Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Guess Who Is Working with the New Jeske-Patterson Synod?
Look at the Church Links And Find Out Below




GJ - Good summaries:

Av Tattenai has left a new comment on your post "Guess Who Is Working with the New Jeske-Patterson ...":

It should be astonishing that an allegedly Lutheran congregation should approvingly link to a website which teaches, "We believe in the ordinances of believer’s water baptism by immersion as a testimony to Christ and identification with Him, and the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death and shed blood." In view of their apparent toleration of such contradictions of the Small Catechism, how does the WELS imagine they are any different from the ELCA?

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bored has left a new comment on your post "Guess Who Is Working with the New Jeske-Patterson ...":

Check out these WELS Women's services:

http://www.welswomen.net/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=180006193&sec_id=180002756

I don't suppose you or your readers will enjoy reading these 'Church Services for women', but it is probably important to be aware of what is available on the official WELS site.

I read through a few of these "services" and was not surprised to see the expected Christmas hymns and various barely-liturgical orders of service. The sermons, or rather, narrative expositions, are similar to the saccharine fluff you might find in Reader's Digest, many times offering secular moral of "Christmas is more than just gifts and materialism...there is something else!!" The messages of these "services" are very nearly just as applicable to Hottentots and Hindoos as they are to Lutherans.

When these "Womans' Services" do mention The Christ, they do it like this:

" Narrator: Great bargains are exciting and good news from beloved family and friends can be a delight. But as good as the sales are this week, next week Kohl’s will announce the biggest sale of the season. As perfect as the perfect gift is, it will likely be lost, broken or worn out soon; and nothing can compare to the perfect gift of a Savior. ' (excerpt from Advent by Candlelight, written by Naomi Schmidt)

Is anyone else insulted? If you're not, you ought to be. I'm insulted firstly because they insult Jesus Christ by comparing him to a bargain (but a better bargain!!). By describing Jesus as the superlative of the capitalist shopper's notion of "a good deal" they trod on his glory and his sacrifice. I'm secondly insulted because the writers' condescension is blatant. Do they suppose that the average WELS woman is so ignorant and petty that she needs to be reminded that Christ's Universal Atonement and individual Justification by Faith is better than the Aaron Rodger's Jersey she bought for her husband? Naomi, thanks so much for the reminder. I'm going to write that down so I don't forget. Naomi has a special perspicuity that will go down in song, I'm sure.

I'm sorry if I get a little snide when angry, but this stuff borders on the ludicrous.

The term "worship service" or "The Divine Service" actually has meaning beyond an arbitrary selection of words. The etymology of the word 'service' from M-W.com: "Middle English, from Anglo-French servise, from Latin servitium condition of a slave, body of slaves, from servus slave. "

So if we talk about a worship service, it's proper to ask who is acting as a slave? Who is serving whom? Ask around and you'll get different answers, but the truth is that in The Divine Service, God is acting as servant, serving grace to the Elect through Word and Sacrament. It is so humbling beyond words that the Omnipotent God would serve his creations that perhaps the content and form of our Worship Services should reflect that juxtaposition. In any event, I think it's safe to say that it's flippant and foolish to craft a worship service devoid of Word and Sacrament. God has chosen The Means of Grace for a reason. It's hubris and unChristian to hold a service with those Means.

I, for one, will write the Synodical leaders concerning these so-called Services, asking them to edit them to include the Means of Grace. I encourage everyone to pull out their keyboards and do the same.

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John has left a new comment on your post "Guess Who Is Working with the New Jeske-Patterson ...":

I couldn't decide whether to reach for a tissue or a barf bag when reading what this supposedly Lutheran pastor and congregation recommend to readers of their site.

Their recommendation of churches that deny the efficacy of the Means of Grace is, in fact a statement of this pastor and congregation regarding the efficacy of the Means of Grace.

Accordingly, wouldn't anyone partnering with this pastor and congregation also be denying the efficacy of the Means of Grace?

