MLC board OKs senior housing for New Ulm - NUJournal.com | News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal, New Ulm, MN

MLC money-making project.

MLC board OKs senior housing for New Ulm - NUJournal.com | News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal, New Ulm, MN:

'via Blog this'

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "MLC board OKs senior housing for New Ulm - NUJourn...":

You will soon be going out penniless and unwillingly. Unfortunately the Lutheran Synodical leaders have swindled the laity into giving Thrivent their money in exchange for doubling the bake sale proceeds. They also gave generously to Lutheran World Relief (LWR) which is an NGO of the United Nations. Both have used your financial support to advance the New Age agenda through ELCA and the United Nations. Not only has this allowed the incessant slaughter of the unborn children of ELCA called workers, it has exported this same slaughter around the world of men, women and children. You see, Thrivent's direct support, amoung other things, for the New Age United Religions Initiative is the direct support for worshipping the earth as God and Mother and condemning humanity as it's worst plague which must be eliminated to sustainable levels while establishing a global governement and religion (headed by the Antichrist) required to enforce such satanic doctrines. This is why the value of your dollar has collapsed to it's current point, represented so perfectly by the current value of gold. Thus the retirement age of 20-25% of Boomers is 80yrs and realistically - never. Now would be a good time to humourously say BAZINGOO! but it is far to terrible to joke about. MLC is just buying time - of which there is very little left. In view of the events depicted in Matt. Chapter 24 Christians pray that Christ would return soon, knowing fully what that entails and ought to know just how much the so-called Lutheran Synods are doing in opposition to Christ and His Church.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/12/14/is-80-the-new-retirement-age-many-americans-think-so/

http://www.green-agenda.com/index.html  

---

California wrote:

Reading about WELS' venture into Senior Housing linked to Early Childhood  Learning, is an idea lifted right out of the womb to tomb Big Brother agenda being put in place by government across the nation.   For half a century, WELS has always been playing "catch-up" with the latest socialist utopian scheme to come along, and even the terminology reminded me of one California County's Early Learning Master Plan (2010) which I have in my hand as I write.  It is just one of other clones across the nation for government schools and communities.   In that plan, even the carefully crafted terminogy is explained as  follows:  "By the way: we titled the effort an 'early learning plan' advisedly.   We wanted to convey the message that early learning is not an 'extra' or preamble to 'real school, but rather a vital component of the BIRTH TO ADULT LEARNING CONTINUUM".  (emphasis added by me)

The terminology is subtley changed from Early Childhood Education or Preschool, to " Early Learning" in order to accommodate the idea of institutional oversight from birth to old age.   Elsewhere in the same document, prenatal home visits are programmed into the scheme.

According to the November 2011 publication from MLC in which the planned Early childhood Learning Center and the New Senior Housing Facility are reported  to be linked together for a continuum of generations  with "classrooms for infants and toddlers and well as 3, 4, and 5 year-olds".

No mention at least in the MLC publication of prenatal visits to prospective homes of families by WELS overseers, but can that be far behind as WELS agenda is gravitating to institutionalizing functions for which God provided families?.  

WELS is obviously following models being put in place by government at Federal, State and local levels, with schools to become the centers for the socialist community utopia.  WELS and other church related  entities should instead be encouraging parents to rsist the paradigm, and "parent" their own young children at home in family context, not lending their infants and toddlers to instutional instruction, observation, and assessing, then planning and programming for housing of surrogate grandparents in the "grand" scheme of instituionaling all of society.  

Granted  that participants will be willing or nudged to be participants since the power of the sword is not yet employed to enforce participation,  but it will be interesting to know whether government funding is a factor especially  re: the "Senior Housing" Project.  The Plan fits the Agenda 21 Model regardless of where the funding comes from, but then should anyone be surprised? Way back in the 1970s , this observor complained about DMLC recommending that WELS teachers obtain social studies lessons and material from the UN.

---

California on the Dunning-Kruger Effect:

In a comment re: "Post Dunning-Kruger Effect in the OldenSynodical Conference", rlschultz says,   "So much of CG nonsense creates the illusion of participatory democracy.  As has been pointed out elsewhere here at Ichabod, this is usually done to draw out the dissenters and find the yes-men".

rlshcultz is exactly right in the observation about the system being designed to draw out the dissenters and find the yes-men.   However, it is not to "create the ILLUSION of participatory democracy", for it IS THE ESSENCE OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY.  "Participatory Democracy" is one of those clever euphemisms created by the antagonists of democratic representative governance. The terms are often confused, but couldn't be more different.

The term, "Participatory Democracy" was coined in the document, "The Port Huron Manifesto" attributed largely to leftist activist, Tom Hayden and published by Students for Democratic Society in 1962 during days of student revolutions.   The text of the Port Huron Manifesto is still posted on internetaccessible with a simple google search. Those who are old enough to remember the national turmoil during the 1960's will recognize the name of Students for Democratic society (SDS), a leftist student revolutionary movement.

It came to my attention during my research and battles with the government schools system's planned, programmed, "unfreezing of the system".

In researching the system we discovered PPBS, Planning Programming, Budgeting System, which was a new form of governance being superimposed on our representative form of governance in education as well as most other governmental agencies starting with the Department of Defense.  That's all documentable.   It was that research and involvement in secular arena which sharpened my antenna as a member of a WELS congregation, when I happened to have access and see a memo from  Norman Berg to pastors, in which he used the term: "Participatory Democracy".   I thought then that surely the origin and real meaning of the term must not have been known or understood. In retrospect, maybe or maybe not.   

