.

The essence of UOJ or OJ is the entire world being absolved of sin. Do you believe that Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Judas Iscariot have the status of guilt-free saints?

One problem is "already forgiven," as the Brief Confession of Missouri says. When you were born, were you already forgiven? If so, why were you baptized?

If the entire world is already forgiven, how is that different from Universalism? In fact, ELCA teaches the exact same concept of the Gospel.

The Atonement means that Christ has paid for the sins of the world. Atonement is not justification, just as baptism is not communion, even though both are sacrament.

The Atonement is the Gospel message, the treasure. As Luther and the Book of Concord say, the treasure lies in one heap until distributed by the Holy Spirit in the Means of Grace.

There is no justification without faith. Unbelievers remain under the wrath of God. In faith they receive the Gospel promises and are declared forgiven.

If you thought OJ was synonymous with the Atonement, you were like me and many others. I know Syn Conference pastors who thought that is what OJ was - the Atonement.

Here the Gospel in a few simple steps.

Robert Preus once taught UOJ, but he repudiated it in his last book, Justification and Rome.

God's forgiveness is grace, and that grace only comes to us through the Means of Grace. To claim grace without the Means of Grace is Enthusiasm, which is roundly condemned in the Book of Concord.



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Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "What Is Wrong with Objective Justification and Sub...":

Thank you, thank you! Now I understand what UOJ is all about. Thank you for spelling it out so simply. Remember, I'm WELS trained so it took me a little longer to get it!

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GJ - Support of UOJ is crumbling, Scott. One reason is that WELS stepped into it during the Kokomo Statements crisis, then refused to deal with their error, for fear of exposing the non-infallibility of the sect. Those who advocate UOJ do so from bluster, not from doctrinal arguments or exegesis.

Walther was right about this - error has to be exposed first. Hiding it away is not the same as making it go away.



Building Better Prisons



Do not question the WELS papacy.
The Holy Spirit does not allow them to err.


bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Thai One On with Dave Kehl - Genius Advisor to the...":

Builders for Christ has been looking to build a church somewhere in Thailand, if it hasn't already been started. That would be like the WELS, though, building a nice new building and then leaving. The WELS is like the Boy Scouts and always leaves an area better than it found it. For example, the Prairie du Chien state detention facility has a first-class music facility thanks to the WELS.

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GJ - Bruce is referring to the $500,000 music building which was added to Prairie when WELS was already going to close it.

The president of NWC was shocked when he solicited a large gift for a library building at Watertown: WELS demanded the 10% fee for Planned Giving. Yes, the Tetzels get a commission, just like the parish consultants and WELS stewardship consultants. He said, "I got the gift, why surrender the fee?" WELS demanded it anyway.


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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Building Better Prisons":

Your caption is right. The relentless use of the 8 and 18 switch is really just a back door method of claiming infallibility. The pope is saying right now, "If only the RCC had gone about it the way the WELS has, it would have saved us a lot of trouble." But just as infallibility has led the RCC to become corrupt and led it deeper into heresy, the same goes for the incorrigible WELS. Infallibility is why there's never been a serious study of UOJ and where it really came from exactly.



The Ninth Sunday after Trinity



By Norma Boeckler


The Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 628 Shepherd of Tender Youth 3:74
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 #283 3:90
Strange Parable
The Communion Hymn # 307 Draw Nigh 3:72
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 # 50 Lord Dismiss Us 3:86

KJV 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast bountifully given us Thy blessing and our daily bread: We beseech Thee, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts that we willingly share Thy blessed gifts with our needy brethren; that we may be found faithful stewards of Thy gifts, and abide in Thy grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Thy judgment, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Strange Parable

This parable is the strangest of all parables, but we have to look at the intentions of Jesus.

A lot of people clustered around Jesus for the benefits. Enormous crowds followed Him, but they left the moment He said something they did not like. One example is in John 6, when they said, “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?” And they left.

Jesus often questioned their motivation, since they liked the mass feedings and the miracles.

Therefore, the parables were designed only for believers to understand. When an unbeliever hears this parable, or if someone listens to it superficially, it is a complete puzzle.

The plot itself is rather simple. The manager of the estate has done a poor job, so he is going to be fired. To provide for himself, he goes to those who owe his master money and lowers their bills, making them his friends. We expect the master to imprison the steward for costing him money, but he commends the steward instead. If that is not confusing enough, Jesus offers the unjust steward as an example for believers – for the children of light.

How do we make sense of this – Make friends for yourself of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations?

Anyone can say, without being contradicted, that the church leaders of today have been unjust stewards of the treasures they were given. Unjust is another word for unrighteous.

The squandering of the treasure is obvious. ELCA comes to mind first, especially if someone has read the classics from the 19th and 20th centuries, all from ELCA pioneers: Reu, Jacobs, Krauth, Lenski, et al. My wife and I were talking about the congregation and pastor I worked for in Kitchener, Ontario. He was so conservative and liturgical by today’s standards that he could not get a call in most areas of WELS, Missouri, or the ELS. But, after 40 years, that same congregation is conducting homosexual weddings and already had an Anglican bishop as an interim pastor.

WELS, Missouri and the mini-micro synods want to use ELCA to make themselves look good, but they have squandered just as much, with the same speed. My first visit to a Missouri church took place in high school – a matter of curiosity for those of us who had never been to one. We met at a school gym and used the 1941 hymnal, which was very much like the one we used. At our allegedly liberal LCA congregation, youth meetings consisted of using the hymnal to learn liturgical services like Vespers and to sing Lutheran hymns. The ministers wore liturgical robes (not Geneva academic gowns) and sometimes chanted.