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GJ - Mequon grads can left-click on the icons above and be whisked to such WELS idols as Mars Hill Church, where Ski, Glende, and Bishop Katie also communed.

Pilgrim, WELS, Minneapolis.


Ask the Pastor



Do you have a question about doctrine, values, denominations, world religions, church practices, the Bible, what brand of coffee we use at our coffee hours...

Well this is your chance to have our pastor
Rev. Peter Leyrer
give you a well thought out, informative, theologically astute and plain English answer to that question thathas been just nagging at you.

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ELCA Brain-Washing May Be Worse Than WELS/ELS Brain Washing:
Jeske and Patterson Start Their Own Synod Headquarters


The house of cards will fall.


From ALPB:
Seminarians in the ELCA are forced to go through training to sensitize them to the badness of maleness and whiteness.  I think it was called the "Anti-Racism Workshop" when I was at LTSG.  Like most things liberal it was exactly the opposite of what it claimed, being a mind-numbing series of reverse-racisim role-plays, speeches, readings, and small group 'sharing' sessions.  When I asked (in private during a break) the quota-identified leader of the event why our discussion of oppression did not include the most powerless and oppressed group in our American society - the unborn - she told me I didn't understand and refused to engage me in respectful conversation.  This experience has been no different.  Inconvenient facts are glossed over so a few people can say whatever they want without regard for the truth.


Someone added:
I remember this well.  It was one of the most rigid and tightly-scripted pieces of mind control propaganda I have ever experienced.  As you note, there was no room for dissent.  One simply endured.  Fortunately, it was a one-time, one-day event and then we were able to get back to more mundane things such as what pronouns are acceptable in referring to the Father.

Meanwhile, in WELS-ville:


Grace In Action
On Eagle's Wings
Grace in Action Partners
Willowcreek's Little College

Wisconsin Lutheran College, affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, is a Lutheran liberal arts college for Christian men and women. The college is committed to providing quality teaching, scholarship, and service that are rooted in Holy Scripture; promoting the spiritual growth of students, faculty, and staff; and preparing students for lives of Christian leadership.

Mark Jeske's - Time of Generic Grace

Time of Grace is an outreach media ministry that was founded in 2001 by a small group of committed, focused Christians. The sole mission of this non-profit organization has always been to share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible through the most advanced technology available.

Pilgrim School

Mission: Educate the child in spiritual and secular matters, cooperatively with the family, in order to equip the child to be a productive citizen of God's earthly and  heavenly kingdoms.

Pilgrim School is a family environment in which the Great Commission is embraced fully through reaching and teaching an amazinggly diverse, urban student body. The ethnic makeup of Pilgrim School is 50% African American, 5% Native American, 5% Hispanic, 5% Hmong, 5% African Immigrant, and 30% Northern European. Pilgrim School is a Title 1 School with 70% of its population at poverty level or below. 

DP Buchholz' - CrossWalk Ministries

CrossWalk Church is a rapidly growing church in the Laveen and South Mountain Village areas of suburban Phoenix, AZ.  Starting with a single service and about 35 people in the fall of 2004, CrossWalk has grown to two services with nearly 500 people worshipping each Sunday. The core of CrossWalk's vision is to be a "church for unchurched people." That means that we're all about meeting people where they're at. This attitude toward church actually goes all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity. Paul, the apostle, talks about it numerous times, for instance, in his first letter to the Corinthians (9:19-23, 10:31-33, and 14:24-25). It's for this reason that on Sunday mornings we provide worship in "a casual atmosphere."
Hispanic Ministries

Risen Savior Lutheran Church and School, located in an impoverished area in northwest Milwaukee, recognizes that its Hispanic Ministry is unique in a number of ways. First, we are the only Christian organization serving the Hispanic population in northwest Milwaukee with a full-time Hispanic pastor (Seth Haakenson) and the only church in all of north Milwaukee offering services in Spanish. We understand that other congregations in different areas of our country serve their Hispanic neighbors well and also may offer services in Spanish. However, in many of those areas there may be a number of Christian churches at which Latinos could worship. Such is not the case in our area. We are the only option Hispanics in northwest Milwaukee have to learn of God's grace.