My research resulted in activism, some writing and a speech in  1972 re: PPBS in schools.  In the speech I quoted a book, MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION, by Shelly Umans who said it well:   "If people are involved, then whole new strategies must be developed to 'engineer' people into accepting change. Projects that do not take into account the need to involve the people affected are not likely to succeed......In discussing strategies for affecting change, we are talking about broad plans, the over all plans for gaining acceptance.  How will the person out there be convinced that he wants to adopt the change?"

 "They call it people technology in the same book.  So involving the potential adopter in the development of innovation is the strategy for overcoming resistance both within the academic community and the general public."

Another name for this process is Participatory Democracy,a term by the way, which was coined by SDS in their Port Huron Manifesto, to identify the process for citizen participation in destruction of their own political institutions. Participatory Democracy is not to be confused with participation in representative government."  Speech titled PPBS (1972)

Participatory Democracy is designed to let everyone think they are having a voice in an already predetermined objective, but it is designed to identify resistance in order to either circumvent it or ultimately isolate or eliminate absolute resistance which can't be presented in the controlled
resulting "consensus".   

When I discovered  in the 70's that WELS had adopted PPBS as its modus operandi in the late 60's, I knew the die was cast..

Efforts to explain the toxicity of PPBS and the systems driven term: Participatory Democracy fell on deaf or ears of those who couldn't conceive of Synod leaders allowing anything like I described or on ears already committed to the Process.

Participatory Democracy is such a nice sounding term, but one which is a clever deception in itself, whose meaning is well understood by the perpetrators of destruction of  institutions.

TODAY Entertainment - Russell Brand, Katy Perry are divorcing

Their transforming ministry had no effect on Katy Perry's
crude lyrics and behavior.

TODAY Entertainment - Russell Brand, Katy Perry are divorcing:

Rumors have been swirling for some time, but now it's official. Comedian and actor Russell Brand has filed for divorce from singer Katy Perry. He cites "irreconcilable differences" in the petition, filed in Los Angeles.

'via Blog this'

---

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "TODAY Entertainment - Russell Brand, Katy Perry ar...":

Forward In Christ A Lutheran Voice, January 2012:

I was reading the Changes In Ministry section for the pastor list, and discoverd that Pastor Philip A Koelpin has accepted a call to St. Peter, Appleton. One would have to be dead or in a coma to not know about the apostasy of Tim Glende. May the Lord guide Pastor Koelpin! Perhaps he can shepherd Brother Glende in the true path. Please refer to the older posts concerning Pastor Christian in the Light From Light blog.

A message for Pastor Koelpin: Are you aware that Pastor Glende fired his own circuit pastor? Accepting a call takes many days of prayer and family discussions.

Current Lulu Discount

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/martinchemnitzpress

Emmaus Conference - Lutheran Trifecta. Olde Synodical Conference Style, ELCA Substance

"Guys, you are a riot.
What was the part about not agreeing with ELCA?
Homosexual college video and man-boy files at the Love Shack?
Bueller, Bueller, anyone?"

Emmaus Conference:




February 9-10, 2012
Lecturer: President, The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, St. Louis, Missouri 
Assistant Pastor, Village Lutheran Church, Ladue, Missouri.

'via Blog this'

***

GJ - What a snorer for a conference title! "Let's talk about us instead of justification by faith."

This is a good goal for the new edition of Luther versus the UOJ Pietists - having it ready for the conference. Watch them invent reasons why the book cannot be distributed free, as it was last year.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Emmaus Conference - Lutheran Trifecta. Olde Synodi...":

Currently the LCMS is not a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Although they do participate in meetings of the National Council of Churches. The LCMS CTCR documents state,


"D. Other Christian Groups
Although the LCMS is not a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) or the National Council of Churches (NCC), the Commission makes an effort to keep abreast of the latest developments within these groups. At the request of the President and the CTCR, the Executive Director of the CTCR participates in meetings of the NCC Faith and Order Commission and, whenever possible, attends meetings of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Christian Churches Together (CCT).

Through the CTCR and the President’s office, the Synod takes part in various ecumenical discussions and dialogs. In past years the Synod has participated in discussions with Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, the Orthodox, Baptists, the Reformed, and Evangelicals. The LCMS is a participant in Round XI of the USA Lutheran/Roman Catholic Dialogue under the theme of “The Hope of Eternal Life.” In the Fall of 2010, the LCMS began a series of theological discussions with the Anglican Church in North America. The goal of these dialogs is for our churches to gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for one another and to affirm each other insofar as we are able."

Clearly the LCMS doesn't need to be a member in order to participate, work with or coordinate efforts with these groups. LCMS' heavy involvement and financial support for the ELCA and Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is evidence enough that they have no issue with financiing the brutal murder of unborn babies, children, women and men around the globe.

***

GJ - The LCMS would be considered backwards if they did not participate actively, so they try to shine up to the unionists while playing it safe about "being a member."

Likewise, WELS has been working with Lutheran World Relief for decades, a fact kept hidden from the members and pastors.

Just a Vacation in Walther-Land: Publishing Updates

This is a drawing of Walther before he died.
I am surprised a halo has not been drawn in.

I started the mystery-apologetics book, but that will be a hobby this year. In short, a novel is more difficult to write than most people imagine.

I just finished my high school reunion book. That was fun and fulfilling. Four media stars are from my high school, plus one opera star, one rocket scientist, and some other interesting characters. You like Tolkien? The wife of my classmate is in New Zealand helping with the latest Peter Jackson project - The Hobbit.

My main project in January is the re-write of the Justification book. I will post the two new sections here while adding them to the book.

As I told 29A, the Walther mythology really needs to be examined closely. The newest Missouri Synod President actively participates in it. So does Perry County - Walther-Land - not too far from where we live.

Recently I learned that telling the truth about Walther is "slander." Legally, the truth is not slander. That method works well in the Old Synodical Conference, whose leaders gladly slander anyone who gets near to telling the truth. The complete story is much worse than anyone imagines.