Now Missouri and WELS think youth gatherings should be as pagan as rock concerts. In fact, they are rock concerts and the rock n roll has moved into the Sunday service itself.

Thus far the parable. The wealth has been squandered. In the Bible, wealth is primarily the spiritual treasures of the Gospel, since money is a small matter to God.

The spiritual treasures have been squandered to such an extent that frauds either promote Roman Catholic or Fuller doctrine and call themselves “confessional Lutherans.” My Shelties know more about Lutheran doctrine than the DPs and seminary professors, so the frauds all promote one another and praise one another, world without end, Amen.

So what should we do, according to the parable? Even a bad, lazy, crooked steward knows what to do. He makes friends with that same mammon (money) he has squandered. He was foolish before but now he is wise. They will take him in when he is fired from his stewardship, because he has befriended them.

Jewish reasoning is often from the minor to the major. In other words, if this bad steward can figure it out, so should the believers – but they are often foolish.

Jesus never said, “Be crooked and wily.” He said, “Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.”

So, if an unjust steward can figure this out, why not follow him in his cleverness?

People long for the power and money of the established churches. But what they do have is far more powerful. They have the free use of the Word and many ways to spread that Word of God for free.

A few people have noticed that it is possible to communicate with 20,000 people for free, all over the world, when others spend millions to do the same thing.

This is one way to make friends in the best sense, to unite people according to their faith in the Word of God.

It is strange that everything gets turned upside down. Money itself has only short-term use and has no eternal value. The treasure of the Gospel is a blessing now and in eternity.

When we help people out, we often complain, “We did not get any thanks for it or even a returned favor.” That is really a barter situation, not a gift. If I get a returned favor or thanks, I am not truly giving something away, whether it is my time or something with monetary value.

This parable teaches, “Make friends with money and they will speak for you when you get to heaven.” (Luther) I see this as encouragement to think of those who receive from us as our defense lawyers when we reach Judgment Day. The New Testament has an odd way of balancing faith alone and those good works which follow faith. The good works are a visible testimony to our faith. They do not add to, do not complete faith (as the papalists teach). It is a matter of order.

The situation will be reversed in many cases. There will those who reach Judgment Day who have been honored by the visible church for funding all their buildings. But if they broke up their own families and others, if they lied and cheated people through life, will God be impressed with their honorary doctorate from Fleabit College? Who will speak for them? The apostate church leaders will already be on slow roast.

The early Christians took note of the advice given by Jesus. They had nothing and were nothing, but they spread the Gospel throughout the world. They used hospitality the way we use the Internet today. They had secret signals, like the fish. Deprived of great marble temples, they used the tombs below ground. Persecuted, they took the Gospel to new places. Imprisoned, they preached to their jailers (see Acts) and baptized them. Slain, they died in peace in front of raging beasts, shaking pagan Rome to The CORE.

Thai One On with Dave Kehl - Genius Advisor to the WELS Feminist Conference



Church and Money Changers rule the roost.


Moral has left a new comment on your post "Church Growth in WELS":

update on Thailand:

while the two missionary positions were eliminated for "budget cuts," a WELS church has been able to go Galt and independently support missionary Meister.

This is bad news for the Thailand mission committee, consisting of Dave Kehl and Ken Pasch. So much so that they decided to call one of their own (Ken Pasch) to be the Thailand Mission Coordinator, while the Meisters are still in Thailand.

Pasch, by the way, doesn't have over ten years of language, culture, and relationships like Krohn. Pasch, by the way, doesn't have over 17 years of Thai language, culture, and relationships like Meister.

Corporate America take note: I haven't seen a hostile takeover go down like this in years. All the while, the committee can claim to be doing the will of God.

Hit me with the 8 and 18 bait and switch in 5...4...3...2...1...
(but if you do, please demonstrate to me where I am in error).




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GJ - Richard Starr was head of the Brazilian Church Growth experiment, but he never learned Portuguese. The issue is doctrinal fidelity (to Fuller) not language ability. One day they will post a brass plaque at the mattress room entrance to note that.


Church and Money Changers Sell You the Shovel To Dig Your Own Grave





Ex-Sp Gurgle and Patterson should conduct a synod-wide workshop on stewardship,
with the freewill offering going to hunt kudu deer and zebras.


rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "July Page Views For Ichabod":

It still astonishes me how so many look up to the Church and Money Changers. What is worse is that anyone would pay them to tell you how to dig your own grave. In fact, you even have to buy the shovel from them. Presently, many of them are running scared. With a minimum of 37,000 page views on Ichabod just last month, their gig may soon be up. Because of their laziness, few of them could work in the real world. Our teenage daughter just started her first job in the real world. She has already commented about eight hour work days. She will learn persistence just by going to work every day. It is not hard work to oppose the Church Shrinkers. The Holy Spirit working through the Word does the work. Luther commented that sometimes, it will take 20 years to see results. Opposing the Shrinkers may get you funny looks. That is a small price to pay for defending the faith. In this case, the opposite to the Church and Money Changers laziness may be having just one Luther moment and staying with it.

July Page Views For Ichabod


37,000+ page views in the month of July, anno domini 2010.

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Persistence is the key. I look at my list of blogs and see relatively few updates. Aristotle said, "Patience and courage are so closely related that one is either the mother or sister of the other."

The Church and Money Changers are lazier than a trust fund kid. They cannot even invent their own false doctrine. They have to borrow it from Fuller, Willow Creek, Groeschel, Granger Community, Trinity in Deerfield, Mars Hill, Northpoint, and Leonard Sweet's Space Academy.

Outproducing them is no problem.