Second, the population that we serve is first-generation immigrants, many of whom intend to return to their homeland. Their return results in an opportunity for them to become missionaries and spread His word beyond the borders of our city. Pastor Haakenson has received numerous calls from people in Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico who were referred to him by those who once were members of his flock in Milwaukee.

In addition, many of these immigrants lack basic reading and writing skills. Understandably, they labor in low-paying positions. Should they be able to save any money, it often is sent to their immediate family members back home. The people to whom we minister simply do not have the means to address the budget for the ministry that means so much to them.

Finally, our congregation not only is committed to its Hispanic ministry, but also to a raft of other outreach programs. Our members (many of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes) support a Christian elementary school, an African-American population whose spiritual and physical needs are as great as their Hispanic neighbors, after-school programs for children, pregnancy information classes, a food pantry, summer school sessions, a free health clinic, and a host of other activities through which we are able to spread His word. All of this spiritual and physical assistance is desperately needed in this neglected neighborhood.

In spite of these challenges, our five-year-old Hispanic Ministry has been blessed beyond that which anyone could have initially imagined. Our Spanish worship attendance has risen from an average of ten per service five years ago to a high of 135 last May. More than 400 souls were nourished this past year in private bible study - many who previously had been led to believe that they must pray to saints and that their salvation was based upon their good works. The Lord has watched over us and encourages us to continue our efforts on His behalf. Cutting back on our Hispanic Ministry efforts simply is not an option - no matter how great the financial challenges.

We invite you to contact us for more information, visit us, and walk with us as we fulfill His great commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."
Clarence Jenkins
Development Director
Risen Savior Lutheran

Clarence Jenkins graduated from Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1971 with a BA in education.

He has taught in a Lutheran grade school, two Lutheran high schools, and a Lutheran college. He’s earned an MA in Education at the University of St. Thomas, an MA in English at Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in English at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee.

For the last thirteen years, Clarence has worked in the area of financial development--as a vice-president at Wisconsin Lutheran College, an associate vice-president at the Milwaukee Metropolitan YMCA, and for the last three years as development director at Risen Savior Lutheran Church and School. He currently lives in Wauwatosa where he served as alderman for nine years.

Clarence and his wife Ruth, also a Lutheran teacher, have been blessed with four children and five grandchildren.

414-354-7320
Cwjenkins4@yahoo.com

Pathways to College for Families

Pathways  to College for Families is a program designed to aid students and families coming from the greater Twin Cities, primarily from low-income families, and primarily minority families with college prospects and preparation in order for them all to succeed in college.  Pathways to College for Families will be broken out into three main components; our pre-college component designed to work with students from preschool through 12th grade, our parent component designed to mentor, support and help navigate through the process of getting their child prepared for and succeeding in college and our college component which is designed to foster the success of our students throughout their college career to completion.

Kudu Don's  - A Reason For Hope (RFH)

RFH is a radio/internet ministry project that was started in March 2005 and is run under the umbrella of Don Patterson's home congregation in Austin, Texas (Holy Word Lutheran - WELS).

Currently everyone who works on the RFH project are volunteers. RFH produces weekly 25-minute radio broadcasts on KLGO in Austin (Sundays 12:30 and 7:30 PM) and on KKMS in the Twin Cities (Sundays 7 AM).
WELS Kingdom Workers

Mission Statement:

WELS Kingdom Workers exists for the purpose of assisting the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) mission divisions in their task of making disciples according to the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To accomplish this purpose, WELS Kingdom Workers will endeavor, under God
  • to inform WELS members of the needs and opportunities that exist in home and world mission fields;
  • to encourage WELS members to become personally involved in mission work;
  • to facilitate and coordinate volunteer efforts in mission fields;
  • to provide financial support for authorized, but yet unfunded, mission programs.

Justification Book - First Draft - Published on Lulu.com



Cover and artwork by Norma Boeckler


Here is the link for the free download and for ordering print copies.