Steadfast Lutherans » More on the Preus Era — Waldo Werning and David Settje review Burkee’s Book

Steadfast Lutherans » More on the Preus Era — Waldo Werning and David Settje review Burkee’s Book:

Jack Preus did a lot to get Chemnitz published in English and wrote a biography of the Concordist.

Robert Preus was respected by all conservative Protestants,
but hated by liberal Lutherans.

'via Blog this'

Andy Stanley Cool Is Not Lutheran Worship

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Where Does Anti-Confessionalism End?Universalism a...":

Let's see now, that was a service and sermon about John Parlow, Mike Westendorf, Herod, Mary, Joseph, and YOU/ME, but....Jesus? Not so much.

Also, how hypocritical to preach against a secular Christmas, but then worship and preach in a secular setting: Pre-December on the calendar, but full Christmas decorations in front of the hidden altar (which is there to receive the offering plates apparently because Parlow made special mention that the ushers couldn't get to the altar because it was backstage behind the props), and Scriptural texts that are appointed for the church year calendar festival of Epiphany which always falls on January 6, the 12th day of Christmas. Remember that song?

And on and on and on....

Make no mistake about it, WELS readers, that way of "doing church" is being encouraged in WELS and along with it a (further) departure from Confessional Lutheranism.

----

Referencing:

“and talk about a guy (Christ) whose life didn’t work out the way he planned….”

John Parlow

http://vimeo.com/user9457217/review/33918382/a96b8e812a.

http://stmarkpartners.org/go/downloads

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Where Does Anti-Confessionalism End?Universalism a...":

My apologies, (W)ELS Pastor Parlow's statement about Christ begins at 32:00

Even more disturbing is Parlow's statements at 34:20 where he teaches the real message of Christmas - "The real story is not hat you are promised a merry Hallmark Christmas. It is the good news of God the child, born in a manger, died on a cross, laid in a tomb, risen from the grave, seated at the right hand of the Father, coming back one day to set the world right, your world right. And more importantly, right now for you, to make your messy world right."

REALLY?!? The message of Christmas is that Christ will return one day to make our messy world right? That is a New Age millennialist teaching.

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Andy Stanley Cool Is Not Lutheran Worship":

And more importantly, right now for you, to make your messy world right.

Jesus is going to get my mother-in-law to go back home after Christmas?

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Andy Stanley Cool Is Not Lutheran Worship":

Excellent article by John Pless linked below: "Delivering Forgiveness of Sins."

The reason WELS is so readily jettisoning the liturgy and replacing it with Evangelical worship forms is because of UOJ.

A few quotes:

The crisis over the liturgy is a result of confusion over the forgiveness of sins. As such it is a doctrinal issue and therefore, ultimately church divisive.

Liturgy, as it is divine service, delivers the forgiveness of sins. The liturgy does not exist to provide edifying entertainment, motivation for sanctified living, or therapy for psychological distresses, but the forgiveness of sins.

The forgiveness of sins has no real presence within the theology of Evangelicalism. At best, troubled sinners are pointed back to Calvary. The problem is as Luther has reminded us - that forgiveness was acquired at Calvary but not delivered there. Calvary is back there in time almost two thousand years ago. At its worst, Evangelicalism turns the troubled sinner inward to his own conscience.

The cultus of Evangelicalism exchanges the absolution for assurances of grace, the Gospel as the efficacious Word of salvation for a gospel that invites and requires a human decision, and the supper of the Lord's body and blood for a symbolic recollection of the upper room. Where is the forgiveness of sins?

Read it all:

http://www.confessionalsbytes.com/2010/02/john-pless-delivering-forgiveness-of.html  

Always Learning - A Message from a Layman

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Dunning-Kruger Effect in the Olde Synodical Confer...":

"The almost universal attitude among the clergy is - 'I graduated from x seminary, so I have nothing left to learn.'"

A critical analysis of this statement would reveal that this is really nothing to brag about. Being a perpetual student should instill a sense of humility. Here at Ichabod, I appreciate the fact that comments from laity are almost always posted and are often used to create a new post. For one of my hobbies, I write an e-mail newsletter with a very small circulation. In every issue, I solicit comments and feedback. When I get them, usually the first thought that crosses my mind is - "I did not know that".

The naive and unsuspecting are usually the first victims of expertitis. Perhaps, there is a connection between this and a faulty view of the doctrine of public ministry and the Office of the Keys.

So much of the CG nonsense creates the illusion of participatory democracy. As has been pointed out elsewhere here at Ichabod, this is usually done to draw out the dissenters and find the yes-men.

***

GJ - I like featuring the thoughtful comments, like the one above, and the negative ones. But I fear that the Shrinker finally realized they were doing their cause harm by coming out in the open. They have nothing to lose by staying in their pestiferous lairs and plotting additional assaults on the sly.

The fake blogger, also known as WELS Pastor Tim Glende, has ceased posting again. I am grateful that he has posted something about WELS sexual predators, his top post, with six manufactured comments. Eventually the rest of the synod will find out that hundreds or even thousands of felonious images were stored and used at the yet-unsold synod headquarters.

I learn the doctrinal quotes better by using them and even better by combining them with graphics. The more I quote orthodox Lutherans, the more hateful the "conservative" Lutherans leaders are. The more hateful they are, the more I value the lessons of Luther and the Book of Concord.

In sales, the takeaway close is effective. "You really cannot afford this car, sir. It is way above your budget." The answer, "I can too afford it. No problem."

When the WELS and Missouri leaders tell me that the Book of Concord is boring and irrelevant, I am sold on it. When I listen to them talk about evangelism or the basics of the faith I realize how little they know about Luther's doctrine, the spiritual wisdom of the Bible. They must know better. They studied under Fuller graduates (who lie about studying at Fuller, unless they are with allies).

Where Does Anti-Confessionalism End?Universalism and Crack-pot Sermons like John Parlow's

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
have the same agenda.

I read the Lamentations of the Episcopal Church at Virtue Online, my looking glass into the future of the Lutheran Church.

Bishop Kate is busy suing her own congregations, to steal their property and drive away all traditional priests and bishops. Note her bio:

• She was an oceanographer, born in 1954.
• Ordained in 1994.
• Elected bishop in Nevada in 2000.
• Elected Presiding Bishop in 2006.

Bishop Mark has a similar background, with more parish experience.

• Born in 1946, his father a pastor of the ELC (Norwegian side of The ALC).
• Educated at the Devil's Playground (Union) and Luther Seminary.
• Ordained in 1974.
• Served three congregations, elected St. Paul bishop in 1995.
• Elected ELCA Presiding Bishop in 2001. Re-elected in 2007.

Both of them won national office through the power of the homosexual network in their denominations. Both bishops rewarded their followers by approving the ordination of homosexuals, a practice which had already been accepted for decades. Both are admired by mainline leaders for the way they are driving out all opposition.

Once the confessions are abandoned, anything is possible, and the radical extremes are quickly embraced. The liturgy and readings can keep faith alive during such crises, but church leaders are working hard to eliminate both in the name of being relevant and transforming lives. They also want to be sensitive and selectively diverse in a rainbow coalition of the Left, favoring the red and lavender shades.

Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie supposedly prefer adulterous millionaires to the Lavender Mafia, although that is hard to believe with a homosexual serving as Director of Communications for WELS for five years.

When I was imprisoned at Mequon in 1987, I heard about a Steve Witte, whose congregation in the Appleton area had 5,000 members thanks to cell groups. He was quoted as saying, "I don't care what they study, as long as they have cell groups." Witte was a founder of Church and Change, along with Aderman, John Johnson, and some others, including Mark Jeske the Orange. (Watch him on Time of Grace - he is using Snooki's bronzer, making him look like a tall Oompa Loompa.)

Parlow: "Ski, you are not going to publish this photo, are you?"
Drive 08 Babtist Worship Conference

Appleton was anti-confessional 25 years ago. Now John Parlow is abusing the same parish. Here is an sample from Parlow:

“and talk about a guy (Christ) whose life didn’t work out the way he planned….”

John Parlow

http://vimeo.com/user9457217/review/33918382/a96b8e812a.

http://stmarkpartners.org/go/downloads

If I remember the phony doctorates right - 

1. Parlow got his DMin from Denver, 
2. Witte from Gordon Conwell, 
3. Kelm from St. Louis, 
4. Olson from Fuller, 
5. Richard Krause from an Ohio union group. 

All of them call themselves "Dr," which is really a belly laugh. When convenient, such as fooling the rich and gullible, or the rich buying indulgences, they are Lutheran. The rest of the time they are lazy, plagiarizing Universalists.

If you want to see the future of the Olde Synodical Conference, study The Episcopal Church. They were conservative traditionalists too, at one time. The "conservative" Lutherans are going the same way, but they will not have the same endowment funds to prop them up.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Where Does Anti-Confessionalism End?Universalism a...":

My apologies, (W)ELS Pastor Parlow's statement about Christ begins at 32:00

Even more disturbing is Parlow's statements at 34:20 where he teaches the real message of Christmas - "The real story is not hat you are promised a merry Hallmark Christmas. It is the good news of God the child, born in a manger, died on a cross, laid in a tomb, risen from the grave, seated at the right hand of the Father, coming back one day to set the world right, your world right. And more importantly, right now for you, to make your messy world right."

REALLY?!? The message of Christmas is that Christ will return one day to make our messy world right? That is a New Age millennialist teaching.  

Evangelism Resources. LERG, When Gimmicks Are Not Enough

Women rabbis and women bishops -
just don't seem right somehow.

Evangelism Resources:


The Local Evangelism Resources Group (LERG) aims to help make parishes aware of initiatives and resources which will assist their outreach efforts.

Back to Church Sunday
This national initiative is helping churches to develop a culture of invitation and has helped hundreds of people in our Diocese to reconnect with their parish church.

London 2012 Olympics
The Diocese is encouraging churches to make the most of the excitement surrounding the 2012 Olympics to connect with people locally.

Experience Easter
Invite children from your local school into church to experience the Easter story.

Mission Teams
Revitalise your church and reach out to your neighbours with a Mission Weekend. A Mission Team from the Diocese can be a support and an inspiration.

Biblefresh
Inspired by the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, we would like to encourage churches to make the message of the bible heard and experienced.

Enquirers' Courses
Many churches use short courses to help enquirers work through the questions which need to be addressed before they are ready to believe in Jesus and join a church.

Discipleship Courses
Growth to maturity in faith can be helped if people take part in a discipleship course.

Links & Resources
There are many organisations who provide courses and resources for evangelism and outreach.


'via Blog this'

Evangelistic events focus of GPS 2012 - Babtist Bandwagon

Evangelistic events focus of GPS 2012:


ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Following the inaugural success of GPS (God’s Plan for Sharing) 2010 two years ago, GPS 2012 will focus on attractional evangelism events enabling Southern Baptists to share the Gospel across North America in the days leading up to next Easter and beyond.

In 2010, thousands of Southern Baptists trooped door-to-door in American neighborhoods, placing door-hangers, Gospel tracts and invitations to attend church on front doors. Attractional evangelism in 2012 will include block parties, wild game dinners, sports clinics, antique car shows, golf tournaments and other events, according to Thomas Hammond, the North American Mission Board’s evangelism team leader for the biennial GPS initiative.