This is the first draft. I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and teaching work being finished to get this done.

I know that much more can be done on this. I hope to have the finished version done by Reformation Day - look that up on your Thrivent calendar, if it is listed at all.

Comments are welcome. I have left a wealth of material in the text because more people need to be informed. I thought of writing an Epitome, but time and energy ran out.

I especially want to hear from the laity because most clergy will not touch this issue. It is the Third Rail of the Synodical Conference. Touch it and die.

UOJ is the biggest con job since the Prussian Union. It is not Lutheran or Confessional or Biblical.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Only One Reply to the Blogger? But WELS Says To Write Letters, Sit Down and Tell Them Their Sins



Did you munch popcorn and slurp soda pop during the prayers when you went to church?
Ski is transforming lives, one waistline at a time.
He has had great success with his and Glende's:
The Girth Growth Movement


Daniel Baker has left a new comment on your post "Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure - Free Download fro...":

I wish I were behind, Pastor Jackson. Still no replies from anyone else. I am preparing to send follow-up letters (not that I expect response from them, but just to let it be known that I am not "going away" like a good little dog).

***

GJ - I know the feeling. I got ZERO replies from THREE certified letters to WELS pastors.

Check the blog to see that his letters were sent:


Letters of Concern Sent Regarding CORE


At the behest of one of the Intrepid Lutherans pastors, I wrote into a formal letter the concerns expressed in my blog post about my experiences at the CORE in Appleton. Per the recommendation of the Pastor, I have sent the letter to the President of the Northern Wisconsin District, Pastor Douglas Englebrecht, and have also courtesy copied the letter to the rest of the District Presidium (Pastors Mark Gass, Ronald Szep, and Joel Zank), Synod President Mark Schroeder, the Appleton Circuit Pastor (Robert Raasch), the Pastor at the CORE’s former mother church (Timothy Glende), and Pastor James Skorzewski (“Ski”) himself.

Here is his update.

Retired ELCA Bishop Chilstrom Tests the Limits of Cluelessness



Have you seen our video, dearie?




From the Mankato Free Press, Mankato, Minn Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010

Questions for those leaving ELCA

Herbert W. Chilstrom

By the end of 2010 several hundred congregations (an estimated 2-3% of more than 10,300) will have left theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America to form other Lutheran church bodies. I have three questions for those
leaving:
First, what is it about sex that pushed you over the edge?

Since its founding more than twenty years ago the ELCA has wrestled with a number of complex issues, never binding anyone’s conscience, but helping us think about them. Included among them have been studies and statements on abortion, the death penalty and war. These three issues all involve the potential for taking a life. That seems far more serious than getting upset about two adults of the same gender who, like most of us straight folks, chose to live peacefully in a life-long relationship – the only such pairing the ELCA has approved. Like their straight neighbors, they live peacefully, go to their jobs every morning, pay their taxes, volunteer for good causes and, in many cases, worship with us. What is it that upsets you about this?
The only answer I seem to get from those leaving is that “this was the last straw.” But that still begs the question, “Why sex?” Surely some other divisive issue will come along – as it always does in every human institution – that could be “the last straw” in a new church body.

Second, why are you organizing new churches?
The picture is confusing. We hear of one called “Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ” (LCMC) and another named “Lutheran Church in North America” (LCNA). [GJ - Chilstrom cannot get his names straight. This one is NALC.] This seems wasteful to those of us standing on the sidelines. Why not join an existing Lutheran church that agrees with your views on sex?
There are many choices: the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (headquartered here in Mankato), the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, and Church of the Lutheran Brethren – to name just a handful of more than two dozen in the United States. Surely there must be one among them that would welcome you. Why go to all the unnecessary expense of setting up an entirely new structure with officers, boards, committees and institutions?

I suspect the only reason is because none of them ordain women. Well, it’s good to know that you welcome women to your clergy ranks. But have you forgotten that it was only a short time ago when Lutherans fought intensely over that issue? Many were certain that neither the Bible nor tradition permitted women to be ordained. Why not drop your insistence on the ordination of women for the sake of unity with some existing church body?