Hammond said training for such events—to be selected by local churches—started this fall across the country. For the majority of the 42 state conventions, the GPS “window” of evangelistic events will run during the three-week period leading up to Easter Sunday, which falls on Apr. 8 in 2012.

“It’s vital that churches participate in GPS 2012 at a high level,” said Hammond. “If the local churches get behind it, we’ll have a much greater level of success. Just a billboard here or there isn’t enough. Churches must support it and follow up.”

With a theme of “Hope: Find It Here,” GPS 2012 will utilize more Internet social media – like Facebook and Google Ads – along with “drive-time” radio spots and less TV advertising, although some TV ads will continue to run in dozens of markets across the United States. A half-dozen 30-second TV spots in English and Spanish have already been produced.


'via Blog this'

FAQ's - Babtist Easter Evangelism

FAQ's:

'via Blog this'

6 Easter Outreach Ideas | Evangelism.net. Bunny Power!

6 Easter Outreach Ideas | Evangelism.net:


Easter is a unique time for evangelism because many people are more open to going to church and talking about the meaning behind Easter. To give you some ideas for how you can use this time evangelistically, our staff has thought of 12 ways you can reach out to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

Prepare and deliver gift Easter Baskets for the children in your neighborhood. Hand deliver them and include a book that tells the Easter Story like “An Easter Gift for Me” by Crystal Bowman. If you have a lot of children in your neighborhood, check your local dollar store. They usually stock baskets, decorations, candy, and other goodies at reasonable prices.

Invite a neighbor or coworker to Easter services at your church followed by Easter brunch at your house or at a restaurant. Studies prove that people are more likely to go to church on Easter than any other time of the year. You can relax and let your pastor preach the gospel, with follow-up conversations at brunch.

Consider organizing an Easter outreach for kids at your church. The first station could be for a photo station with live animals if you have access to rabbits or lambs. Another station could be a craft table where the children make a simple craft. Another station could be a stage in a room where the resurrection story is told by someone playing one of the disciples or women who visited the tomb. Another station could be a room with an egg hunt every 10 minutes for 5-8 kids at a time. The final station could be a giveaway of a book telling the true reason for Easter or a New Testament along with information about your church.

Easter Bunny—Do you have some neighbors or friends with kids? Dress up as the Easter bunny and bring some candy, or an Easter Basket over. It will show that you enjoy having fun with them, and make them more inclined to talk about important spiritual issues or join you for other activities such as a church Easter Play. Need a question to break the ice? Try, “Did your family have any religious traditions during holidays when you were growing up?” It is almost always fun to share and listen to each other’s family traditions.

Sunrise Service or Breakfast—There is something glorious about seeing the sunrise in the morning, particularly on Easter Sunday! Consider going to a location close by where you don’t normally hold services, such as the lake or the park. This tends to work especially well for churches with older members, although sometimes younger people enjoy it as well too.

Resurrection Eggs—consider purchasing plastic Resurrection Eggs (link:  http://www.shopfamilylife.com/res-eggs-2011.html) created by Family Life as a memorable way to retell the Easter story to your friends, at Christian schools, or perhaps in Sunday School classes at church.

Join us on Wednesday for the other six ideas, and in the meantime tell us any ideas you have for outreach this Easter!


'via Blog this'

Easter Planning for Churches – 4 ways to prepare

The Easter bunny sends a profound message to
the unchurched:
We do not trust the Word of God, just gimmicks.

Easter Planning for Churches – 4 ways to prepare:


“Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year.” Barna Group

What the numbers might mean for Easter Sunday.

Let’s say this statistic would hold true for your congregation.

If you had 100 members, and 30 of them made personal invitations.

We know that not all invitations will be accepted.

But if half of them accepted and brought their families, you will have 15-60 visitors in your congregation on Easter.

That’s huge potential!


'via Blog this'

WELS Hands Congregation a Fish. Courtesy of the Fuller Aquarium

James Huebner, Fuller alumnus.
Adam Mueller, Church and Change leader.
James Tiefel, Church and Change leader, DUI.
Doug Tomhave - all the "mission" people are CGM.

Brothers,

Attached you’ll find the first letter inviting WELS pastors to enroll their congregation in the E12 program offered by the Commission for Congregational Counseling.    It contains a link to a www.easter12.com, where congregations can go to register.

I had the privilege of joining you in October to explain the program, but perhaps a brief recap is in order.  

·         E12, short for Easter 2012, is a comprehensive leadership training program that includes components of worship, outreach, and discipleship.   
·         We are, in essence, giving our churches a fish: provide high quality worship and outreach materials for this Easter.

·         We are also teaching them how to fish, for along with those materials will come instructions of how to reproduce similar materials in upcoming events. 

·         Along with the materials and instructions will come rationale for “doing things this way,” getting the leaders to think about how to carry out ministry more aggressively with the gifts God has granted them.  So we don’t just want to provide materials but shape a confessional, evangelical mindset.  That’s why we view this as a leadership program, not just a worship or outreach program.

·         Along with that rationale will come devotional materials, since God’s Word provides the foundation, the content, and the motivation for all we do.

This is all being produced by people whom God has gifted to our church with Fuller expertise in these areas.  It is pulling together some very talented individuals from the Commission on Evangelism, the Commission on Worship, the Commission on Adult Discipleship, and the Institute of Worship and Outreach.   

We are asking congregations to provide 5 e-mails: pastor, church president, an outreach representative, a worship representative, and a graphics/design representative.   I know full well most of our churches won’t have all of those.  Some might not have any other than pastor and church president.  That is fine!   We still want five e-mails as we’ll be providing training throughout the E12 program.  For example, if a church doesn’t have a lay person working in outreach/evangelism, they still need to provide someone for that slot.   After using the E12 program that person will at least be familiar with 1) why we do outreach, 2) the basics of outreach, and 3) a rough idea of how to plan for it with the resources available in their specific congregation.   We will have helped that congregation equip a saint for service in this vital area. 

All this information will be disseminated electronically beginning in mid-January.   ALL materials will go to pastors and the church president.   They will see everything that is being sent out.   Some materials will be directed only to the appropriate people. (e.g. The outreach rep will receive only the material that pertains to outreach.)   Weekly e-mails from early January through May will let the groups know what the others are doing, provide encouragement, keep them on pace, and provide opportunities for feedback and questions. 
  

Since material begins to roll out in mid-January, prompt registration is necessary.    Thus, if you could forward this to the pastors in your district ASAP, I’d appreciate it.  I know it’s right before Christmas.   I feel that crunch myself.  But registration takes minutes.    


And it needn’t be done by the pastor.  His secretary or another church leader can easily do it.

I’m sending this to you, the COP, not just to save postage.   I’m sending it to you because, as I mentioned in October, the CCC wants to be a tool for you to use in your calling.   We want to be a way for you to provide nuts-and-bolts help that will have an immediate impact in your congregations.    Having you disseminate this information to our pastorate, we believe, helps drive that point home.

Through his Means, may Immanuel be with you and yours in his grace and his power.

Your servant in Christ,

Jon

Jonathan Hein

BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH

720 Old Trolley Road   Summerville, SC  29485

843.873.5522 (office)

843.860.1838 (cell)

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "WELS Hands Congregation a Fish. Courtesy of the Fu...":

"We still want five e-mails...:

smellsfishy@rottenindenmark.com
smellsfishy@rottenindenmark.com
smellsfishy@rottenindenmark.com
smellsfishy@rottenindenmark.com
smellsfishy@rottenindenmark.com

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "WELS Hands Congregation a Fish. Courtesy of the Fu...":

"Thus, participation in E12 requires FIVE e-mails be provided."

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFQtaTU0Zk9oY1RJbkdINWdLTWxCUXc6MQ

naivepastor@lemming.com
naivepastor@lemming.com
naivepastor@lemming.com
naivepastor@lemming.com
naivepastor@lemming.com

***

GJ - Franchisees will note that WELS can contact any member of the congregation at any time. Posting their emails and contact information will help the Shrinkers in getting rid of any dissent by speeding up the process.

When the Son of Man Returns, Will He Find Faith...among the Hierarchy

This is a good time to review
as Joel Hochmuth suggested.

I remember the day in Greek class when I learned that "hierarchy" means "the rule of priests." History records many examples of the corruption, greed, and depravity of the priestly class. WELS is now vying with the Borgia popes for record-setting violations of all the commandments. I have more information coming through, but that has to wait.

WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie have a lot in common. In each franchise, decisions are made on the basis of friendships, classmates, and DNA. The Scriptures never enter the discussion until the conclusions are drawn.

Today I had four interesting contacts about what is happening in the Olde Synodical Conference. That is all I can say.

Mrs. Ichabod, "How about a hint?"

No hints. But the contacts show how the apostate leadership is unraveling. The shun him button is not working effectively.

SP Mark Schroeder, like the rest, came into the position by never offending anyone. I do not recall Schroeder, Harrison, or Pope John the Malefactor ever speaking against false doctrine. Compare that to the public positions of Jack and Robert Preus, or the days when WELS had big conferences about the apostasy of the Missouri Synod. Those people would be called fanatics, unbalanced, and crazy today.

Schroeder is a product of the system and owes the system. His best opportunity to show leadership is to oppose the New NIV, but he is silent. His timidity speaks volumes. Either he favors the New NIV or he is too chicken to oppose it. Either version suggests he should be not a leader of anything.

Mrs. Ichabod asked if Schroeder should step down. The problem is, there is no one to provide any positive leadership. The only leadership is on the Shrinker-Emergent side, where Mark Jeske the Orange runs the whole show from behind his curtain.

These people are not impressed with Schroeder's response to the Hochmuth crimes. They are WELS members. The Wisconsin sect seems content to lose a few people at a time until they are pure Emergent Babto-Methodist.

I could say the problem is CGM, or Emergent Church, or the New NIV, but those cancers are not the cause. They are just symptoms. The cause is lack of faith in the Word of God. Starting with Walther and his dominance of the Olde Synodical Conference, faith in the Word of God has been trained out of the clergy and members.

Walther, the American Pope, kicked out Bishop Stephan, committing and supporting many crimes in the process: land fraud, grand theft, armed invasion, physical threats, and armed kidnapping. Walther took over the cult and maintained the same level of control that Stephan demanded.

But Walther, trained in rationalism and Pietism, was in no position to establish Lutheran orthodoxy. He established his own quirky ideas and false doctrine with dubious theses, which were delivered and accepted the way Mormonism was revealed to the gullible masses. Even today, something is true just because Walther wrote it, even when he contradicted himself in the same paragraph. To question Walther is slander, although the synodical Lutherans have no trouble dissing Martin Luther himself. The Reformer is good for statues-preps-colleges, not for doctrine.

Watch the ELS, LCMS, and WELS continue to use the process learned from ELCA and the secular change agents. Full participation is welcome, as long as dissenters are removed and everyone drinks the purple Kool-aid. They let the flowers bloom, as Mao said, so the heads can be cut off.

Faithful laity, pastors, and teachers remain, but the Synodical Conference is doomed by its own lack of faith.

The Olde Synodical Conference teaches the Huber fallacy,
excommunicating those who teach justification by faith.

Dunning-Kruger Effect in the Olde Synodical Conference

Paul Wendland, NNIV Salesman,
is a member of the Moo herd, bovine in IQ,
ovine in courage.