Third, what will you say to your sons and daughters, sisters and brothers and others in your churches when they tell you they are homosexual?

You will no doubt suggest that they seek “reparative” therapy, even though more than 95% of professionals in the field tell us there’s nothing to “repair” because they are no more abnormal than the rest of us. Or, you may tell them they must simply remain alone, denying them of a life-long partnership. All of which brings us back to the first question: What is it about sex that pushed you over the edge?

I am both sad and relieved that you are leaving. Sad, because this was not what we hoped for when the ELCA was formed some 22 years ago. We believed we could be a church where we held to the essentials and allowed for differences on non-essentials.

But I am also relieved. Now those of us who remain in the ELCA can get on with our primary mission of telling everyone -- everyone, “Jesus loves you. You are welcome in this church.”
(Herbert W. Chilstrom, a resident of St. Peter, was the first presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.)

Donate To the Mark Jeske Synod:
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Grace In Action
On Eagle's Wings


On Eagles wings...through your help and support ministries will be started and will continue that will help to lift people and the kingdom to new heights in and through Jesus Christ. Please consider the many ministry opportunities that exist and are still yet to come.
Grace in Action is in the application process for 501c3 status. This process should be completed very soon. We are at this time able to accept donations as a 501c3 pending approval. Please reference any questions to Dr. Scott Gostchock as listed below.
You may use Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, eCheck or Paypal for any of the categories listed below. If you prefer other donation methods, please contact Dr. Scott Gostchock at Pilgrim 612-825-5375 or sgost@mindspring.com. Please scroll down through this page to see specific projects and donation opportunities that we invite you to share in and partner with us in Pilgrim's vision for ministry.
CrossTrain Ministries
Crossroads Consulting Ministry
Time of Grace Ambassador Program

Open Donations: Donations are welcome for other ministry opportunities or as general donations for Grace in Action to further ministry and continue support for existing ministries under Grace in Action. For more information, please contact Dr. Scott Gostchock.
Still Under Construction

***

GJ - They got this page done first. Check out the others. Blank. Harhar.

My Interpretation of Recent Events



Kitteh knows the truth.


rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure - Free Download fro...":

It has come to the point where I wonder if the WELS is now the theological equivalent of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. An analogy could not be drawn in every situation. However, some of the key concepts from the novel have similarities which are quite eerie.

Examples would include but are not limited to doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, and the Memory hole. What is most disturbing is the "Emmanuel Goldstein treatment" that has been given to Dr. Jackson on more than one occasion. This is otherwise known as the "two minutes of hate". Also, in a strange play of words, there are the various ministries in Oceania. In Orwell's country of origin, Great Britain, a ministry is a government agency. Bloated synod-ocracies have all these "ministies" which have the opposite effect of their title, just as in 1984. [GJ - illuminating typo - a mini-sty? I like it.]

For those who try to deal honestly and forthrightly with others in the real world, it is often difficult to change gears and operate the WELS way. What is most distressing is the lack of results, satisfaction and closure when trying to address their concerns. Many have been the recipients of the cockroach letter.

It appears as though all of these objectionable CG methods come with a built in snare when "lutheranized" the WELS way. Those who raise a stink are darned if you do and darned if you don't. The resisters to CG rot are run through a meat grinder of dead end activities that are designed to absorb your resources of time and energy. This list has been posted here several times. If one wisely chooses to not engage the apostates, then they are demonized for not speaking up. Recently, I let several key individuals know why I was leaving my former congregation. That should have been enough. Even with that, my position was misrepresented in the letter of transfer that was sent to my present congregation. If anyone else wanted a better explanation, they could have contacted me. I would have gladly gone through my laundry list of concerns. Not one elder or any other concerned member took it upon themselves to get the story straight from the horse's mouth.

Fear is control and many WELS laity are afraid of the truth.