Wikipedia:

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to recognize their mistakes.[1] The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their own abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority.


Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. As Kruger and Dunning conclude, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others" (p. 1127).[2] The effect is about paradoxical defects in cognitive ability, both in oneself and as one compares oneself to others...


Although the Dunning–Kruger effect was put forward in 1999, David Dunning and Justin Kruger have quoted Charles Darwin ("Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge")[3] and Bertrand Russell ("One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision")[4] as authors who have recognised the phenomenon.

UOJ is the path to Rome or Pasadena:
either route is the path to perdition.

***

GJ - Indeed. Chesterton noted the same thing -


“Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth: this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert-himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason... The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping: not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy


LI gave me a name for this syndrome, which is difficult to miss in the Olde Synodical Conference. As James Tiefel said about the odious Christian Worship in the making, "I have the title, so I will do what I want."  I heard Tiefel make fun of The Lutheran Hymnal in his worship class. Tiefel and Iver Johnson moved forward with a hack job worse than the remake of The Jazz Singer:  the booze and broads edition of the hymnal.A sober analysis would say that TLH is vastly superior to Tiefel's Church Growth, feminist, Pietist parody.

The almost universal attitude among the clergy is - "I graduated from x seminary, so I have nothing left to learn." That could be Ft. Wayne versus all the others, St. Louis versus all the others, Mequon versus all the others, or the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie versus all others.

Most of them have a favorite professor who stands between them and the Word of God, so they stick to the instructor's talking points. The same clergy are scornful of laity who have studied the Word of God decades longer, without an intervening filter. A genuine Lutheran will concede that the Holy Spirit teaches through the Word, but the incompetents wave their diplomas around: the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The Lutheran Church during the Reformation expected a high level of training for men to be professors or bishops. A doctorate was common. The current Synodical Conference leaders think their worthless MDiv degrees qualify them as experts on everything, even though they could not get a job teaching at a community college with that seminary diploma. They wangle their positions through politics, but imagine the office is their
weapon, not a challenge to devote a lifetime to scholarship.

The Dunning-Kruger effect explains why the LCMS, WELS, and ELS have abandoned Lutheran doctrine for Fuller or Rome, never acknowledging the five-decade slide into doctrinal torpor. They cannot even admit  what they have done, spending millions on subsidies to CG projects and tuition, millions more on conferences to bring more false doctrine into their parishes.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Dunning-Kruger Effect in the Olde Synodical Confer...":

Even the self titled conservatives in the (W)ELS have declared Siegbert W. Becker infallible.

Elevating doctrinal ignorance to an art form he said, "But universal and objective justification is one doctrine whose place in the victorious Christian life is clear. Wherever men teach that faith comes first as a condition that must be fulfilled or a work that must be done or even as a fact that must be recognized before forgiven [sic Becker - forgiveness ] is bestowed or becomes real, men will be trained to look into their own hearts for assurance rather than to the words and promises of God. If my sins are forgiven only if I first have faith then I have no solid foundation on which to rest my hope for eternal life. I must then know that I have faith before I can know that my sins are forgiven. But there are times when a Christian does not know that he has faith. And many people who think they have faith do not have it, and many that think they are not believers are believing children of God. In regard to our own faith we may be in error or filled with doubt. But there is nothing uncertain in the truth that is proclaimed in the Gospel. Your sin is taken away, wiped out, forgiven, cancelled, swallowed up in the empty grave in Joseph’s garden. To that we must cling. To that we can cling. On that we can build a solid hope that will not make us ashamed.
In times of temptation when I am no longer aware of my faith, when my heart tells me that I am an unbeliever, I have no place to turn for assurance if faith must come before forgiveness. But if forgiveness comes first, if it is always there, if it is true whether I believe it or not, I do not need to know whether I have faith or not before I can cling to God’s promise. I know that my sins are forgiven whether I feel forgiven or unforgiven. I know that my iniquity is pardoned whether I believe it or not. And when I know that, then I know also that I am a believer." Page 13
http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.PDF 

***

GJ - No wonder the WELS clergy and laity listened to Paul Calvin Kelm with rapture and awe. They had already been hynotized by Sig Becker, who did not understand faith, forgiveness, or the Means of Grace.

Pietism Begets Rationalism

Johann Salomo Semler, Pioneer of Lutheran Rationalism

From Wikipedia:

He was born at Saalfeld in Electoral Saxony, the son of a poor clergyman. He grew up in pietistic surroundings, which powerfully influenced him his life through, though he never became a Pietist. In his seventeenth year he entered the University of Halle, where he became the disciple, afterwards the assistant, and finally the literary executor of the orthodox rationalistic professor SJ Baumgarten. He also wrote Latin poems. In 1749 he accepted the position of editor, with the title of professor, of the Coburg official Gazette. But in 1751 he was invited to Altdorf as professor of philology and history, and in 1752 he became a professor of theology in Halle.

Pietism was identified with Biblical study, but the mothership, Halle University, turned into a school of rationalism in one generation. Why?

Pietism is just another form of Enthusiasm. Lacking a foundation in the Means of Grace, Pietism seeks certainty in experience, love, and good works. The attitude of doctrinal indifference eventually unites everyone on the basis of a common disbelief.

That is why ELCA can be in fellowship with the Moravian Pietists, the gay Episcopalians, the Methodists, WELS, and Missouri Synod.

That also explains why WELS can be in fellowship with Groeschel, Driscoll, Sweet, and Rick Warren, and Andy Stanley. Their defense - "We practice safe sects."

Mission Statement of a Moravian Pietist Congregation

Add UOJ and opposition to sound doctrine.