I have been given the silent treatment. As Luther told George Major - "it is by your silence and your cloaking that you bring suspicion upon yourself".

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "My Interpretation of Recent Events":

The calling process in the WELS is a sick joke at best, but more closely resembles a tyrannical power play. Sometimes, it is the lack of receiving a call which is also used to club some into submission or to make a point with the alleged unruly.
That point is be careful whose toes you step on. My aunt told me about a young pastor who languished without a call while there were many vacancies. The bishop (DP) would give no reason why this candidate did not have his name placed on any call lists. My aunt concurred that it is a divine call with a lot of human intervention.

It must have been genetic. This young pastor's father was also abused by the calling process. His father was the pastor who confirmed me. He was not well liked by some but was very Confessional.

Many years ago I asked a young LES teacher if they taught anything about the doctrine of the divine call at Dumb Man's Last Chance. She gave me a confused look. It seemed like such a logical inconsistency for called workers to be subjected to this process but not know anything about the theology behind it. Then again, maybe there is no theology behind it with the manner in which it is being implemented.

You have to give these bishops credit for being innovative in the way that they handle dissenters. You give them credit like you would give a scheming criminal credit for their effort in trying to pull off the perfect crime, but eventually get caught by overlooking some details.

***

GJ - WELS is so abusive that the leaders use calls to stick the knife in. For example, one pastor dared to question Church Growth, rather mildly, only at some meetings. He got a Calumet call. Friends phoned him and said, "What on earth did you do wrong?" The point of such calls is to humiliate the pastor. Calls are also used to say, "We approve of this adulterer."

I was recently told by one DP, "We are giving calls to those guys to break up that group." That is gutless discipline in WELS. No one took the calls, except for Witte, who was promoted for being a Church and Money Changer pioneer. Doubtless they knew, if the calls even appeared, that it was a sham, a fraud, another smokescreen to keep the gullible peaceful.

This is my intuition, taken completely from my fertile mind, and not based on any inside knowledge, memo, intercepted email, or pillow talk from some Shrinker's girlfriend:

The Church and Change group, which is used to running the show and being paid lavishly for it, sat down with SP Schroeder and had a Come To Jesus meeting.

This may have happened in one dramatic moment or dribbled out over a period of time, with various laity taking part in their own ways.

The message was, "We will continue and you will keep your hands off. Otherwise, we will walk with several millions of dollars of donations per year. And you can count on a bloody civil war going on for years, because you are being divisive."

Mark Jeske has been building his own synod for years. He promotes a youth meeting as synodical. His Board of Warbucks includes people across the synod, sending shivers of fear down the alleged spines of all the DPs. One Daddy Warbucks gave $500,000 to Willowcreek's Little College in Milwaukee (WELS for donation purposes only - the WELS Valpo).

If Kieschnick had been re-elected, Jeske's implied threat was taking the whole bunch out and joining the LCMS. He got the Missouri Synod RSO status (a goldmine) when LCMS ministers are denied it. That is an interesting parallel to Stolzenburg getting a Marvin Schwan grant even though he was kicked out of Missouri and kept out of WELS.

Kieschnick was defeated by his corpse-cold ambition, but Jeske's ambitions remain. He can easily take the group out on its own or affiliate with one of many new Lutheran groups. I doubt that anything will happen, because congregations care more about Holy Mother Synod than about sound doctrine. A state of Limbo is perfect, and that can continue for years, as it has already.

The Church and Money Changers joined the Reformed New Agers decades ago. They bragged about it in TELL, promoted one another into Love Shack sinecures, took over various entities and renamed them to show their conquests, routed out their opponents, and elevated their scrofulous pals to college and seminary positions, not to mention First VP of the synod. In one episode after another, Shrinkers have triumphed in new jobs, untouched by the economic devastation they visited upon confessional Lutherans.

The passive clergy wag their tails every time a Shrinker gets near, in hopes of improving their sorry lot. There is no growling at the wolves, for it is more enjoyable to bite than to be bitten, to run with the pack than be driven off.