• Living in Fellowship.
• Growing in Christ.
• Activating our family of faith in unity by Christ’s example of sharing, caring and praying.

I ran across this mission statement, above,  from a Moravian congregation in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The wording reminded me of many similar expressions from WELS, LCMS, and ELS congregations:

1. Inoffensive.
2. Vague.
3. Non-confessional.

Non-confessional is really anti-confessional, because the need to avoid all doctrinal discussions is the path to total indifference and apostasy.

Elisabeth’s Barrenness and Ours - Mark Steyn - National Review Online. Stein Seconds Ichabod's Birth Dearth Graphics

Elisabeth’s Barrenness and Ours - Mark Steyn - National Review Online:

We now live in Elisabeth’s world — not just because technology has caught up with the Deity and enabled women in their 50s and 60s to become mothers, but in a more basic sense. The problem with the advanced West is not that it’s broke but that it’s old and barren. Which explains why it’s broke. Take Greece, which has now become the most convenient shorthand for sovereign insolvency — “America’s heading for the same fate as Greece if we don’t change course,” etc. So Greece has a spending problem, a revenue problem, something along those lines, right? At a superficial level, yes. But the underlying issue is more primal: It has one of the lowest fertility rates on the planet. In Greece, 100 grandparents have 42 grandchildren — i.e., the family tree is upside down. In a social-democratic state where workers in “hazardous” professions (such as, er, hairdressing) retire at 50, there aren’t enough young people around to pay for your three-decade retirement. And there are unlikely ever to be again.


'via Blog this'

***

GJ - The graphics below were done by someone else - forget the name - and the point has been made here many times. All the futuristic plans have been  based on more people making more money to pay for the inflated plans.

That wild thinking fits the school situation, government (unfunded) pensions, and the global economy.

The Left trained people to think of babies as costly burdens, so we slaughter them with abortion and the human pesticide pill, then let criminals across the border to rob, rape, and steal, as long as they do our house-cleaning for $5 an hour.

The Wexford Carol

 Wikipedia says:

 The Wexford Carol (Irish: Carúl Loch Garman, Carúl Inis Córthaidh) is a traditional religious Irish Christmas carol originating from County Wexford, and specifically, Enniscorthy (whence its other name), and dating to the 12th century.[1][unreliable source?] The subject of the song is that of the nativity of Jesus Christ. "The Wexford Carol" is one of the oldest extant Christmas carols in the European tradition. Traditions abound concerning the song. For many years, it was felt that only men should sing it.[citation needed] It was only at the current revival of all things Irish that this attitude changed. Many popular female artists, such as Loreena McKennitt, recorded the “Wexford Carol” during the 1990s. The song achieved a new popularity because of the work of William Grattan Flood (1859 - 1928), who was organist and musical director at St. Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He transcribed the carol from a local singer, and had it published in the Oxford Book of Carols, putting Enniscorthy into most carol books around the world. The song is sometimes known by its first verse, "Good people all this Christmas time."


Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray,
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born
The night before that happy tide
The noble Virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town
But mark right well what came to pass
From every door repelled, alas
As was foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble ox's stall
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God's angel did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
Arise and go, the angels said
To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you'll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went the babe to find
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our Saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side a virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life
Who came on earth to end all strife
There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay
And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah lay
They humbly cast them at his feet
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.

---


Joe Krohn's pick -




LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "The Wexford Carol":

Thanks for posting. Another one of my favorites. Interesting setting.

Here is my favorite setting (partial to brass): http://youtu.be/PyZPqloAq_o

It starts at 1:13

Courthouse News Service: Another Example of Excusing Foul Deeds. A Warning for WELS, Missouri and the Little Sect on the Prairie

Courthouse News Service:


Financial Toll of Fatal Crash Keeps Growing
By JOE HARRIS

     BELLEVILLE, Ill. (CN) - The price tag for state taxpayers for a former state trooper's reckless fatal crash in November 2007 continues to grow.

     The Illinois Court of Claims awarded $700,000 to Kelly and Christine Marler, of Fayetteville. The Marlers' was the third vehicle involved in a fiery accident caused by former state trooper Matt Mitchell's losing control of his squad car while driving 120 mph, talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone and sending and receiving emails just 2.5 seconds before impact.

     Teenage sisters, Jessica Uhl, 18, and Kelli Uhl, 13, were the first ones hit by Mitchell and were pronounced dead at the scene. The Uhl family was awarded $8 million on Jan. 20 by the Illinois Court of Claims, the largest award ever granted by the court. Mitchell's car drove through the Uhls' car and then crashed into the Marlers' SUV. Mitchell pleaded guilty to reckless homicide.

     Mitchell, 33, filed a workers compensation claim for his injuries, which was denied. The outcry against Mitchell caused state lawmakers to pass a law prohibiting workers compensation claims by employees injured while committing a crime.

     Mitchell's total financial toll on the state actually started before 2007 and is more than $10 million. He was involved a no-injury accident in 2002 and another accident in 2003 that led to a $1.7 million judgment against the state, the Associated Press reported.



'via Blog this'

From Luther Rocks

Re-posted comments from Hells Bells...

 

Brett Meyer said...

The Universalism of the (W)ELS is taught in their central doctrine of Universal Justification. Their children are articulating this confession because the forgiveness of sins is salvation. Jay Garcia: "In a world where teens are always looked at by the eyes of the Devil a Wels youth rally is a blessing it shows that even in this world where sin is everywhere there teens that still believe that we can help show to other people that Jesus saved all and that the Father loves all of his children Like · Comment · July 24 at 9:10am

http://www.facebook.com/teenrally2011#!/teenrally2011?sk=wall 

Keynote speaker was (W)ELS Pastor Jeff Gunn

Luther Rocks: Rocketown: 'via Blog this'